General Debate 21 August 2019

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Andrei

The chutzpah of J. Ardern was boldly displayed on One News last night when she was lambasting the oil companies for gouging New Zealand consumers with the price they pay for fuel – mere weeks after and additional levy (on top of all the existing levies
+ GST we already pay) was added to to the price we pay for our fuel by her Government.

Andrei shakes his head in wonderment

PS Question: Why do my comments take so long to get through moderation? Other commenters comments get posted long before mine appear even though posted well after
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August 21, 2019 8:00am
- John Warren
  
  I just about choked.
  
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  August 21, 2019 8:13am
- G152
  
  The majority cost of fuel is government taxes.
  That fuel can be extracted from oil, shipped more than halfway around the world for the price that it is is amazing.
  Then the government sticks its greedy hand out !
  
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  August 21, 2019 8:14am
  - Tricati
    
    The Commerce Commission sites lack of competition yet they approved Z Energy take over of Caltex – Muppets.
    A having Gull screaming they should have access to all the infrastructure Z & Mobil have built so they can sell their fuel cheaper is a bit rich.
    
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    August 21, 2019 9:42am
- Biscuit
  
  Andrei, whenever I see Ardern make any statement these days I immediately think ‘What has happened, or what has she/hasn’t she done, that she needs to be seen making this diversionary statement now?’
  
  She can bleat all she likes about how oil companies/banks/supermarkets/landlords ‘fleece’ their customers – but unless she comes up with ‘solutions’ I ain’t much interested in her opinions.
  
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  August 21, 2019 8:16am
  - Hacked-Off
    
    I think, Biscuit, that this is in preparation for the Election, when to counter the rising price of food and services that rely on transport they can point to the monopoly of the Fuel Firms to hide the real reason that petrol has gone up – the very taxes imposed by this Government. Thus they are starting to create and craft the narrative for 2020. The Opposition need to remind Kiwis of this come 2020.
    
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    August 21, 2019 11:23am
- Maggie Pie
  
  Maybe the mods think you’re an a**hole? 🙂
  
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  August 21, 2019 8:18am
  - Tall Man
    
    Put the “word” ardern into your post and it gets a “special” look…
    
    Put ardern and liar in together and the “lid is already off the bin”…….
    
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    August 21, 2019 9:30am
- Lance
  
  The other point of note was the news reporters (cough cough) didn’t actually point out the collosal tax take influence.
  Odd that? I must conclude that TV1 news is the Labour Party news service.
  
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  August 21, 2019 8:18am
  - sooty
    
    They all are spining the Labour party line!
    
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    August 21, 2019 9:33am
  - arkhad
    
    To be fair they did ask the Commerce Commission about the tax take and got the answer that ComCom is study is focussed on competition and tax is a separate thing.
    
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    August 21, 2019 9:49am
  - Paulus
    
    If you drop the base petrol price the tax take reduces too !
    
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    August 21, 2019 1:37pm
- alloytoo
  
  This government are very quick to point out that fuel taxes were also raised by the previous government for “Road and Rail”.
  
  1. The previous government cancelled a planned fuel levy hike due to adverse economic conditions. (guess they cared more about the little guy huh?)
  2. The previous government actually built roads,
  3. Why should motorists subsidise rail?
  4. Why should motorists subsidise cycleways?
  
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  August 21, 2019 8:24am
  - Batman
    
    Well according to Genter, they built (and planned to build) “redundant super highways”
    
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    August 21, 2019 9:00am
    - alloytoo
      
      Genter, coming from the States should know what a “Super” highway looks like and NZ doesn’t have any.
      
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      August 21, 2019 9:11am
    - srylands
      
      What the hell is a “super highway”? Probably what other countries call “roads”.
      
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      August 21, 2019 9:11am
      - Gravelroad
        
        I’m still waiting for an update on the transport related letter Ms Genter is so keen to keep secret.
        You know – the one the Chief Ombudsman was alleged to have given them the all clear to not release.
        Has anything happened about that? Have I missed it? Or has it gone transparent?
        
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        August 21, 2019 10:34am
      - KevO'Brien
        
        They’re the answer to Wellingtons traffic woes. Superimaginary.
        
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        August 21, 2019 11:13am
    - sooty
      
      Of course they would plan for stuff in the future!
      Do they just pluck stuff stuff out of their arse!
      
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      August 21, 2019 9:35am
    - Steve Otto(North Shore)
      
      Genter is a deluded Greenie. Many here will know that I have been to Alaska a few times. Pop 740K. Anchorage has around 300K people – and a freeway system that puts anything likely in NZ to shame. Far less people than the North Shore – maybe it is time NZ did something big like Americans
      
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      August 21, 2019 4:08pm
      - Steve Otto(North Shore)
        
        BTW, Genter comes from California – say no more
        
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        August 21, 2019 4:09pm
  - Akarak
    
    And add 5. Why should the petrol buying motorist subsidise electric vehicle drivers who don’t pay road tax?
    
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    August 21, 2019 11:54am
- Psycho Milt
  
  Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
  Levies we pay on our fuel are a different subject from whether or not the oil companies are gouging us. Simon Bridges should learn to distinguish between different subjects, it would make him sound less of a thicko when he blathers at journalists.
  
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  August 21, 2019 8:36am
  - Biscuit
    
    PM, methinks the ‘thicko’ is you.
    
    If Ardern is ‘on the consumers’ side’, she must realise that the consumer doesn’t much care what components make up the price of fuel – every last cent counts and the Government (any Government: I’m not just picking on your love idols) is responsible for a big whack of those cents.
    
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    August 21, 2019 9:01am
    - igm
      
      He is a typical fiscally dyslexic Labourite.
      
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      August 21, 2019 9:14am
    - Psycho Milt
      
      Consumers don’t care whether they’re getting gouged by oil companies as well as paying excise duties? I find that unlikely.
      
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      August 21, 2019 10:12am
      - Biscuit
        
        Read Birt’s answer at 9.03am, PM.
        
        The oil companies can easily justfy their ‘gouging’.
        
        I would suggest that the Government would find justifying THEIR ‘gouging’ far more difficult.
        
        Exactly what am I, as a Wellington resident, getting from the Government’s gouging – especially with the Greens kerboshing, seemingly via standover tactics, any second Mt Vic tunnel, any Melling interchange…?
        
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        August 21, 2019 10:31am
  - burt
    
    In that case all petrol station receipts should itemise the various taxes and levies so we can clearly see how much the oil companies make from extracting the oil, refining it, shipping it around the planet, running retails stores and maintaining pumps etc v how much the government make for have the power to legislate taxes.
    
    Given you clearly think we need to see the cost components for what they are – you’ll be all for this surely?
    
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    August 21, 2019 9:03am
    - Psycho Milt
      
      Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
      I don’t give a shit what their cost components are, but I do give a shit if an independent report says they’re finding various ways to gouge consumers. I expect quite a few other people give a shit too.
      
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      August 21, 2019 10:13am
      - Biscuit
        
        PM, your biological processes are of no interest to many, if not most, Kiwibloggers.
        
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        August 21, 2019 10:32am
      - kloyd0306
        
        Hypocrite warning:
        At 8:36 you claim that tax and petrol are different.
        At 10:13 you claim you don’t care what the components are.
        Mouth meet foot……
        
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        August 21, 2019 10:42am
      - burt
        
        kloyd0306
        
        Yep, that’s the sort of corner low intellect people regularly paint themselves into.
        
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        August 21, 2019 11:06am
      - Psycho Milt
        
        At 8:36 you claim that tax and petrol are different.
        At 10:13 you claim you don’t care what the components are.
        
        The Commerce Commission’s released a report about petrol pricing by oil companies. No matter how hard you wish the report was instead about government excise duties, it wasn’t.
        
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        August 21, 2019 12:49pm
    - Biscuit
      
      burt, apologies for calling you ‘birt’ up there.
      
      No insult intended, just a fat typing finger mis-hitting a keyboard!
      
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      August 21, 2019 11:41am
      - burt
        
        If that’s all I had to worry about I’d be having a pretty good day.
        
        But cheers for the apology.
        
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        August 21, 2019 1:29pm
  - Tall Man
    
    What can you do to “sound less of a thicko”…… Correct, nothing. What can ardern do to “sound less of a thicko”….. Correct, nothing.
    
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    August 21, 2019 9:04am
  - cmm
    
    Please tell what amount of the petrol price is “gouging”?
    
    Imported cost of petrol 32%
    Shipping costs 2%
    Taxes (GST, ETS, GST) 47%
    
    Leaving 19% of the fuel price for “margin”.
    From that margin, the operator must pay for all their equipment, wages etc and of course a whole lot more taxes in the form of ACC, PAYE, company tax, leases, rates etc etc.
    
    That takes the tax component well over 50%. Probably closer to 60%.
    
    So where’s the gouging coming from?
    
    https://www.aa.co.nz/cars/owning-a-car/fuel-prices-and-types/how-petrol-prices-are-calculated/
    
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    August 21, 2019 9:11am
    - burt
      
      Psycho want’s us to spread this information clearly and concisely, he’s very concerned that we understand how the entire petroleum supply chain is about half the cost of fuel and therefore responsible for the other half being taxes.
      
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      August 21, 2019 9:20am
      - hullkiwi
        
        Burt, for the benefit of PM and any lefties slow to grasp who is gouging the public, I’ll put it another way.
        
        The cost of fuel is is between $0.75 and $0.86 depending on retailer. Now if the fuel companies got generous and decided to cut the cost of the fuel component in the per litre price of petrol to $0.00, the cost of a litre of petrol at the pump will still be circa $1.10 to $1.20 (depending on fuel outlet). These are the taxes (excise, GST & regional fuel tax) plus retail margin still to be paid on every litre of petrol.
        
        So, PM who is really gouging the motorist when over 50% of the cost of a litre of petrol is tax?
        
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        August 21, 2019 12:10pm
      - Psycho Milt
        
        I know what excise duties are, Hullkiwi. However, the CC’s report was about pricing by fuel companies, not excise duties. Your preference may be for a report about excise duties, but in that case you’ll need to write your own.
        
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        August 21, 2019 12:52pm
      - hullkiwi
        
        PM, in your own naive way, your response to my posted question to you highlights what a sham the ComCom report is, what a sham the exercise is, and what a sham Jacinda’s hand wringing is.
        
        Because as you have continuously pointed out today, the the exercise is about the fuel companies not being competitive in setting petrol prices. Which may play well with the masses supporting the CoL, but is in fact a red herring. The issue is really, why are we paying so much at the pumps, and irrespective of what you and Cindy may want the general population to believe, the truth is the price of petrol is high because of govt taxes and as I pointed out irrespective of what the cost of petrol is as a component of the pump price of fuel the govt still collects approx $1.20 per liter. With that, what is Jacinda and Robertdon going to do about their rip-off levels of tax on a litre of petrol?
        
        PS I didn’t ask you if you knew what excuse was, but I’m glad you know and no, I’m not happy paying rip off levels of tax at the pump.
        
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        August 21, 2019 4:04pm
    - Fletch
      
      It is made out that the oil companies shouldn’t be making profit at all. Just shipping the fuel to us for free and liking it.
      
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      August 21, 2019 10:04am
    - Local Miller
      
      They are being disingenuous. If they ignore the 47% tax component, then suddenly the 19% margin looks like a 40% margin (before tax) and that looks really bad.
      
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      August 21, 2019 10:07am
      - cmm
        
        When the Great Unwashed hear “margin” many of them can be led to believe that that is profit.
        
        But that margin has to go a long way paying:
        * Wages
        * Advertising (all PriNZess’ PR friends)
        * Electricity
        * Machinery and maintenance costs.
        * Rent
        * A whole slew of government-caused costs such as more rates, taxes, ACC, heath & safety,…
        * Leaving a small amount of profit which gets hit for company tax…
        
        PriNZess and her mob are not double dipping. They are at least quadruple dipping into petrol costs.
        
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        August 21, 2019 10:50am
    - Psycho Milt
      
      Please tell what amount of the petrol price is “gouging”?
      
      Ask the people who wrote the report. I don’t really have an opinion on it one way or the other.
      
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      August 21, 2019 10:14am
      - cmm
        
        No opinion???
        
        I will believe “No valid opinion”!
        
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        August 21, 2019 10:51am
  - alloytoo
    
    Jacinda is trying to use the oil companies (and petrol prices) to distract from the mess in her own office.
    
    Not being a details person she neglects to mention that the Oil companies potential gouging can only be less than the government’s gouging.
    
    Hopefully the oil companies can distribute this information in a manner in which the public can understand.
    
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    August 21, 2019 9:14am
  - herb1
    
    That thick is clearly way smarter than you PM , as he’s managed to become the leader of the largest party in Parliament. You on the other hand aren’t smart enough to beg more than a groupie for the a party that considers intelligence a dangerous and useless trait
    
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    August 21, 2019 9:18am
    - Psycho Milt
      
      I said it makes him sound like a thicko, not that he is one. Given his educational qualifications, I presume he isn’t.
      
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      August 21, 2019 10:15am
  - burt
    
    In other breaking news; Cigarette companies defend a pack of $20 costing $5 to supply given there is $25 tax on top of that. Psycho, a spokesperson for the government, has been fighting back saying people need to see that if tobacco companies reduced their costs there would be more headroom for increasing taxation.
    
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    August 21, 2019 9:30am
  - Rich Prick
    
    Yes, that $1.20 in my wallet that the Government takes per litre is different to the $1.00 the fuel company takes. Taxes are glorious and don’t hurt your wallet as much as other costs.
    
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    August 21, 2019 9:53am
    - Psycho Milt
      
      Any argument over the merits or otherwise of the government’s fuel excise settings are different in nature, content and purpose from arguments over whether or not oil companies are gouging consumers. Attempts to conflate them are pointless.
      
      By all means have the argument about excise duties, just don’t pretend it’s the same argument as about oil company charges.
      
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      August 21, 2019 10:19am
      - cmm
        
        Are you saying oil company charges are excessive? I don’t think so.
        
        They run a tight ship to be able to operate with only 19% margins while also carrying some of the risk associated with dealing with volatile oil prices and complex environmental legislation etc.
        
        Your $5 cup of coffee is less than $1 of raw material (beans and cup), 75c or so of GST leaving $3.25 (or about 65%) of margin. That has to cover wages, power, machinery etc etc.
        
        Most electronics companies run with margins of 70% or so to pay development staff etc etc.
        
        Retail companies 50% or more.
        
        So where do you get the idea that petrol supply is a rip off?
        
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        August 21, 2019 10:59am
      - Psycho Milt
        
        Are you saying oil company charges are excessive?
        
        Nope. However, the Commerce Commission says they probably are, due to lack of competition. If you dispute the CC’s findings, take it up with them.
        
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        August 21, 2019 12:55pm
  - igm
    
    You call Simon a thicko, so assume you have higher academic qualifications, and success than he.
    I doubt it, in fact, are you not a beneficiary?
    
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    August 21, 2019 9:58am
    - Batman
      
      Igm from what I’ve seen and read, I suspect PM is a female with an academia background
      
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      August 21, 2019 10:17am
      - Maggy Wassilieff
        
        I suspect PM is a female
        Why would any female adopt such a silly pseudonym?
        Who names themself after fish semen, fgs?
        
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        August 21, 2019 11:21am
      - Psycho Milt
        
        Very much not female! Do work for a university, though.
        
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        August 21, 2019 12:59pm
    - Psycho Milt
      
      You call Simon a thicko…
      
      Why participate in a written forum if your reading comprehension is that poor?
      
      I doubt it, in fact, are you not a beneficiary?
      
      I have some opinions about you as well pal, but I’m not such a cock that I’d go imagining they count for something.
      
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      August 21, 2019 12:58pm
- igm
  
  Her stinking Labour mates deregulated fuel under Lange/Palmer . . . it, like everything thing else these two clowns touched, has been a dismal failure.
  If petrol comes down at the pumps she, and her band of leeches, will tax it further to feed their bludging perverted supporters.
  
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  August 21, 2019 8:44am
- Captain Mainwaring
  
  Andrei – have you recorded your details with DPF to avoid the moderation queue?
  
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  August 21, 2019 8:51am
  - Gravelroad
    
    I did that and it made no difference. Still in moderation.
    YSB blog much more user friendly……..
    
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    August 21, 2019 9:00am
    - KevO'Brien
      
      The details seem irrelevant. Even email has not succeeded.
      
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      August 21, 2019 11:20am
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    Or did he ‘edit’ it? My comments post immediate, but if I edit, it’s straight into moderation. I realise you can post something and then change the context, but for me it’s mostly typos
    
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    August 21, 2019 4:17pm
    - burt
      
      A workaround for that would be to copy the content, delete the comment and add it again with your edits.
      
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      August 21, 2019 10:04pm
- Odakyu-sen
  
  The NZ Herald article about “gouging petrol companies” seemed to lay the blame well away from the government and its taxation of fuel (which hits poorer families harder).
  I assume that wealthier households: a) live closer to work; b) drive more modern, fuel-efficient cars; c) don’t need to commute; d) are already retired.
  
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  August 21, 2019 8:56am
  - burt
    
    Ardern is going to command petrol stations to print a tax summary when you buy petrol so you can see exactly how much from every $ went to supplying you fuel and how much the government made. It’s part of her promise on transparency.
    
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    August 21, 2019 9:09am
    - Rich Prick
      
      Actually, they kind of do that in the US, you see the raw price then taxes get lumped on top so you know exactly how much you’re being stiffed by various governments. Fuel companies should do that on their billboards, the numbers would surprise many punters.
      
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      August 21, 2019 9:58am
    - rockape
      
      Petrol companies should display that on their pumps as retaliation.
      
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      August 21, 2019 10:02am
      - Paulus
        
        And 95/98 prices too.
        
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        August 21, 2019 1:43pm
    - KevO'Brien
      
      Its stupid. Does Ardern want the bill for the implied software changes involved?
      
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      August 21, 2019 11:22am
  - wreck1080
    
    The government is claiming that petrol companies have been increasing their profit margins on fuel.
    
    This is what the ‘gouging’ comment is based on. I don’t see the government can do much anyway. The market seems reasonably competitive at the retail level as evidenced by the ‘Gull’ effect.
    
    If the government interferes, there will be unintended consequences.
    
    Personally, I like the waitomo self-serve stations.
    
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    August 21, 2019 10:29am
- Monty
  
  The CoL will be seen by the whole country to be completely hypercritical on this and it will bite them. every person who buy petrol are paying the highest prices ever, but we are not seeing anything delivered by way of new roads which we are paying for as all the money is being siphoned off to pay for a tram in Auckland that will disrupt nearly every person in Auckland. The car hating Green Taliban are on the view that all cars are bad, and therefore no roads should ever be built again. they are delusional. Under National we had the wonderful RoNS programme which has and will continue to change lives for the better. Under Labour and CoL we have had 12 road projects cancelled. Where is the benefit to those of us paying massive road taxes through RUCs and petrol taxes?
  
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  August 21, 2019 9:59am
- 453mm
  
  Tamihere is promising to remove the regional petrol tax if elected mayor.
  
  https://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/115160982/john-tamihere-to-scrap-tax-on-gas-if-elected-auckland-mayor
  
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  August 21, 2019 10:19am
  - alloytoo
    
    “Plus the Goff gas tax will be gone and so will the AT Board.”
    
    He is certainly saying the right things here.
    
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    August 21, 2019 10:44am
- Straight arrow
  
  It is a lack of competition: we only have one government.
  
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  August 21, 2019 11:20am
- Akarak
  
  What J Ardern didn’t seem to understand (how unusual) was the fact that the ComCom report was focussed only on COMPETITION within the industry. I have a funny feeling that this whole thing will eventually come back to bite her on the posterior.
  
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  August 21, 2019 7:52pm
softail 1450

One reasonable day of weather and back to the “normal Auckland weather” , I blame Winston Peters for the shocking Auckland rain ,he has to have some useful purpose in the running of our country because he is nowhere to be seen doing anything else FFS.
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August 21, 2019 8:07am
- G152
  
  It’s winnies disguise.
  No-one will see theres another drip out there
  
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  August 21, 2019 8:15am
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  The Deputy PM is on leave for a week following surgery.
  https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12259951
  
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  August 21, 2019 8:15am
  - pdm
    
    As someone told Sean Plunket yesterday:
    
    Peters was having his foot removed from his mouth.
    
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    August 21, 2019 8:24am
    - Biscuit
      
      pdm, what odds that Winnie will make sufficient of a recovery to make it to Japan in just under a month?
      
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      August 21, 2019 9:09am
      - sooty
        
        He’s flying at the pointy end, of course he will make it! Might need one of them round donuts to sit one. But you can be sure he will be there!
        
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        August 21, 2019 9:41am
      - Brian Marshall
        
        There’s a lot of whiskey distilleries in Japan. I haven’t had the pleasure of trying any, but I bet dollars to donuts that he would recover in time…
        
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        August 21, 2019 10:22am
      - Biscuit
        
        Brian, my Mum was a Scot and she was always deeply disappointed in my not ‘taking’ to her country’s most famous liquid export, ha.
        
        When we were in Japan (2014) we didn’t try the whisk(e)y but had an interesting hour at a saké store:
        
        Couldn’t leave Shibuya without sampling a few (well, six) selected sakés.
        We went to a nifty little standing-only bar hidden away on the second floor on a side street off Dogenzaka where they serve a changing line-up of sakés from across the country, presented in wine glasses with a small tag attached with various bits of info (including the name in English) you’d need if you wanted to find it again. ¥ 550 (just over $ NZ 4) a small cup. Small nibbles that go well with the liquid offering are on the menu as well.
        
        Let’s just call the experience d-i-f-f-e-r-e-n-t, ha.
        Which, as I’ve stated before, is why we came to Japan…
        But, given that, it was an experience we’re unlikely to ever repeat…
        The saké I liked most/disliked least (delete one) was Hakusan plum saké…
        Kool-Aid with a kick to it.
        Nice ambience, though – there were only 8 people there (us and the waitron included) during our visit and you had the almost-surreal feeling of being ‘alone’ in the heart of a city with over 20,000,000 people within, so to speak, saké-spitting distance, heh.
        
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        August 21, 2019 2:20pm
    - Paulus Gnome
      
      Adhern will visit next week to have WRP’s hand reinserted to coordinate her mouth to the policy de jour as decided by Peters
      
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      August 21, 2019 9:29am
  - Paulus
    
    Brain surgery ?
    
    14 2
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    August 21, 2019 8:29am
  - sooty
    
    He was in getting his arse fixed!
    
    15 3
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    August 21, 2019 8:29am
    - dubya
      
      Surgical extraction of his own head?
      
      13 1
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      August 21, 2019 9:07am
    - JibberJabber
      
      Hold the Front Page!…the Arseholes rejected him!
      
      13 0
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      August 21, 2019 9:12am
  - Blackbob
    
    Wonder if he has whiskey in a drip…
    
    11 2
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    August 21, 2019 8:48am
  - Captain Mainwaring
    
    They said it was a rugby injury. Did he get pissed at the Eden Park corporate box and fall over?
    
    33 3
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    August 21, 2019 8:52am
    - Maggy Wassilieff
      
      He had a decent enough sporting career
      https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/115118064/winston-peters-off-parliament-for-a-week-to-recover-from-an-operation-on-his-leg
      
      12 1
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      August 21, 2019 8:59am
    - UrbanNeocolonialist
      
      His PR is saying knee surgery and just because Winston is saying it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a lie. Let’s see if he is on crutches next week.
      
      26 0
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      August 21, 2019 9:02am
  - burt
    
    Getting his asshole stitched up after it was torn by the bulk of policy he has recently pulled out of it.
    
    16 2
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    August 21, 2019 9:05am
  - Rich Prick
    
    Liver transplant? If so, will it reject the patient?
    
    12 0
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    August 21, 2019 9:59am
    - UrbanNeocolonialist
      
      Circumcision. Usually they throw away the unwanted bit, but it might be hard to figure out which part that is in his case.
      
      3 0
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      August 21, 2019 3:13pm
Lance

The AM show had the most vacuous woman on I have ever had the misfortune to hear this morning.
Her stunning insight bought the following statements;
1. Enforcing the ban on smoking in cars with children present was RACIST because most of the people that do this are Maori (women).
2. Such a ban is not only racist but also “smoker bashing”.
3. Most medical personnel are white so cannot have anything of value to say to Maori.
4. How come white people aren’t prosecuted for not putting sunscreen on their kids sometimes, proof of racism as it mainly affects white people.

Her vacious brain sucked the logic out of the room I was actually gobsmacked, were my ears deceiving me? Nobody is this stupid
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August 21, 2019 8:15am
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  Dr Marewa Glover
  https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2019/08/health-researcher-says-banning-smoking-in-cars-discriminatory-to-maori.html
  
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  August 21, 2019 9:04am
  - dubya
    
    I flatted with a maori graduate doctor years ago (got in on the thicko quota). She was just as vacuous, believed in the healing power of crystals, and juice detoxes.
    
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    August 21, 2019 9:09am
  - KevO'Brien
    
    Maori mothers may get clobbered. But they are the ones who are smoking.
    All smoking in confined spaces affects anyone else present. I’ve seen kids suffering from 2nd-hand pot smoke.
    
    The law is not racist. The views of a pea brained Dr. might be. It’s not possible to equalise all humans except by very unpleasant means.
    
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    August 21, 2019 11:32am
  - Classic Liberal
    
    Haha, PC types get bitten back…
    
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    August 21, 2019 11:47am
- Odakyu-sen
  
  “Some scientists claim that hydrogen, because it is so plentiful, is the basic building block of the universe. I dispute that. I say there is more stupidity than hydrogen, and that is the basic building block of the universe.” — Frank Zappa
  
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  August 21, 2019 9:05am
- Psycho Milt
  
  Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
  1, 2 and 4 seem like reasonable opinions for a Māori to hold. 3, not so much.
  
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  August 21, 2019 9:05am
  - burt
    
    Racist, what gives you the right to say how certain races think?
    
    34 1
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    August 21, 2019 9:13am
    - Tall Man
      
      Because he’s as thick as he is he thinks he’s got all bases covered….. Assuming a race is as thick as you are is both condescending and racist eh psycho?
      
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      August 21, 2019 9:26am
  - David George
    
    A reasonable opinion has to be based on reason (clue; that’s why it’s called reasonable), this one is based on something entirely different; justice?
    No, a desire to create resentment, hate and division. Not good.
    
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    August 21, 2019 12:02pm
    - Psycho Milt
      
      There are reasonable bases for those opinions.
      
      In item one, the basis is that smoking in cars is primarily a concern of middle class white people but practiced more often by Māori than white people, therefore the concern about this rather than other, more serious health issues, may be based on bigotry. We might disagree with that opinion, but it’s not an unreasonable opinion.
      
      Item 2 has similar reasoning. Concern about smoking with children in the car is for non-smokers, therefore the concern about this, rather than other more serious health issues, may beased on anti-smoking activism. Again, we may not agree but it isn’t an unreasonable opinion.
      
      Item 4’s reasoning is that children are in more danger from skin cancer through their caregivers not applying sunscreen to them than through spending some time in a car with second-hand smoke, therefore any suggestions of penalties for parents would be better directed at the sunscreen issue. There’s also an implied argument that, because the lack of sunscreen application would affect white children more than Māori children, there’s a racist element to not pursuing the sunscreen issue. Again, may not agree but the opinion has a rational basis.
      
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      August 21, 2019 3:05pm
      - UrbanNeocolonialist
        
        Thinking smoking in cars is bigotry is unreasonable. It was done for sound medical reasons and smoking bans have impacted far more non-maori than maori when instituted. She is a just an ugly identitarian racist trying to excuse and enable bad behaviour amongst her preferred race.
        
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        August 21, 2019 3:17pm
      - Maggy Wassilieff
        
        The woman is just confused..
        her knowledge of biology appears to be zilch.
        I’d hate to be an asthmatic child in a smoker’s car; or a child with cystic fibrosis..
        
        Somehow she thinks 2nd-hand smoke lung damage can be healed..
        https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2019/08/mps-aghast-over-tobacco-researcher-marewa-glover-s-claim-bodies-heal-from-secondhand-smoke.html
        
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        August 21, 2019 3:35pm
- Tall Man
  
  Except ardern.
  
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  August 21, 2019 9:06am
- Inandout
  
  Lance, was that the lady with the head cold sitting with the ex Mayor?
  
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  August 21, 2019 9:19am
  - Lance
    
    No, she was on her own. Dr Marewa Glover
    
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    August 21, 2019 9:58am
    - mara
      
      She’s not a medical doctor.
      
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      August 21, 2019 12:13pm
- alloytoo
  
  So she claims that most Maori women are exposing their children health risks through second hand smoke.
  
  Bit racist what?
  
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  August 21, 2019 9:21am
- septic skeptic
  
  While it is in some ways surprising to see a Dr expressing views like this, it is also somewhat reassuring. At least it is if my hypothesis is correct that those Maori that get into med school with lesser grades get steered towards these research roles if they don’t have the grey matter to make decent GPs or surgeons. But if that was the case here, it’s a pity we didn’t take a more capable student from another ethic group.
  
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  August 21, 2019 9:31am
  - sooty
    
    Just because she has Doctor in front of her name means she is medical!
    Labour has a few of them in the house and they do squat!
    
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    August 21, 2019 9:45am
    - Biscuit
      
      sooty, most notably that Dr ‘Nine Years Of Neglect’ Clark.
      
      Clark’s Wiki is interesting.
      
      He initially studied medicine but abandoned that in favour of pursuing degrees in theology and philosophy. Clark also studied theology and philosophy at Eberhard Karls University in Tübingen.
      
      Ordained in 1997, Clark is a Presbyterian minister. He worked as the Assistant Minister at St Lukes Presbyterian Church in Auckland. He was the celebrant at the civil union of MP Grant Robertson. Clark later returned to the University of Otago and completed a PhD on the work of German/New Zealand refugee and existentialist thinker Helmut Herbert Hermann Rex. He has also worked as a Treasury analyst and the warden of Selwyn College at the University of Otago. Before his election to Parliament, Clark served as deputy chair of the Otago Community Trust.
      
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      August 21, 2019 11:39am
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    She has a Ph.D. in behavioural science… so is probably a Psychology Graduate.
    
    I don’t think she has a Medical degree
    (MB ChB).
    
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    August 21, 2019 10:15am
    - KevO'Brien
      
      The Psych people–the ones with 200 different modalities for the same problem.
      
      4 1
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      August 21, 2019 11:35am
- igm
  
  Are most medical personnel white because they have the brains to study and become professionals, or are they picked on ethnicity?
  
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  August 21, 2019 9:31am
  - sooty
    
    But the bros get a free pass to jion.
    If only they would practise on their own!
    
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    August 21, 2019 9:47am
  - stephieboy
    
    Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
    Neither!
    
    Record number of new Māori and Pacific doctors this year
    
    https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/about/news-events-and-notices/news/news-2016/11/record-number-of-new-mori-and-pacific-doctors-this-year.html
    
    Facts not designed to convince bigots!
    
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    August 21, 2019 10:04am
    - wreck1080
      
      Do maori medical doctors face the same qualification criteria as non-maori?
      
      ie, there is no special quota or preferential marking scheme.
      
      If there is some kind of preference based on being maori, then I would certainly avoid seeing a maori doctor.
      
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      August 21, 2019 10:37am
      - Batman
        
        They must all meet the same academic grades.
        
        I’d much rather go to a Maori doctor than an import from the UK or somewhere, at least they’re probably fairly friendly and had to work their way up from humble beginnings.
        
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        August 21, 2019 10:40am
      - wreck1080
        
        @batman….you appear to be wrong….there is certainly preferential treatment.
        
        https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/fmhs/study-with-us/vision-2020.html
        
        Our commitment to increasing the number of Māori and Pacific health professionals to 10% of the health workforce by the year 2020. This encompasses MAPAS, Hikitia te Ora and Whakapiki Ake.
        
        Find out about the Māori and Pacific Admission Scheme and how to apply.
        
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        August 21, 2019 12:00pm
      - Batman
        
        Yes there are reserved places but that doesn’t mean differing academic standards.
        
        Getting more Maori and Polynesian medical professionals into communities is a good thing. For whatever reason, those groups respond better and can be more open with medical staff who understand their culture (I’m not defending those cultural practices, like most human beliefs they can be irrational)
        
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        August 21, 2019 12:43pm
      - igm
        
        Wonder if they will work three-day weeks (if at all) like the bros do in basic employment!
        
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        August 21, 2019 5:12pm
      - stephieboy
        
        wreck1080. as far as I know, they do! Show to the contrary?
        
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        August 21, 2019 6:58pm
  - Classic Liberal
    
    Many of the young ones I recently saw in hospital were actually Asian. Brains and hard work.
    
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    August 21, 2019 11:53am
- alex Masterley
  
  She has a doctorate?
  Jesus wept.
  
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  August 21, 2019 9:46am
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    She has a doctorate?
    Doesn’t everybody?
    
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    August 21, 2019 10:54am
  - igm
    
    So does Megan Woods.
    
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    August 21, 2019 5:14pm
- The King
  
  Its all so tiresome. We should be traveling the galaxy’s yet here we are baby sitting literal savages.
  
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  August 21, 2019 10:16am
- The King
  
  You know who first banned smoking in public?
  
  Nazis.
  
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  August 21, 2019 7:32pm
Evadne

I see the Herald has an article about “John Oliver’s brutal dig at Donald and Melania Trump”.

No doubt he will be condemned for this outrageous attack on a world leader, and his misogynistic rant about Melania, and advertisers will leave in droves.

No? I thought that was the new standard laid down by woke activists, as exercised recently against Alan Jones.
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August 21, 2019 8:16am
- Batman
  
  Well he’s on HBO so he can say what he likes.
  
  Freedom of speech and all that.
  
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  August 21, 2019 9:04am
  - Evadne
    
    Of course he can say what he likes – it’s the time honoured role of comedians and journalists to call out, criticise and mock politicians. And it’s our time honored role as individuals to listen or not listen as we like to said comedians, journalists, and politicians.
    
    I have no particular interest in John Oliver, Alan Jones, or Trump.
    
    But I do recognize the hypocrisy in the Herald celebrating and congratulating Oliver for doing pretty much what Jones was condemned for.
    
    How did we reach this point where some unknown cabal of media activists can declare one politician annointed and beyond criticism; and another an endorsed and encourged target.
    
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    August 21, 2019 9:24am
- Maggie Pie
  
  Still gotta love the POTUS’s sense of humor – LOL!!
  
  https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1163603361423351808
  
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  August 21, 2019 9:11am
  - stephieboy
    
    Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
    I’m not convinced!
    
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    August 21, 2019 10:10am
  - rangitoto
    
    I disagree with Trump on this. Greenland needs at least one of those.
    
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    August 21, 2019 10:44am
  - Inandout
    
    Maggie, I love that photo of Michelle holding a fake sign. Wasn’t that long ago she was lampooned on Google as an ape, before Google ‘washed’ itself.
    
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    August 21, 2019 10:56am
    - Maggie Pie
      
      I&O – this one is still my fave 🙂
      
      https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C0pnTumXgAEZz8C.jpg
      
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      August 21, 2019 12:28pm
- UrbanNeocolonialist
  
  did he brutally slam him and destroy him in a way we were shocked to see and are subsequently freaking out over?
  
  If not the ~~headline~~ clickbait writers are not doing their job properly.
  
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  August 21, 2019 3:41pm
JibberJabber

The self-proclaimed expert “health”researcher on the AM show this morn sez,

“… there is no evidence that smoking in cars is linked to disease. It is smoking in the home.”
“Most of the people working in health promotion in New Zealand are white middle-class women. They are not the best messages, they are not getting through, they are not effective at reaching these mums,”

I`d be interested as to why she thinks 2nd hand cigarette smoke in an enclosed space like a car is harmless yet 2nd hand cigarette smoke in the home is not?
Maori women (according to Dr Glover ) don`t want to listen to white nurses/ Drs.
But yeah, racism, everything is racist, even slapping sunscreen on your kids is racist, FFS!
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2019/08/health-researcher-says-banning-smoking-in-cars-discriminatory-to-maori.html
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August 21, 2019 8:22am
- Psycho Milt
  
  I`d be interested as to why she thinks 2nd hand cigarette smoke in an enclosed space like a car is harmless yet 2nd hand cigarette smoke in the home is not?
  
  Haven’t read anything by her, but duration of exposure would be a fairly obvious one, ie you spend a lot more time inside your house than inside your car (with the possible exception of Aucklanders).
  
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  August 21, 2019 9:09am
  - Andrei
    
    A car is a confined space Milt.
    
    Be that as it may the way the leftoids act you would think tobacco smoke is more toxic than plutonium.
    
    Hint: it is not.
    
    Smoking is one of the deadly sins in middle class post Christian morality of course – which is really weird when you consider the same theology considers abortion to be a sacred thing.
    
    The USA incidently was founded on tobacco – it was the initial crop of choice for the original colonies in Virginia
    
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    August 21, 2019 10:02am
  - GoVege
    
    Have to disagree on this one, dear PM.
    Unless one lives in a tiny house, the concentrations of cigarette smoke have to be higher in the enclosed small space of a car, rather than the larger area of a house.
    
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    August 21, 2019 10:23am
    - tf78
      
      Did you hear about the survey asking young ones which was worse for your health – smoking dope or smoking cigarettes? – the resounding response was cigarettes of course. They have been brainwashed for years on how bad they are and told how good dope is.
      
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      August 21, 2019 11:13am
    - Psycho Milt
      
      …the concentrations of cigarette smoke have to be higher in the enclosed small space of a car, rather than the larger area of a house.
      
      Maybe, but not certainly. I always have fresh air flowing through my car via the air vents when it’s moving, but I don’t always have doors and windows open in my house.
      
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      August 21, 2019 3:20pm
- GoVege
  
  What a twit.
  Her idiotic thought processes pose a serious danger to Maori children and their mothers.
  Fortunately another Maori woman, Titoki Black, has challenged Glover’s inane assertions.
  She mentions how Dr Glover has used a “Maori card”.
  Think she means “the race card”. 🙂
  
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  August 21, 2019 11:07am
Happychappy

Where are all the female Journalists in NZ and why have we seen less communication of them asking the hard Questions of the Prime Minister of why the sex deviate is still working in her office. These people have screamed about equal right and equal pay but won’t print the facts or come out and say we have been shut down on this particular subject as it has to relate to the subject or the person who is controlling the media. What will happen if this sex deviate decides to sexually assault a Journalist will you continue to stand back and allow or will you poke your chest out and say we will not allow this in our profession with hope the general public will side with you, a big ask after the way you have treated the twelve complaints in sexual assault claims out of the PM’s office.
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August 21, 2019 8:23am
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  They are following up another story
  https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/115029105/massey-university-accused-of-mishandling-allegations-of-a-violent-sexual-assault
  
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  August 21, 2019 9:06am
  - igm
    
    This must land in the lap of that vile woman who lied about the reason she banned Don Brash!
    
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    August 21, 2019 5:20pm
- niggly
  
  The complicit silence from most of the MSM has been disgusting.
  
  If this was happening under a National Government, the MSM would have named and shamed the perpetrator right from the beginning and he would have been stood down.
  
  If this was happening under a National Government, the MSM would have made this the lead news for a week and every question put to the PM would be about this.
  
  But this is happening under a Labour Government and MSM questions to Jacinda stopped pretty much straight away. The perpetrator is still working in the PM’s Office (and with the PM – obviously she is too weak to do anything about this).
  
  MSM are failing again to hold the powerful to account … because they are on-side with this so-called “powerful” mob. Disgusting and Corrupt. Turn in your 4th Estate card MSM, you no longer deserve it.
  
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  August 21, 2019 9:13am
- Nigel Kearney
  
  They currently have their hand out hoping for government funding of news reporting. So they have to watch what they say.
  
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  August 21, 2019 10:17am
- Liberty
  
  Journalists will crawl up COL simply because
  Dear Leader has an agenda to make TVone advert free.
  With the possibility of working in parasite heaven.
  Dear leader can do no wrong.
  
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  August 21, 2019 10:18am
Paulus

What backdoor secret deal did Ardern do with Tuhetia yesterday in their private talks.
Can we now assume that Tainui will buy Ihumatao from Fletchers to be ” rewarded” by taxpayers somewhere secretly?
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August 21, 2019 8:28am
- Batman
  
  Tainui aren’t part of the Kingitanga.
  
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  August 21, 2019 8:59am
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    They have always been interlinked
    https://e-tangata.co.nz/korero/rahui-papa-the-kingitanga-has-always-been-political/
    
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    August 21, 2019 9:11am
sooty

Is Cindy going to ruin the TOW settlement process and wind it all back to day one again?
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August 21, 2019 8:31am
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  She’s the weak link.
  
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  August 21, 2019 9:16am
mandk

Oooh, look. Another racist Maori.

“Campaigns from white middle class women”

https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2019/08/health-researcher-says-banning-smoking-in-cars-discriminatory-to-maori.html
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August 21, 2019 8:33am
- Odakyu-sen
  
  “One rule for all” can run into problems in a society where people support identity politics.
  
  The fatal flaw of identity politics is which identity do you identify?
  – Age
  – Gender
  – Disability
  – Education level
  – Illness
  – Race
  – Religion …
  An idividual can be subdivided into an infinite number of identity classes, which is why the best approach is to throw the whole lot out and simply focus on the individual.
  
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  August 21, 2019 9:02am
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    Ah, but there is a ranking system…and I know it’s fairly opaque to some of us, but being an old white married lady of working class origins, I knows my place.
    
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    August 21, 2019 9:19am
    - Tall Man
      
      Yeah well, we’ll get you off the top of the tree one day …. 😉
      
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      August 21, 2019 9:23am
    - Odakyu-sen
      
      The key point about the “ranking system” is from where is it being imposed.
      – You (the individual) self-impose it
      – Your family imposes it on you
      – Your wider local community imposes it on you
      – The State imposes it on you
      – A foreign culture imposes it on you (when you visit them)
      
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      August 21, 2019 9:38am
    - Right of way is Way of Right
      
      I’m a middle aged white male, therefore I must look after myself well, as should misfortune befall me, well, then it must be no-one’s fault but my own, as I am so awfully privileged and all that!
      
      Gosh, that prostate cancer was so annoying. I don’t even smoke, yet here I am….
      
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      August 21, 2019 1:15pm
- Wangas Feral
  
  Some of Wangas Feral’s feral family live in cars. Hell, I do sometimes. My car is my home – are they wanting to ban what I do behind closed doors?
  
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  August 21, 2019 9:06am
  - Tall Man
    
    But are the windows closed as well?
    
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    August 21, 2019 9:23am
- KevO'Brien
  
  Baning smoking in cars discriminates against all smokers–green, white,red, blue, brown or any other colour.
  Cat shows are discriminatory too as Siamese cats are not allowed in long-hair cream classes.
  Prisons only accept inmates on the order of a Judge.
  
  Computers are the worst discriminants. Software is full of it.
  
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  August 21, 2019 11:51am
Maggie Pie

Mummy will not be amused 🙂

Twitters running hot
REVEALED: Randy Andy hosted billionaire pedo Jeffrey Epstein with a young model
at Balmormal Castle – ‘while the Queen was staying there!’

https://twitter.com/davidicke/status/1163435782163574786
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August 21, 2019 8:38am
Nigel Kearney

8:50AM and only three comments. Why are we letting Tarrant win?
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August 21, 2019 8:50am
- Tall Man
  
  Because almost everyone is “scared” of the vehement lefties that are everywhere.
  
  They are also scared of “upsetting” ardern because …… No fucking idea!
  
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  August 21, 2019 9:08am
- septic skeptic
  
  Be careful mentioning the name of the prisoner. I mentioned it twice in a post over the weekend, and it caused my dog to become very sick. I haven’t mentioned his name since and now my dog is well again.
  
  13 0
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  August 21, 2019 9:41am
  - MCos
    
    I can understand that
    
    4 0
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    August 21, 2019 11:01am
  - Nigel Kearney
    
    I’ve mentioned it a few times now and I’m not the one whose cat got run over.
    
    5 0
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    August 21, 2019 1:24pm
  - Komata
    
    SS@0941
    
    Re” Be careful mentioning the name of the prisoner’.
    
    Wasn’t it ‘Six’?
    
    (Asking for a friend).
    
    0 0
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    August 21, 2019 2:53pm
Prince

Massey University continues to reflect Labour values.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/115029105/massey-university-accused-of-mishandling-allegations-of-a-violent-sexual-assault
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August 21, 2019 8:51am
UrbanNeocolonialist

I had thought wind was looking very good on price, but seems they have huge reliability issues that destroys their economic viability:

“The normalised load factor for UK onshore wind farms declines from a peak of about 24% at age 1 to 15% at age 10 and 11% at age 15. The decline in the normalised load factor for Danish onshore wind farms is slower but still significant with a fall from a peak of 22% to 18% at age 15. On the other hand for offshore wind farms in Denmark the normalised load factor falls from 39% at age 0 to 15% at age 10. The reasons for the observed declines in normalised load factors cannot be fully assessed using the data available but outages due to mechanical breakdowns appear to be a contributory factor.”
https://www.ref.org.uk/attachments/article/280/ref.hughes.19.12.12.pdf
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August 21, 2019 8:58am
- cmm
  
  The issue with wind pricing is that everyone leans on the scale to make it look good and they don’t factor in the down sides.
  
  Unreliable power sources need back up. That essentially means that if you want to build 1 unit of wind energy you still need to build one unit of reliable energy to back it up. That drives up capital and maintenance costs.
  
  Wind turbines have far more moving parts and greater stresses than conventional generation. They also have other compromises such as being on top of a huge pylon which makes it harder to make them reliable. Thus, more maintenance.
  
  As the turbines age, they tolerate stresses less and meed more maintenance. There is a cost/benefit curve. Drive them at full load and they have more stresses and wear out quicker and need more maintenance or reduce their load so as to reduce the maintenance and increase lifetime.
  
  When you look at all the system compromises required to integrate wind things get rather problematic.
  
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  August 21, 2019 9:24am
Maggie Pie

ABSOLUTION?

Will Cardinal Pell have his conviction for child sexual abuse overturned by the Supreme Court of Australia – you can watch the decision LIVE SkyNews [CH85] beginning 11:30 am.
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August 21, 2019 9:04am
- Batman
  
  Bloody well hope not. Time for some accountability in the Catholic Church eh
  
  15 14
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  August 21, 2019 9:06am
  - Tall Man
    
    Be nice to see a little more “accountability” closer to home… maybe the labour party or with the bullshitter in chief.
    
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    August 21, 2019 9:10am
  - Maggie Pie
    
    My partner reckons he hasn’t got a snowballs. LOL!!
    
    5 2
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    August 21, 2019 9:19am
  - All_on_Red
    
    Agree with you about accountability being long overdue in the Church and other institutions but I’m not so sure Pell actually abused those two young men.
    
    19 1
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    August 21, 2019 9:39am
  - Ed Snack
    
    Well I bloody well hope he is – the conviction was a travesty of justice and contravened all normal judicial practice.
    
    Like him or not, Pell was the main force behind the Catholic Church in Australia owning up to and dealing with paedophilic abuse by its priesthood. Apart from these extremely old and unsubstantiated allegations there is no suggestion that Pell himself was in any way involved in abuse or in its coverup. The allegations were very poorly supported and the conviction seems to have been made purely on the sort of sentiment that Batman displays – less get the bastard and worry about whether he’s actually guilty later.
    
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    August 21, 2019 5:31pm
- burt
  
  I believe he’s in negotiations with the NZ Labour party for a job in the leaders office to make all this trouble go away.
  
  32 2
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  August 21, 2019 9:11am
  - sooty
    
    Cindy and Labour have lost when they are the butt of jokes! Will the comedians be brave enough to include them in the ruetine?
    
    14 0
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    August 21, 2019 9:55am
    - plc
      
      Certainly not on 7 Days
      
      9 0
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      August 21, 2019 10:51am
      - UrbanNeocolonialist
        
        Certainly not on ~~7 Days~~ I love Cindy.
        
        3 0
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        August 21, 2019 3:42pm
- Paulus
  
  Judgement says NO, back to Prison.
  
  3 0
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  August 21, 2019 1:53pm
- KevO'Brien
  
  I don’t like the evidential quality of a sole witnesses’ memories of 23 years ago.
  It is very easy easy to fill in past details from imagination.
  
  2 0
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  August 21, 2019 7:10pm
Straight arrow

Stuff headline: “Alan Jones losing more advertisers in wake of attack on Jacinda Ardern”

How much support is Labour losing because of multiple sex scandals?
39 0
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August 21, 2019 9:08am
- burt
  
  ‘Bullying’ is the Pravda approved term.
  
  25 0
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  August 21, 2019 9:12am
- igm
  
  How many new advertisers have opened accounts because of his stance.
  How many major accounts have Fairfax lost in NZ because of their pro-left stand on everything.
  How many now check to see if a costly purchase has been advertised in MSM, finding alternatives that have not supported them?
  
  17 2
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  August 21, 2019 9:36am
- Wangas Feral
  
  None – because the MSM, where most people consume propaganda, is not covering it.
  
  8 0
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  August 21, 2019 10:00am
- stephieboy
  
  Labour losing?
  
  Likely none.
  
  2 27
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  August 21, 2019 10:13am
brett68

Why is Simon Bridges so bad at politics?
Watch the video, he moans about Labour whacking on 24 cents since they’ve been in office
Garner then puts him on the spot and asks will he commit National to removing the 24 cents?

Bridges umms and arrs says he’ll remove the 8 cent Auckland tax, that’s all.
Garner rolls his eyes, Bridges once again looks like a disingenuous politicking clown.

Fucks sake Man just say you will, work it out when you’re back in power.
Another opportunity fucked up by Bridges, hopeless.

https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2019/08/labour-s-attempts-to-make-petrol-more-affordable-futile-simon-bridges.html
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August 21, 2019 9:35am
- alloytoo
  
  What he should say is “Yes.” once I’ve paid off Labour’s spending spree.
  
  16 0
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  August 21, 2019 10:50am
  - brett68
    
    What he should say is Yes I will get rid of all taxes that Labour put on during their time in office and try and cut back some of the ones we implemented.
    
    Then also state that the emphasis is going back on roading projects.
    
    Pointing out the bleeding fucking obvious to National politicians here, because they seem to be completely switched off to what’s going on outside their little bubbles.
    
    YOU TRY AND MAKE PETROL AS CHEAP AS YOU POSSIBLY CAN
    
    The cost of petrol is something that affect people of all political persuasions, lower the cost and will get you so many votes it’s not funny.
    
    3 10
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    August 21, 2019 11:30am
    - sooty
      
      But Labours thinking is,
      Why should they lose money!
      
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      August 21, 2019 11:59am
- plc
  
  All he needed to say is that the rest of the money would be used on reinstating the roading projects that Labour/Genter cancelled.
  
  Not so hard.
  
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  August 21, 2019 10:53am
- Tall Man
  
  Look brett, we all know that Simon is not your bestie but currently he is the only option for actually removing ardern from office so either suck it up or declare your support for ardern.
  
  No one man or party is going to ring all your bells and you do tend to look for the “negative” in him but why not instead look at the alternative he offers which is ABBA and MAGA.
  
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  August 21, 2019 11:27am
  - brett68
    
    I don’t think anything will change with Bridges in charge.
    
    5 15
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    August 21, 2019 11:40am
    - Batman
      
      I think that both National and Labour supporters will be offended by this comment, Brett hahaha.
      
      5 1
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      August 21, 2019 11:41am
      - sooty
        
        Hardon up!
        
        5 0
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        August 21, 2019 11:58am
    - chaos
      
      So basically it’s ardern anyway
      
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7YiFQFk6fc
      
      4 0
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      August 21, 2019 11:46am
      - Tall Man
        
        Now obviously she was expecting “what’s in it for wynston” to be true to form so slipped a “box” on…….
        
        2 0
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        August 21, 2019 2:15pm
    - Tall Man
      
      I really don’t want to envisage that but dick or no dick, she needs to go.
      
      4 0
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      August 21, 2019 2:16pm
    - The King
      
      Underrated post.
      
      Dummy’s here still think they have a choice and can’t see through the illusion that is ‘Democracy’.
      
      Here chose red or blue, i don’t care what you chose because i own both of them. – Simon and Jacindas Chinese donors.
      
      3 1
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      August 21, 2019 2:21pm
  - Komata
    
    TM@1127
    
    But where IS Simon and what does he and the Nats actually STAND for?
    
    No-one seems to know and Simon is so invisible that he might as well be a design on a piece of wallpaper!!
    
    As a long-term Nat’s supporter it’s very, very difficult to become enthused when there is absolutely NOTHING to be ‘enthused’ over; the man simply doesn’t project ‘Hope’ ‘Difference’ or anything else that might be different from the CoL and indeed gives the impression that he actually agrees with most of what the CoL is doing anyway.
    
    It makes ‘supporting’ very difficult when there is nothing that seems worthy of that support.
    
    Perhaps things will change, but the phrase ‘sleepwalking into oblivion’ does come to mind…
    
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    August 21, 2019 3:17pm
- chaos
  
  To be honest you can’t really say what you will do with taxes u til you get in and see the state of the books. Both Lange and Clark left the books in such a mess no one knew how bad u til they saw them and all the unfounded crap from Clark
  
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  August 21, 2019 11:50am
  - Nigel Kearney
    
    You can always say you won’t make motorists pay any more than the cost of the services they use.
    
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    August 21, 2019 1:27pm
lastmanstanding

Theres an old saying that citizens get the Government and governance they deserve.

So what have they got.

A Government riven with scandals that any would be a Government down in a real rather than a fake democracy.

A Government that refuses to disclose legitimate information to its citizens.

A Government that rather than being transparent operates in a murky shady underworld.

Maybe the citizens have the Government and governance they deserve.

May you live in interesting times.

#notmygovernment
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August 21, 2019 9:36am
- Odakyu-sen
  
  When was the last time that Aucklanders experienced a serious recession with 8+% unemployment and “For Sale” signs everywhere?
  It must be at least a generation ago.
  People forget; young people don’t know.
  
  House prices only ever go up, you know. In Japan (outside the major centers), house prices have been sliding since the mid-90s. In the depopulating rural hamlets the number of abandonned houses is increasing (the tax on bare land is higher, so people don’t demolish).
  
  Here’s a good video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LzA1K3Q_5k
  But the very true comment is this one:
  K Yamayama4 months ago (edited)
  Yeah its true, but be careful there’s no convenience, no public service, no job, plenty of ostracism, many things to do not only to repairing, but also you must devote your private time for all in that community. That’s why few Japanese raise hands to have them, including me.
  
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  August 21, 2019 9:47am
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    What a lovely place for a holiday home…
    
    now how can I convince one of my Japan-visiting whanau to acquire a free home?
    
    5 0
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    August 21, 2019 10:58am
    - Sacha
      
      I found a lovely abandoned home in a village a few km out of Nagoya the way to the coast. It had obviously been much loved – beautiful but overgrown pottery lining the paths, traditional beamed roof and inside all dark wood. All the doors and windows were open – it looked as though the owners had just gone for a walk, except that there was dust everywhere, and there was an electricity bill on a clipboard which was 12months old.
      No-one could tell me why this house had been abandoned – except that no-one would want to pay the taxes! This was 20 years ago.
      
      6 0
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      August 21, 2019 11:17am
      - Odakyu-sen
        
        Moreover, the taxes would have accrued. The local government doesn’t want the property (as it will have to look after it), and the market for an old coastal property with sea views is zero, on account of the risk of tsunami. (Why Kiwis want “beachfront” is beyond me.)
        The property would be impossible to sell, useless to the legal owner (if they can be found), so it is simply abandoned.
        
        6 0
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        August 21, 2019 12:08pm
      - Maggie Pie
        
        @sensei
        That little girl who’s the RE Agent is sooo cute!
        Pretty sure I’ve seen her moonlighting on the weekends at MASU.
        
        2 0
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        August 21, 2019 1:04pm
- The King
  
  That’s why Governments import the citizens they want.
  
  That’s why you get mass immigration by stealth.
  
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  August 21, 2019 2:23pm
secondcumming

Two men found guilty of importing *Half-a-Tonne of Methamphetamine* will be sentenced at the Whangarei High Court this morning……lucky for them they weren’t holidaying in Bali.
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August 21, 2019 9:38am
- Rocky Jnr
  
  Why not treat them the same way Bali would. These mongrels are nothing short of mass murderers, selling their poison that has a trickle down effect to all members of society, from the meth heads themselves, to the children of the meth-heads, the victims of meth-heads crime, the victims of the meth-heads road carnage not to mention the huge financial burden the dealers, through their users, inflict on society. The dealers only concern is how much money they will make out of their vile activities. For these mongrels execution is the only appropriate sentence.
  
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  August 21, 2019 10:50am
- MCos
  
  Depending on their social standing they might not have been caught in the first place, in certain countries where others would get the death penalty.
  
  4 0
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  August 21, 2019 11:12am
- Tauhei Notts
  
  Those two men are lower than the dickwit of 15th March. The number of lives ruined by that stuff is astonishing.
  
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  August 21, 2019 11:47am
slightlyrighty

Today’s word is Hubris.

For example, it takes a large amount of hubris to destroy a persons career and livelihood for stating a deeply held belief, and then support the right of other people to express deeply held beliefs, especially when the arbiter of what is able to be expressed is based on what you believe in.

Funny how the political left thinks….
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August 21, 2019 9:43am
tf78

MAYORALTY
I’ve just been reading about Craig Lord – he sounds like he could be just was the Doctor ordered for Auckland City. Let’s know what you think.
8 2
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August 21, 2019 10:09am
- brett68
  
  Thanks Craig , I’ll google you and see what you’ve got to say.
  
  7 1
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  August 21, 2019 10:42am
- chaos
  
  You need a better picture on your website, you look grumpy and arrogant
  
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  August 21, 2019 11:42am
Batman

https://twitter.com/007/status/1163843400644403200?s=09

Excellent news, folks! Daniel Craig is back as James Bond in April 2020.

Safe to assume he is the lead, for those of you worried about a woman developing a drinking problem lol
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August 21, 2019 10:09am
- alloytoo
  
  Men watch Bond because they to be him.
  Women watch Bond because they want to shag him.
  
  I don’t know if a women in the role would work.
  
  Watch Black Widow in stead.
  
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  August 21, 2019 10:53am
- Inandout
  
  Batman, I don’t often venture near Twitter, and reading the comments about Bond I am glad. Is that site a ‘safe place’ for society’s dregs?
  
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  August 21, 2019 11:12am
  - Batman
    
    You are correct that Twitter provides nothing to humanity beyond the occasional funny video.
    
    Safe depends on whether one is being a dick on the platform or not.
    
    1 1
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    August 21, 2019 11:18am
- Maggie Pie
  
  ‘No Time To Dry’
  
  https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ECbk9CaU0AASraG?format=jpg&name=medium
  
  LOL!!!!
  
  4 0
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  August 21, 2019 11:17am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  ‘a Woman developing a drinking problem’
  Shaken, not stirred takes on a new meaning maybe
  
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  August 21, 2019 4:21pm
Fletch

What we knew all along. The executive editor of the New York Times, in leaked audio, admits that the entire focus of his newsroom was to cover the Trump-Russian conspiracy, which was a lie. Now that they can’t cover that, their entire focus is shifting to cover Trump’s supposed “Racism”.

Dean Baquet, the executive editor of the New York Times, said recently that, after the Mueller report, the paper has to shift the focus of its coverage from the Trump-Russia affair to the president’s alleged racism.

“We built our newsroom to cover one story, and we did it truly well,” Baquet said. “Now we have to regroup, and shift resources and emphasis to take on a different story.”

Baquet made the remarks at an employee town hall Monday. A recording was leaked to Slate, which published a transcript Thursday.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/columnists/new-york-times-chief-outlines-coverage-shift-from-trump-russia-to-trump-racism

These aren’t journalists anymore. They are an arm of the Democrat party, politically campaigning for them
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August 21, 2019 10:13am
- Batman
  
  It might just be because Russia was intentionally interfering in a sovereign country’s election, and the Trump campaign welcomed that interference.
  
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  August 21, 2019 10:14am
  - Garbageman
    
    Im sure you will share your profound in depth knowledge with the rest of us mere mortals Batman i am quite interested in the proof you will supply us all of this collusion and the Trumps welcoming it, im also sure you can do it without insulting another reader with your Q-anon (or whatever that group you seem obsessed with is called) accusations
    
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    August 21, 2019 10:54am
    - Batman
      
      No no, I’m not saying there was an active conspiracy between the two! The Mueller report was clear that there they could find no hard evidence not a criminal conspiracy (collusion is not a specific crime).
      
      What I am saying is that the Trump team were quite happy for the Russians to interfere as it may help their chances. Paul Manafort passed polling data to Sergei Kysliak [sic].
      
      With regard to QAnon, I hope nobody takes it too personally. It’s a dangerous conspiracy for those who believe it but is so ridiculously outlandish that I generally point to it mischievously rather than as some sort of serious accusation, even though a couple of people here do talk about the same themes and talking points.
      
      2 13
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      August 21, 2019 11:26am
      - Tall Man
        
        TDS….
        
        Shame really, most of the time you seem rational… How about you have a cuppa and a lie down.
        
        5 1
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        August 21, 2019 2:10pm
      - Batman
        
        No time for a lie down while working Tall Man! Gotta earn my keep and all that.
        
        Also, just saying TDS isn’t any argument at all (not singling you out at all!)
        
        1 4
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        August 21, 2019 2:49pm
      - kloyd0306
        
        You won’t have too much longer to wait before the Horowitz and Durham reports show that there was collusion – collusion between Obama, the DNC and Russia (plus other countries).
        
        Obama’s DOJ/FBI gave Hillary a pass re her illegal server and sharing secret documents plus her “pay-for-play” access via the Clinton Crime Foundation. Obama’s DOJ/FBI then “colluded” to spy on the Trump campaign, the Trump transition and then the Trump presidency using false, bought and paid for info gained by the Clinton campaign.
        
        It’s all coming and will show just how devious and criminal Obama and the Obama administration was. Clapper, Brennan, Newland, Lynch, Comey, McCabe, Rosenstein, Strzok, Page et al. Biden had to know also. They are all corrupt.
        
        Had Hillary won, none of it would have seen the light of day but it is coming and it will be devastating. For that we must be extremely thankful that Trump won and he finally woke up and appointed William Barr to be AG.
        
        10 0
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        August 21, 2019 2:32pm
      - Ed Snack
        
        Manafort passed on polling data (not secret data either) to Ukranians.
        
        The Russians were in fact interested in disrupting the election process and increasing the level of distruct Americans have in the system. And they succeeded beyond all their expectations primarily because the Democrats so actively cooperated with them to do so.
        
        If (and it is a big if – though it was treated by the FBI and other members of the IC as if it was genuine) the Steele Dossier is sourced as claimed (from Russian officials at high levels) then that is a highly active piece of collusion – indeed conspiracy – paid for by the Clinton campaign.
        
        What equivalent help did the Russians offer the Trump campaign ? They were not necessarily complicit in sourcing and leaking the DNC and Podesta emails – in fact a Judge in the US has demended that the SC’s prosecutors remove references to the Russian State being behind efforts. Guccifer2 who released a small amount of already known material was a creation of Crowdstrike as a diversion (he posts from US Eastern Time Zone and never exposes anything of any value anyway.
        
        Russian Facebook and related campaigns (largely by the “Internet Agency” – a loose collective that may be state funded) spent something in the order of $200K in total on ads – around 50% of that AFTER the election. And studies of their ads show that they primarily promoted divisive themes for and against both parties. For example they promoted BLM rallies, a post election anti-Trump rally attended by Michael Moore as well as anti-Clinton and anti-Democrat activities. As to the impact – well the Democrats spent over $1.5B, so $200K just doesn’t seem material, does it ?
        
        So I believe that you have either simply been hoodwinked by the very one sided coverage provided in NZ, or you know that the Russians were not especially favouring Trump but are sufficiently invested in TDS that you insist on pretending so.
        
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        August 21, 2019 5:44pm
- stephieboy
  
  Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
  Fletch, what do think the Journos with the Washington Examiner, American Thinker, Breitbart, Fox etc are?
  
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  August 21, 2019 10:18am
  - Jack5
    
    Stephie X: How do they compare with graduates of the ? Stephiestan Institute of Islamic Communications?
    
    Its graduates are reputed to be the cruise missiles of Islamic trollery.
    
    Pity the guidance systems were bought cheap on Aliexpress.
    
    13 1
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    August 21, 2019 10:52am
  - Inandout
    
    stephie, if you were really curious you should try them. Your mind might be enlightened.
    
    11 0
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    August 21, 2019 11:14am
- kloyd0306
  
  It all started with Edward Murrow who passed the baton to Walter Kronkite and has never stopped since.
  Now, the Democrats run Google, Facebook and Twitter.
  
  10 1
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  August 21, 2019 11:09am
  - Batman
    
    If they do, they seem very committed to allowing Russian bots/disinformation campaigns and crazy assholes on there!
    
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    August 21, 2019 11:20am
    - Ed Snack
      
      Far more viciously deluded “Liberals” on all those platforms. Promoting violence, racism, and hatred as is the Democrats normal modus operandi.
      
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      August 21, 2019 5:45pm
  - Jack5
    
    Started with Edward Murrow?
    
    No, Pulitzer Prize winner Walter Duranty was writing evil lies before Murrow.
    
    http://www.visiontimes.com/2017/06/25/the-new-york-times-journalist-who-covered-up-genocide.html
    
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    August 21, 2019 11:27am
  - JibberJabber
    
    Kinda off topic, but my a good friend of my parents and a neighbour took Murrow on a mission over Berlin during WW2 in his Lancaster.
    https://americanrhetoric.com/speeches/edwardrmurroworchestratedhell.htm
    A bit of useless info I know.
    Jock had given me a hard copy of this article back in the 70s and I`d lost it, you just inspired me to find it online, Cheers.
    
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    August 21, 2019 12:24pm
    - Tauhei Notts
      
      I recall a chat with a WW2 pilot from about 42 years ago. He had been offered a job in bomber command, or he could go to Burma with the RAF. He chose Burma as he had been told that there was not much future in bomber command.
      I bought his share of an accountancy practice in 1977. There was most certainly more future in an accountancy practice in 1977 than there was in bomber command in 1943. The Hun’s fire power made I.R.D. inspectors seem insignificant. That ex-pilot served as honorary treasurer for the local RSA for another 26 years.
      
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      August 21, 2019 9:20pm
Fletch

Brilliant meme from the NZ Taxpayers’ Union that hits home on the petrol tax report. 😆

https://www.facebook.com/nztaxpayers/photos/a.448026671968025/2124019481035394/?type=3&theater
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August 21, 2019 10:15am
- sooty
  
  Don’t you love attack ads!
  
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  August 21, 2019 11:54am
Jack5

Good morning Your Majesty, will you be posting today?

Where is our poster ?The King? this morning?

Perhaps, since it was shown to His Majesty yesterday that “white” is a colour, the royal poster is busy organising a National Coloured People’s Association. ?
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August 21, 2019 10:26am
- The King
  
  Kneel, peasant.
  
  5 1
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  August 21, 2019 2:26pm
Bobba Fret

If I was the petrol company, I would display the price per litre excluding taxes, and the total price including taxes eg. $2.22 a litre or whatever and even change the pumps if possible to have price before taxes and total price. This would really highlight the amount of taxation included.
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August 21, 2019 10:27am
- Maggie Pie
  
  An updated version of something like this?
  
  https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ECZvlY5U0AU72xx?format=jpg&name=small
  
  6 1
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  August 21, 2019 10:55am
- chaos
  
  She’ll I think it was put out I think last year how much they make from petrol and how much the govt makes. Should be a digital display at each station though.
  
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  August 21, 2019 11:38am
Maggy Wassilieff

Phil’s new plan for failing cities
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/115157876/government-plan-to-free-up-council-planning-rules-to-help-fix-our-failing-cities
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August 21, 2019 10:28am
- Swifty
  
  Two full years in and he’s still just flapping his jaw – talking about plans and intentions.
  
  Year of delivery?
  
  Yeah nah.
  
  18 0
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  August 21, 2019 10:46am
- cmm
  
  BREAKING NEWS
  
  Government set to buy 10,000 Monopoly games and sell the houses.
  
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  August 21, 2019 11:19am
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    And the money will go into the ‘Free Parking’ pool?
    No such luck!
    
    3 0
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    August 21, 2019 4:25pm
- chaos
  
  So labour have adopted national policy again.
  
  5 0
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  August 21, 2019 11:36am
  - Tall Man
    
    They can adopt the policies but haven’t got a clue about implementation.
    
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    August 21, 2019 2:08pm
- Straight arrow
  
  There is a development for 480 homes just ready to go…
  
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  August 21, 2019 2:05pm
Jack5

Where does National stand on the possibility of an advertising-free TVNZ and Radio NZ being merged forming one super media supplier pushing Leftism and bludging on taxpayers?

Radio NZ is already linked to the scheme of subsidising eight national print reporters, whose output it would share.

Such a merger would be near Lenin-scale socialisation of our media.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/115139482/tvnz-ceo-says-there-will-be-consolidation-in-media-industry-as-171m-loss-looms
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August 21, 2019 11:11am
- UrbanNeocolonialist
  
  How about we fund 12 and let parliament decide who gets funded – need support of a block of 10 MP’s. Just to inject a little political diversity into it.
  
  Or better still, base it on internet readership – give any and all journos (not just those nominated by RNZ) between $0.02 and 0.05 per NZ article reader.
  
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  August 21, 2019 3:53pm
Straight arrow

Andrew Little, on behalf of Minister for Corrections, stated in House yesterday that Tarrant’s letters would [seem to] be reviewed by everyone in Corrections and security services.

Given Corrections other major policy announcement this week…
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August 21, 2019 11:12am
Liberty

National should tell winston to get F*****

“The scalp of Paula Bennett is being demanded if National is to avoid a lawsuit by NZ First Leader Winston Peters, Newstalk ZB understands
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12260304”
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August 21, 2019 11:13am
- chaos
  
  Sounds like blackmail to me, corrupt peters showing himself up for what he is again while getting the pension, a wage, winter payment and more.
  
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  August 21, 2019 11:33am
  - sooty
    
    Is labour lite going to roll over to show their yellow belly?
    
    3 5
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    August 21, 2019 11:50am
    - Tall Man
      
      So you’d prefer “communist lite”?
      
      Good to know.
      
      2 0
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      August 21, 2019 2:04pm
- Martin Williams
  
  Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
  Would love for this to happen. New Zealand would be far better off without Paula Bennett.
  
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  August 21, 2019 11:43am
  - Batman
    
    Sadly for you Martin, you dream is unlikely to become reality any time soon.
    
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    August 21, 2019 11:57am
  - rangitoto
    
    Aww. Did she tell you to zip it sweetie.
    
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    August 21, 2019 12:05pm
  - rightoverlabour
    
    As would it be better with out you. Now nice immigrants from South Africa are making great contributions to the economy, education and the overall well being of this place. You could learn something from them, as could that Xenophobic wannabee deputy Prime Minister…. Amazing that Labours Sexual Assualt victims go to none other than Paul for comfort and action.
    
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    August 21, 2019 12:59pm
  - Captain Mainwaring
    
    There’s nothing quite as pathetic as a bitter & twisted lefty.
    
    16 1
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    August 21, 2019 1:22pm
  - Tall Man
    
    Not as well off as it would be without ardern…. Well, guess what…. it soon will be. 😉
    
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    August 21, 2019 2:05pm
  - JibberJabber
    
    The latest in Lefty soy person fashion accessories,
    https://www.facebook.com/imnotrightinthehead/photos/a.10150174273375377/10162982684960377/?type=3&theater
    
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    August 21, 2019 2:19pm
- Happychappy
  
  Don’t you find it a bit rich that he going to court over leaked details of his Pension and then tries to score political points on the talks with the National Party.
  
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  August 21, 2019 11:49am
  - stigie
    
    How do you not know that Peters leaked his own pension details to get some traction in the media because he was being left out at the time..?
    I wouldn’t put it pass the prick !~
    
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    August 21, 2019 1:24pm
    - Tall Man
      
      Now you may think that but I couldn’t possibly comment…………….
      
      6 0
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      August 21, 2019 2:03pm
- Ian Boag
  
  Just out of curiosity – and I am not an NZF supporter … what has he done to piss off National supporters?
  
  Other than some people – on KB and elsewhere – don’t like him.
  
  He put the kibosh on CGT.
  He wants a referendum on abortion.
  He killed 3-strike reform.
  No coalition partner would tinker with the pension in any way so longer as Winston is there.
  
  From what I can gather, Nat supporters would generally be OK with most of the above.
  
  The PGF is the usual sort of bone that gets thrown to coalition partners – in days gone ACT got a few charter schools and the Auckland super-city.
  
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  August 21, 2019 3:33pm
  - UrbanNeocolonialist
    
    Winston:
    
    3 billion pissed away on PGF. $1000 for every (actual) tax payer in the country.
    
    Another billion on his embassy spendup
    
    Enabled the whimsical killing of oil and gas industry with estimated cost to NZ in 10’s of billions.
    
    Enabled the economic misteps (bad industrial relations, higher taxes) that are leading us into a downturn – low growth.
    
    Enabled another billion waste on free student fees with no increase in enrolment as a result
    
    Enable halt of vital infrastructure improvement projects (roading) and enabled huge waste on low quality green transport hobby horses of cycle ways and trams etc. We just end up further years behind and more inefficient.
    
    Enabled massive waste on kiwibuild and billion trees fiascos
    
    Enabled pissing off of US, Australia and Chinese trading partners by inept Ardern
    
    It goes on and on and on.
    
    12 1
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    August 21, 2019 4:02pm
    - Ian Boag
      
      So you are not one of the ones who complain that his 7% gives him “too much power” …..
      
      He’s a minority coalition partner – gets the odd bone – can kill the odd policy but that’s it.
      
      Do you think – as a minority partner – he should be able to drive the show.
      
      ????????????
      
      2 7
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      August 21, 2019 5:46pm
    - Tall Man
      
      You’re wasting your time.
      
      He’s just trying to be a smartarse. Anyone with a working brain is well aware that “what’s in it for wynston” is a blight on New Zealand and will be until the day he gets flicked out of Parliament.
      
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      August 21, 2019 9:19pm
  - Jazzby
    
    In fairness, we should also note that NZF voted down Marama Davidson’s Bill to impose Maori wards on local government.
    
    4 1
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    August 21, 2019 4:20pm
    - Tall Man
      
      The veritable conman always throws you a bone… after he has eaten the meat and sucked the marrow out.
      
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      August 21, 2019 9:21pm
  - The King
    
    Stealth signing the UN migration compact. Most Winnie supporters voted for his hard stance on immigration.
    
    He stabbed them all in the back and signed the death notice of this country.
    
    That’s why he stealth signed it and the media complied with 0 coverage.
    
    You don’t need to stealth sign something that’s good for the country you shout something good for NZ at the rooftops.
    
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    August 21, 2019 7:42pm
skyblue

Q3 to the Minister of Immigration in QT today:

Hon MARK MITCHELL to the Minister of Immigration: Does he stand by all his statements and actions in relation to Karel Sroubek?

TNT coming?
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August 21, 2019 12:03pm
record guy

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12260450

Oh look …. what a surprise

Aaron Drever bankrupted – owes plenty

Grocers Market was a disgraceful failure

Up next the Bowling club sale which is touted as fraud, his lawyer is currently banned, and the last Director of Black Mountain made himself the subject of a book.
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August 21, 2019 12:06pm
- Tall Man
  
  Bankrupt but not broke…… It’s the people he has done business with that lose out.
  
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  August 21, 2019 2:01pm
  - record guy
    
    So true.
    
    All the home owners he f**ked over.
    
    Dudded the Mad Butcher.
    Grocers Market a failure.
    
    Now bankrupt. The Mad Butcher describes Drever as a commercial hazard.
    
    But not before a few million gone, and oh what a surprise , Waterstone the liquidators and none other than Matt Blomfield a Director of Black Mountain just prior to it going belly up.
    
    Drever now another bankrupt to follow in the footsteps of Mansel, Matteu, Storm – and always the same common denominator
    
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    August 21, 2019 4:11pm
Maggy Wassilieff

https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/order-paper-questions/list-of-oral-questions/oral-questions-21-august-2019/

Q3: Karel Sroubek is back on the agenda.
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August 21, 2019 12:07pm
Captain Mainwaring

Did I hear this morning that the Govt. changed the law pertaining to mines so that any mine needs to have two exits? Seems to have put the skids under the Pike River re-entry.
Does Angry Andy’s left hand know what his right hand’s doing?
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August 21, 2019 12:54pm
- rockape
  
  I can confirm that would be required under the Current law. Andrew Little has suggested they should ask him for an exemption . So he advocates for rules and then is happy to break them for political gain.
  
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  August 21, 2019 1:18pm
- chaos
  
  Wouldn’t think they would do that because then their victims of sexual assault would be able to escape from the mine on the 9th floor and expose them…..
  
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  August 21, 2019 1:27pm
- Liberty
  
  The incompitent fools would have known that before they spent
  millions on this futile escapade.
  
  12 1
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  August 21, 2019 1:47pm
cmm

We often hear the lefties say that non-Westerners (Africans etc) have a natural affinity for nature and the West are the Evil Filthy People.

Perhaps they should ask Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

When he wants to fly from Harare to Bulawayo (360km) he whistles up a private jet from Dubai. That’s an 11,000 km journey for a 700km round trip). And not just any jet, but a 737!

That puts DeCaprio’s private jet flight around the world to pick up an environment award to shame. DeCaprio was only using a Gulfstream.

http://zimbabwehuchi.com/president-ed-has-hired-a-private-jet-from-dubai-on-his-trip-to-bulawayo-on-friday-morningagain/
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August 21, 2019 1:34pm
stoptheboats

no PMQs from Simon today ? is her majesty wagging Q time yet again !!??
7 2
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August 21, 2019 1:57pm
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  The PM was there to answer Questions put by Paula Bennett
  
  https://www.parliament.nz/en/watch-parliament/ondemand?itemId=208333
  and
  https://www.parliament.nz/en/watch-parliament/ondemand?itemId=208337
  
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  August 21, 2019 3:08pm
  - Captain Mainwaring
    
    Where was Bridges? Was he having a day off in return for Cindy’s yesterday?
    
    3 3
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    August 21, 2019 3:12pm
Tall Man

And in “Breaking News”…. the unelected ardern has decided to call an early election but there will be a few changes…. for the better of course.

Because there were so many nasty people who booed mummy, mummy was upset so neve was upset and that can not be allowed… “No hurty feelings for mummy and neve” so….. voting will now be done on “Party lines”. watermelon booths will be set up in vegan restaurants, tinny houses or anywhere poofy enough to sell “soy latte mocho coffee thingys”.

labour polling booths will be set up in all local pubs, pokey outlets and WINZ offices plus every second TAB and cigarette retailer.

National party polling booths will be way the fuck… oh who cares, we won’t be counting them anyway.

Firearms owners will not be permitted to vote and anyone who has ever had a “bad” thought about neve’s mummy will also be banned from voting.

To all those people that booed neve’s mummy….. a “hurty face” to you.
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August 21, 2019 2:24pm
lilman

How do you make a woman a millionaire?

Get her to marry a billionaire.

Heard today ,laughed like hell.
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August 21, 2019 2:57pm
Maggy Wassilieff

Professor of Public Health, Marewa Glover, Massey University believes that bodies heal after inhaling second-hand smoke.

https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2019/08/mps-aghast-over-tobacco-researcher-marewa-glover-s-claim-bodies-heal-from-secondhand-smoke.html
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August 21, 2019 3:14pm
- chaos
  
  Wonder how much the tobacco industry paid her to say that.
  
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  August 21, 2019 4:06pm
- Ed Snack
  
  Interesting as there is research that strongly suggests that for adults anyway, second hand smoke from cigarettes is a non-hazard at a statistically significant level.
  
  It does make sense as research also suggests that it is the “hot” products in the smoke that are directly inhaled that are the major irritants and major carcinogens. “Cold” smoke just doesn’t contain significant quantities of the more harmful molecules although it can be quite irritating.
  
  Don’t smoke and dislike it, but it is always, just IMHO, important to have a level and scientific understanding of the risks so foolish and pointless policies are not implemented.
  
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  August 21, 2019 5:51pm
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    Perhaps that is so for adults…
    but the major problem is with babies and respiratory-vulnerable youngsters in a car.
    
    They might be in a car for a few minutes/week, or they could be transported for an hour or more each day in a smoky car.
    
    My main problem is that Professor Marewa Glover is going against all the medical knowledge on 2nd-hand smoke damage to children,
    https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/secondhand_smoke/health_effects/index.htm
    
    and as far as I can gather she has no medical qualification. (but who in the General public would realise that).
    
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    August 21, 2019 6:17pm
Komata

Maggy@1514

The lady has obviously not encountered those non-smoking adults who either have emphysema from living in the same house / business as smokers, or cancer from the same source.

Her research would possibly be somewhat ‘selective’; a pre-determined answer looking for a supporting narrative perhaps?

It does academic research no favours….
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August 21, 2019 3:34pm
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  Yep,
  she’s an idiot, carried away with her own importance, i suspect.
  
  I grew up in a household of smokers…mother, father, step-mother, 2 brothers.. my constitution was fine..(Father died of lung cancer; step-mother who had been asthmatic in teen years, died of heart-failure in early 60s, had been plagued with respiratory problems for about 10 years prior…and had stopped smoking)
  
  My best friend at primary school was a severe asthmatic… dead at 14!
  
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  August 21, 2019 3:49pm
chaos

I don’t know but this article just Sounds a bit fishy to me. A messaging board on an encrypted instant messaging site, buying through a messaging app. Very complicated for something not illegal to sell.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12260626
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August 21, 2019 3:57pm
- Batman
  
  That’s how you know that these little twerps know what they’re doing is wrong and unacceptable to the wider populace. They know it so they hide themselves in little corners of the net instead of doing it openly.
  
  5 5
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  August 21, 2019 4:07pm
  - The King
    
    Yeah lets do things openly so the NZKVD stazi can Gulag you for 14 years.
    
    Keep pushing commies, keep pushing.
    
    4 2
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    August 21, 2019 7:47pm
- Inandout
  
  How dare they upset Jacinda in this way. She has a baby. Best she gets told the internet is like the wild west, despite Google’s best intentions.
  
  10 1
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  August 21, 2019 4:14pm
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  Thank goodness none of us in NZ can read Ukrainian.
  
  7 0
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  August 21, 2019 4:23pm
  - chaos
    
    Heck none of us in NZ can read and understand jacinda
    
    9 0
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    August 21, 2019 4:38pm
    - The King
      
      You can read her easily, its called “the Communist manifesto”
      
      5 0
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      August 21, 2019 7:54pm
  - godruelf
    
    Has Cindy got the 757 fuelled up for a trip to the Ukraine to sort them out. Might not be a great idea to take a plane in military livery to Ukraine/Russia airspace though.
    
    9 0
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    August 21, 2019 4:53pm
    - Steve Otto(North Shore)
      
      I think she is going to UN in the States soon, but Ukraine is on the way to NY
      
      7 0
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      August 21, 2019 5:51pm
      - sooty
        
        Well she did create a demand for it!
        Maybe she STFU and it would have gone away!
        But no she had to make a song and dance!
        
        7 0
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        August 21, 2019 6:21pm
- niggly
  
  Just think it’s a little too convenient that this story has been aired today (where did it come from?) as it’s given Jacinda a “platform” to “condemn” and appear like a “leader” after a few days of bad news stories for Jadinda and Labour (eg Corrections letter debacle, Maoridom yesterday calling her out, KiwiFail resignation, Simon Bridges landing blows including the classic “Fleecer in Chief” comment about Ardern, the Pacific Islands Forum fallout, booed at the rugby etc etc etc … so isn’t this just “convenient” for Labour eh)!
  
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  August 21, 2019 5:57pm
  - sooty
    
    Play sheet?
    
    6 0
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    August 21, 2019 6:22pm
  - The King
    
    Tarrant was literally the only good thing to happen for Adern, weird huh.
    
    She’s in her element. Fighting the evil Nazis around the world with her… 1993 film and television ban.. .hahahaha
    
    9 0
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    August 21, 2019 8:00pm
  - chaos
    
    It just feels fake to me. The description of where it is being sold feels fake. As much as I searched and asked a few friends overseas none of us could locate it. I think the story is bs
    
    6 0
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    August 21, 2019 8:10pm
    - Batman
      
      Uhhhhh that’s the point mate, it is hard to find on purpose. You have to be in the right circles and hang out in the right places to be given access to the private forum.
      
      6 0
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      August 21, 2019 8:17pm
    - The King
      
      C14 on telegram. They are an ultranationalist Ukrainian group, Bellum Acta is their news account.
      
      Doubt i can link it here.
      
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      August 21, 2019 9:53pm
- Tall Man
  
  It’s bullshit…. as is the usual playbook from ardern.
  
  Why buy it when it is freely available everywhere except here in NZ.
  
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  August 21, 2019 9:01pm
Nookin

What’s good for the goose……

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/115185267/embattled-caa-chair-nigel-gould-resigns
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August 21, 2019 7:49pm
- Captain Mainwaring
  
  Looks very much to me like Twitford is firing everyone in the Transport Ministry in order to deflect the blame for his own ineptitude.
  What happens when the buck stops on his desk?
  
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  August 21, 2019 8:33pm
  - sooty
    
    Wish he would resign!
    
    4 0
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    August 21, 2019 8:39pm
- niggly
  
  Or is it Labour desperately trying to regain the initiative, in an attempt to “bury” the many bad news Labour (and Jacinda’s weak leadership) stories of late?
  
  First Jacinda “looking strong” over this weird out-of-nowhere Ukrainian story this morning, now we have Phil Twyford coming out of witless protection and also “looking strong” by asking the CAA chair to resign?
  
  Who will Labour be throwing under a bus tomorrow (in order to look “strong” and in “control” again) …. and to help bury tomorrow’s bad news story (which will be f’ing huge media wise) which is the Ihumatao protesters marching to Jacinda’s electorate office?
  
  (And according to Newshub, the PM whom is never at Parliament on a Thursday, also won’t be at her electorate office tomorrow either! Where will she be “hiding” tomorrow then)?
  
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  August 21, 2019 8:43pm
Maggy Wassilieff

Some sense about abused Maori children
“I have a fundamental belief in the vital place of the whānau in raising and nurturing their tamariki,” he told the crowd.

“I also believe in the absolute right of the child to be protected and where necessary, taken out of harm’s way.

“My challenge is to the whānau, hapū, iwi to take care of our tamariki and where the need arises to place them in a safe home.

“We must avoid blaming the Government.

https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2019/08/m-ori-king-tells-people-to-stop-blaming-government-over-child-uplifts.html
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August 21, 2019 8:27pm
Captain Mainwaring

The Keystone Cops are at it again.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/115185312/three-prisoners-believed-to-have-escaped-from-levin-police-station
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August 21, 2019 8:37pm
- igm
  
  As was stated last week, NZ police recruitment standards have dropped beyond belief, since the CoL illegitimately came to power.
  Who/what was guarding these guys? A fairy, transitioner, or 5ft ethnic?
  
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  August 22, 2019 1:19am
Hugh Pavletich

NEW ZEALAND HOUSE BUILDING: What lessons are being learned from top performing Councils such as Waimakariri and Selwyn ? …

Yesterday Urban Development Minister Phil Twyford and Environment Minister David Parker released the discussion paper on the proposed National Policy Statement on Urban Development …

Helping our cities grow up and out … Hon Phil Twyford and Hon David Parker … New Zealand Government

https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/helping-our-cities-grow-and-out

… The TV One News report …

New urban growth plan touted as game changer that will fix NZ’s ‘dysfunctional’ housing market … Katie Bradford … TVNZ

https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/new-urban-growth-plan-touted-game-changer-fix-nzs-dysfunctional-housing-market

https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/our-cities-failing-government-launches-new-plan-urban-growth?auto=6074909967001

Two commentaries from Newsroom this morning, where the funding impediments issue is discussed (an issue for some local authorities and not others it appears) …

‘Nice pointers, but show us the money,’ say councils … Marc Daalder … Newsroom

https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2019/08/22/766152/lack-of-funding-threatens-new-development-initiative

Lecturing councils won’t work for Labour either … Bernard Hickey … Newsroom

https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2019/08/22/767057/lecturing-councils-wont-work-for-labour-either

… although remarkably … there is no discussion on the ‘performance gulf’ of specific units of local government, and most importantly, why on a consents / build rate per 1000 population (standard industry measure) Waimakariri and Selwyn are clearly top performers … access graphs 5 & 6 (require updating) below …

http://www.performanceurbanplanning.org/2017%20Information.html

… and a graph recently prepared too by Donald Ellis …

… The ‘rot’ really set in with the ill – conceived (by then Local Government Minister Michael Bassett) 1989 forced amalgamations within the local government sector … where in the main larger units of local government lost control of their costs and the capacity to meet their infrastructure responsibilities.

Put another way … the bloated bureaucracies of the larger local authorities controlled patsy elected representatives (effectively becoming bureaucrats poodles) and ran things to suit themselves … as they went to war with their communities.

There are two types of local government in this world … the small and the bad.

Take the ‘local’ out of local government … and you bureaucratically bugger it.

Generally … better balance between elected representatives and bureaucrats has been maintained within the smaller units of local government … and long overdue lessons need to be learned from the top performing Waimakariri and Selwyn Councils.

Just because too many units of local government have screwed things up … it most certainly does not give them the unaccountable right to effectively BAN the provision of new affordable housing.
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August 22, 2019 8:41am
- Cobolt24
  
  GD is open for the 22nd now, it came late though!
  
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  August 22, 2019 10:12am
  - Hugh Pavletich
    
    Cobalt24 … I will have a crack at seeing if the Mod allows the above to be posted on 22nd GD !
    
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    August 22, 2019 11:05am

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