Open mike 07/10/2023

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, October 7th, 2023 - 81 comments
Categories: open mike - Tags:


Open mike is your post.

For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose.

The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy).

Step up to the mike …

81 comments on “Open mike 07/10/2023 ”

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  1. Dennis Frank 1
    7 October 2023 at 7:33 am

    Exciting times up north…

    “I want to know who’s drawn an oversized cock on my mouth,” he says. The accompanying text reads “party at Shane’s”. He smiles and laments the lack of permanent police presence in the town.

    As we’re leaving the store, a man in paint-spattered walk shorts clocks Jones on his way in. He swerves, barking “don’t talk to me – I’m not voting for you and your rubbish policies.” Jones approaches him anyway, and the man, who refuses to give his name, remonstrates with the NZ First deputy leader.

    “You just want to sell everything off to foreigners,” he says. Jones can be accurately accused of many things, but as deputy leader of the fiercely nationalist NZ First, not that. “I mistook you for someone else,” the man says, on being corrected. “I thought you were from the National party.”

    https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/07-10-2023/the-rise-and-fall-and-fall-and-rise-and-fall-and-rise-and-fall-and-rise-of-shane-jones

    … the policy on the party’s website reads “New Zealand First will ensure no men are in women’s spaces or sports”.

    Short & sharp, an eternal formula that works!

  2. Dennis Frank 2
    7 October 2023 at 7:56 am

    Duncan Greive, founder of the Spinoff, has a good take on the Labour psyche:

    This election, the animating force is co-governance – specifically its application in Three Waters. That was the brand given to the government’s water reforms, and is still present on furious hand-drawn signs reading STOP THREE WATERS scattered around rural New Zealand.

    The list of grievances for Three Waters is long, and initially centred on the idea it would take control of local water assets. But the feature which caused most fury was the way Māori interests would be represented in an idea called “Te Mana o Te Wai”.

    For such an elegant phrase, its definition has proven knotty – the page explaining it on the Ministry for the Environment’s website is over 3,700 words, longer than this feature. But it was the co-governance provision – frequently read as giving mana whenua equal control over water – which became particularly contentious. One of Chris Hipkins’ first acts as prime minister was to change the whole project’s name, which has not proven sufficient to douse heat around the issue.

    https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/07-10-2023/the-rise-and-fall-and-fall-and-rise-and-fall-and-rise-and-fall-and-rise-of-shane-jones

    The flag he's waving here is tacit signalling: insight into the Hipkins thought process. "I don't have enough courage to explain this name change to the people, therefore I must use a deceit strategy."

    Observe how this works. Voters are given an impression that he has changed the policy whilst he hasn't actually abandoned solidarity with his Maori cabal. Did he tell them that? Of course not! Honesty isn't the best policy if you're Labour.

    He'd probably reply "Look, it took 3,700 words to explain it on the government website. Yes I know that summarising it into a pithy statement for the media and campaign seems essential, but we have nobody in the Labour Party capable of doing that." If so, I'd be obliged to commend him for his honesty.

  3. Dennis Frank 3
    7 October 2023 at 8:08 am

    If you're an enterprising lawyer with keen interest in politics, here's a new vocational trajectory for you:

    effective AI regulation is one of the most impactful and forward-looking things an incoming government could offer Aotearoa. AI tools are already entrenching bias, undermining privacy, and enabling non-consensual sexual imagery, including of children and young people. These harms affect New Zealanders already, and if left unchecked will only grow in the future.

    If politicians are worried about stifling innovation, they should heed recent Ipsos polling showing New Zealanders consistently report lower understanding of and less trust in AI than the rest of the world; a recipe for stymied innovation if there ever was one, and an issue legislation could make great strides in addressing.

    https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/06-10-2023/ai-is-too-important-to-ignore-this-election

    Supply & demand. This imminent future needs legislative action. You can secure first cab off the rank status by publishing an essay outlining key relevant principles that will inevitably drive both law-making and public debate.

    • Dennis Frank 4.1
      7 October 2023 at 9:12 am

      This bit:

      In the poll of polls, there is now zero probability of Labour, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori being able to form a government on election night – but a 63.5 per cent chance once NZ First is added.

      Pray tell me then, you leftists, how that zero to 63.5% potential chasm ought to be exploited to empower the left.

      • weka 4.1.1
        7 October 2023 at 9:18 am

        My suggestion is lefties spend the next week tripling the vote. It’s bullshit framing to imply the left cannot win. As Shaw points out the past two election results defied polls.

        https://thestandard.org.nz/triple-the-vote/

        • Dennis Frank 4.1.1.1
          7 October 2023 at 9:42 am

          That wasn't my intent – I commented in support of someone the other day (yesterday?) that it's still possible. The possibility chasm given math framing by the journo is actually an opportunity to use intellect creatively.

          Such potential value ought not to be ignored by leftists! Somewhere in that chasm lies a viable path to the future. We can postpone the search until post-election to see how the political terrain is reformulated, for context.

          • weka 4.1.1.1.1
            7 October 2023 at 10:40 am

            I've been thinking about it a bit but share Shaw's position: we don't know what the outcome will be, so focus on a L/G government with a lot more Green MPs and Ministers.

            I'm sure you understand the basics of working with intention.

            All the myriad of possible outcomes are a distraction, albeit an interesting distraction. But the framing that we do, right now, all of us, is part of what determines the outcome.

            • Dennis Frank 4.1.1.1.1.1
              7 October 2023 at 10:50 am

              True. Vital not to lock into any stance since humans survive via their adaptability. Best framing to use will always include the commons.

      • Patricia Bremner 4.1.2
        7 October 2023 at 4:27 pm

        The Poll of Polls is heavily dominated by polls for the right… and we should go by that?

        They lie Frank, they bloody lie. They are sophisticated cheats Frank, full of "we've won you've lost" sold over and over by their fans in the press.

        Sometimes everything comes together to create a clear picture, and comparisons fail to flatter, and the 10+% swing to their choice of what seems fair and right, much to the consternation of the snake oil salesmen. who are defeated by collective wisdom.

        Your eye of God approach laced with personal attacks when questioned is poor imo.

        "Cabal", interesting word. It better fits Groundswell, or Liz Gunn's crowd, but you used it in relation to Maori. So instead of being personal and abusive, explain why you chose that word, as it depends which use you were implying.

        • Dennis Frank 4.1.2.1
          7 October 2023 at 4:43 pm

          I hope you're not having a bad day, Bremner! I don't do personal attacks. The Maori cabal is evident due to long-standing behaviour. I have no problem with any of them as people – or even as politicians – and I get that they have every right to caucus separately within Labour.

          Their behaviour may have been due to tacit racism within Labour, of course. For whatever reason, none of the Labour ministers went out to tell Aotearoa about co-governance. I know that, due to being constantly on the look-out for it. I was puzzled at all the muted inferences that kept happening. I even commented onsite here that the govt were failing to explain themselves to the nation.

          Technically one can blame Ardern as PM for that, yet Hipkins failed to rise to the challenge too! Willie, who I've admired since he was an Alliance activist 30 years ago, didn't either. So I dunno wtf Labour thought they were doing…

          • Patricia Bremner 4.1.2.1.1
            7 October 2023 at 5:23 pm

            Sorry Dennis I have done it again! Yes I am full of a coughing 'flu lol But the name was not meant as a digsmiley

            • Dennis Frank 4.1.2.1.1.1
              7 October 2023 at 5:58 pm

              No worries. Hope you have a good cough remedy – I use Harker Herbals' Deep Lung Support, tastes good & seems to work well. Made in NZ, 100% herbal.

    • ianmac 4.2
      7 October 2023 at 9:46 am

      From that link BG: "The results indicate National Party leader Christopher Luxon’s plea to voters to deliver a clear result by voting for National has so far fallen on deaf ears and possibly backfired."

      How sad.

      • Bearded Git 4.2.1
        7 October 2023 at 10:02 am

        Yes it certainly doesn't help the Left form a government.

      • Ngungukai 4.2.2
        7 October 2023 at 10:35 am

        However last week they rolled out Honest John the Snake Oil Salesman, it may be the Master Stroke National needed to secure the Election.

      • Janice 4.2.3
        7 October 2023 at 10:47 am

        At about 5.45 pm yesterday my phone rang and there was a pause then 'Hello, this is 'Christopher Luxon and I a urging you to party vote National'. I didn't hear the rest as I had hung up to rescue a pot on the stove. They must be getting really desperate to keep Winston out. It was a very clear recording, what money can buy in an election.

        • Dennis Frank 4.2.3.1
          7 October 2023 at 10:53 am

          what money can buy in an election

          Money bought Seymour an antique aeroplane, so we saw him campaigning in it on last nights tv news. Painted in ACT's latest colour scheme, it looked novel.

          • Dennis Frank 4.2.3.1.1
            7 October 2023 at 10:58 am

            https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/revealed-how-acts-david-seymour-was-gifted-a-plane-for-the-election-campaign/OFRH26M5BNBXJBYV6CZ7NBNI2A/

            The wealthy businessman who gifted Act leader David Seymour his personal plane without cost to help his election campaign says he did so to allow Seymour to replicate the “whistle-stop” tours commonly seen in the United States.

            The businessman, a US and New Zealand citizen who lives in Hawke’s Bay, said he didn’t want his name published because he wishes to “keep a low profile”… The businessman, who moved to New Zealand seven years ago but had visited for more than 40 years prior to that, said he met Seymour about 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic through his involvement with Rako Science, which became a provider of saliva testing.

            Asked whether he stood to gain if Act formed part of the next Government, the businessman said he did not as most of his business interests were offshore. He also said he’d never had a discussion with Seymour about business, instead keeping conversations “philosophical”. His New Zealand-based business interests included a farm, three pine plantations and a waste management company. Rako Science had since been sold.

            He could establish a lobby group though: US/NZ solidarity front.

        • Anne 4.2.3.2
          7 October 2023 at 11:05 am

          I remember receiving one of those calls form John Key. Luxon is trying to set himself up as KEY No 2, but he lacks the charisma of Key and isn't nearly as bright. I get the impression their tax-cut fuck-up is starting to register with some voters so expect to see and hear more from the newly minted knight of the realm.

          • Kat 4.2.3.2.1
            7 October 2023 at 11:39 am

            Well I recall very clearly how a truly genuine knight of the realm Sir Ed Hillary put his name to 'citizens for Rowling'…..well intentioned campaign but backfired against a clever rebuttal from Muldoon that the ordinary chap doesn't want to be told how to vote……………………..those Key inspired phone messages from Luxon pleading for votes to stop Winston may be having the same negative effect…..

          • SapphireGem 4.2.3.2.2
            7 October 2023 at 1:51 pm

            I agree with everything you said except one aspect – John Key is not charismatic.

  5. Dennis Frank 5
    7 October 2023 at 12:54 pm

    Flying poodle

    would hold government chief executives accountable in their roles, having ministers giving them key performance indicators (KPIs). https://www.thepost.co.nz/a/politics/350086633/cheeky-safety-briefing-and-new-kpi-policy-announced-act

    How do them things actually work – anyone know? Is it like a rating out of 10 for their performance & do they have to wear them on tags hanging around their necks so all in the work-place can see how well they're performing?

    • Descendant Of Smith 5.1
      7 October 2023 at 1:23 pm

      We know from the last National government how these work. No one gives a shit about helping people, the CEO's performance pay depends on meeting them and they become all consuming.

      The basic philosophy last time for waiting lists was to kick people off in order to meet the waiting list targets.

      It is the perfect illusionary circle for National – kick people off and say things have improved, when Labour get in and put people back on the lists say things have got worse and National need to fix it again.

      To be fair when they say they want to fix things it is true but only in relation to this definition.

      : to influence the actions, outcome, or effect of by improper or illegal methods

      the race had been fixed

      "About 4700 families with only "moderate" or "low" housing needs will be bumped off the waiting list for state houses if the National Party wins this year's election.

      Housing Minister Phil Heatley says Housing NZ will stop accepting applicants with low or moderate needs on its waiting list from next Friday and the policy will extend next year to people already on the list if National wins the election."

      https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/thousands-to-come-off-housing-list/MI2RAMFK4VC2YX4M5VVFFDDLIY/

      ‘Six thousand more patients have been dropped from surgery waiting lists, with no prospect of treatment under existing funding limits, Health Ministry figures issued yesterday show. The increase in the number of patients in the “active review” category—where they will receive treatment only if they deteriorate enough or more funding becomes available—takes the total to 24,400. The ministry's quarterly waiting report says it is critical that these patients are monitored and their plan of care and treatment status updated, but notes concern that some DHBs do not have processes in place to manage these patients’

      The removals were essentially because many had been waiting longer than the targeted 6 months for treatment and therefore were considered low priority. The policy had the greatest impact on DHBs with larger lists of such patients and continued to be applied every year after 2001. Removal decisions were taken by booking system managers, without involvement of clinical specialists.

      https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3617466/

      Political capital out of bashing beneficiaries'

      Mr Russell says most Ministry of Social Development employees go into the job wanting to help people, but soon realise what's expected of them – even without financial incentives.

      "If you're going to have a career path through Work and Income and want to be a manager or a boss, you know what you need to be saying and doing."

      Mr Roundill says he's seen service centre managers "fight like a wounded dog" to avoid giving clients what they're entitled to.

      This "toxic culture" transcends Governments, says Mr Russell, with both Labour and National having adopted "neoliberal" economic policy since the 1980s.

      "Both National and Labour-led Governments make political capital out of bashing beneficiaries," said Mr Russell.

      https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2017/07/claims-winz-staff-kick-people-off-benefits-to-meet-targets.html

      • Dennis Frank 5.1.1
        7 October 2023 at 1:42 pm

        I get the picture, thanks for that comprehensive response. So a method of enforcing accountability on the public service is where the user's head is at. I take your point re how it plays out in real life. Utility value somewhat moot then…

        • Descendant Of Smith 5.1.1.1
          7 October 2023 at 4:05 pm

          Questions for you.

          (I've picked on welfare here because it was easy to find stuff but I can make the same argument for health or housing or anything really.)

          Someone has lost their job and needs a benefit while looking for another one.
          Someone has left a violent relationship and needs some support while they get back on track and sort things out alongside their children.
          Someone lives in Bay of Plenty in the kiwifruit industry where much of the work is seasonal or works at a freezing works.
          A school leaver can't find a job as the rush of school leavers at the end of the year saturates the labour market.

          National puts in a KPI to reduce benefit numbers.

          Is paying any of those people a benefit seen as a positive thing to help achieve the KPI's set by the Minister? Do you think it is right to pay someone a benefit and to not achieve your KPI's as a result? Is it morally right to have a KPI that actively discourages people from giving and/or getting lawful entitlements? Is it OK to have unrealistic but so called ambitious targets? Is it right to impose such targets on a vulnerable group of people without their input or agreement?

          The last example aggrieves me enormously because something similar happened to a kind hearted relative with intellectual disabilities as a result of a car accident. Worked all his life however as very good mechanically. Put by WINZ with a prick of an employer who called him names and treated him like rubbish – was told if he left the job he wouldn't get a benefit again. Distraught he now lives in Australia with his children.

          “National is focused on building a stronger economy and creating opportunities for more jobs and higher wages. Jobseekers are in the best position in years to take advantage of New Zealand’s economic growth. We’ll be supporting them with our investment approach and targeting more resources earlier to those who need the most help.

          “We will reduce the total number of people receiving a benefit by 75,000 by 2017, including reducing the total number of young people aged between 16 and 24 on benefit by 40 per cent, or around 21,000 people.

          “Our aim is to bring benefit numbers down from 295,000 to 220,000 people over the next three years.

          “These are ambitious targets, but they are realistic and achievable

          https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1409/S00251/national-to-reduce-benefit-numbers-by-25-per-cent.htm

          One man on the video says a man in a wheelchair was sent to work by himself in a booth in a shopping mall and found it difficult to get out to change his colostomy bag as required every two or three hours.

          "He was under such stress that he died," the man on the video said. "He died because he was forced to go to work."

          https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/end-work-and-incomes-toxic-culture-beneficiaries/2ZKUTE7YXCA43YTIA3JWKVTDZQ/

          • Dennis Frank 5.1.1.1.1
            7 October 2023 at 4:33 pm

            Your set of questions points to the moral quagmire of the user/tool/ecosystem interface. I suspect I would experience the user's decisions similarly to you.

            It alerts us to the coercive intent of the measure, and a moral judgment of the governing hierarchy that deems utility more valuable than consequences.

            My experience of WINZ & its Nat/Lab culture was that their employee's grasp of client relations was minimal. They didn't seem to care – apart from the last one I got who was actually competent. I was working part-time for a few years & telling the truth about that cost me more than it should have.

            When I did what they told me when the system got it wrong – wrote a letter of complaint – nothing happened, and later I went to find out why & a woman showed me where my letter was in the stack of complaints on her desk, awaiting action. Months later I got irritated it went in again, asked the same woman why it hadn't been actioned. She claimed to know nothing about my letter so I glanced at her desk & saw that the pile of complaints had gone. Into the bin!

            • Descendant Of Smith 5.1.1.1.1.1
              7 October 2023 at 5:00 pm

              You seem to have fallen down the rabbit hole of applying computational thinking to natural ecosystems i.e. people. Adam Curtis highlighted this nonsense years ago. However those who subscribe these notions do try to apply them – it is a way of trying to control for self benefit.

              “where the user’s head is at”

              Have no idea what you mean by that. The user I see as the national government.

              • Dennis Frank …
                7 October 2023 at 5:54 pm

                applying computational thinking to natural ecosystems

                I'd never do that! A ludicrous notion! Same as you, I saw govt as user.

    • Craig H 5.2
      8 October 2023 at 6:59 pm

      Without changing the law, they don't really work, because CEs as employees report to the Public Service Commissioner, not Ministers.

  6. Roy Cartland 6
    7 October 2023 at 1:03 pm

    Is it too petty? I just listened to JK's plea message on rnz, the guy sounds like he's drunk. Slurry, unclear. How did he ever become PM?

  7. joe90 7
    7 October 2023 at 1:51 pm

    The circle is complete.

    /

    Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. will be a headline speaker at a Conservative Political Action Conference event in Las Vegas later this month, the conference announced Friday.

    https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4242110-rfk-jr-set-to-speak-at-cpac-event/

    • Dennis Frank 7.1
      7 October 2023 at 2:10 pm

      smiley I wonder what the dissident patrician will tell them. Someone oughta do a moonbat/wingnut convergence analysis of Aotearoan political culture, eh? enlightenedFun!

  8. bwaghorn 8
    7 October 2023 at 3:30 pm

    Had my 2 votes.

    Party vote labour, sorry weka!

    Now hang onto your hats , I intended to vote electorate labour, some dude Butt I've never heard of , but then noticed acts Hoggard was in my electorate, and thought bugger I don't want to give act a chance, so voted for nat electorate mp, , this is the first time, I feel a little dirty but there ya go.

    • Dennis Frank 8.1
      7 October 2023 at 3:48 pm

      As Labour candidates go, Butt is one of the few worthy: https://www.labour.org.nz/zulfiqarbutt2023

      He is a proud Massey University graduate with a doctoral degree in Natural Resource Management. Zulfiqar is a trained forester and environmentalist and has worked with a number of local and international agencies. His work involved development projects for rural communities, creating economic empowerment for rural women and low socio-economic communities. He is a small local business owner who has lived in Manawatu for over 20 years with his wife and three children

      Hoggard otoh: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Hoggard

      became a member of ACT New Zealand in 2019. On 9 May 2023, one day after stepping down as president of Federated Farmers, he was named as the ACT candidate in the Rangitīkei electorate for the 2023 general election. Hoggard was subsequently ranked fifth on ACT's party list for the election.

      Very likely to be in on the list!

      I posted something on the Nat candidate the other day – seemed better than most:

      The question I’m often asked when I’m out campaigning is “What will National do differently if they become the government?” My answer is National will deliver solutions.

      https://www.nzherald.co.nz/manawatu-guardian/news/election-2023-meet-rangitikei-national-party-candidate-suze-redmayne/KWLPGSEVBZAC3JDJ4WSZKCTITQ/

      Pull the other leg, it's got bells on. Doesn't front anywhere near as well on the Herald; playing to the converted, she has to dumb it down. Likely to win anyway…

      • bwaghorn 8.1.1
        7 October 2023 at 4:01 pm

        I realise Hoggard will get in, but that's different to act sneackimg an electorate , there's no way Butt will win this electorate, although he does look good.

      • bwaghorn 8.2.1
        7 October 2023 at 5:09 pm

        The only flaw in is if act and National split the vote and mr Butt sneaks through the middle, hopefully he doesn't miss out by 1 vote😉

      • bwaghorn 8.3.1
        7 October 2023 at 6:30 pm

        Kinda feel guilty because working backwards from the last election I voted green green lab lab nzf green green so I'm the kiss of death to political parties chances,

        • weka 8.3.1.1
          7 October 2023 at 6:54 pm

          What made you choose Labour?

          • bwaghorn 8.3.1.1.1
            7 October 2023 at 7:37 pm

            Honestly a big green party still scares me a bit, because we'll I'm pro improving farming ,maybe reducing cattle numbers for water quality etc, I still think food production needs to be treated differently around cc, and I tend to support labour when they're down because we need them .

  9. joe90 9
    7 October 2023 at 3:33 pm

    The boot does fit..

    Newshub Nation

    @NewshubNationNZ

    Did Grant Robertson just call Nicola Willis the Briscoes lady?

    https://twitter.com/NewshubNationNZ/status/1710451593945214987

    • AB 9.1
      7 October 2023 at 3:43 pm

      One of them offers an illusory happiness at minimal personal cost, the other is the Briscoes lady.

    • bwaghorn 9.2
      7 October 2023 at 4:04 pm

      Hope she doesn't hang round as long as the Briscoe lady , and in other news they just dug ruthless Ruth up from here cript on "the nation, " she thinks sacking 17000 people is allllll gooood, nasty old crone,

  10. Drowsy M. Kram 10
    7 October 2023 at 4:39 pm

    Have our 'interesting' (post-pandemic overshoot) times facilitated Winston's revival?

    I want you to get up right now and go to the window, open it and stick your head out and yell: I'm as mad as Hell and I'm not going to take this anymore!

    Winston Peters' Tiwai Point plan: 'We're going to take things back to the beginning' [24 July 2020]
    In exchange, he asked locals to send a message back to Wellington, by repeating after him: "we've had a guts full and we're not taking any more."

    • Dennis Frank 10.1
      7 October 2023 at 4:47 pm

      Seems to be working regardless. Interesting that the polls now suggest he's pulling votes from ACT and not any more from Labour!

      • Drowsy M. Kram 10.1.1
        7 October 2023 at 5:00 pm

        yes Certainly is (working) – in 2020 the Invercargill audience's response was muted.

        The New Zealand First leader spoke to a packed room at Invercargill's Workingmen's Club this afternoon, where not everyone was convinced by his ideas.

        Winston knows he doesn't need to convince everyone – just 5% of voters.

    • PsyclingLeft.Always 10.2
      7 October 2023 at 5:03 pm

      Have our 'interesting' (post-pandemic overshoot) times facilitated Winston's revival?

      Well that was kinda surreal…I clicked your first link…and there.. was himself, Winston First (complete with his team !). For a brief moment I thought that was your link ?! However, just an NZ First ad…

      Re second link….indeed what wont Winston do ?

      And on the RNZ sidebar (also July 2020 : ) Some History/Future.

      A warning as it were…

      ACT leader David Seymour says New Zealand First leader Winston Peters' claim he was involved in leaking his superannuation details was made up to smear him and his party.

      https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/421810/winston-peters-superannuation-leak-allegations-pure-fantasy-david-seymour

      Two political party leaders – nine weeks from the election – have become tangled in a slanging match on Twitter.

      https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/421593/winston-peters-challenges-david-seymour-on-might-not-policy

      A coalition of chaos…years in the making.

      • Drowsy M. Kram 10.2.1
        7 October 2023 at 5:19 pm

        A coalition of chaos…years in the making.

        Spot on observation – Seymour wasn't even a twinkle in his father's eye when Winston was adjudicated the National MP for Hunua in 1979.

  11. Ad 11
    7 October 2023 at 6:00 pm

    Drinks with the Green Party candidate in Taieri Mr Willis is making me waver.

    He'll be a smart energy lead for them.

  12. Joe90 12
    7 October 2023 at 6:09 pm

    Wingnut fight.

    Matthew Dimitri

    @themattdimitri

    Max Blumenthal is claiming that Ben Norton stole $70,000 from him. Lol.

    https://twitter.com/themattdimitri/status/1709717066448564524

  13. joe90 13
    7 October 2023 at 7:47 pm

    You'd have to wonder why the incumbent would feel the need to run an add like this.

    (they lost)

    Featured VideoThe Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba briefly ran an advertisement on Sunday that stated people may feel judged for casting their ballot, but they should "vote how you feel, not how others say you should." The advertisement adds it's OK for Manitobans to disagree on issues during an election "without the fear of being judged."

    https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/pc-advertisement-backlash-election-1.6983946

  14. joe90 14
    7 October 2023 at 9:48 pm

    Israeli settlers are fleeing southern Israel as Palestinians fighters invade the settlements.
    A Palestinian journalist has been killed.
    Israeli soldiers are beating Palestinian women at the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
    A female Israeli soldier was killed and her naked body paraded through the streets of Gaza.
    The IDF is razing Gaza.

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2023/oct/07/hamas-launches-attack-on-israel-with-5000-rockets-live

    • SPC 14.1
      7 October 2023 at 10:47 pm

      Well that ended the IDF reservists holiday – keeping BN at arms length.

      Now its Hamas out first, BN second.

  15. weka 15
    7 October 2023 at 10:23 pm

    Electoral Commission comms had an interesting day. Electioneering at polling booths, and Peters (of course) doing fake information on social media.

    https://twitter.com/ElectoralCommNZ/with_replies

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  • Speech to the Sixth Annual New Zealand Government Data Summit
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  • Speech to New Zealand China Council
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