Open mike 08/03/2025
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6:00 am, March 8th, 2025 - 96 comments
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- Unity is the answer to Europe’s defence woes
US President Donald Trump’s hostile regime has finally forced Europe to wake up. With US officials calling into question the transatlantic alliance, Germany’s incoming chancellor, Friedrich Merz, recently persuaded lawmakers to revise the country’s debt ...11 hours ago - Australian politics needs clearer national security boundaries
We need to establish clearer political boundaries around national security to avoid politicising ongoing security issues and to better manage secondary effects. The Australian Federal Police (AFP) revealed on 10 March that the Dural caravan ...12 hours ago
- Government must act decisively and ban engineered stone
The NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi have reiterated their call for Government to protect workers by banning engineered stone in a submission on MBIE’s silica dust consultation. “If Brooke van Velden is genuine when she calls for an evidence-based approach to this issue, then she must support a full ban on ...17 hours ago - Tuesday 18 March
The Labour Inspectorate could soon be knocking on the door of hundreds of businesses nation-wide, as it launches a major crackdown on those not abiding by the law. NorthTec staff are on edge as Northland’s leading polytechnic proposes to stop 11 programmes across primary industries, forestry, and construction. Union coverage ...17 hours ago
- First-person view drones: transitioning from sport to battle
It’s one thing for military personnel to hone skills with first-person view (FPV) drones in racing competitions. It’s quite another for them to transition to the complexities of the battlefield. Drone racing has become a ...17 hours ago
- ‘There are no exemptions. Just eat it.’
Seymour says there will be no other exemptions granted to schools wanting to opt out of the Compass contract. Photo: Lynn GrievesonLong stories shortest: David Seymour has denied a request from a Christchurch school and any other schools to be exempted from the Compass school lunch programme, saying the contract ...17 hours ago - Nuclear Ukraine: Budapest Memorandum – what it says and is it relevant?
Russian President Boris Yeltsin, U.S. President Bill Clinton, Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma, and British Prime Minister John Major signed the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty in ... 18 hours ago- A Palate Cleanser
Edit: The original story said “Palette Cleanser” in both the story, and the headline. I am never, ever going to live this down. Chain me up, throw me into the pit.Hi,With the world burning — literally and figuratively — I felt like Webworm needed a little palate cleanser at the ...19 hours ago- Do Americans really want urban sprawl?
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Sarah Wesseler (Image credit: Antonio Huerta) Growing up in suburban Ohio, I was used to seeing farmland and woods disappear to make room for new subdivisions, strip malls, and big box stores. I didn’t usually welcome the changes, but I assumed others ...20 hours ago- Myanmar’s desperate condition: fragmentation, drugs, money-laundering and more
Myanmar was a key global site for criminal activity well before the 2021 military coup. Today, illicit industry, especially heroin and methamphetamine production, still defines much of the economy. Nowhere, not even the leafiest districts ...20 hours ago- The Hardest Word
What've I gotta do to make you love me?What've I gotta do to make you care?What do I do when lightning strikes me?And I wake up and find that you're not thereWhat've I gotta do to make you want me?Mmm hmm, what've I gotta do to be heard?What do I ...21 hours ago- Bernard’s Pick ‘n’ Mix at 6am on Tuesday, March 18
Here’s my selection1 of scoops, breaking news, news, analyses, deep-dives, features, interviews, Op-Eds, editorials and cartoons from around Aotearoa’s political economy on housing, climate and poverty from RNZ, 1News, The Post-$2, The Press−$, Newsroom3, NZ Herald, Stuff, BusinessDesk-$, NBR-$, Reuters, FT-$, WSJ-$, Bloomberg-$, New York Times-$, The Atlantic-$, The Economist-$ ...21 hours ago- Gordon Campbell On Luxon’s Survival Chances, And The India FTA
Whenever Christopher Luxon drops a classically fatuous clanger or whenever the government has a bad poll – i.e. every week – the talk resumes that he is about to be rolled. This is unlikely for several reasons. For starters, there is no successor. Nicola Willis? Chris Bishop? Simeon Brown? Mark ...1 day ago- It’s been done before: pay for more defence spending with debt
Australia, Britain and European countries should loosen budget rules to allow borrowing to fund higher defence spending, a new study by the Kiel Institute suggests. Currently, budget debt rules are forcing governments to finance increases ...1 day ago- Feedback on work with engineered stone and materials containing crystalline silica
The NZCTU remains strongly committed to banning engineered stone in New Zealand and implementing better occupational health protections for all workers working with silica-containing materials. In this submission to MBIE, the NZCTU outlines that we have an opportunity to learn from Australia’s experience by implementing a full ban of engineered ...1 day ago- Big deal
The Prime Minister has announced a big win in trade negotiations with India.It’s huge, he told reporters. We didn't get everything we came for but we were able to agree on free trade in clothing, fabrics, car components, software, IT consulting, spices, tea, rice, and leather goods.He said that for ...1 day ago- A Return to a US Gilded Age?
I have been trying to figure out the logic of Trump’s tariff policies and apparent desire for a global trade war. Although he does not appear to comprehend that tariffs are a tax on consumers in the country doing the tariffing, I can (sort of) understand that he may think ...1 day ago- France is prominent in efforts to shape Syria’s future, again
As Syria and international partners negotiate the country’s future, France has sought to be a convening power. While France has a history of influence in the Middle East, it will have to balance competing Syrian ...2 days ago- “Capital poor”
One of the eternal truths about Aotearoa's economy is that we are "capital poor": there's not enough money sloshing around here to fund the expansion of local businesses, or to build the things we want to. Which gets used as an excuse for all sorts of things, like setting up ...2 days ago- Pictures Tell The Story
National held its ground until late 2023 Verion, Talbot Mills & Curia Polls (Red = Labour, Blue = National)If we remove outlier results from Curia (National Party November 2023) National started trending down in October 2024.Verion Polls (Red = Labour, Blue = National)Verian alone shows a clearer deterioration in early ...2 days ago- High-impact climate risks, low-probability? Think again
In a recent presentation, I recommended, quite unoriginally, that governments should have a greater focus on higher-impact, lower-probability climate risks. My reasoning was that current climate model projections have blind spots, meaning we are betting ...2 days ago- Daddy
Daddy, are you out there?Daddy, won't you come and play?Daddy, do you not care?Is there nothing that you want to say?Songwriters: Mark Batson / Beyonce Giselle Knowles.This morning, a look at the much-maligned NZ Herald. Despised by many on the left as little more than a mouthpiece for the National ...2 days ago- Monday 17 March
Employers, unions and health and safety advocates are calling for engineered stone to be banned, a day before consultation on regulations closes. On Friday the PSA lodged a pay equity claim for library assistants with the Employment Relations Authority, after the stalling of a claim lodged with six councils in ...2 days ago- Luxon announces start of India trade deal talks
Long stories shortest in Aotearoa’s political economy: Christopher Luxon surprises by announcing trade deal talks with India will start next month, and include beef and dairy. Napier is set to join Whakatane, Dunedin and Westport in staging a protest march against health spending restraints hitting their hospital services. Winston Peters ...2 days ago- In a divided world, momentum behind negotiations grows
At a time of rising geopolitical tensions and deepening global fragmentation, the Ukraine war has proved particularly divisive. From the start, the battle lines were clearly drawn: Russia on one side, Ukraine and the West ...2 days ago- Mercury Lane, and Auckland Transport’s habitual failure
When the City Rail Link opens (circa 2026), all signs point to it immediately being a huge success. It will be transformational for Auckland, with ripple effects across the city. Thousands of people an hour will pour in and out of the new and upgraded stations. So, as well as ...2 days ago- Bernard’s Pick ‘n’ Mix at 6am on March 17
Here’s my selection1 of scoops, breaking news, news, analyses, deep-dives, features, interviews, Op-Eds, editorials and cartoons from around Aotearoa’s political economy on housing, climate and poverty from RNZ, 1News, The Post-$2, The Press−$, Newsroom3, NZ Herald, Stuff, BusinessDesk-$, Newsroom-$, Politik-$, NBR-$, Reuters, FT-$, WSJ-$, Bloomberg-$, New York Times-$, The Atlantic-$, ...2 days ago- 2025 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
A listing of 26 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 9, 2025 thru Sat, March 15, 2025. This week's roundup is again published by category and sorted by number of articles included in each. We are still interested ...2 days ago- Maxing out – next steps for progressives
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The Government dominated the political agenda this week with its two-day conference pitching all manner of public infrastructure projects for Public Private Partnerships (PPPs). Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories shortest in our political economy this week: The Government ploughed ahead with offers of PPPs to pension fund managers ...3 days ago- Eating Like Kings
You know that it's a snake eat snake worldWe slither and serpentine throughWe all took a bite, and six thousand years laterThese apples getting harder to chewSongwriters: Shawn Mavrides.“Please be Jack Tame”, I thought when I saw it was Seymour appearing on Q&A. I’d had a guts full of the ...3 days ago- David now turns to Rodney with a stricken face
So here we are at the wedding of Alexandra Vincent Martelli and David Seymour.Look at all the happy prosperous guests! How proud Nick Mowbray looks of the gift he has made of a mountain of crap plastic toys stuffed into a Cybertruck.How they drink, how they laugh, how they mug ...3 days ago- Fact brief – Is waste heat from industrial activity the reason the planet is warming?
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Some continue to defend David Seymour on school lunches, sidestepping his errors to say:“Well the parents should pack their lunch” and/or “Kids should be grateful for free food.”One of these people is the sitting Prime Minister.So I put together a quick list of why complaint is not only appropriate - ...3 days ago- Whistling Past The Graveyard.
“Bugger the pollsters!”WHEN EVERYBODY LIVED in villages, and every village had a graveyard, the expression “whistling past the graveyard” made more sense. Even so, it’s hard to describe the Coalition Government’s response to the latest Taxpayers’ Union/Curia Research poll any better. Regardless of whether they wanted to go there, or ...4 days ago- Jane Kelsey – Transforming neoliberalism
Prof Jane Kelsey examines what the ACT party and the NZ Initiative are up to as they seek to impose on the country their hardline, right wing, neoliberal ideology. A progressive government elected in 2026 would have a huge job putting Humpty Dumpty together again and rebuilding a state that ...4 days ago- Ain’t No Use
See I try to make a differenceBut the heads of the high keep turning awayThere ain't no useWhen the world that you love has goneOoh, gotta make a changeSongwriters: Arapekanga Adams-Tamatea / Brad Kora / Hiriini Kora / Joel Shadbolt.Aotearoa for Sale.This week saw the much-heralded and somewhat alarming sight ...4 days ago- Bernard’s Pick ‘n’ Mix on Saturday, March 15
Here’s my selection1 of scoops, breaking news, news, analyses, deep-dives, features, interviews, Op-Eds, editorials and cartoons from around Aotearoa’s political economy on housing, climate and poverty from RNZ, 1News, The Post-$2, The Press−$, Newsroom3, NZ Herald, Stuff, BusinessDesk-$, NBR-$, Reuters, FT-$, WSJ-$, Bloomberg-$, New York Times-$, The Atlantic-$, The Economist-$ ...4 days ago- Is the New Zealand Healthcare System Doing Badly?
By international standards the New Zealand healthcare system appears satisfactory – certainly no worse generally than average. Yet it is undergoing another redisorganisation.While doing some unrelated work, I came across some international data on the healthcare sector which seemed to contradict my – and the conventional wisdom’s – view of ...4 days ago- Europe can still prevent a Russian victory
When Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, he knew that he was upending Europe’s security order. But this was more of a tactical gambit than a calculated strategy ...4 days ago- Labour draws a clear line in the sand on National’s privatisation binge
Mountain Tui is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Over the last year, I’ve been warning about Luxon’s pitch to privatise our public assets. He had told reporters in October that nothing was off the cards:Schools, hospitals, prisons, and ...4 days ago- Australia’s disaster response should build resilience
When ASPI’s Cyclone Tracy: 50 Years On was published last year, it wasn’t just a historical reflection; it was a warning. Just months later, we are already watching history repeat itself. We need to bake ...5 days ago- Making it up as they go along
1. Why was school lunch provider The Libelle Group in the news this week?a. Grand Winner in Pie of The Yearb. Scored a record 108% on YELP c. Bought by Oravida d. Went into liquidation2. What did our Prime Minister offer prospective investors at his infrastructure investment jamboree?a. The Libelle ...5 days ago- Arbitrary or worse
Back in December, Lands Minister Chris Penk rejected proposals to recognise the proper names of Manawatū and Pito One. Both proposals were strongly supported by their communities and so recommended by Ngā Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa / New Zealand Geographic Board. Despite this, Penk rejected them. I was curious about ...5 days ago- The problems with PPPs
Here’s the excellent explainer on PPPs from over at that this chat was based on.Government's Investment SummitThis week, the Government is hosting a grand event aimed at trying to interest big foreign capital players in financing capital works in New Zealand, particularly its big rural motorway programme.Greater ...5 days ago- South Korea has acted decisively on DeepSeek. Other countries must stop hesitating
South Korea has suspended new downloads of DeepSeek, and it was were right to do so. Chinese tech firms operate under the shadow of state influence, misusing data for surveillance and geopolitical advantage. Any country ...5 days ago- PPPs are more expensive, slower & riskier than Govt DIY
Previous big infrastructure PPPs such as Transmission Gully were fiendishly complicated to negotiate, generated massive litigation and were eventually rewritten anyway. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesLong stories shortest: The Government’s international investment conference ignores the facts that PPPs cost twice as much as vanilla debt-funded public infrastructure, often take ...5 days ago- Friday 14 March
Woolworths has proposed a major restructure of its New Zealand store operating model, leaving workers worried their hours and pay could be cut. Public servants are being asked how productive their office is, how much they use AI, and whether they’re overloaded with meetings as part of a “census”. An ...5 days ago- Weekly Roundup 14-March-2025
Midway through March already? The years flying by. Here’s some things we saw this week that caught our attention. This week in Greater Auckland On Tuesday Matt took a look at AT’s Upper Harbour Bus changes. For Wednesday we had a guest post by Malcolm McCracken exploring what ...5 days ago- Bookshelf: technology, globalisation and civilisational decline
Robert Kaplan’s book Waste Land: A World in Permanent Crisis paints a portrait of civilisation in flux. Drawing insights from history, literature and art, he examines the effect of modern technology, globalisation and urbanisation on ...5 days ago- Birds and Bees Grounded
Sexuality - Strong and warm and wild and freeSexuality - Your laws do not apply to meSexuality - Don't threaten me with miserySexuality - I demand equalitySong: Billy Bragg.First, thank you to everyone who took part in yesterday’s survey. Some questions worked better than others, but I found them interesting, ...5 days ago- Shit Yourself Happy
Hi,I just got back from a week in Japan thanks to the power of cheap flights and years of accumulated credit card points.The last time I was in Japan the government held a press conference saying they might take legal action against me and Netflix, so there was a little ...5 days ago- The Hoon around the week to March 14
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 the week in geopolitics, including Donald Trump’s wrecking of the post-WW II political landscape; andHealth Coalition Aotearoa co-chair Lisa ...5 days ago- Bernard’s pick n’ mix at 6am for Friday, March 14
Here’s my selection of the top scoops, news, analysis, deep-dives, features, interviews, Op-Eds, editorials and cartoons from RNZ, 1News, The Post-$$$, The Press-$$$, Newsroom & NZ Herald on Friday, March 14.Top Six at 6amExclusive: 'Shake-up is necessary' - NZME's biggest shareholder backs board cleanout NZ Herald-$$$’s Shayne CurrieGovt considers gett… ...5 days ago- Snapshots from Tokyo
Hi,I just got back from a short trip to Japan, mostly spending time in Tokyo.I haven’t been there since we shot Dark Tourist back in 2017 — and that landed us in a bit of hot water with the Japanese government.I am glad to report I was not thrown into ...5 days ago- Why I Regret Going Paid On Substack
I’ve been on Substack for almost 8 months now.It’s been good in terms of the many great individuals that populate its space. So much variety and intelligence and humour and depth.I joined because someone suggested I should ‘start a Substack,’ whatever that meant.So I did.Turning on payments seemed like the ...5 days ago- Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2025
Open access notables Would Adding the Anthropocene to the Geologic Time Scale Matter?, McCarthy et al., AGU Advances: The extraordinary fossil fuel-driven outburst of consumption and production since the mid-twentieth century has fundamentally altered the way the Earth System works. Although humans have impacted their environment for millennia, justification for ...5 days ago- For a waterbombing reserve, adapt ADF aircraft
Australia should buy equipment to cheaply and temporarily convert military transport aircraft into waterbombers. On current planning, the Australian Defence Force will have a total of 34 Chinook helicopters and Hercules airlifters. They should be ...5 days ago- Indonesia has cut funding for counterterrorism programs. Australia should step in
Indonesia’s government has slashed its counterterrorism (CT) budgets, despite the persistent and evolving threat of violent extremism. Australia can support regional CT efforts by filling this funding void. Reducing funding to the National Counterterrorism Agency ...6 days ago- Drawn
A ballot for a single Member's Bill was held today, and the following bill was drawn: Resource Management (Prohibition on Extraction of Freshwater for On-selling) Amendment Bill (Debbie Ngarewa-Packer) The bill does exactly what it says on the label, and would effectively end the rapacious water-bottling industry ...6 days ago- Fabian Fundraiser – Twilight Time
Twilight Time Lighthouse Cuba, Wigan Street, Wellington, Sunday 6 April, 5:30pm for 6pm start. Twilight Time looks at the life and work of Desmond Ball, (1947-2016), a barefooted academic from ‘down under’ who was hailed by Jimmy Carter as “the man who saved the world”, as he proved the fallacy ...6 days ago- It’s time to rethink foreign aid
Foreign aid is being slashed across the Global North, nowhere more so than in the United States. Within his first month back in the White House, President Donald Trump dismantled the US Agency for International ...6 days ago- Thursday 13 March
Nicola Willis has proposed new procurement rules that unions say will lead to pay cuts for already low-paid workers in cleaning, catering and security services that are contracted by government. The Crimes (Theft by Employer) Amendment Bill passed its third reading with support from all the opposition parties and NZ ...6 days ago- Personal Link: The Cool One is Gone.
Most KP readers will not know that I was a jazz DJ in Chicago and Washington DC while in grad school in the early and mid 1980s. In DC I joined WPFW as a grave shift host, then a morning drive show host (a show called Sui Generis, both for ...6 days ago- Who Are You?
Who are you?Who, who, who, who?Who are you?Songwriter: Peter Townshend. Read more ...6 days ago- IMF calls for Capital Gains Tax or land tax
Long stories shortest: The IMF says a capital gains tax or land tax would improve real economic growth and fix the budget. GDP is set to be smaller by 2026 than it was in 2023. Compass is flying in school lunches from Australia. 53% of National voters say the new ...6 days ago- 5 Reasons Labour Are Doing Well
Last year in October I wrote “Where’s The Opposition?”. I was exasperated at the relative quiet of the Green Party, Labour and Te Pati Māori (TPM), as the National led Coalition ticked off a full bingo card of the Atlas Network playbook.1To be fair, TPM helped to energise one of ...6 days ago- Visualizing daily global temperatures
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink Good data visualizations can help make climate change more visceral and understandable. Back in 2016 Ed Hawkins published a “climate spiral” graph that ended up being pretty iconic – it was shown at the opening ceremony of the Olympics that year – and ...6 days ago- How Russia will reassess its ties with North Korea after Ukraine
An agreement to end the war in Ukraine could transform Russia’s relations with North Korea. Moscow is unlikely to reduce its cooperation with Pyongyang to pre-2022 levels, but it may become more selective about areas ...6 days ago- Government’s Investment Summit
This week, the Government is hosting a grand event aimed at trying to interest big foreign capital players in financing capital works in New Zealand, particularly its big rural motorway programme. Financing vs funding: a quick explainer The key word in the sentence above is financing. It is important ...6 days ago- Gordon Campbell On Winston Peters’ Battle Against The Phantom Legions Of The Woke
In a month’s time, the Right Honourable Winston Peters will be celebrating his 80th birthday. Good for him. On the evidence though, his current war on “wokeness” looks like an old man’s cranky complaint that the ancient virtues of grit and know-how are sadly lacking in the youth of today. ...6 days ago- Haul from the 2025 Regent Booksale
As noted, early March has been about moving house, and I have had little chance to partake in all things internet. But now that everything is more or less sorted, I can finally give a belated report on my visit to the annual Regent Booksale (28th February and 1st March). ...6 days ago- The threat spectrum
Information operations Australia has banned cybersecurity software Kaspersky from government use because of risks of espionage, foreign interference and sabotage. The Department of Home Affairs said use of Kaspersky products posed an unacceptable security ...6 days ago- My life as a dog
6 days ago- Understanding ’ndrangheta operations in Australia
The ’ndrangheta, the Calabrian mafia, plays a significant role in the global cocaine trade and is deeply entrenched in Australia, influencing the cocaine trade and engaging in a variety of illicit activities. A range of ...7 days ago - A Palate Cleanser
- Release: Still no certainty for disability communities
One year on from the Government’s abrupt and callous changes to disability funding, the community still has no idea what the future holds. ...17 hours ago - Green Party backs volunteer firefighters in their call for ACC recognition
The Green Party stands in support of volunteer firefighters petitioning the Government to step up and change legislation to provide volunteers the same ACC coverage and benefits as their paid counterparts. ...17 hours ago - MP Views: Living Strong, The Economy, Servicing Our Nation, The Golden Egg, and 4 Year Terms
Living Strong, Aging Well There is much discussion around the health of our older New Zealanders and how we can age well. In reality, the delivery of health services accounts for only a relatively small percentage of health outcomes as we age. Significantly, dry warm housing, nutrition, exercise, social connection, ...1 day ago - Shane Jones has no shame
Shane Jones’ display on Q&A showed how out of touch he and this Government are with our communities and how in sync they are with companies with little concern for people and planet. ...3 days ago
- Release: National botches health funding numbers
Health Minister Simeon Brown’s claim that the Government has put $16.68 billion into the health system over three years is wrong. ...4 days ago
- Government tramples on the rights of disabled migrant children
The Green Party is condemning the Government’s move to tighten access to visas for disabled children. ...4 days ago
- Release: Auckland needs second harbour crossing
Labour supports Minister Chris Bishop’s call for input on the second Waitematā Harbour crossing. ...5 days ago
- Speech: Barbara Edmonds’ speech to NZ Investment Summit 2025
I am grateful to have the opportunity to speak to you today about how we make overseas investment work for all New Zealanders. ...5 days ago
- Release: Labour does not support PPPs for prisons
Labour does not support the private ownership of core infrastructure like schools, hospitals and prisons, which will only see worse outcomes for Kiwis. ...5 days ago
- Dunedin Futures report should be a wake-up call
The newly released report on the South Dunedin Future Programme must be a wake-up call for our Government. ...5 days ago
- Release: Members’ Bill makes wage theft a crime
Workers will now be able to go to the Police and report their employer if they are not being paid wages they’re owed. ...6 days ago
- Missed opportunity to stop the stealing of Māori land
The Green Party is disappointed the Government voted down Hūhana Lyndon’s member’s Bill, which would have prevented further alienation of Māori land through the Public Works Act. ...6 days ago
- Release: Labour supports sanctions against Israel’s illegal occupation
The Labour Party will support Chloe Swarbrick’s member’s bill which would allow sanctions against Israel for its illegal occupation of the Palestinian Territories. ...7 days ago
- Release: Govt procurement plan cuts wages and trashes the environment
The Government’s new procurement rules are a blatant attack on workers and the environment, showing once again that National’s priorities are completely out of touch with everyday Kiwis. ...7 days ago
- Procurement proposals pose risk to people and planet
The Green Party is concerned by the impact the Government’s proposed changes to procurement processes could have on people and planet. ...7 days ago
- Just six Government MPs needed to pass Unlawful Occupation of Palestine Sanctions Bill
With Labour and Te Pāti Māori’s official support, Opposition parties are officially aligned to progress Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick’s Member’s Bill to sanction Israel for its unlawful presence in Palestine. ...7 days ago
- Release: Labour’s approach to Māori economy benefits all
Under Labour, the Māori economy went from strength to strength according to the latest report released by MBIE. ...1 week ago
- 20 Years of Success Down the Drain: Govt Gut Whānau Ora
Te Pāti Māori extends our deepest aroha to the 500 plus Whānau Ora workers who have been advised today that the govt will be dismantling their contracts. For twenty years , Whānau Ora has been helping families, delivering life-changing support through a kaupapa Māori approach. It has built trust where ...2 weeks ago
- Green Party launches petition to allow Pacific whānau visa-free access
The Green Party is launching a petition calling on the Government to extend visa-free travel to visitors from Pacific Island nations. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Labour welcomes reinstatement of Heath NZ board
Labour welcomes Simeon Brown’s move to reinstate a board at Health New Zealand, bringing the destructive and secretive tenure of commissioner Lester Levy to an end. ...2 weeks ago
- NZ’s Public Health system dealt yet another blow
This morning’s announcement by the Health Minister regarding a major overhaul of the public health sector levels yet another blow to the country’s essential services. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Chris Hipkins’ State of the Nation address
Ngā mihi ki a koutou katoa It is a great pleasure to be here with you this morning. ...2 weeks ago
- NZ First Introduces Bill to Remove Woke ‘DEI’ Regulations from Public Service
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill that will ensure employment decisions in the public service are based on merit and not on forced woke ‘Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion’ targets. “This Bill would put an end to the woke left-wing social engineering and diversity targets in the public sector. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Labour outlines priorities of next Govt
The next Labour Government will prioritise jobs, health and homes so Kiwis and Kiwi businesses have the opportunity to thrive. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Refreshed team to drive Labour’s 2026 priorities
Labour leader Chris Hipkins has unveiled a new economic team as part of a caucus reshuffle. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Labour calls for end to police referrals to Destiny programmes
Police have referred 20 offenders to Destiny Church-affiliated programmes Man Up and Legacy as ‘wellness providers’ in the last year, raising concerns that those seeking help are being recruited into a harmful organisation. ...2 weeks ago
- Good Riddance: Prebble Resigns from Waitangi Tribunal
Te Pāti Māori welcomes the resignation of Richard Prebble from the Waitangi Tribunal. His appointment in October 2024 was a disgrace- another example of this government undermining Te Tiriti o Waitangi by appointing a former ACT leader who has spent his career attacking Māori rights. “Regardless of the reason for ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Labour calls on Govt to condemn Israel’s aid blockade
The National Government needs to publicly condemn Israel’s cutting off of aid supplies to the war-ravaged people of Gaza. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Mark Mitchell missing in action
Police Minister Mark Mitchell is avoiding accountability by refusing to answer key questions in the House as his Government faces criticism over their dangerous citizen’s arrest policy, firearm reform, and broken promises to recruit more police. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Fewer houses, consents down under National
The number of building consents issued under this Government continues to spiral, taking a toll on the infrastructure sector, tradies, and future generations of Kiwi homeowners. ...2 weeks ago
- Govt urged to rule out any involvement in AUKUS
The Green Party is calling on the Prime Minister to rule out joining the AUKUS military pact in any capacity following the scenes in the White House over the weekend. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: PSA survey proves Govt’s cuts are hurting patients
The National Government’s decision to cut jobs and freeze recruitment of health care workers is hurting frontline services and harming patients. ...2 weeks ago
- Government levels another blow at kaupapa Māori education
The Green Party is appalled by the Government’s plan to disestablish Resource Teachers of Māori (RTM) roles, a move that takes another swing at kaupapa Māori education. ...3 weeks ago
- Release: Labour PR: More clarity needed for homebuyers
The Government’s levies announcement is a step in the right direction, but they must be upfront about who will pay its new infrastructure levies and ensure that first-home buyers are protected from hidden costs. ...3 weeks ago
- Release: More clarity needed for homebuyers
The Government’s levies announcement is a step in the right direction, but they must be upfront about who will pay its new infrastructure levies and ensure that first-home buyers are protected from hidden costs. ...3 weeks ago
- Greens welcome pause of works at Lake Rotokākahi and call for council to work constructively with m...
After months of mana whenua protecting their wāhi tapu, the Green Party welcomes the pause of works at Lake Rotokākahi and calls for the Rotorua Lakes Council to work constructively with Tūhourangi and Ngāti Tumatawera on the pathway forward. ...3 weeks ago
- The week in review
New Zealand First continues to bring balance, experience, and commonsense to Government. This week we've made progress on many of our promises to New Zealand. Winston representing New Zealand Winston Peters is overseas this week, with stops across the Middle East and North Asia. Winston's stops include Saudi Arabia, the ...3 weeks ago
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- Government has work to do to build trust on gene tech bill
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Get ready for a week of white male suited squillionaires gabbing about the state highways and schools they want to build, operate, and rent back to us.
Guarantee not so much as half a sentence devoted to a common good for our people and our land.
How often do PPP's need to be proven to be a disaster for taxpayers and a licence to print money for the rich list before they are ditched?
Re the Deloitte NZ Health report.
New Health Minister Simeon Brown, possibly near wetting himself over the perceived justification for NAct1's slash/burn….
Having personally worked in a Hospital..and other large Companies, I could well see so called some Managers as being inept arse coverers.
Any of them now looking for jobs? (Of course they are adept at looking out for Number 1)
Well…thats his take on it. Anyone else with input views on the Deloitte Report?
is it a NAct1 friendly paid policy promotion? For justification?
There will always be some sort of 'justification' for the enacting of one's ideological views, which can apply across the political spectrum. Although some parties more than others.
It still comes back to both priorities in spending (eg tax cuts) vs the good of society at large.
I continue to hold the voters who wanted a RW government- and non-voters- responsible for this. They cannot say they weren't warned.
Hi thanks for input. And yea same re those voters. What were they thinking? Or just not…..
NZers (Not the 1%, who will gain $millions) are going to suffer from all of this.
We all knew they have a problem with IT, faxes in from the HB's during COVID.
But who knew they did their accounts on excel spreadsheets.
"Lost control of spending' … what does that mean?
Not rationing demand/health need within budget?
That might be because they have seriously run down primary health, no new patients, wait weeks … have hospitals take in people when they are at the health emergency stage.
Thanks for input. And yea that "excel spreadsheets" ?!
Anyway, I certainly see Simeons smirking about the justification as precursor for major privatisation ….(which IMO was always the plan)
The reality..Onya Fleur !
And the Vested Interest….$$$$$
Had a wry smile at this…
Also had a wee look at Mr Roxborough's Health experience and/or Medical background.
Unsurprisingly its Money Health he majors in…..
It was all about Covid of course.
Other public health services, such as the one in the UK, have been under major stress since Covid. It takes a few years to recover from a global pandemic.
And of course Labour's sensible reforms of the health service will save money and improve delivery but that too will be down the track.
Thanks for input. Yep. A little thing like a….Global Pandemic. Fuck knows where we would have been with NAct1 in control then….
And…as links show, slash/burn and privatisation is where they want to go. American style Health Insurance to follow $$$$$.
Fark.
This is another of those things that restores your faith in the goodness of Americans. Plain, hard-working, decent Americans that is, as distinct from the political class, which ignores them. The Californian movement Taxpayers Against Genocide is going after those politicians…
Yes most of the Americans I know are great people. I do know a Trump supporter too, who is slightly crazy. The US propaganda environment is making many of them insane and divorced from reality.
Well, I'm sure it makes them feel very virtuous, if nothing else. Here's the problem, though: Israelis don't care what you or some horseshoe-theory leftists in California or the UN or various media companies or pretty much anyone else think of them, they're not going to cease to exist and they're also not going to quietly co-exist with neighbours who want to kill them. So, unless you and the Taxpayers Against Genocide have some solution to offer that doesn't involve hand-waving those things away, you're wasting your time and effort huffing and puffing about it.
Well, I'm sure it makes them feel very virtuous, if nothing else.
Virtuous? Yes, they are of course but I don't think they feel especially virtuous. I'd say they feel motivated by deep anger at the corrupt and anti-democratic American political scene. They're just decent citizens who are opposed to politicians illegally funding and supporting a genocidal state.
Here's the problem, though: Israelis don't care what you or some horseshoe-theory leftists
"Horseshoe-theory"? Oh yes, that's the brilliant insight that people who fight against Nazis are themselves Nazis. It was a frequent taunt flung at anti-police protestors after the murder of George Floyd. Do you employ it as often as you employ the equally insightful terms "whataboutism" and "woke"?
in California or the UN or various media companies or pretty much anyone else think of them
If they don't care, why is their government and its apologists trying to intimidate protestors and shut down any criticism of its crimes? Even wearing a keffiyeh is a threat to these fanatics.
The state of Prussia was formally disestablished after World War II. The Southern Confederacy is no more. The apartheid state of South Africa is no more. The Soviet Union is no more.
What makes you think that this particular pariah state, which only exists as long as the U.S. political class continues to support it, can last forever? How long do you give it? A thousand years?
David Cumin is a New Zealander living in New Zealand just like you or me. Jewish New Zealanders care about expressions of Jew-hatred in New Zealand because of-course-they-fucking-do-what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-you? And the video you posted includes Cumin explaining that no it was not about someone wearing a keffiyeh.
The fact that you call a country a pariah state or falsely claim that it can only exist as long as the US supports it (read some history if you're going to pontificate about this, ffs) doesn't mean it's going to disappear anytime soon. Jews have lived there for thousands of years, don't expect that to change, however hard you wish for it.
Jews have lived there, but their political structures have often been conquered or demolished over the ages
You can tell them they have no claim to the land if you like, but they won't pay any more attention than the Arabs would if you told them they have no claim to the land (their political structures having been conquered/demolished).
The Syrians seem pretty happy to be rid of Assad. I view Netanyahu as a similar breed of violent thug
You can view elected officials in liberal democracies any way you like, but it doesn't make them remotely similar to Bashir al Assad.
Israel is a "liberal democracy" in the way that Franco's Spain, apartheid South Africa, Jim Crow Alabama, and Pinochet's Chile were liberal democracies.
https://therealnews.com/mblumenthal1023raipt1
Yeah, well, that also is just like, your opinion, man.
To most of the world Israel is a state within its 1949 borders, yet to make peace with those seeking to form a state in the rest of the area west of the Jordan.
As a somewhat flawed democracy (as are all).
The occupation (and since 1977 settlement), since 1967 of land beyond its recognised borders is by Israel, but is not within Israel and its state.
David Cumin is a New Zealander living in New Zealand just like you or me.
He's an apologist for Israeli genocide. He's not like me: I don't support the Israeli Occupation Force murder squads in Gaza or the illegal settlers that daily—actually, nightly—carry out pogroms in the Occupied Territories of the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
The rest of your incoherent, angry tirade is noteworthy only because of your continued insistence on equating that outlaw pariah state with Jewish people.
https://mondoweiss.net/2023/06/israelism-documentary-focuses-on-young-jews-change-of-heart/
True. Great movie, made by the Coen Brothers, a couple of outstanding Americans…
I'm sorry, am I supposed to give a shit what Hollywood celebrities think about something?
They're not just "Hollywood celebrities." They're Jewish film-makers speaking out in support of another Jewish film-maker who dared to speak out against the genocide in Gaza.
They're people who share your opinion. Well, fair enough, no doubt such people exist. I'm not sure what conclusion anyone's meant to draw from it though.
Particularly enjoyed Plunkett first referring to the keffiyeh as a 'Hamas Tea Towel', bringing on Cumin to say that's entirely correct and raise the specter of map iconography, and then questioning the apparent amount of connivance involved in council photography.
I don't expect Plunkett or anyone else to show any respect for symbols of terrorism. Any Arabs who want to complain that the keffiyeh isn't actually a symbol of the PLO should take it up with the estate of Yassir Arafat.
The Muslim belief that Israel must be destroyed and replaced with an Arab Muslim state is anything but "map iconography." Multiple wars have been fought over it and tens of thousands of people have been killed for it.
Very good. I don't expect Plunkett to express respect for any kind of symbols either actually, I'm pretty sure he doesn't respect any kind of symbols when it suites his purposes to denigrate them. He was there however attempting to connive with his guest an accusation levelled at Dunedin council which he later raises over 'map iconography'.
Important though 'map iconography' may be, apparently Plunkett didn't notice the problem to begin with, or raise any problem which Cumin was actually sensitive to before the discussion. This places him in exactly the same position as most of the public and probably the people creating the images for the Dunedin council.
I have no doubt whatsoever that Cumin is a lot more sensitive than Plunket is to NZ city councils using ratepayers' money to promote symbols of Jew-hatred, for fairly obvious reasons.
Enough already with your mulish "Jew-hatred" canard. Are the thousands of New York Jewish protestors who shut down Grand Central Station in protest against Israel's continued mass murder in Gaza guilty of "Jew-hatred"?
Is Ken Roth guilty of "Jew-hatred"? Is Amy Goodman?
https://www.democracynow.org/2025/3/3/gaza_ethnic_cleansing_trump_palestine_israel
Israel better stop annexing Palestine or they are going to end up with an antisemitic symbol for their countries geography quite soon. Will the remaining
PalestiniansArabs be allowed to wear a representation of their country at that point?Typical, Plunkett does not know the PLO origins of it.
Hamas has yet to join the PLO.
Plunkett's lack of knowing anything is not actually relevant. Keffiyeh were worn and already symbols of Palestinian resistance, well before the existence of a PLO. Unsurprising that Yassir Arafat would style himself that way, though he was far from original in this style. Psycho just thinks Israel should be entitled to decide what Palestinian's are allowed to wear.
AI seems to get their info on this from here
https://www.npr.org/2023/12/06/1216150515/keffiyeh-hamas-palestinians-israel-gaza
Maybe the AI should read the whole link then, it says just as I said.
If you think AI said otherwise, you did not check.
I haven't and wouldn't claim that. You can dispute what I'm saying without being dishonest with it. And it was the PLO that made the keffiyeh famous as a symbol of murderous Jew-hatred and is the reason people wear it.
We can add to wanting to control what Palestinians wear, also wanting to control who the leaders of Palestine are allowed to be.
made the keffiyeh famous as a symbol of murderous Jew-hatred and is the reason people wear it.
You know of course that every time you, or someone like you, posts a flagrant falsehood like that, it subtracts even further from any authority you might have had. You make a fool of yourself almost every time you say anything.
Time to stop for a while and recharge the old Psycho Miltonian batteries, methinks. Maybe do some reading—serious reading, not listening to Sean Plunket—for a while?
There’s a good fellow.
Thanks for that post Morrissey….restores one's faith in human nature…..the COC is complicit by saying nothing about this.
I still think the Dems could have won the election with a principled stand on Gaza but Biden was way too old and stuck in his "Jews vote democrat" rut. Harris should have but failed to dump this pro genocide policy.
Russia is ready for peace.
/
Russia fired 67 missiles from air, land and sea, and launched 194 strike and decoy drones, Ukraine's air force said, adding the target was the country's natural gas extraction facilities.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03-08/russia-attacks-ukrainian-energy-facilities-in-missile-attacks/105026324
Russia was ready for peace three years ago. That's why the U.S., in a panic, sent its envoy of death Boris Johnson to Istanbul to threaten and cajole Zelensky into pulling out of negotiations with Russia.
"Russia was ready for
peaceUkraine's surrender three years ago"FIFY
Your snide attempt at a quip can't change the fact that Ukraine was in peace talks with Russia, and that Boris Johnson sabotaged those talks by threatening and cajoling President Zelenskyy.
Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians have paid the ultimate price for Johnson's anti-diplomacy.
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/kremlin-2022-ukrainian-law-bans-zelenskyy-talks-putin-119468131
Yes, it took time, and of course Russia, like any state, is fond of obstruction and game-playing. But the fact remains: Zelenskyy was holding peace talks a few weeks after the Special Military Operation began. Boris Johnson, at the behest of the U.S., was flown urgently to Istanbul in order to sabotage those talks.
The issue is covered here.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/12/zelenskyy-rejects-claim-boris-johnson-talked-him-out-of-2022-peace-deal
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace_negotiations_in_the_Russian_invasion_of_Ukraine
Post the failure of talks, Putin's and Ukrainian positions were far apart (2024).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace_negotiations_in_the_Russian_invasion_of_Ukraine
So what we witnessed with our own eyes three years ago didn't happen? Boris Johnson did not fly urgently to Istanbul? He didn't threaten and cajole President Zelenskyy into sticking with his "protectors" in Washington and Whitehall?
No surprise to see that such a lame attempt to spin this story appeared in the Guardian, which is effectively an organ of the British state. Its anti-Russian bias is notorious. You are no doubt aware the paper was a relentless purveyor, with the New York Times and the BBC, of the ridiculous Russiagate conspiracy theory.
Are you really still calling Russia's Invasion a special military operation?
That was the original Russian term for it. But I agree with you that it's now developed into a real war. A proxy war, of course. As that brave South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham said: "when we said we wanted to fight Russia down to the last Ukrainian, we meant it."
https://x.com/RnaudBertrand/status/1769956089183846548
please fix your username.
That is rather good, at the same time terribly sad.
The USA was happy to fight Hitler down to the last European. At least they are consistent.
FDR only won re-election in 1940 by promising not to enter the war in Europe (neither the Irish, nor WASP Republicans wanted it).
Japan attacked Pearl Harbour and then Germany declared war on the USA first.
Then you can dive into the questions around did the president know about the attack on pearl harbour before it happened..?
..and allowed it to happen..because he knew it would drag america into the war…which is what he wanted…?
What is known is he wanted to be on the right side of history, regardless of popular opinion.
1.while Japan was occupying Korea and parts of China – sanctions
2.while Germany was occupying other nations in Europe and parts of Russia – lend lease to the UK to pass onto Russia.
Then, merely means another baseless attack option is then available.
That is not what Senator “Gramm” said, it was how someone else phrased his position – Arnaud Bertrand.
Arnaud Bertrand was not paraphrasing him or reconstructing his ugly words from memory. He quoted him.
The flabby old chickenhawk had the gall to travel to Kiev and admonish young Ukrainians who do not want to sacrifice themselves for people like him:
https://x.com/RnaudBertrand/status/1769956089183846548
https://x.com/JPfaff1028/status/1871675750593794513?lang=pt
Where is the quote from then? Neither Bertrand nor Pfaff gave a source.
I have found this.
https://www.reuters.com/world/russia-condemns-us-senator-grahams-comments-death-russians-2023-05-28/
Sorry, SPC, I can't find a smoking gun in this case. I concede your point. What does stay beyond any doubt, however, is that Lindsey Graham is an absolutely despicable individual.
Glenn Greenwald sums him up perfectly in May last year: "Lindsey Graham is the single most sociopathic, deranged, weak war-monger in all of Washington, constantly telling not only Americans but also Ukrainians to go and fight and die more in wars that he himself won't get near."
https://x.com/ggreenwald/status/1794388020910825575
https://x.com/ggreenwald/status/1794388020910825575/photo/1
Gramm is known for
1.opposing Trump and then surrendering to his capture of the GOP.
2.being a strong advocate of Ukrainian resistance to Russian annexation of Ukrainian land and then saying Yelensky should resign and that Ukraine does not deserve American support while he is leader – all because he spoke truth in the White House.
That he poses all of this (in turn) as America first is how he sends up himself.
Zelenskyy always insisted that the Russians return to their own borders as a condition of any peace, and been rejected. Putin was unwilling to accept such terms evidently. His terms were that Russia be permitted to hold Crimea, and annex the Donbas oblast and Southern Ukraine.
This would be the substance, I think, of Zelenskyy's claim to have offered to engage in peace talks. Still, I could be wrong..
Remembering international Women's day, https://archive.is/wDUer
Because nothing says respect quite like the continuing exploitation of a vulnerable child.
/
When the photograph was first published in 1985 and the magazine circulated to millions of readers worldwide, it had only one sentence about her (besides the original caption, ‘Haunted eyes tell of an Afghan refugee’s fears’). It said her eyes were “reflecting the fear of war”.
This is false, Northrup says. The fear in her eyes is that of a student interrupted at school by a male stranger invading her space, her personal boundaries and her culture and leaving without even having learned her name.
McCurry and National Geographic would sell the picture for enormous amounts. Steve McCurry Studios prices their open edition 20″ x 24″ print of Sharbat Gula for $18,000 (Rs 12.8 lakh). Larger prints have been sold for as much as $178,900 at auctions.
Until their return for the follow-up story in 2002, Sharbat Gula received nothing.
https://thewire.in/media/afghan-girl-steve-mccurry-national-geographic
It's a powerful image of the difficult lives of women around the world.
Nice attempt at distraction and shooting the messenger though.
There are millions of images portraying the difficult lives of women around the world yet you chose one that's been shown to have exploited a young woman.
And your reaction to being called on your poor choice is to have a sook?
ffs
/
If you delve into anything deep enough you'll find moral quandaries.
shallow
/
https://www.vladsokhin.com/work/crying-meri/
Well said joe90. I remember the fuss when the true story behind the picture came out.
But surely journalists should never let truth come in the way of a good story and a pretty picture? (sarc)
For the TS commentator who loves to link articles from The Centrist, here's information about the owner of this site, the Canadian billionaire James Grenon, living in Takapuna for the last decade. He has now on sold it to another billionaire, because he's busy trying to roll the board of NZME for his own appointees, after he picked up a 10% stake in it recently.
“Centrists” are always a waste of space. The title should have raised immediate suspicions.
The TOP party comes to mind.
The cancellation of this UN conference (on the rights of Palestinians under Israeli military occupation) might relate to this
https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/michael-f-brown/republicans-trumpet-judea-and-samaria
It might only be a "Gulf of America" renaming the WB, Judea and Samaria, but it could also be an end to recognition of a Palestinian state.
https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/neutral-switzerland-cancels-un-conference-after-israeli-pressure
Preparing the way for something more … the land of free speech is cutting funds to universities that allowed protests at the collective punishment of Gaza civilians.
Would it be to ensure no protests at renaming the WB Judea and Samaria, or ending recognition of a Palestinian state (so the USA gets Gaza … once a land without a people and Israel gets … once a land without non Jewish voters).
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/donald-trump-cuts-millions-in-grants-from-columbia-university-over-anti-semitism-claims/OVOJF6T6ZFETZLJVYVDB245564/
I'd phrase it more like "cutting funds to universities that allow the Muslim diaspora to promote its virulent antisemitism within the university."
So when thousands of people, Jewish and non-Jewish, protest against an American-sponsored genocide, it's "virulent antisemitism" is it?
You need to explain a little more convincingly than you have managed so far.
Bollocks psycho.
Let's see some truth of that from genuine links.
Who is as appalled as I am about the huge waste of 400k of rate-payers money being tipped on the toilet on Restoring fhe fugly Chalice in Cathedral square.
Not much more is being done than giving it a sand-blast, a lick of paint and a bit of LED lighting. How that could cost 400k is hard to see.
From a left wing perspective, imagine how much could have been done with that money to help the needy. And I would have preferred that as well. And, even more, sell the thing for scrap metal and use that for the needy as well.
You will have to tell us precisely how appalled you are before we can find out any equally or more appalled parties. If you want some unsolicited advice, go for I'm so appalled I could not care less, and then literally everyone is at least as appalled as you.
let it tarnish and corrode as a symbol of the polycrisis.
The problem with selling and using the money for the needy is that it's a bottomless pit, with the government currently shooing people to the edge of the hole who will eventually fall in. We need system change not crumbs of charity.
$400K is a lot of money, but it's not that much. Maybe use it to kickstart some social housing that is collectively owned and never sold.
the purpose of modern art is to troll people
From a left wing perspective, public art confirms and enriches public spaces ..
… and like anything else public they need maintenance $$$ spend in them.
FIFY
I'd completely agree with this if we lived in a society that was leftist. The dilemma is how to prioritise art in a neoliberal society that is making people poor by design.
Your language is always demeaning and disrespectful. I, like a lot of other people on this site, work hard at crafting serious and coherent messages. You dismissingly call me a "troll"? What a joke.
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
Phil made a comment about Peters and Luxon and Trump. You replied saying,
and then the thread derailed.
Sorry, I was too impulsive. Not for the first time, I must regretfully note.
if you are commenting from a phone, the name field retains the typos. Please edit the last 2 comments within the editing window, then fix for your next comment.
Thanks for that weka!
I haven’t mastered the pseudo-intellectual and passive-aggressive fob-offs that are your MO.
A troll is what a troll does.
Stop diverting and stop with the belligerence, it’s self-demeaning and disrespectful to the others here, particularly to Authors who make an effort to raise an issue that you simply hijack and trample all over with your cringey snobbery.
Possible redrawn electorates boundaries coming out soon. The irony would be delicious if Epsom disappeared.
Are ACT “guaranteed” to get over 5%?
IMO, sadly yes National's psychopathic offspring will be able to survive even if fate removes it's birthing box.
And so it begins.
The slowing of the northerly current in the Atlantic, the Gulf Stream, the AMOC system and then us.
https://www.1news.co.nz/2025/03/08/scientists-predict-nz-will-get-drier-northern-australia-wetter/
Peters should employ a special envoy to WTA and play a round of golf with DJT and let him win, of course. That should appease the King.
She is too good for this petty nation we have become
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1RJrWneD78/
Three generations of Poles have an axe to grind.