web analytics

Open mike 18/06/2025

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, June 18th, 2025 - 68 comments
Categories: open mike - Tags:


Open mike is your post.

For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose.

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

Step up to the mike …

68 comments on “Open mike 18/06/2025 ”

  1. Todays Posts 1
    18 June 2025 at 6:00 am

    Today's Posts (updated through the day):

    Reply
  2. Bearded Git 2
    18 June 2025 at 8:17 am

    Whangarei emergency doctor Gary Payinda intelligently lampoons the lies being told by the government in regard to the public health service in this interview this morning. Ingrid cuts him off…she didn't seem to want to hear any more of his elegant dismantling of the lies being pedaled by Simeon Brown earlier on the programme.

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018991898/northland-doctors-and-dentists-strike

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018991885/health-minister-on-private-hospitals-10-year-contracts-to-perform-elective-surgeries

    Reply
    • Tiger Mountain 2.1
      18 June 2025 at 8:54 am

      Gary is a brave credible guy, have met him, unlike Pee Wee Brown who just did his usual stuck record impression in the service of privatisation this morning.

      Reply
    • gsays 2.2
      18 June 2025 at 10:41 am

      Yep, then Ingrid omitted to ask the representative from Te Whatu Ora what the consequence of public surgeons and anesthesiologists being drawn to private providers would have on the public system.

      You kind of expect better from yr state broadcaster.

      Reply
      • Drowsy M. Kram 2.2.1
        18 June 2025 at 10:51 am

        You kind of expect better from yr state broadcaster.

        Yr state broadcaster may be pivoting to avoid further funding cuts for doing its job sad

        “You’re [RNZ broadcaster Corin Dann] paid for the by a taxpayer, and sooner or later, we’re going to cut that water off too, because you’re an abuse on the taxpayer.” – [then Deputy PM] Winston Peters

        "I expect RNZ to improve audience reach, trust and transparency."
        – Minister for Media and Communications Paul Goldsmith

        Budget 2025 Cuts RNZ Funding To Pay For Local Journalism Initiatives
        [23 May 2025]
        Although Budget 2025 allocates $6.4 million over four years to council, community and court reporting via NZ On Air, RNZ funding is being cut by $18.4 million over the same period.

        “Funding the Local Democracy Reporting and Open Justice projects by taking money away from RNZ is robbing Peter to pay Paul,” he [Better Public Media spokesperson Dr Peter Thompson] said.

        “The government seems to think the funding increases for RNZ under the previous government were unduly generous but has forgotten that those increases were in response to almost a decade of frozen budgets that RNZ suffered under the preceding National government.”

        Reply
        • gsays 2.2.1.1
          18 June 2025 at 12:41 pm

          Buy pivoting do you mean winning the race to the bottom?

          It is sad to hear the hosts, seemingly daily, parade their ignorance or incompetence.

          Perhaps polling tells the producers this attitude is popular or relatable. Like or politicians, I would settle for competence over popularity.

          We are both of a vintage to remember Kim Hill, Geoff Robinson and Sean Plunkett.

          Those days seem so long ago.

          Reply
          • Bearded Git 2.2.1.1.1
            18 June 2025 at 1:09 pm

            I think Corin Dann is quite good.

            Reply
          • Drowsy M. Kram 2.2.1.1.2
            19 June 2025 at 5:06 pm

            Buy pivoting do you mean winning the race to the bottom?

            Was thinking more along the lines of Ingrid/RNZ not antagonising the paymaster.
            But yes, pivoting & heading bottom side may effectively be one and the samesad

            Reply
        • Muttonbird 2.2.1.2
          18 June 2025 at 12:50 pm

          Regarding the drop in RNZ's listener numbers.

          Logically, it must be because of their shift to the right because there were higher number when the organisation was viewed as left, and as it has drifted/been forced to the centre it has lost listeners.

          Shifting further right and defunding will only see listener numbers drop further.

          Reply
          • Craig H 2.2.1.2.1
            18 June 2025 at 2:50 pm

            Given the existence of other well-established right-wing radio options so a tough market to tap into, that wouldn't surprise me.

            Reply
          • Phillip ure 2.2.1.2.2
            19 June 2025 at 5:22 pm

            I thought their objective was to be apolitical….that is what is needed…

            And that's what engenders credibility…and audiences..

            A check and balance on all of them..

            That is the role of rnz…

            Reply
            • Muttonbird 2.2.1.2.2.1
              19 June 2025 at 6:07 pm

              Nope, it is required to be independent, which is not the same thing. Here's the charter:

              Purpose

              (1) As an independent public service broadcaster, the public radio company’s purpose is to serve the public interest.

              (2) Freedom of thought and expression are foundations of democratic society and the public radio company as a public service broadcaster plays an essential role in exercising these freedoms.

              (3) The public radio company fosters a sense of national identity by contributing to tolerance and understanding, reflecting and promoting ethnic, cultural, and artistic diversity and expression.

              (4) The public radio company provides reliable, independent, and freely accessible news and information.

              https://www.rnz.co.nz/about/charter

              Given the points particularly at (3) and (4) and in other parts of the charter, the public interest test at (1) seems to align with the idea public interest is not focussed on every member of the public, but rather weighted to members of the public which are disenfranchised from private media through cost, accessibility etc.

              That is the definition of public broadcasting.

              Reply
              • Phillip ure …
                19 June 2025 at 6:20 pm

                You say independent..I say apolitical ..

                Apolitical doesn't mean catering to all..it is to call all political actors to account…favouring none…

                How do you define independent…if not that..?

                Reply
        • SPC 2.2.1.3
          18 June 2025 at 1:01 pm

          The right attack National Radio for not being bound to business class sponsors, thus not trusted by them as a public media.

          There is also a right wing agenda to funder provider split, that is divert money from public organisations.

          Reply
          • Phillip ure 2.2.1.3.1
            18 June 2025 at 5:55 pm

            What used to be radio you could take seriously..has become more and more tabloid… irredeemably trivial ..

            Yes..dann holds up his end ..his co-host does not….same with the midday show and checkpoint ..

            All sounding more and more like commercial radio..

            The relentless pimping for texts is somewhat irritating..

            ..and the simplistic topics they urge listeners to txt on..

            I think I preferred them when their role model was the bbc..

            Reply
            • Phillip ure 2.2.1.3.1.1
              19 June 2025 at 4:48 pm

              Strangely…some of their best work is at odd hours..

              The first up host rocks it ..as does the nighttime host…

              I presume they are rehearsing for primetime roles…the sooner the better…

              Dann and Nathan r. would be a good breakfast team..

              (Yes .I know they are both men..and before people get excited..if k.hill were available…she would get the nod…it's about ability..not gender tokenism…)

              There are concrete reasons why their audience is slipping…it needs a shakeup..

              Reply
  3. Ad 3
    18 June 2025 at 9:22 am

    Hey everyone who is a member, make sure you get along to your local Forest&Bird AGMs that are happening at the moment. This is one strong node of resistance that can stay effective well beyond the cycles of governments of any stripe.

    Reply
  4. Kay 4
    18 June 2025 at 9:57 am

    Yesterday's news, but I simply cannot understand a parliamentary system that says swearing is 'unparliamentary behaviour' and must be apologised for, but it's perfectly ok for Ministers to tell blatant and obvious lies on the record, and calling them a 'liar' is forbidden. How on earth can the government of the day be held to account?

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/564372/mps-caught-swearing-as-david-seymour-faces-questions-on-regulatory-reviews

    Reply
    • Tiger Mountain 4.1
      18 June 2025 at 10:09 am

      Even “St.” Jacinda termed the Epsom twerp an arrogant prick. He does wind people up with his antics-I call him a lot worse!

      Reply
    • Drowsy M. Kram 4.2
      18 June 2025 at 11:09 am

      All MPs must 'play' by the same rules – always remembering who enforces the rules.

      The many inconsistencies in Te Pāti Māori MPs’ haka suspensions
      [15 May 2025]
      All of which might lead one to ask whether the committee’s decision and sanction was not (just) about the haka performed last December. Rather, as the committee majority notes, “we intend to leave members in no doubt that the behaviour discussed is not acceptable, and that the intimidation of other members of the House is treated with utmost seriousness”. A translation of this might be that the governing majority of MPs are demanding that Te Pāti Māori will “respect my authoritah” by complying with the rules of parliament as they see them as being, or else.

      Reply
    • Vivie 4.3
      18 June 2025 at 3:12 pm

      David Seymour claimed that he was "astonished by the swearing" of the Labour MPs during the select committee hearing.

      https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/564372/mps-caught-swearing-as-david-seymour-faces-questions-on-regulatory-reviews

      His comments are a transparent attempt to minimise and deflect from Brooke van Velden's use of the c… word during Question Time, with reference to Andrea Vance's article about pay equity changes.

      Presumably for effect van Velden misquoted Vance, who did not use the complete word in her article, as previously noted.

      "(Van Velden actually said the C word, whereas Vance has been typing ‘c’ with three dots.)" https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360691630/columnist-dismisses-faux-outrage-after-pay-equity-column

      Van Velden said the word in a clear attempt to make herself a victim. If an Opposition MP had used the word in the debating chamber, there would likely be calls for them to be stood down or to resign.

      Reply
  5. Muttonbird 5
    18 June 2025 at 11:23 am

    I bet David Seymour is thrilled to see his friend Tim Jago return to the front pages:

    https://www.1news.co.nz/2025/06/17/former-act-party-president-appeals-sexual-abuse-conviction-and-sentence/

    Ian Brookie is a dreadful human being.

    Reply
  6. PsyclingLeft.Always 6
    18 June 2025 at 11:26 am

    Chris Bishop's sandpit?

    Government to give itself power to override councils on housing in RMA changes

    "Next year we'll replace the RMA with a new planning system that makes it easier to plan and deliver the housing and infrastructure New Zealand needs.

    "The new planning system is an enormous opportunity to create a planning system that enables and encourages housing growth," Bishop said.

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/564457/government-to-give-itself-power-to-override-councils-on-housing-in-rma-changes

    Who else gets to play in the Bishop sandpit ?

    National frontbencher backs big party donor in $138m case against housing agency

    https://newsroom.co.nz/2023/08/29/national-frontbencher-backs-big-party-donor-in-138m-case-against-housing-agency/

    Reply
    • Drowsy M. Kram 6.1
      18 June 2025 at 11:33 am

      One might say "conflict of interest" – corruption even – but it's just mates helping mates.

      Reply
      • PsyclingLeft.Always 6.1.1
        18 June 2025 at 12:01 pm

        DMK, I know….and yea, seems some sandpits are a tad more exclusive. Does anyone else see this? Stands out..like the proverbial to you, me, and some others….

        Reply
    • Muttonbird 6.2
      18 June 2025 at 12:28 pm

      Three waters overseeing councils = bad

      Bishop overriding councils = good

      This is the biggest small government ever. This is the most controlling devolution government ever. This is the most in-your-face get-out-of-the-way-government-ever.

      Reply
    • Bearded Git 6.3
      18 June 2025 at 1:18 pm

      From numerous press reports in the the local media it appears to me that Meehan has a less than stellar reputation in the Queenstown Lakes District.

      (Notice how I wrote that-he is very litigious)

      Reply
    • Bearded Git 6.4
      18 June 2025 at 1:27 pm

      As soon as a developer has a subdivision denied consent, with the decision being based on local knowledge, expert evidence and legal submissions at the hearing and based on a carefully crafted District Plan, the developer will run to Bishop cap in hand, who will overturn the decision on spurious and ill-informed grounds.

      Brilliant. (sarc)

      Reply
      • Ad 6.4.1
        18 June 2025 at 4:51 pm

        Private Plan changes have turned the QLDC District Plan into an incoherent lacework.

        QLDC doesn't help itself. Honestly I'd prefer a unitary council dominated by Dunedin to this mess.

        Reply
  7. Reality 7
    18 June 2025 at 11:45 am

    I see Jacinda's book is on several best seller lists. She has been out and about being interviewed, which she excels at and audiences are fascinated by her. While here the jealous nasty brigade are busy still spouting their bile. I am ashamed they call themselves New Zealanders.

    Could anyone imagine Luxon being feted around the world like Jacinda is?

    Reply
    • Patricia Bremner 7.1
      18 June 2025 at 3:30 pm

      Reality, this will trigger our inhouse grouch. devil

      Luxon feted? No not really!! Except if we go much lower on the stock market and dive into stagflation he and his buddies may get some headlines, not the ones they hoped for!!!

      Reply
  8. Muttonbird 8
    18 June 2025 at 12:17 pm

    – Palestinians carry sacks and boxes of food and humanitarian aid that was unloaded from a World Food Program convoy that had been heading to Gaza City. (Source: Associated Press)

    Palestinian witnesses told The Associated Press that Israeli forces carried out an airstrike on a nearby home before opening fire toward the crowd in the southern city of Khan Younis.

    https://www.1news.co.nz/2025/06/18/fifty-one-palestinians-killed-waiting-for-aid-in-gaza-officials/

    It looks like the IDF used drones to attack civilian crowds then actually shelled them with tank fire at close range:

    “Israeli drones fired at the citizens. Some minutes later, Israeli tanks fired several shells at the citizens, which led to a large number of martyrs and wounded,” he said.

    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/israeli-drones-and-tanks-fired-on-thousands-of-palestinians-near-an-aid-centre-official-says/N7H56O3NTZE6LHIYOC7L5L3PSM/

    Genocide, much?

    Reply
    • I Feel Love 8.1
      18 June 2025 at 1:36 pm

      No no no Muttonbird, not a genocide, merely warcrimes, so that's ok? Apparently? But jeez from The Herald no less so things must be way worse than being reported.

      Fuk Israel.

      Reply
    • Psycho Milt 8.2
      18 June 2025 at 4:35 pm

      "Genocide, much?"

      Hamas propaganda, much? We have no idea who killed those people, but we do know one side has a strong propaganda interest in aid deliveries going smoothly and the other has a strong propaganda interest in them being disrupted, so have a think about what you're doing before reposting this stuff.

      Reply
      • SPC 8.2.1
        18 June 2025 at 4:45 pm

        Really? Not posting MSM news reports?

        Reply
        • Psycho Milt 8.2.1.1
          18 June 2025 at 8:57 pm

          Not post MSM reports that just reproduce Hamas claims as reliable, in a situation where Hamas has a very strong motivation to lie? Yes, that would be good, thanks.

          Reply
          • Nic the NZer 8.2.1.1.1
            18 June 2025 at 9:20 pm

            Turns out you are in such a fantasy world that even the IDF admitting they shot at the crowd is insufficient evidence that the IDF shot at the crowd.

            Reply
      • Nic the NZer 8.2.2
        18 June 2025 at 7:01 pm

        I don't approve of turning aid into the "hunger games" to comply with the Israeli public's polled support for a genocide either, but thats where Israeli policy seems to have ended up. I had actually previously believed direct democracy would be immune to this kind of outrage but can no longer sustain that belief, unfortunately.

        Reply
        • Psycho Milt 8.2.2.1
          18 June 2025 at 8:56 pm

          With all due respect, no-one cares whether any of us like or dislike particular aspects of current aid arrangements in Gaza. Aid is being provided.

          Reply
      • Muttonbird 8.2.3
        18 June 2025 at 8:35 pm

        Damn, what is your theory?

        That Hamas took advantage of an airstrike and commandeered IDF drones and tanks to fire on starving and displaced refugees in close quarters, killing 51 outright, in order to make Israel look worse than they already do.

        Perhaps it was the IRGC which had this unfettered access to IDF assets on the day. Maybe enemy number one Greta Thunberg herself.

        This is next level MAGA cookery you are spouting. Someone has found their rotten forever home…

        Reply
        • Psycho Milt 8.2.3.1
          18 June 2025 at 8:54 pm

          My theory is that you shouldn't just accept as fact fantastic stories sourced from an Islamist terrorist group about airstrikes, killer drones and tank fire on people who want to receive Israeli aid, particularly when we're talking about an Islamist terrorist group that's said the following about people who want to receive Israeli aid:

          "Hamas denounced the new U.S.-Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) as an “agent of the occupation,” warning Palestinian civilians who accept its assistance that they “will pay the price, and we will take the necessary measures.”

          Reply
          • Muttonbird 8.2.3.1.1
            18 June 2025 at 9:20 pm

            So you're saying the Associated Press and TVNZ, and the oldest news agency in the world, Agence France-Presse, and the NZ Herald publish not from eye witness accounts, but fantastic stories from an Islamist terrorist group, yet we should believe you and a lunatic neocon RW Israeli supremacist think tank instead?

            Unbelievable nonsense.

            Reply
            • Psycho Milt 8.2.3.1.1.1
              19 June 2025 at 6:05 am

              I'm saying all those organisations are publishing allegations of murder by people who every incentive to lie, without letting their audience know the unreliability of the allegations and the inability to verify them, and making no apparent effort to get a response from the subject of the allegations, and I'm saying it because that is in fact what they are doing.

              And I took the declaration of what will happen to Gazans who accept the aid from a right-wing site because it was there in English. If you prefer, you can read the original Arabic here: https://x.com/moigovps/status/1926908621104759177.

              Reply
              • Muttonbird …
                19 June 2025 at 9:09 am

                The ministry reported on Tuesday that 51 people were killed while waiting for aid in the southern city of Khan Younis, while the UN cited partner organisations working on health as putting the death toll at more than 60.

                Eyewitnesses told the BBC that Israeli tanks and drones opened fire as crowds gathered near a charity community centre and a warehouse belonging to the UN's World Food Programme.

                The Israeli military acknowledged that its troops were in the area and said the details of the incident were under review.

                It was a UN distribution point so your deranged, islamophobic thesis doesn't stack up.

                https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c7841705x18o

                Reply
                • Psycho Milt …
                  19 June 2025 at 9:48 am

                  You and the BBC are free to treat Islamist terrorist groups as credible sources, and I'm free to treat them as having zero credibility. There's no point in peddling these stories as though they were truth.

                  Reply
  9. AB 9
    18 June 2025 at 3:26 pm

    NZ's census is to be discontinued.

    It would be interesting to know what statisticians, evidence-based public policymakers and social science researchers think about this. To me it looks like a government that wants to be able to pluck whatever madness may be lurking in its grab-bag of favourite economic and social prejudices – then implement them without ever having the consequences fully understood. Evidence is the enemy of extremists.

    Reply
    • Kay 9.1
      18 June 2025 at 3:52 pm

      Fair points, but with government trust going further down the tubes every day, more and more people are just going to refuse to do it. I'm likely to join them.

      I'm fully aware of the info the State already has on me, especially that collected via MSD. The information you have to give up in order to get a benefit more or less covers the census questions.

      https://newsroom.co.nz/2024/04/11/lack-of-trust-in-govt-drives-hard-refusals-to-census/#:~:text=The%20number%20of%20%E2%80%9Chard%20refusals,and%20administration%20committee%20on%20Wednesday.

      Reply
      • Visubversa 9.1.1
        18 June 2025 at 4:36 pm

        The last Census was nonsense because it put ideology ahead of reality. It tried to assign people a "gender" if they did not pick one for themselves. We can not believe anything they say about sex classifications.

        Reply
        • SPC 9.1.1.1
          18 June 2025 at 5:07 pm

          I doubt the less than 5% who indicated otherwise (and they cancelled each other out) had any significant impact on the result.

          Reply
          • weka 9.1.1.1.1
            18 June 2025 at 6:28 pm

            if you want to see how to really fuck up the census, have a look at what they did in the UK.

            Did you realise that one in every 67 Muslims is transgender? That adults with no educational qualifications are almost twice as likely to identify as transgender as university graduates?

            …

            The strongest predictor of the transgender population across 331 local authorities, as measured by the census, is the proportion of people whose main language is not English.

            …

            The census data released this week added to the list of anomalies. Muslims are almost three times more likely than non-religious people to identify as transgender. Black people are four times more likely than white people to identify as transgender. In every case, the census results contradict what we know from other data. For example, referrals to the Tavistock’s Gender Identity Development Service include far more white and non-religious youth than the overall population of the same age. By contrast, those census results are what would be expected if a number of people with poor English were confused by the question and inadvertently classified themselves as transgender.

            https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/why-does-the-census-say-there-are-more-trans-people-in-newham-than-brighton/

            And they were told ahead of time this is what would happen.

            That led to an independent report: Review of data, statistics and research on sex and gender,

            Sullivan said the use of “gender” as catch-all term had begun being used in the 1990s and had become increasingly common, leading to what she termed “a widespread loss of data on sex”.

            A lack of clear guidance for how such matters should be recorded had led to individual organisations often developing their own systems, the report said, some of which mixed up sex and gender identity, making it impossible to trace the future outcomes of certain groups, including people with mixed gender identities.

            https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/mar/20/uk-data-recording-biological-sex-gender-identity-report

            Sex matters. If we want to collect data about trans people we should ask the questions directly.

            In NZ, the previous government decided gender should be the default data unless sex was necessary. What is gender?

            Reply
    • Psycho Milt 9.2
      18 June 2025 at 4:43 pm

      My evidence-free reckon about this is that the decline in willingness to fill out a census form probably matches a decline in the belief in 'social good' and that we all have obligations to that social good. The idea of us owing a general obligation to the collective other people merely by virtue of them existing seems to have died a lingering death.

      Reply
      • SPC 9.2.1
        18 June 2025 at 4:50 pm

        If only the numbers that filled out the form represented a great majority for the concept of a society we are all part of and this indicated our/a common cause.

        Reply
    • Ad 9.3
      18 June 2025 at 4:56 pm

      You can get most of it analyzing so I'll media algorithms and cellphone tower pings.

      Just wait till we all have to pay RUC instead of petrol tax, and it's enforced by road cameras within NZTA. Goodbye residual privacy.

      Reply
    • Hunter Thompson II 9.4
      18 June 2025 at 6:05 pm

      Does this mean that the government has bought into the idea (peddled by some company) that the company’s IT wizards can provide a software programme that will do all the old census could and more?

      In other words, another expensive failure of data management is looming, to be funded as usual by the taxpayer?

      Reply
      • Res Publica 9.4.1
        18 June 2025 at 10:28 pm

        I'd certainly hope not!

        The foundation of any meaningful analysis is accurate, statistically significant data. And even with the best intentions and oversight from Stats NZ, the IDI still falls short: it's patchy and often inadequate for certain measures.

        Across the wider public service, data literacy is low, governance is weak or inconsistent, and the tools to manage and make sense of data are often inadequate. Most agencies are driven by short-term operational needs, not by a coherent, long-term data strategy.

        As a data engineer working in local government, I see this firsthand. Just building consistent, reusable data models that reflect good practice is daunting: never mind anything ambitious.

        Take the rental bond data from MBIE, for instance. It's deliberately obfuscated in the name of privacy—even though it's not personally identifiable data. That significantly limits its usefulness for understanding housing market dynamics at a local level.

        These kinds of overly cautious decisions are common and rarely made with input from those trying to use the data for public good.

        Reply
    • Binders full of women 9.5
      18 June 2025 at 7:04 pm

      I think StatsNZ have come to the reasonable conclusion that if the trend from the last census continues (reluctance and hostility) then pretty soon the data would be Swiss-cheese holey. I noticed at the last census that there was significant ANTI census resistance from… militant Maori, militant anti-vaxxers, militant spooky-govt-can't-steal-my-identity, parliament angry protestors (Maori Party and Green Party voters over-represented). It got pretty close to 15% refusal rate and added to that the very REAL threat to safety of census workers going to above nutters addresses– who would wanna do that job? not me.

      Reply
  10. SPC 10
    18 June 2025 at 4:07 pm

    The government wants a workforce better rested and less depressed about about their fate.

    https://www.1news.co.nz/2025/06/18/medsafe-approves-sale-of-melatonin-and-prescribing-magic-mushrooms/

    But is still imposing a business centred regime as per medicinal marijuana.

    Reply

Leave a Comment