Its the mad Dr Fenklestein getting his reading from a fortune cookie…and that isn’t a smile hes wearing ,… its the all pervading sense of nausea and impending doom from the ‘fortune’ hes been delivered that’s forming a grimace on his face…
“My presence here is a good news story that has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH THE LEAK INQUIRY, LEAK! LEAK! LEAK! and I sure hope you guys focus on my visit to this wonderful business AND NOT THE LEAKS COMING FROM MY CAUCUS LIKE A DEPTH-CHARGING SCENE IN DAS BOOT! YES THERE’S BEEN A LEAK ABOUT THE LEAK INQUIRY BUT THIS IS SMALL NEWS, STOP TALKING ABOUT THE LEAKS, YOU BASTARDS!!! These goods are precisely baked WHEREAS ALL THE LEAKS ARE HALF-BAKED and they all look really yummy. Have I distracted you from the LEAKS? Travel expenses for this visit came out of my parliamentary services budget AND WILL PROBABLY BE LEAKED”
Meanwhile , as Simon generously places the muffin into the dog bowl, he carelessly forgets that it was Judith who was his mentor,… and the adage ‘ don’t bite the hand that feeds you’….
… And yet while being attracted to the sense of camaraderie and elitist company , found that the colour of the Black Sun was not particularly to his liking , nor was spending long nights at 3am performing strange rituals in drafty castles in Bavaria… and the gnawing sense that back home,… he was being perused for his travel expenses…
….’ However, as Soimon was soon to find out,… that his choice of cotton based clothing instead of wet weather gear was no defense against the onslaught of leaked material that was soon to assault him ”…
…’ And yet , in true industrial cunning ,…while doing that , – also introduces a new line of production and labels it the ‘Blue Dragon’ muffin to capture the foreign markets ‘….
Contamination of food items by fecal matter believed to be from the feces of a male bull at NZ factory still a mystery.
Meanwhile, this picture was leaked from National that was taken in the factory premises on the same day as the fecal matter contamination occurred.
If you give a Gnat a meat pie
He will want tomato sauce on it
And that and gravy leaks
will mean he needs to take a bath.
If you lend him your rubber duck
he’ll get homesick
and if he finds your tap shoes
while he’s going through your cupboards
he’ll want to dance like with the stars
cos that’s how Gnat careers progress
through tragedy to farce.
Getting muffins for mike hoskings, he done a,couple of bad items on me this week, and now he has gone and done two good ones on labour we have to get him back
like John a cup of tea right place in the works woners
Take for instance, Gareth Morgan and ‘is pie shop
Business never better, using only pussycats and toast
And a pussy’s good for maybe six or seven at the most.
Poppin’ pussies into pies! Wouldn’t do in my shop!
Just the thought of it’s enough to make you sick!
And I’m telling you them pussycats is quick.
No denying times is hard.
Strengthening regional partnerships can help Pacific intelligence capabilities overcome rising challenges. The Pacific should establish a centralised intelligence hub alongside or through the expansion of the existing Pacific Fusion Centre to deliver greater intelligence capabilities ...
So, a funny thing happened last Friday. I had just dropped a couple of tabs and I was lining up side four of Tales from Topographic Oceans when out of nowhere I had this incredible vision.It got me so damn excited I wrote the whole thing down and put it ...
To turn northern Australia’s marine potential into performance, the Australian government must stop acting as a passive regulator and start acting as an active customer. Procurement is power, and in thin, undercapitalised markets such as ...
National's racist gang-patch was clearly intended to humiliate gangs and allow them to be punished for being seen in public, and police have taken on that mission with enthusiasm, attacking funerals and kicking in doors to seize banned clothing (meanwhile, they've also abandoned domestic violence and mental health callouts, in ...
The New Zealand coalition government, a Frankenstein’s monster of National, ACT, and NZ First, has once again shown its utter contempt for our democracy. This time it's the Ministry for Regulation, who didn’t even bother to read thousands of submissions on the Regulatory Standards Bill, a piece of legislation so ...
Right-wing blogger David Farrar, the National Party’s go to spin merchant, has been at it again with another smear job, this time targeting New Zealand’s senior doctors. His latest hit piece, as dissected by Ian Powell on Scoop, is a textbook example of how to prop up a failing government’s ...
When National came to power in 2023, one of its first acts was to repeal all useful climate change policy. When they finally released their amended emissions reduction plan, it relied on a single project using a fantasy technology for the bulk of its reductions. And now, that project has ...
Not that long ago, New Zealand’s fiscal balances looked pretty good by advanced country standards. Sure, the fiscal pressures from longer life expectancies were beginning to build – as they were in most of the advanced world – but in absolute and relative terms New Zealand still looked in pretty ...
Jack Tame’s Q+A interviews are often a litmus test for political discourse in Aotearoa, but his recent frost-fest with Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick exposed a troubling bias that contrasts sharply with his kid-gloves treatment of other politicians, such as ACT’s Brooke van Velden in prior appearances. The disparity in ...
Australia’s defence thinking is based on outdated grand strategies. Adopting a complex interdependence grand strategy could create robust connections with many countries, enhancing national resilience to strategic, economic, technological and societal shocks. Specifically, Defence would ...
..Yesterday (18 May), Ministers Simeon Brown and Matt Doocey released statements announcing $164 million over four years to “expand” urgent and after-hours healthcare services throughout Aotearoa New Zealand.Minister Brown said:“This means 98 per cent of New Zealanders will be able to receive in-person urgent care within one hour’s drive of ...
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto’s South China Sea policy has many contradictions and inconsistencies, particularly regarding China’s nine-dash line. In separate joint statements Indonesia has shown an inconsistent stance on China’s maritime claims. Indonesia’s parliament is ...
Your love is my turning pageWhere only the sweetest words remainEvery kiss is a cursive lineEvery touch is a redefining phraseSongwriter: Ryan O'NealMorena folks, today I’d like to share a little about the Writers Festival we’ve just had in Tamaki Makaurau and where my mind went as I listened to ...
The six key news items from Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Monday, May 19 are: The lobby group for the big electricity gentailers has warned the Electricity Authority that consumer power prices could rise 25% if the market is reformed to force Meridian, Contact, Genesis & ...
An article in The Conversation this week, titled “A ‘Trump slump’ has lifted the left in Canada and now Australia – what are the lessons for NZ?“ poses some interesting challenges for our Left as a whole right now, and it’s worth considering at least some of the questions it raises ...
A listing of 29 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, May 11, 2025 thru Sat, May 17, 2025. Plugging the Weather & Climate Livestream planned to start on May 28 During the past week and thanks to Andrew Dessler's ClimateBrink ...
..As most of the mainstream media was meeting behind school sheds, sniggering as Act Minister Brooke Van Velden uttered the word ‘cunt’ in Parliament, adults around the country were continuing the struggle for pay equity in industries that have been traditionally under-valued, under-paid, and undertaken by women.For many families, this ...
Many MPs stand and support the hakaThere is no other credible interpretation of what has influenced the Privileges Committee decision regarding the penalties for performing a haka in the house other than pure racism. The broader context for this cannot be ignored and supports a view that Te Pāti Māori have ...
In a move that reeks of authoritarianism, Judith Collins, as chair of Parliament’s Privileges Committee, has overseen the unprecedented suspension of three Te Pāti Māori MPs...Rawiri Waititi, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, and Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke...for performing a haka in protest against the divisive Treaty Principles Bill. This 21-day suspension for the co-leaders and ...
Climate Change Minister Simon WattsYou may have noticed that climate change has largely dropped off the radar, even though many people are still dealing with the long laborious task of recovering after unprecedented storms decimated many parts of New Zealand. So what is the National-led government doing about this existential ...
Big wheels roll through fieldsWhere sunlight streamsOh meet me in a land of hope and dreamsMeet me in a land of hope and dreamsSong: Bruce Springsteen. Read more ...
Let me be blunt, says Nicola Willis to a room of people in suits, it's not the easiest time to be putting together a Budget.Let me be blunt: that's the only line in the speech with even the hint of a pulse.The rest is utterly bland and predictable. It's the ...
..To re-cap:Tuesday 6 May - Workplace Minister, and member of the Act Party which won only 8.64% of the vote, Brooke van Velden, announced that she had unilaterally scrapped thirty-three equal pay agreements.Minister Van Velden explained:"Claims have been able to progress without strong evidence of undervaluation and there have been ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Did Viking settlers enjoy a warm beach climate in Greenland? While Greenland’s southern coast supported some vegetation in the Medieval warm period (950-1250 ...
Thomas Hobbes wrote his seminal work Leviathan in 1651. In it he describes the world system as it was then as being in “a state of nature,” something that some have interpreted as anarchy. However, anarchy has order and purpose. It is not chaos. In fact, if we think of ...
Labour’s Finance Spokesperson Barbara Edmonds (left) committed to the same Government net debt cap of 50% of GDP and the same aspiration of returning the budget to surplus by 2028/29 as National, which would severe limit the ability of any future Labour-led government to fix the unmeasured infrastructure, housing, health, ...
The latest UNICEF Innocenti Report Card 19, Fragile Gains - Child Wellbeing at Risk in an Unpredictable World, should be a wake up call for the New Zealand government. Ranking us 32nd out of 36 OECD and EU countries for child wellbeing, it lays bare a shameful truth: our kids ...
Few issues are as urgent and as poorly understood as Australia’s energy policy. While we build up renewable energy to replace an ageing and increasingly uneconomic coal fleet, we are more dependent on gas to ...
While many of the world’s Christian religions seem preoccupied with personal issues that Jesus, their founder, barely touched upon, they must engage with economic issues too. Robert Prevost, chose the name Leo on becoming the 267th Bishop of Rome – the Pope – in homage to Leo XIII (in office ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending harmfully misleading claims, produced primarily for use by thinly-resourced newswrooms but also directly available to the general public. We announced this (renewed) collaboration in April 2024 in a blog post and have published more than 30 ...
To convince the public of AUKUS’s value, government and industry messaging should focus on how the program can provide benefits in the near term—not in 20 years. AUKUS is a megaproject that will define the ...
The Council of Trade Unions met with Brooke van Velden and demanded that she reversed the recent pay equity changes. Remaining staff members at polytech UCOL may be expected to pick up some of the work of colleagues made redundant if a proposed restructure goes ahead. Health NZ on Thursday ...
IMPORTANT: Even if next week’s debate lessens the severe penalty onTe Pāti Māori, the punishment has been timed to ice their leaders out of Budget 2025, and the introduction of the anti Treaty of Waitangi Regulatory Standards Bill.When Te Pāti Māori stood up to perform a historic haka in the ...
There’s a way for Australia to strengthen its case for the US presidential certification it will need for acquiring Virginia-class submarines. It should do so by accelerating construction of a planned shipyard in Western Australia ...
In a stunning display of hypocrisy, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee, who also oversees firearms policy, has admitted she hasn’t registered her own firearms on New Zealand’s Firearms Registry, despite the legal requirement for all licensed firearms owners to do so.This isn’t just a minor oversight; it’s a slap in ...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the week’s news with regular and special guests, including: on news about climate change. about the latest news from Trump and others on Gaza, Kashmir, Ukraine and much more. ...
What do you do when you're in your placeWhat's going through your whirling mindI wish I could see inside of your placeIt looks like a better place than mineNumbers divineYou have to findSongwriters: Henry Binns / Sam Hardaker.Today’s newsletter is about the injustice and racism of the suspensions faced by ...
Briefly in the news from Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Friday, May 16:Auditor General John Ryan issued a scathing report yesterday into Oranga Tamariki’s abrupt and surprising cancellation and clawback last year of $60 million of funding for social services organisations, describing the agency’s (virtually nil) ...
Art is inevitable, eternal, inexhaustible, unsuppressable. It comes from a place deep within ourselves; it comes from the spaces deep between ourselves, and it connects us like a tether. Even when it’s silly or funny or rude or violent or immature or enigmatic or conventional or bad. (Name a filmmaking ...
Pacific island countries are being drawn into broader foreign information manipulation and interference efforts by countries such as Russia and China, which want to shape the global narrative in their favour. These operations often aim ...
Open access notables Institutionalizing politicized science, Moynihan & Herd, Science [editorial]:The opening months of the Trump administration represent a historic disruption to America’s scientific agencies. Staff have been fired or reassigned in the name of efficiency, resulting in chaos. Grants have been canceled mid-project for featuring the wrong words. “Pauses” ...
Skill-based immigration can help the United States fill its severe shortage of shipbuilding workers, for both naval and civilian construction. Bolstering the labour pool would help the US and its allies match the Chinese maritime ...
Craig Renney will share his insights into Budget 2025, showing exactly what is going on with the government accounts, and what it might mean for the Election next year. Who are the winners and losers from the choices made by the Minister of Finance? How might different choices lead to ...
I kind of enjoyed Judith Collins’ stint as flailing leader of the opposition. I enjoyed calling her ‘pop-up leader' because so much of her punchin’ Judy show felt like nothing so much as hammed-up Panto. A certain kind of person who spends too long in the legal profession can lose ...
Starlink is great for developing countries, offering connectivity without costly infrastructure. But it’s a challenge for their national security, since authorities can’t monitor the traffic it carries. This policy conflict arose in Sri Lanka in ...
Welcome to the April/May 2025 Economic Bulletin. The Minister of Finance has made it clear Budget 2025 will bring further cuts to public investment. She has chopped the operating allowance almost in half, said most government departments will not receive any additional funding, and signalled that numerous government programmes are ...
Let me make this short and sweet (taken from my other social media): Seeing some of the world’s richest men shaking the blood-stained hand of Saudi Crown Prince Muhammed bin-Salman while being warmly introduced by US president Donald Trump pretty much sums up the era we live in. It was ...
The exodus of New Zealanders goes on at a rate of one A320-plane load a day, including 15 babies and toddlers on each plane, every day of the year. Photo: SuppliedBriefly in the news from Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Thursday, May 15:Statistics NZreported yesterday ...
Joseph S Nye Jr, who co-founded neoliberalism and identified the concept of soft power, died at the age of 88 on 6 May. Here are links to a selection from the 100 columns by Nye ...
Briefly in the news from Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Thursday, May 15:Staffing shortages mean 60 patients in Palmerston North deemed high risk of getting bowel cancer have not been tested because of staffing shortages last year, Isaac Davison reports this morning for NZ Herald-$. See ...
Australia’s young people are being radicalised to violence more frequently, more quickly, and for increasingly complicated reasons—including the spread of misogynistic ideology. It’s time we better understand the relationship between misogyny and violent extremism, and ...
In a Parliament that’s supposed to uphold fairness, the recent punishments meted out to Te Pāti Māori MPs for their haka protest compared to Workplace Relations Minister Brooke van Velden for her use of the C-word expose a glaring double standard. Speaker Gerry Brownlee and the Privileges Committee have once ...
To me, coming from you,Friend is a four-letter word.End is the only part of the wordThat I heard.Call me morbid or absurd.But to me, coming from you,Friend is a four-letter word.Writer: John McCrea.The dilemma.The c-word! Brooke said it, loud and clear. You know the one. We all do, even if ...
See him wasted on the sidewalk in his jacket and his jeansWearin' yesterday's misfortunes like a smileOnce he had a future full of money, love, and dreamsWhich he spent like they was goin' outta styleKris Kristofferson, The Pilgrim, Chapter 33Luxon’s austerity reforms have objectively increased the country’s national debt, put ...
Hi,This week The Telepathy Tapes won “Best Indie Podcast” at the Webby Awards.“For the voiceless, thank you!” said documentary maker and creator Dickens on Instagram, surrounded by some children in Telepathy Tapes t-shirts.Ky Dickens with her hands around some children in Telepathy Tapes t-shirts.The podcast continues to grow in audience ...
Heavens to Betsy. Let me get this right. In her own opinion column, a female journalist (the fearsome Angela Vance) used a bad word to refer to female politicians who had just extinguished the ability of about 150,000 women to get fair pay for the work they do. The nation ...
That is the only way to describe the Privileges Committee's recommendation to suspend the leadership of Te Pāti Māori for 21 sitting days for their haka protest against the racist Treaty Principles Bill (the haka's leader, Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, gets only 7 days). Outrageous because this is the harshest penalty ever ...
The National-led government, flailing like a fish out of water, is now pointing fingers at Labour for Andrea Vance’s critical column in The Post. Finance Minister Nicola Willis, in a display that can only be described as unhinged, has tried to pin the blame for Vance’s blistering critique on the ...
AUKUS is one of the most ambitious allied defence undertakings in decades. But for all the high-end platforms and advanced capabilities it promises, a fundamental question remains underexplored: what, exactly, is AUKUS seeking to deter? ...
Alongside Monday’s cabinet reshuffle, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese returned responsibility for the Australian Federal Police and Australian Security Intelligence Organisation to the Home Affairs portfolio. ASPI executive director Justin Bassi outlined reasons for such a ...
The past few days have been a whirlwind for the National Party.For once, their propaganda machine has hit a wrinkle: Women - and those that stand with them.National’s claims that Labour created an “unworkable” pay equity law is betrayed by footage of National Party MPs praising that same bill a ...
No, nothing so serious as fiscal policy. I saw this morning this chart in a tweet from a Canadian economics professor (prompted by the new ministerial appointments in Canada). I was digging around in the list of former New Zealand Ministers of Finance anyway, and thought it might be ...
Item OneHere's something my erstwhile fellow blogger Emma Hart wrote today that I've remade into a riddle:There's a bunch of jobs in this country that require tertiary qualifications and pay only just over minimum wage. What do they all have in common?Ten points and a chocolate fish to everyone who ...
The Chinese embassy in Solomon Islands has reportedly pressured newly appointed Minister of Rural Development Daniel Waneoroa to quit an international group that challenges China’s authoritarian regime. This incident highlights Beijing’s increased tendency to pressure ...
Its the budget next week, where National will inflict another round of cuts on kiwis in order to keep funding handouts to landlords and rich people. And while Labour is doing nothing (sorry, "keeping its powder dry"), the Greens are acting as the main opposition, releasing an alternative budget to ...
No, I haven’t disappeared from the internet, and I still intend to get around to finishing off that Narnia analysis. It’s just I’ve been doing what I am actually supposed to be doing. Specifically, writing original fiction – let’s just say May 2025 has been fairly productive thus far. Oh, ...
Australia’s free-trade agreements with nations other than China have delivered diversification in neither exports nor imports over the past decade, leaving Australia more tightly bound by trade to China than any other advanced nation. While ...
Well, we know where we're goin'But we don't know where we've beenAnd we know what we're knowin'But we can't say what we've seenAnd we're not little childrenAnd we know what we wantAnd the future is certainGive us time to work it outSongwriters: David Byrne / Tina Weymouth / Jerry Harrison ...
Coming off the back of a successful NT Defence Week, one thing is clearer than ever: the Northern Territory is not just remote outpost—it is an asset central to our national security, economic resilience and ...
Briefly in the news from Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, May 14:The Government is diverting its NZ Superannuation Fund (NZSF) contribution for 2025/26 of $39 $61 million to the NZSF-managed venture capital fund Elevate. Nicola Willis says NZSF will start sending money back to the ...
Complex developments in Taiwan’s domestic legislative politics may affect the regional security outlook over the next 12 months. Since his election in 2024, Taiwan president Lai Ching-te has upheld the disciplined foreign policy of his ...
The Green Party is urging the Prime Minister to get rid of the Regulatory Standards Bill after the Waitangi Tribunal found that the Bill breaches the Crown’s Tiriti o Waitangi obligations. ...
The Government is unlikely to fund pay equity for hospice and Plunket nurses, care and support workers and other workforces made up of mostly women. ...
Prices for essentials, like milk, butter and electricity continue to get more expensive under National, at the same time as the Government takes money from women’s pockets to save their budget. ...
Te Pāti Māori is gravely concerned by the Government’s approval of the Trans-Tasman Resources (Taranaki VTM) seabed mining project under its fast-track regime. This marks the first time a commercial shallow seabed mining operation has been approved anywhere in the world- pushed through with no transparency, no public input, and ...
Today’s report into last year’s Oranga Tamariki contract procurement process confirms the Government’s brutal cuts were rushed, poorly managed, and made with no concern for the impact on tamariki. ...
Today the Privileges Committee handed down a severe punishment. Te Pāti Māori Co-leaders Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer have been suspended for 21 days, and MP for Hauraki-Waikato Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke has been suspended for 7 days. ...
Nearly a quarter of the money spent on the Government’s flagship FamilyBoost policy has gone to administration, not to families to help with childcare. ...
Rehashing old laws around boy racers is not going to make our communities safer, or distract New Zealanders from the appalling decision to cut women’s pay. ...
Te Pāti Māori MP for Te Tai Tokerau calls out the government’s decision to keep funding state abuse, turning their backs on justice and real change for abuse in care survivors. “The government has committed to throwing $744 million down the drain, reinforcing a violent regime of disrespect against the ...
Te Pāti Māori is absolutely disgusted by the Government’s announcement to review the Waitangi Tribunal- a deliberate and dangerous escalation in its ongoing campaign to undermine Te Tiriti o Waitangi and silence tangata whenua. “The Government’s onslaught against Te Tiriti continues with this latest move to review the Treaty of ...
Labour is asking the Government why it is silent on Israel’s deliberate use of starvation as a weapon of war in Gaza, saying New Zealand should be speaking out. ...
The Labour Party backs volunteer firefighters who are currently not covered by ACC for workplace disease and mental injury and is drafting policy to put this right when the party wins the election in 2026. ...
The Green Party is appalled by the Government’s use of urgency to rewrite the Wildlife Act–without consultation, without an impact statement, and in direct response to a court ruling in favour of protecting wildlife. ...
Te Pāti Māori stands in staunch and emotional opposition to the Government’s so-called Equal Pay Amendment Bill, calling it a calculated attack on working women and a cruel betrayal of the generations who have fought for pay equity in Aotearoa. “This bill doesn’t just undermine equal pay — it completely ...
The latest job market statistics show that unemployed people are being failed by a Government more focused on punishing the poor than creating jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is demanding urgent changes to the draft Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE) framework, calling it a dangerous step backwards for Takatāpui, trans, and rainbow rangatahi. “This draft erases Takatāpui voices, ignores whānau diversity, and delays consent education. It’s not just inadequate, it’s unbelievably unsafe” said Te Pāti ...
Te Pāti Māori is demanding urgent changes to the draft Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE) framework, calling it a dangerous step backwards for Takatāpui, trans, and rainbow rangatahi. “This draft erases Takatāpui voices, ignores whānau diversity, and delays consent education. It’s not just inadequate, it’s unbelievably unsafe” said Te Pāti ...
Good evening. Thank you to the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs for organising this event, and for your efforts to foster New Zealand’s understanding of international affairs. I am grateful for the opportunity to speak here today. As keen observers and practitioners of international relations, you will all ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced Pati Gagau as New Zealand’s next High Commissioner to Kiribati. “Our diplomats play a critical role in advancing New Zealand’s interests overseas,” Mr Peters says. “Nowhere is this truer than in the Pacific, where we strive to work with our Pacific partners to forge a more ...
The Government is amending the Equal Pay Act [the Act] to make the process of raising and resolving pay equity claims more robust, workable and sustainable, Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden announced today. Pay equity is achieved when women and men are paid the same for work ...
Toitū te taiao – Our environment endures The Government is consulting on proposals to better protect our precious biodiversity and its economic benefits for future generations, Conservation Minister Tama Potaka says. “Today, the Department of Conservation – Te Papa Atawhai is releasing two discussion documents for public consultation, and I ...
Following significant engagement over the last month, the first in-person round of negotiations towards a comprehensive India New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (FTA) will take place in India this week. This follows the highly successful visit to India last year by Deputy Prime Minister, Winston Peters and the formal launch ...
The early entry into force of the New Zealand–European Union Trade Agreement (FTA) is paying off, with Kiwi goods exports to the EU surging by 28 per cent during the first year. “In the last 12 months our goods exports to the EU surged from $3.8 billion to over $4.8 ...
Now is the time for Kiwis to give New Zealand Sign Language a go as we take a week to celebrate the language, Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says. This week is New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) week. The theme is that “anyone can sign anywhere”. “NZSL is an official ...
New investment in advanced technology research will boost high-tech exports, strengthen connections between research and industry and generate high value jobs, Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today. “Advanced technology research leads to life-changing innovation,” says Dr Reti. “The breakthroughs that can be achieved through areas like ...
POST-CABINET PRESS CONFERENCE: Monday, 5 May 2025 EPIQ TRANSCRIPT PM: Well, look, good afternoon, everyone. It’s great to be joined this afternoon by our awesome Trade Minister, Todd McClay, who’s doing some incredible work. As you know, it’s a big sitting block with the Budget at the end of ...
Every parent wants to see their child thrive at school — to feel confident, supported, and capable. Today, the Government is taking a major step toward making that aspiration a reality with the launch of a new Parent Portal: an online resource designed to enable families to play their part ...
The Defence Force’s ageing maritime helicopters will be replaced to increase the defensive and offensive capability and surveillance range of New Zealand’s frigates, Defence Minister Judith Collins announced today. “The replacement of the Seasprite helicopters will also extend the Navy’s ability to support non-combat tasks such as humanitarian assistance and ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has congratulated Anthony Albanese on winning the Australian Federal Election, and Lawrence Wong on winning the Singaporean election. “I have been in touch with both Mr Albanese and Mr Wong to offer my congratulations on retaining office,” Mr Luxon says. “When we spoke, Mr Albanese and ...
Hunting and Fishing Minister James Meager has joined the thousands of New Zealanders taking part in the annual game bird hunting season opening. He spent the morning at Te Nohoaka o Tukiauau / Sinclair Wetlands, a 315-hectare portion of the Lakes Waihola-Waipori wetland south of Dunedin, hosted by Fish & ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says that new up-to-date attendance data is helping provide fresh insights into student attendance. For example, data for the first week of term 2 shows the effect of wild weather and which regions were standouts. The average attendance across week 1 is 87.1 per cent. ...
A new air ambulance helicopter commissioned today will significantly enhance emergency medical response capabilities across Auckland and Northland, Associate Health Minister Hon Casey Costello and ACC Minister Scott Simpson announced today. “This state-of-the-art helicopter represents a major advancement in aeromedical service delivery, and we are pleased to see it become ...
Public reporting on key performance indicators for Oranga Tamariki show the Ministry is making strong progress on its most important goals. In its second public reporting on key performance indicators, Oranga Tamariki has made progress across all four key priority areas emphasised by Minister for Children, Karen Chhour. “In 2024, ...
Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka today confirmed the appointment of Gerrard Albert of Whanganui, Ngā Paerangi, to the Waitangi Tribunal for a three-year term to fill a vacancy. Mr. Albert is the former Chair of Ngā Tāngata Tiaki o Whanganui, the post-settlement governance body for Te Awa Tupua. He has ...
The Government is continuing to raise achievement and close the equity gap in schools across the country, so all Kiwi kids have the knowledge, skills and competencies they need to reach their full potential, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. The Governments’ ambitious changes reflect the responsibility we have to these ...
The Government is taking action to better support unpaid and informal carers, Associate Minister for Social Development and Employment Penny Simmonds says. Every morning across New Zealand, unpaid carers are helping loved ones get ready for the day — preparing meals, arranging medication, assisting with transport, and offering vital support, ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters has concluded a constructive and positive visit to New Caledonia - New Zealand’s closest geographical neighbour. Mr Peters met the French Minister for Overseas Territories, Manuel Valls, and the President of the Government of New Caledonia, Alcide Ponga. “We came to listen and ...
Endoscopy services at Hawke’s Bay Fallen Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital are set to expand, with the addition of a third procedure room, Health Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Improving New Zealand’s health infrastructure is a top priority for the Government, to ensure all Kiwis can access timely, high-quality healthcare,” Mr Brown says. ...
Agriculture and Forestry Minister Todd McClay has confirmed that restrictions on full farm-to-forest conversions on LUC 1-6 farmland will be in place this year, and reaffirmed that they will take effect from 4 December 2024 - the date of the original announcement. Enabling legislation will be introduced to Parliament during ...
The 123 Youth Members of Parliament and 20 Youth Press Gallery members officially announced for 2025 represent the best of New Zealand, Youth Minister James Meager says. “Our Youth MPs come from a wide range of backgrounds, and each have their own unique story, bringing diverse points of view to ...
Trade, Investment and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has wrapped up a successful programme hosting Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture, His Excellency Eng Abdulrahman A. AlFadley, in Auckland this week for the 9th New Zealand–Saudi Arabia Joint Ministerial Commission. “This visit builds on growing momentum in our trade ...
New data released today shows steady improvements in childhood immunisation rates across the country, highlighting the Government’s commitment to ensuring every child gets the best start in life, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. “Improving childhood immunisation rates is a priority for our Government. The latest quarterly figures show immunisation coverage ...
The Government is moving swiftly to ensure Kiwis will be able to benefit from open banking by Christmas this year, says Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Scott Simpson. “Recently our Government passed the Customer and Product Data Act – one of the items in our Quarter 1 Action Plan to ...
Associate Health Minister with responsibility for Rural Health and Minister for Mental Health Matt Doocey is pleased to be in Wairoa today as part of the Rural Health Roadshow across the country. “I was pleased to begin the roadshow in Levin recently where I had the opportunity to hear from ...
The Government is investing in Antarctic research to better understand changes on the icy continent and how they could affect New Zealand, Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today. “What happens in Antarctica matters to us here in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “For example, as Antarctic ...
A new toolkit to support women and their employers address online harm has been launched by Minister for Women, Nicola Grigg, at the Local Government New Zealand conference today. “The prevalence of online harm has become a serious issue, disproportionately impacting women who are in the public eye. The growing ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Diepstraten, Senior Research Officer, Blood Cells and Blood Cancer Division, WEHI (Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research) Former US President Joe Biden has been diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer that has already spread to his bones. ...
Pacific Media Watch American film star celebrity John Cusack, who describes himself on his x-page bio as an “apocalyptic shit-disturber”, has posted an open letter to the world denouncing the Israeli “mass murder” in Gaza and calling for “your outrage”. While warning the public to “don’t stop talking about Palestine/Gaza”, ...
The Act has been branded the 'Kiwi Killing Bill' by Greenpeace, but the conservation minister says it still protects wildlife while also supporting the economy. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Shannon Bosch, Associate Professor (Law), Edith Cowan University Oscar Jenkins, a 33-year-old former teacher from Melbourne, was one of many foreigners who responded to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s call in 2022 for volunteers to join Ukraine’s armed forces to help repel Russia’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Toole, Associate Principal Research Fellow, Burnet Institute Last week the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared a polio outbreak in Papua New Guinea (PNG). The highly infectious virus was found in two healthy, polio-vaccinated children who were screened following detection of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Catherine Strong, Associate Professor, Music Industry, RMIT University As always, Eurovision 2025 was full of glitter, costume reveals, divas, spectacle and, of course, controversy. From ongoing calls to ban Israel from participating, to one song that had to be edited since it ...
Former Governor General Sir Anand Satyanand talks about the role's relationship with Parliament and the Executive, and its use as a guard-rail for democracy. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joel Garrett, Lecturer in Exercise Science and Physiology, Griffith University Paolo Bona/Shutterstock Many children across Australia have begun to play their favourite contact sports like rugby league, rugby union and Australian rules football. Many will be just starting out during ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Professor Rebekah Russell-Bennett, Associate Dean Research, Faculty of Business, Government and Law, University of Canberra When the new parliament convenes after the recent election, it will feature a rarity in Australian politics. Women will lead two significant political parties at the same ...
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Figures for the 2024 fiscal year show that bank profits have reached an all-time high. At the same time, despite lower interest rates, more and more customers of the big four Australian banks (BNZ, ANZ, ASB and Westpac) are overdue in their mortgage ...
Figures for the 2024 fiscal year show that bank profits have reached an all-time high. At the same time, despite lower interest rates, more and more customers of the big four Australian banks (BNZ, ANZ, ASB and Westpac) are overdue in their mortgage ...
By Gill Bonnett, RNZ immigration reporterThis story discusses graphic details of slavery, sexual abuse and violence Pacific children as young as six are being adopted overseas and being made to work as house slaves, suffering threats, beatings and rape. Kris Teikamata — a social worker at a community agency ...
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Oh, it’s the Pieman. Probably his next job. Simple enough.
i sure hope this little muffin isn’t gay
cos i don’t really like gay little muffins
Its the mad Dr Fenklestein getting his reading from a fortune cookie…and that isn’t a smile hes wearing ,… its the all pervading sense of nausea and impending doom from the ‘fortune’ hes been delivered that’s forming a grimace on his face…
“My presence here is a good news story that has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH THE LEAK INQUIRY, LEAK! LEAK! LEAK! and I sure hope you guys focus on my visit to this wonderful business AND NOT THE LEAKS COMING FROM MY CAUCUS LIKE A DEPTH-CHARGING SCENE IN DAS BOOT! YES THERE’S BEEN A LEAK ABOUT THE LEAK INQUIRY BUT THIS IS SMALL NEWS, STOP TALKING ABOUT THE LEAKS, YOU BASTARDS!!! These goods are precisely baked WHEREAS ALL THE LEAKS ARE HALF-BAKED and they all look really yummy. Have I distracted you from the LEAKS? Travel expenses for this visit came out of my parliamentary services budget AND WILL PROBABLY BE LEAKED”
“They did say this incontinence outfit would catch all leaks…”
Simple Simon meet a pie man, but unfortunately that didn’t save him….
” Oh for fucks sake Simon, I said TIN FOIL, get a tin foil hat .”
Do you know the leakin’ man? The leakin’ man, the leakin’ man.
Do you know the leakin’ man who works in parliament?
Yes, I know the leakin’ man. The leakin’ man, the leakin’ man.
Oh, yes, I know the leakin’ man, who works in parliament.
Then two of us know the leakin’ man, the leakin’ man.
…
“I maybe a bit of a downer as a party leader and look silly in this hat, but at least I know what a GDP is”
Yes and when questioned, Soimon replied, ‘ Why of course I know what it is.. it stands for ‘ Gross Departmental Purge ‘…
Great response Wild
I’m going to feed this cookie to my dog, Judith.
Meanwhile , as Simon generously places the muffin into the dog bowl, he carelessly forgets that it was Judith who was his mentor,… and the adage ‘ don’t bite the hand that feeds you’….
“And I’ll be happy to see those nice young men
In their clean white coats
And they’re coming to take me away ha-haaa……………”
If you don’t like my obsolete ideology, I’ve got muffins
” Which I’ll sell to you at market prices and screw all those kids living in poverty and going to school without lunches ”.
Young man wastes his life by joining a Tory death cult
… And yet while being attracted to the sense of camaraderie and elitist company , found that the colour of the Black Sun was not particularly to his liking , nor was spending long nights at 3am performing strange rituals in drafty castles in Bavaria… and the gnawing sense that back home,… he was being perused for his travel expenses…
Bridges widens his search for the leaker even further to find out who ate all the pies
There is a nasty Leaker round the corner and I am dressed up to protect myself from her.
….’ However, as Soimon was soon to find out,… that his choice of cotton based clothing instead of wet weather gear was no defense against the onslaught of leaked material that was soon to assault him ”…
Gee I wonder if having a bun in the oven could get me elected.
Yes, we ate pies. My friends and I, the boys and girls. Yes, we ate pies. I liked pies. Still like pies. We ate pies,
This is embarassing
Simon’s DNA successfully synthesised into a single sourdough cookie.
New headgear for National party supporters. The amount of times they have to wash themselves to relieve guilt means permanent shower caps!
…’ and many nightcaps ” do you know who I am ? ” ….
Homer Simpson’s first day at the nuclear cookie factory.
National unveils thousands of new voters who all think and look exactly the same.
…’ And yet , in true industrial cunning ,…while doing that , – also introduces a new line of production and labels it the ‘Blue Dragon’ muffin to capture the foreign markets ‘….
Contamination of food items by fecal matter believed to be from the feces of a male bull at NZ factory still a mystery.
Meanwhile, this picture was leaked from National that was taken in the factory premises on the same day as the fecal matter contamination occurred.
Simon Bridges launches the new line of National Party Muffins
a delicious BLUE berry muffin
watch out for the upcoming launch of its range of soups, including Leak Soup
🙂
Leak soup aint half bad- and certainly cleans out the system quite nicely…
Bridges says
Question: “What does this high bran muffin and me have in common?”
Answer: “We both irritate the shit out of you”
Man forms special bond with pie
….
If I thought jami lees problems were embarrassing, how embarrassing am I
………
Simon shouts the National caucus lunch but no one turns up…..
Gee I have to admit I feel a bit mean writing this
Pies and muffins…. hmmm…
Mick the Master Farter – YouTube
If you give a Gnat a meat pie
He will want tomato sauce on it
And that and gravy leaks
will mean he needs to take a bath.
If you lend him your rubber duck
he’ll get homesick
and if he finds your tap shoes
while he’s going through your cupboards
he’ll want to dance like with the stars
cos that’s how Gnat careers progress
through tragedy to farce.
(apologies to Laura Numeroff )
Getting muffins for mike hoskings, he done a,couple of bad items on me this week, and now he has gone and done two good ones on labour we have to get him back
like John a cup of tea right place in the works woners
Simon’s solution for dissenting MPs and voters from the left after he had an epiphany watching Soylent Green on his mobile.
That guy has the condom on the wrong head.
Simon going through the process of being assessed at his application interview for his suitability of a new job.
He was asked to state what the item is he is holding in his hand. He failed!
“I am a ninety trial baking pies as I know in my other job I am toast”
The caucus told me not to think out loud or put my foot in it.
And then said if I wore these I could eat the last cookie.
Simon demonstrates new mini contraceptive device, and looks forward to his cookie reward.
“What have I become?”
Take for instance, Gareth Morgan and ‘is pie shop
Business never better, using only pussycats and toast
And a pussy’s good for maybe six or seven at the most.
Poppin’ pussies into pies! Wouldn’t do in my shop!
Just the thought of it’s enough to make you sick!
And I’m telling you them pussycats is quick.
No denying times is hard.
“My Kingdom for a muffin….and a leaker”
Yes i will grin …only because it worked for our lord and saviour John.