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March 31, 2021 8:00am by Kokila Patel

General Debate 31 March 2021

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dave_c_

Enough is enough: We can’t surrender our freedoms just because lockdowns have shown authoritarianism can curb
society’s excesses

https://www.rt.com/op-ed/519497-surrender-freedom-lockdown-authoritarianism/
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March 31, 2021 8:00am
- SB2
  
  Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
  Rather rich coming from Putin’s Russia!
  
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  March 31, 2021 8:36am
  - Fuzzysnuggleduck
    
    I have to agree SB2.
    Putin will slip something into the tea of a journalist, dissident or politician who threatens him. That is very unpleasant, but I can’t help but admire him to a degree as an ultra-realist who doesn’t care for virtue signaling in the slightest.
    So Russian state voices weeping about loss of journalistic or political freedoms is a bit rich.
    
    I do/did like RT for the stories they run – which are often on subjects the Western Liberal media [enemedia] sweep under the carpet.
    So the trick is to pay some attention and give some credence to their perspective but realise it is an arm of the Russian government and therefore just another tool in their information war arsenal.
    
    At least RT call some things out correctly though!
    They are certainly not wrong about some of the modern mad-politics and fixations of identity politics or the real (but hushed up) impacts of mass immigration into the West.
    
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    March 31, 2021 10:00am
    - Batman
      
      Re Putin and virtue signalling – let’s not forget is the world’s more prolific purveyor of shirtless outdoor activity photos, and ice swimming recently too. All of that is a virtue signal to his base that he is a real manly Russian (Soviet) man.
      
      And on RT: yep you’re correct about keeping their propaganda in mind but their stories about western media, for instance, are all based on western biases and then boosted and designed to bring the west down to their level of nothing being true and “see, the west is no better than us, they cannot lecture us on anything” thinking
      
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      March 31, 2021 11:04am
      - Apropos of the Wet Snow
        
        The West now isn’t better than the Russians, though. What, as a society, gives us the moral high ground over Putin and the Russians, or others for that matter? We are the decadent, declining force and they have, to a large extent, avoided our excesses and hubris. Watching someone like RT (Russian “state media” in the theme of our TV1) gives you an interesting analogue of how the western media covers the West (i.e. presented as unassailable fact, but highly ideologically distorted).
        
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        March 31, 2021 11:59am
      - Batman
        
        Only if you are an accelerationist who believes in replacement theories.
        
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        March 31, 2021 1:20pm
      - Fuzzysnuggleduck
        
        Correct Batman, Putin does signal virtues in his own fashion.
        I was thinking to mention that – but my average posts are already longer than many probably care to read.
        Putin riding shirtless on a brown bear is a neat fake photo I have seen for the Putin-worshippers.
        Poisonin’ Putin’s cultivated manliness when he is throwing someone with a judo technique, contrasts with Bumblin’ Biden’s stumbling to spring up a set of stairs.
        
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        March 31, 2021 3:57pm
  - theoldbloke
    
    an opinion piece in state owned media. Albeit Russian.
    
    Just like TVNZ really…
    But how many people understand how similiar RT, ABC,BBC, RNZ and TVNZ are.
    State owned media
    
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    March 31, 2021 3:23pm
- Sir Cullen's Sidekick
  
  In Cindy we trust _/\_
  
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  March 31, 2021 8:37am
  - pdm
    
    `In Cindy we trust _/\_’
    
    Not me!!!
    
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    March 31, 2021 9:25am
  - KevO'Brien
    
    Are you on the $105M payroll too?
    In a commercial situation Cindy would have been discharged for fraudulent representations as for suitability for employment.
    
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    March 31, 2021 1:25pm
- NoFax
  
  Lockdowns don’t work and I said this from the very beginning. Did I have amazing foresight? No, I read our influenza pandemic plan. The one that we spent a lot of time and money coming up with when there wasn’t panic and fear mongering. Funny enough, that plan proved correct and the fearmongers were wrong. However, we are now at the point where people (PM included) say we have sacrifice so much we can’t stop now – i.e. sunk cost fallacy. The same was said in the trenches of WWI, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan. So rather than correcting ship when it is plainly obvious the PM continues a poor strategy. The fearmongers and co of course are happy because they don’t actually pay for it. You know some of these people are having the times of their lives.
  
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  March 31, 2021 9:13am
  - Cinematic
    
    Yes, no one had heard of an epidemiologist or that fourth rate modelling guy from the former polytechnic. Now they’re rock stars.
    
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    March 31, 2021 9:31am
    - Paulus Gnome
      
      Not so much rock stars as intelligent as rocks in their heads.
      
      I hope you read this Hendy.
      
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      March 31, 2021 10:02am
- Benedict Yu
  
  I think politicians should wait for the vaccine like everyone else.
  
  I don’t buy the demonstration effect. Who is going to change their mind about getting the vaccine because Judith or Jacinda gets it? Every time jacinda tells us to do something I immediately want to do the opposite. I’d buy a V8 Landcruiser if I could afford it.
  
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  March 31, 2021 12:43pm
  - alwyn
    
    But, but, but.
    The Ministers of the Crown are important people. They aren’t just plebs like the minions they rule. We should feel privileged that they are leading the way with their 40 year-olds in the van.
    Are you not proud that Chippie and Cindy, along I am sure, with their family and relatives are getting their vaccinations before those for whom it is needed?
    I asked a bus driver yesterday whether he had had a vaccination. I didn’t ask his age but he certainly looked old enough to be collecting a pension. His answer was no.
    Why are the MPs going first. or at least the Ministers? Are they really that important?
    
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    March 31, 2021 2:43pm
    - Sacha
      
      You know why!
      They fondly, if mistakenly, think that if they show leadership, the flock will dutifully traipse along behind.
      
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      March 31, 2021 6:29pm
    - NeverMindTheBollocks
      
      Yeah, nah. In this case, pollies are on a hiding to nothing. If they go first they’re accused of queue jumping; if they go last they’re accused of experimenting on other people – & these will often be the poorer people staffing the MIQs & wot not.
      
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      March 31, 2021 8:12pm
  - theoldbloke
    
    If Ministers were last on the list. Methinks the vaccine rollout would be well underway and moving at speed.
    
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    March 31, 2021 3:27pm
Happychappy

Looking towards recovery after ‘extraordinary ‘year of Covid – 19.
I won’t bore you with this load of Crap Grant Robertson has penned forgotten to even mention the the debt of billions of dollars he and Jacinda Ardern have loaded on future Generations to pay for and in my opinion is in la la Land if he believes some of what he and Labour have delivered. Robertson goes on to say while the economy has been preforming better than we expected we know there are still risks ahead. As we look to the recovery we will also rise to meet those challenges, we can build back better and we will.
https://i.stuff.co.nz/business/opinion-analysis/300252722/looking-towards-recovery-after-an-extraordinary-year-of-covid19
Well haven’t they made a great start after saying that they need more than one term to fix these problems like housing and poverty, they then turn to policies on housing that will affect the poor with likely rent increases because they make policy on the hoof without looking at the consequences.
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March 31, 2021 8:00am
- redeye
  
  Recovery sounds a like lot delivery.
  And I suspect the result will be the same.
  
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  March 31, 2021 8:22am
  - RightFirstTime
    
    I am sure that, in the course of time, we will be told by Robertson and others that using the word “recovery” was a bit too definitive.
    
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    March 31, 2021 12:52pm
- Sir Cullen's Sidekick
  
  Sheeple are firmly believing everything is perfect in Aotearoa. They trust this gummit and Cindy’s popularity is growing by the day.
  
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  March 31, 2021 8:38am
  - Happychappy
    
    You obviously need glasses and a hearing aid to distinguish the difference of trust and popularity to competence, children can’t tell the difference.
    
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    March 31, 2021 8:53am
    - Tall Man
      
      “Tongue in cheek” …..
      
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      March 31, 2021 9:02am
    - lifesgood
      
      SCS gets his kicks from stirring. He does not believe a word he says.
      
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      March 31, 2021 9:15am
      - Paulus Gnome
        
        SGS is a staffer . . .
        
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        March 31, 2021 10:04am
      - Ed Snack
        
        No way ! Sir Cullen is an upright citizen who selflessly takes his time to inform you deplorable just what is going on in the true heartland Aotearoa.
        
        Most consistently accurate and truthful commenter on the site, no way is it a /s account !
        
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        March 31, 2021 10:20am
- Nickc2
  
  Robertson will have the honour of leaving the greatest BLACK HOLE ever in NZs financial history.
  I wonder if woke Millenials will be remembered in the same regard?
  
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  March 31, 2021 9:01am
  - Cinematic
    
    They’re at their most dangerous when they actually try to make policy. Like last weeks cluster. Here’s to many more working groups. Then an election and, everything crossed, hopefully out they go.
    
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    March 31, 2021 9:36am
- Simon
  
  In a Treasury briefing a bored Robertson was half asleep when someone mentioned policy roll out. Robertson suddenly perked up at the word roll but alas he misheard the Treasury dweeb wasn’t talking about sausage roll.
  
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  March 31, 2021 9:23am
  - Paulus Gnome
    
    ‘Resting my eyes’ – Winston Peters
    
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    March 31, 2021 10:05am
- KevO'Brien
  
  Where’s the timber to fix it with?
  
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  March 31, 2021 1:26pm
dave_c_

Wife and myself went on the Tranz Alpine express (ChCh – Greymouth) last weekend (recommended to all!)

So much for mask wearing on public treansport – I saw no more than one or two mask wearers all day.

Used the ChCh bus from Airport to centre of city – Out of about 15-20 people – only two wore masks (and it wasn’t us)
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March 31, 2021 8:01am
- ldypen
  
  If there is NO Covid in the general population why does anyone need to wear a mask.. or is Covid everywhere and not as bad as it’s made out to be for 99.9% of the population… just asking.
  
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  March 31, 2021 8:08am
  - john1234
    
    Indeed. Why spoil a wonderful train ride by wearing a mask? Especially if you wear glasses. Not much point taking a scenic tour when your classes are permanently fogged.
    
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    March 31, 2021 8:51am
    - Tall Man
      
      Ahhh, so that’s the government’s problem…….. They’re all “fogged” up 😉
      
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      March 31, 2021 9:03am
  - Ed Snack
    
    Or a better question, since it is scientifically established that masks are pointless, why should there even be any discussion about wearing them.
    
    They are a useless bit of virtue signalling, intended to show that the wearer is “more hygienic and cleaner” than the general hoi-polloi.
    
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    March 31, 2021 10:22am
    - Batman
      
      That’s an outright lie, Ed. Masks have been scientifically proven to reduce the spread of airborne droplets and pathogens etc.
      
      The alternative reality is strong but ultimately most of us still live in a world of fact.
      
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      March 31, 2021 10:26am
      - lofty
        
        You may well be right Batman, but what is the use of forcing the wearing of masks on public transport, if there are no community cases of the wuflu?? it does not make any logical sense.
        
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        March 31, 2021 10:37am
      - Batman
        
        I’m not right, the science is right. I’m not the person making the call here, far smarter people than Ed, yourself or I do that.
        
        And yeah I agree about the public transport thing. I am a train user and don’t mind it most of the time but at level 1 with no transmission it does seem of low value currently. The rule should be more adaptable to current events, though that has its own problems with chopping and changing and people would just get sick of it and ignore it.
        
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        March 31, 2021 11:08am
      - Don Beckett
        
        I’ll see your science, and raise you two sciences.
        There are many scientific peer reviewed papers that state demonstrably that masks, other than in surgical situations, achieve nothing.
        
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        March 31, 2021 11:18am
      - krazykiwi
        
        In every breath you exhale, aerosols containing billions of pathogens are disbursed. And mask stop aerosols like sieves stop rivers.
        
        No, the only value in masks is stopping droplet delivered pathogens coughed or sneezed by the already infected.
        
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        March 31, 2021 11:23am
      - Vory v zakone
        
        How about you provide even one clinical, random sampled and peer reviewed trial or study that shows ‘masks’ (and there are a multitude of ‘face nappies’ used worldwide over the last year) that consistently stop droplets from entering or leaving the mouth.
        
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        March 31, 2021 12:15pm
      - Batman
        
        I have. See other replies.
        
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        March 31, 2021 1:08pm
      - Ed Snack
        
        Batman, why do you lie consistently ?
        
        In theory, simple cloth masks can reduce droplet spread. In practice masks have no discernible effect on the spread of pathogens. The practical use includes the major issue that in perfect conditions masks might make a small difference, but in real life conditions are never perfect.
        
        There are numerous scientific studies on the practical effect of masks. If you are so convinced of their usefulness, find and quote some studies that show the value of masks in use. Not a study that shows that in a lab cloth masks stop some droplets, that’s not in dispute.
        
        Indeed the science is right, and it shows that against respiratory viruses, cloth masks are ineffective. Period.
        
        They have a small impact when used in surgery because they are more useful against bacteria and getting into open wounds requires far less infective material. And that’s where the original studies were made over 20 years ago. But used against virus particles that spread mostly in very small particles, useless.
        
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        March 31, 2021 12:37pm
      - Batman
        
        Ed you bluster a lot but you still don’t manage to cite anything other than your opinion and things you’ve heard online.
        
        Here is some information that comes with citations and references:https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/science/science-briefs/masking-science-sars-cov2.html
        
        Updated 20 November 2020.
        
        I’m not saying cloth masks are the same as an N95 or respirator apparatus but they’re better than maskless recklessness.
        
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        March 31, 2021 12:42pm
      - Ed Snack
        
        I’m not your unpaid researcher Batman, and that cite is faulty and doesn’t quote any research into the practical use of masks.
        
        But try these
        
        https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26/5/19-0994_article
        
        https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0240287
        
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        March 31, 2021 1:07pm
      - Loddenthinks
        
        @Batman: “I’m not right…..” well at least you’re correct about that.
        
        Your “science” has not scientifically or conclusively proven anything about the efficacy of facemasks in the general population, especially where there are no incidents of COVID in the community.
        
        I even went and checked it for you – https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2020/06/417906/still-confused-about-masks-heres-science-behind-how-face-masks-prevent
        
        What they found was some suggestion and strands of evidence that pointed to masks helping to suppress the spread of COVID.
        
        But here’s the point – they admitted that the best benefit is for people who have COVID-19 to protect them from giving COVID-19 to other people.
        
        So in whatever world it is you live, and it’s most certainly not a factual one, masks can be of value to stop spreading COVID when you already have it. Masks do practically nothing to prevent you from getting COVID, and since we don’t have community cases, they are in fact useless – except as a control and fear mechanism.
        
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        March 31, 2021 4:52pm
    - krazykiwi
      
      Masks are, more accurately, compliance muzzles. They identify those scared of, or unthinkingly obedient to the Covid cult.
      
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      March 31, 2021 11:27am
      - Apropos of the Wet Snow
        
        The role of masks is primarily psychological rather than physiological.
        
        I posted the other day data from the US, showing Florida (with no lockdown nor mask mandate) in the middle of the 50 states in terms of rates of death and rates of infection. This is all of the empirical evidence you need to judge the efficacy of both masks and mass lockdowns.
        
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        March 31, 2021 12:10pm
      - Batman
        
        Middle of the field now or all-time? No lockdown or masks now, a specific point, or all-time?
        
        How does it compare in general to states with mask, distance, and stay home policies both since the beginning of the outbreak and since measures were introduced, adjusted for population?
        
        Curiously, none of these factors are ever covered off by those pushing for increased viral spread by way of their stupidity.
        
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        March 31, 2021 1:12pm
    - Brian McDonald
      
      Here’s the proof Ed, an evidence review of some 17 authors with extensive references.
      
      https://www.pnas.org/content/118/4/e2014564118
      
      The last part of the conclusion indicates it was accepted before the vaccine developments.
      
      When used in conjunction with widespread testing, contact tracing, quarantining of anyone that may be infected, hand washing, and physical distancing, face masks are a valuable tool to reduce community transmission. All of these measures, through their effect on Re, have the potential to reduce the number of infections. As governments exit lockdowns, keeping transmissions low enough to preserve health care capacity will be critical until a vaccine can be developed.
      
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      March 31, 2021 7:48pm
  - Mag Anz
    
    They need to force us to wear masks so we will not forget about the Coronavirus(SARS-2?). A daily visual reminder to reinforce the narrative.
    
    (to mod: I press report above by mistake, sorry phat fingered it)
    
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    March 31, 2021 3:12pm
- Benedict Yu
  
  I was on a train in Wellington a couple of weeks ago. Woman was wearing mask. Phone rings. She TAKES OFF mask to answer the phone. Then talks loudly for 20 minutes without mask. If she had covid the virus would be spraying all over the carriage. Ends phone call. Puts mask back on.
  
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  March 31, 2021 8:09am
  - Blackbob
    
    Wearing masks is prioritising form over function.
    
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    March 31, 2021 8:23am
    - UrbanNeocolonialist
      
      On the upside is it sparing us from the visage of a lot of the worst of the sour-faced Karens that otherwise pollute our days.
      
      I’m awaiting the transition to post vaccination NZ optimistically towards end of the year with morbid curiosity.
      
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      March 31, 2021 8:54am
    - Nickc2
      
      ….and wokeness personified.
      
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      March 31, 2021 9:07am
  - Suze Wainwright
    
    Pretty much sums up the behavior and actions of many of this nation’s ‘saved people’
    
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    March 31, 2021 11:55am
- lifesgood
  
  Good on the non mask wearers. Giving this over bearing government the finger. It is ludicrous that crowds can gather jammed together without masks e.g. America’s Cup, and then have to get on a bus with 5 passengers and then put a mask on. It’s nuts!!!
  
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  March 31, 2021 8:11am
- Maggie Pie
  
  It’s also important that we start bullying idiots who we see wearing masks while driving alone in their cars.
  
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  March 31, 2021 8:17am
  - Ehlana
    
    Not bullying Maggie Pie, never bullying. It is a solution far worse than the problem. People are free to wear what they want and if a mask is what they want, let them be. It doesn’t do you any harm.
    
    And how are you going to get any message across to someone who is driving alone in their car anyway?
    
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    March 31, 2021 8:29am
    - Tall Man
      
      “Tongue in cheek” ……..
      
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      March 31, 2021 9:04am
      - Loddenthinks
        
        Yes, that would certainly get their attention – but how do you get past their mask to their cheek?
        
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        March 31, 2021 4:54pm
    - Maggie Pie
      
      One of the new girls at tennis started turning up wearing a mask. Even tried playing with it on once.
      It’s amazing what message you can get across with a tube of lipstik on their windscreen 😀
      
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      March 31, 2021 9:33am
      - Paulus Gnome
        
        Sunblock on ones hands gently applied to the paintwork . . .
        
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        March 31, 2021 10:06am
      - Maggie Pie
        
        I’d never be that nasty 😀
        
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        March 31, 2021 10:42am
  - Nickc2
    
    I note with a degree of humour, mums picking their mobile toys up from school in the car and the toys are wearing masks but mum isn’t. How bizarre is that?
    
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    March 31, 2021 9:12am
    - Ehlana
      
      Same reason the toys wear sun hats when Mum doesn’t, which in itself explains why the toys stop wearing sun hats as soon as they stop being compulsory.
      
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      March 31, 2021 1:31pm
- redeye
  
  Colmar Brunton released their Better Futures report yesterday. COVID doesn’t even make the top 10 kiwi concerns.
  
  https://www.colmarbrunton.co.nz/better-futures-reports-2021/
  
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  March 31, 2021 8:27am
  - Simon
    
    Inflation it be coming, followed by higher interest rates then economic stagnation. All due the gubmermint response to a virus that has a 99.9% survival rate. Cindy’s economic destruction will kill far more than the covid.
    
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    March 31, 2021 9:03am
  - Maxx
    
    Fascinating that violence in society is declining in importance even though serious assaults are up, people are increasingly reporting not feeling safe.
    
    I would put it down to both not being reported on enough and a normalising of violence – when it’s all pervasive and fewer people are talking about it as being an issue, it ceases to be an issue.
    
    Also the the sale of NZ land to foreigners still being an issue. It looks like Labours foreign buyer ban didn’t go far enough to quash the anguish.
    
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    March 31, 2021 9:25am
  - I remember when
    
    So Climate Change is down the list because present financial pain takes priority.
    The real test for Climate Change will be when the costs, both economic and actions, start to bite.
    Climate Change action is easy while it is a day off school, a stroll carrying a sign, writing a letter to whoever or posting on social media.
    
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    March 31, 2021 9:47am
    - Ed Snack
      
      You mean when the pseudo actions taken that will have zero climate impact but a serious economic impact begin to bite.
      
      Latest research on carbon accumulation shows that whereas pasture steadily accumulates soil carbon over decades and longer, forestry has an initial accumulation and then remains static. So by emphasising forests to “soak up the carbon”, we’re actually emitting more carbon than otherwise. Yet any pasture absorption of CO2 is not counted in the ridiculous and unscientific carbon accounting scheme that is currently used. On this basis NZ is possibly already a net carbon sink, but we’re not allowed to know that as it would ruin the expensive plans that the would be elite have for us.
      
      Climate Change is the old exploitable crisis, put aside for a bit because Covid was easier to use to instil fear and compliance.
      
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      March 31, 2021 10:28am
- Sir Cullen's Sidekick
  
  Why sheeple are not following the Queen’s decree? This is so sad.
  
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  March 31, 2021 8:39am
- SB2
  
  Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
  Didn’t you know we are in Lockdown one! If people chose to wear a mask that there business.
  
  Not yours!
  
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  March 31, 2021 8:40am
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    Perhaps you should learn something about the rules around Lockdown 1 before you post incorrect information.
    
    Face coverings at Alert Level 1
    At Alert Level 1, there is still a risk of COVID-19 returning to the community.
    
    Public transport and domestic flights
    You legally must wear a face covering:
    
    on public transport
    on domestic flights
    by taxi and ride-share drivers — while it’s not compulsory for passengers to wear them, we strongly encourage you to.
    
    https://covid19.govt.nz/health-and-wellbeing/protect-yourself-and-others/wear-a-face-covering/
    
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    March 31, 2021 9:18am
  - I remember when
    
    That not what the Banks think.
    
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    March 31, 2021 9:48am
- Tricati
  
  Wife & I did Coastal Pacific, Christchurch to Picton 12th, returning 16th and on both trips, announcement to say Director General of Health had given Kiwi Rail and exemption to the wearing of masks, and if you wanted one just ask the staff.
  I knew the ferries were exempt, so the whole thing about masks on public transports seems to be farcical at best.
  
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  March 31, 2021 9:18am
  - MCos
    
    Apart from that how was the trip?
    
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    March 31, 2021 9:59am
TWEEDSE

“The Government’s plan for light rail in Auckland has finally gone to Cabinet and will be announced on Wednesday, Stuff understands.”

So the government announces today how it will disrupt even more of Auckland, destroy businesses along the route and build the tram between the CBD and the airport.

Neither of which anyone goes to anymore.

https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300265935/light-rail-the-hard-part-is-done-now-get-ready-for-the-hard-part
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March 31, 2021 8:01am
- Frank the tank
  
  Good god. Are they that fucking dumb (rhetorical question). The problem will be that by the time the center right is back in power construction on this white elephant will have commenced and we will be stuck with this vanity project, a millstone around Auckland’s neck that will delay further an urgently required second Harbour crossing.
  
  Only in (little) Aotearoa
  
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  March 31, 2021 8:20am
  - UrbanNeocolonialist
    
    It can always be converted into something useful like a route for autonomous taxis in future – at the rate this sort of work is done that will probably become the preferred move before it is even completed.
    
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    March 31, 2021 8:57am
    - Black Propaganda
      
      You mean convert it to a road with metal stripes for decoration?
      
      4 1
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      March 31, 2021 11:08am
- Ehlana
  
  Did you notice this headline in the Herald this morning: “Covid-19 coronavirus: More planning, less ‘policy on the hop’: Review findings into Govt response to August cluster”
  
  A review into Govt response to Covid is released and the govt announces an announcement today … about light rail. Coincidence?
  
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  March 31, 2021 8:31am
  - Maxx
    
    Wait for the answers;
    – I refute the accuracy of that report (the it didn’t happen defence)
    – There are some things that we are still working on but most have been addressed (this is in the past defence)
    – There have been some issues with what we had put in place not being followed through (through them under the bus defence)
    – _________ (silence by all including the media defence, but lets report that “golly, we need to plan a wedding)
    
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    March 31, 2021 9:42am
- G152
  
  And theres the Hamilton to Auckland commuter train that doesn’t go to Auckland, carries 300 commuters and thats going to ease the traffic jam that is Auckland ?
  I have this bridge…..
  
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  March 31, 2021 8:42am
  - UrbanNeocolonialist
    
    It would be cheaper to provide free helicopter rides to the train patrons.
    
    25 2
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    March 31, 2021 8:58am
  - graham
    
    The Hamilton to Auckland train service starts on April 6. I will be fascinated to see just how many people ACTUALLY use it.
    
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    March 31, 2021 9:22am
    - sooty
      
      Even more. How many are on it in six months?
      
      18 0
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      March 31, 2021 10:22am
    - Paulus
      
      And how long will it take to go from Hamilton to Auckland ?
      x hours I have heard !
      
      4 0
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      March 31, 2021 1:51pm
  - Paulus Gnome
    
    I would like to buy your bridge please. I will put it across the harbour . . .
    
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    March 31, 2021 10:10am
- lifesgood
  
  What’s the point? We are going to be in lockdown forever, there will be no tourists for the foreseeable. Why build a light rail to import covid infected people from India, mainly.
  
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  March 31, 2021 9:19am
  - Ehlana
    
    A map of Auckland suggests we have a reasonable motorway network, with two complete north-south routes (NW & SW motorways and N & S motorways, each with their own harbour crossing). I suspect it is ample for our commercial traffic, if not blocked up with private cars carrying only their drivers.
    
    An actual rapid transit network providing a real and practical alternative for private journeys is also needed. The Northern Busway is built and being extended but solutions are needed for the North-West harbourside, the central isthmus between the NW & S railway lines and other areas. That is where further bus/light rail ways may be required. And where political attention should focus.
    
    At the moment, even fewer people need to get to the Airport. The purpose of light rail down the Central Isthmus through the western suburbs of south Auckland should be to serve the people who live and work there and to enable more intensive development in their zones – particularly, more (affordable) housing.
    
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    March 31, 2021 10:57am
    - doublehappy
      
      Oh, the joy in the ’60s and 70’s when the children were small. Come the weekend we would pack a picnic, toys, and a couple of beers. Then into the family car and take a trip to the beach, a bushwalk, or visit friends. Now imagine that as walk to the bus stop, can’t bring your canoe, these beers are bloody heavy. Change buses, wait, what no bus, better go home. Look for a bus going home. Well, that is what you are suggesting and what the woke Marxists are saying we must have. By golly, the quality of life is going to suffer!
      
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      March 31, 2021 2:34pm
- Black Propaganda
  
  With these now daily game changing announcements they remind me of the good ole days of Think Big-Carless Days-Price Freezes of the 80s. I am now seriously suspecting government consultation occurs in the privacy of cabinet meetings when the spirit of Muldoon is channelled by a Medium MP of the Labour Party. Well,… they surely would not be consulting the spirit of Lange, he caused Rogernomics.
  
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  March 31, 2021 9:23am
- KevO'Brien
  
  It would take a labour Cabinet to consider such a foolish matter. Plank-hardened.
  
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  March 31, 2021 1:33pm
Nostradamus

Andrew Laming, an Australian federal MP, seems to be a household name in Australia at the moment.

1. The story begins with media reports that Mr Laming has been a naughty boy online. Some media reports allege that he accused a woman of misappropriating funds from a charity organisation she worked at (which she denies). Other media reports allege that he harassed another woman and her husband online.

2. The Australian PM calls Mr Laming into his office for a telling-off.

3. Later that day Mr Laming apologises in Parliament: “… Today in this house I want to retract those comments and issue a public unreserved apology…”.

4. Mr Laming goes back online (big mistake).

5. The next day media reports show screenshots of a Facebook Messenger conversation where Mr Laming says he was “surprised by the response”, and while he would “willingly apologise”, he “didn’t even know” what he was apologising for in Parliament.

6. The Australian PM isn’t pleased: “I spoke to him again this morning, and I’m arranging for Mr Laming to now go and get appropriate assistance, through an appropriate course, to build his understanding and awareness about his actions”.

7. Mr Laming announces that he’ll leave politics at the next election (which I think must be held by May 2022). He also announces that he’ll immediately be going on medical leave and undergoing “empathy training”.

8. That’s not the last time we hear from Mr Laming. Despite being on medical leave, which is presumably taxpayer-funded, he agrees to an interview with the ABC (another big mistake). He says that his apology needs to be looked at in context: “If you’ve made someone feel terrible, harassed, abused that is utterly unacceptable but the next step is to say what did the MP say and what was it in response to. I’m inviting those individuals to table that information, you’ll find they gave as good as they got”.

9. More media reports emerge about Mr Laming. One that’s particularly well-reported is that he allegedly took a photo of a woman while she was filling a fridge at a landscaping business.

10. Mr Laming’s version: “What I saw was an incredibly hardworking employee who was simply kneeling in normal work attire and stacking a fridge with an impossible amount of soft drink cans … That was my goal, was to show a challenging work situation”.

11. An eyewitness version: “[The store manager] saw the phone directed at Crystal while she was bent over or bending over to fill up a drinks fridge, and … asked … to have a look at his phone and saw what was on there, and asked Andrew Laming to delete the photo. The photo showed Crystal bending over and her underwear exposed over the top of her shorts that she was wearing”.

So, in summary, Mr Laming’s reputation is now in tatters.

I think that there are some lessons here for NZ politicians.
– Rule number 1: Behave honourably.
– Rule number 2: If you’ve behaved dishonourably, and you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.
– Rule number 3: If you keep digging, then you can expect to find yourself in a deeper hole, as the media will often hold something back to ensure that there’s a slow and steady drip-feed of media reports that, one by one, will eventually take you down.

Oh hold on – Mr Laming is already yesterday’s news: Nationals MP Michael Johnsen exchanged lewd messages with sex worker during NSW Question Time. So far Mr Johnsen has resisted calls for him to resign. I guess that means we’ll have a slow and steady drip-feed of media reports, one by one, until he resigns.
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March 31, 2021 8:03am
- PeeJay
  
  Being a bit of a political junkie, I’ve been following the Aussies political soap opera for a few weeks now. Sex scandals, alleged rapes, appalling abuse, up-skirts, and corruption and cronyism on a level that is mind boggling. Every time you think it’s hit rock bottom, along comes another MP or staffer, usually but not always a liberal, and the race to the bottom continues. Almost can’t wait for the next thrilling episode!
  
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  March 31, 2021 8:43am
  - Tall Man
    
    “usually but not always a liberal”
    
    Do you think there is a slim chance the media is a little left leaning?
    
    23 2
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    March 31, 2021 9:08am
    - PeeJay
      
      Ordinarily I’d have sympathy with the view that media might be left leaning, but in the context of Australia and their current political turbulence, I’d have to respectfully say that the reason it’s usually a Liberal politician is, well, erm, it’s usually a Liberal politician!
      
      Even their Murdoch press is picking this up and reporting on it so it’s not exactly a political hit job.
      
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      March 31, 2021 10:15am
      - Tall Man
        
        Maybe not in this case but how many labor scandals get highlighted ……
        
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        March 31, 2021 2:14pm
  - igm
    
    Yet we hear very little of Mallard . . . the worst speaker, in fact biggest dork to ever disgrace parliament in New Zealand.
    
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    March 31, 2021 9:12am
  - mikenmildagain
    
    Why are our political scandals so tame in comparison? Can’t we get some more entertaining MPs?
    
    16 4
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    March 31, 2021 9:25am
    - Tall Man
      
      You asleep mikey?
      
      https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/inside-accused-mps-fateful-night/HY5RBY5VZ4IKYCS4M3SZUTGWXM/
      
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=809JuKh2IE8
      
      https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/3796622/Shane-Jones-Minister-of-Pornography
      
      and
      
      https://groups.google.com/g/nz.politics/c/icsRjT8iS50?pli=1
      
      The big difference here is that the media lets it go when it’s a lefty whereas
      
      “don’t you know who I am” gets revisited again and again ….
      
      15 4
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      March 31, 2021 9:42am
      - Paulus Gnome
        
        Pony tail anyone?
        
        7 6
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        March 31, 2021 10:12am
    - Maggy Wassilieff
      
      I imagine if Jevan Goulter and Mika X had been associated with the National Party or Act Party we would have had non-stop articles about prominent entertainers and PR consultants pimping young men for rich clients then attempting to obstruct justice….
      but we just get TV3 last night trying to paint Mika X as some reformed saint.
      
      (Mika X story already disappeared off Newshub site)
      
      33 2
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      March 31, 2021 9:44am
      - MCos
        
        Jevan Goulter has indeed worked for both major parties in the past, according to something I saw this morning.
        I’d retrieve the article, but who really cares.
        I’ll say one thing, this guy, Mika X & Mrs Tamaki would be great fun at a dinner party as long as someone else was paying.
        
        6 1
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        March 31, 2021 10:14am
      - Tony Stuart
        
        I would be very surprised if Goulter has ever worked for the National Party MCos. I doubt he has worked for Labour either, after the hit job Ian Wishart did a long time ago,
        
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        March 31, 2021 1:48pm
      - Maggy Wassilieff
        
        I have followed Jevan Goulter’s career since he was involved with Labour Party men as a schoolboy.
        
        He was living in W(h)anganui for a time and was lionised by Tariana Turia for a while.. when he worked for her.
        
        I can’t recall any time he has been associated with the National Party.
        
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        March 31, 2021 3:51pm
      - Papalazarou
        
        Who does Jevan’s wardrobe? Barnum and Bailey?
        
        2 0
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        March 31, 2021 8:27pm
    - Ed Snack
      
      Maybe because the big scandals are caused by Labour Party people, and as such there is a near blanket ban on reporting on them.
      
      Normally naked young men running on the streets, minors being sexually molested at a venue where alcohol is being illegally provided, that sort of thing, would get a lurid write up in the press – but only if committed by the “wrong people”.
      
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      March 31, 2021 10:34am
      - Batman
        
        Um, they did get lurid write ups in the press.
        
        I do think that the media goes harder on National than Labour but these dumb claims of a “blanket ban” just makes the person advancing it look either dishonest or stupid. Take your pick.
        
        6 13
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        March 31, 2021 10:39am
      - mikenmildagain
        
        dishonest or stupid. Take your pick
        
        Both is surely an option too.
        
        6 9
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        March 31, 2021 11:04am
      - Ed Snack
        
        So who was the culprit in the Labour Party fun and games ?
        
        8 2
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        March 31, 2021 12:41pm
    - KevO'Brien
      
      Why don’t you join the Labour-Greens mob? You would probably speak more than any of them do.
      
      9 3
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      March 31, 2021 1:35pm
- SB2
  
  Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
  I would rate that spiel of yours Tabloid goss stuff,
  
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  March 31, 2021 8:43am
  - Nostradamus
    
    SB2:
    
    You’re a fuckwit. I wrote something that’s politically topical and thoughtful, and in my own words, which is something that you’re clearly incapable of doing. PeeJay read my comment in its intended context.
    
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    March 31, 2021 9:08am
    - surfing
      
      Thoughtful people don’t use language like that.
      
      3 18
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      March 31, 2021 10:20am
      - kowtow
        
        There’s a time and place for everything.
        Fuckwit , short sharp and most importantly to the point.
        
        17 1
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        March 31, 2021 11:05am
      - graham
        
        I would *normally* agree, surfing … I am no fan of the f-word myself … but SB2 has been screwing up this blog for several years now, adding absolutely nothing of value, picking holes in anything that anybody posts, and harassing and cyber-stalking several women on the site.
        
        Sometimes even the most patient of people can snap.
        
        13 1
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        March 31, 2021 11:59am
      - Nostradamus
        
        Graham:
        
        Surfing may not be aware that I’ve been commenting here at Kiwiblog since 2005 – 16 years. I spent (at at guess) about 30 minutes looking up the various media articles that I’ve read, and summarising the timeline. Why would I bother? Well, for one thing, because I thought it’d be of interest to Kiwiblog readers who follow politics. For another thing, I thought it’d start an interesting discussion in a New Zealand context.
        
        PeeJay understood the context, and some of the resulting discussion from others was interesting, too.
        
        For SB2 to come along, as he does with many comments here, and just make a drive-by smear about my comment without any substantive comment is trolling at its worst. I’ve noticed that he targets Maggy’s and Maggie’s comments, in particular, which is harassment as well as trolling. I’ve checked my comment history, and I think the last time I called someone a “fucking idiot” was in 2016, which coincidently happened to be Stephieboy. In 2019, Cmm called him a “complete fucking moron” for apartheid smears after a history of doing so Tom Hunter, perhaps more politely, awarded him the title of “Kiwiblog’s dumbest commentator”, It’s for SB2 to improve his behaviour, but he seems incapable of doing so, and people have, and will, point it out.
        
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        March 31, 2021 3:30pm
      - mikenmildagain
        
        Nostradamus
        Sure, SB2 gets hammered on Kiwiblog a lot, but it’s not because he is stupid and abusive. Plenty of commenters share those qualities. SB2 attracts attention because his stupid and abusive comments run counter to the Kiwiblog mainstream.
        
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        March 31, 2021 3:39pm
      - Swifty
        
        Nostra, beautiful. Just beautiful.
        
        2 0
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        March 31, 2021 4:18pm
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    Read about it in “The Guardian”, then.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/mar/29/besieged-mp-andrew-laming-says-his-behaviour-has-been-reinvented-into-harassment
    
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    March 31, 2021 9:24am
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    Perhaps you need it spelt out for you SB2
    
    Men who harass women online aren’t very clever.
    
    Andrew Laming: MP ‘steps away from duties’ amid harassment complaints
    https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-56532248
    
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    March 31, 2021 10:37am
    - oldfella
      
      Yes, Maggie, and Australian men must be the worst of the lot as even their school age sons have to apologise for just being male! /s
      
      Parents of male students at a Australian school in Victoria’s southwest are furious after their sons were forced to stand up at an assembly and apologise to their female classmates.
      Brauer College, in Warrnambool, held an assembly on Wednesday where boys were told to stand in solidarity for female students who had experienced sexual harassment.
      Outraged parents say their sons were told to apologise to the girls for offensive behaviour on behalf of their gender.
      https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/victorias-brauer-college-male-students-forced-to-apologise-to-female-students-for-sexism/2AKDLLME6DLAGI6O3F3OIDLRQI/
      
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      March 31, 2021 11:11am
      - Maggy Wassilieff
        
        Yep,
        it is nuts getting folks to apologise for stuff they’ve never done.
        
        Just a means whereby the slimy offenders and their enablers can shove the blame on the innocent.
        
        15 2
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        March 31, 2021 11:36am
      - lifesgood
        
        I get furious about all the historical apologies too. Why on earth should I be grouped into an apology for what happened 100s of years ago and I had nothing to do with? It is an absolute nonsense. How far are we going to go back?…to the Romans, Greeks, Vikings etc. Soon we’ll have to have DNA tests to see what we need to apologise for. Ridiculous. What is wrong with these virtual signaling clowns and how dare they make an apology on my behalf that I don’t wish to make?
        
        13 2
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        March 31, 2021 12:33pm
      - Batman
        
        The Crown, as the direct authority responsible (the clue is in the name) is responsible for such things.
        
        You’re mixing the crown with society, which is not quite the same.
        
        4 7
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        March 31, 2021 1:23pm
artemisia

Richard Prebble on the housing announcements in the Herald today. Paywalled, but he has helpfully summarised it:

Never has a government traded away its credibility for so little.
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March 31, 2021 8:04am
- PeeJay
  
  While I certainly didn’t vote for them in 2017 nor 2020, when they got in I hoped they’d do well as I always want NZ to succeed.
  
  Unfortunately, when the dust settles on this shower when they are eventually turfed out, and it will happen at some point, it’s not going to be great reading no matter how furiously the left try and polish the turd or throw some glitter at it. It’s even worse this term as they had a huge mandate – rightly or wrongly but the fact is they have a majority behind them and they are really pissing it away.
  
  They could have been up there with the fourth labour government in terms of legacy and achievements, but i think when the dust settles, it’s really going to be a ‘meh’ moment.
  
  Tinkering at best, destructive and regressive at worst.
  
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  March 31, 2021 8:52am
- alloytoo
  
  Worse than doing nothing.
  
  There seems to be no 70’s Labour mistake that this government isn’t up for.
  
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  March 31, 2021 9:17am
- Maxx
  
  You would have to surmise that a fair amount of the people who turned to Labour at the last election because of the issue of house prices weren’t people who didn’t own a home, and many likely had a rental property, they just saw (like most reasonable people) that 20% year on year increases weren’t sustainable, and Labour were saying the things that gave them comfort.
  
  I wonder how many of those have now had a WTF moment, and not only are now seeing their investments in danger, are now seeing Labour for the bold faced liars that they are.
  
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  March 31, 2021 10:27am
- Scooter
  
  They were not credible to begin with.
  
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  March 31, 2021 6:54pm
Maggy Wassilieff

The answer is Yes.

https://www.rnz.co.nz/programmes/the-detail/story/2018789466/the-speaker-row-should-trevor-mallard-step-down
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March 31, 2021 8:06am
- Bobba Fret
  
  Mallard needs to go. Surely hand on heart, even Labour party MP’s and supporters cannot believe he is a good speaker, and think that its ok to KNOWINGLY falsely accuse someone of rape.
  
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  March 31, 2021 11:45am
Maggie Pie

Another day, another dollar….. (actually, Fifteen Thousand of them!!)

What is it Ricardo actually does for the ‘benefit’ of THE COUNTRY?

https://twitter.com/RMarchNZ/status/1376359266441818112
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March 31, 2021 8:10am
- Paulus Gnome
  
  I threw up a little . . .
  
  We pay this prick how much?
  
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  March 31, 2021 8:47am
  - UrbanNeocolonialist
    
    truly an MP for the age of vapid social media consumers and voters with the attention spans that would embarrass goldfish.
    
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    March 31, 2021 9:00am
  - Inandout
    
    PG, if you ask that question on Twitter they will block it.
    
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    March 31, 2021 1:46pm
- Sir Cullen's Sidekick
  
  He is the only one who is solving NZ poverdee.
  
  24 3
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  March 31, 2021 8:55am
  - Tall Man
    
    When he’s not “doing crime and being gay” …..
    
    27 1
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    March 31, 2021 9:11am
    - nathie
      
      And when he’s not collecting Air Points whilst contributing to “climate change” by jetting across the world!
      
      33 0
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      March 31, 2021 9:48am
  - Maxx
    
    Has Cindy abdicated that responsibility to Ricky now? I thought she had it solved?
    
    12 0
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    March 31, 2021 10:29am
    - Sir Cullen's Sidekick
      
      Yes she solved first round of poverdee. This is second wave.
      
      7 2
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      March 31, 2021 11:42am
Maggy Wassilieff

An absolutely disgraceful interview of Judith Collins by Susie Ferguson today on Morning Report.

Instead of finding out what Judith Collins wanted to say on Rent caps, Susie subjected Collins and listeners to a barrage of irrelevent questioning.

And now the headline reads as if National has some big plot to forgo covid vaccination, fgs!

https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018789770/shane-reti-s-decision-not-to-get-vaccinated-with-government-his-to-explain-judith-collins
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March 31, 2021 8:13am
- Frank the tank
  
  Did you expect anything else from the feckless ones?
  
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  March 31, 2021 8:17am
- Tony Stuart
  
  See my 8.15am post below Maggy. Susie’s not the only one shilling an anti-National spin…
  
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  March 31, 2021 8:17am
- Paulus
  
  Suzi is getting herself in a twist – not sure what she expects to achieve other than to continue to make herself look like a jerk (lady version).
  She is not on the media lady terrible list yet so she should ring Tova and be elected.
  Is this the best that RNZ share of $105,000,000 looks like.
  I used to like her but………….
  
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  March 31, 2021 8:33am
  - Sir Cullen's Sidekick
    
    Toxic Tova and Susie may as well join Labour. Resident Commie John Campbell is also available.
    
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    March 31, 2021 8:58am
  - lifesgood
    
    Never liked her. She and her fellow country woman, that Nicola Sturgeon clown, would be besties. A polite suggestion that she might prefer life in her home country wouldn’t go amiss.
    
    21 1
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    March 31, 2021 9:22am
- SB2
  
  Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
  Must listen to. It seem that Susie Ferguson is doing what she’s paid to do.
  
  Namely bringing politicians to account. left, to t right, and center.
  
  Different story if Cindy.
  
  Aye?
  
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  March 31, 2021 8:49am
  - nathie
    
    “Bringing politicians to account. left, to t right, and center.” ????
    
    Really? You should have heard Susie Ferguson’s interview with the Prime Minister last year where Ferguson spent nearly 10 minutes flattering Ardern to gain her support about some other (irrelevant) news story that Ferguson was personally shopping just prior!
    
    Ardern couldn’t believe her luck – total acquiescence by Ferguson (who was like a puppy rolling over wanting its tummy scratched by Ardern) and not one other question put to her about current events!
    
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    March 31, 2021 9:38am
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    “Bringing politicians to account.
    
    In case you hadn’t noticed SB2, it is Jacinda Ardern that is buggering up the rental market at the moment.
    
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    March 31, 2021 11:38am
  - Benedict Yu
    
    Do you even think before you write this stuff?
    
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    March 31, 2021 11:41am
    - Tony Stuart
      
      I think we all know the answer to that Benedict 😀
      
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      March 31, 2021 1:53pm
- Clyde
  
  Yes, it was a disgraceful interview. RNZ Moaning Report uses a system of automatic limiting which means that whenever the interviewer speaks the interviewee’s audio is automatically cut to a level where they are inaudible. Ferguson’s questions were stupid, abrasive and contemptible. However complaining to either RNZ or the Broadcasting Standards Authority is a pointless exercise as both organisations are, in my view, biased and partisan.
  
  Its a tricky one for anyone in Opposition – if they refuse to appear then that becomes the story. If I were Judith I’d preface every interview with an on-air request that they not be talked over and if it happens just say that she will not speak to a rude and belligerent person and hang up.
  
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  March 31, 2021 8:51am
  - Sir Cullen's Sidekick
    
    All Judith needs to do is answer the silly questions in simple terms without any explanation – Yes, No, May be, Hmmm, OK, I see – Nothing more. Susie will get frustrated.
    
    30 2
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    March 31, 2021 9:00am
    - KevO'Brien
      
      Susie should be sacked.
      
      11 4
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      March 31, 2021 1:40pm
- PeeJay
  
  I would love the National party to have the balls to announce that the cosy sinecures these so called journalists all enjoy at RNZ and TVNZ etc are all coming to an end if they get back in! Sell them all and see how they get on without taxpayer funding. If their ideas are so compelling I’m sure they will survive in the open market!
  
  The worst part is I usually support some level of state supported media – full commercial TV and Radio can miss some vital areas that are only ever covered by RNZ or TVNZ. However with the clear bias now being shown by the media, it’s really got to stop now through either mandatory legally enshrined neutrality within their editorial content or being sold. As the former is never going to work, perhaps flicking them off and seeing how they survive without any government support is the answer.
  
  Way too controversial an idea to get traction but just because it’s a hard sell to the electorate, doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be considered.
  
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  March 31, 2021 9:01am
  - artemisia
    
    All National / ACT would have to say before 2023 is nothing. Then if they are the government, the bonus lollies would quietly not happen, and Vote funds would quietly not increase or CEOs would be required to find say 10% savings.
    
    Media that can’t survive with less taxpayer funding will shrink and fade. Probably not quietly.
    
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    March 31, 2021 9:46am
  - Paulus
    
    RNZ and TVNZ are now to be merged by Faa Foi in giving the decision today to a new committee headed by Tracey Martin a one time NZF MP
    = Job for the girls as she can be expected to do as she is told if she wants another job.
    
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    March 31, 2021 2:04pm
    - Nickc2
      
      Yea, at $11oo.00 per day. Who says you can’t buy loyalty to the cause?
      
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      March 31, 2021 8:30pm
  - Nickc2
    
    I believe Chris Faafoi has moved the goalposts and the Govt is about to rush a bill through parliament to amalgamate TVNZ and RNZ. That will mean that whatever the new name of the consortium is, it will be accountable to the Govt for its Board, Programming and Content. This will no doubt include censorship of content that doesn’t align with Govt or Marxist ideologies. This is not BS, it was on News Talk ZB this morning.
    
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    March 31, 2021 2:27pm
- Inandout
  
  Maggy, Muldoon and even Lange would have ripped into that interviewer. What has happened to politicians?
  
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  March 31, 2021 1:50pm
Frank the tank

When I was getting on at the silverdale off ramp today I was wondering how that ‘shovel ready’ Penlink project was getting on. I for the life of me can’t see one sod of earth being turned.
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March 31, 2021 8:14am
- Black Propaganda
  
  Frank I kid you not, environmental reports are the reason. Currently they are surveying the current enviromental conditions prior to construction. Microscope ready rather than shovel ready.
  
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  March 31, 2021 8:51am
  - Frank the tank
    
    Isn’t this supposed to be covered off as part of a resource consent that has already been granted for the project?
    
    4 1
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    March 31, 2021 10:32am
    - Black Propaganda
      
      Yes correct it is part of the requirements of the resource consent that is ‘a work in progress’ as they say.
      
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      March 31, 2021 11:42am
- Sir Cullen's Sidekick
  
  Megan Woods is finishing off her pie and then get to it.
  
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  March 31, 2021 9:01am
  - Frank the tank
    
    Be kind like your 2 girlfriends Cindy and Ginny.
    
    5 1
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    March 31, 2021 10:33am
- virtualmark
  
  Frank, I think that if you’re getting on at the off ramp then you’re doing it wrong.
  
  More seriously, having grown up there, PenLink was first proposed in the 1970s and land was put aside certainly as early as the 1980s. So I’ve reached the point now of not expecting it to be built in my lifetime.
  
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  March 31, 2021 3:25pm
Maggy Wassilieff

KB’s downticker is on the ball this morning.
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March 31, 2021 8:14am
- Maggie Pie
  
  I doubt he’s got any 😀
  
  39 8
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  March 31, 2021 8:20am
  - Yabster
    
    no balls at all and no life obviously- can’t wait for my downtick!!
    
    25 7
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    March 31, 2021 8:26am
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    At least he’s not one of us .
    Can you imagine one of the girls from your tennis club sitting over her laptop downticking our posts?
    
    23 7
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    March 31, 2021 8:29am
    - Ed Snack
      
      Maggie, Maggie, Maggie ! You should know by now that any comments moaning about downticks automatically gets extra ones. There’s an app for that !
      
      Sadly the app for upticks is currently non-functional but I believe that there’s a working party looking at it.
      
      9 2
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      March 31, 2021 10:38am
- Tall Man
  
  Probably “steffy” plus “sb1” and “sb2” …..
  
  Maybe that’s why he keeps cpming back with a different login so he can uptick his stupidity 😉
  
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  March 31, 2021 9:27am
Benedict Yu

I was in Wellington yesterday. Met friend in a bar on Courtney place. I had not been there for over a year. What a change. Groups of Maori men wearing hoods, swearing and spitting and staring at passers by.

Scenes like this will have people fleeing. Next time I am in Wellington I won’t be meeting anyone in that part of town. And that bar won’t be getting the $100 we spent there.

I would think that those who own businesses there would be losing sleep.
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March 31, 2021 8:15am
- Yabster
  
  Wellington fast becoming a shithole- they may have to change their slogan to “you can get beat in Wellington on a bad day”
  
  https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/124681481/man-undergoes-surgery-for-broken-jaw-after-unprovoked-attack-during-wellington-holiday
  
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  March 31, 2021 8:25am
- kowtow
  
  A very good example of why businesses must be able to chose who they serve / not serve .
  
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  March 31, 2021 8:29am
  - Benedict Yu
    
    That does not help. These gangsters were not in the bar I was drinking in. They were congregating with their fellow gangsters up and down the footpath outside.
    
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    March 31, 2021 9:16am
    - Paulus Gnome
      
      Different today for sure, it is payday, they will be in the bar for as long as you can stomach their boorish behavior and leave . . .
      
      5 1
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      March 31, 2021 10:18am
- Weinerpoop
  
  Local Wellington cops are telling friends not to go anywhere near the CBD due to exactly this and that gang prospects are in these motels beating up anyone they can for devices, sneakers and cash.
  
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  March 31, 2021 10:43am
  - Nickc2
    
    But don’t the Police have to negotiate with them in order to determine if they want to be arrested or not? Wasn’t that the way things had to be conducted during this age of wokeness as espoused by our Police Commissioner?
    
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    March 31, 2021 1:58pm
  - UrbanNeocolonialist
    
    I think it’s great, the more the obvious and direct consequences of left wing insanity are visited upon the most left wing electorate in the country the more they will be red-pilled. Just desserts.
    
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    March 31, 2021 4:57pm
Ruahine

Look Cindy. We will be able to buy gas from Australia. Perhaps they will give us a special deal on the price if we stop Cabinet Ministers from bad mouthing them.

https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/santos-gives-green-light-to-4-7b-new-gas-field-off-australia-20210330-p57f4e.html
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March 31, 2021 8:15am
- peterwn
  
  Similar for 4×2. Bunnings is no doubt getting ready to import 4×2 and other building timbers. CHH will probably go screaming off to the government wanting tariff protection.
  
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  March 31, 2021 8:34am
  - Black Propaganda
    
    Yep, perfect optics for Bunnings to import their Baltic Blue Pine. Look-up Bunnings Australia for a peek at what they could be bring in on the next container ship. Far better timber than the crap served up by the NZ timber industry. They currently import their ply into NZ from Brazil so why not some pine framing from the Northern Hemisphere.?
    
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    March 31, 2021 9:02am
    - Ed Snack
      
      I’m pretty sure that all Baltic Pine is from old growth forests, that is it is not commercially grown and replanted.
      
      Major cost for NZ timber is the plantation nature, have to factor in all the planting, trimming, and growing costs (especially the long time to maturity even though Radiata is essentially the fastest growing timber species available) when buying the logs. Old growth has none of that, just the cost of the land or the cutting rights, and no replanting required.
      
      Unfortunately there’s still a lot of old growth around to be harvested, so the plantation system is on a hiding to nothing until the old growth is more or less exhausted.
      
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      March 31, 2021 10:44am
      - Black Propaganda
        
        Will never be exhausted they have continents of the stuff owned by the sovereign states. Has to date been politically taboo to import timber framing. Would be akin to importing a lamb chop, but why not?
        
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        March 31, 2021 11:53am
      - Dougal10
        
        It’s the logical next step in this clown show, after all coal imports are at record levels .
        
        5 0
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        March 31, 2021 1:35pm
  - Tricati
    
    Yes, CHH will try and use BRANZ to limit approval of imported building material to hang onto their monopoly.
    A similar thing happened a few years back with plaster (Gib) board, as there were much cheaper options imported from Oz.
    2nd to land supply, the cost of building materials is a significant part of building costs, and the monopolizes in NZ have had a major part to play.
    
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    March 31, 2021 9:32am
    - Ed Snack
      
      The Gib board costs in NZ were excessive and generated significant profits for the old Fletcher Building company. And yes, they relied on tariffs/exclusions to maintain the monopoly and continued to charge excessive prices for many years.
      
      Used to work for a different part of FB at one stage, and the rest of the company were always a bit envious of how we had to work pretty hard to generate returns and the gib board people could piss money away hand over foot and still make the biggest profit and get the biggest bonuses.
      
      9 2
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      March 31, 2021 10:48am
    - Black Propaganda
      
      I can attest to that certain drywall maker that uses elephant bones told if they want approval their price had to match local product, to ensure it was of sufficient quality, kid you not.
      
      7 2
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      March 31, 2021 11:19am
    - doublehappy
      
      I think Chinese Gib aboard is the cheapest. I have bought the cheapest imported stuff and it is at least 33% cheaper than NZ made. Too big a saving not to take.
      
      2 1
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      March 31, 2021 3:13pm
  - UrbanNeocolonialist
    
    Foreign sourced lumber would likely be way cheaper and higher quality (denser, stronger) than NZ milled stuff. Eg typically ~$1/m for higher quality 4×2 than shitty NZ pinus that costs $3-5 on a good day. Eg USA lumber is typically around $1.5m less than half the price of NZ.
    
    Lumber is a small fraction of cost of building a home anyway.
    
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    March 31, 2021 5:09pm
- Benedict Yu
  
  Yes gas will be a golden fuel for the next half century. And in New Zealand we are turning it off.
  
  To be clear the Climate Change Commission has proposed to END all gas use in New Zealand. There would be no imports from Australia. And jacinda has promised to implement all of the recommendations.
  
  Honestly the Climate Change Commission is like Pol Pot Year Zero.. Minus the genocide.
  
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  March 31, 2021 9:21am
  - Nickc2
    
    What, no genocide? Just wait till people die of cold and starvation in lil-olde-NZ.
    
    No gas for cooking, heating or electrical power generation, no meat due to dairy farming being banned, no road or rail transport due to lack of petroleum fuels and that’s only my first pass through this proposed legislation.
    
    Who are we going to blame for all this:
    – Winston Peters,
    – Jacinda Ardern,
    – Julie-Ann Genter,
    – James Shaw or
    – all of the above.
    
    Note, I haven’t mentioned financial bankruptcy.
    What a hell hole China is going to inherit! Will they bother? What’s left in it for them? China and those who identify as Maori are going to have a great fight over the crumbs that are left.
    
    Oh, and I almost forgot, China doesn’t tolerate those of the LGBTIQ Brigade.
    
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    March 31, 2021 10:36am
    - Batman
      
      This fanfic seems like it needs more fleshing out to be counted as a proper piece of creative writing.
      
      3 15
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      March 31, 2021 10:38am
      - Nickc2
        
        I will practice my fanficing skills in due course.
        
        9 3
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        March 31, 2021 11:00am
  - KevO'Brien
    
    Who rules? The people, Cinders, Climate Change commission?
    
    4 2
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    March 31, 2021 1:46pm
Tony Stuart

Our good mate “Hey Clint” Smith is being a dick again. He tweeted this yesterday (two tweets merged into one):

1) Clint Smith @ClintVSmith
·
16h
It’s really important respectable figures from across different parts of society to be seen to get the vaccine.

Such a good idea to have the health ministers & spokespeople from other parties get it together

Reti politicising this & undermining outreach to Maori is dangerous

2) whatever principle Reti thinks he’s standing up for, what people will see is National’s Deputy Leader and one of our most senior Maori MPs refusing to get the vaccine.

Same with the fluoride thing, eh? He may have a principle, but his actions help conspiracy theorists

https://twitter.com/ClintVSmith/status/1376724935863767042

Clint knows full well that Dr Reti isn’t “refusing to get the vaccine”. Stuff explains clearly what Reti is refusing to do:

But not everyone is convinced that having ministers get public jabs will help the campaign to get Kiwis vaccinated.

National’s health spokesman Shane Reti said he would only get the jab when it was his turn on the priority framework, saying he would avoid “jumping the queue.”

He said MPs shouldn’t need to get the vaccine to prove it was safe.

“I think if we’ve got any credence in our reputation, our recommendations should stand without needing to jump the queue.”

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/124700606/first-government-ministers-set-to-get-covid19-vaccine-about-60000-kiwis-have-had-the-jab

Clint, or course, is a spin doctor, as he showed when Gareth Hughes from the Greens brought fame upon him a few years ago with the infamous “Hey Clint, are we pleased about that?” remark. It got him so much fame that he was head-hunted by David Cunliffe to work for the Labour Party as a practitioner of the Dark Arts.

He may not work for the Labour Party anymore, but he’s still shilling for Labour and Jacinda Ardern, and the facts are still secondary to the spin!
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March 31, 2021 8:15am
- Joely Doe
  
  Quelle surprise!
  A Labour shill that tells lies.
  Another day ending in ‘y’.
  
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  March 31, 2021 8:51am
  - Tall Man
    
    Starts at the top 😉
    
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    March 31, 2021 9:22am
    - Paulus Gnome
      
      Are you saying Adhern is a liar?
      
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      March 31, 2021 10:20am
      - Tall Man
        
        Don’t know the fellow but ardern is 😉
        
        7 1
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        March 31, 2021 2:16pm
- RoboRob
  
  For what its worth I 100% disagree with Reti on this. Politicians have a reputation for saying one thing and doing another. You cannot expect vaccine sceptics to simply ‘trust’ the politicians, that is what is behind the scepticisim for F sake, is he so out of touch he thinks that people believe everything that politicians say.
  
  All the politicians need to take the vaccine ASAP, especially the Greens and right wing of politics. It is the only way to remove the belief that this is some master plan by our overlords to mind control us.
  
  The whole wait my turn thing is utter crap (as whitnessed by pretty much every other sane country). I called out JA on this and I will do the same with Reti. We are talking about 300 jabs to fully do all of paliament. Well worth it to, (A) protect our government from failure due to an outbreak and (B) inspire confidence in the large # of doubters.
  
  Pull you head in Reti and get a jab you plonker. Same goes for the Greens, who remarkably, no one in the media seems to want to ask.
  
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  March 31, 2021 8:56am
  - Tall Man
    
    Isn’t it up the ardern etc to allocate who what and when?
    
    12 3
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    March 31, 2021 9:25am
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    You obviously know nothing of Dr Reti’s history.
    
    He is the one who showed up the the CoL Government’s lousy vaccination statistics and called them out over the Measles scandal which NZ spread to Samoa.
    https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/401657/export-of-measles-to-pacific-very-disappointing-nz-opposition-mp
    
    This is a hit job on the one person who has held Jacinda and her cronies to account for their laxness in getting vaccines into Northland after the meningitis outbreak in 2018.
    
    https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/112907243/whangrei-mp-shane-reti-calls-for-inquiry-into-northland-meningitis-outbreak
    
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    March 31, 2021 9:33am
    - RoboRob
      
      I admit I don’t know much about Reti, asside from that he is supposedly awesome 🙂
      
      My comments relate to his quote…
      
      National’s health spokesman Shane Reti said he would only get the jab when it was his turn on the priority framework, saying he would avoid “jumping the queue.”
      
      The above is BS and stupidity, I see if from JA and did not expect it from Reti. I called her on it and I call him out on it too.
      
      “I think if we’ve got any credence in our reputation, our recommendations should stand without needing to jump the queue.”
      
      What planet is he living in, where he believes that the greater population think politicians have good reputations and that people will just follow their recommendations? Sounds totally out of touch.
      
      We see people on this site regularly questioning the effectiveness, need for and political motivation behind vaccines. These are the same people that would look at Reti and potentially think, Reti is avoiding taking the vaccine, my beliefs are confirmed.
      
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      March 31, 2021 10:09am
      - Ed Snack
        
        Whereas I happen to think what you’re spouting is BS and stupidity. I happen to support Reti’s stand, politicians are nothing special, and should certainly not get special treatment denied to others.
        
        I have additional respect for him standing up for the ordinary people of NZ and not grandstanding about how special he is that he deserves priority treatment.
        
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        March 31, 2021 10:51am
      - Maggy Wassilieff
        
        I admit I don’t know much about Reti,
        
        So you would rather believe a hit job on an honourable man, than think about what he really stands for?
        
        Why should a politician demand to be up early on the vaccination list?
        
        Why should Dr Reti have a vaccination in public.?
        
        He’s not the Minister of Health.
        
        And if you want Maori MPs taking the jab in a public setting..
        Labour could supply: 15
        The Greens could supply: 3
        and The Māori Party: 2.
        
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        March 31, 2021 11:50am
      - Bobba Fret
        
        Why should he jump the queue? Then people would complain that he has been given priority. I agree with Reti’s stand and think you are totally wrong.
        
        9 0
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        March 31, 2021 12:28pm
      - RoboRob
        
        @Maggie
        
        I thought I had explained why I think he (and all other) MPs should take the jab. I also think i answered your other questions.
        
        Here goes agian
        Q: Why should a politician demand to be up early on the vaccination list?
        
        A: There are providing a front line service like border workers. They should have the vaccine to prove to anti vaxers that they have faith in the vaccine. Not doing so encourages anti vaxers to believe there is a conspiracy.
        
        Q:Why should Dr Reti have a vaccination in public.?
        
        A: Same as above. Not just Reti but all MPs. It is important for the health and safety of all NZers.
        
        Q: And if you want Maori MPs taking the jab in a public setting..
        
        A: As I keep saying, all MPs. I don’t know why you think I am playing some sort of race card here.
        
        Q: So you would rather believe a hit job on an honourable man, than think about what he really stands for?
        
        A: I am basing my views on the quotes provided not the biased article. Assuming that the quotes are true, I disagree with him.
        
        Looking at the number of downvotes, clearly it is not popular to be critical of a National MP. At least I knoiw how Mike feels now:)
        
        I stand by my claim that ANY mp that believes the following… “I think if we’ve got any credence in our reputation, our recommendations should stand without needing to jump the queue.” Is living in an alternate reality.
        
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        March 31, 2021 1:35pm
      - alwyn
        
        Why don’t you have a look at how our PM has flip-flopped on this question?
        On Feb 21 Jacinda said that she was going to wait until it was her turn and that she would not be jumping the queue.
        “Ardern’s decision is a move away from other world leaders who have chosen to receive the vaccination early and in public, in the hopes of inspiring confidence in the vaccine.”
        https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/covid-19-coronavirus-jacinda-ardern-says-she-will-be-publicly-vaccinated-but-not-yet/K7LDPTQCUTD2YW65D5TKYQJUDA/
        Then a few days later, probably after she was told how few doses were actually available to New Zealand, she changed her mind and said
        “”It didn’t feel right to me to be in that [first] cohort, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to wait until the middle of the year either,” she told the NZ Herald.”
        https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2021/02/covid-19-jacinda-ardern-plans-to-get-the-vaccine-before-public.html
        Meanwhile people who genuinely might be in danger from the disease are still waiting.
        What percentage of people have had even a first dose? Is it up to 0.5% yet?
        
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        March 31, 2021 3:09pm
- Sacha
  
  Do people REALLY think that if the PM or any of her store-bought mates have an injection in public, that the hordes will do the same?
  It seems to me that many people are ‘anti’ vaccine because they are sick and tired of being bossed around by a controlling egoist.
  I have been minding my own health for over 80 years, and dammit, I’m not going to let anyone else. take over now.
  
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  March 31, 2021 10:16am
  - Ehlana
    
    Real conspiracy theorists will tell you that the “vaccines” given to public figures to inspire confidence are placebos, or not even real injections… just done to make the common people take their microchips.
    
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    March 31, 2021 12:21pm
  - KevO'Brien
    
    Anything funded or endorsed by Bill Gates is best avoided.
    
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    March 31, 2021 1:49pm
    - mikenmildagain
      
      Says Kev, who is probably using Microsoft products as he types…
      
      3 3
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      March 31, 2021 2:49pm
      - KevO'Brien
        
        I’m not using Microsofties at all.
        
        3 2
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        March 31, 2021 6:35pm
  - RoboRob
    
    Some might. Certainly it is better for them to take vaccines than make up reasons not to 🙂
    
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    March 31, 2021 2:08pm
Scott

The Deep rig by Patrick Byrne, shows in detail how the democrats stole the election for president and how they stole the runoff in Georgia which would decide who would control the senate.

Again, as in the presidential election, voters had gone to bed thinking two candidates were well ahead, and woke up to two swings of virtually-identical sizes that delivered the races to their opponents (page 152).

Perdue ( R) was ahead of Ossof (D) at 10.51pm by 119,000 votes, 1.990 m to 1.871m. Then there was a huge swing and at 8.41am the next morning Ossof was ahead 2.192m against 2.208m. So during the night Ossof received 337k more votes while Perdue only got 201k more votes!
During the night Ossof got more than 3 votes for every 2 of his opponent!

That’s what happened in the presidential election too. In the night skulduggery happened, statistically impossible things happened and lo and behold Biden is ahead! The dems stole the election IMHO.
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March 31, 2021 8:16am
- SB2
  
  Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
  What about postal votes. That would explain a lot I think and the alleged so called anomalies!
  
  The Dems did not steal the election
  
  FACT!
  
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  March 31, 2021 8:52am
  - Paulus Gnome
    
    Writing in block letters does not make your argument TRUE!
    
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    March 31, 2021 10:21am
- RoboRob
  
  It’s pretty simple. Dems voted by mail, Republicans did not. When the postal votes were counted, at the end, there were as expected, large swings. The republicans knew this would happen before the election and used this to encourage their voters to get out and vote.
  
  No grand scheme here adn whoever Patrick Byrne is should know it.
  
  I don’t think US elections are run well, and I think there were some major legal issues, but not enough to change the fact that Trump lost.
  
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  March 31, 2021 9:03am
- Scott
  
  Stephieboy – there is a lot of evidence out there. I am working my way through “The Deep Rig” and will bring you more information as time permits. But there are statistical anomalies that show us that something very wrong was happening in the 2020 presidential election.
  
  By the way look at Joe Biden now. Are you sure that guy got more votes than any other candidate in history? He can’t even hold a press conference. Actually he can’t even walk up a flight of stairs!
  
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  March 31, 2021 9:09am
  - RichardX
    
    The evidence for the age of the earth is stronger than any evidence for fraud in the US election so I have no confidence in any conclusion you reach.
    
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    March 31, 2021 10:18am
    - Ed Snack
      
      Richard see above, can you perhaps explain why 4 Democrat activists would be counting votes overnight with no observers (who had been officially advised that there would be no counting until the morning) and why that should not, at the least, be investigated. The margin in Georgia was very small, and those activists processed far more ballots than the margin. The timing of that midnight count matches the sudden spike of votes that took Biden past trump when at around 1 am over 130K votes for Biden were registered in one hit with approx zero for Trump.
      
      You can’t deny that the counting occurred, so why isn’t it prima facile evidence of fraud. Sure looks like it to me. I have some forensic accounting experience, and that episode raises just about every red flag I can think of.
      
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      March 31, 2021 11:06am
      - Batman
        
        That counting did not occur. None of these claims ever stack up past the questionable personal blogs and attack websites they’re posted to.
        
        Aside from anything else, ‘activists’ is a loaded term which can be applied to anyone without any evidence. If they were activists then they would be outside protesting rather than inside counting votes as county officials.
        
        If Byrne and fellow believers truly think the material and evidence is real, don’t write a fucking book, file a lawsuit and test it before judges.
        
        After all, didn’t Trump do really well with Judges which was going to ensure the conservative rule of law would prevail for the next fifty years? Or maybe it just doesn’t stretch to non-fiction legal opinions, as the kraken was admitted to be.
        
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        March 31, 2021 11:15am
      - Ed Snack
        
        F**k me Batman, so that whole security video was Russian disinformation. Those people were never there and never counted votes. They didn’t use special locked ballot boxes that had been stored under a table covered by a cloth (unlike all the others that were not locked and were stacked against the walls), and they didn’t run sets of ballots through the scanner, pick up the scanned ballots and resubmit them into the scanner again as shown in the video ? Who am I going to believe, you or my lying eyes, is that it ?
        
        And activists “outside protesting…”, are you gullible or what. The best place for an activist to be is inside. As Stalin is supposed to have said, “it isn’t who votes that counts, it’s who counts the votes”. As demonstrated here.
        
        So how does a campaign protest about this ? The video came out some time after the election, and questions were asked of the Secretary of State for Georgia, and he claimed that although there were no party observers, one of the people inside was a State employee so that was alright. So he believes that there were people there and that they were counting, unlike you. So the campaign has this video, and they ask that it be investigated as they themselves have no authority to question people. The State police refuse (on the advice of the SoS), the FBI decline, and the courts won’t hear a case on it until it gets investigated. So you can have prima facie evidence like the video, and yet nothing will be done if the authorities are determined not to do anything.
        
        Can I have some of what you’re smoking, must be good.
        
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        March 31, 2021 12:55pm
      - KevO'Brien
        
        Us forensic accountants have seen sufficient evidence showing plainly a case to answer. SCOTUS avoided it, perhaps wisely, but it won’t go away. ( A movie is in production.)
        
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        March 31, 2021 1:53pm
    - Scott
      
      Actually Richard X – the evidence for fraud in the US election is very strong. Multiple videos of people engaged in highly questionable activities. Videos of people dragging out boxes of ballots after counting was stopped for the night. Videos of people boarding up windows so their activities could not be observed. Sworn affidavits of truck drivers taking ballots from New York to Pennsylvania.
      
      Regarding the age of the earth unfortunately we do not have video. But we do have the fossil record which shows that evolution has not occurred. If evolution has not occurred then we don’t need millions of years. If we don’t need millions of years then the earth could be thousands of years old rather than millions of years.
      Perhaps God really did create the earth and the creatures that live upon it in six days? Perhaps the genealogies in the Bible are true? Perhaps the Bible is God’s revelation to you and everyone that he is real and he created all things, including mankind.
      
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      March 31, 2021 11:23am
      - Batman
        
        Those videos have been picked through and the theories discredited. Heck, the Georgia one was discredited by Republicans.
        
        So your views about what they show fall into the same category as 9/11 conspiracy and JFK’s assassination.
        
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        March 31, 2021 12:47pm
      - Fletch
        
        No they haven’t. People just like to call things “discredited” and then move on. The election was clearly fraudulent to anyone who looks dispassionately at it.
        
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        March 31, 2021 1:10pm
      - Batman
        
        Can you provide specific examples that are not from an partisan blog and have been upheld in court?
        
        Waiting patiently….
        
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        March 31, 2021 1:47pm
      - RichardX
        
        Scott
        Actually Richard X – the evidence for fraud in the US election is very strong. Multiple videos of people engaged in highly questionable activities. Videos of people dragging out boxes of ballots after counting was stopped for the night. Videos of people boarding up windows so their activities could not be observed. Sworn affidavits of truck drivers taking ballots from New York to Pennsylvania.
        
        Regarding the age of the earth unfortunately we do not have video. But we do have the fossil record which shows that evolution has not occurred. If evolution has not occurred then we don’t need millions of years. If we don’t need millions of years then the earth could be thousands of years old rather than millions of years.
        Perhaps God really did create the earth and the creatures that live upon it in six days? Perhaps the genealogies in the Bible are true? Perhaps the Bible is God’s revelation to you and everyone that he is real and he created all things, including mankind.
        
        MARCH 31, 2021 11:23AM
        
        Thank you for the perfect example of flawed reasoning. You have demonstrated my point perfectly.
        
        By rejecting your first premise that “the fossil record shows that evolution has not occured”, I reject your conclusion.
        
        The fossil record shows no such thing and there is sufficient scientific evidence that evolution has in fact occurred to reject your premise.
        
        The evidence in support of your premise has been tested and rejected as it consists mainly of a mix of; presupposition, poor understanding, straw man arguments, and arguments from ignorance and incredulity.
        
        This demonstration of your weakness in weighing evidence allows me to reject your conclusions of fraud.
        
        However, the scientific fact that evolution occurs does not disprove the existence of a god.
        It merely shows that your interpretation of the bible does not accurately reflect reality.
        
        I understand that having your bible proven to be inaccurate is life changing for you which is why I will not expect you to ever concede on this point.
        
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        March 31, 2021 2:02pm
- surfing
  
  I suppose it could be a good read if you enjoy fiction.
  
  You should read a bit about the author.
  
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  March 31, 2021 10:14am
  - mikenmildagain
    
    Is it this kook?
    https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Patrick_M._Byrne
    
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    March 31, 2021 1:53pm
    - UrbanNeocolonialist
      
      FYI rational wiki is anything but. It is a hit-site curated by a far left political activists trying to borrow credibility from the ‘wiki’ brand. https://en.metapedia.org/wiki/RationalWiki
      
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      March 31, 2021 5:25pm
Maggy Wassilieff

Are we any the wiser as to the origins of the Covid-19 Virus after the WHO investigation in Wuhan?

https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/world/2021/03/covid-19-world-health-organization-chief-tedros-reveals-data-was-withheld-from-investigators-researching-coronavirus-origins-in-china.html
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March 31, 2021 8:19am
- Ehlana
  
  On the BBC this morning it was reported that online commentary in China now suggests the virus originated in a lab in the USA. Of course, the Communist Party also believes their recent changes in Hong Kong still support universal suffrage…
  
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  March 31, 2021 8:34am
  - oldfella
    
    Ehlana: ‘Don’t trust China. China is asshole!’
    
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    March 31, 2021 11:25am
- rangitoto
  
  Accidentally escaped from the Wuhan lab. No further investigation needed.
  
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  March 31, 2021 10:13am
  - Ed Snack
    
    Yep, zero evidence for any intermediary animal host. Plus the extremely interesting fact that when it first appeared, Covid-19 was very well adapted to humans, and to mice.
    
    The Wuhan lab was conducting Gain of Function research in Beta Corona Viruses derived from bats and that research (according to papers published) involved the use of trans genetic humanised mice to test infectivity.
    
    How else other than in a lab would the virus get so well adapted to both humans and mice ? The original SARS virus did have an a identifiable interim host, which I think was Civet Cats. And as a result although SARS did infect humans, it did so rather poorly and was not well adapted. SARS was far more lethal, killed around 800 people out of 10,000 or so who caught the virus, but it never did adapt well enough to sustain transmission and it died out naturally. A second similar event was MERS which was more lethal again, but it was also poorly adapted and fizzled with less than 1,000 infected.
    
    Covid-19 was nearly perfectly adapted from day 1, and it is exceptionally unlikely that it did so via an unidentified intermediate host species. The mouse adaption is the clincher.
    
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    March 31, 2021 11:13am
    - UrbanNeocolonialist
      
      And the outbreak started 1500km away from nearest population of the supposed bat origin species, but only a couple of km away from virus experimentation lab. It’s quite remarkable that they are even trying to pretend it didn’t come from the lab – and that they can find western toadies willing to parrot their propaganda
      
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      March 31, 2021 11:47am
  - Nickc2
    
    Not sure about accidentally escaped but China can now stand down its Military Forces and prepare its population for the intended release of Covid-19 Mark II.
    
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    March 31, 2021 1:43pm
  - KevO'Brien
    
    Was it dropped out of the lab to take the people’s minds off the cyberattack on the USA on election night?
    
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    March 31, 2021 1:57pm
- Fuzzysnuggleduck
  
  China should be condemned for this.
  Lack of compliance should be shouted from the roof tops and at the UN.
  A shame the Chinese authorities will only repeat to their domestic audience the praises that Tedros had for them at the start of the pandemic.
  China is not a good global citizen.
  I suppose it is not in their nature to be open or cooperative, but they should be exposed as selfish and untrustworthy at least.
  That China was locking down internally to prevent a virus spreading, but letting flights leave internationally {e.g. to Milan}, means they a culpable for (whatever the REAL total is) the Covid deaths worldwide.
  
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  March 31, 2021 11:22am
artemisia

So Nestle in Auckland is closing down part of its production line and moving it to ?. No, not China. Australia. The E Tu union is angry. Wonder how much their input into Labour’s wages policy was a trigger.

PS Cool vid in the article – an icecream assembly line.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/124689586/nestle-staff-in-shock-over-proposed-restructure
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March 31, 2021 8:21am
- Sir Cullen's Sidekick
  
  Let them be in shock. They voted for Labour. So let them enjoy.
  
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  March 31, 2021 9:06am
  - UrbanNeocolonialist
    
    E Tu leaders don’t really care about members, so long as they can serve the greater political ambitions of the glorious revolution (and hope for a parliamentary career in the future) – their loyalties are first and foremost to left, even if supporting idiots like labour is harmful to their members.
    
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    March 31, 2021 5:31pm
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  What did E Tu expect?
  
  Haven’t they yet figured out that each time the minimum wage rises without subsequent rise in output, something has to give?
  
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  March 31, 2021 9:53am
  - UrbanNeocolonialist
    
    The left, to borrow a chess analogy are incapable of thinking more than one move ahead – they are all about superficial fixes without consideration of deeper harms being done by their ‘fix’ (eg easy welfare immiserating generations, dumbing down education, pumping up minimum wages, cancelling oil and gas…..). The right, at least sometimes, can think two moves ahead, seeing beyond the near term action to the undesirable long term consequence.
    
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    March 31, 2021 5:36pm
- KevO'Brien
  
  If the Maori get the control sought over water rights Nestle will be back as owners.
  
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  March 31, 2021 1:58pm
  - Nickc2
    
    How do you figure that?
    
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    March 31, 2021 2:31pm
    - KevO'Brien
      
      Nestle have been on the prowl for rights to bottle & sell water for years. Maori could get tradeable rights so anything is possible.
      
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      March 31, 2021 6:38pm
      - Nickc2
        
        An international Chocolate maker wants to do bottled water? I would have thought an international Swiss company would have access to more pure water from their own country than the shitty stuff we can give them access to. However, I will cede to your superior knowledge on the subject. TKS for your reply.
        
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        March 31, 2021 8:26pm
Yabster

https://www.stuff.co.nz/world/americas/300266008/video-shows-asian-american-woman-assaulted-on-nyc-street

Brutal and those people who closed the door- cowards – I wonder what the BLM movement make of that…
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March 31, 2021 8:22am
- Fuzzysnuggleduck
  
  Black people can’t be racist, since racism requires power structures {sarc – that’s a retarded & self-serving academic definition and not the dictionary definition}.
  
  That was nasty.
  The staff closing the door is shameful.
  Yet, in America, where crazed people might also have handguns, stepping into an assault situation is even more taking your life into your hands than it is in NZ.
  
  Surely there is an obligation to intervene to save another’s life, but by the time the assault is over on the 3rd stomp – the best to do is aid the victim.
  Hence closing the door is just disgusting, even if not rushing at the aggressor Rambo-style is more understandable.
  
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  March 31, 2021 11:28am
  - UrbanNeocolonialist
    
    yeah, there are a lot of bystanders who get seriously injured or dead from interceding in a weapon carrying culture.
    
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    March 31, 2021 5:39pm
Maggy Wassilieff

I do hope Marama Davidson and Grant Robertson read this article.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/124681481/man-undergoes-surgery-for-broken-jaw-after-unprovoked-attack-during-wellington-holiday
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March 31, 2021 8:24am
- kowtow
  
  The Media Pardy has been the vanguard of hug a crim politics for decades , and yet they have the gall to still try to make money out of “sympathy for victims” stories.
  
  Their hypocrisy is appalling.
  
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  March 31, 2021 8:33am
- SB2
  
  Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
  MW, so assaults lof this kind would cease under Judith’s watch and Sir John Key’s, etc too?
  
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  March 31, 2021 8:56am
  - nathie
    
    Groan! You miss the point completely … again!
    
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    March 31, 2021 9:20am
    - RalphT
      
      C’mon Nathie, what did you expect?
      
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      March 31, 2021 10:13am
Maggie Pie

“I can’t believe you morons actually buy this shit”
– BANKSY

https://twitter.com/nzherald/status/1376954373683679232
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March 31, 2021 8:26am
- Sir Cullen's Sidekick
  
  Be glad the gummit didn’t buy it with Rich Prick’s tax money…
  
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  March 31, 2021 9:18am
  - Tall Man
    
    Probably did and “rebadging it” for the next labour party fundraising auction.
    
    At least it isn’t in crayon…..
    
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    March 31, 2021 9:32am
- MCos
  
  Hey!
  
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  March 31, 2021 10:40am
- I remember when
  
  I loved the fantastic use of colour.
  Further proof you can’t monkey around with art.
  
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  March 31, 2021 10:56am
I remember when

Finally – proof that lockdown doesn’t work:
BBC News: Search after people flee Dublin hotel quarantine:
What chance has managed quarantine got if you can’t keep the Irish in a hotel.
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March 31, 2021 8:27am
- Ed Snack
  
  Easy way to get an Irish crowd out of a hotel – tell them you’ve run out of Guinness !
  
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  March 31, 2021 11:15am
Happychappy

Thomas Coughlan needs to take his head out of the sand if he wants to pen articles like this without true facts.
Labours “nine years of neglect” argument is a effective and accurate remonstrance of the Key Government sell off of State Houses and a denial Housing was in a crisis. The real reason why the issue is difficult for National and why Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and her front bench utterly eclipsed National last week runs deeper.
https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/300265865/nationals-failure-on-housing-risks-making-the-party-irrelevant
So Stuff and other media should look at this utter bullshit and fact check their own sources before calling others out .
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March 31, 2021 8:33am
Maggy Wassilieff

Eric Crampton warns of a Government that instigates policy without much thought.

https://www.newsroom.co.nz/public-poorly-served-by-wartime-policy-responses
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March 31, 2021 8:35am
Maggy Wassilieff

Jacinda Ardern’s Government sets a new record

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300265596/public-housing-waitlist-hits-new-record-of-22803-as-new-builds-slow-in-january
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March 31, 2021 8:40am
- Tony Stuart
  
  New builds will slow some more with the nationwide shortage of timber for construction. 25,000 on the waitlist is imminent.
  
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  March 31, 2021 9:04am
  - Black Propaganda
    
    Tony, the waitlist of 25,000 on public housing is quite independant of the lack (or not) of housing in the private sector. As a landlord, the number of normal tenants that I can find relative to the deplorables is 1 to 100. The shortage of houses relates to the deplorables that no landlord of sane mind would rent to. I suspect that the numbers of dwellings in normal society is reaching equilibrium with current level of new builds (Auckland). Thus rents to the normals most probably wont rise much at all. House prices for the normals are now actually falling. As for the 25,000 at J-Dog’s door well that is her business. NB I have a working solo mum tenant.
    
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    March 31, 2021 9:47am
- MCos
  
  I received an email yesterday about a new 102 apartment building in Onehunga. The space hasn’t been cleared yet so it’ll be a couple of years before it’s ready, I’m picking.
  They are all one to two bedroom $550,000 to 1.250 mil. plus extra for a car park.
  In these effervescent times one wonders if those prices will be realistic when the building is finished.
  
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  March 31, 2021 9:29am
- Sir Cullen's Sidekick
  
  Nine long years of neglect by the previous National gummit. It cannot be fixed overnight. Cindy is doing her best.
  
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  March 31, 2021 10:05am
  - KevO'Brien
    
    Her best is not good enough.
    Blaming National–irrational.
    All hooey, no doey.
    
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    March 31, 2021 2:03pm
- mandk
  
  There was a 50% increase in just one year.
  
  Why are the MSM howling in outrage about this?
  
  It’s shameful (both the number and the lack of uproar from the media).
  
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  March 31, 2021 11:01am
Yvette

Newshub yesterday reported “Pike River: No more Government money for further mine recovery, families accept decision”
although Cloe Nieper, widow of Kane Nieper who was killed in the mine, said she was at the meeting but was not asked if she accepted the Government’s position. She said there was no vote, and she was “blindsided” by the statement released by the Family Reference Group after the meeting. and in fact only eleven families attended the meeting. [1]

The meeting seems to have been prompted by media comment that Documents obtained by Newshub Nation prove the Government never promised to stop at the drift. [2]
One ‘document’ is a Cabinet Paper that says –
Paragraph“37 When the process of recovering the drift is well advanced, the minister will report to Cabinet… on whether any further work to assess the feasibility of re-entering the mine workings should be done”

Of such an assesment, Andrew Little says – the Government was not willing to consider doing a risk assessment and cost analysis of recovering evidence from the mine’s main ventilation fan, which could hold clues about what caused the first explosion in the mine where 29 men were killed in 2010.
He said the mine’s geotechnical strata was “inherently unstable” and the technical challenge of getting past a roof fall blocking the mine workings would be phenomenal. [3]
So Andrew Little considers he has fulfilled the Cabinet requirement paragraph 37

It is a pity however that those involved in Monday’s meeting did not follow the next paragraph of the Cabinet Paper, which would have cost them nothing –

Paragraph 38. Families’ perceptions about the outcomes ultimately achieved will be dependent on their meaningful engagement in the decision-making process
39. In this context we propose that the following operating principles apply to the Agency:
• at all times act with the safety of those being considered for re-entry into the mine as paramount.
• establish a trusted relationship with the families, including by working together on the design and implementation of a process that engenders public confidence, emphasising public transparency
• proactively engage with the families in its decision-making processes, taking full account of information and expertise the families bring to the process
• act transparently in the conduct of its work, providing opportunities for input into and on draft conclusions, particularly in regard to the families – Cabinet Paper

One wonders if an effort to answer a legal question would effect at all the current push by some to go beyond the roof falls to recover evidence from the mine’s main ventilation fan –
The now missing LCS 601 cabinet cover, associated with the main fan, was ejected from the ventilation shaft. The cabinet itself apparently carried a 5A 240-24V transformer which is said to be an example of “the ludicrous and lethal way that off the shelf equipment was installed two kilometres underground in a gassy coal mine”. “Nothing about the cabinet or its components were explosion rated in any way.”

The “legal question” is – Even if inappropriate-to-use components were shown to have triggered the Pike River first explosion, would that evidence be enough to allow a criminal prosecution, and of who would that be, the ventilation system designers or the installers?
Or, even if that is proved to be the point of ignition, what explains a combination of methane and oxygen that there was a mixture to ignite at such a crucial point of the mine workings. Would not the fan be the ignition agent, but the real cause of the tragedy be the gas that ignited and exploded?

So where does blame rest? Inappropriate location of equipment (internal to the mine – supposedly the only one in the world – rather than external), lack of proper gas monitoring, or designing an up-access mine over gaseous fault-line, or even the workers who knew the mine should have been evacuated [4], but continued working – playing Russian roulette as some monitored equipment self-stopped – for a bonus, when some had already arranged new work elsewhere?

[1] https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/124694969/pike-river-families-blindsided-by-acceptance-of-plan-to-end-mine-reentry?fbclid=IwAR1VP6REliijy_7gCZrorhXO2A6x9zLREU1bIKi9B7Bh6G9RF4nH7pdPV9E
[2] https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2021/03/pike-river-govt-never-ruled-out-stopping-at-drift-documents-show.html
[3] https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/124628993/pike-river-inherently-unstable-and-cant-have-unlimited-budget–andrew-little
[4] While Andrew Little was defending Pike River Coal, an Australian gas drainage engineer (anonymous because he feared ‘recriminations’) said he visited Pike River in 2009 and observed that its operating standards were “extremely poor”.
He said that he had been told by miners that the mine was flooded with methane gas about three weeks before the first explosion.

An item on YouTube which featured leaked audio recordings – from the mine to a surface control room – of incidents that went wrong on the morning prior to the first explosion, later in the afternoon. The item is now removed, but was alarming in that it indicated methane monitors shutting down machinery, break-downs of equipment and absence of a means to measure the gas levels.
In comment at the end of the video clip, a miner said there were several incidents in the two weeks before the disaster when miners should have walked off the job, many miners had already lined up other work to go to, and remained only for a $13,000 bonus.
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March 31, 2021 8:42am
- Yvette
  
  Moderator – please, of course, delete the extra copy of this Pike River comment. Thank you.
  It is long enough as it is.
  
  [Mod: sure thing]
  
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  March 31, 2021 8:56am
- Yvette
  
  Pike River families say police told them charges were likely
  Dean Dunbar, whose son Joseph died just one day after his 17th birthday, said the news charges were likely was broken to him four weeks ago by the inquiry head, detective superintendent Peter Reid and assistant commissioner Sue Schwalger.
  “Peter suggested that serious criminal charges will be laid, that people will be extradited from other countries. It’s going to take a lot of time. But at the end of the day, no matter what, it will be crown law that makes that decision,” Dunbar said.
  Bernie Monk, whose son Michael died in the mine, said he was also told by Reid about a month ago that charges were likely.
  
  He and Dunbar, with the help of various experts, had been able to find out more about the cause of the disaster in 18 months than the police were able to in three years, and he had very little faith in them, Monk said.
  
  “We’re going down the same road as the CTV building. We’re going down the same road because the police that investigated the CTV building, a lot of those police are the same police that are doing Pike River.”
  
  Approached for comment, the police said no decision had been made about laying charges. [1]
  
  The question I asked above, still applies (I think) or something similar –
  If off-the-shelf equipment (not explosion proofed) was used because it was deemed safe, is the presence of a methane/oxygen mixture, which should not have been there, the factor at fault?
  (The Black Box may pinpoint the fan explosion, but surely not the presence or source of the gas)
  
  [1] https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/439535/pike-river-families-say-police-told-them-charges-were-likely
  
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  March 31, 2021 9:54am
  - KevO'Brien
    
    The real crime is staring them in the face and it’s not inside the mine. Greenies and others who insisted on a closed mine over a known gas producing seam are the culprits. They flew in the face of reason and internationally recognised safe engineering practice.
    
    Mines like Pike River were well known, but it had to be closed because some weta or other wanted to sunbathe. Worker safety was secondary–that was the crime.
    
    They didn’t have to wait for the mine to blow up, it was highly predictable from the design. Looking now for a spark triggering an event is to divert the Police from the proper cause. An unsafe mine is an unsafe mine. Sparks are almost uncontrollable. Static electricity is possible anywhere.
    
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    March 31, 2021 2:15pm
Albert_Ross

I seem to remember the court case about the sale of land at Shelly Bay was scheduled for March. Did that happen and with what result, does anybody know?
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March 31, 2021 8:46am
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  Cassell’s resource consent was upheld.
  https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/438629/shelly-bay-development-one-step-closer-after-appeal-for-resource-consent-decision-fails
  
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  March 31, 2021 10:23am
  - mandk
    
    But the occupiers said they would stay put, regardless.
    
    They are probably hoping the gov’t will step in and stop the development.
    
    And why not? It worked at Ihumatao.
    
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    March 31, 2021 10:57am
    - KevO'Brien
      
      That is conversion of land–effectively a theft of property.
      Land Title in NZ now seems dependent on thugs having prior claims.
      
      5 2
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      March 31, 2021 2:17pm
      - Nickc2
        
        Agree. I can’t see this tactic disappearing under the current Govt.
        
        5 2
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        March 31, 2021 2:44pm
  - Albert_Ross
    
    Thank you, but I thought there was to be another case focused not on the Council process but on the sale of the land by the iwi Trust – which I believe is the point that the people camping there were concerned about, thinking that the Trust should have got their agreement to the sale. Maybe I’m confused as usual?
    
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    March 31, 2021 11:16am
    - Maggy Wassilieff
      
      Yes,
      I think you are mistaken.
      
      One section of The Port Nicholson Settlement Block Trust reckon they weren’t consulted about the sale of the Shelly Bay land.
      
      Dr Catherine Love is leading the charge … she is the daughter of Sir Ralph Love.. who was involved in the sale in the first place.
      
      As far as I can tell, there is no court case left to undo the sale of the land.
      
      https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/te-manu-korihi/432585/shelly-bay-opponents-mau-whenua-short-2-point-2m-after-losing-backer
      
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      March 31, 2021 12:01pm
      - Albert_Ross
        
        Right, thank you. So after exhaustive process there’s no legal avenue left, just informal protest by a small but noisy minority with tenuous standing. It’ll probably work splendidly
        
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        March 31, 2021 12:40pm
      - Maggy Wassilieff
        
        Perhaps you were thinking of the Maori Land Court judgement
        https://97009b20-ee61-44c5-9b2f-d8f3027307fd.filesusr.com/ugd/e7c638_f3f69ad7266549baa955dce94e2854ba.pdf
        
        The fact is: the Port Nicholson Block Settlement Trust sold their portion of Shelly Bay…. some of the members of the Trust weren’t happy with the sale.
        
        But that’s their issue… They should have paid attention to what their trustees were up to.
        
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        March 31, 2021 2:54pm
  - SB2
    
    From your link we gaet this,
    
    “..The High Court decision, released on Wednesday afternoon, means developer Ian Cassels has effectively fended off opposition from filmmaker Sir Peter Jackson, a local business group, and a group of councillors who were voted in with a majority against the development but who then voted for it.”
    
    Interesting…
    
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    March 31, 2021 11:32am
Maggie Pie

“Are you coming?” ….as the actress said to the bishop 😀

https://twitter.com/NZStuff/status/1376928731311140865
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March 31, 2021 8:55am
I remember when

Little finally showed perfect judgement at Pike River.
Went far enough to not find anything.
Then ended entry before it was revealed there was nothing to find.
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March 31, 2021 9:00am
- alloytoo
  
  Little finally figured out there was no political capital to be gained by wasting our money on this venture.
  
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  March 31, 2021 9:25am
  - kowtow
    
    The left/media made huge capital over Key’s “wasted” 26 mil on a flag referendum .
    
    Nit so much when Little and co wasted many times more……
    
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    March 31, 2021 11:14am
- Paulus
  
  Pike River Not finished yet, now – delayed until at least October as holes are to be drilled from above to look into the mine.
  Jobs still for the boyos up to Christmas I expect then…….. more !
  UgH!
  
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  March 31, 2021 2:33pm
nathie

Not sure if this article from a couple of days ago was commented on much? It’s the article about the PM’s chief press secretary, Andrew Campbell, who accidentally emailed Stuff with Labour’s media responses to counter negative coverage about rent rises (unintended consequences caused by Labour’s policy announcements etc).

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300264332/jacinda-arderns-office-gets-ready-to-fight-rising-rents-talk-with-social-media-campaign

Ardern had already fronted media on the issue of rising rents, and suggested that rents didn’t increase as a result of the Government’s healthy homes standards, although Campbell’s email note that her office wanted evidence to prove she was right.

“PM also spoke this morning to argument rents would increase as a result of Healthy Homes and suggested that didn’t happen – is there evidence we can point to show that didn’t happen?” he said.

Does anyone else interpret this like I do, that essentially the Prime Minister is “lying” when she said that “rents didn’t increase as a result of the Government’s healthy homes standards” … because the PM’s Office then wanted “evidence” that this is the case?

In other words, Ardern “made something up” without any shred of evidence!

And as a result Labour is now scrambling to find something to back up her claims (before she is caught out)!

If this is the case, I’m surprised this story isn’t bigger than it was i.e. why haven’t other media or media commentators/writers given us their views … which they undoubtedly would if say it was National saying and doing this!
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March 31, 2021 9:01am
- Paulus Gnome
  
  $105,000,000 of your money.
  
  Do you have another question?
  
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  March 31, 2021 10:27am
- KevO'Brien
  
  How can the PM lie when she doesn’t understand what she is doing, how she’s doing it and to whom?
  Her Cabinet–the wash closet?
  
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  March 31, 2021 2:22pm
thirteenstars

Meanwhile, in Britain, the Thug’s Veto rules:

‘He is worried that he and his family are all going to be killed’, his dad says. ‘He knows that he’s not going to be able to return to work or live in Batley. It’s just going to be too dangerous for him and his family. Look what happened to the teacher in France who was killed for doing the same thing. Eventually they will get my son and he knows this. His whole world has been turned upside down. He’s devastated and crushed.’

All that over an image. Over a cartoon. A man suspended from his job and hounded out of his hometown over a picture of Muhammad. A young family (the teacher is in his late twenties) living in fear of violent retribution over a caricature. In Britain in 2021, in this supposedly modern, post-religious nation, a public servant fears for his life because he showed his teenage pupils an image of a seventh-century prophet. What the hell is going on?

https://www.spiked-online.com/2021/03/30/the-price-of-your-cowardice/

Not to worry, though, here in NZ we are about to solve this kind of problem once and for all when the new hate speech laws and police-controlled internet filters are instituted this year. See, it will be made *illegal* to show such things as cartoons of Muhammed. It’ll be deemed “bigotry”, “racism”, “discrimination”, or at the very least, “innapropriate”.
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March 31, 2021 9:02am
- kowtow
  
  An Islamic “charity” named the teacher .
  
  Now why would a charity do a thing like that ?
  
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  March 31, 2021 11:17am
  - thirteenstars
    
    As our own Prime Minister says, hate speech is a form of “discrimination”.
    
    Under that regime it’s *obviously* a charitable act to prevent others from doing it.
    
    It all makes perfect sense as long as you disconnect your frontal lobe.
    
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    March 31, 2021 11:32am
surfing

Pike river –Andrew Little promised to recover bodies, spent up 10’s of millions, now govt says this isn’t gonna happen.

Typical broken promise government.
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March 31, 2021 9:12am
- Ruahine
  
  The whole Pike River so-called recovery was nothing but a duplicitous exercise for Andrew Little’s political coverup, aided and abetted by Labour cronies on the West Coast.
  
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  March 31, 2021 10:25am
  - mikenmildagain
    
    What was being covered up?
    
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    March 31, 2021 11:58am
I remember when

Remember when nothing lasted forever.
That was before ‘Cancel Culture.’
12 1
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March 31, 2021 9:26am
Rich Prick

I’m sorry Marama, I’m going to be “racist and classist” and drop a link here.

https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/124681481/man-undergoes-surgery-for-broken-jaw-after-unprovoked-attack-during-wellington-holiday
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March 31, 2021 9:27am
- Benedict Yu
  
  I feel really sorry for the guy. And it makes me angry.
  
  At least Grant Robertson feels safe.
  
  19 1
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  March 31, 2021 10:09am
  - Rich Prick
    
    Likewise. Thankfully there are quite a few CCTV cameras in that part of town, so I hope the perp is caught.
    
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    March 31, 2021 10:59am
  - SB2
    
    Benedict Yu , and Michael Woodhouse too?
    
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    March 31, 2021 11:25am
mikenmildagain

Happy International Transgender Day of Visibility!
It’s also World Backup Day – must be a joke there somewhere.
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March 31, 2021 9:30am
I remember when

Irrigation NZ submission to climate Change Commission:
Says that water storage key to enabling emissions reductions.
‘Our view is that zero carbon targets won’t be met without investment in water storage, capture and precision use.
Water infrastructure needs to be better recognised as an enabler to achieving our emissions reduction targets.’
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March 31, 2021 9:31am
- Albert_Ross
  
  They’re probably right, but remember that everybody always submits that the best way to address whatever the Government wants to address, is to direct money or regulatory preference towards the submitter. The irrigators probably also think that investment in water storage infrastructure will help to reduce crime and homelessness and raise literacy rates, and the NZ Choral Federation probably thinks that climate targets won’t be achieved without subsidising the costs of renting choir rehearsal and performance facilities and promoting music education in schools
  
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  March 31, 2021 12:48pm
Benedict Yu

I don’t get this. In any other country, any government body that recommended a literal end to the use of natural gas would be ridiculed across the political spectrum. The media would go nuts and the reputations of the people involved would be trashed.

So what the hell has happened in New Zealand so that we have not had that reaction here?
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March 31, 2021 9:38am
- Paulus Gnome
  
  A rhetorical question right?
  
  11 0
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  March 31, 2021 10:29am
- Ruahine
  
  Let’s not talk about the stupidity of the ridiculous decision and maybe the reality of it will go away.
  
  7 0
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  March 31, 2021 10:40am
- Captain Mainwaring
  
  We have a bought media, that’s what happened.
  
  16 1
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  March 31, 2021 11:08am
- kowtow
  
  ‘So what the hell has happened in New Zealand’
  
  Baaaaaa.
  
  13 1
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  March 31, 2021 11:18am
Cinematic

No need to ask which of us gave Labour that extra 20% last election. Over the last week the bewildered, just been slapped in the face by reality, looks on their mugs have revealed the Cindy swing voters for all to see. Depressing and amusing. Will they be fooled a second time?
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March 31, 2021 9:44am
Benedict Yu

Just got on a regional plane at Wellington. Waiting on the tarmac to board. A couple of ferals decided that they would do some vaping to pass the time. Next to the fuel truck. They got an earful. I enjoyed it and I was not alone. 🙂 Both Maori. Both wearing hoods. No apology. Just angry stares.
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March 31, 2021 10:01am
Maggy Wassilieff

Tova O’Brien reckons she has multiple sources…

https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2021/03/highly-wrong-judith-collins-hits-back-at-report-she-lost-caucus-vote-on-fluoride.html

perhaps they are all lousy sources.
26 3
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March 31, 2021 10:13am
- MCos
  
  You mean Nat MPs?
  That’s not a very nice thing to say.
  
  5 8
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  March 31, 2021 10:43am
  - I remember when
    
    1 x 1 = 1.
    And that’s only a maybe.
    A second cousin, to the great grandfather of someone who is a paid-up National party member.
    
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    March 31, 2021 3:16pm
- Jack5
  
  How many keyboards has Tova got?
  
  11 2
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  March 31, 2021 11:04am
- peterwn
  
  Astroturfing or typewriter interviewing?
  
  12 2
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  March 31, 2021 11:17am
Maggie Pie

TRENDING……

Egypt wants to offload the ‘EVER GIVEN’.
The Dutch agree.
The owners of the ship are refusing access.

What do they have to hide?
Some have suggested the boat may be filled with abducted underage children. Allegedly.

https://twitter.com/KrystynaWisson/status/1376978794414805000
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March 31, 2021 10:36am
- fightingtemeraire
  
  The owners and charterers have every right to deny access. The Master is in charge of the safety and legally his title is
  
  “Master under God”,
  
  If the owners/charters think the vessel is safe enought to take to a discharge port then they can. HOWEVER if they are in an Egyptian Port then the Army can force their way aboard and start discharging and if anything goes wrong and cargo lost/damaged then the Govt will be in for a hefty bill
  
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  March 31, 2021 10:59am
  - Ed Snack
    
    I think the Port Authorities have the legal right to prevent a vessel from sailing if it is deemed to be unsafe. And they can remove cargo for the same reason.
    
    That’s how all that NH3NO3 ended up stored in the warehouse in Lebanon that blew up so catastrophically. The Port Authority deemed the original ship unsafe to sail and had the cargo removed and stored, then couldn’t agree on what to do with it.
    
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    March 31, 2021 12:59pm
- peterwn
  
  The Canal authority and the Rotterdam Port Authority would not want to risk further problems so insisting on an unload may not be a bad move.
  Also the Egyptians probably want to impound the ship but not the cargo. The passage contract probably allows the Canal operator to take whatever action need be to ensure continued Canal operation. The ship would have been parked out of the way in that lake. The Canal Authority would want to have its and Boskalis’s payments settled before the ship goes anywhere.
  It would be the ship’s insurers who would now call the shots, not the owners.
  
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  March 31, 2021 11:41am
- Fletch
  
  It’s the story that just keeps on giving…. 🤔
  
  3 3
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  March 31, 2021 11:46am
- MCos
  
  “Some have suggested the boat may be filled with abducted underage children.”
  Don’t believe everything you want to.
  
  5 3
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  March 31, 2021 11:51am
  - mikenmildagain
    
    Some have suggested the Moon is made of cheese. or that the Earth is only 6,000 years old.
    
    6 1
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    March 31, 2021 2:46pm
    - alwyn
      
      Aren’t you underestimating Mike.
      The Bishop of Ussher, who did the definitive work on this subject, calculated the date of creation as being in 4004 BC. Thus it would be 6,025 years ago.
      Or would it be 6,024? After all there was no year 0 was there.
      Mind you if someone could knock 25 years off my age I would be very happy.
      
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      March 31, 2021 6:42pm
- Batman
  
  Maggie, the downticks show most here don’t agree with your post but here is a link to help
  
  https://www.vice.com/en/article/dy8n9q/suez-canal-qanon-cargo-ship-conspiracies-are-getting-wild
  
  Please don’t spread bonkers conspiracy content on KB. It will just end up as another thing for the poor other moderators to have to deal with.
  
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  March 31, 2021 12:52pm
  - Maggie Pie
    
    To be fair Batz, that is the first I have seen of that link.
    Twitter was fair going-off with the news earlier today.
    
    11 2
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    March 31, 2021 1:20pm
    - Batman
      
      And that’s totally fair Maggie. I assumed you didn’t know the connection and origin.
      
      Twitter huh? An absolute fucking shitshow!
      
      5 3
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      March 31, 2021 3:48pm
  - Tall Man
    
    You sound like a real fun guy. What do the downticks say about what people think of your posts?
    
    Pretty sure few, if any, took Maggie’s post seriously and I like her posts highlighting the crass stupidity that social media throws up on a daily basis.
    
    Without Maggie, we’d have to go there ourselves and most would find that a bridge too far.
    
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    March 31, 2021 2:34pm
    - Batman
      
      I’m not having a crack at Maggie by any means. I assumed she didn’t know the connection.
      
      It is at least worthwhile to provide an answer with a link. Especially given Fletch egged it on a bit in his comment above.
      
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      March 31, 2021 3:50pm
      - Tall Man
        
        Then why the “downtick” comment. Rhetorical.
        
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        March 31, 2021 5:15pm
Jack5

Something amiss in the Woke world today.

From the Herald:

1. Asian-American woman attacked near Times Square, New York. A video camera shows the attacker was a non-White man.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/video-shows-vicious-daylight-attack-of-asian-american-woman-near-new-yorks-times-square/WG2X3RBEL4IZGAT3HWEVSXPLCI/

2. Young rape victim, beaten by mob and she’s paraded, tied to rapist. Not a White person in sight – the village is in India.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/shocking-footage-shows-a-teen-girl-tied-to-her-alleged-rapist-as-she-is-paraded-and-beaten/YA5HFZ5HW4ENK63I4JUSERMXCY/
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March 31, 2021 11:02am
- Batman
  
  Ahhhh, great work here Jack! I’m sure the entire world will be united behind your views that non-white people are simply more violent /s.
  
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  March 31, 2021 11:21am
  - Jack5
    
    🦇Batman uses a Mikenmild technique: extend someone’s argument then hammer the extension.
    
    In this case, not really an argument, so it’s putting words in someone else’s mouth.
    
    You need a personal Moderator for your own posts, Batman.
    
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    March 31, 2021 11:24am
    - Batman
      
      That was the clear point behind your post. If you’re mad that I explicitly said it then please feel free to rephrase it to what you really mean.
      
      3 26
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      March 31, 2021 12:45pm
      - Jack5
        
        I don’t give a rat’s arse if you are a moderator or not, but I did not say in the post “non-white people are simply more violent.”
        
        Don’t put words in my mouth!
        
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        March 31, 2021 1:01pm
      - JimBobJoe
        
        Batman. The clear point of that post was to contrast the referenced stories with reports when the ofrender is white e.g. like the recent shooting up of brothels in the States. Which resulted in multiple deaths and was reported as white hate of Asians.
        
        You have deliberately attempted to twist the posters intent… Clearly revealing your own biases as a result
        
        In my opinion you are not fit to be a moderator – your biases show far to often.
        
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        March 31, 2021 1:27pm
      - Batman
        
        Jimbob, separation of commenter and moderation is quite simple. All the mods have opinions. I only express mine via my username.
        
        And an opinion is not biases. I have opinions which doesn’t mean I am biased.
        
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        March 31, 2021 1:57pm
      - Tall Man
        
        The problem with deliberately shit stirring is you still get shit on your hands Batman.
        
        12 3
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        March 31, 2021 2:31pm
  - mikenmildagain
    
    At least these new items didn’t include Maori words…
    
    5 12
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    March 31, 2021 11:56am
    - Jack5
      
      Batman and ~~Robin~~ Milky!
      
      Who’s looking after Gotham while the pair of you blog?
      
      14 1
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      March 31, 2021 1:11pm
  - Yabster
    
    huh woke Batman as usual refuse to actually take the point which is (unfortunately I have to spell it out for you), racism, and racial violence is not just a white persons issue as the bleeding heart wokesters like to promote, white people, black people, asian people shock horror can be racist -how does that fit into your agenda- not so well huh?
    
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    March 31, 2021 12:05pm
    - Batman
      
      Luckily I’m not woke so I’m not arguing that.
      
      Heck, just look at all the anti-Semitism portrayed on social media by Maori and Pasifika people who have been fed nonsense stories and theories for years. Obviously that’s not racism per se but it’s a relevant local example.
      
      What others are arguing, that the BLM protests etc are racial violence designed to intimidate others, is absolute bullshit.
      
      Humans can be dumb and violent no matter their ethnicity or background.
      
      6 15
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      March 31, 2021 1:16pm
      - Yabster
        
        others maybe arguing that but Jack clearly wasn’t? So you should apologise Bats and he wasn’t arguing non whites are more violent- at least thats how I read it- he was pointing out as I have that violence and racism is a human issue – but the woke and socialist have pushed the agenda that its all due to white supremacy and colonialism which is b/s.
        
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        March 31, 2021 1:47pm
      - Batman
        
        No apology required. Jack was playing whataboutism in order to downplay what are very obvious issues.
        
        I agree about the point on human violence but that doesn’t also detract from systemic and historic white supremacism which many here continue to deny as it is a bit too uncomfortable.
        
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        March 31, 2021 1:54pm
      - Maggy Wassilieff
        
        So Batman, who are the many folk on KB who have been denying systemic and historic white supremacism ?
        
        Because I would hate to think some anonymous troll would rear his nasty head again and lump me in with this sort of shit.
        
        But your blanket statement that many on KB subscribe to such leaves MANY of us in the gun for such foul accusations.
        
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        March 31, 2021 3:32pm
      - Batman
        
        Maggy you can rule yourself out quite safely 🙂
        
        4 8
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        March 31, 2021 3:52pm
      - Maggy Wassilieff
        
        It’s not really about me Batman..
        
        It’s about the MANY other folks on this blog who do not subscribe to racist, white supremacist thought, but who are daily slammed with accusations that they must be right-wing racists because they comment on this blog.
        
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        March 31, 2021 4:06pm
      - Jack5
        
        By innuendo, Batman, you challenge free speech on Kiwiblog.
        
        Who here has argued (and when), in your words, “BLM protests etc are racial violence designed to intimidate others.”
        
        BLM is a Leftist, activist movement that targets and at times works to cancel White culture. The activists are of many skin colours, but the target is White culture.
        
        Rip into that view!
        
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        March 31, 2021 5:31pm
      - Jack5
        
        Batman seems to have gone home to the 🦇Bat Cave🦇 in a huff.
        
        My final response to his Woke attack’s been in the moderation queue for 4hrs 20min and counting.
        
        2 0
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        March 31, 2021 9:13pm
Jack5

Elon Musk’s latest Starship blows up on the launch pad:

https://youtu.be/knEh_XdQxSo
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March 31, 2021 11:34am
- Jack5
  
  Edit: The Starship (No. 11) blew up on way down.
  Sorry.
  
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  March 31, 2021 11:37am
  - UrbanNeocolonialist
    
    Provides great entertainment to the world. I love the opportunity we are getting to view this great endeavour to open space to the masses (If all goes well then I might be able to afford to get to orbit in another 10 years)
    
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    March 31, 2021 5:46pm
MCos

According to the Herald Sun petrol prices across Melbourne will be jacked up 40c/lit over Easter.
In the meantime if you use your Airpoints card in NZ at Caltex & Z it goes down 10c/lit.
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March 31, 2021 11:45am
cas

Just got an email from the security company that monitors our alarm to say as the minimum wage was lifting , their prices are increasing by 5.82 %. It doesn’t quite correlate but is this another one we can thank Jacinda for?
17 0
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March 31, 2021 11:46am
- Inandout
  
  cas, having been involved in the ‘alarm industry’ I have worked out the best deterrent by far is the floodlight that is triggered by human movement. I have seen electronic alarms by-passed to make them useless, but strategically placed lamps that make the intruder light up like a Christmas tree rarely fail to deter. Mind you, monitoring and call out fees are a good lurk.
  
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  March 31, 2021 4:00pm
New Zealander

Soft cock Stuart Nash says only local council can ban gang patches. More he’s too busy hugging Crims in front of Jacinda to bring it up in caucus.

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10159058380197964&id=14590437963
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March 31, 2021 11:48am
oldfella

A DOG CALLED NIGGER
1955’s The Dam Busters is a brilliant film about stiff-upper-lip British bravery during WWII. It dominated the British box office in 1955, and was nominated for an Academy Award for its special effects.
When George Lucas was planning Star Wars, he took plenty of inspiration from The Dam Busters for his climactic Death Star “trench” battle scene.
But, the movie has a flaw. That damned dog, who’s so famous he even has his own Wiki page.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigger_(dog)

KB is one of the few sites around that doesn’t ban that word and substitute ‘the N-word’, but that’s another story. Let’s stay with the movie. https://pjmedia.com/eddriscoll/2021/03/28/the-dam-busters-2-n1435576

BTW, one of the Dam Busters was Kiwi pilot Les Munro, who gets an honourable mention in the movie.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Munro
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March 31, 2021 11:57am
- mikenmildagain
  
  Peter Jackson was at one time planning a remake of The Dam Busters with a script by Stephen Fry. Reports that the dog’s name was to be changed in the script prompted much outrage from Kiwiblog snowflakes.
  
  2 14
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  March 31, 2021 1:57pm
  - fightingtemeraire
    
    And leaders of the various coloured communities in the UK said “So what, that was the dogs name”
    
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    March 31, 2021 3:47pm
  - Jack5
    
    Milky and Batty rescue the Dambusters’ dog …
    
    “Here N-word, here n-word, come here N-word. That’s a good person. Good person, N-word.
    
    “The persons in the squadron will be back to look after you in the morning. So be a good person, N-word.”
    
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    March 31, 2021 9:19pm
  - NeverMindTheBollocks
    
    Changed to Digger
    
    0 0
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    March 31, 2021 9:19pm
- Inandout
  
  old, it is just a darned word about as scary as the term ‘white trash’ or ‘white mofo’. The Southern Democrats in the KKK days used to call them ‘nigras’.
  
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  March 31, 2021 4:05pm
TWEEDSE

Chipper is the new poster boy for a vaccine being the first minister to get the jab.

And Cindy….
11 0
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March 31, 2021 11:58am
- lifesgood
  
  Hmmm…preggers?
  
  6 0
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  March 31, 2021 2:22pm
  - Inandout
    
    life, she is with child, but of the toddler type.
    
    0 0
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    March 31, 2021 4:07pm
  - UrbanNeocolonialist
    
    At 40 she’s a bit old isn’t she?
    
    0 0
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    March 31, 2021 5:48pm
- alloytoo
  
  First time he’s “Rolled up his sleeves” for anything.
  
  11 0
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  March 31, 2021 3:10pm
  - sooty
    
    Certainly not for hard work!
    
    0 0
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    March 31, 2021 4:00pm
Maggy Wassilieff

Vaccination figures released:
16,483 folks have had 2 shots
35,500 have had their first shot.

so 0.3% of our population now vaccinated

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/439544/covid-19-hipkins-and-verrall-get-first-dose-of-vaccine-we-are-doing-this-as-a-sign-of-confidence
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March 31, 2021 12:14pm
- RW Capitalist
  
  16,483 folks have had 2 shots
  35,500 have had their first shot.
  is the 35000 added to the 16483?
  or is that 18517 on their first shot and 16483 had their first and second shot?
  Remember this is how Labour do maths.
  
  4 0
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  March 31, 2021 12:17pm
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    The Government has delivered 66,296 doses…
    
    32,966 doses have been delivered to the fully vaccinated (16,483 folks)
    
    9 0
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    March 31, 2021 2:11pm
- SB2
  
  MW, actually 0.8% ahead of Japan 0.7%
  
  https://ig.ft.com/coronavirus-vaccine-tracker/?areas=gbr&areas=isr&areas=usa&areas=eue&cumulative=1&populationAdjusted=1
  
  The significance?
  
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  March 31, 2021 1:21pm
  - alloytoo
    
    Dismal and pathetic compared to Israel?
    
    0 0
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    March 31, 2021 3:31pm
- MCos
  
  Oz is racing ahead with over half a million vaccines, although ScoMo had promised four million by the end of this month.
  So at 2% they’re still ahead of us, for what it’s worth.
  
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  March 31, 2021 5:12pm
RW Capitalist

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/124696892/yes-he-did-say-that-diplomats-scramble-to-contain-fallout-of-damien-oconnors-australiachina-comments
Maybe not another nail in the coffin of CER, but certainly a few more tacks in the lining.
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March 31, 2021 12:14pm
Prince

Disgusting racist and classist attack on Maori by ‘Let us Live’ organisers and Wellington City councillors.
I trust Marama Davidson will come out strongly against this racism, and Police will be monitoring the march for any hate speech.
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/wellington-anti-sexual-violence-rally-organiser-sick-consistently-feeling-unsafe-citys-streets
20 2
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March 31, 2021 12:18pm
- Yabster
  
  Marama won’t say boo about this funnily enough- she will be too busy padding out her calendar…
  
  The weak Govt have created the issue but council also- so a tad ironic that it is a councillor organising the rally- but at least it is highlighting it- not that it’s just a female issue re feeling unsafe.
  
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  March 31, 2021 1:35pm
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  Lets hope some Police turn up to protect the young women and fellow protestors.
  
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  March 31, 2021 2:00pm
  - mikenmildagain
    
    Is there some threat to this rally?
    
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    March 31, 2021 3:18pm
curry4me

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

My Son, Hunter

Sometimes, a ‘president’s’ brother is an embarrassment. This time it’s his son. My son, Hunter. Coming to a screen near you. Don’t hold your breath waiting for the Suxty Minutes, or Seven Shite special.
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March 31, 2021 12:25pm
- Inandout
  
  curry, even Dorsey has changed his mind on Hunter but probably too late to save Twitter from losing hundreds of millions of followers. There is a world of media out there untouched by US censorship and thank God for that.
  
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  March 31, 2021 4:17pm
curry4me

https://www.takimag.com/article/president-in-name-only/
President in Name Only.

In AD 65, unrest spread throughout the Roman Empire, in response to the increasingly despotic rule of Nero. It started with the Pisonian conspiracy, which was an attempt to restore the Republic. Nero’s suppression of it reduced his support in the Senate, which led to further instability. In AD 68, Gaius Julius Vindex rebelled against Nero’s tax policy in Gaul. His plan was to replace Nero with a provincial governor named Galba.
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March 31, 2021 12:26pm
curry4me

President Trump has a new office. Here is the link:
https://www.45office.com/
6 3
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March 31, 2021 12:26pm
Maggie Pie

TRENDING…

‘Major’ involved in second biting incident.
(CNN)

*Dog biting incidents per President:
Biden – 2
Trump – 0
17 3
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March 31, 2021 12:50pm
- mikenmildagain
  
  Easier to have no dog-biting incidents when animals instinctively hate you…
  
  4 17
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  March 31, 2021 12:55pm
  - Tall Man
    
    You really know fuck all don’t you.
    
    Dogs bite those they don’t like … they lick them
    
    12 3
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    March 31, 2021 2:25pm
  - JimBobJoe
    
    The sage words from persinal experience delivered by Mikey….
    
    Im sorry animals hate you dude…
    
    9 2
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    March 31, 2021 2:46pm
    - mikenmildagain
      
      Trump was the first president in 150 years to have no pets. Dogs in particular are generally excellent judges of human character.
      
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      March 31, 2021 3:24pm
- virtualmark
  
  Major’s been spending too much time on far-right websites.
  
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  March 31, 2021 3:30pm
Prince

Apparently our lying PM is at it again.
She refuses to apologise to the woman she accused of ignoring ’emails sent from school and around 15 text messages’ by going to work at KFC.
Now after an OIA request, the facts emerge (just before easter) that just one email request and no text messages to isolate were sent, the day AFTER the person worked at KFC.
What’s the bet there will be no apology, no admission of fault, and this will quietly slip off the news sites (it’s not even there yet) over easter.
33 1
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March 31, 2021 12:51pm
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Jaspinda apologise??? Not possible – totally impossible.
  Next joke please
  
  8 1
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  March 31, 2021 4:28pm
- Prince
  
  It seems no other media is prepared to pick this up. Check out TVNZ News at Midday.
  https://www.tvnz.co.nz/shows/one-news-at-midday/episodes/s2021-e52
  2 Mins 47s in, so you can avoid the PM playing dress up as a scientist.
  
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  March 31, 2021 4:39pm
Fletch

Photos from Biden’s child migrant detention centres – over 1700% capacity.

https://www.breitbart.com/border/2021/03/30/photos-biden-allows-reporters-in-migrant-child-detention-site-at-1700-capacity/

The Dems are deliberately letting in illegals to boost voting numbers and turn red states blue. And for all the bluster about wearing masks they are releasing these people into the country without masks and many without testing. The only thing that matters to them is power. They are destroying America.
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March 31, 2021 1:13pm
- Batman
  
  Fletch you have overreacted again.
  
  The administration has got rid of the ‘wait in place’ policy which saw people waiting for their asylum cases on the other side of the border, putting them in squalid camps. It also got rid of the policy of turning back unaccompanied children, which was an abhorrent policy (which was the point, to be cruel).
  
  None of this is different from under Trump, when there was a surge just as large at the same point in 2019.
  
  You’ve leapt straight to political conspiracy. You forget that they can’t vote and won’t for some time. There’s also zero guarantee that they will vote blue, given recent results in multicultural states which have voted red because of a religious conservative base that includes many South American immigrants.
  
  They’re not being released into the country. And I thought masks were pointless? Or does that only apply to some people?
  
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  March 31, 2021 1:44pm
  - Fletch
    
    Former Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Chief Mark Morgan says President Joe Biden’s administration has released more than 45,000 border crossers and migrants into the United States interior — a foreign population that exceeds the resident population of Burlington, Vermont.
    
    https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2021/03/30/former-cbp-chief-over-45k-border-crossers-freed-into-u-s-by-joe-biden/
    
    And that is only the start, of course.
    
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    March 31, 2021 3:31pm
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    Yeah Batman – they can’t vote, and neither can dead people. Oh wait
    
    7 4
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    March 31, 2021 4:31pm
- Inandout
  
  Fletch, the bordering States are now being overrun by migrants bringing Covid and the MSM can’t keep the lid down for much longer. It is a scandal of epic proportions.
  
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  March 31, 2021 4:20pm
Fletch

Is it safe to eat a prepackaged, bagged salad a week after expiration date?
7 2
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March 31, 2021 1:17pm
- Batman
  
  You and I don’t get on but I mean this very sincerely, you definitely should not eat that!
  
  10 2
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  March 31, 2021 1:38pm
  - Fletch
    
    Haha, thanks!
    
    0 0
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    March 31, 2021 3:26pm
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  If kept in cool conditions (fridge 4deg C) probably ok
  Just remove any slimy leaves.
  
  If in real doubt add to a soup and boil for 3min.
  
  11 0
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  March 31, 2021 1:56pm
  - Fletch
    
    Tnx – has been in the crispator in the fridge since buying – it looks OK inside the bag.
    
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    March 31, 2021 3:25pm
- Tall Man
  
  I’d eat it but as Maggy says, chuck the slippery ones 🙂
  
  Well Batman, I don’t class myself as a christian but I still manage to get on with everyone … I just may not like or agree with their opinions.
  
  8 2
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  March 31, 2021 2:22pm
- Inandout
  
  Fletch, you can get food poisoning even nowadays, far more likely than getting C19. Remember the packaged carrots that NW found that contained bad bacteria?
  
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  March 31, 2021 4:23pm
- rockape
  
  Only if your vegan.
  
  0 0
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  March 31, 2021 4:24pm
Pheobe

Just had to share this:

It snowed last night…
8:00 am: I made a snowman.
8:10 – A feminist passed by and asked me why I didn’t make a snow woman.
8:15 – So, I made a snow woman.
8:17 – My feminist neighbor complained about the snow woman’s voluptuous chest saying it objectified snow women everywhere.
8:20 – The gay couple living nearby threw a hissy fit and moaned it could have been two snow men instead.
8:22 – The transgender man..women…person asked why I didn’t just make one snow person with detachable parts.
8:25 – The vegans at the end of the lane complained about the carrot nose, as veggies are food and not to decorate snow figures with.
8:28 – I was being called a racist because the snow couple is white.
8:31 – The middle eastern gent across the road demanded the snow woman be covered up .
8:40 – The Police arrived saying someone had been offended.
8:42 – The feminist neighbor complained again that the broomstick of the snow woman needed to be removed because it depicted women in a domestic role.
8:43 – The council equality officer arrived and threatened me with eviction.
8:45 – TV news crew from CBC showed up. I was asked if I know the difference between snowmen and snow-women? I replied “Snowballs” and am now called a sexist.
9:00 – I was on the News as a suspected terrorist, racist, homophobe sensibility offender, bent on stirring up trouble during difficult weather.
9:10 – I was asked if I have any accomplices. My children were taken by social services.
9:29 – Far left protesters offended by everything marched down the street demanding for me to be arrested.
By noon it all melted
Moral:
There is no moral to this story. It is what we have become, all because of snowflakes.
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March 31, 2021 1:30pm
- Yabster
  
  scarey thing is the woke may have snowmen in the cross hairs!
  
  7 2
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  March 31, 2021 3:10pm
  - Rich Prick
    
    Nothing would surprise me. Just this week we have racist sheet music, and now racist bandaids. These people are mentally ill.
    
    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YTDBFocnHi8
    
    9 1
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    March 31, 2021 4:04pm
    - Inandout
      
      My God RP, I just realised I have never had a black coloured drug on prescription.
      
      0 0
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      March 31, 2021 4:26pm
Maggy Wassilieff

The left have staged a public vaccination of their Health Ministers….

The left have tried to put a hit job on Dr Reti for not queue jumping and demanding a public vaccination.

But where is our dear PM?

Shouldn’t she reassure the fertile females of NZ that having a Covid-19 vaccination is safe?
24 2
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March 31, 2021 1:47pm
- BananaLlama
  
  I will be getting a Saline injection from Dr Kumar. Yes yes very good, here is your vaccination certificate.
  
  8 1
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  March 31, 2021 3:08pm
  - greybeard
    
    Well Goodness Gracious Me !
    I am so tickled pink !
    
    0 0
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    March 31, 2021 7:50pm
- doublehappy
  
  Pregnant?
  
  0 0
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  March 31, 2021 4:11pm
- Paul Marsden
  
  Why should anyone believe this wretched woman on this occasion? Besides, most well read and informed people (like many here), will be far better informed and knowledgeable on all matters concerning the covid virus, than any so called ‘expert’ espousing their views to all and sundry. Their views hold no more weight than any other informed individual on the subject matter.
  
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  March 31, 2021 4:13pm
mikenmildagain

Norway could boycott the next FIFA World Cup.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norway_national_football_team#FIFA_World_Cup
If they qualify.
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March 31, 2021 2:56pm
skyblue

Another announcement on when the next announcement will be. This time for Auckland Light Rail:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300266645/no-decision-on-auckland-light-rail-as-government-opts-for-fresh-start-on-project
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March 31, 2021 3:20pm
Ehlana

And the big announcement today…

they are drawing a line under the work done to date and re-starting consultation

so a decision on light rail for Auckland won’t be made until the end of this year or later.

You couldn’t make this up!
23 1
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March 31, 2021 3:49pm
- TWEEDSE
  
  It’s never going to happen. There is no business case, no demand and no money. Another announcement leading to nothing.
  
  Labour, let’s not do anything.
  
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  March 31, 2021 3:57pm
- rangitoto
  
  I’m sure the consultants are happy.
  
  0 0
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  March 31, 2021 4:18pm
- alex Masterley
  
  It is just unbelievable.
  Despite having bought up a large chunk of land along Dominion Road {which has had a planning designation for light rail for 20+ years}, suddenly Sandringham Road pops up in the mix.
  Talk about shifting targets.
  Then there is the assumption that people will want to go to the CBD on said light rail. Auckland Transport and Covid are working hand in hand to kill the CBD so it will be a tram to nowhere.
  
  15 1
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  March 31, 2021 4:22pm
- UrbanNeocolonialist
  
  So announcing no announcement? just to mix things up.
  
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  March 31, 2021 5:53pm
- KevO'Brien
  
  Hui, no dui.
  
  5 1
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  March 31, 2021 6:40pm
Maggie Pie

TRENDING BIGLY….

C’mon KBer’s. Time to be counted!!

If you feel the same way Eric Trump does about FB…
then ‘UPTICK’ this post.

I’m right behind him as well.

https://twitter.com/EricTrump/status/1377079848011698180
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March 31, 2021 4:04pm
- BananaLlama
  
  Please be patient i have a blue checkmark.
  
  0 0
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  March 31, 2021 4:11pm
- mikenmildagain
  
  No privately owned media platform is obliged to host Trump’s lies.
  
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  March 31, 2021 4:25pm
mikenmildagain

I’m not saying he’s guilty, but he doesn’t look right.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/mar/30/matt-gaetz-federal-investigation-sexual-conduct
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March 31, 2021 4:58pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

Yeah OK, more Candace Owens stuff. Children under 35, get the keys and go to Mum’s basement – please, for your own sanity on surviving tomorrow, and Easter.
“Smarter than a 5th grader” that is 10.
https://bongino.com/candace-owens-slams-dems-on-voter-id-i-was-able-to-get-it-because-im-smarter-than-a-fifth-grader/?
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March 31, 2021 5:53pm
MrTips

Just saw Chippy get jabbed on TV

Didn’t work

He’s still ginger

He’s still irritating

Where’s Cindy, I thought she was all keen ?
1 0
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March 31, 2021 6:18pm
Maggie Pie

Just been speaking with my partner’s mum.
As the weather was such shite she stayed home watching Sky News.
Sounds like both CNN and Fox were wall-to-wall coverage about George Floyd. She reckoned his Grills used to be quite good.
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March 31, 2021 6:41pm
Maggy Wassilieff

Our Prime Minister ~~lied~~ mispoke

aka talked out of her a***.

https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2021/03/covid-19-kfc-worker-case-l-wasn-t-contacted-directly-by-health-officials-until-after-shift-oia-documents.html

and it appears our PM is too gutless to offer an apology to the Young Woman and her family.

“A spokesperson for the Prime Minister said the content of the letters have been publicly available for some time and she had no additional comment to make on them.”
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March 31, 2021 7:26pm
- graham
  
  Oh dear … the kindest Prime Minister ever, who believes “it is possible to be a politician and not tell lies” …
  
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  March 31, 2021 9:06pm
- Bobba Fret
  
  Yes Jacinda needs to apologise to her
  
  2 0
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  March 31, 2021 11:51pm
- Wired-one
  
  No, the PM had simply been too “definitive” in her wording…
  
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  April 1, 2021 12:44am
JimBobJoe

What is a Maori responsiveness report? Why does Ports of Auckland need to do one? Why does the CE of POAL imply Maori and Pacific peoples don’t report safety issues?

Tau Henare stirring… Has a point about safety on the waterfront not so sure why Maori workers need handling differently to other workers though….

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/just-bugger-off-tau-henare-tells-ports-of-auckland-boss-tony-gibson/TWLZDTCZ2I3V5B4KPGYRX6XOY4/
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March 31, 2021 7:55pm
Bobba Fret

Siouxsie Wiles named NZer of the year!!!!
The joke that just goes on and on and on.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/124716722/dr-siouxsie-wiles-named-2021-new-zealander-of-the-year
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March 31, 2021 11:53pm

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Live updates, April 14: Hipkins won’t put all MIQ workers ‘under suspicion’ over missed Covid tests
The Spinoff
Addressing supply deficit
Hompaddock
Getting out
No Right Turn
American Made (2017) – Becoming a Drug Plane Scene (1/10)
Utopia
Why the Captain of the 'Ever Given' Should Get a Medal
Not PC
Why the concern about vaccine blood clotting?
Stats Chat
Parent and child couple trying to overturn New York’s anti-incest laws, arguing it ‘diminishes their humanity’
Bob McCoskrie's McBlog
The rot of local government democracy – Wellington citizens are deemed unfit to comment and Tauranga is run by Mahuta’s commissioners
Point of Order
The Holy Month of Ramadan Explained
No Punches Pulled (Bob Jones)
Prince Philip, a man who will be truly missed
The Conservative
Issue 390
Ratesblog
Forecasting failure
Croaking Cassandra
Legal Beagle: A draft submission on the Harmful Digital Communications (Unauthorised Posting of Intimate Visual Recording) Amendment Bill
Public Address
New Zealand Women - Have A Cup Of Concrete
Cactus Kate
Christopher Luxon standing patiently outside Judith Collins’ office, tells her ‘let me know when you’re done’
The Civilian
Breaking Views Update: Week of 20.12.20
Breaking Views
The cost of a rolling omnishambles
Offsetting Behaviour
Is it time to bring in commissioners to manage Wellington City Council?
Inside Wellington
Letter to the Reserve Bank
Imperator Fish
Moving on
Your NZ
Making this movie might have been a mistake
Liam Hehir
Why I am retiring from political blogging
Kiwi FireWalker
Grant Robertson’s U-turn on debt
Dan Moskovitz
Ministry of Social Development spy on beneficiaries using Facebook
The Daily Blog
HYOTHESIS AND CONSPIRACIES AT THE TPP HEARINGS
Politik

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