General Debate 23 March 2025

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Scott

Some more good news:

Maine agrees not to allow men into women’s sports:

https://pjmedia.com/matt-margolis/2025/03/21/maine-caves-to-trump-will-keep-men-out-of-womens-sports-n4938166

It amazes me that the left, having just won the right to homosexual marriage, immediately went to transgender. It shows to me that leftist progressives can’t rest. They must always have a cause to fight. They must always have an outrage to protest against. Not matter how crazy. The idea that “trans women are women” leaves all rationality behind. It is an example of elite liberals forcing their woke beliefs on all of us. But not any more.

And while we are on the subject of winning:

Trump manages to get American hostage freed by the Taliban and returned to America.

https://pjmedia.com/matt-margolis/2025/03/21/freed-hostage-thanks-trump-for-his-freedom-thank-god-hes-in-the-white-house-n4938165

An American hostage, who got no attention from the American mainstream media, is freed after years of captivity under the Taliban. Biden could do nothing but under Trump the poor guy gets to return home.

“You’ll have so much winning that you might even get tired of winning. You’ll say Mr president, it’s too much winning.”

This looks like winning to me and it’s great to see.
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March 23, 2025 8:01am
- peterwn
  
  Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
  Trump keeps foreigners in cramped immigration prisons for weeks even though they are prepared to leave USA on the next flight at their expense.
  
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  March 23, 2025 9:37am
  - Scott
    
    peterwn – not sure where you got your information? However there is a simple solution:
    
    “Trump admin pulling legal status for more than 530K migrants”
    
    https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-admin-pulling-legal-status-more-than-530k-migrants
    
    “The roughly 532,000 migrants have been told to leave the country before their humanitarian parole and accompanying work permits are canceled on April 24, giving them a month from when the notice is formally published on March 25. ”
    
    This seems entirely reasonable to me. If you don’t want to risk being sent to jail then simply go home.
    
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    March 23, 2025 12:55pm
    - peterwn
      
      Here is where I got my information-
      https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/mar/11/german-tourists-ordeal-reportedly-ending-returned-from-us-detention
      Foreigners lawfully in USA visit Mexico (ie Tijuana which is a stone’s throw across the border from USA) and when they attempted to return, some bone headed immigration officer got it into his thick skull to declare them ‘illegal’ and had them detained. They were then held in an overcrowded jail for a few weeks until they could fly home. They were prepared to fly out immediately at their own expense, so why did not the bone headed officials take them up on their offer. They seem to be too busy bootlicking Trump. Now USA universities are warning foreign students (who have valid visas) not to visit Mexico or Canada in case they too suffer similar ill treatment.
      If I were planning to travel to Europe and Trump was in the White House I doubt I would want to take the risk of transiting via LAX in case I suffer a similar fate.
      
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      March 23, 2025 1:48pm
      - Scott
        
        Peterwn – a quick scan of the article shows that some of the facts are disputed and there were concerns about working in the USA illegally and overstaying their time?
        
        But let’s assume everything is as the Guardian says. Let’s assume the USA authorities were completely wrong and unjust?
        
        Given the previous president let at least 12 million people cross the border illegally do you support this president’s crack down at all? Or would you say you’d much rather have millions of illegals cross the border than a handful of people unjustly detained?
        
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        March 23, 2025 2:38pm
      - ISeeRed
        
        Even if the US isn’t being fair, they’re migrants. It’s not their county. They can go back home if they don’t like it. I say this as a former expat having lived in Thailand. Thai immigration officials and policy were often arbitrary, frustrating and unfair. But their country, their rules, their right to decide who stays and on what terms.
        
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        March 23, 2025 4:05pm
    - peterwn
      
      And have a look at this too:
      https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/545748/us-green-card-holders-afraid-of-being-deported
      
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      March 23, 2025 10:03pm
- Lance
  
  So you like going to shill daily for MAGA from now on?
  
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  March 23, 2025 11:11am
  - Scott
    
    Lance – I just would say that if you are on the centre right then this president is doing everything that a centre right person could possibly expect.
    
    Let’s just take trans. Trump is vigorously pushing back on trans, no trans in the army, no trans teaching in schools and no men in women’s sports. This is good.
    
    Contrast with NZ, credibly labelled in 2022 the most woke country in the world. A woman from Britain comes to NZ to speak up for women. She gets attacked. The police do nothing. The media and the govt castigates her.
    
    Isn’t Trump doing what we in NZ can only wish our govt would do?
    
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    March 23, 2025 1:01pm
    - Conservatarian
      
      Yes.
      
      People like Lance are scared that people might not inhale the corporate press view. Even our only moderately centre-right media outlet, Newstalk ZB, proliferates an exclusively anti-Trump and anti-populist perspective.
      
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      March 23, 2025 3:15pm
    - Lance
      
      What I want to point out as wonderful as you think Trump and his cronies are, they are on the path to turning the US into a fascist state.
      The playbook is being followed to the letter.
      1. Lie to everyone about everything and everybody
      2. Make so that nobody trusts any news source
      3. Convince the gullible you are the only font of truth
      4. Attack news sources that oppose you
      5. Use the oligarchs to leverage you into power
      6. Dismantle the judiciary
      7. Bring in harsh penalties for those that oppose you
      8. Discredit any that oppose you, don’t let the truth get in the road
      9. Find a scapegoat (or two) to pin all the peoples’ perceived woes and problems onto
      10. Expand your borders by taking over other territories and countries
      11. Suspend or gerrymander the electoral system such that you remain in power. Or just have a coup, so long as attain and maintain power.
      12. Remove all fiscal and prudential oversight to your increasing lavish spending
      13. Have mass rallies, lots of them
      
      That is how every authoritarian leader has come into power.
      I see the progression of the USA down this dark path, and it concerns me.
      
      This is not centre right politics, it is heading to fascism.
      
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      March 23, 2025 5:13pm
      - Scott
        
        Lance, first of all your concerns seem to be way overblown. You sound like a leftist if I’m being honest?
        
        So let me ask you this. If Trump could enact his agenda, close the borders, deport illegals, energy independence, cut govt waste and end DEI with perfect propriety would you support him? If the judges were happy, Congress was happy and everything was done totally by the book would you support his agenda?
        
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        March 23, 2025 9:05pm
  - NZer In Exile
    
    Lance will you be shilling for Antifa and BLM from now on?
    
    Straw + Man = strawman.
    
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    March 23, 2025 6:22pm
David Garrett

Good morning to all down in New Zild…a pleasant cool morning up here in the Kingdom…another boring Sunday where drinking at the Royal Nuku’alofa Club and watching the tele is about the only thing to do. All day
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March 23, 2025 8:13am
- Cassandra
  
  Straight after church, DG? Beautiful music and praise the Lord (for the RNC).
  
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  March 23, 2025 8:24am
  - Paulus
    
    Remember “Thirst after Righteousness” !
    
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    March 23, 2025 8:28am
    - G the giant from Dunedin
      
      Thirst you say? I better get off to the pub.
      
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      March 23, 2025 12:05pm
  - David Garrett
    
    Cass: Actually the singing IS magnificent…but in between hymns i am told the congregation must endure fire and brimstone rants as if it was 1865 from clergymen who may well have been in bed with some young concubine an hour or so earlier. Hypocrisy being alive and well among the clergy of the Kingdom.
    
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    March 23, 2025 8:32am
    - septic skeptic
      
      Nothing wrong with a bit of Brother Love’s traveling salvation show!
      
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      March 23, 2025 10:43am
      - David Garrett
        
        septic: Actually there is a lot wrong with religion Tonga style. My ex wife remembers having only a cracker for breakfast some days because her Mum couldn’t stand being last on the list of who gave what at church on Sunday.
        
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        March 23, 2025 1:09pm
    - Scott
      
      David – you choose to live there. You could live in NZ where everything is open all the time and even the shops being closed on Good Friday and Anzac day is under attack.
      
      But remember this. Prior to Christianity the Tongans were head hunters. Things have improved considerably since then.
      
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      March 23, 2025 3:27pm
Cassandra

A bit closer to home: an Islamic-oriented government took over Bangladesh last year. It’s always been Moslem and the ousted leader was an authoritarian. But the new regime has adopted a tolerant approach to Islamic extremism – 91% of the population is Moslem – and now that extremism is rearing its ugly head. There are protests now, with pressure to declare an Islamic caliphate. It’s only a matter of time. 175 million population, with huge armed forces but, of course, dwarfed by NZ’s new best friend India. Bangladesh is now a potential trouble spot. Let’s hope Indonesia doesn’t catch the bug. Spreading terror to, say, Singapore or Darwin is an unpleasant prospect. We’ve enough on our plate already.
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March 23, 2025 8:22am
- fightingtemeraire
  
  Cassandra
  
  There is going to be a war between Islam and the rest of the world v shortly.
  
  In Europe/UK they are out breeding the indigenous population and causing all sorts of problems.
  
  Likewise in the ME and Pakistan/Bangladesh are bombs waiting to explode.
  
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  March 23, 2025 8:39am
  - kowtow
    
    Oct 7 was a foreshadowing of that .
    
    Note well who have very publicly taken which side .
    
    The Greens , the Maori Party and a few very prominent Labour MP’s for starters.
    
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    March 23, 2025 10:16am
    - Chuck Bird
      
      Our government has funded Hamas via UNEWA.
      
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      March 23, 2025 2:51pm
  - Notsofast
    
    I just listened to the New Culture forum discussion on this. Then they move onto the disappearing of Shakespeare.
    
    48 minutes
    
    https://youtu.be/yp8WmMj43ko?si=oEvr_zv5DI3sKq1t
    
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    March 23, 2025 10:21am
  - PurplePen
    
    Rita Panahi from Sky News Oz posts a picture of her mum and her mum’s friends in Iran before the 70’s Islamic revolution. It’s telling and also sad.
    
    https://www.instagram.com/p/DEOFs7CzO7J
    
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    March 23, 2025 11:14am
    - Notsofast
      
      Rita Panahi exemplifies the important voices on Islam, the women who escaped, also Ayann Hirsi Ali, Yasmine Mohammed, Nuriyah Khan, Sarah Haider and so on.
      Each is worth a thousand Chloe Swarbricks.
      
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      March 23, 2025 12:30pm
      - Bridgenag
        
        Her “Lefties loosing it” is a must watch
        
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        March 23, 2025 1:30pm
      - rjay
        
        Don’t forget Golriz.
        
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        March 23, 2025 1:50pm
      - Pineapple Lumps
        
        You are correct rjay, they are worth 1000 x Golriz!
        
        As far as I know they aren’t stealing clothes or getting kicked out of supermarkets.
        
        “But, but, she’s got PTSD” you say.
        
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        March 23, 2025 3:00pm
- kowtow
  
  Quite a few wards in England are majority Bangladeshi / Pakistani. Essentially ghettoes.
  
  And as Robert Jenrick said in an article recently they’ll never “integrate” , cos there’s nothing to integrate into as they live entirely in their own culture.
  
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  March 23, 2025 8:40am
  - PurplePen
    
    Multiculturalism gone wrong.
    
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    March 23, 2025 11:16am
    - kowtow
      
      Gone wrong ?
      
      There’s nothing right about it .
      
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      March 23, 2025 1:43pm
- Mike
  
  Further trouble can be expected, especially as India continues its assault on non-Hindus.
  
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  March 23, 2025 9:02am
  - Swifty
    
    Jai Shri Ram!
    
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    March 23, 2025 9:36am
  - Cassandra
    
    And vs Christians in Pakistan. Sectarianism is a curse.
    
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    March 23, 2025 9:39am
    - Don Beckett
      
      Yes, and I wonder when our news makers/inventers will report on the 50,000 + Christians – mainly Catholic – who have been murdered by Islamic extremist tribesmen in northern Nigeria over the last 10 years ?
      But Israel Gaza………..
      Crickets.
      
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      March 23, 2025 10:18am
  - Swifty
    
    Yes, if only the peaceful, tolerant Muslims were back in charge.
    
    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecution_of_Hindus
    
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    March 23, 2025 9:48am
    - Mike
      
      That seem like a good reason for Modi to persecute Muslims and Sikhs.
      
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      March 23, 2025 12:40pm
      - Swifty
        
        You might say persecute, he might say keep a lid on.
        
        After hundreds and hundreds of years of experience maybe the Hindus have got something to teach us.
        
        Or maybe we could listen to you….
        
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        March 23, 2025 1:37pm
      - kowtow
        
        And Christians. And low caste Hindus.
        
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        March 23, 2025 1:42pm
  - NZer In Exile
    
    Mike has it occurred to you that India does not want to be dominated by Islam?
    
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    March 23, 2025 6:46pm
artemisia

NewstalkZB News bulletins today are reporting a dire statistic relating to housing for Pacific people living in New Zealand. In 1986 51% were homeowners, now 17% according to the 2023 census.

The academic interviewed said many are living in poorly maintained homes, though omits to mention how much maintenance is impacted or actually caused by overcrowding. Or that households from Tonga and Samoa are well over represented in national overcrowding stats.

What has changed over that period? Seems likely that household income in those crowded homes has increased, even if all are on welfare. Though if not why not? Fewer workers? Undocumented folk or others with no income?

Fortunately the academic interviewed by NewstalkZB, Dr. Karamia Müller, “a pacific academic specialising in indigenous space concepts”, has the answer. More taxpayer funding.
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March 23, 2025 8:34am
- Grunter
  
  Yep more tax – that will fix it. Socialism always hits the poorest harder and earlier. This is a sure sign of societal failure. And the more tax answers from the Leftie commentator just show how deeply deluded most are.
  
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  March 23, 2025 8:51am
  - PurplePen
    
    Margaret Thatcher “The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people’s money”.
    
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    March 23, 2025 11:20am
    - NZer In Exile
      
      And another old goody:
      
      “A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the majority discovers it can vote itself largess out of the public treasury. After that, the majority always votes for the candidate promising the most benefits with the result the democracy collapses because of the loose fiscal policy ensuing, always to be followed by a dictatorship, then a monarchy.”
      
      Basically voters expecting ever more freebies will thereby destroy their own democracy through bankruptcy.
      
      Source is somewhat uncertain but the quote has been around since the 1700s.
      
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      March 23, 2025 6:52pm
- Cassandra
  
  Of course more government funding is the solution //. Indigenous space concepts should be funded too – this bloke would fit nicely into a Rocket Lab capsule after a spell on a set. Returning to home – DG needs company – is a better answer.
  
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  March 23, 2025 9:01am
- pdm
  
  Have a look at the Super Rugby and Aussie League teams Arty.
  
  There is a lot of wealth among the younger (mainly male) Pacifica community. Why is it not being shared among families.
  
  Especially when I look at the RSE workers around Hawkes Bay – their focus is getting money home to their families be they Tongan, Samoan or from Vanuatu.
  
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  March 23, 2025 9:03am
  - Philview
    
    I used to have a workmate who was a lovely lady from Samoa. She had a day job where all the money was taken by the wider family. She had a secret job in the evening that she used to live on. The ultimate socialist dream of exploiting hard workers to pay for the idle.
    
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    March 23, 2025 9:07am
    - David Garrett
      
      Phil: I had a client up here who owned a fleet of fishing boats. The crew got two paychecks – one for the family and the other for them.
      
      My two staff – both very bright girls – find it very strange that i should even ask if their generous salaries get given to the family. It is just a given that they are. As night follows day
      
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      March 23, 2025 9:35am
      - fightingtemeraire
        
        I was in PNG in the 60’s and the wharfies got paid in bully beef, rice and other basics to give to the family and so much in money that they could spend on fags, booze etc. Worked well.
        
        Thern the do gooders came in and said that they had to be paid in money, within a few weeks families were starving.
        
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        March 23, 2025 10:28am
    - kowtow
      
      ‘Arf a mo’ mate .
      
      Aren’t we meant to be embracing and celebrating all this enrichment and multiculturalism.
      
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      March 23, 2025 9:48am
  - cmm
    
    All meaningful effort is made by individuals and individual incentives are part of that.
    
    Where’s the gain in working hard to earn an extra $50 if you’re then expected to hand it out to all the family members – keeping only $5 (and any tax burden) for yourself?
    
    Sure, communalism makes sense in certain environments – especially the tropics. Catch a big fish and it makes sense to share it with the rellies before it rots. They will probably catch one the next day and share it with you.Same with some of the other hunter-gatherer cultures such as Khoi San.
    
    But such cultures do not work where you have to save crops etc to make it through a hard winter. Imagine diligently storing your wheat for winter only to be expected to hand it all out to the cuzzies.
    
    Nor does it work in a money-based society where you need to save for a rainy day etc. It is no surprise at all that such cultures hold people back. Where’s the incentive to materially improve your life if you have to drag around a bunch of no-hopers with you.
    
    This is a major part of the reason why communal cultures fail in a commercial society.
    
    Some years ago I head a young Pacific Islander woman being interviewed on the radio. She had won some taxpayer funded scholarship to pay for her masters or PhD. Her family held a small party to celebrate – at which everyone hit her up for “their” share and were very upset when she said it was money for the university.
    
    She suggested that Pacific Islanders should be given larger scholarships to allow them to share with their families and fulfill their “cultural obligations”.
    
    Sure, it’s just taxpayer money. Why not?
    
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    March 23, 2025 4:29pm
- Simon
  
  “Our government, and our society as a whole, needs to take action urgently to help turn around this housing situation for Pacific people, which is currently getting worse every year,”
  
  https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/news/2025/03/18/pacific-home-ownership-plummets-something-needs-to-change.html
  
  All quiet interesting. Something does need to change. But it wont. NZ well on track to becoming another LatAm style country.
  
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  March 23, 2025 9:04am
  - Don Beckett
    
    Was she complaining when Jacinda the Kind was in power?
    Thought not. Hypocrite much.
    
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    March 23, 2025 10:22am
    - Ghost
      
      Māori and Pacific Housing Research Centre Was only set up April 2023, so after the saints time.
      
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      March 23, 2025 10:39am
      - Don Beckett
        
        Maybe so, but she has been at Auckland University since 2018.
        
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        March 23, 2025 11:00am
    - G the giant from Dunedin
      
      Yes, just like the media hit job on school lunches, not one mention of the 7 cases of food poisoning that has never been mentioned, Seymour tried to spill it in parliament, but gave up, it’s time this was pushed in the dead beat weak woke losers that think feeding other people’s kids is good
      
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      March 23, 2025 12:14pm
  - In Vino Veritas
    
    If money from the taxpayer was the solution, NZ would already be the world’s Garden of Eden Simon. So what does that tell you? Let me help, it tells you that the people who are either receiving the money or asking for it, are the issue, not whatever they are complaining about.
    
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    March 23, 2025 11:26am
  - cmm
    
    I would suggest that the situation in NZ is likely preferable to the situation in the Pacific. If it wasn’t then they would not come.
    
    Why does anything need to change? If Polynesians choose to live in what a Westerner might consider cramped housing then why should se stop them? Clearly it is a good deal for them.
    
    50 years ago it was nothing for a white family of 8 to live in a three bedroom home. No double glazing. No insulation. So what’s the problem?
    
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    March 23, 2025 4:39pm
- Damocles11
  
  Yes, more taxpayer funding. New Zealand is collapsing. Taxpayers are being milked for all they are worth but it’s not enough to pay the bloated welfare state, ‘koha’, and neverending socialistic pipe dreams so the choice is clear: stay and be fleeced, or move to a wealthier country which is able to afford the type of socialist ‘utopia’ New Zealands legions of leftists seem to think they can create here.
  National are saying that ‘economic growth’ will see the good times roll again. This so-called ‘economic growth’ is just the GDP numbers, which can easily gamed by government spending and increased immigration. And while the GDP numbers may again look decent in time, and spark another wave of borrowing for speculation on over-priced property, the productive economy stagnates.
  
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  March 23, 2025 9:16am
  - Quail
    
    Yes and the vaunted increase in export receipts is simply linked to the decline in the NZD ,No extra productivity !
    
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    March 23, 2025 10:06am
    - G the giant from Dunedin
      
      That’s bloody rubbish, the dollar has traded in a tight band for years, gone are the days of zero to bust, the dollar has not been over 60 cents for years
      
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      March 23, 2025 12:17pm
      - NothingLeft
        
        ??? Go look at an exchange rate graph and see how wrong you are. NZD has in general been falling for 4 years against USD from 0.72 in May ’21 to 0.57 now. A 20% drop.
        
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        March 23, 2025 1:32pm
      - cmm
        
        It was generally over 60c until about October 2024 with a few small dips. So your “years” is only a few months.
        
        Still, it is a long way above the dismal slump at after Auntie Helen took the tiller when it was below 50c – even hitting 40c for a bit.
        
        I had just bought a house back then and a reasonable amount of my extra income was in UK pounds from overseas. I was getting over $3 for a pound. Good money. It really helped deal to the mortgage.
        
        https://www.macrotrends.net/2557/new-zealand-us-dollar-exchange-rate-historical-chart
        
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        March 23, 2025 4:54pm
      - Quail
        
        Do some research GfD.
        Once the NZD was worth more than the USD.Not so recently.
        NZ interest rates ( some of the highest interest rates in the OECD)have propped up $NZD value for years.The NZD is the 10 th most traded currency in the OECD.
        A speculators delight?
        Some commentators have said the NZD was 20% overvalued.
        Recent falls following the OCR down are in the order of 15%
        June 2017 1NZD = USD 0.71 , 2019 1NZD = 0.63 USD and today 1NZD 0.57.
        The decline has not yet stopped!
        
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        March 23, 2025 9:39pm
  - PurplePen
    
    Another one from Thatcher:
    
    “The ingenuity of the politician and the bureaucrat in devising means to keep between a third and a half of our countries’ wealth in the grip of the state – even when our economies are forging ahead on a surge of enterprise and innovation – is truly astonishing. But, of course, the temptation to prefer comfortable dependency to the strenuous life of liberty is hardly less so.”.
    
    Thatcher makes another point elsewhere in a 2000 speech at a New York university in that if you keep taking from those that are productive to hand out to those that are not, you create a dependency on the state for the latter while simultaneously dampening the ability of the productive to produce. A terrible situation for all.
    
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    March 23, 2025 11:39am
  - Burtland
    
    theres a two tier economy in NZ – those who have a mortgage overdraft facility and those that dont
    
    those that do spend up large, put it on the tab and spend injudiciously; those that dont get everything done in the underground economy and are spendthrift
    
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    March 23, 2025 12:07pm
    - AitchW
      
      It’s nowhere near as binary as you suggest. We have an overdraft facility, yet still spend carefully. We don’t get anything done in the underground economy.
      
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      March 23, 2025 3:11pm
    - NZer In Exile
      
      On a personal level I believe material success can be boiled down further to those who can delay immediate gratification in order to attend longer term goals and those who won’t. Being able to do so will probably at least cushion you somewhat in bad times.
      
      On the other hand in NZ, I believe another big factor is being a receiver of financial inheritance, or not. Without this, even being able to delay gratification for longer term goals, you better not ever step off the straight and narrow as there are few second chances.
      
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      March 23, 2025 5:39pm
- Dougal10
  
  Looking locally it seems that renting in small town nz while the kids are young works for the local Tongan community, waiting for the kids to move somewhere bigger to continue their sport as they get older , and with highly paid jobs there are a lot of ford rangers in the driveways so ownership if they wanted it would be easy.
  
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  March 23, 2025 9:27am
  - fightingtemeraire
    
    Apparently Timaru has a v high P Is population and do well.
    
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    March 23, 2025 10:29am
  - PurplePen
    
    A friend living in Hawkes Bay says in the state housing area near where he lives, the driveways are full of new vehicles and not just Japanese brands but quite a few European brands. State money aye.
    
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    March 23, 2025 11:42am
    - AitchW
      
      And gang money too I imagine.
      
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      March 23, 2025 3:11pm
- Jethrod
  
  Between 1986 and 2025, there has been at least 3 resessions or downturns, meaning after each it takes a time for people to get out and get a job. Fixing your household budget is not easy with no job , rent going up and another baby on the way.
  House ownership is almost impossible. Good education is really the start of improvement.
  
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  March 23, 2025 9:41am
  - kowtow
    
    ‘Good education is really the start of improvement.’
    
    True , but that’s not happening either.
    
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    March 23, 2025 10:56am
    - Burtland
      
      trouble is the left -who run the education system- think that being educated means speaking maori, no STEM skills and a degree in neo-marxist communication – all the well paid jobs are looking for none of this – they want the opposite – someone who can turn up on time and empower their business.
      
      theres a complete mismatch in expectations – lean times ahead for NZ
      
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      March 23, 2025 12:20pm
      - kowtow
        
        If I might be so bold , it’s worse than
        
        ‘think that being educated means speaking maori,’
        
        A few ki ora’s, a couple of colours , and count to three , will do it!
        
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        March 23, 2025 1:03pm
- Dudley Quaffquaff
  
  In fairness, one of the things that has changed over that period is housing affordability. This is not by any means the only community whose members are finding home ownership increasingly unattainable
  
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  March 23, 2025 11:38am
  - ISeeRed
    
    Perhaps proudly Pasifika-identifying people could move back to the Pacific Islands? Houses are cheaper there.
    
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    March 23, 2025 4:12pm
- Paulus
  
  Are we to assume that these people are actually Tax Payers, or like so many Tax Recipients.
  WOF is one of the worse scams !
  
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  March 23, 2025 2:15pm
Pineapple Lumps

A friend who is a new classroom teacher is ready to throw in the towel after just one term. Days are not spent teaching young people hungry to learn. Instead the focus is on behavioural management. In a class of 30 the majority of children have no respect for authority, no obedience and are wilfully defiant. Possible solutions that the Ministry of Education would propose are all unaffordable or impractical ie
1. Reduce class sizes to 1:20. Imagine how many extra teachers are needed?
2. Individual teachers aides for disruptive children.

It is time to recognise the drop in NZ education standards is a failure of our society not the education system.

When you don’t value strong family units, when you don’t teach children in a loving manner to respect authority and some basic life skills for success, then you are creating a system of failure.

NZ needs to change its philosophy to value family and family values. If we do that we will see a massive improvement in many areas of our society. Education, crime, productivity will all improve. If we don’t then our downward slide will carry on.
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March 23, 2025 9:10am
- artemisia
  
  Any charter schools in your friend’s area?
  
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  March 23, 2025 9:14am
- John Loveridge
  
  Amen.
  
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  March 23, 2025 9:26am
- Dougal10
  
  The last 3 years have got really bad with not fit for school behavior kids , I wonder what this coincides with ?//
  
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  March 23, 2025 9:30am
- MCōs
  
  My 72yo sister still does a few days of relieving teaching. She sees different kids all the time, but she isn’t intimidated by the experience
  The worst for her is when she goes into a class and there’s nothing planned
  I was talking to her the other day and she mentioned that young teachers struggle to cope at times
  
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  March 23, 2025 12:33pm
  - Pineapple Lumps
    
    Interestingly, some very experienced teachers I know are also saying the behavioural issues are taking a toll. These are full contact teachers, not someone popping in to cover the odd day here or there.
    
    One cohort in our local school had a particularly high number of children with behavioural issues. You could see the carnage on teachers as it moved through the year levels. Many leaving the school or taking the next year off work to recharge. This is in a fairly high decile area, so tame compared to South Auckland.
    
    Our declining education standards show we are reaping what we sow in NZ. If we aren’t going to put the values of a successful society on a pedestal and aspire for them, we will all live in a less civilised society of our own making.
    
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    March 23, 2025 3:13pm
    - MCōs
      
      Being high decile is no guarantee of good behaviour
      
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      March 23, 2025 3:31pm
- Burtland
  
  streaming used to separate kids into those who wanted to use their brains and those that wanted to use their hands – a pretty basic division for sure
  
  but the left decided this was unfair so they created the knowledge economy
  
  they took the trade training away from those who valued it and lumped them all into big barns so the brainy ones could teach the handy ones – now nobody learns anything
  
  they destroyed the hands based economy and the promised knowledge economy never appeared – the Clark Legacy
  
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  March 23, 2025 12:43pm
- rjay
  
  How can someone go through three years of teacher training and not know that? How can a training provider not recognize someone is not temperamentally suited to the profession?
  
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  March 23, 2025 1:56pm
  - Pineapple Lumps
    
    Great response rjay//s
    
    Let’s rename it the Ministry of Social Dysfunction, rather than the Ministry of Education. Let’s change the training to Social Worker rather than Teacher. That way we all know where we stand. No more ideologues wasting their time or taxpayer funding thinking they can lift the poor and downtrodden from their slums through education.
    
    No the point here is we are not going to fix the education crisis in the classroom. We must fix it in the home.
    
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    March 23, 2025 2:26pm
  - Oskar
    
    Because many teachers these days do not do the old three year course.
    They do a one year post-graduate teaching diploma course, the assumption being that their degree gives them the basic knowledge while the teaching diploma is to teach them how to teach with some limited time in classrooms. So someone with say a degree in English literature is supposed to teach maths and science up to year 8. The change came when the old Colleges of Education were taken over by universities.
    
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    March 23, 2025 3:18pm
- Paulus
  
  If I remember David Llange in Tomorrow’s World said that he would go for classes of 20.
  Damn – missed again.
  Sadly much of the standards that we see in schools and Kura, and simlar, are generational and genetic following their parents, and their parental families, over many generations
  They know no difference.
  
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  March 23, 2025 2:20pm
Tony Stuart

Newstalk ZB was reporting on Friday that members of Luxon’s delegation have signed more than 300 commercial agreements with their counterparts in India in the last week. If that figure is accurate it has been a highly successful trip already, with the prospect of an elusive free trade deal to be looked forward to.

With Nanaia Mahuta having previously declared a trade agreement with India to be “no longer a priority” due to reluctance on India’s part one has to wonder who in India Mahuta had been talking to. Todd McClay has been to India five times since becoming Trade Minister and has built strong relationships there, paving the way for the PM’s visit last week. Once again, it seems that all that was required was a bit of commitment from Ministers here, which McClay has provided in spades.
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March 23, 2025 9:10am
- Mark Hanley
  
  Commitment, expertise, integrity, work ethic, and an ambition to help all NZers, without fear or favour.
  
  Do not underestimate the hard graft and expertise put in by Luxon and his ministers to get to the point they can publicly discuss an Indian free trade agreement.
  
  Expect a lot more positive announcements, when the timing is right….
  
  “Nicola Willis has been quietly working for the last few months on a plan to slash government spending in the upcoming Budget. The knife is being sharpened” NewstalkB
  
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  March 23, 2025 9:26am
  - Cassandra
    
    Absolutely. This is the difference a competent government makes. For all National’s apparent fence sitting its ministers are all competent. Unlike the previous, hopeless, clown mob. Can you imagine Mahuta negotiating a trade agreement?
    
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    March 23, 2025 9:45am
    - Mike
      
      Only had to sack five ministers so far!
      
      4 18
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      March 23, 2025 10:07am
      - Bevan
        
        Oh the accountability!! Won’t someone think of the Ministers!
        
        16 1
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        March 23, 2025 11:00am
      - Ghost
        
        Amazing huh, much different than being afraid to sack incompetent ministers because of the backlash from the Māori caucus
        
        20 1
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        March 23, 2025 11:20am
      - rjay
        
        With a caucus brimming with talent I think it is only fair that everyone gets a shot at being a Minister.
        
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        March 23, 2025 1:58pm
  - AitchW
    
    Bring it on. Slash spending on carvings, cloaks, needless expensive embellishments on government buildings. (I’m looking at you, RBNZ.)
    Clamp down hard on benefit fraud and tax evasion.
    Take a long hard look at every new public service position created in the last 6 years.
    So very much waste to eliminate.
    
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    March 23, 2025 9:51am
  - sungsamning
    
    I hope the knife gets taken to Womens Affairs, RNZ, and TVNZ.
    
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    March 23, 2025 10:16am
- John Loveridge
  
  Success in this realm takes intelligence, knowledge, commitment, and hard work – none of which Nanaia Mahuta is known for.
  
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  March 23, 2025 9:28am
- Jethrod
  
  I think Nanaia had a fear of flying.
  
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  March 23, 2025 9:44am
- Hugh Jarse
  
  She was probably only looking for deals on new sneakers. That appointment of Mahuta as FM by Ardern has to go down as the most bizarre appointment of an already bizarre regime.
  
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  March 23, 2025 9:49am
  - PurplePen
    
    It does show that Ardern had no idea of what foreign affairs has the ability to achieve for NZ, or was deaf to MFAT.
    
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    March 23, 2025 11:47am
  - greybeard
    
    I saw it as a deliberate act of sabotage, to erode NZ’s reputation.
    
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    March 23, 2025 1:12pm
    - kowtow
      
      I see it as the Labour caucus had such a dearth of talent that she decided failing any talent to do it , she’d give the job to her for “optics” abroad , as it were.
      
      In the same way Ardern insisted on dressing up as a Maori princess in all her major stage shows abroad .
      
      To pretend NZ was something it isn’t ( but what she wanted it to be).
      
      It is entirely possible she was heavily advised along those lines , as she sure ain’t no brain or original thinker .
      
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      March 23, 2025 1:38pm
      - NeverMindTheBollocks
        
        Mahuta got the job because as senior Maori MP & from Tainui “aristocracy” she had to get a top job. What else were they going to give her – Finance?
        
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        March 23, 2025 2:52pm
- Chris Nisbet
  
  I wonder if net zero even got a mention in any of these agreements. According to Grok, India’s yearly _increases_ in their emissions eclipse NZ’s total emissions by many times.
  Given that they are _increasing_ their coal consumption at a great rate of knots, and we are intent on cripplimg ourselves by trying to achieve net zero (sugh), this won’t change any time soon.
  
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  March 23, 2025 10:01am
  - PurplePen
    
    A peer-reviewed climate science paper published in Science of Climate Change finds:
    – Human CO₂ (just 4% of the carbon cycle) sinks into oceans and forests in 3-4 years—not centuries like the IPCC claims.
    – Temperature leads CO₂, not the reverse—think 800-year ice core lags and 2020’s lockdown “no-blip” at Mauna Loa.
    – IPCC models exaggerate warming (0.5°C/decade vs. reality’s 0.13°C).
    – Solar activity and natural cycles steal the show.
    
    Time to do as most others have and stop any net zero spending.
    
    https://scienceofclimatechange.org/grok-3-beta-et-al-a-critical-reassessment-of-the-anthropogenic-co%e2%82%82-global-warming-hypothesis/
    
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    March 23, 2025 12:00pm
- kowtow
  
  I fear what NZ will get in return for all this “free trade”.
  
  Indian farmers are extremely militant .
  
  There’s also a lot more to this “free trade” business than they’re letting on.
  
  Who takes a warship on “trade negotiations”. And why is China so unhappy.
  
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  March 23, 2025 10:01am
  - fightingtemeraire
    
    The Indian Navy is v modern and v large.
    
    All the warship is doing is “Showing the flag” which they have done for years.
    
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    March 23, 2025 10:51am
    - kowtow
      
      I know all that .
      
      But everything that is presented is with a purpose , as is a warship during a “free trade” trip.
      
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      March 23, 2025 11:57am
      - Jack5
        
        Would a commitment to buy a warship from India be part of any deal?
        
        If we are going international, surely Asian shipbuilders should be considered.
        
        For example, Japan’s Mogami-class 5500-ton frigates, which are said to be built for about $NZ650 million each.
        
        India’s new frigates, built in Goa, seem to be costing, in a batch of seven or eight around $NZ1.3 to $NZ1.5 billion each.
        
        Have to get a lot NZ milk into India to make up the difference.
        
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        March 23, 2025 3:39pm
- G the giant from Dunedin
  
  Ghez. Hope Luxon can get a tariff free trade deal with India, just to rub it in Hipkins sneering face
  
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  March 23, 2025 12:19pm
  - MCōs
    
    Is that it?
    
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    March 23, 2025 12:36pm
- Paulus
  
  Mahuta was afraid that any FTA was contrary to anything Maori would do, certainly in terms of the increase in immigration from India which will of course swamp Maori, whatever that is, in a few tears time.
  Asians, including Indians, from inaccurate Department figures, as a percentage the same as so called Maori, where Maori birthrate is declining rapidly – whatever a Maori is.
  Many Indians we have here now are highly educated, run businesses, family orientated. and do not appear in prisons.
  Look at some of our largest businesses, and see who own them – say the Liquor Indjustry for example.
  World Wide they are known for their Business acumen.
  
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  March 23, 2025 2:29pm
  - greybeard
    
    “Acumen” is one way of putting it.
    They also take full advantage of their fellow countrymen when it comes to employment, housing and immigration conditions, without any remorse or conscience.
    But you are correct in respect their numbers: a well-run Indian Party could be a powerful influence in NZ politics.
    
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    March 23, 2025 4:01pm
  - Jack5
    
    From Stats NZ –
    
    In the 2023 Census:
    
    – 887,493 people (17.8 percent) counted as Maori;
    – 861,576 people (17.3 percent) counted as Asian;
    – 442,632 people (8.9 per cent) counted as Pacific “peoples”
    92,760 people (1.9 per cent) counted as Middle Eastern, Latin American or African.
    
    https://www.stats.govt.nz/information-releases/2023-census-population-counts-by-ethnic-group-age-and-maori-descent-and-dwelling-counts/
    
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    March 23, 2025 9:21pm
Scooter

Yet again the perpetrator is the victim in NZ. I can guess why.

“Tribunal adjudicator Geoffrey Baker found that because the complaints came from anonymous sources and no complainant was willing to give evidence, the application to terminate lacked corroboration.”

“While numerous anonymous complaints have been received, there is insufficient proof, such as personal testimony or independent reports from the local authority’s contractor, to support the allegations,” the decision said.

https://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/news/national/tribunal-rules-k%C4%81inga-ora-tenant-stays-despite-antisocial-behaviour-shooting/
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March 23, 2025 9:40am
imalwaysright

Watching on Q&A Peter Boshier, retiring Chief Ombudsman, venting his frustration at the various government departments failures of service to the public.
He wasn’t shy about naming departments and their failings.

But he has been in his job for the last ten years, wasn’t it his job to fix these problems?

A bit late now for the bravado Pete.
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March 23, 2025 9:40am
- Swifty
  
  What?
  
  The Ombudsman can only recommend.
  
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  March 23, 2025 11:55am
surfing

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/tribunal-rules-kainga-ora-tenant-stays-despite-antisocial-behaviour-shooting/5Q425W7UFJAWDIGJH5E6LDLWLM/

Geoffrey Baker is the biggest clown in the country right now. This guy has no commonsense, and should be kicked from his job immediately.

The reason no one wants to be identified is because there is a good chance they will be shot if they are identified.
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March 23, 2025 9:43am
- Don Beckett
  
  Surely the decision can be appealed ?
  
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  March 23, 2025 11:04am
- Ghost
  
  I don’t think it should matter that no one wanted to give testimony, the police did. What the police said should be enough.
  
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  March 23, 2025 11:12am
pdm

Can you imagine Mahuta negotiating a trade agreement?`’

She did excel with Nepotism though.
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March 23, 2025 9:58am
- kowtow
  
  Well she did extremely well with getting the Labour caucus to essentially secretly agree to change the constitution in a fundamental , radical way , something that a large number of National MP’s appear to be comfortable with.
  
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  March 23, 2025 10:11am
  - G the giant from Dunedin
    
    We don’t have a constitution
    
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    March 23, 2025 12:21pm
    - Mike
      
      Yes we do.
      
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      March 23, 2025 12:38pm
      - kowtow
        
        Extraordinary !
        
        How many times this has been covered here on kb .
        
        Over and over and over.
        
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        March 23, 2025 1:00pm
    - greybeard
      
      Wikipedia:
      “Unlike many countries with a single, codified constitution, New Zealand’s constitutional arrangements are found in various sources, including:
      
      Acts of Parliament: Key legislation like the Constitution Act 1986 and the Electoral Act 1993.
      UK Statutes: Certain UK statutes, like the Magna Carta 1297 and the Bill of Rights 1688, are also considered part of the New Zealand constitution.
      Constitutional Conventions: Unwritten rules and practices that are followed, such as the role of the Governor-General.
      Court Decisions: Judgments of the courts play a role in shaping constitutional interpretations.
      The Treaty of Waitangi: Increasingly, the Treaty of Waitangi is viewed as a founding document of government in New Zealand.”
      
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      March 23, 2025 1:09pm
      - Yvette
        
        Someone like David Seymour and ACT should clarify all that and make it more accessible by simplifying it and putting it all in one place //
        
        5 1
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        March 23, 2025 1:25pm
    - Paulus
      
      Yes, signed in 1840 at Waitangi initially.
      Don’t ya get it !
      
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      March 23, 2025 2:31pm
- Mike
  
  I wonder who was NZ’s foreign affairs minister when the FTA was agreed with the UK.
  
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  March 23, 2025 10:55am
  - Cassandra
    
    The hard yards we’re done under her predecessor’s watch.
    
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    March 23, 2025 3:05pm
sungsamning

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2025/03/21/trump-effect-german-auto-giant-audi-looks-to-move-production-to-u-s-to-avoid-tariffs/
Trump Effect: German Auto Giant Audi Looks to Move Production to U.S. to Avoid Tariffs.
Volkswagen’s subsidiary Audi brand said this week that it is examining various long-term strategies, including potentially shifting production to America, to deal with President Donald Trump’s restrictions on foreign imports.
Audi CEO Gernot Döllner said that the company is “currently assessing various scenarios for additional localization in North America – among other things, to be closer to the needs of local customers and to make ourselves more resilient to global economic uncertainties.”
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March 23, 2025 10:08am
sungsamning

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLb5RpKdQWU
“National Unity Crisis” Danielle Smith Issues DEMANDS to Carney + Pierre BLASTS Liberal Immigration.
It’s unbelievable that Canadians are willing to vote for Mark Karney and the liberals. I can’t believe that Canadians have forgotten what the liberals have done to this country over the past ten years.
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March 23, 2025 10:09am
- kowtow
  
  Canada , like much of the west , has experienced relatively massive population growth , through mass immigration. Much from the ‘Global South”.
  
  These people are hardly going to vote for a party that limits more of the same .Quite the opposite.
  They will vote for the Other People’s Money party , like the so called “centrist” Teal types , who vote for cuddly politicians who promise more and more ‘kind” , protective politics and much more OPM.
  
  Current polling there shows an awful lot of Carney’s support is exactly the demographic who favoured Ardern here so strongly .
  
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  March 23, 2025 11:05am
  - JackRabbit
    
    Carney is a WEF / Blackrock puppet / tool.
    
    https://www.weforum.org/stories/authors/mark-carney/
    
    Just like Ardern
    https://www.weforum.org/stories/2019/01/jacinda-ardern/
    
    Just like Trudeau
    https://www.weforum.org/people/justin-trudeau/
    
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    March 23, 2025 12:02pm
  - sungsamning
    
    Yeah, the Canadian election result should be interesting.
    
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    March 23, 2025 5:07pm
PurplePen

One industry source has claimed that Net Zero is to blame because Heathrow is moving from diesel back-up generators to biomass. Difficult to know if this is true or correct at this early stage. Heathrow has replied and said this is not true.

Reform MP Richard Tice said: ‘It appears that Heathrow had changed its backup systems in order to be, wait for it…Net Zero compliant’.

‘They had got rid of their diesel generators and had moved towards a biomass generator that was designed not to completely replace the grid but work alongside it. Their net zero compliant backup system has completely failed in its core function at the first time of asking’.
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March 23, 2025 12:44pm
- cmm
  
  It’s a bit like solar. Solar is designed to “work alongside” other generation and does not replace it.
  
  As a result, you really need to build two generators:
  * the crap unreliable one for virtue signalling.
  * the real one that actually provides reliability.
  
  At least double the cost, but feel the feelz…
  
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  March 23, 2025 4:59pm
- Chris Nisbet
  
  Kathryn Porter does a pretty good explanation of the electrical setup at the airport on this GBNews interview…
  
  https://x.com/KathrynPorter26/status/1903620640172548248?t=eSuxzpJ9kxWD90Rd7f7FQg&s=19
  
  As I understood it…
  – The gen sets aren’t intended to provide backup for the entire site.
  – The diesel backup is for runway lights and control tower, which did its job, apparently.
  – The airport has 3 separate grid supplies, but it took hours to reconfigure things to use one of the other two after the 1st failed.
  
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  March 23, 2025 7:46pm
goNZ1

The Tongariro Crossing will be closed with the rāhui in place until 6am Wednesday.
Members of the public were asked to consider alternative walking routes during this time, police said.

sorry tourists, you may have thought NZ was a Christian country but it’s not any more, this sort of thing happens all the time here so you may as well head to Oz if you can’t be bothered pissing around waiting til Wednesday!
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March 23, 2025 1:15pm
- NoFax
  
  It is not enforceable so people can refuse the request. Assuming one has planned the trip for a while then one should just carry on with their plans.
  
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  March 23, 2025 3:42pm
  - wgtn_dude
    
    At least one shuttle company has posted on their website that they won’t be taking passengers until the 26th.
    
    Too bad also if one had booked a guided walk. I would guess those operators would also cancel so as not to jeopardise any future license renewals.
    
    Same thing happened a year or so back at one of the already struggling ski fields – out of action for a few days to allow the mountain to heal.
    
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    March 23, 2025 4:47pm
Jack5

Wellington marchers today are supporting access to puberty blockers.

RNZ reports a spokesperson saying transgender community and its allies are worried any changes will mean trans children lose access to hormone therapy that stalls unwanted physical changes.

This puts the Minister of Mental Health, Matt Doocey, in the political spotlight.

Bassett, Brash and Hyde on his stance:

https://www.bassettbrashandhide.com/post/citizen-science-matt-doocey-doubles-down-on-trans-healthcare

The Wellington protest march:

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/545724/hundreds-march-in-wellington-to-support-access-for-puberty-blockers-gender-affirming-care

And the Wendy Geus article in Kiwiblog yesterday:

https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2025/03/guest_post_could_matt_dooceys_transgender_stance_be_contributing_to_anxiety_in_our_young.html
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March 23, 2025 1:58pm
- JackRabbit
  
  …“We know that suicide rates for our young people from our rainbow communities are incredibly high…” said Woods.
  
  Not a very bright comment on her part.
  
  It indicates that people in rainbow communities have a high rate of mental illness. Not surprising at all.
  
  The solution is to fix who and what is poisoning their minds.
  
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  March 23, 2025 2:48pm
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  In reference to puberty blockers:
  
  “How dare they attempt to deny children healthcare … access to healthcare is a human right.”
  
  Benjamin Doyle, Green MP
  
  Honestly, Wellington goes from bad to worse. Every year that goes by, more and more weirdos pour into the only town in the country where the nutty and delusional will be prioritised for jobs where performance is secondary to identity.
  
  For those new to NZ, Wellington wasn’t always like this.
  
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  March 23, 2025 2:58pm
MCōs

Americans are becoming less sympathetic towards Israel according to Gallup polling
https://news.gallup.com/poll/657404/less-half-sympathetic-toward-israelis.aspx

https://x.com/carlworker/status/1903610323204247698?s=61
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March 23, 2025 2:26pm
- Inandout
  
  MC, and Trump is mega popular.
  
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  March 23, 2025 2:52pm
  - Mike
    
    Fake news:
    https://m.economictimes.com/news/international/us/donald-trump-hits-historic-low-as-new-poll-shows-his-net-approval-rating-worse-than-any-modern-president-in-decades/articleshow/119344880.cms
    
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    March 23, 2025 4:56pm
    - MCōs
      
      I think the last time a president was mega popular was George Bush after 9\11
      
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      March 23, 2025 10:14pm
Pineapple Lumps

Can anyone here explain why just before the Super rugby teams run out onto the field they have people dressed up in imitation traditional maori costume singing and playing massive horns etc?

How is this relevant to a game bought to the country by the settlers?

Who is driving this tokenism?
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March 23, 2025 3:23pm
- greybeard
  
  Maori invented the game. Chill out.
  
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  March 23, 2025 3:56pm
  - greybeard
    
    I forgot to say, after they returned from the Antarctic.
    
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    March 23, 2025 6:09pm
    - Steve Otto N Shore
      
      “Te Tai-uka-a-pia”
      
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      March 23, 2025 7:37pm
- MCōs
  
  Sure, pineapple
  
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  March 23, 2025 3:56pm
  - Mike
    
    Imagine being forced to watch it!
    
    3 1
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    March 23, 2025 4:13pm
- Jethrod
  
  It’s really strange, I grew up in the 50’s in a town renowned for maori culture and no, but NO, horns or shells or whatever were blown or caused to make a noise. I believe it is a newfangled thing that has just appeared in the last 20 or so years. It’s just garbage. Culture….ha!
  It appeared around the time of the FIFA World cup in South Africa…… all those vuvusalas with the ohhh choice noise!
  
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  March 23, 2025 4:47pm
Swifty

What a terrible indictment on Labour’s disastrous handling of our economy 2017-23 – and by the CTU’s Craig Renney no less.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/360623472/explained-you-think-youve-got-it-bad-why-our-sluggish-economy-hits-maori-harder
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March 23, 2025 4:01pm
- Conservatarian
  
  Superb amalgam of leftist idiocy: socialist economist notices socialist government ruins economy but Maoris most affected so socialist economist continues to advocate for socialist government.
  
  2 2
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  March 23, 2025 5:26pm
Swifty

The Grocer’s Daughter:

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/15yThMCGZG/?mibextid=wwXIfr

My dream girl.
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March 23, 2025 5:23pm
greybeard

https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/360625243/we-need-keep-fighting-napier-mayor-tells-people-worried-about-healthcare
Judging by the people in these photos the first step in their healthcare would be to lose about 40% of their weight.
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March 23, 2025 6:08pm
Sparrow

An excellent article on defence by Don Brash. Very sensible and pragmatic position. Nodoubt will upset the armchair Generals and Admirals that inhabit this blog.
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March 23, 2025 7:57pm
Handyman

Regarding class sizes…
The class size (of say 20) is an average for a school.
Senior teachers teach small elite classes (e g cello) while junior teachers are faced with large classes of say English or maths.
Luckily, truancy is so bad the effective size of compulsory classes is reduced.
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March 23, 2025 8:05pm

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