Open mike 24/06/2024
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- Treasury warns deeper recession worsening Budget deficit
The gift that keeps giving: David Seymour has now opened a split in the coalition over the future of National’s promise to build a new medical school. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / TheKakaKia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and ...4 hours ago - Weekly Roundup 22-November-2024
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Record Numbers: The Hīkoi mō te Tiriti, which began at the tip of the North, and the tail of the South, on 11 November, culminated outside Parliament on Tuesday, 19 November 2024, in one of the largest demonstrations in New Zealand’s political history.ACCORDING TO TE ARA, the Ministry of Culture ...5 hours ago - The Rush To Blame “The Activists”
Activists are such easy scapegoats. The right and center have been conditioned for decades to roll their eyes at all protests. The left are easily aggravated over students leading movements they see as belonging to grownups, who have more important concerns like the economy and whether the trains come on ...5 hours ago - Cutting Through An Inundation of Dipshit Racists
Hi,Watching New Zealand from afar offers a strange perspective. It can be a good thing — distance from Aotearoa helped keep me sane while I reported on abuse at New Zealand’s biggest megachurch over the course of a year. It helps fuel my silly podcast. But it can also be ...6 hours ago - This is bad news
The speech yesterday by Treasury’s Chief Economic Advisor warning that the books are in worse shape than forecasted looks like it’s part of a softening-up process for either more cuts or a longer wait to get back into surplus. The speech was a highly unusual public preview of Treasury’s Half-Yearly ...7 hours ago - Skeptical Science New Research for Week #47 2024
Open access notables Projected increase in the frequency of extremely active Atlantic hurricane seasons, Lopez et al., Science Advances: Future changes to the year-to-year swings between active and inactive North Atlantic tropical cyclone (TC) seasons have received little attention, yet may have great societal implications in areas prone to hurricane ...16 hours ago - Chicken Kiev
Chatting in the supermarket this morning, I found I needed to lunge for the chicken drumsticks.Coping mechanisms: who hasn’t felt a greater need for them lately?When it all gets too much, I turn to demonstrating handy butchery hacks.It wasn’t that she’d said anything wrong, our friend, not at all. We ...20 hours ago - The year is 2024 and it’s 1984
This is written in response to the highly significant open letter from a group of economists that was today addressed to Christopher Luxon. The year is 2024, and it’s 1984. The country is reeling from a record Olympic medal gold haul, while the globe grapples with the choice of the ...20 hours ago - The IPCA has failed
Back in 2022, RNZ took an in-depth look at the "Independent" Police Conduct Authority and its handling of killings by police. These are the most serious test of oversight, and you would expect the police's use of lethal force to receive the most severe scrutiny. But despite the police regularly ...1 day ago - Thursday 21 November 2024
The Hīkoi mō Te Tiriti arrived at Parliament on Tuesday – the size is being debated but estimates range from 42,000 to 100,000. The Prime Minister is defending not attending due to some of the organisers being affiliated with Te Pāti Māori. The national gang patch ban came into force ...1 day ago - ‘These budget cuts are counter-productive and make no sense’
I spoke to former Productivity Chair Nana this morning about the letter he and a group of other economists sent to PM Christopher Luxon to urge the Government to urgently suspend cuts to spending and investment for the sake of the economy, struggling businesses and the wellbeing of vulnerable ...1 day ago
- ACT’s Astroturfing & A Co-ordinated Attack on Te Pati Māori
Unity on the Streets / Unity at the TableAfter the Hīkoi, all three right wing Coalition leaders came together to push the idea that the 42,000 - 50,000 + strong Hikoi was somehow less potent and brave, and more illegitimate than the energy and crowd displayed.Prime Minister Christopher Luxon 20-November: ...1 day ago - Durability of carbon dioxide removal is critical for stabilizing temperatures
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- Economists call on PM to suspend budget cuts for the sake of the economy
Nicola Willis’ budget cuts are under fire from economists for having no clear rationale and worsening the recession. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāKia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Thursday, November 21: The news at ...1 day ago
- The end of policing by consent
National has appointed a new police commissioner. And he explicitly rejects policing by consent: Asked if he subscribed to policing by consent, he said he did not. “I don’t talk about policing by consent. I talk about trust and confidence, and it is fundamentally important that the police have ...2 days ago
- The Treaty Principles Bill: A Who’s Who
David Horatio Waterbed SeymourFringe politician and dweeb transformed successfully by ThinkTank money into a well-oiled soundbite robot.Currently programmed to say: Equal rights for all New Zealanders Equal rights for all New Zealanders Equal rights for all New Zealanders Was previously programmed to say:I am a proud libertarian andI am a ...2 days ago - Kinleith mill closure shows need for industrial strategy
NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff is calling on the Government to deliver an economic and industrial strategy for regional manufacturing, rather than just expressing sympathy for job losses, following the announced closure of Kinleith mill in Tokoroa. “The closure Kinleith mill in Tokoroa is not just devastating for ...2 days ago
- 27% of kids going hungry, up from 21% in a year
One in four Kiwi children live in households where food runs out often or sometimes. Photo: Getty ImagesKia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, November 20: The lead: The official annual Health Survey found sharp ...2 days ago - Transport modelling is an illusion
This guest post by Tim Adriaansen, an advocate for accessibility and sustainable transport, originally published on LinkedIn and cross posted here with permission. People prefer cars, right? Probably not. Here’s why. Granted, most people in English-speaking countries use a car to get around. This simple reality underpins our transport ...2 days ago
- Young Maori take over
Neither Wellington nor Parliament has ever seen anything like it before. The Police said there were more than 40,000 but however many there were, yesterday’s Hikoi to Parliament was a monumental event. It was almost three times the Foreshore and Seabed martch of 2004 and many,many times bigger than ...2 days ago
- Gordon Campbell On The Hikoi Aftermath
The euphoria from yesterday’s hikoi may be transitory, but is no less valuable for that. It is pretty rare for the left to feel itself to be in the overwhelming majority, and speaking as the voice of the people. Lest that momentum be lost, the organisers will no doubt be ...3 days ago - Sabin 33 #3 – Solar panels generate too much waste and will overwhelm landfills
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- We need to talk about Kevin
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Like everyone else (everyone who wasn't there, anyway), I've spent the morning watching the hikoi march on Parliament. The pictures are astounding: parliament grounds and the surrounding streets are full, and there are still people backed up along Lambton Quay. The police are estimating 35,000 people, and that's a floor ...3 days ago
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There were urgent moves yesterday at Parliament to try and defuse the tension building up over ACT’s Treaty Principles Bill. The Bill’s author, ACT leader David Seymour, told reporters that he understood the Justice Select Committee met yesterday to discuss how long it should take to consider submissions on the ...3 days ago
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- National’s support base is wobbling
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Take the baitYou pay the priceIt's much too lateFor good adviceYou know and I know that our good things' throughBecause there's consequences for what we doConsequences for me and youWriters: Kevin Robert Hayes, David Nagier, Bonnie Adele Hayes.Fallout from the first readingOne News began last night by saying that tens ...6 days ago - Thank you, driver!
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The current rise of populism challenges the way we think about people’s relationship to the economy.We seem to be entering an era of populism, in which leadership in a democracy is based on preferences of the population which do not seem entirely rational nor serving their longer interests. ...
7 days ago - More lawlessness from National
On Tuesday, sick of government stonewalling, the Waitangi Tribunal issued a rare court order, ordering the Minister of Health to release unredacted documents within 48 hours showing its reasoning for disestablishing Te Aka Whai Ora, the Māori Health Authority. The government's response to the lawful order of a court? Yeah, ...7 days ago
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The Treaty Principles Bill continues to dominate political news, with it passing its first reading in the House. Parliament was briefly suspended and Te Pāti Māori MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke suspended for 24 hours after leading a haka that was joined by opposition MPs and the public in the gallery. Willie ...1 week ago
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Day One of the Treaty Principles Bill…and everyone got what they wanted, and did what they liked. Heated words were exchanged. Culturally appropriate acts of outrage were performed. David Seymour got to play the victim card. Willie Jackson got kicked out of class. A comically red-faced Mr Speaker bellowed “Order, ...1 week ago
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The government's Treaty Principles Bill is up for its first reading today - bought forward in a rush in a desperate effort to avoid the hikoi which is currently marching on Wellington. But the Prime Minister won’t be there for it – he’s literally running away to Peru! But he ...1 week ago
- 97% of submissions did not want no-cause evictions, Trump chooses a Russian spy for US Intelligence ...
Good morning, and I’m sorry I’ve been away for a couple of days.I’ve been focusing on the Hikoi, and also testing out sentiment on the Treaty Principles Bill. It’s complicated, and the Treaty Principles Bill will be debated in the House today. The Government’s own lawyers have told them the ...1 week ago - Government must vote down ACT Members Bill that would undermine workers’ rights
NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff is calling on the Government to vote down an ACT Party Members Bill that would undermine workers’ rights by making it easier for employers to fire workers. Last week ACT MP Laura Trask’s Employment Relations (Termination of Employment by Agreement) Amendment Bill was ...1 week ago
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As the weight of the world Hangs on your shoulders The weight of the world Starts to take over again And over again All that you once loved, now you hate So slowly relearn how to meditate To have and to hold And never let go Can you feel it ...1 week ago - Thursday 14 November 2024
The Treaty Principles Bill is set to have its First Reading in the House today, as the Hīkoi mō Te Tiriti continues. More than 40 KCs have written to the Prime Minister and Attorney-General outlining their “grave concerns” about the substance of the Treaty Principles Bill, while an academic and ...1 week ago
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As the Hikoi against it swells into the tens of thousands, KCs call on National to kill off ACT’s divisive Treaty Principles Bill. Photo: Getty ImagesKia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Thursday, November 14: The ...1 week ago
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The Ministry of Health has today released an evidence brief regarding the use of puberty blockers in gender-affirming healthcare, amid moves by the government to limit access. ...20 hours ago
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- Release: Youth mental wellbeing no longer a priority for Child Poverty Minister
Louise Upston has revealed her diminished vision for vulnerable youth against a backdrop of snubbed advice, scrapped priorities, shifted goal posts and thousands more children projected to fall into poverty. ...23 hours ago
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National Government’s backward-looking climate policy has seen New Zealand fall seven places on the Climate Change Performance Index to 41 out of 63 countries measured. ...23 hours ago
- Release: Simple reason for drop in emergency housing
When the Government says it has reduced the number of people in emergency housing, what it means is it is stopping people from accessing it in the first place. ...1 day ago
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The Government is turning its back on children by not only weakening child poverty reduction targets, but also removing child mental wellbeing as a priority focus in their Child and Youth Wellbeing Strategy. ...1 day ago
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The Government has taken a giant step backwards by reinstating live animal exports. ...2 days ago
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- Release: Call for Palestine recognition by NZ, Australian and Canadian MPs
Parliamentarians from Australia, Canada and New Zealand have written an open letter to their respective Prime Ministers calling on them to recognise Palestine. ...2 days ago
- Justice Select Committee opens floor for Treaty Principles submissions
Today, the Justice Select Committee has decided to officially open submissions for the controversial Treaty Principles Bill. ...3 days ago
- Power of the people on full display as hīkoi approaches Parliament
Today, Hīkoi mō te Tiriti arrived in Wellington, with thousands gathering to march in unity against the divisive Treaty Principles Bill. ...3 days ago
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- Government’s move to monetise access to nature a slippery slope
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The Green Party condemns the passing of the Treaty Principles Bill at first reading, and is clear that the fight is not over. ...1 week ago
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Te Tiriti o Waitangi is our country’s founding document. It forms the basis of the relationship between Māori and the Crown – and the Aotearoa New Zealand we live in today. ...1 week ago
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- Greens join King’s Counsel in calling for Treaty Principles Bill to be abandoned
The Prime Minister must answer the call from a group of senior lawyers of the King’s Counsel to abandon the divisive Treaty Principles Bill. ...1 week ago
- Chris Hipkins’ apology statement to state and faith-based care survivors
...1 week ago
- Release: Labour formally apologises to state and faith-based care survivors
Labour joins with the Government in unreservedly apologising for the abuse, neglect and trauma including torture in state and faith-based care and for ignoring the voices of survivors for too long. ...1 week ago
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Today, the Green Party stands alongside the survivors of abuse in state care and faith-based care as the Government issues an historic apology. ...1 week ago
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The Green Party has written to the Speaker of the House requesting he enable a personal vote on the Treaty Principles Bill. ...2 weeks ago
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The Green Party is alarmed by the Government’s move to exclude a journalist from covering this week’s apology for the survivors of abuse in state and faith-based care. ...2 weeks ago
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Concerns about the tobacco industry’s ability to interfere in government policy making remain, despite the inability of the Office of the Auditor-General to investigate the Government’s decision to halve the excise tax on heated tobacco products. ...2 weeks ago
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The Climate Change Commission’s latest advice indicates Aotearoa needs to be stepping up on climate action. ...2 weeks ago
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- Release: Poroporoaki: Ta Robert (Bom) Gillies
Kua hinga te manawa kairākau o Te Rua Tekau Ma Waru Tiwhatiwha te po! Kakarauru i te po! Ka rapuhia kei hea koe kua riro! Haere e te Ika a Whiro ki o tini hoa kua ngaro atu ki te Pō ...2 weeks ago
- Labour, Greens and Te Pāti Māori call on the Prime Minister to block the Treaty Principles Bill
The opposition parties stand united for an Aotearoa that honours Te Tiriti, rather than seeking to rewrite it. Labour, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori are working together against the Government’s divisive Treaty Principles Bill. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Labour, Greens and Te Pāti Māori call on the Prime Minister to block the Treaty Principle...
The opposition parties stand united for an Aotearoa that honours Te Tiriti, rather than seeking to rewrite it. Labour, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori are working together against the Government’s divisive Treaty Principles Bill. ...2 weeks ago
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https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/350306339/more-deaths-and-injuries-expected-auckland-roads-due-governments-plans
More deaths an injuries due to national party policies!
Oh well, another addition to the Bingo card….
Simeon Brown (or other senior Nat) seriously injured in car crash caused by driver going too fast for situation / conditions.
At current rate it's hardly a game of chance.
The faster you go, the bigger the mess ?
NActFirst are updating….
The faster you go, the faster you get there.
There being subjective…..
There was this re…trucks.
And having travelled that Kaikoura road a bit, WHY isnt Rail….and Coastal Shipping used more !
Are we talking about roads that are unsafe, or are we talking about making the roads more safe?
The two are different things.
Improving the safety of an unsafe road should be a priority.
However just making an already safe road, even more safe, for the sake of being extra safe, while looking good, doesn’t achieve anything or very as a result.
Did you read the article, or did you jump straight to dedend the idiot act/nat coalition?
Yes I did read the article.
The blanket reduction in speed will not achieve anything. It’s a knee jerk reaction, made under the guise of safety.
In order to be really safe, we could require a man waving a red flag walking in front of vehicles..,
Blanket ideas like this will just annoy the voters.
It’s like having 4 mobile speed cameras, along transmission gully, on a fine sunny Sunday afternoon, to catch speeding drivers. Also known as revenue gathering.
My experience with driving in urban areas, and residential streets, is that traffic speeds are often self governing
You small dick, tough talking cunts (I know what a mixed image!) should piss off and send in some one tough like a Queenslander:
When public safety is about safety not bullshit culture wars my link title to a post with a much more moderate lexis used throughout, but the conclusion is much the same
@newsence; Hmm not to sure what the “you small dick, tough talking cunts” means? I generally don’t associate with people like that, so am at a bit of a loss, but I feel that I wouldn’t be missing much
Sure we could reduce the speed limit of the residential street I live on to 30km/hr, along with the speed humps already in place. This may give the appearance of a safer road, but when the car crash rate is already at zero, or close to zero what’s the point? Personally I’m in favour of speed humps on residential streets, as they force drivers to slow down. Lowered speed limits will only work if they are enforced, and the only way to do that is to have speed cameras every 100m or so, or GPS tracking on every vehicle. This may be possible, but will the public support it?
We live in a society where we are policed by consent, we are not a police state, we expect some give and take. The courts would most likely wave excessive fines, or multiple fines for the same offence anyway, just like they work to avoid the 3 strikes sentencing laws.
I think the resources should to be allocated to the stretches of highway or roads where we have the most incidents, in these areas visible speed camera vans, along with increased traffic police patrols would be a very visible deterrent, which should lead to fewer road deaths and crashes. The downside is that we issue fewer speeding tickets, which is less revenue.
When the speed cameras were first introduced, they were generally located on the high crash, or more hazardous locations. The intended purpose was to deter speeding, and reduce crashes and deaths. Since then they are now generally located in areas that have higher volumes of speeding vehicles, and we issue a lot of tickets. However these stretches of road are often far safer than the high crash areas.
From what I see, we are policing the safer stretches of road or highway, and not the most dangerous stretches of highway. Personally I’d like to see more emphasis on the latter. Just like I'd like the police to arrest baby murders, and other violent criminals, rather than arrest people for tagging rainbow painted pedestrian crossings.
One more gap our CoC govt will fail to close, like the visionary honest John et al.
Australia: 4.5 deaths per 100,000 people; 4.9 deaths per billion vehicle-km
Aotearoa: 7.8 deaths per 100,000 people; 7.2 deaths per billion vehicle-km
New Zealanders are bad drivers, far worse than most countries I’ve been to and driven cars in.
Drink driving is still an issue, texting while driving, failing to properly give way at intersections, stopping other drivers from changing lanes, running stop signs and red lights, not indicating, the list could go on… The speed is not the problem, it’s the way we drive. Someone driving at 30km/hr, not paying attention and hitting a pedestrian will cause carnage.
Anyway, we reduce the speed limit, how are you going to enforce it? We can’t enforce all the rules that we as drivers ignore as it is.
Sure, not "the problem", but vehicle speed is a risk factor.
https://www.transport.govt.nz/statistics-and-insights/safety-annual-statistics/sheet/speed
The faster a bad and/or unlucky driver is travelling, the greater the risk. Many Kiwis would know of a 'wrong place, wrong time' crash victim.
It's not rocket science – the faster you go, the bigger the mess. If one simply must travel over the speed limit, then please – not on a shared road.
As for enforcement, speed cameras can educate – 3 strikes and you're out?
I reckon your a speeder, proof is your comment about revenue gathering, but I bet you have an inflated belief in your ability.
I'd almost bet you drive a Ford falcon or a BMW.
From the article linked above:
The oft-held tenet that traffic fines is revenue raising is strictly speaking true as money is collected. But this ignores the fact that the only way drivers are raising revenue is by them breaking the law. We don’t question punishments for behaviour that could injure or kill people except, apparently, when those behaviours are committed behind the wheel of a vehicle.
Well I guess you are right. The law is the law, it’s black and white.
Someone speeding at say 110km/hr on the transmission gully motorway, is just as guilty of breaking the law as someone else doing the exact same speed on the narrow and winding stretch of SH1 about 100km further north.
The risks/consequences of an accident on the transmission gully motorway are much, much less than the accident black spot further north.
But I’ve yet seen the same concentration of speed cameras and mobile traffic police on the accident black spot that I do on the transmission gully motorway.
Sorry to disappoint you, I have never driven a BMW, and never willingly chosen to drive fords, holdens, commodores, or falcons.
As for revenue gathering, see my comment about four mobile speed cameras along Transmission gully, on a perfect day for driving, on a very safe road.
The speed cameras would be more effective on roads that have higher crash rates, where the crashes are much more serious.
But if we are being black and white, sure speeding on a very safe highway, or speeding on an much less highway is against the law. But the chances of a serious crash with a serious outcome is more likely on the unsafe road.
Small-scale nuclear power, as being pushed by the Liberals in Oz, is unaffordable: Peter Dutton’s nuclear plan could cost as much as $600bn and supply just 3.7% of Australia’s energy by 2050.
The same amount would fund a change to 100% renewables.
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/europes-solar-power-surge-hits-prices-exposing-storage-needs-2024-06-21/#:~:text=Strong%20hydro%20and%20nuclear%20power,according%20to%20SolarPower%20Europe%20data.
Meanwhile in the forward looking part 9f the world
FYI its paywalled..but having previously seen stuff about Winton Land, I did a quick search…
And there was this…
Nothing to see here…..unless you look
Oh, and I was maybe not surprised to see…..
Steven Joyce
Oh and to be be full of snide and snark for this time on a Monday morning, did you know?
'gals, black is the new black if you work for Winton and, guys, did you know that to be a person of the people and approachable when you work for Winton you just need to take off your tie'
[Please stick to your approved user name here, thanks – Incognito]
Mod note
Joyce seems to be able to help his rich-prick mates while at the same time feathering his own nest whether he is in the cabinet or not. Remember the auditor general's strong criticism here:
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/515880/auditor-general-criticises-way-university-of-waikato-contracted-steven-joyce
Then there were the dodgy government grants to his radio station etc etc.
Absolutely. And all pretty legal.
88 years old and still robbing banks.
It's better to burn out, than to fade away.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/crime-courts/88-year-old-montana-man-sentenced-prison-2-bank-robberies-rcna158501
Luxon being a jerk at the post-Cab.
Reti says (direct quote) "I apologise" (for the cancer shambles).
Luxon immediately asked if he will apologise too.
Answer: "What I would say to you …" bluster, bluster. Minister forced to apologise, but PM won't. Pathetic.
And there was much more in similar vein, the journos asking about broken promises and Luxon refusing to engage, just constantly repeating his self-praise. They were still asking when he walked away at the end.
Does he really think this works? Does he believe that voters (including Nat voters) admire him more for refusing to say sorry, to acknowledge any fault?
It's not even smart politics.
Why did/does he want to be in politics?
But it’s also refreshing to see that bullheaded conservative patriarchy that just dictates its will and throws its temper around gaslighting everyone. Luxon just gets to a point where Dad has decided now everyone shut up!
There’s been plenty of charming salesmen for this section of society, so it’s at least honest to see how these men in powerful positions are. Here even with everyone watching.