General Debate 09 July 2020

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Maggie Pie

“Stamford Base to Digby. Over”

“STAMFORD BASE to Digby. Come in. Over”

“STAMFORD BASE TO DIGBY. DO YOU COPY! Over”
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July 9, 2020 8:03am
- Harlequin
  
  Just cos I’m feeling pedantic this morning.
  
  Using International Radio Telephone Procedure:
  
  “Digby this is Stamford Base over”.
  
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  July 9, 2020 8:18am
- sooty
  
  Where’s Bushy, hiding?
  
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  July 9, 2020 8:21am
  - RF
    
    Holding his head in shame after his multiple stuff ups.
    
    He is now a ghost since Andy gained Arderns favour.
    
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    July 9, 2020 9:16am
  - freethinker
    
    Probably gone Bush – lets hope he stays there.
    
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    July 9, 2020 10:33am
  - igm
    
    Where is Jethro?
    
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    July 9, 2020 11:58am
alex Masterley

Maggie, Digby has probably ducked out for a fag.
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July 9, 2020 8:16am
- Maggie Pie
  
  That may not be too far off the mark Al. 😀
  
  Word is that the absconder snuck thru a hole in the fence after observing the Security Guard sharing a ciggie with a female Covid suspect in the smoking area of the hotel carpark.
  
  My partner reckons he was probably desperate for a hot root…..or a Vindaloo. LOL!!
  
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  July 9, 2020 8:59am
  - 3-coil
    
    Maggie – RNZ news report said the security fence had been blown open by the wind FFS! Ron Marks promised digger Digby was going to ride in with the cavalry to pull the whole quarantine operation up to the impeccable high standards the NZ military are renowned for!
    Edit: have you seen how many medals lil’ Ron is weighed down with nowadays?? ?
    
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    July 9, 2020 9:22am
    - G152
      
      … [Deleted. Provide evidence first. Mod]
      Wearing tin before real medals as I remember
      
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      July 9, 2020 9:42am
    - MT_Tinman
      
      have you seen how many medals lil’ Ron is weighed down with nowadays??
      
      Must be catching.
      
      At least one other MoD used to swan around pretending to be a soldier as well.
      
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      July 9, 2020 9:43am
- Fletch
  
  Or a nice cup of tea.
  
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  July 9, 2020 10:46am
MCos

Aluminum smelter closing down again.
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July 9, 2020 8:17am
- Kleva Kiwi
  
  Again? This is the first time they have ever announced it will close. Its been under an internal review for a year.
  
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  July 9, 2020 8:47am
- Two bob
  
  Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
  the only good thing about labour is theyre less likely to engage in corporate welfare, national would have handed them 10s of millions by now. mind you I guess some union will be going cap in hand to them now.
  
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  July 9, 2020 8:48am
  - Right of way is Way of Right
    
    What, like the 10’s of millions they’ve handed to, amongst others, The Warehouse, AJ Hackett, The Racing industry and so on……
    
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    July 9, 2020 8:59am
    - Nigel Kearney
      
      Not enough Labour voters down there though.
      
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      July 9, 2020 9:12am
      - igm
        
        Norm Jones wil be turning in his grave. Even though Southlanders are resilient this is too big a hurdle to handle.
        Maybe Jones could give them a bit of the money he is envisaging wasting on Northland to try and win a seat to keep his corrupt party in Parliament.
        Talk about corporate welfare, this behaviour is tantamount to theft, and there should be a law against what they are doing!
        When are the court proceedings starting against the leader regarding party donations?
        
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        July 9, 2020 4:53pm
    - the deity formerly known as nigel6888
      
      20 billion still left in the kitty to piss against the wall to win an election. But as otherNigel says, no Labour votes down there, so bye bye smelter, and all those tory jobs.
      
      WINZ had better open a bigger office down Invers way. SIT shafted, now the smelter, this is real scorched earth by Labour.
      
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      July 9, 2020 10:05am
    - chukar
      
      If you are creating a list— Weta workshops,Avatar America’s cups etc etc
      
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      July 9, 2020 10:19am
  - Paulus Gnome
    
    Jones will promise that he, and he alone being the greatness that he thinks he is and not the tosser we know him to be, will relocate the smelter to Northland . . .
    
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    July 9, 2020 9:02am
  - Frank Hematuria
    
    Two bob haven’t you noticed this government’s schizophrenic policies of shelling out corporate welfare like there’s no tomorrow (and especially, though not only, in the far north) while at the same time driving important industries into the ground? Listen to people in Taranaki, agriculture and horticulture producers, the fishing industry, forestry, the list goes on….they don’t get 10s of millions handed to them they get 10s of millions of additional costs loaded on them if they are not abolished completely by manic “captain’s calls”.
    
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    July 9, 2020 10:28am
- Right of way is Way of Right
  
  Let’s do this….
  
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  July 9, 2020 8:57am
  - Two bob
    
    lets keep smelters moving
    
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    July 9, 2020 9:22am
- KevO'Brien
  
  Beyond regret. Most NZedders won’t know how the smelter supported the growth of NZ during the latter part of the last century.
  Bauxite from Aus was shipped here for processing into metal. The electricity to smelt that was produced here from out natural rainfall. The metal was sold to the world for NZ Dollars. That gave NZ an assured supply of foreign exchange.
  
  The Captain’s call to cancel Taranaki will cause similar damage.
  
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  July 9, 2020 9:11am
- Isobar
  
  Good – its not the Govt’s job to subsidise private business. Rio Tinto have played us too many times now.
  
  The best thing the govt can do now is make the necessary changes to the national grid to ensure we all benefit from cheaper power prices.
  
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  July 9, 2020 9:25am
  - geoff3012
    
    I don’t think current grid can shift that power north.
    
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    July 9, 2020 9:39am
    - backster
      
      Better to use cheap power to attract industry to lower South Island saving on transmission costs.
      
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      July 9, 2020 10:41am
      - kowtow
        
        Plenty of coal down there.
        
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        July 9, 2020 11:07am
  - Cobolt24
    
    The last time they received anything from the government was in 2013, $30 million I believe.
    
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    July 9, 2020 9:43am
  - Garbageman
    
    If you think thats going to happen you are in lala land Isobar the infrastructure cost for that would make subsidising Rio Tinto seem like a drop in the bucket
    
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    July 9, 2020 10:02am
  - Benedict Yu
    
    Quite correct – it is not the Government’s job to subsidise private business. But neither is it the Government’s job to celebrate their destruction – which is effectively what the Government has done in relation to gas exploration.
    
    I don’t know anything about what drove the business decision, but power prices were apparantly a factor. How much did carbon pricing add to their costs? Australia has 6 smelters all supplied by cheap coal fired electricity and no carbon pricing.
    
    We might think we are virtuous by this zero carbon thing. But the rest of the world (if they take any notice) will be laughing at us as we become increasingly poorer. I guarantee that Australian Government Ministers will think New Zealand is totally bonkers. The Australian PM will always be polite about it, but that is what he will think.
    
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    July 9, 2020 10:10am
  - Nickc2
    
    Come on Isobar, this Govt has been subsidising private business ever since the word Covid hit the headlines whilst borrowing money to pay for it. Your feature statement above is a bit rich!
    
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    July 9, 2020 10:16am
- Bill Felt
  
  Get the Member from Southland on to the case!
  
  oh wait…
  
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  July 9, 2020 9:30am
- seismac
  
  Yes and isnt this a case where NZ Govt Inc should be taking a led and buying the smelter for the future or the new industrial NZ
  This is the metal of the future and has been found to be the most pure alluminium in the world — used in aircraft manufacture
  We the peopleof Nz own the power production using our water at Manapouri so where the problem
  
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  July 9, 2020 9:34am
  - alwyn
    
    “used in aircraft manufacture” you say.
    I’m not sure that that will be a great marketing point for anyone thinking of keeping the company going.
    When I look at all the aircraft that are parked, unused, at airports around the world I don’t think that there will be very much demand for new planes in the next year or two.
    Have a look at these examples.
    https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesasquith/2020/04/04/the-latest-pictures-of-grounded-aircraft-around-the-world/#bcae0e6358d3
    
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    July 9, 2020 9:58am
    - Benedict Yu
      
      “When I look at all the aircraft that are parked, unused, at airports around the world I don’t think that there will be very much demand for new planes in the next year or two.”
      
      That is not the case. Both Boeing and Airbus have full order books for the 737 max (that has other issues), the A320 family, and the 787 and A350. To illustrate the waiting list for an A320 is now nine years.
      
      Why? Because the airlines are retiring their less efficient planes (like the 777-200, – 300, 747-400, and the A380) Many of the airlines that are parked are these types and many of them will be scrapped.
      
      There are signs in Europe and Asia that aviation is going to recover much faster than feared. So in summary, I think Boeing and Airbus will do fine, with the qualifier that Boeing sorts out the 737 max. What you will see is a shakeout in the Airlines. High debt ones like Virgin Australia could disappear. On Air New Zealand it is too soon to tell. It will never fly to Europe again. It can’t compete with the Middle East carriers. It had major ambitions in North America. These plans may be scaled back.
      
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      July 9, 2020 11:54am
      - alwyn
        
        You are quite right about the obsolete and least efficient aircraft being the ones that will be scrapped first.
        Even then though I wouldn’t be investing in Boeing just at the moment. As of May 12, according to this article from a Seattle paper, Boeing’s order book was down by more than 500 aircraft since the start of 2020.
        https://www.seattletimes.com/business/boeing-aerospace/boeing-has-lost-more-than-500-orders-this-year-as-aviations-coronavirus-crisis-deepens/
        
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        July 9, 2020 2:41pm
  - Nickc2
    
    The world is awash with aluminium at the moment according to Rio Tinto.
    I agree with Alwyn’s post below, there are enough planes laying parked up at present to satisfy the industry for the next 20-30 years I’m told. One wouldn’t want to be in the Aircraft Building industry right now.
    
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    July 9, 2020 10:22am
  - freethinker
    
    A National Govt with ACT providing the pragmatism should purchase on favourable terms with investment from Kiwi Super Fund and contract operations to those who understand its operation and product marketing, keep the Bureaucrat out totally. The Global demand will return for its product and all the profits will stay in NZ. That financial pygmy Cullen had the same opportunity when The National Bank was for sale but couldn’t see the benefits, doubt Cullen would recognize a Pyramid in the dessert.
    
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    July 9, 2020 10:44am
  - Blackbob
    
    Carbon fibre and other composite technologies are “the metal of the Future” unfortunately when it comes to Aviation. Aluminium is last century technology now.
    
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    July 9, 2020 11:30am
- Old.Mickey.Blue.Eyes
  
  The business has operated for near 50 years in NZ. Well doen Jacinda ! Guess head nodding and head tilting wasnt kind enough. 1000 more jobs for your epitaph……. #economic_terrorist #MakeAdernGoAway
  Given the HUGE volume of cash these communists have thrown aroudn to save jobs, they have ignored 1000. Is the workplace non-unionized? Does that explain the lack of support? I guess the govenrment could buy it, put Twyford in charge and call it KiwiAlluminium – what could possibly go wrong ?
  
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  July 9, 2020 9:41am
- Garbageman
  
  Heartbreaking MCos i know many of the people working there and another blow to our Invercargill community add a few more to that list our company will be reducing staff shortly we have held out as long as possible but have reached breaking point, the average length of employment for the staff here is over 18 years loyal & dedicated staff every last one of them this really is destroying my soul as the days progress so lets for a minute put aside the left vs right wankery and realise these numbers are real people with lives mortgages children etc with not a whole lot of options for their near future employment wise, maybe some of the individuals that are saying good job might want to take a bit of this message on board before you show yourself up to be the ass you are
  
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  July 9, 2020 9:42am
  - freethinker
    
    Garbageman – Spot on. The disruption caused by Wu Flu the lies of the CCP and the abject incompetence of the coalition of clowns is soul destroying and makes the will to do anything above survival unattractive especially the Green policy of stealing wealth – you cannot tax people into prosperity. Whilst National has stuffed up big time they remain the lesser of two evils unless ACT achieve sufficient MPs to ensure a National Govt would be forced to not only listen but to implement their policies.
    
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    July 9, 2020 10:52am
    - mark15
      
      ACT all the way.
      
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      July 9, 2020 12:06pm
      - MCos
        
        What’s ACT going to do for Southland? Build a whole lot of charter schools and prisons?
        
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        July 9, 2020 12:50pm
      - MT_Tinman
        
        Open the f%$#ing borders!
        
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        July 9, 2020 2:36pm
    - MCos
      
      I don’t think the decline of the aluminum industry has much to do with COVID-19.
      The smelter may have staggered on a bit longer, but the writing’s been on the wall for some time with the company having made a bit loss over the previous year due to a slump in the price.
      However.
      All those people being laid off in the current depressed job market must be a killer for the region.
      
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      July 9, 2020 12:45pm
  - Loddenthinks
    
    Without wishing to deepen the hurt your region is undoubtedly feeling, the reality is the smelter is producing a product that’s no longer in demand, or for which the stockpiled product is sufficient for the foreseeable future. Why should there be special protection for those jobs when there’s no market for the product?
    
    In that respect, it’s no different to closing down a non-productive coal mine, and I’d also point out that Southlanders aren’t the only ones feeling the pain of this government’s ham-fisted over-reaction to the virus. I hope that doesn’t make me an ass, but if it does then I’m at least a realistic ass.
    
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    July 9, 2020 10:57am
    - Garbageman
      
      No thats fine and quite accurate Loddenthinks i should have added the writing has been on the wall for a while as we all know, many companies down here have diversified away from having to many eggs in the smelter basket for this very reason, it still sucks the big kumara though but life will go on
      
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      July 9, 2020 11:48am
- Clyde
  
  Rio Tinto have a long and unenviable record of holding a gun to the head of Government and this may be another example of brinkmanship. But NZ has one of the highest costs in the world of electricity delivered to the consumer.
  
  The Government could easily take a stance by publicly starting the process of installing the necessary infrastructure between Manapouri and the rest of the Transpower network to enable the output of Manapouri to be fed into the national grid.
  
  But what we also need is a comprehensive rethink on NZ’s electrical energy generation and distribution shambles. It is absolutely crazy we have a situation where the monthly power bill is one third energy and two thirds line charges.
  
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  July 9, 2020 9:54am
  - chukar
    
    Note :some lines companies have even been buying vineyards with their spare cash.
    
    Their activities could do with a review.
    
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    July 9, 2020 10:25am
- Fletch
  
  Didn’t the Beatles write a song about it, Helter Smelter ?
  
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  July 9, 2020 10:48am
- UrbanNeocolonialist
  
  Inevitable, Middle east can make electricity for as little as USD $0.02/kWh from their vast gas reserves for decades to come. No way NZ production can compete with that.
  
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  July 9, 2020 11:54am
fernglas

Megan Woods explanation for the information about Covid-19 patients being sent to the Helicopter Trust and other organisations is an admission of more DoH incompetence. All the people who test positive for Covid 19 are held in quarantine under the control of the Ministry, so there is absolutely no reason for anyone else to know, as no other agency would deal with them without MoH involvement. The most likely explanation is that the details were circulated back when positive people were self isolating, and some functionary forgot to stop sending the information out once there were no infections in the community. There was no need for this information to have gone to Boag.
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July 9, 2020 8:17am
- Two bob
  
  who knows maybe a covid positive could have a heart attack in a supermarket or something?
  
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  July 9, 2020 8:50am
  - Loddenthinks
    
    Yes I can see the helicopter landing outside a supermarket. They would send an ambulance, unless the supermarket was say, in Waiheke, but they only send helicopters there to collect Boag’s passport.
    
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    July 9, 2020 10:59am
  - Ruawai
    
    @twobob.
    Or on the drive to Wellington.
    
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    July 9, 2020 1:53pm
- Nigel Kearney
  
  It would be interesting to compatre the number who have the information now, with the number who would have had it if Boag had not passed it on.
  
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  July 9, 2020 9:14am
  - SGA
    
    Why would that be interesting? I assume that a lot of agencies have access to that information – as part of an pandemic response that would make sense.
    
    At the end of day, lots of people can access your personal records (medical, tax, police, whatever). Boag and Walker knew better.
    
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    July 9, 2020 9:22am
- SGA
  
  All the people who test positive for Covid 19 are held in quarantine under the control of the Ministry, so there is absolutely no reason for anyone else to know, as no other agency would deal with them without MoH involvement.
  
  Currently that is the case. But, as you say, when the protocols were put place, people were recovering in the community, and that situation may very start to happen again – this weekend, next week, whatever (just look at Melbourne). I don’t have a big issue with agencies likely to be involved being kept in the loop – they are trusted with similar information anyway as part of their job. They just have to be more careful about who they trust as their CEOs.
  
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  July 9, 2020 9:15am
  - fernglas
    
    Unnecessarily distributing those details was in itself a major breach of privacy. Being kept “in the loop” is not good enough without any proper justification. Who else did they go to? What care was taken to ensure that only those who had to know were given the information? If it went to the Westpac Helicopter, did it go to the Eketahuna Ladies Red Cross Auxiliary?
    
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    July 9, 2020 10:10am
    - SGA
      
      I don’t know enough about the Eketahuna Ladies Red Cross Auxiliary to answer that. If they are Eketahuna’s first responders to medical emergencies, then I imagine so. Are they?
      
      As far as I am concerned, this seems to be first and foremost a case of two people abusing positions of trust, and I’m unimpressed by efforts to deflect from that.
      
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      July 9, 2020 10:26am
      - fernglas
        
        It’s not a deflection at all. It’s merely pointing out another aspect to the breach which most people are interested in, and that is why Boag had the information in the first place. An attempt to deflect would be saying something like private information can be shared with anyone who may at some other stage need to know it as long as they can be trusted not to disclose it.
        
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        July 9, 2020 11:37am
    - alloytoo
      
      Why was it sent to her private email?
      
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      July 9, 2020 10:36am
- KevO'Brien
  
  Is there any legal foundation for holding these people and how? Prisoners and others have rights. I am only hearing silence from those, like the Human Rights Commissioner and senior lawyers, who should be concerned. Have they all turned to cinders?
  
  I have a strong suspicion that only administrative decisions are involved. The use of Digby may be irrelevant and window dressing. I have seen administrative power abused–that’s why the tax law is so extensive, to prevent that. The principles preventing abuse by public officers apply across all society.
  
  This COL is not beyond the law.
  
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  July 9, 2020 9:22am
  - fernglas
    
    Yes, there is lawful justification for holding people in quarantine. DYOR.
    
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    July 9, 2020 9:43am
    - Te Rauparaha
      
      Except that coronavirus-19 is not an emergency.
      
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      July 9, 2020 9:55am
      - Right of way is Way of Right
        
        No, because there’s a quarantine!!!
        
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        July 9, 2020 2:45pm
    - KevO'Brien
      
      Anything can be justified by opinion, but lawfully?
      Children couldn’t be held in Police cells as they were not legal prisons. Expediency does not over rule law.
      
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      July 9, 2020 10:32am
      - fernglas
        
        As I said, DYOR. You will find that the currrent quarantine regime is legally authorised.
        
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        July 9, 2020 11:41am
- freethinker
  
  Fernglas – just another example of the root cause of many issues around incompetence – Bungling Bureacraps ably assisted by lying incompetent politicians of which the current collection of clowns occupying the Treasury benches are the worst in living memory.
  
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  July 9, 2020 10:57am
burt

Breaking news;

Two thirds of NZ adults like the idea of using other peoples money to buy a new car;

https://www.stuff.co.nz/motoring/evs/122061681/kiwis-back-electric-vehicle-subsidies–but-the-devils-in-the-detail
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July 9, 2020 8:17am
- kowtow
  
  “……68 per cent of Kiwi adults favour subsidising electric vehicles to blunt the impact of climate change.”
  
  To blunt the impact of climate change . Hopeless f#cken morons.
  
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  July 9, 2020 8:23am
- Prince
  
  Note it doesn’t say who commissioned the ‘survey’.
  I think we can guess. Why would an Aussie Research company run this survey in NZ ?
  
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  July 9, 2020 8:28am
- Benedict Yu
  
  Yes – I saw that – truly frightening that people have become addicted to Government handouts. The market will decide when people will buy electric cars in large numbers. Right now it is nuts. I could buy a top of the line Toyota Camry Hybrid for $10,000 less than a stupid Nissan Leaf. My nice , large fuel efficient car will cost about $1,600 annually in petrol costs. So buying a Nissan Leaf right now is idiotic.
  
  First step promote electric vars. Second step – bribe people with their own money. Third step – punish people who refuse to buy them.
  
  We have an ETS which prices carbon in petrol. That is all that is required. Morons the lot of them.
  
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  July 9, 2020 9:59am
  - cmm
    
    Well none of them are That’s the problem with money laundering through the government.
    
    People who wouldn’t take $5 stolen out of someone’s wallet are perfectly happy to take it when it has been taken out of their wallet by the government. Somehow this is supposed to legitimise the process.
    
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    July 9, 2020 10:42am
- UrbanNeocolonialist
  
  Successful countries have populations that work for a living. Unsuccessful countries have populations that vote for a living.
  
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  July 9, 2020 11:55am
Happychappy

There is a big question to be asked, Labour knew Michelle Boag was the most disliked person in the National Party and their Health Ministry has gone quiet after First denying they sent emails to her private address and now they are not giving answers or denying the facts so can we have the answer please as even though it was wrong and insensitive to give those details to the media I believe we need the truth from the Health Ministry and Chris Hipkins. It looks like Boag is standing her ground on how the emails were sent and this could come back to bite the Government on the arse as they seem to be hiding
some facts.
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July 9, 2020 8:18am
- G152
  
  Only some facts ???????????????
  
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  July 9, 2020 8:37am
- Philview
  
  Jacinda will make sure this story only goes in one direction. The media reports are already trying to make out the whole National Party was in on it.
  
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  July 9, 2020 8:40am
  - Paulus Gnome
    
    What the fuck would she know?
    
    She only found out there was a sexual predator in her office after everyone else in New Zealand knew!
    
    Worst prime minister ever!
    
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    July 9, 2020 9:08am
  - Maxx
    
    I’m just surprised they didn’t come out claiming it was hacked
    
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    July 9, 2020 9:40am
- Bobba Fret
  
  Yes thats the big question that needs to be answered by the investigation ….who sent it to Boag.
  
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  July 9, 2020 8:58am
  - cmm
    
    Well if Boag and prat-head had handled it properly then that WOULD be the question.
    
    But Boag and prat-head fumbled and now they’re in the hot seat.
    
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    July 9, 2020 10:44am
- Tricati
  
  Agree HC – The whole sordid saga started when Walker questioned the underhand way Woods was looking to expand the use of hotels for quarantine without the public knowing. Woods response was to call Walker a ‘racist’, which was picked up and run by the MSM. Boag then gets information she knows see shouldn’t have, and sends to Walker to use to show how incompetent the whole isolation saga is, but unfortunately, he was so naïve he couldn’t see he was being played by Boag.
  There is more to come from this and I expect Woods and Hipkins to going into over-drive to deflect attention, and don’t expect to see Ardern anywhere near it.
  
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  July 9, 2020 8:59am
- Frank Thomas
  
  “Nothing to see here citizens, move along…….”. As per usual the MSM will ignore this as it doesn’t fit the “dirty politics” narrative.
  
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  July 9, 2020 9:04am
Two bob

how many border/quarantine fuck ups are we going to have?
Why the hell are we doing this in densly populated areas in buildings not designed for the purpose?

In an effort to prop up the hotel business we are risking the billions spent and lost on covid, bout time the govt start using military bases etc…. I suspect the 4-5 star hotels are used as a form of vote buying, use airbases and military facilities free of charge and allow those that want to upgrade to the hotels at their own cost.
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July 9, 2020 8:21am
- MCos
  
  The NZ military has about 4,500 land based personnel.
  Currently there are about 6000 people in managed isolation.
  I somehow doubt our military bases have anything like the capacity necessary to provide beds, let alone kitchen facilities, laundry and whatever else these hotels have ready made.
  
  Even if returning citizens/PRs did start paying some/all of the cost of their compulsory containment it would still be a big expense for the country.
  Other countries have tried different approaches and depending on your point of view NZ seems to have done well, thus far, by forking out the dough at the borders.
  
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  July 9, 2020 9:12am
  - Blackbob
    
    Tents, there is no shortage of military tents. Waiuoru is nice this time of year and not much worry about mixing with the rest of the population, they can duck out to the supermarket as much as they like… if they can find one.
    
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    July 9, 2020 9:22am
    - MCos
      
      Thailand tried something like that, for about a day.
      Bus loads of people were taken to a military base at Satahip. People who didn’t know each other were put in two bed rooms. Three to a room with the unlucky one sleeping on the floor. Food was hauled up by rope in a bucket.
      I’m not making this up.
      There was so much discord they moved them to a hotel next day before they burned the place down, or set them loose, I can’t remember which.
      
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      July 9, 2020 10:28am
      - Blackbob
        
        I call bollocks on that, unsubstantiated anecdote with no evidence to back it up.
        
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        July 9, 2020 11:24am
    - Harlequin
      
      Imjim satellite camp is rather nice, a river runs through it.
      Paradise Valley is proof that the military has a sense of humour.
      
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      July 9, 2020 2:48pm
  - cmm
    
    There are 6000 people with bugger all else to do. Why can’t they do the do the washing, cooking and latrine digging?
    
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    July 9, 2020 10:46am
    - Benedict Yu
      
      Because, depending on their demographics, few of them know how to do those things. The personnel required to enforce any kind of order over these people in lathe numbers in tent camps does not bear thinking about. Never going to happen.
      
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      July 9, 2020 12:09pm
- Nigel Kearney
  
  What about all the camper vans that international tourists are now not using?
  
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  July 9, 2020 9:16am
  - Jack5
    
    Nigel, good idea, but disable the engines, otherwise the dual citizens will be off.
    
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    July 9, 2020 11:44am
  - Benedict Yu
    
    They are being rented out to people like me at $55 per day 🙂 They are now all sold out through September 🙂 So looking forward to my 9 day trip.
    
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    July 9, 2020 12:10pm
  - Close Hen Counters
    
    I don’t know why they all can’t go home off our tab and have a charming bad buggers anklet like some of our delicious non law abiding citizens – step outside their front door and an alarm goes off at Digby HQ
    
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    July 9, 2020 2:23pm
Chuck Bird

Tim Macindoe’s event tomorrow should be very interesting. There is always time for questions.

Our guest speaker is Hon Paul Goldsmith, National List MP based in Epsom. Paul is the National Spokesperson for Finance and the Earthquake Commission.
WHEN: Friday 10th July, 2020
WHERE: Cafe Agora, Kent Street, Frankton
TIME: 10.15am to 11.30am
A hot drink & muffin are available for $5 (this includes a donation to the Cafe’s charity funding pool).

This is a public meeting – all are welcome.
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July 9, 2020 8:21am
JibberJabber

Why don`t these whiny little shits just go on the Dole?
Then they wouldn`t have to work at all…https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/opinion-analysis/300052201/five-days-sick-leave-new-zealanders-deserve-more
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July 9, 2020 8:23am
- burt
  
  To be fair, 5 days sick leave is pretty dismal. Some government employers have unlimited sick leave.
  
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  July 9, 2020 8:28am
  - mark15
    
    Yes,like that shining beacon of efficiency,the NHS.
    
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    July 9, 2020 8:31am
    - burt
      
      You need to separate the issues here. Do you think it’s an inefficient self serving organisation because it’s a public service monopoly or because it has unlimited sick leave?
      
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      July 9, 2020 11:39am
  - jv
    
    And for many of them it is a licence to
    use/abuse.
    
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    July 9, 2020 8:38am
    - burt
      
      There is always potential for abuse. Give someone who seldom gets sick 5 days sick leave and they might take it even when they are not sick. I’m as anti bludgers as the next person, but employment is about people not robots.
      
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      July 9, 2020 11:40am
      - septic skeptic
        
        In my experience employees fall into two distinct categories. Those that don’t take stickies generally accrue sick leave over the years and are usually close to the maximum entitlement. Every now and then they get sick and need a week, month or longer off. We would often allow them to overdraw in these circumstances, or hold jobs open if they were off for a long period. The others take random single days off shortly after their entitlement kicks in and usually have 0 days accrued if they get sick. These regard sick leave as annual leave that doesn’t need to be pre-arranged with the boss.
        
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        July 9, 2020 12:50pm
  - Two bob
    
    be an employer/self employed and no such thing as a sick day.
    muppets need to stop spending every last cent and save for a rainy/sick day, they should be thankfull to get even 5 days.
    
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    July 9, 2020 8:54am
    - burt
      
      Two bob
      
      I’m self employed and I get what you are saying. But not everyone has the ability to be self employed and there is no need to shit on them for that.
      
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      July 9, 2020 9:15am
      - Two bob
        
        but no need to bludge of the employer for it either, businesses dont have a bottomless bucket of cash to pay out absent workers.
        Could use annual leave etc aswell or just take unpaid leave and stop whinging
        
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        July 9, 2020 9:31am
    - burt
      
      Yes, people do need to save for a rainy day, even if it’s just a few dollars a week. No argument there.
      
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      July 9, 2020 9:16am
  - Frank Thomas
    
    Especially when you have young children. You can quite easily chew through the 5 days having to look after them. As a self employed parent I can work from home with a sick child so it it isn’t a big issue for me, but I can see others for who this isn’t an option having to use their annual leave up. I will hear some of you say “so what? You had a child, it’s your problem”. I would prefer to take a more understanding position with my employees and give them a day off with pay at my discretion. You would soon pick up those would abuse it. Just saying.
    
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    July 9, 2020 9:14am
    - Nigel Kearney
      
      As long as it’s at your discretion, you can be understanding with people who need it but not those who abuse it. What is being asked for here is an extra entitlement that would be outside your discretion.
      
      Also, over the medium term salaries will shift to reflect less work being done. That will affect everyone’s salary not just those taking extra sick leave. The real effect will be to make two parent families subsidise one parent familes. We’ve already gone too far down that track.
      
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      July 9, 2020 9:24am
  - RF
    
    Burt. True.
    
    In another world I was off on sick leave on full pay for over 12 months.
    
    The perks of working for a Govt organisation.
    
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    July 9, 2020 9:42am
  - OTGO
    
    Sick leave. Annual leave. Bereavement leave. Maternity leave, I beat my partner up leave…
    I have never quite got my head around paying your employees NOT to come to work.
    
    9 1
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    July 9, 2020 11:26am
    - Flossie
      
      I’m not, and never have been, an employer and I certainly wouldn’t want to be with all the obligations for staff to have paid days off required.
      
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      July 9, 2020 11:57am
- igm
  
  It is easy to see why lefties never make it in business. Too soft, too tired, too bloody lazy and self-entitled.
  
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  July 9, 2020 8:31am
- pdm
  
  I never had more than 5 days sick leave from when I started full time work on the 6 January 1964.
  
  From 1982 until 2009 I was a self employed sole trader and no sick leave entitlement.
  
  It was never a problem in either case.
  
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  July 9, 2020 8:39am
  - MCos
    
    I, also, had minimal sick days, except when I took three weeks to get over a hip replacement.
    However.
    I have been fortunate to be blessed with good health, unlike my daughter, for example, who caught something when she was young that’s left her susceptible to every bug that’s going.
    My wife gets migraines that leave her barely able to function. When she was young, she tells me, she lost several jobs as a result.
    
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    July 9, 2020 9:29am
- Raphael
  
  When you have the government and health officials and employers demanding that you take off 5 days for sniffles, than the 5 days sick leave is a little hard
  
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  July 9, 2020 9:02am
  - Two bob
    
    who the f**k actualy listens and obeys that crap tho. employers dont usually and its just the lazy worker that milks it.
    
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    July 9, 2020 9:33am
- Right of way is Way of Right
  
  Yes, because 5 days sick leave would have been all I needed in three years of cancer treatment, just saying….
  
  (just quietly, worked throughout most of it, but took more than the 15 days I would have got over the period, had daily radiation therapy for 7 weeks at one stage, only worked half days, and to be honest, should have not even done that. That nearly broke me)
  
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  July 9, 2020 9:04am
  - Two bob
    
    Not being rude but thats what insurance is for, most view it as a waste of money until you have an extended period of illness. if one opts not to insure they should at the very least put a reasonable amount away and build a buffer.
    
    very common problem tho and ive seen quite a few family and friends go through the same struggle you did, working prolongs recovery big time.
    
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    July 9, 2020 9:38am
- Random T Person
  
  I’ve been self employed as a freelance writer for nearly 20 years. I don’t get sick leave or any other entitlements: no work, no pay. Makes for expensive holidays. Also makes for working whether sick or healthy.
  But, then, before I had children, I’d earn 5 times what a FTE in my position would.
  Of course, with kids, productivity has dropped by 50 percent or more, so it’s struggle street for me now, as expenses are up at the same time :-).
  
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  July 9, 2020 9:16am
I remember when

Once again, it wasn’t the Labour Coalition’s fault.
Very few (well actually none) questions asked by the media.
Nobody impressed by the speed with which those at fault from National have been removed.
A ‘once over lightly’, about two further breeches of systems under the control of the Labour Party.
Good old Cindy making sure we all know whose behaviour is beyond the pale.
Aren’t these the areas the Government has just sent the heavyweights into?
Once again the Labour Coalition is not responsible.
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July 9, 2020 8:23am
Prince

Woman works for Burger King.
Burger King goes into receivership.
Woman wants the Government (or as she puts it ‘Jacinda, Winston and the rest of you…’) to force companies to pay for more sick leave.

Join the dots, lady.
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July 9, 2020 8:34am
- Random T Person
  
  Woman works for Burger King.
  
  Dots joined Prince ;-).
  
  (Disclaimer: I once worked for KFC. Didn’t expect handouts, and being as that was in South Africa in the 1990s, there were none).
  
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  July 9, 2020 9:21am
- burt
  
  Exactly, perhaps she could also have a think about how awesome it was that just before receivership she got an extra $1.23 (or whatever it was) an hour.
  
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  July 9, 2020 9:27am
  - igm
    
    That $1.23 increase will cost taxpayers for many years to come. It has been the decisive killer for mamy opting to call it a day. Compliance costs are too high, union interference too great, and return on investment down the gurgler.
    
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    July 9, 2020 12:03pm
Raphael

I am increasingly thinking that we need Trump to win in November in order for Free Speech online to be allowed to exist.

The Authoritarian Far Left and the extreme cancel culture is making sure all BadThink is banned, hunted down and obliterated.

Look at the reaction to JK Rowling signing the letter warning about the downfall of Free Speech
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July 9, 2020 8:34am
- kowtow
  
  JK Rowling is an avowed Labour supporter and was a major donor .
  And not old style cloth cap labour , but the newer progressive style who are also anti free speech.
  
  As Cpl Jones would say “They don’t like it up ’em”
  
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  July 9, 2020 8:47am
  - Raphael
    
    She was. But then she realised that they have come for her as well
    
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    July 9, 2020 9:09am
    - Random T Person
      
      Nothing like a bit of Niemoller in the morning!
      
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      July 9, 2020 9:21am
    - Inandout
      
      Raphael, similar to the Mayor of Seattle when the mob knocked on her home door..’How dare they’ she was heard to say.
      
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      July 9, 2020 9:54am
- KevO'Brien
  
  You want free speech? This one wants free axes as well. Careful about you let live among you.
  https://www.wnd.com/2020/07/blm-leader-whites-subhuman-genetic-defects/
  
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  July 9, 2020 9:33am
  - Inandout
    
    KO, this is the reason BLM is becoming washed out in the US as the loonies climb aboard. Many blacks are disgusted with how the Marxists have taken control.
    
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    July 9, 2020 9:57am
- Fletch
  
  When even a leftie like Noam Chomsky is signing the letter about being worried about free speech (and lefties are jumping up and down about him doing so), you know it’s serious…
  
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  July 9, 2020 10:52am
oldpark

The one that got away from Arderns’ so called Coronavirus Quarantine “System” . Yes her being head of the “System” which allowed the escapee to deliberately walk out of the Lockdown Hotel and head for a Countdown Supermarket at least ten minutes walk from the Hotel . In the Supermarket the escapee was seen to paw all over much of the store as he sought to do some shopping .
Whether he cared or not was infact exposing the NZ Nation of Five Million People to the exposure of Covid-19. . Yes the NZs who had sacrificed so much in the last Three Months could once more be on a hiding to nothing if by the actions of the escapee and the Pathetic type of Security System owned by Ardern failed miserably .
When it was discovered that that there was a breach of the so called Ardern Security System around Coronavirus Quarantine Lockdown panic set in .
“Enter Mairzy Doats and Dozy Doats and Little Lamzy Divey” Better known as Megan Woods and replacement for the disgraced David Clark .
Megan Woods well known for her being economical with the truth and desperate to protect Arderns failed Coronavirus Quarantine Lockdown Security System as well as the fledgling so called Health Department said that on being discovered that the escapee had been caught galivanting around the Countdown Store the Store was immediately closed .
Not true says Newspaper Reports it stayed open for at least two more hours . What a web Megan Woods has weaved as she also set out to hide the fact the “NZs FIVE MILLION” Citizens well being and life style could once more be under threat.
Yes it is Criminal that a Coronavirus Escapee should expose “FIVE MILLION” to what could happen . Sadly the fact the Megan Woods blatantly
told lies about the immediate closure of the store also hiding the fact of Exposure of FIVE MILLION NZs is unforgivable,and is also a complete indictment and an abomination of the type of Politicians who are attempting to win the General Election in September 2020. Trust Lieee-bour Yeah! Right! Not all of us are that Green .
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July 9, 2020 8:36am
- Paulus
  
  Megan Woods is tipped as Ardern’s replacement when she goes “anywhere” after September election.
  Sorry Robbie – wrong gender – really.
  
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  July 9, 2020 2:02pm
Maggy Wassilieff

Tiwai Point to close….Another 1000 folk looking for jobs

https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/300052786/tiwai-point-to-close-1000-jobs-to-go
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July 9, 2020 8:37am
- Maggie Pie
  
  YAY!! Our power bills will all come down 😀
  
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  July 9, 2020 8:49am
  - Two bob
    
    in a decade once transmission lines have been built.
    
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    July 9, 2020 8:55am
    - Inandout
      
      Tb, the ‘discourse consent’ put up by the Greens will see the lines are delayed decades.
      
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      July 9, 2020 10:00am
  - DeepBlue
    
    No they won’t. Prices all rise under socialism, so we can be equally poor.
    
    All eyes on how the government responds in Southland-Clutha. It’s hard to subsidize back 2600 direct and indirect jobs.
    
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    July 9, 2020 8:56am
    - Libertarians are right
      
      That’s a Deep Blue seat, Labour don’t care.
      Yes, they are that nasty.
      
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      July 9, 2020 9:31am
      - DeepBlue
        
        Yes it is very blue, but Labour can’t hide from 2600 vulnerable Tiwai people, the SIT staff closures and Queenstown tourism. They are kind remember.
        
        All eyes will be on how they ignore Southland-Clutha.
        
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        July 9, 2020 10:11am
      - UrbanNeocolonialist
        
        Trying to convert workers who vote National into beneficiaries who vote Labour.
        
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        July 9, 2020 12:07pm
    - Maggy Wassilieff
      
      I expect quite a few will shift North…they might even infiltrate some of those solid Left-voting electorates in Dunedin.
      
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      July 9, 2020 11:46am
      - DeepBlue
        
        How do you shift anywhere when you own a house in Invercargill/Bluff? Not too many buyers going to that region now.
        
        Feel a bit sorry for the warm climate refugees that will end up there in low cost, nationalised housing.
        
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        July 9, 2020 2:07pm
  - Random T Person
    
    Mine was fuckin 420 dollars this month. Enough to make me want to hit the old 4:20!!
    
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    July 9, 2020 9:22am
  - burt
    
    More likely we’ll close down a power station because it’s not needed and then because we’ve closed a power station prices will rise because we have a shortage. In left land there only needs to be 1 day between the announcements for people to miss the connection.
    
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    July 9, 2020 9:29am
    - Two bob
      
      wouldnt be a bad thing have you seen how bad the manapouri hydro has ruined the waiau river?
      put the river water down the natural river and make it healthy again!!
      
      4 7
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      July 9, 2020 9:44am
      - burt
        
        I agree, we could open up a nuclear plant to cover the shortfall and return the river to it’s natural path and volume.
        
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        July 9, 2020 9:58am
  - Lance
    
    So you think Tiwai closing is good the economy?
    
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    July 9, 2020 9:29am
    - burt
      
      It’s good for adding more people to the welfare queue which is good for Labour at the election.
      
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      July 9, 2020 9:52am
    - septic skeptic
      
      Yes. Those jobs cost us too much in subsidized power and bailouts.
      
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      July 9, 2020 1:00pm
  - dave_c_
    
    “Power bills will all come down”
    Rubbish – The power company is already indicating that the ‘transmission costs’ associated with the aluminium smelter, will be spread over all customers.
    This does not sound sensible, nor legitimate to me.
    
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    July 9, 2020 10:34am
- Kleva Kiwi
  
  More like 2500 +, not to mention all the other businesses that will now have a downturn because 10% of Invercargills workforce have lost their jobs
  
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  July 9, 2020 8:49am
- Wired-one
  
  Devastating for Southland and NZ, it will be more like 1500 jobs lost not 1000. And no you will not be getting cheaper power because of this.
  
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  July 9, 2020 8:52am
  - Random T Person
    
    It may seem devastating but if the thing isn’t profitable and sustainable, it reflects the release of capital and resource to be better applied elsewhere.
    
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    July 9, 2020 9:23am
    - Cobolt24
      
      I disagree with you in this case, for example, the tobacco factory in Wellington closing soon is due to consumer preferences changing, a better business will take its place when there’s already a shortage of industrial land here.
      Tiwai closing is going to wreck the Southland economy.
      
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      July 9, 2020 11:09am
      - Random T Person
        
        OK, so if we have special cases Cobolt, why is my business not a special case, and where do we draw the line? Should the government be spending money to ‘keep jobs’, which means taking away from some to give to others? That’s a very socialist thing to do, if you take it down to brass tacks.
        We don’t have to like it. But if the business case does not stack up, then the business case does not stack up. Black holes should be recognised for what they are; this is the Concorde fallacy right in front of our eyes.
        
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        July 9, 2020 11:24am
- Tony Stuart
  
  I’m not a fan of corporate welfare in general, but Tiwai Point puts food on a helluva lot of Southland tables.
  
  Given the reckless abandon with which the Government is currently throwing money around, you’d think an investment to save Southland jobs would be considered.
  
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  July 9, 2020 9:10am
  - Random T Person
    
    Doesn’t matter. Principles say if a business is not profitable and sustainable, then it is not profitable and sustainable. It must close so the released capital and resources can be better applied elsewhere.
    Principles are not bound by scale…
    
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    July 9, 2020 9:24am
    - geoff3012
      
      Do you want to buy a slightly used smelter….to release that capital?
      
      3 0
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      July 9, 2020 9:53am
      - Random T Person
        
        No thanks Geoff. But if you’d like to discuss principles, then we can go right ahead. Whether it is a corner cafe or indeed a smelter, keeping it afloat with other people’s money is known as ‘soshil-ism’ as David Cunliffe smarmily said when receiving his red roses on achieving the Labour Party leadership.
        
        BTW, this is why I vote ACT. You can’t say ‘corporate welfare is bad…unless it is Tiwai’. Anyone else see the problem there? Where do the exceptions end? At the corner cafe, at Tiwai, or somewhere in-between?
        
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        July 9, 2020 10:52am
  - Lance
    
    Labour think they are just all Southern rednecks who wouldn’t vote Labour anyway.
    It was their time to be thrown under the bus
    
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    July 9, 2020 9:31am
    - Ruahine
      
      This is no loss to Labour. There are no votes for them in the Deep South.
      Where there are no votes Labour does not care. Which is why there are no new roads for the Waikato or the Bay of Plenty.
      Their new best fiends the ‘Greens’ will probably be quite happy about it all. They hate industry unless it is ugly windmills or pollution derived electric cars.
      
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      July 9, 2020 10:30am
  - david
    
    There are apparently heaps of rural jobs in the dairy industry. Might not pay as well as working in the smelter though.
    
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    July 9, 2020 11:45am
- Frank Thomas
  
  Well, I suppose you can only suck so much money off the public tit before the tit runs dry. Rio Tinto finally called the governments bluff, if you excuse the pun. Feels sorry for the people who will lose their jobs, but you can’t run a business built on taxpayer subsidies.
  
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  July 9, 2020 9:23am
  - Random T Person
    
    Absolutely Frank.
    
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    July 9, 2020 9:24am
- niggly
  
  I’m utterly disgusted with Labour, Greens and the fools that empowered these losers, NZ First, the so-called champions of the regions, for enabling the loss of thousands direct and indirect of jobs, for killing off the Southland economy (as they are doing with Taranaki), for causing a loss of millions in revenue to the Govt and vital export earnings, and for helping killing off a strategic manufacturing industry.
  
  Hang your heads in shame all Labour and Green MP’s plus the vain idiots in NZ First who enabled this. The NZ First corpse is rotting away and will be consigned to the bin of history come the September election.
  
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  July 9, 2020 9:28am
  - septic skeptic
    
    I can’t believe how many socialists we have on here. They would never be red socialists, but so long as it’s the blue team handing taxpayers cash to a corporate multinational it seems that’s OK.
    
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    July 9, 2020 1:10pm
- burt
  
  Tiwai Point to close….
  
  Just as well they have had such cheap power for so long or they might have noticed they were not viable years ago. Well spent tax payers money trying to prove trickle down works – but it doesn’t does it – it’s just corporate welfare.
  
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  July 9, 2020 12:51pm
Two bob

Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
Tiwai smelter goneburgers!!!!
Thank fuck for that, I really hope this is for real and the govt dont go pandering to them with corperate welfare.
big infrastructure project to build transmission lines to lake benmore in the next few years (guna be fun with nimby and greens)

hope the plundering c**ts deal to the warehouses of thier toxic waste before the do a runner… somehow I dont think that will happen tho.
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July 9, 2020 8:41am
- Wired-one
  
  Absolutely appalling comment, think of what this will do the the local and National economy and the thousands of families and businesses who will be affected. You are a plonker.
  
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  July 9, 2020 9:07am
  - Lance
    
    Every single comment ‘Two Bob’ makes is obnoxious, so don’t be too surprised.
    Trolls gotta be trolls
    
    [Other posters have as much right as you do to make their points – debate their arguments, and quit your bs ‘troll’ talk. Mod.]
    
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    July 9, 2020 9:33am
    - Tall Man
      
      However mod, we do have a couple so is it “banned” to address them as such?
      
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      July 9, 2020 2:22pm
  - niggly
    
    Spot on and as for more/cheaper power for the rest of NZ, I call BS! Firstly it will take years if not decades for RMA consent to build alternative infrastructure to get Benmore’s power to elsewhere and if it finally happens you can bet power prices will be increasing to fund this new capital expenditure.
    
    Well who would have thought the Ardern Labour Govt will be remembered as being “worse” than the Lange/Douglas Labour Govt in terms of killing off regional economies and turning places into ghost towns, with soaring inequality! Gee thanks Jacinda, Robbo, Shaw & Davidson and good ol’ traitorous Winston!
    
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    July 9, 2020 9:36am
    - geoff3012
      
      Power comes from Manapouri…Benmore bloody miles away….
      
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      July 9, 2020 9:56am
      - Jack5
        
        Even harder to get the power north from Manapouri. More transmission loss, more lines, and then, wow, could the present Cook Strait cables carry the load?
        
        Worse: getting close to a billion dollars a year of export earnings lost. Through the smelter, NZ has been virtually exporting electricity.
        
        Already a deficit in overseas earnings, the population soaring at a Third World scale, the Australian outlet for surplus labour clogging up …
        
        Things aren’t looking good. How to pay for all the new power line infrastructure, then maintain it? And will even this be enough when the Greens force all cars and trucks to be electricity-powered?
        
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        July 9, 2020 11:41am
      - Two bob
        
        the power from manapouri needs transmission lines built to benmore to enable manapouri electrictity to be carried to the north island, the grid/transmission south of benmore isnt big enough to deliver the load.
        untill then its useless nationally and would just flood southland with cheap power which the gentailers wont let happen of course.
        
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        July 9, 2020 10:37pm
  - Two bob
    
    I live here I have several mates that work there and even they agree the smelter should stand on its own feet or go if it cant be viable.
    
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    July 9, 2020 9:49am
    - Jack5
      
      Two bob, watch your house price from now.
      
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      July 9, 2020 11:42am
  - burt
    
    think of what this will do the the local and National economy
    
    It will stop us from propping up an business which isn’t viable – and you think that’s bad for the local and national economy?
    
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    July 9, 2020 12:52pm
- SB2
  
  Two bob , the viability of Tiwai has been on the cards for ages and ages.
  
  Even the corporate welfare ( cheaper electricity ) on offer and given ( both sides of the house) was in the end in vain.
  
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  July 9, 2020 10:44am
  - Two bob
    
    look at rio stinkos wording “eventual closure” theyve just stepped up a notch or 2 with their threats. World wide the plunder govt subsidies and corporate welfare same as many other super profit giants, thats how they get so rich and powerfull.
    
    f**k em call their bluff and tell them to piss off. if the smelters that great then make it a govt asset.
    
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    July 9, 2020 11:04am
    - Jack5
      
      An NZ government-owned smelter?
      
      Sounds like you are running a campaign to stop the slaughter of Labour in the Invercargill electorate at the coming election.
      
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      July 9, 2020 11:46am
  - burt
    
    Totally in vain, but it was a good opportunity for MPs to pretend they understand business.
    
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    July 9, 2020 12:53pm
Yvette

A spokesman for Ardern said it would be inappropriate for her to comment on the IWCNZ [Islamic Women’s Community of New Zealand] submission until the commission had released its full findings.

IWCNZ may be concerned their full submission will be edited to something other than they have submitted, but do they not have recourse if that happens?

However, by her now supposed inability of comment, Ardern should already admit her mistake in the slogan “They are us”.

’They’ seem determined to do something else and the IWCNZ’s current move indicates that perhaps in their opinion They aren’t quite us.
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July 9, 2020 8:41am
- SB2
  
  Yvette , now who do you think is ” us”?
  
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  July 9, 2020 10:46am
Maggie Pie

Watched the old Alfred Hithcock classic ‘Psycho’ a few months back.
Story in this mornings NZH reminds me of the ‘shower scene’ 🙁

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12346662
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July 9, 2020 8:44am
- Random T Person
  
  Careful Maggie P, David G is gonna throw a hiththy fit at your thpelling there!
  
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  July 9, 2020 9:29am
  - Maggie Pie
    
    And here was me thinking he was one of the good guys. LOL!
    
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    July 9, 2020 10:22am
- kowtow
  
  On a serious note , the Ministry of non Corrections has a duty of care to all the inmates in its “care”
  To double someone up with an animal like that is surely a gross infringement of his rights.
  
  The prison guards union makes a huge song and dance when a guard gets the biff , the media make a huge song and dance of evry other Tom Dick n Harry’s rights at the hands of the state ( think Fentanyl Floyd , where’s the outrage here .
  
  Where’s Kelvin .
  
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  July 9, 2020 11:21am
piglady

A hypothetical
Im working age with COPD so very vulnerable if I got COVID-19. Who pays if I’m to scared to go to work and I want to stay home and protect myself?
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July 9, 2020 8:44am
- burt
  
  You can make that choice, but which ever way you make it what makes you think it’s a problem for other people to solve for you?
  
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  July 9, 2020 12:55pm
- Tall Man
  
  There is zero community transmission so what are you scared of?
  
  You are more likely to catch a cold than covid, it’s winter after all.
  
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  July 9, 2020 2:40pm
I remember when

Great News coverage on TV3:
A lone protester turns up to greet Todd Muller down south yesterday.
As luck would have it he has had covid-19 and knows what a stigma is attached to it. Good television, he managed a few words of condemnation.
The weather looked bleak so he was even risking the health of his immune system to show his disgust.
Great luck for TV3.
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July 9, 2020 8:51am
- MCos
  
  Todd Muller attracted a protester.
  
  Hard to imagine why.
  
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  July 9, 2020 9:37am
  - JibberJabber
    
    LoL, TV3 got a slice of $50mil and could only afford to bring one?
    
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    July 9, 2020 11:05am
Tony Stuart

National leader Todd Muller said Hamish Walker’s resignation was “the only option”.

The error of judgment in leaking Covid patients’ details to media had “cost him his career”, Muller said.

The events of the last few days had not reflected National Party values.

Muller wouldn’t discuss the contents of a legal letter from a Queen’s Counsel he had received on Monday, a day before Walker publicly confessed to leaking the patients’ private details.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12346451

So now the truth about Hamish Walker’s leak to the media is emerging, and unfortunately, it doesn’t reflect well on Walker himself. It also explains the delay between Todd Muller becoming aware of Walker being the source of the leak, and his decision to write to the National Party Board requesting the Walker be de-selected as National’s Southland candidate.

Towards the end of the story is this:

How Walker tried to stop Muller from naming him

Walker tried to stop Muller from publicly outing him as the leaker citing privacy concerns.

Walker admitted to Muller on Monday midday he was behind the private details of active Covid-19 cases being leaked to media, sparking a Government inquiry.

Muller told the Clutha-Southland MP he needed to own up publicly.

It’s understood later that afternoon – after the Government announced the inquiry – Muller received a legal letter on Walker’s behalf.

It asked the National Party leadership not to out Walker citing concerns about his privacy.

Muller then sought his own legal clarification.

So the reason Todd Muller came across as a little hesitant in one or two interviews yesterday was that he was choosing his words very carefully, and good on him. He has played this by the book, and deserves credit for a zero tolerance stance towards behaviour such as Walker’s.

Interestingly, I attended a couple of meetings in Whanganui yesterday where Nikki Kaye was present. Given the developments of the day, especially the resignation of Michelle Boag from her campaign team, Kaye could have been excused for being a bit sombre. She was quite the opposite; upbeat, engaging, personable, and willing to answer questions on anything. I was impressed by her.

Todd Muller has lanced a boil, which if left alone could have festered well into the election campaign. On the other side, managed isolation/quarantine is still a clustershambles.
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July 9, 2020 8:53am
- Bobba Fret
  
  Muller has handled the Walker / Boag issue very well IMO and as quickly as possible considering the lawyers etc involved. Ironically the lefties believe he took too long to act………As DF has pointed out Ardern took a lot longer to deal with her issues and has still never actually sacked anyone.
  
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  July 9, 2020 9:26am
- Isobar
  
  Its very interesting huh. What is clear is that it shouldnt be this hard to immediately remove a sitting MP who has done something like this. He is now going to be a dead man walking whilst taking a full salary for the next three months.
  
  Firstly maybe its time that MP’s were subject to the Privacy Act and secondly maybe the law should be changed to allow party leader to remove an MP under such circumstances.
  
  I cannot believe the only way out of this was to hope he tendered his resignation. When he should have got a don’t come monday.
  
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  July 9, 2020 9:32am
  - Libertarians are right
    
    The problem is that he’s an electorate MP. If he was a list MP it would be easy.
    
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    July 9, 2020 10:25am
    - septic skeptic
      
      Easy, but not for National.
      
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      July 9, 2020 1:17pm
- bruceavon
  
  Yes. Have read a few good background stories on this now and it comes down to Hamish Walker making terrible decisions and then trying to save himself without any concern about who he drags down with him, including the party and Muller. What amazes me is he sends out this statement about “11,000 people coming from “India, Pakistan and Korea” And then he seems to think if he only shows the people were coming from these places he is off the hook. No, not in modern 2020 politics. He’s dreaming. Then he realises he’s going to be caught when Labour appoint Heron to do a proper enquiry, so instead of doing the decent thing, he lawyers up and forces Muller to deal with his lawyer. So no wonder Mullers first statement seems mild. Besides that walker has allowed Muller and Woodhouse to carry on attacking the government over the weekend about the leak. And once caught, claims he was trying to show the problems with the system. BS. Completely self serving, crappy behaviour. I suggest the party selects some old sensible candidate next time and not some full of themselves young guy. This guys been a disgrace.
  
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  July 9, 2020 9:47am
  - Tony Stuart
    
    People in the know tell me that by and large, Hamish Walker has been an excellent electorate MP. He’s gone into bat for his constituents on such issues as the closure of the Lumsden Maternity Home and the tourism industry, which is huge in his electorate. But last week, almost three years of good work turned to custard in a pretty spectacular manner.
    
    I am sure the electorate members will be very judicious in choosing his replacement, once nominations close.
    
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    July 9, 2020 9:58am
    - SB2
      
      Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
      Tony Stuart, attempting to gloss over the issue?
      
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      July 9, 2020 10:24am
      - Captain Mainwaring
        
        Stephie2, attempting to set a new level of idiocy?
        
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        July 9, 2020 11:05am
      - Tony Stuart
        
        Are you being dim deliberately Stephie, or does it come naturally? I’m not trying to “gloss over” anything, and I have previously said Todd Muller was dead right to ask the National Party Board to deselect Walker. That doesn’t take away from the good work he has done for his constituents though.
        
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        July 9, 2020 6:16pm
    - Jack5
      
      Is National running some sort of media campaign to blacken Hamish Walker and take the heat off itself, and Boag?
      
      Why is Boag escaping most of the condemnation?
      
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      July 9, 2020 11:48am
      - septic skeptic
        
        Good point. If Boag gets permanently retired from anything to do with right wing politics we will have a better chance.
        
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        July 9, 2020 1:19pm
      - Tony Stuart
        
        Not at all Jack. Yesterday, I called for Boag to be suspended from the National Party until the Heron report is completed. However she suspended herself, which is a good thing.
        
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        July 9, 2020 6:19pm
    - Nookin
      
      SB2
      
      What is it about:
      “… almost 3 years of good work turned to custard in a pretty spectacular manner” do you not understand?
      Have you read any of the previous comments made by Tony over the last 3 or 4 days?
      
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      July 9, 2020 5:39pm
  - RJ
    
    Hamish did what boag, his mentor told him to do. Muller should of stood behind walker last week when he was called a racist, which of carouse he wasn’t, and this week when he did what higher ups told him to do.
    
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    July 9, 2020 11:42am
- Philview
  
  Cam Slater’s blog this morning is an interesting read on Michelle Boag’s history connected to prior leaks of confidential information. If the MSM pick up the blog and pursue the same line of questioning then the next few weeks could be very uncomfortable for Niki Kaye if the media try to break her.
  
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  July 9, 2020 11:23am
I remember when

If a National member had left an interview the way Chris Hipkins left the covid list one yesterday they – WOULD HAVE STORMED OFF.
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July 9, 2020 8:54am
- Tony Stuart
  
  Indeed; only politicians from the right “storm off” or “lash out”; well, according to the media, anyway 😀
  
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  July 9, 2020 9:05am
- Maggie Pie
  
  Absconder from Stamford Plaza quarantine hotel, took selfies of himself buying fresh Mussels from Victoria Street Countdown. Health Minister Chris Hipkins described him as “….shellfish bastard” 😛
  
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  July 9, 2020 9:10am
  - Tony Stuart
    
    You’ve already used that gag Maggie; has the joke well run dry?
    
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    July 9, 2020 9:23am
    - Maggie Pie
      
      Bet you’re the sort of wanker that interrupts someone telling a joke at a party and spoils the punchline. LOL!!
      
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      July 9, 2020 10:15am
  - Bobba Fret
    
    You could always start the joke again with “My partner says….” to make it seem new again.
    I think its quite witty.
    
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    July 9, 2020 10:41am
DeepBlue

If MOH fail, bring in the army, if the army fails bring in the cops.

Woods is running out of people to shovel the heat to.

Absolutely no idea, who let’s people into an area where construction is happening.?
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July 9, 2020 8:58am
Durden

Old School thoughts on “sincerity” — i.e. smiles, frowny face, tilted head, nodding head, furrowed brows, empty words, hugs and all that.

https://youtu.be/EMl0YQanRWI
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July 9, 2020 9:07am
Right of way is Way of Right

Luke Malpass’s opinion piece on the Walker/Boag fiasco is a great deal more complimentary on the manner in which Todd Muller handled the incident this morning, as opposed to the uninformed vitriol he published in Stuff yesterday. In fact, Malpass has set his sights squarely on the Ministry of Health, and is asking some very pertinent questions on how Michelle Boag managed to get hold of the information. Given that the tenuous connection to the Auckland Rescue Helicopter appears to be a bit of a dead end, the initial privacy breach appears to lie straight at the feet of the Ministry.

I’ll bet Chris Hipkins is wishing David Clark had stuck around for one more week!
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July 9, 2020 9:13am
- Tony Stuart
  
  To be fair to Malpass, his piece on Stuff’s website yesterday was time-stamped 5.00am, and was probably submitted the night before. Therefore it pre-dated Muller declaring no confidence in Walker, and announcing he had set the wheels in motion for the Board to deselect Walker. That aside however, he could have updated the story at any time during yesterday.
  
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  July 9, 2020 9:19am
  - Engelbert Humperdink
    
    I like to deal fairly with everybody the first time I deal with them. If they don’t deal fairly themselves, I try to not have to deal with them again. But then there are those people who get in your face regardless.
    
    You’re being gracious Tony, whereas I don’t see any reason to be fair to modern journalists of the Malpass ilk.
    
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    July 9, 2020 9:53am
Scooter

I’m abit sceptical about the number of people wanting to return to NZ, after all it’s the middle of winter, no chance of getting out for the foreseeable future, no jobs, economy in decline.
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July 9, 2020 9:16am
- Jules99
  
  If they are reading NZ media, then in NZ we are free of the virus and the economy is about to zoom back as a result of our awesome PM. Why wouldn’t you want to come here when their own country, India, is being portrayed as one of the top three dangerous countries in the World alongside the US and Sweden.
  
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  July 9, 2020 9:42am
  - kowtow
    
    Al Jazeera reported that it’s next to impossible to get into hospital in India …….
    
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    July 9, 2020 11:43am
- DeepBlue
  
  Consider how many people FIFO for work on monthly rotations, or simply have half year overseas. Even the 65+ have to spend six months in NZ to retain super (or thereabouts), how about all the people just on holiday or OE. Then there are the scared people with COVID raging around their domicile country who have now lost jobs etc. Consider all the young people in Melbourne now, with NZ family saying come home to Mum as soon as you can.
  
  It could be hundreds of thousands of NZers wanting to come ‘home’. Many may leave again, but for now NZ is whispering to them…. We are safe.
  
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  July 9, 2020 10:26am
- SB2
  
  Scooter, certainly a much safer place than say the US , UK or the EU both covid and employment wise ( with 92% employed )
  
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  July 9, 2020 10:27am
RF

Yep. Ardern as usual is running a mile from this problem and furiously arranging visits to kindergartens to spread the love.

Chippy and Megan had better watch out for buses driving towards them.

You could not make this stuff up.
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July 9, 2020 9:28am
- MCos
  
  When Doc Clark was the big cheese and something went wrong he was nowhere to be seen, with the PM & Doc Bloomfield explaining things away.
  
  The cry went up ‘Where’s Clark?’
  
  Now something goes wrong and Wood & Hipkins front up.
  
  The cry goes up ‘Where’s Ardern?’
  
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  July 9, 2020 9:44am
  - Libertarians are right
    
    Because the minister of health AND prime minister should be on top of these things.
    
    16 1
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    July 9, 2020 10:21am
    - SB2
      
      Libertarians are right,
      
      Like the US President?
      
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      July 9, 2020 10:40am
      - RJ
        
        No, like the governors of each state that are responsible for their states response to the virus.
        
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        July 9, 2020 11:35am
      - Jack5
        
        The punctuation-challenged Stephie is rostered on as SB2 today.
        
        Are you working from isolation, Stephie X?
        
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        July 9, 2020 11:50am
      - Libertarians are right
        
        Our Prime Minister has taken a very active role in the handling of this (well, the praise taking and propaganda anyway) and it is the Health Minister’s job. Therefore, both should be fronting on any issues.
        
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        July 9, 2020 1:00pm
Bobba Fret

Does any one know, if the MP’s have managed to get their pay decrease of 20% for six months implemented yet? If it takes much longer, they will say as the country is now pretty much back to normal, or there is an election coming up and there may be a government change, so they wont bother putting it through!
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July 9, 2020 9:31am
- TWEEDSE
  
  I think Cinders is still very disapointed the pay drop has not happened. But it is very difficult to arrange…
  
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  July 9, 2020 12:14pm
  - Pheobe
    
    Funny how pay increases don’t take any time at all.
    
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    July 9, 2020 1:37pm
- cmm
  
  No doubt it will finally come through two weeks before the election. Then, two weeks after the election, the 6 month period will be finished and it is back to full pay.
  
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  July 9, 2020 12:40pm
- KevO'Brien
  
  A pay drop for Parliamentarians can only be a voluntary act, otherwise it takes legislation.
  Legislation for the COL seems to be optional depending on Ardern R.’s moods. Taranki was gone in a few wild wishes with I believe an informed Cabinet Minute following.
  This COL are acting as though law is a mere guide line not a restraint. They avoided calling Parliament after Bloomfields initial lockdown order citing a 1956 dodge. Everything appears ad hoc without a sound knowledge base or rules. Are the Deptl Heads now mere sycophants too who dare not advise or plan against their Ministers or the PM’s visions? That level is vital for effective administration. If it has been beheaded no wonder we have the worrisome mess confronting us where no one knows what is going on and the military and Police are involved. Those are matters for Parliament not Princesses or assumed Queens.
  ☑️☑️Break the mob☑️☑️
  
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  July 9, 2020 12:55pm
KevO'Brien

Something funny is surely going on. I know of voters being bussed in but what is really going on withe the “new arrivals”? Are they some sort of a Labour plant?
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July 9, 2020 9:41am
- TWEEDSE
  
  14 days in a political “realignment” facility should have them voting Cindy with no problem.
  
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  July 9, 2020 12:16pm
Prince

Radio NZ says it ‘provides audiences with trusted and independent news and current affairs’.
I woke at 5:05 this morning and switched on our State broadcaster. The program was ‘First Up’ and the presenter introduced Pam Corkery as the Australian Correspondent. No detail about her previous political involvement as an Alliance MP in NZ. Just a ‘Hello Sister’ from the presenter, and a ‘Hello Girlfriend’ from Corkery.

Word for word this followed:
“For all this happening in the last week, Sco-mo, Scum-mo, whatever you want to call him, Squirm-mo, has talked about the bubble again, and so has Jacinda, and the likelihood of New Zealand to various States…’

I don’t know much about Scott Morrison, but I’m sure he deserves more respect from our State Broadcaster than this. And referring to our PM as ‘Jacinda’, well, words fail me.
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July 9, 2020 9:54am
- doggone7
  
  I’m not sure about using ‘Jacinda’ suddenly being not right.
  
  Look through all the old newspapers and see how often in the headlines Nash was just ‘Walter’ or Holyoake was ‘Keith.’
  
  Much of the media has her as Jacinda. That’s what’s happened over a period. It’s too late to suddenly say it’s not right. Basically I agree with your sentiment. When people in the media started calling her by her first name and my hackles rose I thought maybe it was because I was out of touch with the modern world.
  
  I wonder if the media will start calling HMQE ‘Liz.’
  
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  July 9, 2020 11:31am
  - Prince
    
    I don’t recall Holyoake ever being just ‘Keith’ in any media.
    Too young for Nash I’m afraid !
    
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    July 9, 2020 12:28pm
    - chukar
      
      Am told that Jacka was Holyoakes middle name.
      More useless info
      
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      July 9, 2020 1:08pm
      - Captain Mainwaring
        
        And his daughter was ‘Keitha’.
        
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        July 9, 2020 1:34pm
    - MCos
      
      Mr Holyoake was one of those politicians from those days who gave the impression he was about forty when he was born.
      Ces Blazey was even older.
      
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      July 9, 2020 1:45pm
  - Ceepar
    
    My son met her at his workplace and she introduced herself as Jacinda. I doubt the Labour party would want it any other way as this makes her seem approachable, an everyday person just like you and me and if she is called this in the media I’m sure it is encouraged by the Labour party PR spin team.
    
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    July 9, 2020 6:19pm
Inandout

The Marxist BBC is in financial poo:
https://aboutmanchester.co.uk/450-job-losses-out-of-the-more-than-3000-bbc-staff-currently-working-across-the-english-regions/
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July 9, 2020 10:05am
- Lance
  
  And Boris is planning to drop the TV license fee (yes , they actually still have it) which largely funds their poison.
  Snigger
  
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  July 9, 2020 11:05am
  - cmm
    
    We also have a license fee, but we just get forced to pay it through taxes regardless of whether we have TVs or not.
    
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    July 9, 2020 12:16pm
  - mark15
    
    Or decriminalise not paying it,the end result will be the same.
    Yesterday they ran a story about a guy who was on a bus which ‘exploded’.
    
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    July 9, 2020 1:59pm
- Garbageman
  
  This rather pathetic piece of racism might have been the last straw for many, people are finally getting fed up with this marxist bullshit from the BBC
  https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1306895/bbc-news-tv-licence-fee-latest-ben-Bradley-racism-podcast-no-country-for-young-women
  
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  July 9, 2020 12:53pm
Flossie

I just don’t understand how this all works. If people come in to NZ they must quarantine for 14 days – great – no problem there. On the other hand we had Paddy Gower on AmTV this morning saying as he’d gone to the Countdown in question yesterday he has had to have a Covid19 test… expects it to be negative and he’ll be out and about again tomorrow. One test? One day? Doesn’t it take a few days to incubate? Can anyone enlighten me please!
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July 9, 2020 10:19am
- burt
  
  Can anyone enlighten me please!
  
  Paddy needed something to be relevant.
  
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  July 9, 2020 10:46am
  - kowtow
    
    He desperately went in search of “white supremacists” and couldn’t find any , now he’s desperately in search of the Chinese virus …….
    
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    July 9, 2020 11:49am
- Fletch
  
  Paddy was crowing about his big exposé of having busted the Countdown story wide open, with his receipt showing he had gone shopping in the store after they said it had been closed… “I have here in my hand…”
  
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  July 9, 2020 10:57am
- Engelbert Humperdink
  
  It may be the same reasoning as why you get told to have an HIV test after you get a needlestick injury with a needle with a patient’s blood on it; if you subsequently develop an infection, the powers that be want to know that you didn’t already have it prior to the potential exposure.
  
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  July 9, 2020 11:16am
  - sooty
    
    Will Paddys scribbling improve with him been in lockdown and not out and about!
    
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    July 9, 2020 12:16pm
    - Tall Man
      
      Possibly not but the less we see the better I think.
      
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      July 9, 2020 2:59pm
- fernglas
  
  It takes 3-4 days to incubate, which is why they test arrivals on day 3. So poor old Paddy will need to stay in solitary a bit longer than that. That’s if they even give him a test.
  
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  July 9, 2020 11:44am
  - cmm
    
    More than that, you need to be in close contact for a reasonably long period. Walking past a person with CV19 is not going to do it.
    
    Just going to a shop an hour or two after an infected person went there is not going to dose you with enough to get infected.
    
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    July 9, 2020 12:19pm
- Inandout
  
  Paddy is a plonker, but that doesn’t mean all Irish descendants have weird logic.
  
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  July 9, 2020 12:00pm
  - kowtow
    
    WTF .
    
    Gower ain’t a Paddy name , and neither is Paddy . Paddy is Roman.
    
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    July 9, 2020 12:46pm
    - Inandout
      
      kt, do you drink Paddy Old Irish Whiskey?
      
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      July 9, 2020 2:18pm
- DeepBlue
  
  He has set his own plan to try and be relevant and for a story.
  
  He should self isolate for 14 days and not have bothered with the test so soon as he is already isolating. Then get one at Day 12 just to be certain.
  
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  July 9, 2020 12:02pm
  - Tony Stuart
    
    He was tested yesterday on the advice of Healthline. If his experience is indicative of the advice being given to other people, God help us all!
    
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    July 9, 2020 12:17pm
- TWEEDSE
  
  I have no time for Gower since his unprofessional interview with Lauren Southern and Stefan Moulineux. He was unprepared, partisan and hopelessly out of his depth. He was an absolute embarrassement as a representative of the New Zealand press such as it is.
  
  Every thing he has done since seems to be trying to compensate for that train wreck interview.
  
  However he did achieve one thing, he opened my eyes and ears to wide ranging group of critical international thinkers.
  
  Thanks Paddy. You did some good after all.
  
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  July 9, 2020 12:26pm
  - Bobba Fret
    
    And remember when he was camped outside Bernie Sander’s house and Bernie just brushed him off!
    
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    July 9, 2020 1:46pm
  - Swifty
    
    That interview was a trainwreck.
    
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    July 9, 2020 2:25pm
SB2

Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
Someone suggested yesterday I was posting ill towards Jair Bolsanaro who has contracted Covid19.

He is one like his counterpart in the US is vigorously downplaying the seriousness of Covid 19 in Brazil.

As the proverb goes, As you sow so as you reap ( Galatians VI )

Your deeds, good or bad, will repay you in kind.

Go and figure.
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July 9, 2020 10:34am
- Engelbert Humperdink
  
  So, since you’re sowing bad karma around… what will you reap?
  
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  July 9, 2020 11:17am
- RJ
  
  No people pointed out you are a hypocrite who constantly attacked people for posting about the virus, calling them fear mongering, and claiming this was just a normal cold. Then it was pointed out what a sick person you were for wishing Illness on another. And you are. And if the proverb holds true to your actions and disgusting behaviour then you have a shit load to reap
  
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  July 9, 2020 11:24am
- Jack5
  
  What is this “ill” you post, SB2?
  
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  July 9, 2020 11:51am
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  It was me wishing to know what sort of belief system holds that some people “deserve” illness /”deserve” to be infected by a virus.
  
  It reminds me of those people who believe that homosexuals “deserve” to get Hiv/Aids because of their sexual behaviour…
  
  or folks “deserve” to get struck by illness because of the sins of their fathers…
  
  visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation.
  
  So according to your belief, stephieboy, all those folks struck down with Coronovirus like President Bolsanaro are reaping what they have sown.
  They “deserve” to be ill/or die.
  
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  July 9, 2020 1:30pm
  - RJ
    
    It does bring up an interesting question though
    
    If someone is a sexual deviant, what will they reap?
    
    If someone pervs at young Muslim girls and then goes on this blog to talk about it what will they reap?
    
    If someone constantly harasses a woman on this site and makes out they are something they aren’t, what will they reap?
    
    Do we ask about the goats and what they will reap?
    
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    July 9, 2020 2:00pm
    - Tall Man
      
      As I posted yesterday, Head Hunters advise not all nannys are goats 😉
      
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      July 9, 2020 3:16pm
  - SB2
    
    MW,
    
    “They “deserve” to be ill/or die”
    
    I impled no such thing!
    
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    July 9, 2020 2:55pm
    - Maggy Wassilieff
      
      The words you wrote yesterday were these:
      “Fully deserved for one leader….”
      
      and you supplied a link to Bolsanaro testing positive for Covid-19.
      
      https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2020/07/general_debate_08_july_2020.html#comment-2754197
      
      Now, I know some people believe that folks “deserve” their illnesses because they have transgressed gods/tapu/natural laws, etc, but most modern folks realise that diseases and infections do not emanate from supernatural entities.
      
      And then to add to the mix, today you quote St Paul
      telling us that folks reap what they sow.
      
      Tell that to the massacred millions!
      
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      July 9, 2020 3:59pm
    - Nostradamus
      
      Stephieboy:
      
      I impled no such thing!
      
      Would you like to clarify what you meant to imply when you said this?
      
      Jack 5, recently i was at St Luke’s shopping mall and I saw a Muslim lady dressed in traditional apparel accompanied by her two beautiful young daughters dressed in modern western tight jeans and blouses , revealing lovely supple body proportions , including small but ample breasts .
      December 3, 2015 2:26pm
      
      Looks pervy to me.
      
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      July 9, 2020 7:40pm
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  As the proverb goes…
  
  It was St Paul who wrote in his Epistle to the Galatians:
  “Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”
  
  and if I remember correctly, he ended up without his head!
  
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  July 9, 2020 2:04pm
Maggie Pie

What’s eating Gareth Morgan?

https://twitter.com/garethmorgannz/status/1280992213481123840
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July 9, 2020 10:44am
- Tall Man
  
  Being irrelevant.
  
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  July 9, 2020 3:17pm
JibberJabber

?
https://twitter.com/JoKiwi55/status/1280988986547159042
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July 9, 2020 10:51am
Lance

I long since dismissed anything Gareth had to say after he went on about how great North Korea is.
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July 9, 2020 11:09am
Raphael

Kanye West has confirmed that he is running as a 3rd Party candidate for the 2020 Election.

His advisers for it are his wife Kim Kardashian and Elon Musk.

He is too late to register on many state ballots, so this could be a test run for 2024, and also will possibly take away Black voter support for the DNC.

He unloaded both barrels at the Democrats for threatening blacks with having to vote for the DNC. Biden’s statement that “if you don’t vote for me, you Ain’t Black” seems to have especially fired him up.
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July 9, 2020 11:14am
- burt
  
  “if you don’t vote for me, you Ain’t Black”
  
  It should have fired up all the democrats, but they are too dim to notice that he’s playing them.
  
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  July 9, 2020 11:24am
  - Libertarians are right
    
    Their deeply held belief is that they wouldn’t vote for a racist and because they still want to vote for Biden, he mustn’t be racist, regardless of the proof.
    
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    July 9, 2020 11:50am
  - Harriet
    
    He’s also running on a ‘anti vax’ platform.
    
    Yep he’s taking votes off the democrats, and like Trump he is a wealthy individual who doesn’t have to abide by others.
    
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    July 9, 2020 12:04pm
Maggie Pie

Random Impertinent Questions…… 😀

1. Would it be fair to describe talk-back callers to ZB’s late night host Jim Snedden, as not being the sharpest sandwiches in the chandelier?

2. And what about Jim himself?
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July 9, 2020 11:27am
RW Capitalist

question:
Which would be considered decisive leadership.
A. Jacinda’s reaction to David Clark breaking the law (Hipkins words, re breaking isolation)
or
B. Todd Muller’s reaction to Walkers screw up?
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July 9, 2020 11:34am
- Tall Man
  
  Rhetorical I assume.
  
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  July 9, 2020 2:11pm
- Raphael
  
  There is a leftist meme doing the rounds at the moment about how hard working our Glorious Leader is compared to National
  https://www.facebook.com/NZLPmemes/photos/a.331071220560498/1206190826381862/?type=3&theater
  
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  July 9, 2020 2:13pm
Benedict Yu

Why does Winston need surgery for food poisoning?
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July 9, 2020 11:45am
- sooty
  
  Because he’s got real bad diarrhea!
  He’s realised that NZ has the shits with him!
  He’s got an out if things don’t work out well with the election!
  
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  July 9, 2020 12:18pm
  - Jimmy White
    
    If he had ‘bad diarrhoea’ his head would cave in.
    
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    July 9, 2020 2:55pm
- KevO'Brien
  
  I smell a rat.
  
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  July 9, 2020 12:36pm
  - Captain Mainwaring
    
    He’s probably having the undigested dead rats removed.
    
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    July 9, 2020 1:08pm
    - Engelbert Humperdink
      
      Hmmmm
      
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      July 9, 2020 1:37pm
- SJ Actual
  
  He has symptoms like food poisoning, but does not have food poisoning.
  Must be serious to require surgery so quickly and fir him to miss his own campaign launch.
  Good spinning skills to mention food poisoning and distract the masses.
  
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  July 9, 2020 12:50pm
  - Benedict Yu
    
    Yes I was kidding – I realise he is not having surgery for food poisoning. If you have surgery immediately after a visit to a doctor it is generally for an acute problem that is either life threatening, or left alone would become much more serious.
    
    I guess he is entitled to his privacy on health issues.
    
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    July 9, 2020 1:27pm
    - Engelbert Humperdink
      
      He does not give a toss about other people’s privacy tho’…
      
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      July 9, 2020 1:37pm
- RJ
  
  I think the news said for food poisoning symptoms, which could be a few things.
  
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  July 9, 2020 12:57pm
- RW Capitalist
  
  I can only assume, that he swallowed that giant chip on his shoulder.
  
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  July 9, 2020 5:17pm
cmm

Well if you think Megan Woods is being crazy go look at South Africa.

The Gauteng area (Johannesburg etc) is preparing grave sites to handle 1.5 million bodies for a population of approx 15 million.

10% of the population gonna die? Yea, right!
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July 9, 2020 11:47am
- Tall Man
  
  Might not be covid related, they may have another plan.
  
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  July 9, 2020 3:21pm
Bobba Fret

And here comes the please feel sorry for me and don’t fine me sob story in the Herald!
He should have the choice of six months in jail (after quarantine) or pay a $4,000 fine.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12346711
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July 9, 2020 11:52am
- Maggie Pie
  
  Wouldn’t hold your breath waiting, Bobba!
  
  More likely a discharge without conviction, but ordered to pay reparation for repairs to the Security Guards uniform that was torn when the guard fell over from exhaustion after chasing him for 20m.
  
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  July 9, 2020 1:01pm
  - Bobba Fret
    
    Unfortunately, I am sure you are correct. Shall I prepare the wet bus ticket?
    
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    July 9, 2020 1:50pm
- Spring Bank Westie
  
  If he didn’t like being cooped up in the hotel he should have just paid a homeless man to take his place, just sayin’….
  
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  July 9, 2020 1:02pm
I remember when

No wonder Todd Muller declared ‘no confidence’ in Hamish Walker.
It is increasing looking likely that properly handled this information was another goldmine waiting for use by National.
Instead it has helped take pressure off Labour.
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July 9, 2020 11:57am
Jack5

Good article on NZ economic problems by Michael Reddell:

https://croakingcassandra.com/2020/07/09/economic-policy-malaise/
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July 9, 2020 11:59am
Inandout

Kim is back…presumably!
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/12063618/kim-jong-un-dead-rumours-north-korean-ceremony-26-grandads-death/
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July 9, 2020 12:13pm
rangitoto

Interesting story from the DM

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-8502197/Native-Americans-reached-Polynesia-1200AD-colonised-area-European-settlers.html
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July 9, 2020 12:29pm
- Te Rauparaha
  
  Great, now the entire continent of America will be found by some scum-sucking judge in New Zealand as being in ‘partnership’ with the Treaty of Waitangi.
  
  And that we owe them BIG TIME!
  
  Think it can’t happen???
  
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  July 9, 2020 1:13pm
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  Smithsonian’s version.. with a quick link to the Nature paper
  https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/native-americans-polynesians-meet-180975269/
  
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  July 9, 2020 1:53pm
- Raphael
  
  But Phoenicians, who sailed everywhere, apparently couldn’t.
  
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  July 9, 2020 2:36pm
  - rangitoto
    
    The intermingling of East Polynesians and pre European Americans looks to be a bullet proof conclusion of the genetic evidence. I never heard of any evidence of Phoenicians, or any semitic peoples being related to Polynesians.
    
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    July 9, 2020 3:28pm
- SB2
  
  rangitoto, for the moment at least its more credible than Pre white Celtic inhabitants or Eldon Best’s the Morrioris as Melanesians.
  
  https://www.penguin.co.nz/books/quest-for-origins-9780143008453
  
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  July 9, 2020 3:00pm
Benedict Yu

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/122061006/coronavirus-pm-jacinda-ardern-urges-kiwis-to-use-contact-tracing-app-as-numbers-dwindle

This stupid app was never going to work. At its peak, it had been downloaded by 16 percent of adults and used on average TWICE.

Most people have Google Timeline in their phone (most do not know that). It records everywhere you go every day. It can be useful. Yesterday I was trying to recall the name of a lawyer I went to in Wellington in 2018. I knew the lawyer was somwhere in the Northern suburbs. And I knew it was some time between January and March 2018. Went to Google timeline and in 15 minutes I had my answer.

So if I need to explain where I have been it is all there. So why on earth did the Government spend millions on a stupid app. It just had to advise people to ensure they had Google Timeline enabled ! That would have cost zip.
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July 9, 2020 12:36pm
- burt
  
  Left leaning govt isn’t about getting things done, it’s about being seen to be saving us. That’s what this is about.
  
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  July 9, 2020 12:49pm
- Stu2
  
  Exactly
  
  The aussie app looked far more useful (records phones you are close to for 15+ minutes).
  
  I didn’t bother downloading our one, no way I was going to scan things at the front of shops. It should do it for you
  
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  July 9, 2020 4:37pm
Maggie Pie

Gawd, to think we used to go for Thai at the Stamford Plaza.
Banksy even owned the Penthose up there.
Tell you what, everyone we know say they’d never set foot in the filthy joint ever again.

Just saying.
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July 9, 2020 1:39pm
- Engelbert Humperdink
  
  I’m increasingly wondering whether there will ever be a market for multi-storey hotels at all in the medium future… I can see a market for some sort of widely spaced collection of sleeping, washing and eating pods where the food gets delivered, you change your own towels and sheets if your stay more than one night, and you check in and out without human contact. Of course there will still be horizontal mingling…
  
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  July 9, 2020 1:57pm
Fletch

Gary Larson, creator of The Far Side, has released his first new cartoons in 25 years (click on ‘Enter’ on the door). He says he discovered the newfangled drawing tablets and was pleasantly surprised about how easy they were to use now.

So a few years ago—finally fed up with my once-loyal but now reliably traitorous pen—I decided to try a digital tablet. I knew nothing about these devices but hoped it would just get me through my annual Christmas card ordeal. I got one, fired it up, and lo and behold, something totally unexpected happened: within moments, I was having fun drawing again. I was stunned at all the tools the thing offered, all the creative potential it contained. I simply had no idea how far these things had evolved. Perhaps fittingly, the first thing I drew was a caveman.

https://www.thefarside.com/new-stuff
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July 9, 2020 2:04pm
Tall Man

So despite being asked to not attend ardern still managed to slink into the funeral for Constable Hunt.

Draw your own conclusions, moderation stops me.
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July 9, 2020 2:18pm
- Prince
  
  I understand the Commissioner had to ‘explain’ her presence in his speech. The family did not want the funeral to be politicised, but the opportunity for her to emote again in front of cameras was too good for her to miss. She brought her own fan club along just in case.
  
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  July 9, 2020 3:58pm
- RJ
  
  But she was there because she cares
  
  Sorry, let me redo that
  
  But she was there because (tilt head to the side) she cares
  
  Yay team of five million. Oh wait how many Indians have come into the country this week are we a team of 5 million and 300 yet?
  
  Remember folks, this election vote labour or she will have Hurty Face
  
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  July 9, 2020 5:13pm
Inandout

We aren’t to know the name of the public servant who took those gym photos, nor the judge’s name. This servant must be influential.
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July 9, 2020 2:20pm
- Tall Man
  
  labour party ……..
  
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  July 9, 2020 3:23pm
RJ

Pure Evil

Inside the wicked saga of Jeffrey Epstein: the arrest of Ghislaine Maxwell | 60 Minutes Australia
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July 9, 2020 2:35pm
- Inandout
  
  RJ, the ‘woman who knew too much’ will likely not be around to give evidence.
  
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  July 9, 2020 4:50pm
  - RJ
    
    Yeah, even the victims lawyers expect she will be suicided. But if she is I don’t think it will matter, her insurance policy will be found.
    
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    July 9, 2020 7:05pm
lifesgood

Has anyone thought back to the big drama when the first flight came in from China and all passengers were taken up to Coromandel and put into strict quarantine in camper vans for two weeks. All great for TV news coverage, I suppose.
Like “Oh look, isn’t the govt response great” From then on it has been pathetic response after pathetic response. Why aren’t some of these camps being used for quarantine anyway…there are plenty around NZ. I fail to see why it is necessary to put people up in 5 star hotels in the heart of the city among the public and where security is obviously abysmal.
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July 9, 2020 3:08pm
- lifesgood
  
  Not Coromandel…Whangaparaoa, sorry!
  
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  July 9, 2020 3:22pm
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  There are beds at Whangaparaoa for that very reason. Just as there are beds at Whenuapai, Papakura, Waiuoru; Ohakea not sure, places in Wellington and the south island. I have said this many times.
  Jacinda is playing to the World, putting people in 4/5 star hotels – with YOUR FUCKING MONEY
  
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  July 9, 2020 3:48pm
  - Engelbert Humperdink
    
    I reckon the fix is in. Just as she chose and saved the big supermarkets whose companies she’s figuratively in bed with, she’s saving the hotel corporations she also figuratively wants to lie with. There are no poor Communist leaders ever, in history.
    
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    July 9, 2020 4:01pm
RJ

Great to see a program worked for this man, good luck with your future

Violent offender tried 78 other programmes before South Auckland charity changed his life

One News
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July 9, 2020 3:16pm
Nookin

Thankfully the “a-conviction-will-ruin-my-career” excuse was duly consigned to the WPB folder in this instance: https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/crime/attack-was-%E2%80%98degrading-humiliating%E2%80%99
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July 9, 2020 3:22pm
lifesgood

Was Cindy allowed to gate crash Constable Hunt’s funeral. Be pretty disgusting if she did. I am not a great fan of the haka being done left, right and centre but, boy oh boy, that haka by the police moved me to tears. What an utter and senseless tragedy his death was. My heart goes out to his family.
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July 9, 2020 3:37pm
curry4me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhscBtuL0-Q
Time Runs Out For Tik Tok.

Australia looks to ban Tik Tok. India has banned 59 Chinese apps.
The USA may do the same. Chinas recent antics have acted as
A catalyst for this action. Information on Tik Tok is theoretically available
To the CCP government upon request. Huawei has already been banned.
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July 9, 2020 4:04pm
- Inandout
  
  curry, so glad I bought a Samsung phone.
  
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  July 9, 2020 4:51pm
  - RJ
    
    Hope you’ve updated it since Samsung removed the Chinese spyware from it
    
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    July 9, 2020 6:15pm
  - curry4me
    
    Inandout: So, did I. Just bought a Galay A10. I understsand Samsung stuff has the least Chinese content.
    
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    July 9, 2020 10:26pm
- RJ
  
  Surprised it has taken this long
  
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  July 9, 2020 5:06pm
curry4me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_E7MvVCmZ6Q
ANTIFA/BLM Vandals Arrested By Feds.

Several developments have come to light. Some peaceful rioters have already been
arrested. Feds have stepped in, because Das in places like Portland drop charges against far left
rioters. Instead, they’re charged with federal crimes. Iowa prosecutors have charged BLM activists
with a ‘leak’ charge. The BLM activists had stolen a secret document from a cop. Two NY lawyers
have been arrested, and charged with seven felonies. They could get life. Naturally, the MSM
is supportive of the rioters.
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July 9, 2020 4:05pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

Charlie Daniels has passed – just found out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBjPAqmnvGA
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July 9, 2020 4:22pm
- Spring Bank Westie
  
  As long as Jack’s still okay…..
  
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  July 9, 2020 4:40pm
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    Sure is, tucked up with Jim
    
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    July 10, 2020 7:23am
Engelbert Humperdink

…and Ennio Morricone… damn you, 2020!
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July 9, 2020 4:25pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

Don’t watch you lefties. You will feel ill for 3 days.
https://www.facebook.com/benita.pattee/videos/3216761291717709/
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July 9, 2020 4:53pm
- Tall Man
  
  Contrast that with the pair “what’s in it for wynston” foisted on New Zealand.
  
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  July 9, 2020 5:02pm
- Harriet
  
  Thanks for that.
  
  The way she has been ignored by the media is fucken appalling.
  
  Someone should ask the NZ GG his views on the matter —- as the behaviour towards her in comparison to moochelle and her coverage – is fucken disgusting!
  
  It WILL solve the problem! 😎
  
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  July 9, 2020 5:38pm
RJ

Amazing, a judge rules in favour of of this creep.

Attorneys for Virginia Giuffre, who publicly accused Jeffrey Epstein of sex trafficking, must destroy files they obtained on Epstein after a Wednesday ruling by a federal judge.

Article
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July 9, 2020 5:39pm
- RJ
  
  Hopefully this will all come out
  
  EXCLUSIVE: ‘She has copies of everything Epstein had.’ Ghislaine Maxwell ‘has secret stash of pedophile’s sex tapes’ that could implicate world’s most powerful and ‘will try to use them to save herself’
  
  Article
  
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  July 9, 2020 5:42pm
RJ

Awwww how cute is this

Indy was always going to be small, but being born a month early has made things even harder for the miniature horse.

Sharon Stevens’ miniature foal Independence, Indy for short, was born on July 4, one month before his expected due date. He weighs just 8.6kg and is in a battle for his life.

Stuff
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July 9, 2020 5:45pm
greybeard

“Hanara, 16, and Sean Ratu, 17, removed a reinforced window at Korowai Manaaki, a facility run by Oranga Tamariki. ”
Something about the language prevalent here makes me think there could be a problem which is being aggravated.
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July 9, 2020 5:55pm
Hollyfield

Got a text late this afternoon ” Your COVID-19 Subsidy has been paid on 09/07/2020. For enquiries call 0800 40 80 40. Please don’t reply to this”.

Only problem – I didn’t apply for a subsidy. Neither did my employer. Is it too much to hope that as well as a wrong phone number they also have a wrong bank account number and I may receive a substantial windfall overnight?
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July 9, 2020 6:10pm
- RJ
  
  I’d be more impressed if you got a text saying “Prime Minister, as you requested we have started docking your wage to show you are part of the team that have lost their jobs or reduced their wages because of COVID”
  
  5 3
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  July 9, 2020 6:56pm
- Fletch
  
  I kept getting texts from a company saying they were going to remove a portaloo on my property – one which I don’t own…lol
  
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  July 9, 2020 10:41pm
Maggy Wassilieff

Government still behaving illegally
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2020/07/coronavirus-judge-warns-government-over-illegal-ban-on-compassionate-leave-after-kiwi-misses-chance-to-farewell-dying-father.html
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July 9, 2020 7:59pm
- alex Masterley
  
  It seems clear that the MOH is deliberately ignoring the Christiansen decision. The case against the original lock down will be interesting as the High Court seems to be getting the bit between its teeth.
  
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  July 10, 2020 7:50am
- Tauhei Notts
  
  I tender my extreme sympathy to Mr Graeme Hattie. The grief he was been put through was thoroughly unnecessary, and would try the patience of Job.
  A caring government? You have got to be far kin joking!!!
  
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  July 10, 2020 8:05am
KevO'Brien

“The extent the Director-General purports to have currently suspended all compassionate leave from managed isolation… would appear to be inconsistent with proper exercise of discretion in [the order],” he said.

This govt is running on its own rules. They have no concept of law and its principles. Bloomfield may have power but it is constrained. A blanket rule can never be an exercise of discretion which requires separate consideration in very case.
Where are our public servants being trained?
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July 9, 2020 8:09pm
- RJ
  
  At an Auckland gym, watch out for cameras.
  
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  July 9, 2020 8:21pm
- sooty
  
  Kindies!
  
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  July 9, 2020 9:09pm
Kiwi_in_Paris

Here’s Cindy’s mates having a laff about the “second wave”:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeF5degNKOc

Is it really something to be laughing about?
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July 10, 2020 3:16am

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