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March 25, 2024 8:00am by Kokila Patel

General Debate 25 March 2024

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General Debate

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Steve Otto(North Shore)

It’s not gang related but gang members were there.
Oh, just some armed guards in that Hospital just in case.
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March 25, 2024 8:04am
- Benedict Yu
  
  There is much word salad in the quotes from the police.
  
  https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/350223922/residents-shocked-after-gisborne-mass-brawl-leaves-two-dead
  
  A ‘tragedy for the whanau’…’the general public don’t need to be concerned’.
  
  It is also odd that the police minister decided to turn up in Gisborne. What is he going to do?
  
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  March 25, 2024 8:17am
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    Mitchell will put the baddies in jail!//
    
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    March 25, 2024 8:37am
  - cmm
    
    “It is also odd that the police minister decided to turn up in Gisborne.”
    
    Not really. As much as they are trying to down play this, this is clearly a serious matter that the public are justifiably concerned about. Visiting is a typical way to show they’re taking it seriously – not that they are in any practical way.
    
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    March 25, 2024 8:52am
  - Simon
    
    Multiple 111s. Its time to deploy the incident information response team!
    
    Quite grab the comms check list. Its an emergency!
    
    The comms check list for responsible policing.
    
    Isolated incident
    The community is safe
    Drop in a few Maori words – whanau is good
    Not gang related
    Its a tragedy for all involved
    
    Then close down all information due to on going police investigation.
    
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    March 25, 2024 9:05am
    - hookerphil
      
      Don’t forget –
      Our deepest sympathies to the whanau of the “victims”
      
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      March 25, 2024 10:26am
      - Flossie
        
        Thoughts and prayers too of course.
        
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        March 25, 2024 10:49am
      - PurplePen
        
        And “Our hearts go out to … “
        
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        March 25, 2024 11:17am
      - kowtow
        
        ”Really proud of the hard work our police are doing”
        
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        March 25, 2024 11:25am
      - ISeeRed
        
        Police are following good/strong/positive lines of enquiry.
        
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        March 25, 2024 7:22pm
  - sirknz
    
    ’the general public don’t need to be concerned’
    
    When this phrase, or something similar appears in the media, it is 100% gang related.
    
    The other tell is that they don’t mention the ethnicity of the people involved.
    
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    March 25, 2024 9:42am
    - Scooter
      
      Isolated incident, except to the neighbours and those at the party.
      
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      March 25, 2024 11:31am
  - thirteenstars
    
    Ban 21st birthday patches! Give police the power to issue dispersal orders to birthday goers!
    
    Do something, anything, and do it soon!
    
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    March 25, 2024 11:02am
    - Keith White
      
      “Ban large capacity tents!!!”
      
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      March 25, 2024 5:42pm
- Scooter
  
  Also it’s reported across news media as happening in Gisborne, so has Tairawhiti been taken off the map for this occasion or will it now be Gisborne for all news?
  
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  March 25, 2024 8:27am
  - cmm
    
    Gizzy, New Zealand for the next couple of weeks.
    
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    March 25, 2024 8:53am
    - BeaB
      
      Always a clue when Māori terms like whanau and Māori words are used.
      And always laughable when the Māori words are suddenly dropped by the media if they think they might be reflecting badly.
      Treating us as though we are stupid is their best way to get us on side?
      
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      March 25, 2024 9:06am
      - gregorcasey@gmail.com
        
        How about the new word by the media now for Whangarei Fung gar ray
        
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        March 25, 2024 9:58am
      - Pavel
        
        @Greg, back in the early 2000s, when I lived there, the accepted pronunciation was “Fun Gay Ray”.
        
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        March 25, 2024 11:11am
  - pdm
    
    Bad news involving gang members means it is Gisborne.
    
    Bad news involving natural disasters means it is Tairawhiti.
    
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    March 25, 2024 11:31am
  - G the giant from Dunedin
    
    They will be white siz males
    
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    March 25, 2024 1:28pm
- imalwaysright
  
  A locked down hospital is not Law and Order.
  What’s next, close the schools and the shops?
  Sound familiar?
  
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  March 25, 2024 8:28am
- Bobba Fret
  
  And Mongrel Mob members at party and Black Power turned up.
  
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  March 25, 2024 10:19am
Observant Octagenarian

I see Russell Coutts having a go at Iwi about calling off the yacht racing at Lyttleton because of the risk of hurting a dolphin.
He should have told Iwi to dig out the recipe they used to make Moa taste delicious, and use that for the dolphins.
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March 25, 2024 8:07am
- kowtow
  
  Ask any archeaologist who’s dug a midden and they’ll tell you they ate anything that moved .None of this caring for the treasures of the land and sea bull that DoC et al are so full of.
  
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  March 25, 2024 8:38am
- Benedict Yu
  
  He said that they were forced to employ 11 “dolphin experts” and to pay each $600 per day. ECAN / Iwi / DOC approvals came to 300 000 dollars.
  
  https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/sport/2024/03/sailing-sailgp-boss-sir-russell-coutts-reloads-on-christchurch-venue-after-dolphins-halt-racing.html
  
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  March 25, 2024 8:46am
  - rouppe
    
    Eleven? That really is taking the piss.
    
    However, Russell Coutts had the opportunity (presumably) to tell them he’ll pay for only one.
    
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    March 25, 2024 10:56am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  “Saturday’s incident was “another example of New Zealand being handcuffed by unprecedented layers of bureaucracy and red tape”. Russell Coutts.
  It may be SailGP’s Policy but SailGP did not call the shots, it was iwi influence. Russell would know, he is SailGP’s chief executive.
  There is a full statement by Russell Coutts included.
  
  https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/sport/512544/sir-russell-coutts-slams-extreme-dolphin-policy-after-sailgp-races-canned
  
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  March 25, 2024 8:48am
  - Yabster
    
    not only that, all the twats had their hands out -or is that backhanders…?? 11 Dolphin so called experts @ $78k- what a rort- an additional $300k they don’t normally have to pay.
    
    Also I am sure Ghost will be along soon to apologise – for his posts around the protocols:
    
    “In addition to our normal marine mammal protocols, SailGP has had this extreme marine mammal management plan forced upon us in Lyttelton, demanded by the Department of Conservation, Ecan (Environment Canterbury) and Ngati Wheke for this event.
    
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    March 25, 2024 9:19am
  - imalwaysright
    
    The iwi had to “find” a dolphin or else risk being irrelevant next year.
    
    (A Kontiki with a blast of primer would bear a passing resemblance to Flipper)
    
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    March 25, 2024 9:21am
  - Paulus
    
    Bye Bye SailGP to New Zealand – sorry Aotearoa, I forgot that New Zealand is no longer appropriate.
    
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    March 25, 2024 10:46am
- MCōs
  
  Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
  Speak to David Seymour about Moa recipes
  What little trace of Māori dna he has dates back to around that time
  
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  March 25, 2024 9:06am
  - Yabster
    
    says the socialist – what and idoitic comment- does that apply to your mate lil Willie also?- pure trolling.
    
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    March 25, 2024 9:12am
    - MCōs
      
      There’s some touchy people round here. . . .
      
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      March 25, 2024 9:50am
      - Simon
        
        “There’s some touchy people round here. . . .”
        
        lol – KB is a heavily moderated safe space for people like you.
        
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        March 25, 2024 11:57am
  - Flossie
    
    I’m pretty sure all the moa were gone before any white people set foot in the country.
    
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    March 25, 2024 9:16am
    - David Garrett
      
      Flossie: You are right. And they didn’t just wipe out one species, there were several different species of moa, all gone well before the colonisers arrived.
      
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      March 25, 2024 9:31am
      - cmm
        
        It’s hardly anyone’s fault that they were so tasty, especially after rolling around in a secret recipe of 12 different herbs and spices.
        
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        March 25, 2024 10:02am
      - Don Beckett
        
        It also caused the extinction of the flightless eagle & 1 or 2 other predatory birds because their principal food source had been eliminated.
        
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        March 25, 2024 10:56am
      - Jack5
        
        Remember when the publican Paddy Freaney started a tabloid-reporter rush in 1993 when he claimed he saw a moa in the back country?
        
        https://teara.govt.nz/en/video/11386/a-moa-sighting
        
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        March 25, 2024 1:07pm
    - MCōs
      
      Except somewhere in the distant past he claims to have Māori ancestors
      Here is the Act Māori caucus
      https://x.com/dbseymour/status/1640562154658205696?s=61&t=yFkzCNMWRCaVt1p5eRxUog
      
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      March 25, 2024 9:39am
      - sirknz
        
        Then according to most Maori grifters, he is 100% Maori.
        
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        March 25, 2024 9:45am
    - NothingLeft
      
      They also quickly nommed most of the seals and nesting seabirds from around NZ.
      
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      March 25, 2024 12:47pm
  - Spam
    
    Is this the new excuse for the “wrong type of Maori”? “Old DNA”? Lots of mental gymnastics required to make that relevant.
    
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    March 25, 2024 9:18am
  - imalwaysright
    
    Unfortunately the whanau committed Moacide (apologies to the political semitical!).
    The moa would have been a great roast. Imagine the export potential!
    
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    March 25, 2024 9:39am
- Skippytony
  
  So, here we are.
  This is how you turn a country into an international laughing stock. First, the largest city in the country backs out of their agreement to host a high profile international event because they cant get their shit together.
  Event moves to another location but locals with no financial skin in the game get a right of veto over the running of the event. Not because of an actual problem, but because of a potential problem for which, as far as I can tell there is no actual evidence of prior harm.
  
  How many other international events wont come our way in the future as a result of this embarrassing fiasco?
  
  Why are our supposed leaders asleep at the wheel?
  
  I know there are people who don’t give a rats about this, but this will cost NZ millions of dollars.
  
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  March 25, 2024 10:13am
  - greybeard
    
    Talking about money, did the people who paid for tickets for Saturday get their money back ?
    
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    March 25, 2024 12:31pm
- Clyde
  
  One of the prime difficulties is that DoC and iwi are joined at the hip and no-one can tell where one starts and the other ends. Attended a meeting the other day where a DoC person who was clearly from the UK littered her utterances with Manglish. Time for a big clean out in DoC.
  
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  March 25, 2024 11:12am
Bridgenag

Sunday Strip: We’re All Far Right Now.
Keeping the species going for “millions” of years.

Video from the UK

https://open.substack.com/pub/rwmalonemd/p/sunday-strip-were-all-far-right-now?r=1aj1bv&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
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March 25, 2024 8:10am
- jkt
  
  It is all bloody confusing, right.
  My values have become more liberal, more progressive and I used to be told to Shut Up because my views were considered too progressive.
  Now I am told to Shut Up because people say I am a white supremacist.
  
  Nothing changed!
  
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  March 25, 2024 9:25am
kiwikidsnz

Labours envy strategy for 2026.

“Public ‘ready to be convinced’ about capital gains tax – inequality expert”

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/512574/public-ready-to-be-convinced-about-capital-gains-tax-inequality-expert

“Inequality expert”? Rashbrooke is a writer with an opinion. He claims to be a “public intellectual”
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March 25, 2024 8:11am
- artemisia
  
  Two of the three women in that RNZ article were described as young. They were all three in favour of some people paying more tax. The two described as young both said it is just not fair. Obviously from their reported comments someone at RNZ decided their opinions added to the discussion and were not stupid and ignorant. OK then.
  
  “I definitely think that New Zealand needs to accept the fact that we have an inequality crisis and that there’s millionaires that aren’t paying any tax on the millions of dollars that they’re earning from property, and that’s not fair,” a young woman said.
  “My friend and I both have quite low-paying jobs and the owner of our store, we see him around and we know he’s earning mega bucks and probably owns loads of houses. It’s just really unfair,” another young woman said.
  
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  March 25, 2024 8:49am
  - Swifty
    
    “My friend and I both have quite low-paying jobs and the owner of our store, we see him around and we know he’s earning mega bucks and probably owns loads of houses. It’s just really unfair,”
    
    Good grief.
    
    Now my brain hurts.
    
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    March 25, 2024 9:19am
    - Don Beckett
      
      They should be bloody thankful that he has given them a job – whingeing bitches.
      
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      March 25, 2024 11:00am
    - pdm
      
      Swifty – hard to see how he manages to make a buck with staff like them.
      
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      March 25, 2024 11:38am
    - info@cruzpro.com
      
      Many employees would not have a clue about the cost of running a business.
      
      We had one employee who stated that we were creaming it when we were actually paying for the privilege of working (we lost money for six years in a row).
      
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      March 25, 2024 1:22pm
  - leoj
    
    Classic, objective journalism taught by leftist university professors.
    
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    March 25, 2024 9:24am
  - SmokerGuy
    
    This is such a great example of NZ now days. Their assumption that someone in business is wealthy so much have as much money extorted from them as possible. They must be punished for their success!! It’s astonishing the media are so brazen in their objective to divide the country as much as possible and stir up hatred towards people who earn good money.
    
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    March 25, 2024 9:25am
    - sirknz
      
      Why do they never think of starting a business and extracting as much cash as they can, because it is clearly so easy…
      
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      March 25, 2024 9:47am
    - Paulus
      
      Simply the media are still in despair that they did not win the election, and are doing everything on everything to continue to denigrate what the electors voted for, all the time on anything they can touch.
      
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      March 25, 2024 10:51am
  - jkt
    
    He is employing you.
    Start your own business and compete him out of his business.
    
    Employ two young upstarts, sit back and enjoy your success.
    
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    March 25, 2024 9:30am
    - Beach Haven expat
      
      Jesus. None of those young heroes for a better New Zealand are named. How fortunate the reporter was able to track down four Wellington Ian at random and they all said the same thing, showing the angle of the story was accurate.
      It’s almost like their quotes are too good to be true.
      Anonymity used to be reserved for those who had a good reason. Using someone’s name have you at least the veneer of demonstrating they actually existed and what their motivation might be for saying what they did.
      With this story Anneke Smith waves us to believe she has gone out and just interviewed random strangers and they’ve all said this. Everyone she spoke to had the same belief – not one of four random people thought a cgt is not the way to go? Utter nonsense.
      These four Wellingtonians have either been invented or are connected to a campaign group and so are biased.
      Appalling journalism.
      
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      March 25, 2024 4:36pm
      - NeverMindTheBollocks
        
        Maybe they are her flatmates
        
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        March 25, 2024 8:10pm
  - hmmokrightitis
    
    And this highlights yet another media issue – they never ask a very simple question – Why?
    
    “Why do you think thats unfair?”
    
    Media used to inform, not just take statements made by randoms and then breathlessly wonder why the world was ending. And the media wonders why its dying.
    
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    March 25, 2024 9:37am
    - pdm
      
      hmmo – maybe they did ask why once and did not like the answer they got.
      
      Never to ask that question again.
      
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      March 25, 2024 11:40am
  - PurplePen
    
    And now there’s ANOTHER crisis I didn’t know about .. the equality crisis. Good lord what next.
    
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    March 25, 2024 11:22am
  - PurplePen
    
    I thought you did pay tax on property if you’re wheeling and dealing with it and if sold in less than two years now, same goes for shares.
    
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    March 25, 2024 11:24am
    - artemisia
      
      Correct. apart from the bright-line test for rentals (of course not quite that simple) there is the intention test. CGT payable on sale of an asset if purchased with the intention of selling for capital gain.
      
      Asset purchasers are well advised to formally notify their lawyer and accountant at the time that the purchase is (for example) to deliver income, home for family members etc.
      
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      March 25, 2024 12:37pm
- bjools
  
  Time to read this…
  
  ADVOCATING CAPITAL GAINS TAX REFORM IN AUSTRALIA: THE ECONOMICS AND POLITICS OF OPPOSITION
  By
  ALAN REYNOLDS
  Senior Fellow, Director of Economic Research,
  Hudson Institute, Washington, D.C.
  
  It has almost nothing good to say about CGT.
  ie that when setting a “good” rate for CGT…it should be as low as possible…..
  me….how about 0%.
  
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  March 25, 2024 9:50am
  - artemisia
    
    The bright-line tax on sale of rentals can be up to 39%. Gosh I wonder what will happen when it soon reverts to 2 years. Maybe owners will sell up and cash up. Could be some good buying opportunities, might be the time to buy Air NZ shares.
    
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    March 25, 2024 11:33am
    - bjools
      
      Shouldn’t be a bright line test.
      Just a declaration,
      are you living in this house?
      Are you buying and selling houses as a business?
      If so, tax at 28% of profit, like all business’.
      
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      March 25, 2024 11:52am
    - Paulus
      
      Most of single rental owners have quit already and have a mobile home instead and will never go back to being a landlord.
      
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      March 25, 2024 1:38pm
- Tricati
  
  Shame no one asked the ‘expert’, if Labour had been taking in $140 billion a year in tax how come we have FA to show for it, and you say take more.
  With the likes of a failing Health & Education systems, maybe Chippy could explain what he did with all our money.
  
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  March 25, 2024 10:01am
- Stellaboxer
  
  So after losing an election somewhat embarrassingly and presiding over the economic vandalisation of the country and a run away cost of living crisis Labour feel their best foot forward would be an increase in the tax burden. Wow pure genius we don’t stand a chance at the next election//
  
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  March 25, 2024 11:43am
- G the giant from Dunedin
  
  And Hipkins does not care if large capital investment headed off shore, and tgd left wonder why we say Labour has damaged this economy
  
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  March 25, 2024 1:33pm
- the deity formerly known as nigel6888
  
  Ah yes, now an “inequality expert”
  
  He gets around that boy. Opinions for hire or rent…
  
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  March 25, 2024 2:07pm
Bridgenag

Degenerate Art in New Normal Germany

“One of the first things totalitarians do when they set about transforming a democratic society into whatever type of strictly-regulated, utterly soul-deadening totalitarian dystopia they are trying to transform it into is radically overhaul and remake its culture.”

https://open.substack.com/pub/cjhopkins/p/degenerate-art-in-new-normal-germany?r=1aj1bv&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
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March 25, 2024 8:13am
NeverMindTheBollocks

Gosh, there must be a rightish wing Govt again; MSM are pimping the poor once more.

I applaud the protagonist, who’s seeing that uneaten school meals are not wasted. I criticise the reporter for not asking why taxpayers are paying cash money for a policy failure. I mean, if kids aren’t eating the school lunches, what exactly is the point of it all?

http://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/512573/school-lunch-leftovers-used-to-feed-the-hungry
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March 25, 2024 8:14am
- Chris Nisbet
  
  Policy failure? I just heard Hipkins tell us the policy was a great success.
  In lefty world, spending untold millions of taxpayer dollars on wasting food is ‘success’.
  
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  March 25, 2024 8:56am
  - jkt
    
    The programme is a great success.
    My wife brings some of the waste home and we feast on it. Helps us save for our next trip to Aussie.
    
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    March 25, 2024 9:35am
    - Chris Nisbet
      
      You’re welcome.
      
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      March 25, 2024 10:56am
  - In Vino Veritas
    
    There’s also the policy of spending hundreds of millions on reducing poverty. And actually increasing it. How about the one where you spend hundreds of millions on housing for the homeless. And somehow end up with greater homelessness than when you started?
    
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    March 25, 2024 9:39am
- leoj
  
  Next thing: Parents of the hungry children will be going to school, just to eat what their kids don’t.
  
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  March 25, 2024 9:26am
  - jkt
    
    No parent should go hungry.
    There are so many meals left over that schools have to invest in more fridges to keep the food fresh before it goes to waste in order to make space for the next meal delivery.
    Smart families get their kids to pick up extra meals after school.
    
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    March 25, 2024 9:39am
    - artemisia
      
      But but but, handing out leftover school lunches is reducing crime. How good is that?
      
      A woman living in a West Auckland caravan park says having access to leftover school lunches is helping to curb crime. Residents of the park say access to the food means they don’t need to steal from a supermarket.
      
      Couldn’t make it up.
      
      https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/first-up/audio/2018931495/left-over-school-lunches-to-help-feed-community-prevents-crime
      
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      March 25, 2024 10:32am
      - jkt
        
        Unintended consequences. That is a great outcome. Giving the homeless food is a good thing.
        
        Maybe schools are good agencies to distribute food to those that need it.
        
        Maybe a local police officer should go around to schools every afternoon, pick up left over food packages and distribute it to the homeless.
        
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        March 25, 2024 10:51am
      - Pineapple Lumps
        
        Another bonus as there is more money to spend on drugs, alcohol, vapes, cigarettes, gambling.
        
        JKT – by the sounds it could become a claim at union negotiations for why teachers need more pay this time round.
        
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        March 25, 2024 3:44pm
- bjools
  
  Catch 22???
  Tax people more, so their kids need more school lunches?
  Then pay for their school lunches with the additional tax????
  How about the govt. stop taxing as much so parents can afford to feed their own kids.
  Then the equation becomes simple.
  Those that don’t feed their kids are either:
  Needing of our help
  or
  Abusing their kids.
  
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  March 25, 2024 9:56am
- Paulus
  
  You forget that any leftovers are not wasted, its the Teachers responsibility to see it is not wasted.
  Isn’t it !
  
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  March 25, 2024 10:58am
- Ghost
  
  But if they cut it back what are the pig farmers going to feed their pigs, becuase that is where all the left over meals here go, to the local pig farmer. No one wants them, the students don’t, the teachers don’t, the daily posts on Facebook offering them to the community go ignored. Poor pig farmer will have to find food elsewhere…..
  
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  March 25, 2024 11:03am
  - Pineapple Lumps
    
    Bacon prices set to increase or more imports.
    
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    March 25, 2024 3:45pm
cmm

Mahesh Muralidhar asks how we can make Aotearoa the Silicon Valley of the South Pacific.

Well a few points to consider….
* First, stop calling it Aotearoa. All this “Maori science” bullshit is scaring away professionals and investors. The world is competitive – competing for people and capital. Why would they want to come to a place that promotes the stone age? Why should they want to come to Aotearoa where they are expected to stand in awe of people waving pois and making death threats at eachother? Why would they want to buy property in a country which sees them being made into second class citizens?

* The “Silicon Valley of the South Pacific” is not a very lofty goal. We are already the top of the South Pacific. Who are we competing with? Fiji? No, pitch to international audiences. We want to integrate with the USA and Europe – not South Pacific.
* To a large extent this is already happening. As soon as a NZ company shows sufficient talent it gets bought up by someone with deep pockets. They become integrated with that other company and are no longer part of the NZ tech scene.
* Silicon Valley is dying. It is an overpriced piece of the commie shithole called California. Almost all of Silicon Valley is turning into a ghost town as companies leave for elsewhere.

Ironically, the internet is part of what is killing Silicon Valley. In the 1980s all the tech industries were drawn to Silicon Valley because that was where all the skilled people went and where the venture capitalists went. Silicon Valley became a self-reenforcing vortex drawing in people and money. Now you can get on Zoom etc and talk to anyone anywhere. Location is meaningless.

I didn’t pay to get past the paywall, but I suspect, being a National politician, he thinks there’s a political solution. If so:
* Isn’t this pretty much what Melissa Lee was buzzing around about a year ago? Where have her initiatives gone?
* The real solutions still remain what they were when Melissa was asking people: professionals have choices and can go anywhere in the world. Make NZ a place that attracts them and their families – mainly by focusing on fixing education, crime etc.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/how-we-can-make-aotearoa-the-silicon-valley-of-the-south-pacific-mahesh-muralidhar/ADMGIBFQO5H4FGKX33SUO7PVFQ/
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March 25, 2024 8:16am
- Cassandra
  
  “Make NZ a place that attracts them and their families – mainly by focusing on fixing education, crime etc.” A political philosophy in a nutshell! If that became the focus of all of our parties then we’d all be fine. It is certainly the aim of the CR parties, no racist BS about taniwhas and mauri from them. I’d want that sentiment as the first principle of the Treaty.
  
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  March 25, 2024 8:29am
  - cmm
    
    In Melissa Less’s case she was asking how to attract more IT staff to NZ.
    
    I wrote to her saying it’s pretty basic. IT staff are not different from anyone else with skills and options: plumbers, doctors, truck drivers,…
    
    Focus on making NZ a good place for decent people to live.
    
    Make NZ a shit place for criminals to live.
    
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    March 25, 2024 9:05am
  - Simon
    
    Silicon Indian call center of the South Pacific.
    
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    March 25, 2024 9:15am
- Flossie
  
  Well said cmm.
  
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  March 25, 2024 8:31am
  - Jack5
    
    Agreed, good post by CMM.
    
    Number of patents registered is an example of the technology progress and potential of a country.
    
    At the moment, China is streets ahead – more than double the number of the second in the field, the United States.
    
    New Zealand? We’re ahead of Saudi Arabia.
    
    What looks to be an anomaly is Finland, a small country that builds the biggest cruise liners. Tech companies provide about half its exports and employ more than 300,000 people. In number of patents, Finland sits between Peru and Egypt.
    
    International patents:
    
    https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/patents-by-country
    
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    March 25, 2024 9:53am
    - cmm
      
      From what I see, these are the stats from the local patent office, not the patents taken out by people in the country.
      
      I don’t think patent applications or grants are necessarily a good measure for innovation for two main reasons:
      
      1) Many, if not most, patents taken out by NZers will be US patents or such. Nobody really cares about getting an NZ patent. NZ is such a tiny market than nobody really cares about protecting it.
      2) Many of the NZ patents (the majority?) are taken out by foreigners.
      
      I have somewhere between 10 and 15 patents taken out over the last 30 years. All of those are US patents and a few were also patented in NZ because there was some rule that you also had to get a local patent. To the best of my knowledge that rule no longer applies.
      
      All the patents I have are assigned to the US corporate. I would expect they show up as US patents on these stats.
      
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      March 25, 2024 10:56am
- imalwaysright
  
  Have a look at the state of San Francisco’s cbd.
  We are about half way there.
  
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  March 25, 2024 8:32am
- kowtow
  
  Talk is cheap .
  
  The reality is we’ve ( the Establishment Elites) been recreating a new Haiti of the South Pacific .
  
  Why would anyone with serious means ( financial and personal) want to invest here let alone immigrate here .
  
  What I think we’re seeing is divestment and depopulation ( only masked by third world mass inmmigration)
  
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  March 25, 2024 8:35am
  - MCōs
    
    New Zealand is nothing like Haiti or Venezuela or Zimbabwe for that matter
    
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    March 25, 2024 8:51am
    - Benedict Yu
      
      Yes I get the hyperbole.
      
      However for last 6 years the trajectory of policy put New Zealand on track to being a poorer nation, ridden with conflict, with democracy and freedom threatened. Topped off by a liberal dose of mythology masquerading as science.
      
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      March 25, 2024 9:12am
      - MCōs
        
        NZ has seen far worse in my lifetime
        
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        March 25, 2024 10:12am
      - Pineapple Lumps
        
        You may still be enjoying a higher standard of living but basically it’s being paid for by our children and grandchildren. What a proud legacy we have! Thanks Jac, thanks Grant, thanks Adrian!
        
        6 0
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        March 25, 2024 3:47pm
    - kowtow
      
      The law abiding citizens of Gisbourne might beg to differ.
      
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      March 25, 2024 9:12am
    - Simon
      
      Parts of NZ are like Haiti Ven Zimb
      
      Parts of Gisborne are like some PNG high land tribal fight.
      
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      March 25, 2024 9:14am
      - MCōs
        
        Sixty four people were killed in recent tribal clashes in PNG by rival factions using “high-powered guns”, such as AK47 and M4 rifles
        Nothing like Gisborne
        https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/2/19/dozens-killed-in-largest-tribal-clashes-in-papua-new-guinea
        
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        March 25, 2024 10:22am
    - hmmokrightitis
      
      Tells ya what MCos – you wander through parts of our capital city after dark and then tell me that again.
      
      You know, the bits where the Police dont go and Vic Uni tells students to avoid – in daylight.
      
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      March 25, 2024 9:39am
      - cmm
        
        “Vic Uni tells students to avoid – in daylight”
        
        What? Is that real?
        
        4 1
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        March 25, 2024 10:05am
      - MCōs
        
        Which parts are they so I can have a look for myself next time I’m down that way
        
        2 3
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        March 25, 2024 10:25am
    - cmm
      
      While the reference to Haiti is OTT, it is worth comparing Haiti with its neighbouring Dominican Republic and asking why Haiti is going one way and Dominican Republic is going the other way.
      
      Then we could make a similar comparison between NZ and Australia.
      
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      March 25, 2024 9:43am
  - Benedict Yu
    
    Let’s imagine you are thinking about moving to New Zealand. You Google…
    
    New Zealand housing costs.
    New Zealand cost of living
    New Zealand crime
    New Zealand schools
    
    …. An hour or so on the inter web with that lot would give you pause for thought.
    
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    March 25, 2024 8:53am
  - cmm
    
    Haiti is pushing it, but yes, we just have to look at how industries like gas and oil have been treated to realise why people are gun shy.
    
    There are moves to increase the space sector. But are these real?
    
    Why would anyone build serious space infrastructure here when someone will find that dolphins swim past every few months and will have you shut down?
    
    Where are all the skilled people going to come from? They’re all pissing off to places with better futures.
    
    NZ has a higher murder rate than Aus. The pay’s lower here. The education is worse, opportunities are poor. etc etc.
    
    I came to NZ 31 years ago. In my 60s now, so it is harder to move. If I was 10 years younger I’d be gone.
    
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    March 25, 2024 9:01am
    - kowtow
      
      ‘Haiti is pushing it’
      
      A bit of poetic license I agree , but I do it as a real life juxtaposition to “Ayoteayohrower” ,which is a mythical construct but that there is an intention to be realised by the Elites and if it ever came to be in full then we would really be a South Seas Haiti , Venezuela or Zim.
      
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      March 25, 2024 9:17am
    - bjools
      
      “There are moves to increase the space sector. But are these real?”
      PSST… not too loud, or the greenies will notice the large volumes of smoke created when launching the rockets…
      then the cry will be to ban them, until a suitable battery powered pedal car option can be found.
      
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      March 25, 2024 10:07am
      - cmm
        
        Exactly.
        
        ANyone thinking of investing in space infrastructure will take one look at what happened to investments in oil and gas and rather pick somewhere safer.
        
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        March 25, 2024 5:04pm
- bennerg
  
  Somehow all areas of New Zealand society need to be lead by people with experience and skin in the game, rather than the university indoctrinated career politicians who make hay here and then launch themselves at the UN.
  
  We also need to address the fear factor – the fear of offending and upsetting the fragile who seem to garner the affections of the media whenever a “tough” decision is made.
  eg. if a family kills a child, lock them all up until the perpetrator is revealed. Instead we have the Kahui twins again and again and again, with excuses peppered with Te Reo and cultural indignation. All the while the Waipareira Trust pays it’s top people more than the prime minister. And who is calling them out? We need to get over this fear, else it will keep killing and distorting out society.
  
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  March 25, 2024 9:00am
- Tom Hunter
  
  I doubt they’ve ever read Tom Wolfe’s classic essay on Silicon Valley published in 1983 in Vanity Fair.
  
  I added my own thoughts as an IT professional in How The Sun Rose on Silicon Valley.
  
  Suffice to say we don’t have the culture for it. But then neither does the USA now.
  
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  March 25, 2024 9:34am
  - cmm
    
    I think the culture of the time cannot be recreated.
    
    I have had some involvement with Silicon Valley, first visiting the place in 1993 and my last visit being in 2008 or so. For almost my entire time of living in NZ, I have worked for companies headquartered in Silicon Valley.
    
    During those trips from 1993 to 2008 I have seen some huge shifts.
    
    In 1993, Silicon Valley was the place to go to if you had any technical aspirations. On my first trip there I went for an evening walk and stopped at a small pizza place. There I got talking to three of four guys who had come to Silicon Valley in the last few days looking for jobs. They had come from states all over USA.
    
    Another person was very confused that their company should be hiring people and have a remote site in NZ. Everyone knew that Silicon Valley was where the good people went to and anywhere else was a waste of time. Getting people like that to work with people in NZ was difficult.
    
    Now things are very different. Now I get on a conference call and there will likely be people from all over world. Location does not matter.
    
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    March 25, 2024 10:17am
- Jake Dee
  
  It is an interesting piece but the “We want to integrate with the USA and Europe ” has not been clearly thought out especially as it is followed by what a shithole California is becoming.
  Isn’t the logical answer more integration with Asia?
  Even if you think China is the big bogyman intent on taking over and enslaving the world (it isn’t) then why not Singapore, India, Taiwan, Korea and Japan?
  Hard to say exactly what our business model would be, high tech hubs in eco-villages? Marine science Perhaps or some sort of technology arbitrage? Sub-assemblies manufactured in China (or Korea et al.) Code written in Mumbai Head office and strategic planning in NZ, sold on to The USA and Europe through Singapore. You could get a nice low-price cutting-edge gizmo that isn’t going to get shut down because it’s under the control of Beijing.
  
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  March 25, 2024 4:51pm
Muttonbird

The European Broadcasting Union EBU, which organises the contest, said in response that Eurovision is a “non-political” event, and is “not a contest between governments”.

Yet:

Earlier this month Israel’s public broadcaster agreed to the lyrics of its song, October Rain, which was taken by some to be a reference to the Hamas attack of October 7, after an intervention by President Isaac Herzog called for “necessary adjustments”.
The song is due to be performed by Eden Golan at this year’s contest.

So the EBU claims its event is non-political but throws it’s toys out of the cot when Rio Cinema points out Eurovision is allowing an Israeli propaganda song.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/world-news/350224236/eurovision-song-contest-party-london-cancelled-protest-israel
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March 25, 2024 8:17am
- Benedict Yu
  
  The solution is to pay no attention to the Eurovision song contest.
  
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  March 25, 2024 8:35am
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  It’s never been clear to me how Israel qualifies to be considered part of Europe for singing purposes.
  
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  March 25, 2024 8:51am
- Che Guava
  
  Why is Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest? Last time I looked at a map, Israel was in the Middle East.
  
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  March 25, 2024 8:52am
  - jkt
    
    The things that trigger you. For ballance
    
    Palestinians are also allow to enter the competition.
    
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    March 25, 2024 9:44am
    - Che Guava
      
      Why? Palestine is in the same place as Israel. In fact, Palestine is Israel.
      
      Isn’t it reasonable to ask why non-Europeans are allowed to compete in European contests? What next? Cameroon playing in Euro 2024?
      
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      March 25, 2024 10:05am
      - jkt
        
        I have read every word that you have written on this matter. How about you spending five minutes and watch the YouTube “Does Israel Occupy the West Bank?”
        
        I do not have the energy to enter into a “debate” with you.
        
        3 1
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        March 25, 2024 10:55am
      - jkt
        
        There is an African cup.
        Eurovision is a brand. Like Coke.
        
        Not everything is about geography or whatever, binary thinking 🤔 limits one’s understanding of the real world as well as the issues in the world.
        
        Tunnel vision is a consequence of the values that one treasure.
        
        3 1
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        March 25, 2024 11:00am
- Swifty
  
  Hooray!
  
  A proper post from Muttonbird.
  
  There’s life in the old bird still!
  
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  March 25, 2024 8:52am
Muttonbird

Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
+ There is the potential for a cost-sharing arrangement with patients. Yes, we want drugs fully-funded, but some cancer and rare disorder patients have raised the prospect of cost-sharing in the past. Pharmac could use its strong negotiating powers to secure a good price, and then split the cost with a patient.

This is disgraceful but not surprising from Seymour.

If you are wealthy, he will subsidise your cancer treatment, but if you are not wealthy you can die in misery, or presumably use his euthanasia option.

https://twitter.com/Rachel_Smalley/status/1771260148654506375
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March 25, 2024 8:20am
- KH
  
  Rachael Smalley is a shrill who will not challenge the outrageous pricing of the big drug companies. No siree, she won’t go there.
  So – It’s all the government’s fault. According to her anyway. Nasty.
  
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  March 25, 2024 8:39am
  - jkt
    
    Equality of outcome warriors.
    The protagonist ignore the “intended” and inevitable outcome.
    
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    March 25, 2024 9:51am
  - bjools
    
    Only a National led Govt.
    Labour govt.s get a pass and a nominal excuse EVERY TIME.
    
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    March 25, 2024 10:13am
- imalwaysright
  
  Des Gorman has suggested we form a purchasing bloc with Aussie , Singapore , Malaysia, and Indonesia to get larger discounts. He also suggested that New Zealand preforming drug tests on medications already approved overseas was a waste of money.
  Seems that Pharmac is a layer of bureaucracy that is consuming money that should be used to buy drugs.
  
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  March 25, 2024 8:49am
- CJames
  
  The alternate view that most would agree on is there are a lot of drugs that aren’t on the public schedule because Pharmac has decided they don’t make the cost benefit. A very good example is Keytruda for a variety of other cancers than melanoma. However, people with money are prepared to pay for the drugs. Because Pharmac said no, they can’t get them in NZ. That is why Nzers go to Oz for treatment.
  In the above circumstances, what Seymour hos suggested makes a lot of sense.
  
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  March 25, 2024 8:53am
  - Benedict Yu
    
    “However, people with money are prepared to pay for the drugs. Because Pharmac said no, they can’t get them in NZ.”
    
    Is that correct? I read regular reports about folk paying for expensive cancer drugs not fiunded by Pharmac.
    
    On the wider issue of drug availability, it is ironic that those who complain about drugs not being funded are the same people who champion policies that continue to impoverish New Zealand relative to other countries.
    
    I very much hope that “wellbeing” as a policy goal has been consigned to the dustbin of history.
    
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    March 25, 2024 9:00am
    - imalwaysright
      
      “On the wider issue of drug availability, it is ironic that those who complain about drugs not being funded are the same people who champion policies that continue to impoverish New Zealand relative to other countries.”
      
      Please elaborate, you must have at least one person in mind.
      
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      March 25, 2024 10:05am
      - imalwaysright
        
        I wonder who downticked my post?
        
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        March 25, 2024 11:28am
  - Cassandra
    
    To clarify: keytruda is available in NZ if you pay for it, about 100k pa.
    
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    March 25, 2024 9:19am
  - Wayne Mapp
    
    It is one thing for people to pay privately, as currently the case. It is quite another for a public/private cost share when effectively only the well off can access the public proportion. That really would be a two level public health system based on income. The less well off get Economy, the better off get Premium Economy.
    Can’t see Dr Shane Reti ever agreeing with that.
    
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    March 25, 2024 9:29am
    - Matt Long
      
      If the more well off can pay, let them pay, if there are serious reasons why someone can’t pay, have emergency funding or fundraise.
      Plenty of people give to people in need of health care not available in New Zealand.
      This would be a great way for Iwi that have received government settlements to support their whanau.
      
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      March 25, 2024 9:41am
      - jkt
        
        There is value in your argument.
        A cost share model will make the drug more readily available and affordable for those who need it.
        
        I also like the Des Gorman idea of creating a larger purchasing bloc.
        
        We should at least have the conversation in a calm and rational way. But the equity “worriers” will insist on equity of outcome on this issue even though they promoted the EV subsidy rort.
        
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        March 25, 2024 10:04am
      - Paulus
        
        I like my numerous free prescriptions and for my family.
        Previously there was an annual $100 cap covering all our pills for whole family.
        We can afford to pay for all our prescriptions (over 90 in all any one year).
        So like Luxon who says effectively the same thing.
        I did not and never will vote Labour even as a vote getter.
        p.s.
        of course there are many Chemists who never charged anyway, and would deliver for free to older people.
        
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        March 25, 2024 11:10am
    - jkt
      
      There is another way of looking at this.
      
      I will remind you that the equity warriors promoted the EV rort. The same arguments apply here.
      
      If such an initiative was led by Labour it would be celebrated as visionary by the equity warriors.
      
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      March 25, 2024 10:08am
    - Grunter
      
      There is no additional cost to Pharmac so what’s the problem again? Members of the public that choose to use Pharmacs purchasing power to make expensive drugs slightly less expensive.
      
      Why all the “Rich Prick” envy-style thinking? We tell people who have figured out how to be successful with their lives that they are somehow not allowed to look after their own health because other people are less successful?
      
      A very weird way to view problems and solutions.
      
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      March 25, 2024 10:31am
      - Wayne Mapp
        
        What you are proposing is a class of drugs funded in part by Pharmac. Those who have money can access the drugs but those who can’t, don’t have access.
        Surely it is a fundamental principle of public health expenditure that everyone has equal access to public health, depending on their actual health needs. Access to public health funding ashould not be dependent on the size of one’s wallet
        I can see why Act might propose their top up mechanism. But at least to me it is wrong in principle. But then it is this sort of thinking why I am not a member of Act , but am a member of National.
        
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        March 25, 2024 12:12pm
      - jkt
        
        Taking pressure off the public health care system could be seen as a way to improve access to healthcare by those who struggle to get access to health care. Incentivising it by design is just not politically palatable.
        
        Our system is designed around publicly funded health care so we just have to accept the limitations that go with that. The alternative is just too hard….
        
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        March 25, 2024 1:15pm
  - Ghost
    
    Nothing to do with pharmac. It’s up to medsafe what is approved and people have been buying Keytruda for a while
    
    A couple of my medicines aren’t funded by pharmac, one I have to get made up at a compounding lab in Auckland.
    
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    March 25, 2024 10:32am
  - Inandout
    
    CJ, here are the leaders of Pharmac and two of them are ‘cultural’ and the rest appear to have a solid medical background. Why the fuck do you need Maori advisers on such a team?
    https://pharmac.govt.nz/about/who-are-we/senior-leadership-team
    
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    March 25, 2024 12:29pm
    - Paulus
      
      Every Government Department has a Maori Division/Department who are consulted on everything first, and must agree otherwise it’s off.
      Or at a convenient price, and its getting worse still.
      
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      March 25, 2024 1:55pm
- Matt Long
  
  Muttonbird would prefer the socialist approach where medicines are too expensive and unavailable to New Zealanders, preventing them from receiving treatment, to a subsidised model.
  Give us that old time socialism, it’s bad for the country.
  
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  March 25, 2024 8:57am
  - MCōs
    
    Here’s an example
    
    “Keytruda is particularly effective for patients diagnosed with Lynch Syndrome.
    
    Keytruda is given by infusion every three weeks, and the number of treatments needed depends on the individual. Patient cost contribution is capped at over $6o,000 + GST (approximately $69,000), and then the manufacturer, Merck, Sharpe & Dohme, will take over payments for as long as the patient needs Keytruda.
    
    It is important to note that the cost-share only applies to the cost of the drug itself, not its administration. A Ministry of Health directive prohibits the administration of unfunded drugs in a public hospital so the patient must meet the cost of administering Keytruda in a private clinic (approximately $100,000 depending on the number of treatments needed).”
    
    If the government pays half the patient is still left with a large bill even if it can be administered in a public hospital, particularly if the cancer and or treatment leaves them unable to work
    By definition half the patients will be in a below average income household
    https://bowelcancernz.org.nz/about-bowel-cancer/treatment-options/unfunded-drugs-and-clinical-trials/
    
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    March 25, 2024 9:26am
    - imalwaysright
      
      Mc,
      Good info. Thanks
      
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      March 25, 2024 10:07am
- leoj
  
  Must be a green muttonbird. Envy will get you everywhere but only in a leftist (greenie) world.
  
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  March 25, 2024 9:32am
- bennerg
  
  Somehow the reality of cost for a life must be addressed – there is a limit somewhere, and that must be addressed. Of course someone with resource$ will want to afford more, but how much can the state cough up.
  
  Our health seems to be determined by two main factors, congenital and lifestyle. ie what we get served at birth, and what we do with our lives . I agree that there are unique exceptions such as living next door to a chemical factory! But those need a different consideration.
  
  The congenital may also be affected by the lifestyle of our parents and grandparents (and so on). Cultural factors such as diet and violence also come into the equation, so primarily it is down to individual/family factors.
  
  The big question then is how much of the burden does the rest of society need to take on, when it does not have the effective means to prevent or affect the fundamental causes of illness?
  
  And how can those who do take responsibility be rewarded?
  
  And how can those contributing to their ill health be incentivised to make a change?
  
  There is a short term need, and certainly as part of a caring society, we need to take care of our own.
  
  However the the long term issues need to be addressed otherwise we will get caught in a downward spiral with every increasing ill health as we pander to a lack of discipline and self responsibility for taking care of our own health.
  
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  March 25, 2024 9:57am
NeverMindTheBollocks

When asked on RNZ why Labour is now in favour of tax on wealth while no such policy was implemented during the last six years, Chris Hipkins glibly said ‘That was then, this is now’.

Such an easy out, allowed to pass without comment by the interviewer. Watch for it to be advanced as an explanation against each of the many policy failures of the last six years.
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March 25, 2024 8:24am
- artemisia
  
  Funny that those who want to tax more … and more … and more never seem to mention cutting coats according to cloth.
  
  Wealth taxes definitely work well. For the countries that welcome the asset owners. The problem with wealth taxes is they attempt to tax those with, ummm, money and assets to make their own arrangements. Somewhere else. (Some rich folk in France headed just across the border, and some to choose Russian citizenship.)
  
  If New Zealand follows France and just goes for a wealth tax on property, what will the consequences be then?
  
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  March 25, 2024 9:00am
  - Paulus
    
    Remember there is still a Gift tax which was last set at $27,000 p.a.
    It remains in Law, but currently set at zero, and could be activated at any time, immediately.
    
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    March 25, 2024 11:12am
Maggie Pie

Everybody knows I hate yachting. But my partner was saying after the complete debacle with SailGP on Saturday, that’s 2 hours of HIS life he’ll never get back.
OK, maybe Liz Slooten is an xspurt on the mating habits of Hectors Dolphins. But as my partner was quick to point out, she looks like she’d be a bit of a ‘Party-Pooper’ anyway.

https://1news.co.nz/2024/03/24/expert-disputes-coutts-claim-hectors-dolphins-not-endangered/
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March 25, 2024 8:29am
- imalwaysright
  
  Saw her on the news on Sat in raptures of orgasmic magnitude that the racists were stopped, she had successfully foiled their plan.
  
  Thankfully there was no second coming on Sunday.
  
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  March 25, 2024 8:53am
  - Paulus
    
    Still do not know who reported a single Dolphin with what evidence ?
    Cost Christchurch a few millions for the last time in New Zealand.
    
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    March 25, 2024 11:15am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Doesn’t seem that bright. Granny schoolteacher type.
  Pissed off that Coutts said the Hector Dolphins are not endangered. That would not be a random comment. Russell is a smart cookie. I have known him since he was about 6.
  
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  March 25, 2024 9:05am
  - Maggie Pie
    
    We know Couttsie as well, but just to wave out to.
    He built the most fab mansion on the Tindalls beachfront.
    Only problem, is that the Public Toilets are right alongside the entrance 🙁
    
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    March 25, 2024 9:17am
    - imalwaysright
      
      Pink dollar. He’s got foresight .
      
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      March 25, 2024 9:44am
      - Don Beckett
        
        ?????
        
        2 0
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        March 25, 2024 11:25am
    - Steve Otto(North Shore)
      
      He and the Coutts family were customers of the company I worked for. Beach trollies for small sailing dinghies. All of them started sailing young. Peter Blake was another. Dean Barker and his Father Ray as well.
      
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      March 25, 2024 11:05am
  - OlderChas
    
    Was stated on Newshub last night that Hector’s are officially a threatened, not endangered, species. (I am probably mistaken when I thought I saw the tip of a large rat disappearing as the “reporter’s” mouth opened to say it!)
    
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    March 25, 2024 10:32am
- bjools
  
  Given….
  https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&sca_esv=27b000d398e4e776&sxsrf=ACQVn08REsnp4TComVqkGmydZxAdj5j8uw:1711319467415&q=Hector+and+maui+dolphin+sanctuary+map&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiUg8_n-Y2FAxVNxjgGHckzAh0Q1QJ6BAg8EAE&biw=1920&bih=927&dpr=1#vhid=LXq2iLvzKVQIVM&vssid=l
  Where do they suppose they hold these races?
  or is just about money and power?
  
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  March 25, 2024 11:34am
KH

Maybe the unions voted against Grant Robertson not because he was gay, but voted against him because he had been a student president.
The flock of ex Student Presidents have been the curse of the Labour Party. They have no idea about the interests of unions. No concept of how it is to be working class.
Unions have “studentpresidentophobia” I think.
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March 25, 2024 8:34am
- Beach Haven expat
  
  Maybe they just thought he was useless?
  
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  March 25, 2024 4:51pm
NeverMindTheBollocks

Poor analysis from RNZ. I’m not even sure that they are pushing a barrow; it’s just D- work.

There’s no questioning of NZTA’s $84 per person per trip subsidy; ie whether $84 is per actual paying passenger, as opposed to per seat (full or not) or whether the seat is occupied by a free rider.

By contrast, there’s also no analysis of metro train occupancy, which presumably runs at more than 100% during rush hour.

Above all, there’s no analysis of transport options (bicycles are of course much cheaper), or whether the tax payer should be funding other peoples’ travel at all.

http://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/512586/how-does-te-huia-s-subsidy-compare-to-roads
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March 25, 2024 8:37am
- cmm
  
  You can always fiddle with numbers to make them look better. For example, costing by passenger-km.
  
  Using that measure helps make Cindy’s train set better than Auckland metro trains.
  
  But is this a good measure? Perhaps a $ per trip measure is better?
  
  Comparing both to roading is ridiculous. Roading is paid for by a specific tax on road usage by the people using the roads.
  
  If they were to only charge train users the tax used to pay the $84/trip subsidy they’d be squealing.
  
  I am sure the buses in Christchurch are getting more than 75c per passenger-km, especially if you look at the off peak buses.
  
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  March 25, 2024 9:39am
  - Paulus
    
    Accountants, and the likes of Robertson, can do anything, and it professional called Creative Accounting.
    
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    March 25, 2024 1:58pm
- Handyman
  
  Huia people always quote total patronage and total capacity, but average load factor is
  only 20%. They were so over the moon with these passenger numbers they doubled the number of trips per day.
  
  I love that claim that a diesel locomotive produces less CO2 than 30 cars on the same trip.
  
  “The regional council’s Climate Action Committee chairperson Jennifer Nickel said it was contributing to lowering carbon emissions and was on track to meet patronage targets, despite setbacks.”
  
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  March 25, 2024 10:33am
pdm

`studentpresidentophobia’

Could that be the word of the year for 2024?

Well done KH if you dreamed it up.
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March 25, 2024 8:46am
- KH
  
  Look at the antics of student presidents at the top of the Labour party I myself have a very bad case of “Studentpresidentophobia”.
  Hopkins, Robertson, Ardern, Verrall…..
  Who else ? Clark?
  
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  March 25, 2024 8:56am
Maggie Pie

And did you read where that irrelevant clown Hipkins “wants to TAX us more”
What a sick commie joke he is!

So has he learned nothing after 6 years of Robbo’s financial management?
All the government has to do is PRINT more money if they need it.

SHEESH.
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March 25, 2024 8:47am
- Muttonbird
  
  Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
  The time has come. Pakeha elite can’t fight CGT and asset taxes for much longer…
  
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  March 25, 2024 8:54am
  - Libertarians are right
    
    You do realise you guys lost badly at the election because you were pushing that kind of stupidity right?
    So, the time has clearly not come.
    
    Also, it doesn’t only hit the “Pakeha Elite”, there are a huge number of other people it inevitably hits unless massive carve outs are made which creates loopholes which make it irrelevant (unless they hit the people they supposedly weren’t targeting).
    
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    March 25, 2024 9:47am
  - cmm
    
    Yup, because one thing’s for sure: any CGT will have a loop hole for the Maori elite.
    
    Mutton: many of the values in western culture are captured in the Aesop’s Fables.
    
    Here’s one for you: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Goose_that_Laid_the_Golden_Eggs
    
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    March 25, 2024 9:56am
  - SmokerGuy
    
    And how about the Maori elite who get massive tax advantages. Should they pay it too Muttonhead?
    
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    March 25, 2024 10:11am
    - Paulus
      
      Maori tens of thousand Trusts are registered charities so pay no tax.
      Like land as no one own rates are written off each year.
      Sorry Pakeha you now Lost big time in Aotearoa !
      
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      March 25, 2024 11:19am
  - Yabster
    
    Mutton- what about the Maori elite?- the ones creaming it- will they be exempt- ie your mate lil Willie etc…
    
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    March 25, 2024 10:25am
  - jkt
    
    Nearly 100% of people do not want to pay more tax. Like in consensus. The majority of voters rejected the idea of an additional capital gains or additional wealth taxes.
    
    Parker explained the idea very thoroughly at the time and Hipkins decided it was electoral suicide. Or inconvenient or whatever….
    
    It tells us that Hipkins is a principled leader. Yeah, right.
    
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    March 25, 2024 11:13am
- Prince
  
  This won’t be popular, but in my view National should propose a CGT in the next election.
  Key factors would be:
  – No overall increase in tax take. CGT to be offset by reductions in income tax. Aim is to remove anomaly where commercial capital gains are not taxed.
  – Political upside is that the argument isn’t whether CGT is ‘fair’ (it clearly is), but do people want more tax/Govt (Labour etc), or more income/freedom (Nats).
  
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  March 25, 2024 9:06am
  - Libertarians are right
    
    CGT is massively unfair for a huge number of reasons. I get that it seems fair to people that don’t understand tax etc but it’s a terrible tax.
    
    For any investor, the value of an asset is in the future income of that asset. That future income is taxed. Therefore, taxing the passing of that future income from one person to another is taxing that income twice which is clearly fundamentally unfair.
    
    So no, a CGT is not clearly fair unless you think taxing someone twice is fair.
    
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    March 25, 2024 9:51am
    - Jack5
      
      Capital gains tax isn’t terrible, and we already have it in a mild form in NZ.
      
      Total tax is the problem.
      
      Without CGT, growth in assets, partly or mainly through inflation, is tax free, while companies and individuals pay tax on profits generated in everyday normal business.
      
      A more effective capital gains tax, balanced with lower personal and company taxes, would be sensible for NZ.
      
      Nearly every developed country but NZ has an effective capital gains tax, or some other tax on property transactions.
      
      Switzerland is sometimes cited as being free of capital gains tax. However, this tax does apply to what it classes as “professional investors”, and the cantons (provinces) of Switzerland apply a wealth tax on assets, including the family house.
      
      In the run up to the next election, Leftists will muddy the difference between a wealth tax and capital gains tax, and we could end up with getting both taxes imposed. That would be terrible.
      
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      March 25, 2024 10:44am
      - Libertarians are right
        
        We do already have a mild form but it is terrible.
        Lots of countries do have Capital Gains taxes but their tax systems are all trash. Ours is one of the best and fairest tax systems in the world (actually – look it up).
        
        Say I have a Company. It earns $100,000 per year.
        I sell it to Bob for $500,000.
        Instead of me paying $28,000 per year for the next 5 years, Bob does instead. The tax on that $500,000 has been paid at 28% ($140,000).
        Now, assume I have to pay “Capital Gains Tax”. We are now paying more than 28% tax on that income. This is obviously unfair.
        Frank also earns $100,000 per year and doesn’t have to pay this extra tax so why should we?
        
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        March 25, 2024 11:44am
      - pdm
        
        `Capital gains tax isn’t terrible’
        
        Administered by a Labour/Green/Maori coalition would be an absolute disaster for all New Zealanders.
        
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        March 25, 2024 11:48am
      - jkt
        
        Capital gains tax has only a few negatives.
        It is difficult and expensive to manage and does not bring in a reliable tax stream, it kills innovation, initiative, risk taking, investment …… it shrinks the accumulative tax’s take over time …… but otherwise it is a great idea.
        
        A capital gains tax will be gained by the wealthy. Why, because they can afford to.
        
        There are some capital gains taxes that are easier to implement and administer and these allow for redistribution of wealth without harming the individual who owns the wealth. Estate tax. It targets the wealth of the beneficiaries of the estate.
        
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        March 25, 2024 11:53am
      - Jack5
        
        Libertarians are Right’s wrong post at 11.44…
        
        You think tax on a capital gain is equivalent to double taxation?
        
        His/her/them’s:
        
        “Say I have a Company. It earns $100,000 per year.
        
        I sell it to Bob for $500,000.
        
        Instead of me paying $28,000 per year for the next 5 years, Bob does instead. The tax on that $500,000 has been paid at 28% ($140,000).
        
        The capital gains tax would be on an incurred gain. What happens after that is irrelevant.
        
        Bob’s tax is unrelated to that already paid by the old owner, Libertarians are Wrong.
        
        Unless, unless, he bought Bob’s company by buying its shares. Then there would be no capital gain, or capital gain tax incurred.
        
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        March 25, 2024 3:08pm
      - Prince
        
        Thanks Jack5, you put it much clearer than I did.
        If Nats don’t get ahead of the ball on this, and put together a CGT with clear reductions in income tax, Labour will be back sooner than later with a much worse CGT.
        
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        March 25, 2024 3:19pm
      - Libertarians are right
        
        Jack5 – Your argument is completely wrong.
        Firstly, if I sold the shares in my company to Bob, I would still pay a CGT on my capital gain so I wouldn’t get around the double taxation.
        
        Your issue is that you only see the guy making “income” and believe he should be taxed but the other guy is already paying tax on that income so it is being double taxed. It doesn’t matter if that tax is being paid by two separate people – it’s still double taxation. No one else gets their income taxed twice (even if by two different people) like this.
        
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        March 25, 2024 5:06pm
    - G the giant from Dunedin
      
      Waa as it till people find out capital gains on shares would be taxed, how will their KiwiSaver look?
      
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      March 25, 2024 1:45pm
      - Paulus
        
        A Disaster for Kiwisaver as the earnings would drop even further than many are doing now, as most people have no idea what it is all about anyway.
        
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        March 25, 2024 2:02pm
      - Master Mariner
        
        As Warren Buffet once stated,
        Once people realise that paying fees that they have lost 80% of there profits already. Think Super .
        
        Here in NZ, You are not only taxed but also no choice in investments along with large fees.
        
        So what’s the point in investing in Green washing Trends etc.
        
        I’m no accountant at all, But what a shit investment.
        
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        March 25, 2024 3:56pm
      - Jack5
        
        C from Dunedin:
        
        There is already capital gains tax on share transactions, but lightly imposed.
        
        If this tax were tightened, the result would probably mean investors would swing towards shares paying good dividends (imputed, so there is no double tax), rather than focus on potential capital gain.
        
        Libertarians are R: There is no double taxation in your example. No one entity is paying twice. A distinct new owner is unconnected with the taxable earnings of the previous owner.
        
        At present taxes are stacked against trading profit as compared with capital gain. That’s why so much of NZ’s capital goes into property.
        
        Absence of a capital gains tax is likely one cause why NZ is 42nd in the world by GDP per capita, and our economy is bad at present.
        
        ANZ Bank economists reported last week: “GDP growth on a per capita basis is almost as soft as it was following the Global Financial Crisis. It’s tough going out there.”
        
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        March 26, 2024 1:47am
  - Taieri
    
    the argument isn’t whether CGT is ‘fair’ (it clearly is)
    ————
    
    But is it really?
    Depends how it is calculated. Does it take into account the rate of inflation? How is the capital value established with respect to the real estate? Are there going to be any cut off points or exemptions? What is the proposed rate? Is that rate “fair”, and if so, why?
    
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    March 25, 2024 10:25am
    - Paulus
      
      Who will value an Asset – new Department needed.
      
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      March 25, 2024 11:20am
      - Ian Boag
        
        I was living in Canada in 1972 when they introduced CGT. They set a “valuation day” and I never heard of any serious grizzles about it. Certainly no new govt dept. If real estate was valued at RV+15% for the first one, noone could greally complain. After that of course it would be based on actual sales values. Shares are easy. Businesses not all that hard – if it is selling in 5 year’s time for 3 year’s income then run it back to 3 year’s income today.
        
        “Too hard” doesn’t cut it seeing as most of the rest of the world has it in one form or another. Including nasty commie places like Australia, Canada, UK, USA, France …..
        
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        March 25, 2024 1:10pm
      - bjools
        
        To Ian Boag:
        ” Shares are easy.”
        Yes from a tax view point,.
        However, in NZ we have “National Super” and “Kiwi Saver”, who only make the returns they make, by buying and selling shares. (for a profit).
        Therefore the Govt. , with CGT, has a way to reduce your retirement income. From your future, to fund their misspending today.
        
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        March 25, 2024 9:25pm
    - Taieri
      
      If real estate was valued at RV+15% for the first one, noone could greally complain.
      ———–
      
      There’s a house in our street on the market right now. Its rateable value is $645K. The asking price is “over $529K”. How do we calculate capital gain on that?
      
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      March 25, 2024 3:48pm
      - Master Mariner
        
        May as well say the same for rates on overpriced valuations.
        Would anyone get a reduction, If not why not ?
        
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        March 25, 2024 3:59pm
      - Ian Boag
        
        I did the +15% thing as a way to damp down any grizzles. The first time you sell the property you want the “acquisition cost” (v-day number)value to be as high as possible to minimise CGT. After that it doesn’t matter.
        
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        March 25, 2024 5:25pm
  - Skippytony
    
    +1 on a form of CGT. No tax on primary residential dwelling but applies to all others – those in trusts, partnerships and not for profits.
    
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    March 25, 2024 10:25am
  - artemisia
    
    One of the (many) issues with Labour’s proposed CGT was its coverage. Sell the farm and pay it. Sell the Rothco, classic cars, diamond tiara and the boat – good to go.
    
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    March 25, 2024 12:41pm
    - Ian Boag
      
      Classic car capital gain? I wish.
      
      Ask some people in your local vintage car club 🙂
      
      Boat capital gain? Give me a break … 🙂
      
      1 0
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      March 25, 2024 5:27pm
- cmm
  
  If Hipkins thought CGT such an awesome idea then he should have proposed it as the main Labour policy item in the last election.
  
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  March 25, 2024 9:53am
  - Flossie
    
    Ahhh – but the “then and now” argument!
    
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    March 25, 2024 10:15am
Vinicius

As is well known the New Zealand Public Sector grew substantially under the Ardern-Hipkins Labour administration. This growth was by 34% apparently from 2017-2023. This was by adding 16,000 FTE’s (full-time employees).

By digging around I found a briefing document from May 2022 to the then Minister of the Public Service, one Chris Hipkins. The document is for the Minister to read and approve which he does at the end.

What is of most interest in the briefing is the spin (edited in the interests of brevity).

• ongoing growth will be explained by reference to service or legislative programme delivery

• the Public Service should not appear to be out of step.

Under 3. The longer-term pattern of growth of the Public Service between 2017 and 2021 (went up 29%) can be explained by a combination of the:

• need to deliver the Government’s COVID-19 response

• need to deliver the Government’s ambitious reform programme

• reduction in reliance on consultants and contractors in the Public Service.

This is just a lot of claptrap from a government that was poor at delivering programmes and project and keeping them funded and under budget. So, Chippy is nothing but a hypocrite in his attempts to lecture the new government about anything.

https://www.publicservice.govt.nz/assets/DirectoryFile/Report-An-overview-of-the-shape-and-size-of-the-Public-Service-over-the-last-five-years.pdf
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March 25, 2024 8:50am
Chris Nisbet

Breaking news! Labour wants to add another tax.
Knock me down with a feather.
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March 25, 2024 8:52am
- leoj
  
  There is not a tax they don’t like.
  
  Cutting costs and improving efficiencies?
  
  Can’t do that. Might mean fewer jobs in the public service. Labour needs their votes.
  
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  March 25, 2024 9:37am
Matt Long

Right wing extremist statistician questions Hamas Health Agency war death figures. As if a group engaging in Holy Jihad would tell lies, what is it with these sick people?
Anyway, why is he saying a lesser number of innocent people killed in a war is a good thing? Sicko.
Next he’ll be saying Biden or even Saint Jacinda tell lies.
https://www.foxnews.com/world/biden-use-of-hamas-death-count-challenged-by-prominent-statistician-says-numbers-arent-accurate
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March 25, 2024 9:05am
- Che Guava
  
  Your statistician, Abraham Wyner, is obviously Jewish. You evidently don’t believe the Palestinians because they are an interested party, yet you except a Jewish professor’s claims even though he’s also an interested party. See the obvious appearance (at least) of a conflict of interest here?
  
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  March 25, 2024 9:13am
  - Matt Long
    
    Che, I anticipated your post and thought about writing it for you, but didn’t want to prevent your little dopamine hit.
    Your response that the man has a Joo sounding name and can’t be believed, would be better delivered as , he has a Joo sounding name and his analysis is wrong because…
    
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    March 25, 2024 9:49am
    - Che Guava
      
      But he is Jewish. It’s not (just) his name, it’s his obvious physiognomy.
      
      Moreover, here he is in Jewish publication “Forward” opining on Jewish summer camps and the Jewish values they instill in young Jews.
      
      https://forward.com/opinion/445601/im-a-statistician-closing-camp-because-of-corona-is-a-huge-mistake/
      
      “Let’s start with the benefits of remaining open. First and foremost you have the immense reward of camp itself. The Jewish summer camp experience is the most successful method we have for Jewish identity building. Multiple studies have demonstrated that the Jewish sleep-away camp experience has a large positive impact on holding Jewish values and future life choices like marriage and child-rearing. A decision to close camps this summer will have consequences for future summers.”
      
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      March 25, 2024 9:58am
      - Taieri
        
        But he is Jewish. It’s not (just) his name, it’s his obvious physiognomy
        ————
        
        Measured the width of his nose with Vernier calipers, did you?
        
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        March 25, 2024 10:28am
      - Matt Long
        
        A COVID denier too, believe nothing the Joo says.
        
        7 1
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        March 25, 2024 10:37am
      - Cassandra
        
        Che: Einstein was a Jew, Oppenheimer was a Jew. Therefore we don’t believe them? They were Jews; you, sir, are an idiot. And as for Jewish physiognomy, half the people in North Africa look like Jews and half the Jews in Israel do not look like Jews! Al Pacino looks like a Jew……………..
        
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        March 25, 2024 10:47am
      - Geri Sjovik
        
        Jewish summer camp to build jewish identity is bad.
        
        Norwegian kids going to island to build international communism is good.
        
        So good and bad is relative depending on how you view the cause?
        
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        March 25, 2024 10:48am
      - Che Guava
        
        “Einstein was a Jew, Oppenheimer was a Jew. Therefore we don’t believe them?”
        
        Blatant strawman.
        
        It’s not that “we shouldn’t believe any Jew just because they are a Jew,” it’s that, for obvious reasons, “we should be sceptical about a Jew claiming that his enemies’ claims are false.”‘
        
        This is just the same principle that many commenters adopt when doubting Palestinian claims, so why should it not have universal application?
        
        This is just an obvious principle to anyone who knows anything about the world that I shouldn’t even need to explain it.
        
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        March 25, 2024 10:57am
      - Che Guava
        
        Geri
        
        “Jewish summer camp to build jewish identity is bad.
        
        Norwegian kids going to island to build international communism is good.
        
        So good and bad is relative depending on how you view the cause?”
        
        Not at all. You completely miss the point. I cited that article to prove my contention that he’s Jewish. QED.
        
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        March 25, 2024 11:07am
      - jkt
        
        Che, your scepticism is very selective.
        It even looks slightly biased.
        
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        March 25, 2024 11:19am
    - bjools
      
      I’m not Jewish, in fact I am an Atheist.
      I distinctly remember asking on the this blog.
      Considering the exaggeration of the then “hospital bombing”(remember 500 dead from an IDF bomb) turned out to be a Hamas misfire killing 50 in the car park (hospital undamaged).
      Did they exaggerate all figures by a factor of 10?
      
      11 1
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      March 25, 2024 10:30am
      - Che Guava
        
        “I’m not Jewish, in fact I am an Atheist.”
        
        I think you’re misunderstanding the core of the issue. Yes, Judaism is a religion, but Jewishness is predominantly an ethnic characteristic. Religious or atheistic, left wing or right wing, all Jews (nearly all) support Israel, because it’s about ethnic, not religious, collectivity and solidarity.
        
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        March 25, 2024 10:50am
      - jkt
        
        And “Palestinian” is not?
        And Palestinian solidarity is not? O, yes, Palestinian solidarity is different. It is based on Jew hatred. And that makes it OK, right!
        
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        March 25, 2024 11:24am
      - Taieri
        
        Jewishness is predominantly an ethnic characteristic.
        ———–
        
        Is it?
        Is a Sephardi Jew from Morocco of the same ethnicity as an Ashkenazi Jew from Poland?
        
        I’m afraid Dear Sir that you have absolutely no idea of what you are talking about…
        
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        March 25, 2024 12:03pm
      - Jack5
        
        DNA shows that Jews and Palestinians are cousins – both descend from the Canaanites.
        
        https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/ancient-cultures/ancient-near-eastern-world/jews-and-arabs-descended-from-canaanites/
        
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        March 25, 2024 3:36pm
    - Dave
      
      To be fair to CG, the link doesn’t give enough mathematical detail for the reader to know exactly what’s wrong – or right – with the statistical analysis.
      
      I have seen a much more detailed explication of the numbers (but can’t find it now) which convincingly supports Wyner’s conclusion that Hamas’s figures are highly improbable.
      
      I once gave junior maths pupils this statistical homework – record the colours of the first 30 cars they saw – which we could then work on in class. Checking their tallies, I found one girl who claimed to have seen 6 green cars, 6 white cars, 6 orange cars, 6 pink cars, 6 blue cars. The Hamas figures are more sophisticated, but fraudulent for similar statistical reasons.
      
      Unfortunately, everything looks like a Jewish nail if you are an anti-Semitic hammer.
      
      Should you be reading this, Che, I was raised Anglican and became an atheist in 1966. After a quick check in the mirror, I suspect my nose is maybe marginally larger than average – oh no, could I be a secret Jew?
      
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      March 25, 2024 11:08am
  - mandk
    
    I see the Jew-hater is up and about early today.
    
    He denounces someone as a Jew because his name is Abraham Wyner.
    
    Doesn’t he realise that Abraham Lincoln’s real family name was Leincohn, and he was son a Rabbi?
    
    Those Jews; they get everywhere.
    
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    March 25, 2024 10:05am
    - Matt Long
      
      Didn’t know that Mandk, I guess the rabble would have torn the head off his statue if it were widely known.
      Cheers.
      
      8 1
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      March 25, 2024 10:35am
    - Che Guava
      
      I’m pointing out that a Jewish statistician making claims about Palestinian casualty figures when the two groups are engaged in a conflict is clearly self-interested. This is the same argument made by those of you who dismiss the Palestinian’s figures (which most of the world accepts, btw, except the Israelis of course).
      
      And it’s not just that he’s a certain ethnicity, it’s that he is Jewish particularly, and Jews (as they will tell you and demonstrate by their actions) have an intense ingroup loyalty surpassing that of probably any other group that tends to take primacy over objective reality.
      
      So there’s the bias in itself, and then there’s the additional the Jewish element, which turbo charges the existing bias.
      
      2 8
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      March 25, 2024 10:43am
      - Geri Sjovik
        
        No, most of the world does not accept the Hamas figures.
        
        Those that do are doing it for their own agenda.
        
        Like what you are doing.
        
        5 2
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        March 25, 2024 12:39pm
      - jkt
        
        Data is part of oppression.
        
        2 0
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        March 25, 2024 1:27pm
    - Che Guava
      
      “Doesn’t he realise that Abraham Lincoln’s real family name was Leincohn, and he was son a Rabbi?”
      
      Assuming this is true, why do they often change their names? Are they trying to mislead people?
      
      2 10
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      March 25, 2024 10:46am
      - greybeard
        
        So tell us your real name.
        
        1 3
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        March 25, 2024 12:41pm
      - jkt
        
        Because of people hating them for breathing.
        
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        March 25, 2024 1:28pm
      - SoloView
        
        @ Che Guava
        “Doesn’t he realise that Abraham Lincoln’s real family name was Leincohn, and he was son a Rabbi?”
        
        Here’s Wikipedia’s version:-
        Lincoln’s parents were “Hard Shell” Baptists, joining the Little Pigeon Baptist Church near Lincoln City, Indiana, in 1823 when Abraham was 14 years old.[9] Some writers have detected early Catholic influence on the young Lincoln which they attribute to his first school-teacher, Zachariah Riney.[10]
        
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        March 25, 2024 2:49pm
    - Paulus
      
      I love many years ago in the UK that the zebra crossing was created and the lighted bollard was called a Belisha Beacon.
      After the Minister Mr Hore Belisha, – actually Horeb Elisha.
      The still shine in some places.
      
      2 0
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      March 25, 2024 11:25am
  - Geri Sjovik
    
    Yes, the Hamas supplied figures must be correct.
    
    After all didn’t an Israeli bomb hit a Hamas hospital and kill 500 civilians.
    
    Then the lie was told to the world that it was a Freedom Fighter rocket that misfired, landed in the carpark, and injured 50.
    
    There is yet to be any verifiable proof of the claim of the numbers killed.
    
    Wasn’t it you that said just the other day that, under international law, civilians are allowed to fight an invading army. If I recall it was also pointed out to you that if civilians take up arms then, under international law, they can be defeated.
    
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    March 25, 2024 10:43am
- Jake Dee
  
  We’ve been through all this before, several times in fact. But if you want to let’s run through it again
  Argument from 3 weeks ago
  https://www.jpost.com/israel-hamas-war/article-791838
  Counter argument.
  https://liorpachter.wordpress.com/2024/03/08/a-note-on-how-the-gaza-ministry-of-health-fakes-casualty-numbers/
  Pick through both of those and see which is more likely or if the whole question just gets put into the “not sure” basket.
  This is the tactic of casting doubt on the figures to avoid looking at the underlying reality the figures are trying to describe.
  President Biden isn’t just pulling these figures out of thin air. He is at the head of a vast intelligence gathering apparatus, they aren’t just running with whatever Hamas gives them.
  Sure, like every political apparatus he has reason to give statements a spin, but why should he spin the civilian casualty figures up rather than down?
  
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  March 25, 2024 5:31pm
Matt Long

Who loves a market where government can arbitrarily change liquidity and manipulate prices?
Speculators perhaps, especially those with links to inside information, investors not so much.
https://www.interest.co.nz/public-policy/126917/emission-trading-scheme-march-auction-partially-clears-price-64
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March 25, 2024 9:09am
- Chris Nisbet
  
  This is the way I understand the ETS.
  – government creates a market based on dubious evidence that CO2 is causing a “climate crisis” (and lots of evidence that FF have improved our lives beyond the comprehension of your average politician)
  – some businesses are forced to trade in it.
  – Their costs are increased as a result, which inevitably get passed onto the punters.
  – government controls the amount of the commodity participants are forced to buy, decreasing amount available over time in an effort to convince participants to find some slightly less expensive way to provide the service that their customers want, whether or not a sensible alternative exists.
  
  Is that about right?
  How long until the whole thing is tossed into the bin?
  
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  March 25, 2024 9:45am
  - Dudley Quaffquaff
    
    If your starting premise is, nothing need be done to reduce GHG emissions and so address climate change – then by all means sit there and bark. That caravan has long moved on.
    
    If, however, your starting premise is either, we do need to reduce GHG emissions, or, since the Government is committed to reducing GHG emissions we should do it as cost-efficiently as possible – then yes, the rest of what you say is about right. The Government has created a mechanism where participants are forced either to reduce their own emissions, or pay somebody else to reduce theirs. Since economically rational participants will do whichever’s cheaper, the mechanism is a lot more efficient and leads to the same overall emissions outcome as if they forced everybody to reduce their own emissions.
    
    Yes, costs are passed on to consumers, thereby encouraging consumers away from goods and services that entail lots of emissions and towards ones that don’t. That’s the point of it.
    
    2 13
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    March 25, 2024 10:26am
    - Chris Nisbet
      
      The evidence is pretty clear that whatever harms might have occurred so far as a result of using fossil fuels is dwarfed by the massive benefits we’ve received by using them.
      
      https://youtu.be/acyErLNL7kQ?si=ayOvl1TsLdeyeEv1
      
      13 1
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      March 25, 2024 11:03am
      - Dudley Quaffquaff
        
        Woof, woof. The Government doesn’t agree. No Government in the world – right-wing, left-wing, democracy, dictatorship, theocracy, secular, authoritarian, liberal, republican or parliamentary – agrees. They’re not going to engage in a conversation about whether to try to reduce GHG emissions and so address climate change, but there’s scope for discussion about how.
        
        You can engage in that, or you can sit here in the echo chamber and bark ’til you’re blue
        
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        March 25, 2024 12:43pm
      - jkt
        
        You are both correct.
        The real question is whether the outcome will be less CO2 emissions.
        Modelling done says, not at this price.
        
        Does lowering CO2 emissions matter. Modelling says yes and no. The UN says average man will be better off as result of our efforts others say not so much but argue the wealthy will definitely be better off.
        
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        March 25, 2024 1:49pm
Jack5

Will Ireland move to the Right with the replacement of Leo Varadkar as Prime Minister by Simon Harris, who is promising a re-set of the governing Fine Gael Party.

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/harris-set-be-irish-pm-in-waiting-leadership-voting-closes-2024-03-24/
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March 25, 2024 9:18am
Jack5

Within the Woke-Left circus that Massey University has become, there remain a few, but thriving, remnants from its days as a great agricultural institution.

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/512554/scientists-making-dairy-free-cream-milk-powder-from-seeds
8 2
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March 25, 2024 9:29am
- mandk
  
  NZ universities have generally been poor at undertaking research that could benefit the economy, so don’t knock Massey for this.
  
  I would always opt for real dairy products myself but, if there is a market and business opportunity for NZ to manufacture and sell the artificial stuff, then why not?
  
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  March 25, 2024 11:24am
- cmm
  
  I wonder how this is innovation. There have been non-dairy creamers since the 1940s.
  
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  March 25, 2024 12:32pm
Inandout

On Hosking this morning a police Minister in the form of Mitchell danced around the fact crime is just as bad as under Labour. He must face up to why the Police are feeling as useless as tits on a bull and still have low morale. If we believe a fish rots from the head first then the Police Commissioner must fit this saying. A strong person in that top position can have an instant effect on staff morale, far more so than pay rises. The answer lies firmly with Mitchell and he must remember less crime was the reason he was elected.
20 1
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March 25, 2024 9:37am
- PurplePen
  
  Came across this headline “Holding Parents Responsible for their Children’s Behaviour”. Ireland has had this in place for a while and it looks like France plans to punish parents for the criminal behaviour of their children.
  
  https://www.rte.ie/radio/radio1/highlights/1421630-holding-parents-responsible-for-their-childrens-behaviour/
  
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  March 25, 2024 10:23am
  - cmm
    
    It takes a village to raise a child. So it isn’t the parents’ fault. It is the whole village’s fault.
    
    4 7
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    March 25, 2024 10:39am
    - mandk
      
      The problem with the NZ village is that there is a sub-group of inhabitants that would denounce it as racist or an attack on the poor, if the Village Council decided to demand that parents of delinquent offspring should fulfil their parental responsibilities.
      
      6 1
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      March 25, 2024 11:31am
    - cmm
      
      I really didn’t think I needed sarc marks on that!
      
      4 0
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      March 25, 2024 12:29pm
    - kowtow
      
      I couldn’t agree more.
      
      Arguably it’s the state’s fault .
      
      Asa generalisation welfarism over the last , particularly 50 years, is what has created this social disaster.
      
      Good parents are struggling against the tide of lack of personal responsibility that is one of the hall marks of this epoch.
      
      3 1
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      March 25, 2024 12:29pm
      - cmm
        
        “Arguably it’s the state’s fault .”
        
        Naah, it is the voters’ faults.
        The state only does what the voters tell them to do.
        
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        March 25, 2024 5:06pm
- cmm
  
  A fish rots from the head, yes. But it is hard to un-rot a fish.
  Sure, a change of head can give a morale boost to the un-rotted part of the fish, but this has to be followed with very swift and very deep action.
  
  We have lost a lot of cops to Australia which gives better pay etc. I suspect there are many more who are on the cusp of going, but will give Mitchell a chance to turn things around.
  
  But that will be a brief window of opportunity. If he’s dithering like Luxon does in 6 months time, then they’re gone.
  
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  March 25, 2024 10:37am
  - kevn
    
    cmm… Plenty of vacancies in Alice Springs and the like. The Aussies will be sure to keep desirable locations for their own.
    No free lunch.
    
    6 2
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    March 25, 2024 10:43am
    - cmm
      
      Most of the police in Australia are state police, recruited by state.
      
      If you take a job with NSW they won’t be sending you to Alice Springs. Sure, maybe an NSW shithole.
      
      It’s not just the cops either. The new Health Minister also has a small window of opportunity to address the nursing problem etc.
      
      4 2
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      March 25, 2024 11:31am
      - Jack5
        
        The Australian Federal Police provide community policing for Canberra, as well as filling national roles.
        
        Alice Springs is in the Northern Territory, and is the area’s second or third biggest city, depending on whether you count the satellite city springing up near Darwin.
        
        Alice Springs is a tough town, with a large indigenous population.
        
        The Northern Territory Police last year even advertised in NZ seeking to recruit NZ police:
        
        https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/money/2023/03/northern-territory-advertises-in-new-zealand-newspaper-for-kiwi-police-officers.html
        
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        March 25, 2024 12:56pm
- kowtow
  
  This problem is literally generations in the making. There’ll be no quick fixes . In fact I despair of any real turn around at all.
  
  One thing that could quickly change things is crack down very heavily on welfarism and get people back to work. Again though , there’s no political appetite for real change from the major 2 parties .
  
  Get people off drugs too. ( and other substance abuse)
  
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  March 25, 2024 11:39am
Steve Otto(North Shore)

What Biden is doing to Americans trapped in Haiti.
Those who want to leave sign a promissory note. They are trapped Americans!

https://thepoliticalmovementofhealth.com/freedomfalcon/american-and-trapped-in-haiti-biden-to-the-rescue-just-pay-him-back/?
8 1
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March 25, 2024 9:41am
- MCōs
  
  What’s the problem
  Haiti is no worse than NZ
  
  2 6
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  March 25, 2024 10:32am
Maggie Pie

Here’s something else I was reminded of over the weekend 🙁
Remember when the co-leader of Te-Mauri-Pardy
threatened to kill ACT leader David Seymour ?

WATCH…..

https://twitter.com/unconzealment/status/1770958078344925492
18 1
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March 25, 2024 9:41am
Jack5

TVNZ is digging in on Woke Hill.

It’s just appointed Maiki Sherman to succeed Ardern’s “Yes, Jessica” McKay as political editor.

Stuff, in sisterly solidarity, reports Sherman as saying: ““People want strong, fair, and impartial journalism. That’s something I’m committed to providing across the political divide.” 😲😄

How the Woke see themselves ….
37 0
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March 25, 2024 9:43am
- David Garrett
  
  Jack: Quite so. Stuff has lately been running a pop-up ad beginnning “POLITICIANS DON’T LIKE US”, the rest of the ad suggesting that the brave new generation of Woodwards and Bernsteins at Stuff are fearlessly finding “stuff” we are not supposed to know about.
  
  Not only untrue, but the complete reverse of the truth: leftie politicians just loved the paid for bullshit Stuff and other outlets pumped out for the last six years.
  
  These clowns really do think we are all stupid. And I guess some of us are. But thankfully only some of us.
  
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  March 25, 2024 10:11am
Steve Otto(North Shore)

Dr. Matthew Wielicki: I Refuse to Stay Silent about Climate Change.
He talks of activist scientists.
It all comes back to Govt control.

https://www.prageru.com/video/dr-matthew-wielicki-i-refuse-to-stay-silent-about-climate-change?
11 1
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March 25, 2024 9:51am
Bridgenag

Why the Department of Justice Wants to Take Down Apple
By Jeffrey A. Tucker

“On May 5, 2021, White House press secretary Jen Psaki issued a mob-like warning to social-media companies and information distributors generally. They need to get with the program and start censoring critics of Covid policy. They need to amplify government propaganda. After all, it would be a shame if something would happen to these companies. ”

https://open.substack.com/pub/rwmalonemd/p/why-the-department-of-justice-wants?r=1aj1bv&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
10 1
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March 25, 2024 9:54am
SmokerGuy

I applaud Russell Coutts for having the stones to say what the reality is in NZ. I hope that Sail GP gives this country the middle finger and doesn’t come back. I feel sorry for people who want to see it but I feel like the only way New Zealand is going to wake the fuck up to our reality is to experience some consequences of how things have become under the previous Labour government. Perhaps then they will think twice about electing them again. And perhaps Labour might take a good long hard look at themselves and realise they need to govern for the wellbeing of everyone. Because Hipkins speech yesterday shows they’ve learnt NOTHING.
26 1
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March 25, 2024 10:08am
- Blog-aholic
  
  Coutts speaking the words many are thinking.
  
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  March 25, 2024 11:01am
- MCōs
  
  In 1988 an area around Banks Peninsula in Canterbury was declared New Zealand’s first marine mammal sanctuary by the then Minister of the Environment, Helen Clark.
  Perhaps Sir Russell should approach the current Minister, Penny Simmonds, with a view to revising the dolphins’ protection
  Good luck with that.
  https://www.nzgeo.com/stories/hectors-dolphin-gets-a-sanctuary/
  
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  March 25, 2024 12:15pm
ecco

It’s hilarious listening to Chris -dead man walking- Hipkins trying to propose any new taxes, after having been in power for the last 6 years where they did nothing except make NZ go backwards. He reverts back to that trope that it was all covid’s fault that they got nothing done.

Will be good if Hipkins hangs in there the whole next 6 years. Will give Labour no sh*tshow of getting in again with him there. Possibly even 9 years. Such a good look for Labour 😂.

Don’t even care about his collecting that $300k for the opposition leader’s role (because he clearly has nowhere else to go…). That $300k is money well spent to keep Labour from winning the next few elections.
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March 25, 2024 10:10am
Maggie Pie

BELIEVE IT – OR NOT?

Did you see where Chippy’s bestie, that nasty woman-hating Tran’s Activist Shaneel Lal,
is back working at the Labor Party….. as his ‘Executive Assistant’ 😛

https://twitter.com/bobmccoskrienz/status/1771981766250901769
20 1
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March 25, 2024 10:26am
I remember when

‘Earn or burn’: Gangs drive illegal-cigarette wars: The Times. Australia.
“Yet by making cigarettes prohibitively expensive, the government has also sparked a war between rival Middle Eastern organised crime gangs battling for control of a booming trade in illegal tobacco.
Violence more commonly associated with hard drugs – including gangland executions and arson attacks on tobacconists and restaurants – has escalated.”

Hidden deep in the dark recesses of the local paper, because we wouldn’t want to have to consider this possibility when talking about smoking legislation – would we.
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March 25, 2024 10:36am
Notsofast

And Shaneel Lal says fathers who try to prevent puberty blockers being fed to their children in New Zealand should be prosecuted. That is how he interprets his evil law.
They have been banned in Britain except where private system doctors are prepared to keep their sterilizing program for profit going.
I guess the taxpayer is funding this narcisistic autogynephile to teach Chris Hipkins what a birthing person is.
15 1
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March 25, 2024 10:38am
Maggie Pie

And this.

‘A Te Awamutu mum has described the horrifying moment when she found a Rat’s foot
in her 10 month-old Baby’s mouth, while he was eating Garlic Bread she brought him from Pak & Save’

– Newshub

So tell me again….
What sort of mother feeds a TEN-MONTH-OLD- BABY garlic bread anyway?
17 1
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March 25, 2024 11:04am
- Ghost
  
  Saw that, wondered if the foot was in the garlic bread why it didn’t look cooked.
  
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  March 25, 2024 11:08am
  - Maggie Pie
    
    What caught my attention, was just how beautifully ‘manicured’ it appeared 😀
    
    https://1news.co.nz/2024/03/23/rodent-foot-found-in-garlic-bread-10-month-old-baby-was-eating/
    
    7 1
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    March 25, 2024 11:24am
    - Ghost
      
      Pet rat.
      
      6 0
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      March 25, 2024 11:34am
      - Ghost
        
        Food safety boss says rat foot found in Pak’nSave garlic bread could have come from complainant’s home
        
        1 0
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        March 25, 2024 2:03pm
- cmm
  
  I have 50 cents and a servo pie that says there’s something off about this story.
  
  14 2
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  March 25, 2024 11:35am
  - Maggie Pie
    
    My first thort too. Retaliation from Countdown?
    
    8 1
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    March 25, 2024 11:46am
  - greybeard
    
    Something along the lines of…”Shit ! I’m broke until next benefit day. How do I get some quick money? I know, pull the old “rat in a loaf” trick ! Always works !”
    
    2 2
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    March 25, 2024 3:25pm
    - MCōs
      
      Are you suggesting that only beneficiaries find a foreign body in supermarket food?
      It seems disgusting contamination is more common than you think.
      BTW
      There was no hint of bribery in the Newshub story
      
      https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/350185729/fly-filmed-trapped-inside-meat-package-supermarket-foreign-object-another
      
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      March 25, 2024 5:24pm
- PurplePen
  
  Countdown rat .. got to dispose of them somehow.
  
  5 1
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  March 25, 2024 11:41am
  - kowtow
    
    Only this time it wasn’t Woolies .
    
    And dare I say it with this story …….
    
    I smell a ……
    
    1 0
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    March 25, 2024 12:45pm
- Dudley Quaffquaff
  
  Ratatoey…
  
  4 0
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  March 25, 2024 12:35pm
- Inandout
  
  Maggie, PnSlave are privately owned and have their own suppliers so probably buy local. I once called into the PNorth store and they had Vogel breads $2 cheaper than their rivals, so obviously had a deal with the local baker. In this case I would imagine another supplier would be sought.
  
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  March 25, 2024 12:40pm
  - Maggie Pie
    
    Both Paki n’ Save and NW are owned by Foodstuffs.
    
    2 1
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    March 25, 2024 1:01pm
    - Cassandra
      
      Cooperatives. Franchises in effect.
      
      0 0
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      March 25, 2024 1:09pm
    - Swifty
      
      The brands are but the shops aren’t.
      
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      March 25, 2024 1:32pm
      - peterwn
        
        Actually Foodstuffs own or have the head lease on most if not all New Worlds and Pak’n’Saves and many of the Four Squares. So the ‘owner-operators’ of the businesses, while they nominally run their own businesses are very much beholden to Foodstuffs in the way they run the businesses and Foodstuffs can pull the pin for a variety of reasons. However having said that, the ‘owner-operator’ who has learned the trade and has the confidence of Foodstuffs, has the potential to make some millions from a franchise.
        The thing I cannot quite fathom is who are the owners of the Foodstuffs cooperative(s). I know the original grocers shop owners who joined Foodstuffs under the Four Square banner, but I do not know of the situation of recently joined ‘owners-operators’. Foodstuffs would own significant amount of retail real estate.
        
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        March 25, 2024 2:18pm
      - Swifty
        
        Thanks for the clarification.
        
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        March 25, 2024 2:49pm
  - peterwn
    
    No. Foodstuffs has a significant supply chain operation where it purchases items in bulk, makes up deliveries and delivers the goods to the stores. There would be special arrangements for perishables, but it is most likely Foodstuffs has bulk purchase contracts for bread even if deliveries appear to be local. It is because of these ‘supply chains’ that outsiders find it hard to break in. And the whole reason Foodstuffs was set up was to break the hold that wholesalers once had on the dry grocery market. Individual shops could not buy from the producers as the producers were reliant on the wholesalers. Foodstuffs when first established had difficulty bulk buying off producers since the producers feared being boycotted by the wholesalers.
    So the regulatory authorities are trying to find a way of coercing Foodstuffs and Woolworths to ‘open up’ their supply chains and provide outsiders at better prices than outsider corner shops have to pay.
    
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    March 25, 2024 2:30pm
  - Ghost
    
    Umm Vogel is made by Vogel, no local baker makes it.
    
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    March 25, 2024 2:52pm
    - Inandout
      
      Ghost, then surely PNS in Palmy is not selling at a loss given that Vogels original grain and fruit loaves are not a huge seller?
      
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      March 25, 2024 3:22pm
cmm

Interesting…

NZ ranked world’s best for work life balance.

Of course, like anything it will depend on how you measure. Here are the criteria they used:

The study came to its conclusions by reviewing the following key indicators:

Statutory annual leave (total days of paid leave, including public holidays)*
Minimum statutory sick pay (percent or wage of flat amount)
Statutory maternity leave (number of weeks paid)*
Statutory maternity leave payment rate (percent of wage)*
Minimum wage (USD per hour)* (Dividing annual minimum wage (US$) rate by 52 weeks and then by the length of the standard hour workweek.) (Correct to the USD conversion rate on the date the data was collected).
Healthcare status
Happiness index (The Global Economy) score (ranked on a scale of 1-10)
Average hours worked per week
LGBTQ+ Inclusivity (Equaldex, 0-100, 100 being highest to reflect the Legal Index scores the legal rights and freedoms LGBTQ+ people have while the Public Opinion Index scores how the general public feels in each region.)

I call bullshit. These are not the main things of concern to their target audience. Where are:
* Salaries. Sure, they mention minimum wage, but the target audience (professionals) are not minimum wage, so minimum wage does not matter.
* Crime/law and order.
* Cost of owning a house (or, more importantly, hours per week to pay your mortgage).
* Cost of food, clothing etc.
* Education (assuming you have or will want kids).

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/travel/new-zealand-ranked-worlds-best-for-work-life-balance-in-2023-expat-survey/TKOSDC7665BTVH4NK3RUGOQZ7Q/
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March 25, 2024 11:24am
- mandk
  
  You only have to note that LGBTQ+ Inclusivity is one of the indicators to realise that the whole index is nonsensical.
  
  What have being homosexual, or identifying as something other than your biological sex, got anything to do with work life balance?
  
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  March 25, 2024 11:50am
  - Blog-aholic
    
    The fact that the B in LGBTQ+ad nauseam stand for Bi-sexual proves that there are only two genders.
    
    10 2
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    March 25, 2024 1:13pm
- Taieri
  
  And what does the “LGBTQ+ Inclusivity” have to do with the work/life balance I wonder?…
  
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  March 25, 2024 12:08pm
- Jake Dee
  
  Most (if not all) of these International Indexes of subjective feelings and amorphous concepts are utterly bogus, and I’d include the “Freedom” and “Democracy” indexes in that too.
  This measuring metaphysics by maths is like measuring the weight of a dream in kgs.
  
  So, the trash gets picked up fairly regularly, but occasionally you see heaps of garbage on the street with rats and cats getting into it. What’s that worth out of 10? 5/10, 6/10?
  So, you can go down to a nice park on Saturday with the kids and play football and feed the ducks. What’s that worth out of 10? 7/10, 8.5/10?
  So, you can march down the street with your polyamorous clique (polycule) wearing a latex gimp suit and peacock feathers. What’s that worth out of 10? 9.5/10?
  Now let’s crunch the numbers. How do you even begin to handicap the differences between civil amenities and gay nightclubs? 5:1 against, 3:5 for?
  This is not a scientific survey, this is a lifestyle magazine article with statistics and physics envy.
  
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  March 25, 2024 5:52pm
sungsamning

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hVIzhI5iQo
America’s TikTok ban: ‘I hope Britain follows suit’ – Iain Duncan Smith | SpectatorTV.
The House voted overwhelmingly to approve a bill that would force a sale of TikTok to a US company. For years politicians have threatened a ban, but this latest attempt finally gained traction. Could Britain follow suit in America’s crackdown on TikTok?
2 1
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March 25, 2024 12:39pm
sungsamning

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNsG3Ut_78I
Disturbing Migrant Street Chaos In Chicago Goes Viral.
Thank the Biden Administration. And decades of Far left policies bringing about this crisis. [Looks like there might be a surge in MAGA hat sales. How long before Chicago is all sanctuaried out?]
6 1
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March 25, 2024 12:39pm
- Inandout
  
  sun, that video is disturbing and the flow could have been stemmed two years ago but instead Biden wilfully ignored it for political reasons. These migrants have the potential of being involved in a civil war when residents of Chicago rise up. If ever there was a reason for Presidential Impeachment this must surely qualify.
  
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  March 25, 2024 12:55pm
  - sungsamning
    
    Yeah, he should be impeached. The GOP don’t have the numbers though. Hopefully Trump will win.
    
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    March 25, 2024 6:04pm
Fisiani2

Dementia is a term and not a definitive diagnosis. saying that someone has dementia is like saying that someone has a virus.
The most common type is Alzheimer’s variety. That affects about 2/3rds of all cases. The types are
Alzheimer’s disease.
Vascular dementia.
Lewy Body Disease.
Frontotemporal dementia. (FTD)
Alcohol related dementia.
Down syndrome and Alzheimer’s disease.
HIV associated dementia.
Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) dementia.

Drugs that help Alzheimers do not work in FTD
FTD itself has many varieties. Memory issues are not as common with FTD.
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March 25, 2024 12:44pm
- JackRabbit
  
  The most recent research is that Dementia is type 3 diabetes.
  
  The brain is made of cholesterol and runs on a form of carbohydrate, called inositol. Inositol is what allows the brain to work.
  
  The body needs inositol to form the structure of cell membranes and regulate insulin levels. It may also affect neurotransmitter levels.
  
  Neurotransmitters are chemicals that transmit messages between nerves. There are nine forms of inositol, but the two main types in the body are myoinositol and D-chiro-inositol.
  
  https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/inositol#benefits
  
  “Type 3 diabetes” inhibits the ability of the body to to synthesize inositol from food.
  
  A poor diet will impact inositol production.
  
  What Foods Are High In Inositol?
  https://inositol.com.au/pcos/foods-high-in-inositol/
  
  You can buy Inositol powder. I’ve seen it work wonders.
  
  And stay off unnecessary drugs and vaccines. Some inhibit myo-inositol transport.
  
  The brain fog associated with “Long Covid” – actually Vaccine side effects, may in fact be because the spike protein damages intercellular communication.
  
  I know people that have the brain fog, but all of them were vaccinated. The unvaccinated seemed to have escaped the “Long Covid” brain fog.
  
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  March 25, 2024 1:30pm
Maggie Pie

See once again the Public are being warned to avoid West Auckland
while heavily armed Police patrol the streets.

Imagine what it must be like living out there 🙁
11 1
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March 25, 2024 12:47pm
NothingLeft

Mental health profession is now excluding anyone who won’t adopt and push critical race theory on patients. They are professionally deranged:

https://youtu.be/cSatjS7ZpMA?si=qZdcFXiLA4KB2xzF
5 1
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March 25, 2024 12:55pm
- MCōs
  
  What is critical race theory and how does it relate to NZ?
  
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  March 25, 2024 5:00pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

Stop Co-Governance. Julian Batchelor.

TOW Comic Part 27.
The younger activists are being brainwashed into thinking British broke promises yet no evidence of those promises. Therefore Maori should be compensated!

https://stopcogovernance.kiwi/blog/analysis-treaty-of-waitangi-comic-for-high-school-students-has-been-quietly-brainwashing-away-since-2018-part-27/
2 2
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March 25, 2024 1:18pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

More on SailGP racing cancelled.
Seymout, Coutts, Burr….
Then Chloe says “made a reputation for themselves by going inordinately fast”.
Hello Chloe, is there anyone in there? It is a bloody race – of course they go fast. Shall we put a 20kph limit on foiling catamarans?
Not that bright!

https://www.msn.com/en-nz/news/national/why-did-you-drive-to-work-seymour-compares-dangers-of-sailing-through-marine-sanctuary-to-driving-a-car/ar-BB1ksxyv?
9 2
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March 25, 2024 1:27pm
Swifty

Nelson MP leaves one cult but joins another:

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/real-life-nelson-labour-mp-rachel-boyacks-brush-with-cult-like-religious-sect/IALQ75LKHJAHTHTUWQIPQLRU5I/

Aka the New Zealand Labour Party.

What a confused person she is.
6 1
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March 25, 2024 1:30pm
- kevn
  
  Swifty… A good fit with the (not really) greens.
  
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  March 25, 2024 2:14pm
BananaLlama

So the Russians managed to capture four of those terrorists alive and are doing terrible things to them, just shocking stuff.
3 0
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March 25, 2024 1:40pm
- kowtow
  
  No doubt they’ll “confess” to a Ukrainian angle ……
  
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  March 25, 2024 5:41pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

James Comer exposes Biden coverup.
What should be remembered is that Biden as Vice President did NOT have the power to de-classify documents.
But hey, let’s all attack Trump.

https://rumble.com/v4isva6-the-timing-is-not-coincidental-james-comer-brings-receipts-exposes-biden-co.html?
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March 25, 2024 1:45pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

The lies have been exposed.
Warning, satire and humour. Lefties find your safe place (basement)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnZVqavDAq0
3 3
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March 25, 2024 1:59pm
Jack5

Surely no Kiwiblog follower would speak so rudely to former National Government Treaty Minister Chris Finlayson as in incidents he reports:

” …as sometimes even happens now walking along Lambton Quay, someone will call me a ‘Maori-loving c***’.”

At best, only partly true, regardless of how rude and offensive the remark is.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/kahu/former-treaty-minister-chris-finlayson-called-a-maori-loving-c-slams-acts-treaty-referendum-idea/GK3JITJHXVF3DFHWQWSOIGEFJA/
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March 25, 2024 2:10pm
Chuck Bird

I heard Hipkins on The Platform this morning. He told Sean that he never said that he would have joined the counter Posie Parker protest if he had not had other commitments.

I am sure he said that. Does anyone else remember him saying that?
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March 25, 2024 2:49pm
- Jack5
  
  Chuck: You can check here at this clip, starting about 6.45 minutes in.
  
  Hipkins denies he said that.
  
  https://youtu.be/V0881zjQgvY?si=iJD604Xws6RLvTum
  
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  March 25, 2024 3:22pm
  - Chuck Bird
    
    Thanks Jack. I saw that. However, I remember him saying he would have been there if he did not have a prior engagement.
    
    He is lying when he says there was violence from both sides. All the violence came from the transgender side as is the case in Oz a few days ago.
    
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    March 25, 2024 3:48pm
    - Notsofast
      
      I remember him saying it. In that interview he said I don’t think I said that, leaving the matter open.
      
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      March 25, 2024 4:15pm
      - Chuck Bird
        
        Thanks.
        
        1 0
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        March 25, 2024 5:18pm
  - SimonRAnderson
    
    Et voilà.
    
    https://twitter.com/SimonRAnderson/status/1772200597762265557
    
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    March 26, 2024 2:11am
- Ghost
  
  No. Don’t remember him saying that. I do remember him saying he didn’t stop his MP’s from going and didn’t know if any went.
  
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  March 25, 2024 3:31pm
cmm

Just another day in Aotearoa…

“Tamati Kas Simpson, now 26, was 21 when he gunned down 23-year-old Faaifo “Joe” Siaosi, who bled to death in his mother’s arms in the front yard outside the family’s Ōtara home.

The gunman’s age at the time – and the impulsivity that accompanies such youth – was reason enough to deviate from the standard life sentence that usually comes with murder convictions, his lawyer suggested.”

Two things that really leap out here:

1) Why does it take 5 years to get someone convicted and imprisoned? C’mon we need to clean the streets faster than this.

2) Why is a 21-year old considered a hot-headed youth not responsible for his actions?

In the South African Army we had Lieutenants and Corporals aged 18 responsible for making life and death decisions for a platoon of soldiers – looking after them when they’re being shot at, making sure they were fed, sorting out their pay problems, etc. By 21 some would be Captains – responsible for a company (~100 people).

Nothing new to that – WW1 and WW2 say many others do the same.

And here we have some little killer beez wanker using age as an excuse.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/crime/killer-beez-gang-member-tamati-simpson-sentenced-for-otara-south-auckland-murder-of-faaifo-joe-siaosi/26T53NQ5UBH5BMMONRW4BAFPDU/
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March 25, 2024 2:58pm
- kevn
  
  cmm… Indeed, we had pilots in WW2 at that age.
  My wifes uncle was a 19yo when he was shot down in his Spitfire over the Med.
  Heroes of that age are very thin on the ground in NZ just now.
  
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  March 25, 2024 6:13pm
Keith White

Air New Zealand have just cancelled my flight back home to see family (while I work in professional exile to have an income) and have advised that due to lack of aircraft (?WTF) they have rebooked me ‘later’.

Later is 4 weeks and 2 days later.

I said no, please refund and I will buy elsewhere and they said no, we will give you a credit towards your next booking.

I need a harsher verb than ‘despise’ here…
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March 25, 2024 3:10pm
- greybeard
  
  Can you please provide all the facts, otherwise this post is meaningless.
  
  1 13
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  March 25, 2024 4:51pm
  - Keith White
    
    OK then, it’s meaningless. Hope you feel better now 🙂
    
    6 0
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    March 25, 2024 4:57pm
- Ghost
  
  If I remember correctly it is an industry wide issue with the engines on their airbus planes taking them out of action over the next several months
  
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  March 25, 2024 5:08pm
- kevn
  
  Keith… Are there many alternate flight operators?
  
  0 0
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  March 25, 2024 6:15pm
  - Keith White
    
    I do have options, with one extra stopover, not a deal-breaker – but having to pay for a second set of seats with another carrier, without getting the money back for the first seat of seats, has me more than usually disgruntled 🙂 anyway, back to work now!
    
    4 1
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    March 25, 2024 6:17pm
Maggie Pie

RANDOM IMPERTINENT QUESTION….

How long before we see Trans-Activist Shaneel Lal given a place on Labor’s list?

And watch for Chippy to start pushing for 16 year-olds to get the vote.

(Never ask a question you don’t know the answer to)
11 2
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March 25, 2024 3:53pm
- fightingtemeraire
  
  If he gets in the number of Gay MPs mincing and lithsping their way into Parliament will be horrendous.
  
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  March 25, 2024 4:43pm
  - Maggie Pie
    
    Funny how Shannie closed down his ‘X’ account…..
    Chippie would have been pooing himself worrying about the backlash 😛 😛
    
    8 1
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    March 25, 2024 5:16pm
Pineapple Lumps

Not sure if it is just my random reading habits but haven’t seen much of Krazy Kiwi or Clan MacLeod. How are you getting on? Did you lobby for much around the Covid inquiry?
8 1
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March 25, 2024 3:57pm
MCōs

President Biden in awe of President Trump’s golfing prowess
https://x.com/joebiden/status/1772084227200164325?s=61&t=yFkzCNMWRCaVt1p5eRxUog
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March 25, 2024 4:00pm
Maggie Pie

The Deputy Prime Minister makes a very good point as he harpoons…. ‘power-drunk bureaucrats and public-service decision makers, who care more about their fiefdoms than the country’s economic development and international reputation’

https://twitter.com/winstonpeters/status/1772093348238774608
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March 25, 2024 4:11pm
- Blog-aholic
  
  Honestly, the comments show just how seriously ill informed some people are. They reverberate the same BS they read in the media almost verbatem. Peters, like Coutts makes the point that balance cannot be achieved when stand-over tactics are in play.
  
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  March 25, 2024 4:38pm
Jake Dee

I found this one quite interesting but not surprising,
“The Jewish settlers who want to build homes in Gaza”
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-68650815
Choice quotes,
“Just ask Daniella Weiss, 78, the grandmother of Israel’s settler movement, who says she already has a list of 500 families ready to move to Gaza immediately. “I have friends in Tel Aviv,” she says, “so they say, ‘Don’t forget to keep for me a plot near the coast in Gaza,’ because it’s a beautiful, beautiful coast, beautiful golden sand”.
She tells them the plots on the coast are already booked.”
[snip]
“Gaza Arabs will not stay in the Gaza Strip,” she says. “Who will stay? Jews.”
[snip]
What about the people who live there, we ask.
“The area is empty now, “she replies. “Now you don’t need to think where to put the settlement, you only need to come back and put a new settlement.”

None of this is new and none of this is hidden. She is very happy to talk to the BBC about all of this.
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March 25, 2024 8:04pm

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