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May 21, 2021 8:00am by Kokila Patel

General Debate 21 May 2021

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General Debate

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Greg Ettridge

If you search seek Australia and type in “nurse”
Australia 15,000 offers
Queensland only 3,000
You can also put your base rate in, it takes seconds.
I wonder if this governments clueless inept idiotic advisors have spent the few minutes what offering is in New Zealands not so wide world.
Making Biden look like a cognitive genius.
Tick Tick Tick Bang!
Oh bugger, why are nurses leaving.
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May 21, 2021 8:00am
- burt
  
  It’s not only nurses.
  
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  May 21, 2021 8:14am
  - Greg Ettridge
    
    You will be right, every person in shearing team this week was a kiwi.
    Turned up in there Bongo bus and one looked like Chech, smelled like him, they are a handful but great workers.
    Nurses are a great example because we are in the grip of this very dangerous Pandemic, surely you would look after your first line of defence.
    
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    May 21, 2021 8:24am
  - Nigel Kearney
    
    Definitely not just nurses:
    
    https://www.education.wa.edu.au/teacher-salaries
    
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    May 21, 2021 9:06am
  - ABS4EVA
    
    Kiwis have been voting with their feet for decades
    the only problem is KIWI SCUM in OZ
    Low life dead beat KIWI SCUM
    they come to AUS and most likely VOTE LABOUR
    
    You know do a sucker punch on some OZZIE
    and run to scum bag Jacinda
    
    Kiwi Criminal Dead beat low life scum of the Earth in AUS are the only KIWI the NZ government
    Care about in AUS
    
    They will Fall over themselves to roll out
    the Communist Carpet for the CCP
    
    Business between the nearest trading partner
    what is that LETS TALK WELFARE
    for Scum bags – just like in NZ
    
    Because Welfare and.. Wellness is all that
    Socialist scum of NZ are about
    
    When president XI wants to Be
    SUCKED UP TO
    
    Jacinda is there
    
    Suck Suck Suck
    
    The dead beat low life Scum of the earth
    most kiwis left NZ to get away from are
    in AUs wanting hand outs and the labour Party
    to wipe their smelly useless socialist bums
    for them
    
    The Woman is just Chief Nurse in an
    unfenced Mental Asylum called
    Socialist Aotearoa
    
    These people consult the treaty
    every time they break wind
    
    They Break wind rather alot
    because that is hole they talk out of
    
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    May 22, 2021 12:17am
- Sir Cullen's Sidekick
  
  Neh – nurses are traditional Labour voters. So they will stay here. It is “their” gummit you see!
  
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  May 21, 2021 8:29am
  - burt
    
    So true, they will tell us how they have been underpaid for 40 years and then in the next breath tell us how wonderful their union has been for the last 40 years.
    
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    May 21, 2021 9:05am
  - KevO'Brien
    
    This gum mint is only fit to be spat out.
    
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    May 21, 2021 9:20am
- MCos
  
  Wages have always been better in Australia than here.
  One of John Key’s stated goals was to bring NZ wages up to Oz levels. Never happened.
  Instead we import people from the next rung down.
  Age care facilities employ a lot of Asian nurses because what is a poor wage for Kiwis is a good wage for Filipinos.
  
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  May 21, 2021 9:16am
  - Flossie
    
    The sad bit here (for NZ taxpayers) is that a large part of these foreign nurses’ wages get sent back to their families and is not spent here.
    
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    May 21, 2021 9:48am
    - Sacha
      
      Is that true? Or myth?
      
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      May 21, 2021 9:59am
    - dcrane
      
      One of my family members is cared for by a filipina nurse whose spouse and children are back in Manila. She has been here several years and hopes to bring them here. Seems obvious that her surplus salary goes overseas.
      
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      May 21, 2021 10:39am
      - Albert_Ross
        
        That’s a single, dubiously based anecdote (“seems obvious”?). Not a good basis for reaching a conclusion.
        
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        May 21, 2021 1:15pm
  - Apropos of the Wet Snow
    
    I get sick of employers bleating about “not being able to find enough local workers” and so lobbying the government for more imports.
    
    Given that they are in business, you’d think they would know how basic supply and demand works: you cannot get local workers because you don’t pay them enough. If supply is low, then pay them more. It’s called a seller’s (of labour) market. The same is true in the States, the sectors represented by huge lobby groups don’t pay enough so they are for open borders and the cheap labour this provides.
    
    They’re all “free market capitalists” right up until the point where the market doesn’t favour them. Then they suddenly become government interventionists, until it comes time to pay taxes, at which time they become libertarians again.
    
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    May 21, 2021 10:38am
    - Albert_Ross
      
      It’s not a free market. It’s a market that is grossly distorted by the Government providing a ready and easy alternative to employment.
      
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      May 21, 2021 1:16pm
      - Harriet
        
        When the labour market gets tight employers simply ‘choose another option’ in this case request that government increase immigration in some way.
        
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        May 21, 2021 7:36pm
- oldfella
  
  Greg, last night on TV1 they had an interview with a woman with a caption which said: ‘NZNO Kaitiaki O Aotearoa’.
  If they’d just said ‘NZ Nurses Organisation’ I’d have got it in one, but by the time I figured it out I’d missed most of what she said.
  Great communication, TV1.
  
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  May 21, 2021 10:39am
  - riffer
    
    Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
    Have you considered, that rather than bitch about how the world should accommodate your narrow education, you could learn more yourself?
    
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    May 21, 2021 11:41am
    - [email protected]
      
      How many languages is “more”?
      
      I would rather learn a language that is useful rather than one few people speak.
      
      Maori and sign language are both official languages of New Zealand but I’m not going to the trouble to learn either because I have no use for either.
      
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      May 21, 2021 12:09pm
      - JackRabbit
        
        Let those that think having Maori language enforced on others is Ok, be transported to a foreign country where English is not taught. Turn up to an after hours Emergency Dept and be met by Manuel from Faulty Towers and spend 3 hours try to fill in forms and explaining they need help while they bleed out on the floor.
        
        Communication difficulties increase the likelihood of mistakes, and increase delays.
        
        “Oh, you needed that splinter removed, not your spleen. Why didn’t you say so old chap. You should have spoken in English, not Esperanto. Too bad about the spleen. Sorry can’t put it back.”
        
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        May 21, 2021 3:32pm
      - Badger
        
        The way the country is heading anyone who hopes to work in certain sectors will need some Te Reo. This will be your kids/grandkids.
        
        We can argue all day about its “usefulness” but if you need it to get a job, then it’s useful by necessity. That will be the NZ reality.
        
        I’m studying Latin so I’m fucked.
        
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        May 21, 2021 9:35pm
    - Badger
      
      Agree about the petty bitching. Disagree that not knowing Maori indicates a “narrow” education.
      
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      May 21, 2021 1:00pm
    - Ronin
      
      How ironic. That is exactly what the woke are doing. They are so upset that a language has naturally next to no value at all, they want to change the whole world to suit their ideals by forcing and brainwashing people into using/learning it, just so that they can get the warm and fuzzies for themselves. It’s sad to think where we could be as a country if adults were in charge, where we focused our energy into more productive avenues? Instead here we are regressing into learning a language that has little value. Such wasted time and resources that could be spent on things that can have proper positive outcomes.
      
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      May 21, 2021 3:56pm
      - Badger
        
        Language is vital to maintaining a culture so are you suggesting that Maori culture should just die out? That’s not going to happen and I don’t think anyone would seriously suggest it should.
        
        Then again, if it stopped the All Blacks doing the haka…
        
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        May 21, 2021 9:46pm
      - Ronin
        
        Reply to Badger
        
        “are you suggesting that Maori culture should just die out?”
        
        Where did I say that?
        
        “…I don’t think anyone would seriously suggest it should.”
        
        So you answered your own question.
        
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        May 21, 2021 10:45pm
      - Ronin
        
        And another thing.
        
        “Then again, if it stopped the All Blacks doing the haka…”
        
        Sounds like it’s you, not me that has a tendency to want “Maori culture to die out.”
        
        My argument is simply an academic one. I see language is a vehicle to communicate, separate from culture. Streamlining language as much a possible helps unlock the creative potential of the human race, so that we can all work together and live in harmony. I see the government and their institutions trying to resurrect and introduce (forcing upon us using taxpayers money) an outdated mode of communication as nothing short of deliberately placing a roadblock to that goal. Education in NZ is already failing miserably, yet the woke seem to think the most beneficial use of precious learning time for children is to teach something that currently has little value, and practically no value on the world stage. I want my children’s time spent learning how to survive in the real world, not some fictional utopia dreamword the woke are trying to manufacture.
        
        Badgers reply to [email protected]
        
        “The way the country is heading anyone who hopes to work in certain sectors will need some Te Reo. This will be your kids/grandkids.
        
        We can argue all day about its “usefulness” but if you need it to get a job, then it’s useful by necessity. That will be the NZ reality.
        
        I’m studying Latin so I’m fucked.”
        
        Says it all really.
        
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        May 22, 2021 8:24am
  - KevO'Brien
    
    If they must use Maori what about its description being useful. It’s a wonder the woke don’t object to nurses being relegated to the category of food gatherers.
    If that’s the best the limited lingo can do it’s best avoided.
    
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    May 21, 2021 2:41pm
krazykiwi

So, my regular gripe: Being forced to wear a mask (aka a compliance muzzle) on AirNZ flights. The declared justification is that “.. the New Zealand government require you to wear..”

A technical question. Is the government permitted to ‘require’ anything of me? If the statement had been “.. New Zealand law requires you to wear..” then I would understand it.

As stated, is sounds like an arbitrary diktat. Would one of our resident legal minds comment?

Oh, and this morning the chap next to me kept his mask on while awkwardly inserting corn chips from below his chin, up into his mouth. Utterly ridiculous.
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May 21, 2021 8:01am
- Wayne Mapp
  
  Yes, it is the law. Regulations were passed last year making mask wearing on public transport compulsory. No court will disallow the regulations.
  
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  May 21, 2021 8:05am
  - Nigel Kearney
    
    Yes. Parliament passed a law that allows the government to require this and the government did.
    
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    May 21, 2021 8:14am
  - krazykiwi
    
    Regulations were ‘passed’? Could you point me to them? I’m interested in the clauses that permit removal if the masks for eating and drinking
    
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    May 21, 2021 8:15am
    - JohnStanton
      
      Words like “obtuse” and “obfuscate” spring to mind.
      Please stay on the plane and leave the running of the country to the government.
      
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      May 21, 2021 8:30am
      - Tall Man
        
        “leave the ruining of the country to the government.”
        
        Fixed it for you 😉
        
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        May 21, 2021 9:35am
    - Nigel Kearney
      
      I used google so you don’t have to:
      
      https://www.legislation.govt.nz/regulation/public/2021/0040/latest/LMS461782.html?search=qs_act%40bill%40regulation%40deemedreg_face+coverings_resel_25_y&p=1&sr=1
      
      The relevant sections are:
      
      10(1): Every person must wear a face covering while on board a vehicle that is in use as part of a public transport service.
      
      12(j): [Clauses 10(1) and 11(1) do not apply if] the person needs to remove the face covering to eat or drink (if eating or drinking is permitted by the conditions of carriage on the relevant service).
      
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      May 21, 2021 9:15am
      - Than
        
        Not disputing that this is the law, but it’s certainly not enforced on Christchurch buses. I’ve been using buses as my main form of transport for the past few weeks, and apart from the drivers (who mostly but not universally wear masks) almost nobody has a mask on.
        
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        May 21, 2021 9:50am
      - Apropos of the Wet Snow
        
        So the virus will stay put while you’re eating, then attempt to escape from your body only when you are masked-up? It may be the law, but that doesn’t mean it has any basis in logic and reason. If the threat is so imminent, then surely that justifies keeping a mask on for the entire duration.
        
        There are so many other such instances of illogic and inconsistencies surrounding aspects of the approach to Covid that the entire charade doesn’t stand up to even casual scrutiny.
        
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        May 21, 2021 10:48am
      - Apropos of the Wet Snow
        
        If people had the collective will and enough fortitude to hold out and not travel on airlines for a time on the basis of not being subjected to the forced wearing of muzzles, you can guarantee that they would not enforce masks. Profit always wins out in the end.
        
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        May 21, 2021 10:51am
  - Greg Ettridge
    
    Then the law is a total arse, fake drivel.
    If they are serious about their fantasy, issue Hi grade masks, eye covering, and stop all food and drink.
    This is a “let’s keep scaring the shit out of people.”
    As for eating corn chips they should be locked up and throw away the key. These will produce a single cough that will send the entire aircraft into dreaded Quarantine.
    The sheep just like these hopeless pointless directives, we live in very stupid unscientific times.
    
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    May 21, 2021 8:16am
    - Mike
      
      Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
      Why do you hate public health measures?
      
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      May 21, 2021 8:19am
      - kowtow
        
        It’s not a health measure , it’s theatrics .
        
        Masks are for trained personnel in surgical / treatment scenarios , are worn for relatively short periods of time and then disposed of , in a bio hazard method .
        
        The way it’s applied in this scamdemic is counter to all of that and probably much less a health measure and more of a spread vector.
        
        Give it a moments thought and you might actually get there.
        
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        May 21, 2021 9:05am
      - softail 1450
        
        Mike, my advice to you is search your cupboards and throw out anything that contains SOY..
        
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        May 21, 2021 9:53am
      - Greg Ettridge
        
        Why do you hate public health measures?
        Unscientific not proven health measures
        I don’t if you read what I say, I suggest you need to tighten the rules if you truly believe this law.
        What really makes you laugh is the list of exceptions, the people that may actually require them. Very smart virus looking at this list.
        There is zero scientific basis for this legislation.
        Read the exceptions they are a joke
        https://www.legislation.govt.nz/regulation/public/2021/0040/latest/LMS461856.html?search=qs_act%40bill%40regulation%40deemedreg_face+coverings_resel_25_y&p=1
        
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        May 21, 2021 10:08am
      - Apropos of the Wet Snow
        
        I only hate public health measures if they have no basis in fact and reason. This is one such case. Perhaps I’d have more faith if they hadn’t constantly vacillated as to what their advice is (e.g. from A, to B, then back to A again) , seemingly doing so on a whim and not on the basis of any new research.
        
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        May 21, 2021 10:56am
    - G152
      
      We were told at the start to all this that aircraft ventilation systems meant that Covid couldn’t pass from pax to pax.
      After I stopped laughing I queried as to who or what had caused this ‘fact’ to be published and, you guessed it, no reply…
      
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      May 21, 2021 8:25am
      - Greg Ettridge
        
        We were told people sitting near someone needed to be tested, we now are told whole plane must be tested and quarantined, go figure but border staff don’t need mask.
        Very smart virus.
        
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        May 21, 2021 10:13am
    - Benedict Yu
      
      I agree. Serving chips and wine to a plane full of masked people is insane.
      
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      May 21, 2021 8:31am
      - Observer of Life
        
        Ben: Serving lollies pre landing even sillier!! Everyone stuffs their filthy mitts into the basket to take one. Sensible NOT!
        
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        May 21, 2021 12:48pm
      - Ehlana
        
        It’s easy to solve though Benedict. Put your mask on, then mark with a pen where your lips are. Take your mask off and cut along the line.
        Now you can wear your mask and eat and drink…
        
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        May 21, 2021 2:00pm
    - kowtow
      
      ‘This is a “let’s keep scaring the shit out of people.”’
      
      Yep , -my scan of the Fear Porn Industry ( aka the Media Party ) this morning revealed a huge stuff hit job on Simon Thornley and the Listener leader reminding us of the disaster that Covid is “see India you’re a murderer if you don’t get the vax ” is that is what it’s all about .
      
      The irony is the British sensible media are now telling us the much media hyped India variant ain’t as bad as first reported ……..just like the Kent variant wasn’t . Funny that , there’s a pattern emerging .
      
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      May 21, 2021 8:37am
      - doggone7
        
        The pattern emerged some time ago. America was a good example.
        
        People were dying all over the place, hospitals were full and some people were saying “Nothing to see here. It’s just the flu.”
        
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        May 21, 2021 9:30am
      - kowtow
        
        DG7
        
        People were dying all over the place .
        
        Elderly and /or sick people die all over the place , all the time .
        
        What’s the average age of covid death patients V the average age of death in “normal” times ?
        
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        May 21, 2021 10:25am
    - tf78
      
      Greg, apparently Japan’s use of mask wearing didn’t stop their second wave one iota.
      
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      May 21, 2021 9:15am
      - oldfella
        
        tf78: isn’t it the same with Taiwan and Singapore? Very compliant citizens who still got hammered.
        
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        May 21, 2021 10:44am
  - Simon
    
    Not enough cattle to force wearing masks in general public. The clown show can force people to wear masks on public transport. People just want to get on with it and comply with this gross stupidity.
    
    “As stated, is sounds like an arbitrary diktat”
    
    Yep probably passed under urgency? Although most of National are part of the covid cult. There is limited opposition to the anti-science cult.
    
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    May 21, 2021 8:23am
  - artemisia
    
    Fair bit of civil disobedience happening on Wellington buses.
    
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    May 21, 2021 8:30am
    - Apropos of the Wet Snow
      
      They can only enforce these rules two ways: by public consent freely given, or by direct force. I don’t think they have the stomach for the latter “mask-off” (pun intended) option. Yet.
      
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      May 21, 2021 10:59am
  - Ruahine
    
    Not sure about what is actually ‘Law’ around a whole lot of the Covid 19 requirements.
    
    Scroll down to Section on Exemptions. I have an Exemptions card.
    
    https://covid19.govt.nz/health-and-wellbeing/protect-yourself-and-others/wear-a-face-covering/
    
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    May 21, 2021 8:52am
    - alwyn
      
      I got as far as this statement and decided anyone at all can claim they are exempt.
      “you have a physical or mental health illness or condition or disability that makes wearing a face covering unsuitable”.
      Anyone who can’t claim this isn’t trying.
      
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      May 21, 2021 8:27pm
  - Nukuleka
    
    If this law requiring us to wear a mask on public transport is so ‘compulsory’ how come barely anyone on public transport in Christchurch wears one. And no bus driver will ever enforce it. Pointless having a law that few obey, Wayne. Or do you disagree.
    
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    May 21, 2021 9:52am
    - riffer
      
      Because bus drivers are not enforcement officers? Really, the lack of thinking on this blog is woeful some times.
      
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      May 21, 2021 11:43am
      - kowtow
        
        So they pass a law mandating a certain act , wear a mask , but make no provision for enforcement or simply don’t bother to and you bemoan the lack of thinking on this blog as opposed to the lack of thinking on the part of our law makers ……..
        
        …… I’d be a tad more concerned about the latter and less about the former or are you a Labour MP or one of their PR agents ……..
        
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        May 21, 2021 1:24pm
    - Odakyu-sen
      
      Masks are spit traps, and help if you have a cough (to trap the large gobs of spit). That’s about all they do.
      
      Viral particles in the air will get in through the mucous membranes around your eyes. Your mask won’t stop them.
      
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      May 21, 2021 5:06pm
- Tricati
  
  And yet if you take the Coastal Pacific train from Christchurch to Picton you don’t need to wear masks, as the announcement says, they have an exemption from the Director General of Health.
  The inconsistencies in the Covid messaging is just mind boggling, yet they get a free pass.
  
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  May 21, 2021 8:07am
  - kowtow
    
    That’s because it’s a “tricky virus” .
    
    So tricky you can get it on some public transport but not others…….
    
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    May 21, 2021 8:39am
- Benedict Yu
  
  But you can take off the mask to drink. If they were serious they would not be serving wine on a short flight to Christchurch. Last week on my flight everyone was happily sipping wine mask less.
  
  My favourite was a woman I saw on a train to the Kapiti Coast. She had her mask on. Then her phone rang. She then took her mask OFF to have a loud conversation. If she had the virus it would have been sprayed all over the train carriage. She then finished her conversation and put her mask back on ?
  
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  May 21, 2021 8:18am
  - Paulus
    
    The airlines who insist on a mask should provide a straw to drink through and under their masks – not a plastic one though as they are banned now.
    
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    May 21, 2021 1:38pm
- Sir Cullen's Sidekick
  
  Bro – Get this. NZ gummit is the law and Cindy is the judge, jury and the executor. What is so difficult here for you to understand?
  
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  May 21, 2021 8:30am
  - KevO'Brien
    
    The French understood well how to deal with such rulers.
    
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    May 21, 2021 9:23am
    - kowtow
      
      They copied Cromwell’s Loons and were copied by the Murderous Bolsheviks .
      
      Not good.
      
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      May 21, 2021 9:49am
    - Rumpole 294
      
      Not far away in much of he West – Walgreens closing shops in SFO due to legalised looting, a repeat of what I saw in Liberty City Miami 40 years ago – business did not return after the burning and looting by people of colour. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot.
      
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      May 21, 2021 11:10am
- pdm
  
  We have traveled round the South Island for the last five weeks – home to Hastings yesterday. No masks on the Interislander or Bluebridge, or a Milford Sound Cruise or a lake Wakatipu Cruise but required for the Stewart Island ferry.
  
  Hard to follow.
  
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  May 21, 2021 8:34am
  - Sacha
    
    I went to pick up my mower after its service. There was a wire hanging across the workshop entrance strung with covid instructions and warnings about workshop safety and ‘keep out’. Apparently someone in the office had read the instructions, or maybe found the envelope with all the signs. No, the inspector hadn’t come to call. Maybe a new staff member?
    The irony is that this workshop is a large airy place and every worker has his own section with tools at hand to work in. There is a central aisle to walk down and the customers are not of the type to wander into a shower of welding sparks, or lean on a hoist. And being a country town, we all have our wide personal spaces.
    I give it a week –
    
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    May 21, 2021 10:12am
  - Bluegrass
    
    Sounds wonderful. I must get down to NZ one day and sample those sea trips.
    
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    May 21, 2021 10:30am
    - oldfella
      
      Bluegrass, just make sure you come to NZ. That’s ‘New Zealand’.
      I only warn you because there’s a bunch of scammers out there saying we’re actually Aotearoa.
      If you turn up there, you’re likely to get eaten. 😉
      
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      May 21, 2021 10:49am
      - riffer
        
        Winge winge… I never learned to speak Te Reo, so I’m gonna complain if it’s ever used. Good grief.
        
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        May 21, 2021 11:44am
- Frank the tank
  
  As much as I hate my government muzzle it is definitely worth the 3 hours or so to reach a proper country such as Australia.
  
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  May 21, 2021 8:53am
  - Red Fred
    
    Please do the whole country a favour and stay there.
    
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    May 21, 2021 11:25am
- fisho
  
  It’s OK if you’re hanging out at a Six60 concert with 50k others, shoulder to shoulder, screaming their heads off for 2-3 hours.
  It’s about the science….
  
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  May 21, 2021 9:04am
  - Southtop2
    
    If it is about the science – is there any science involved in this? Serious question does this work?
    https://joannenova.com.au/2021/05/cases-down-in-the-parts-of-india-that-approved-ivermectin-use/
    
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    May 21, 2021 9:48am
    - Pharmachick
      
      No.
      
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      May 21, 2021 10:16am
      - Pharmachick
        
        Sigh, I’ve done this before but FWIW:
        
        Ivermectin is anti-helminitc (worms)* [I’ll come back to this later]. Ivermectin’s mechanism of action is to bind chloride channels of a specific type (glutamate gated). These are absolutely required for worms muscles to work and their neutrons to fire. Ivermectin paralyzes the worms until they die. Then the immune system mops them up. It is broad spectrum agains many types of worm. SARS-CoV-2 does not have GABA gated Cl- channels.
        
        Couple things: this idea came about because it was discovered that some anti-parkinsons drugs (Amantadine, Rimantadine) were found to bind the M2 pore on flu (different mechanism as to Parkinsons) and could inhibit flu replication – late 90s. The drugs were good for ~2-3 years until the strains of flu circulating mutates their M2 pores. Flu is now resistant to these drugs.
        
        The clinical trials conducted in the developed world show UTTERLY NO benefit for COVID.
        
        Worm infections, in all their disgusting glory (trust me I have pictures in my “anti parasitic drugs” lecture [the only lecture for which I have a warning on the second slide), are far more prevalent in the developing world. There is some thought that people chronically infected with worms may get secondary benefit of the ivermectin removing this co-morbidity (i.e. making them baseline healthier). Bu too evidence for this latter statement.
        
        Ivermectin categorically doesn’t work on the virus on a molecular level.
        
        /rant over
        
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        May 21, 2021 11:50am
      - Pharmachick
        
        Also *glutamate-gated (not GABA) typo. sorry.
        
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        May 21, 2021 11:55am
      - UrbanNeocolonialist
        
        Whether or not there is a clearly understood mechanism there are to date 56 studies and 28 random controlled trials to date that have confirmed its very high efficacy with close to 100% consensus (only two trials that didn’t show strong benefit, and none where benefit was excluded in confidence intervals).
        https://ivmmeta.com/
        https://c19early.com/
        
        And large groups of physicians and other experts who are convinced and employing it to treat patients throughout the world with seemingly much improved outcomes.
        https://covid19criticalcare.com/
        https://covid19criticalcare.com/ivermectin-in-covid-19/epidemiologic-analyses-on-covid19-and-ivermectin/
        
        There are large scale roll outs in places like Goa in India to whole adult population have been given ivermectin that appear to have immediately halted and reversed the rise in cases. Coincidence only?
        
        So I am genuinely curious why you think it doesn’t work? The data doesn’t even appear to be slightly equivocal – particularly when used early/prophylactically (after hospitalisation benefit is low), and given there is no other particularly beneficial treatment pre-hospital and ivermectin is very safe (billions of doses administered over 40 years) and seemingly very effective then on a cost-benefit basis why wouldn’t you recommend it? If the 80% reduction in deaths is real then we are talking of millions of lives that could be saved and the downside if it doesn’t work is almost nil.
        
        As someone with a strong belief in science this whole situation is really not making sense to me, I can’t believe that anyone would consciously choose to back a course of action that leads to more unnecessary death but in recent decades official institutions and gatekeepers of all sorts have been revealing themselves to be often captured by frequently misanthropic special interests, highly politicised, and frequently exhibiting very poor judgement and glacial responses to new data (particularly with regard to Covid). So in the meantime Nullius in Verba, I will stick to believing the scientific and peer reviewed data such as it is presented in the above links rather than official institutions.
        
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        May 21, 2021 1:04pm
      - Pharmachick
        
        Urban,
        
        sorry not even going to try again with you. You linked to a bunch of junk conspiracy sites. When NEJM, JAMA, Nature, Science or even Dog love it Drug Metabolism and Disposition report anything even remotely positive, I’ll give it airtime.
        
        Have a good afternoon KBers. This type of conspiracy theorist doesn’t do me, or anyone else here; any favours.
        
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        May 21, 2021 2:00pm
      - Pharmachick
        
        Also:
        
        Paging Benedict Yu… Paging Benedict Yu.
        
        Baton handed for today, my friend.
        
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        May 21, 2021 2:05pm
      - UrbanNeocolonialist
        
        Pharmachick; I am not trying to have a go at you, I understand you’re an expert, but equally there are clearly a lot of other experts taking a position opposite to yours with what they apparently view as compelling data to back them up. In such circumstances who should lay-people trust?
        
        At end of March WHO updated their treatment recommendations reporting a mortality odds ratio of 0.19 [0.09-0.36] for ivermectin based on 7 studies with 1,419 patients that they felt were sufficiently good to pass whatever criteria they use for assessment, though they still only recommend using ivermectin in clinical trials. So seems even establishment are (slowly) getting behind it.
        
        It is often complained that prestige medical journals you point to are in the pay of Big Pharma and so have an unstated conflict of interest biasing them against presenting positive results for competing off-patent treatments. Similar gate-keeping behaviour is seen in climate science where data is equivocal but one side has very deep pockets and powerful political friends.
        
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        May 21, 2021 2:44pm
      - CJames
        
        Pharmachick – I would be interested in your take on the BIRD Committee recommendation.
        https://trialsitenews.com/british-ivermectin-recommendation-development-panel-response-to-ema-statement-on-ivermectin-for-covid-19/
        From what I know of pharmacology, drugs often work in unexpected ways. Viagra starting as unsuccessful heart medicine and right handed thalidomide being used to treat leprosy are two examples that come to mind.
        
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        May 21, 2021 3:41pm
      - Pharmachick
        
        @CJames:
        
        re: Viagra – I know the people that were in the team re-purposing it for Pfizer. The drug didn’t work on “the heart” its a vascular reactive drug (in simple terms). Anyhoo… they got the equivalent of a “Summer intern to see what drugs that had been “shelved recently” could be “repurposed”. He came back with 2 recommendations, one of which was viagra… you see, when they tried to make it a heart drug as part of the clinical trials they took side effect profiles. Problem is the people taking the side FX profiles were mostly younger women, and the guys taking the “heart drug” were mostly older men… they under-reported the effects on erections etc. So anyway years later, this intern tells them: “you’ve got a great drug for curing erectile dysfunction”. They nearly fired him [literally thought he was incompetent/taking the Pi$$]. But one senior head of department said “Okay what’s the market size etc…” and the rest is history. Viagra till works on the east same system of receptors, its just they’re better in the penis and surrounding tissue than the heart.
        
        Thalidomide would take me pages and pages, suffice to say you are right; it’s been repurposed for HIV and some cancer applications. Those are applications delivered in the 90s/00s, that were totally unknown in the 1960s.
        
        Yes, we learn more and more about the molecules as time goes by, including new avenues (its called “repurposing”) … although I will note that you reference famous “repurposing successes” for every success there’s about ~1000 failures.
        
        Does that answer your Q/comment?
        
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        May 21, 2021 4:02pm
      - CJames
        
        Yes – thanks.
        I see the WHO is against thalidomide for leprosy while the Indians are strongly for it with reported trials https://storage.googleapis.com/plos-corpus-prod/10.1371/journal.pntd.0008678/2/pntd.0008678.pdf?X-Goog-Algorithm=GOOG4-RSA-SHA256&X-Goog-Credential=wombat-sa%40plos-prod.iam.gserviceaccount.com%2F20210521%2Fauto%2Fstorage%2Fgoog4_request&X-Goog-Date=20210521T035332Z&X-Goog-Expires=86400&X-Goog-SignedHeaders=host&X-Goog-Signature=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        May 21, 2021 4:12pm
    - Rumpole 294
      
      Ivermectin costs about 25cents – the mRNA jaabs cost $7 plus administration – if you were big pharma which would you prefer to sell.
      
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      May 21, 2021 11:17am
      - NoCash
        
        The earth is flat and antibiotics kill virus too… what a muppet.
        
        1 6
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        May 21, 2021 12:04pm
NeverMindTheBollocks

The best thing Ricardo, Gohlriz and Julie-Anne could do to reduce NZ’s carbon emissions would be to leave the country permanently.

How is it that we as a country are being caned for our emissions increase since 1990 when we’ve added 1m+ immigrants? Seriously, should there not be some kind of offset built into the calculation?
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May 21, 2021 8:05am
- Frank the tank
  
  What and only leave the Maori party clowns as parliamentary entertainment?
  
  Ol’ Crazy eyes, my Persian Princess and Mexican Dick take me back to the days of slapstick comedy. The irony is on them that they are serious.
  
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  May 21, 2021 8:57am
  - oldfella
    
    Frank, I think their schtick is they don’t know they’re funny, which makes them even funnier to the audience.
    I think they should be aiming to take their act to the international comedy festivals.
    And stay there.
    
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    May 21, 2021 10:53am
Steve Otto(North Shore)

Play school TV1 breakfast on Pharmac funding. Woman interviewed said Ardern was lying while smiling.
Wow, after $110M how did that get through?
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May 21, 2021 8:06am
- Paulus Gnome
  
  Because that was the kindest interview response they got.
  
  As poor as the language is on tv these days, fucking useless, fucktards and c’s is still not acceptable in news bulletins
  
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  May 21, 2021 8:11am
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    I think play school was caught off guard, unprepared for what the Woman said.
    “Lying while smiling” is a great description of Jaspindaspeak
    
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    May 21, 2021 8:44am
- Sir Cullen's Sidekick
  
  The chief sensor at TV1 was on a coffee break bro.
  
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  May 21, 2021 8:31am
  - Frank the tank
    
    Was commie John frothing at the mouth like when he was interviewing Judith earlier in the week?
    
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    May 21, 2021 8:58am
    - Steve Otto(North Shore)
      
      He is like that all the time
      
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      May 21, 2021 10:30am
      - sooty
        
        Rabid lefty!
        
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        May 21, 2021 11:13am
Tony Stuart

So, Labour is now trying to address “thirty years of neglect” by rolling back the benefit cuts from Ruth Richardson’s “Mother of All Budgets”.

Does Grant Robertson realise though that Labour governments have been in charge for thirteen of those thirty years?
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May 21, 2021 8:08am
- Paulus Gnome
  
  Thirteen long, wasted, painful years . . .
  
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  May 21, 2021 8:12am
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  Mere detail, Tony.
  
  The hit on National has landed .. that’s all that matters to Labour.
  
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  May 21, 2021 8:15am
  - Gravelroad
    
    I have a family member who works hard in a land-based industry -outside in all weathers. Full time.
    While she gets above minimum wage she now says she would be just as well off financially staying home in front of the tv and heater and doing no work.
    Why shouldn’t she?
    
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    May 21, 2021 8:23am
    - Greg Ettridge
      
      Because work is great for your soul and good for all.
      If you follow a career you enjoy, money isn’t your first consideration.
      Love what you do and the money will come.
      Sitting on a couch cannot do this, just destroys your ambitions
      
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      May 21, 2021 8:30am
      - Steve Otto(North Shore)
        
        That would explain why I am still with the same Company after 48 years and now aged nearly 69
        
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        May 21, 2021 8:46am
      - cmm
        
        Many people can achieve a lot of soul building through pursuing their favourite hobbies.
        
        It is also irksome thinking that while you’re out tending animals/plants in the freezing cold or rain, your earnings are being taxed to others can just take life cruisy.
        
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        May 21, 2021 8:49am
      - Gravelroad
        
        Her tax liability will be going up shortly to enable the lifestyle of others who don’t/won’t work. That ok?
        
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        May 21, 2021 8:51am
      - KevO'Brien
        
        Work which does not reward you relative to others does not provide much incentive to continue.
        Aus beckons.
        
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        May 21, 2021 9:26am
      - MCos
        
        If you go to work each day for forty years and stew because thrupence out of your tax goes to somebody whose ripping off the system you might as well aim high at the quarter of a billion dollars given to the America’s Cup rather than some sad sack getting two or three hundred dollars a week to buy Kornies for his dinner.
        
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        May 21, 2021 9:33am
      - Tall Man
        
        “Sitting on a couch cannot do this, just destroys your ambitions”
        
        Pretty sure they’re non existant if you’re sitting on the couch 🙂
        
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        May 21, 2021 9:38am
      - WaveyDavey
        
        @mcos
        
        It’s possible to object to both – neither is acceptable.
        
        Nor is the c$1bn pissed-away on the RWC in 2011
        
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        May 21, 2021 9:57am
    - tf78
      
      Gravelroad, thinking of the have’s and have not’s, it should be if not why not?
      
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      May 21, 2021 9:19am
  - hullkiwi
    
    Yes, and we continue the march on towards:
    1. Having welfare system that encourages welfare dependency as a lifestyle;
    2. Discourage people to maximise their potential; and
    3. Give govt the “right to determine what is and isn’t an equitable outcome’ based on a person’s input and ability.
    
    Who gave govt those “rights” and what happened to a democratic meritocracy?
    
    I know the lazy feckless sheeple voted for it!
    
    More taxes next year for thosein paid employment!
    
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    May 21, 2021 8:24am
    - rockape
      
      Watch for next year when house prices don’t fall, when the economy doesn’t boom, when more are unemployed. Will Labour reverse the benefit increases they think they can afford or will they just raise your taxes?
      
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      May 21, 2021 8:59am
      - KevO'Brien
        
        Will Labour still be there? I think price rises will get them within 6 months. They started it but don’t know the rules about finishing.
        
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        May 21, 2021 11:20am
    - tf78
      
      Hullkiwi, what I don’t get is how these women who get paid a ‘benefit’ to take care of their children and yet they can’t even be bothered making them lunch, let alone clean their houses. What do they do all day and why are we paying when they don’t fulfill their part of the deal.
      
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      May 21, 2021 10:24am
      - Close Hen Counters
        
        Oh they are working hard, making more kids to fund their lifestyle! Don’t need to know the name of the sperm donor just come on in (literally) … the poor little tykes who live with these people and live in squalor. Have had the extreme misfortune of having to enter some of these homes for work and I have to say, cringed at the suggestion we had to take our shoes off
        
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        May 21, 2021 11:56am
    - oldfella
      
      Hull, here’s an update on those targets you mentioned:
      1. Having welfare system that encourages welfare dependency as a lifestyle; DONE – TICK
      2. Discourage people to maximise their potential; DONE – TICK
      3. Give govt the “right to determine what is and isn’t an equitable outcome’ based on a person’s input and ability. DONE – TICK
      I reckon Cindy and co are doing great, so far. /s
      
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      May 21, 2021 12:08pm
      - tf78
        
        oldfella, I heard some woman the radio criticizing Judith Collins on her view of the benefit increases. The woman said “these children our our future, we have to look after them” – I thought God help us.
        
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        May 21, 2021 3:33pm
    - Jimbob
      
      Cost of living in this country is going to explode higher, even from the rises lately. Fuel, electricity, rent and groceries. People are going to struggle right at the same time unemployment rises after the virus monetary support evaporates. Good luck controlling unrest.
      
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      May 21, 2021 12:08pm
  - Brian McDonald
    
    Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
    Yep, Judith got herself right on the nose.
    
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    May 21, 2021 8:45am
    - KevO'Brien
      
      Labour’s got problems: incompetence, excessive power, prices out of control and inability to perform.
      
      They’re worried about Judith Collins?
      
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      May 21, 2021 9:30am
      - Tall Man
        
        Exactly. Can you remember a time when the opposition has occupied the media and the government as much as the last 4 years?
        
        When you have nothing to offer you just run around pointing at “squirrels”…….. And the idiots buy it FFS 🙁
        
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        May 21, 2021 9:40am
      - tf78
        
        Kev, have you checked out the supermarket prices which have increased again this week – extra money will be gone already.
        
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        May 21, 2021 10:25am
      - Brian McDonald
        
        I’d say they’d be slighty worried that she might lost the top job.
        
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        May 21, 2021 10:34am
      - Red Fred
        
        Noooooo please leave her in place ,she is doing so well.Errr no wait,heh .
        
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        May 21, 2021 11:28am
  - Ruahine
    
    The hit on the net taxpayers has also landed. However many will not know this. it is great politics with other peoples money.
    
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    May 21, 2021 9:12am
    - Rumpole 294
      
      I suspect many will simply reduce their efforts to a level that just fulfills their economic needs.
      
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      May 21, 2021 11:24am
- Nigel Kearney
  
  Welfare is the cause of poverty not the solution. Until voters understand that, governments are just going to keep making things worse.
  
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  May 21, 2021 8:16am
  - amospicton
    
    Absolutely Nigel – long term benefit dependency is responsible for most of the problems we face as a country. It’s critical therefore to have a plan to reduce benefit numbers. Not just a bit but massively. That requires a more productive, competitive and efficient economy. Was there anything at all in the budget that even hinted at the merest understanding of this?
    
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    May 21, 2021 8:20am
    - kowtow
      
      The only thing we all need to understand is the rehashed Marxism sweeping the western world that has re emrged as “institutional racism” , sub text white privelige .
      When we talk of the ingrained generational welfare dependency we are racist and failing to account for all the past wrongs that have led to and perpetuate the inequities we see in our intrinsically evil societies .
      
      So stop whinging , work harder as your taxes are urgently required to right past wrongs ; as they say now ” I’m not concerned about equality , I’m concerned about inequity”
      
      And on the basis of that our constitution is also being quietly altered to allow race representation at local govt , in health and the philosophy is stealthily being introduced into primary schools ( it ‘s been at tertiary for quite some time already)
      
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      May 21, 2021 9:18am
    - Brian McDonald
      
      See any connection to lowering the number of low-paid workers coming into the country?
      
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      May 21, 2021 10:38am
    - rockape
      
      The UK used to be described as the sick man of Europe because of the unions constant strikes. NZ is the sick man of the OECD because of its long term benefit dependency despite a shortage of workers.
      
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      May 21, 2021 11:11am
    - Red Fred
      
      Chap unemployment is at 4.6 % .Somebody mentioned the Moodys report ,do you know anything about it.
      
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      May 21, 2021 11:30am
  - Mike
    
    True Thete was no poverty before the welfare state.
    
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    May 21, 2021 8:20am
    - kowtow
      
      Mark 14 .7
      
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      May 21, 2021 9:20am
  - krazykiwi
    
    Yup. The evidence for this is overwhelming. But poverty leads unthinking people to cry out for government intervention, which supports the political elite’s desire to rule no matter the human carnage they cause
    
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    May 21, 2021 8:30am
    - JohnStanton
      
      Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
      Stating that the evidence is overwhelming sounds more like a prop for your own beliefs rather than fact.
      
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      May 21, 2021 8:35am
      - Frank the tank
        
        The steam down in Vegas must be thick this morning……
        
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        May 21, 2021 9:02am
    - Tony Stuart
      
      Carmel Sepuloni was quick to throw out Bill English’s Social Investment approach when she became Minister almost four years ago. It’s a real disappointment that she was not more open towards a policy that could have made a significant impact on children in dysfunctional families, especially when this government claims to want to be transformational.
      
      I would argue that early intervention in the lives of at-risk children is far more transformational than simply throwing money at the problem with no accountability as to how it is spent.
      
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      May 21, 2021 8:43am
      - mikenmildagain
        
        Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
        People go on about the ‘social investment’ approach as if it was a real thing, instead of a slogan.
        
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        May 21, 2021 9:30am
      - KevO'Brien
        
        Bill English understood what Grant and the others don’t. Money does not grow on trees at the Reserve Bank. To give out taxpayers’ money also requires justification and that money carefully spent in “social investment” could if spent wisely bring future savings while helping current needs. Labour don’t have the smarts of Bill.
        
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        May 21, 2021 11:26am
      - Tony Stuart
        
        It was a real thing mikenmild, and had National been reelected in 2017, we would be seeing its benefits now.
        
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        May 21, 2021 12:39pm
    - Paulus
      
      Just think almost another packet of fags a week from July until next April then two packs.
      
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      May 21, 2021 11:05am
      - riffer
        
        Oh god, you’re really still rehashing that old trope?
        
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        May 21, 2021 11:48am
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    Yeah, but welfare buys votes, always has
    
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    May 21, 2021 8:31am
  - Nickc2
    
    Making people dependent buys votes.
    
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    May 21, 2021 8:38am
    - kowtow
      
      The weird thing about that is the actual seriously dependant very likely don’t vote .( They will if an activist turns up to get them to mark their ballot and take it away for them, but otherwise not).
      It’s the idiots who are working ,paying taxes ( generally public sector and Wokie types ) who’ll be impressed with the gubmints’ largesse out of their own savings accounts who vote for “centre left/ progressives” to make themselves feel good about themselves and then be able to scoff about Heartless Tories at dinner parties .
      
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      May 21, 2021 9:26am
      - Steve Otto(North Shore)
        
        They will vote Labour if the candidate stops at KFC on the way back from the polling booth
        
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        May 21, 2021 2:22pm
  - Frank the tank
    
    Not a truer word spoken this year. Unfortunately that doesn’t fit with the narrative therefore we try to treat the symptoms as opposed to the cause.
    
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    May 21, 2021 9:00am
  - rockape
    
    I had to chuckle at the beneficiary saying the raise wasn’t enough and that it showed how little the Government thinks they are worth. Well if your a beneficiary your worth nothing, in fact because you need others to fund you your worse less than nothing ,your a drag on society. Those who earn a living, or creat jobs have a worth! https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/budget-2021-solo-parents-react-after-government-33billion-welfare-injection/SIZGGCKHPSIL2WMGSIRPYB3N5Q/
    
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    May 21, 2021 9:02am
- Paulus
  
  Most Labour voters were either not alive or in kindergarten when Ruth Richardson was Finance Minister.
  Labour Puerile comment but as expected.
  
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  May 21, 2021 8:23am
  - Red Fred
    
    Stop with that bullshit.What a pissant peasant you are.
    
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    May 21, 2021 1:09pm
- Tricati
  
  Ruth Richardson’s “Mother of All Budgets” was necessary as NZ was deep in the financial crap. Looks like another National Finance Minister will have to do the same in a few years.
  For Robertson to bring it up, just shows what a vindictive nasty person he is.
  
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  May 21, 2021 8:25am
  - cmm
    
    Quite.
    
    Without MOAB, the NZ economy would not be where it is now.
    
    Robertson would only have millions to throw around – not billions.
    
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    May 21, 2021 8:50am
  - Lance
    
    I have observed over a number of years now that most of the nastiness and lies emanating from Labour can be traced back to Robbo. He’s the shit stirrer that sets it off and then sits back and makes out he had nothing to do with it.
    To that end Cindy is Robbos sock puppet
    
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    May 21, 2021 9:06am
    - kowtow
      
      Cindy is dangerous in that she’s an avowed and dedicated “progressive/ socialist”
      
      But she’s not as smart as people make her out to be .
      
      For someone who makes so much of the TOW , she had to be prompted by I think Willie jackson when put on the spot to name the Articles , which she couldn’t .
      
      Proof , on film , of Sock Puppetry .
      And of course the notorious phone call from the overseas friend , there’s a story there that our Media don’t persue , who was that all influential person that panicked the PM into locking us down , soemthing even WHO does not recommend.
      
      But there’s none so blind as those who won’t see .
      
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      May 21, 2021 9:33am
      - Paulus
        
        The paid media would say your wrong – she is still wonnerful.
        
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        May 21, 2021 1:47pm
    - tf78
      
      Lance, he reminds me of Toady in Winnie the Pooh.
      
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      May 21, 2021 10:30am
    - David Garrett
      
      Lance…true that…Robbo is indeed a nasty bastard…as well as being a grossly overweight [insert old fashioned but now banned noun] who tells lies about his “husband”
      
      26 2
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      May 21, 2021 10:45am
      - sooty
        
        Why is the wife aways the large rotund one?
        
        12 2
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        May 21, 2021 11:20am
      - Flossie
        
        Sooty – sorry, don’t get what you’re saying here?
        
        3 0
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        May 21, 2021 11:58am
    - Paulus
      
      Plenty of … [Deleted – OTT and without evidence. mod.] when Robertson and his junior called Ardern were working closely for Helen Clark for many years.
      
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      May 21, 2021 1:46pm
  - Tall Man
    
    Probably shows that he is already aware that someone else will have to fix it.
    
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    May 21, 2021 9:42am
  - Sacha
    
    I don’t know if he is consciously vindictive. Maybe he’s just one of those Labour people who have embraced the whole socialist ideal, without question, who cannot comprehend what other people are talking about.
    I know a few of these, and quite frankly, they are not worth wasting time on. One, in my family (an in-comer), works diligently at his job, looks forward to his retirement, and sees his salary being disbursed as the government sees fit. He sees no other way.
    That’s his life.
    
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    May 21, 2021 10:28am
  - jon
    
    Robertson so smug and a poor replacement for Steven Joyce!!
    
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    May 21, 2021 9:13pm
- krazykiwi
  
  My biggest concern is that National will, as usual, diplomatically position themselves slightly to the right of all this, desperate to not piss off too many in the centre. What we need is a stark, brave alternative to Labour’s neo-Marxist nightmare. So far only ACT appears to offer that.
  
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  May 21, 2021 8:25am
  - Benedict Yu
    
    Yes totally agree. TBH I just cannot see Judith being Prime Minister.
    
    Nicola Willis has been impressive.
    
    National needs to offer a stark alternative. And if the people don’t want it and are happy with this lot well that’s democracy.
    
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    May 21, 2021 8:28am
    - Philview
      
      Russia has democracy and while we aren’t at the stage of Government sanctioned killing of the opposition MPs we are certainly getting there with control of the media. (Apologies to Simeon Brown as his family are in hiding but not sure who ordered that).
      
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      May 21, 2021 8:58am
    - Tall Man
      
      Part of Judith’s email.
      
      “A National government would back businesses to create jobs, invest in innovation, support our farmers, help Kiwis keep more of what they earn, not less, and get on and build some actual houses.
      
      The National Party I lead will put accountability, ambition, and aspiration back into Government. And in 2023 we’ll do just that. In the meantime, we’ll keep Labour’s feet to the fire and hold them to account for the promises they’ve made to New Zealanders.
      
      Yours sincerely
      
      Judith”
      
      Full speech here
      
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      May 21, 2021 9:45am
      - Tall Man
        
        Oops ..
        
        https://www.national.org.nz/budget-2021-speech
        
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        May 21, 2021 10:00am
      - Rumpole 294
        
        Tall Man – Aspirations only without detail of policies to achieve.
        
        4 4
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        May 21, 2021 11:31am
    - Sacha
      
      Nicola Willis has been great on the PR circuit, but what else does she have to recommend her as a leader? What areas of expertise? Experience?
      Has she studied history/politics/finance? Has she been in any leadership roles. where her governance has resulted in success?
      If not, we may as well keep the present incumbent.
      
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      May 21, 2021 10:33am
      - rockape
        
        But you know as I do that competence is a minor co sideration. Kiwis don’t consider that. The evidence for my statement, Jacinda Arden.
        
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        May 21, 2021 11:18am
      - tf78
        
        Sacha, I’ve been to one of Nicola’s meetings, she’s very capable but not leadership material.
        
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        May 21, 2021 3:37pm
  - cmm
    
    Yup.
    
    The biggest issue is that once the lolly scramble has been normalised nobody is going to be able to reel it back in.
    
    Look at WFF that, essentially, makes 50%+ of families in NZ beneficiaries of sorts. Nobody would ever shut that down because to do so would be political suicide.
    
    Same deal here. The gene is out of the bottle. It will be very hard for subsequent governments to sort the issues out.
    
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    May 21, 2021 8:53am
    - Paulus
      
      She has said that much of whatever is enacted will not be able to be unraveled by subsequent Governments, such as WFF and other benefits.
      Maori Health cannot be scaled back, even if necessary, as they will have majority decision control.
      
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      May 21, 2021 11:10am
    - rockape
      
      You are right. Next year middle class beneficiaries will het a handout and in 2023 , election year it will be pensioners. Why pensioners last, if they give it too early the pensioners would forget! Last bits a joke, the first isn’t!
      
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      May 21, 2021 11:21am
    - tf78
      
      cmm, you could possibly wind back WFF by decent tax cuts.
      
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      May 21, 2021 3:38pm
  - tf78
    
    krazykiwi – it worked well for Trump and there will be many people looking for a Trump-like person to drain the swamp and get the economy buzzing along again.
    
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    May 21, 2021 10:31am
  - Observer of Life
    
    Speaking of ACT. They have a meeting this Sunday, ASB Centre, downtown AKL. Starts at 1pm. Should be interesting as they also have Prof Des Gorman speaking. I’m looking forward to it.
    
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    May 21, 2021 1:08pm
    - jon
      
      Should be very interesting meeting and what Gorman has to say. The more i see of Seymour the more i like and he has a brain which is more than you can say about the Govt MPs many of whom are not there on merit.
      
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      May 21, 2021 9:24pm
- Simon
  
  “thirty years of neglect” Its a a “thirty second sound bite” for the tame MSM to use as a headline for the sheep.
  
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  May 21, 2021 8:26am
  - kowtow
    
    In that 30 years how many boom cycles have there been , with full employment and business screaming out for more workers and yet the Bennies have lain on the couch through it all , with their hands out .
    That scenario exists right now . No excuse for any able bodied person to be on the dole .
    
    But no , the welfare state has literally bred generations of wastrels .
    
    And now that is being re entrenched by this “progressive” labour party and its paid for Minnions in the Media pardy.
    
    Everything literally laid at the door of an Evil White Tory Woman . So simple . A sound bite for the thicko swing voter .
    
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    May 21, 2021 9:00am
    - Brian McDonald
      
      Yes, and meanwhile businesses have been encouraged to exploit low-paid foreign workers.
      
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      May 21, 2021 10:47am
    - David Garrett
      
      Kowtow: I was astounded while listening to RNZ this am…they interviewed some of the hoi polloi in some deprived area and asked them about the benefit increases…WITHOUT EXCEPTION – or perhaps there was one – the people interviewed talked of the welfare bludgers they all knew about in their community…extraordinary…if RNZ had been able to find interviewees who thought paying bludgers more to do nothing was a good idea you can be sure they would broadcast those clips…meanwhile fruit rots on the ground because orchardists can’t find anyone to pick it..
      
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      May 21, 2021 10:55am
    - Red Fred
      
      [Deleted – Your abusive comment directed at Kowtow makes no sense. mod]
      
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      May 21, 2021 11:40am
- Sir Cullen's Sidekick
  
  That is what the dud Judith should have asked. She is fast asleep at the wheel.
  
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  May 21, 2021 8:33am
  - KevO'Brien
    
    Cinders is mired in ashes.
    There can be no comparison between orduren and Collins. Judith has a Master’s degree in Taxation and is a former President of the Auckland Law Society.
    
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    May 21, 2021 9:35am
    - Paulus
      
      Collins is too well mannered, unlike most New Zealand women, and cannot lower herself to scream back at the vicious Ardern.
      
      15 2
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      May 21, 2021 11:14am
      - KevO'Brien
        
        Her manners hide a backbone of steel. The rest of her National Team are no slackers either.
        Unfortunately when they get back they are going to have to put the screws on again to attempt to fix the mess. I hope they are successful.
        
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        May 21, 2021 11:30am
  - Tall Man
    
    If you’re not lazy, read this …
    
    But I guess you won’t.
    
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    May 21, 2021 9:46am
    - Tall Man
      
      https://www.national.org.nz/budget-2021-speech
      
      For some reason “paste” wasn’t working for me on the phone ……
      
      6 1
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      May 21, 2021 10:02am
- 3-coil
  
  TonyStuart (8:08am) – while Labour claim to address “30 years of neglect” of beneficiaries, their “kindness” for our Superannuitants is completely nonexistent. The old folk who have contributed their taxes all their lives get nothing from Labour – in fact the oldies’ reward this budget was to have their free annual GP visit and eye check scrapped by this hypocritical far-left Labour mob! Why do Labour so blatantly neglect our most vulnerable taonga – our treasured senior citizens? Robertson and Jacinda are just far-left heartless pricks, who wouldn’t know “kindness” if it bit them on the arse.
  
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  May 21, 2021 8:33am
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    our most vulnerable taonga – our treasured senior citizens?
    
    Na..
    our treasures are our children and their children.
    
    I place my vote with the Party that endeavours to
    equip our treasures with the knowledge, skills and resilience to care for our country and its inhabitants now and in the future.
    
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    May 21, 2021 9:14am
  - Red Fred
    
    Heard of the heating allowance gonzo?
    
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    May 21, 2021 4:02pm
- lastmanstanding
  
  This was the 56th Budget since I started paying tax. Like all the others its a bunch of drunken sailors pissing up against a wall.
  As usual there are promises but no KPIs no defined delivery dates nothing to say what constitutes success of failure.
  For most of my working life I was either responsible for preparing business budgets or managing those who did.
  If one of them came to me with a budget that looked like a Government budget I will either send them away with a flea in their ear of if a second or more time fire them on the spot.
  Yet the dumb ignorant Sheeple accept this crapola without question.
  Spare me.
  
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  May 21, 2021 8:59am
  - kowtow
    
    You’re of course spot on .
    
    Two of the biggest issues being actively promoted by the Good and the Great literally across the western world are the twin Utopian Ideals of Zero Carbon and now Zero Covid .
    
    Govts are spending billions and trillions ( that they don’t have and never will) on a hope to get to impossible goals without any plan at all , other than pious promises and huge spending .
    
    It is nothing short of financial lunacy.( not to mention the vast implications to the notions of personal freedoms)
    
    And these people are held up to us as being world leading !
    
    They and their enablers need to be locked up in a padded cell in straight jackets .
    
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    May 21, 2021 10:36am
  - Sacha
    
    Look at the ever-lowering standards of education our poor kids get. They seem to emerge from 12 years (or more) of ‘education’ ill-equipped to handle any crisis in their lives.
    Of course some of us might think that their parents should have a hand in this, but it seems that parents have largely opted out in favour of child-care centres, and can only manage week-ends with their children.
    No time for teaching, then.
    
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    May 21, 2021 10:42am
    - kowtow
      
      The truly shocking thing is that so many children go from primary ( after at least some 5 years in the system) to intermediate functionally illiterate and innumerate .
      
      Talk about setting them up to fail.
      
      It is utterly scandalous , and all they’re talking about is the new propaganda / history struggle sessions .
      
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      May 21, 2021 12:18pm
  - Red Fred
    
    [Deleted. Abusive. Mod.]
    
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    May 21, 2021 8:55pm
  - jon
    
    And i m sure most of these sheeple would get on the stock truck to the works if their beloved Cindy told them too!
    
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    May 21, 2021 9:32pm
- crikey
  
  Robertson looks for every opportunity to sneak in “9 years of neglect”, and now we get him harking back 30 years. His comment here does, at least, remind me what a spiteful nasty prick he is.
  
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  May 21, 2021 9:16am
  - sooty
    
    He does have the hots for Ruth, though!
    
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    May 21, 2021 11:23am
- Spam
  
  Lindsay Mitchell made a good point (well, she makes many good points, but this one I remembered and found):
  https://lindsaymitchell.blogspot.com/2020/08/the-oft-repeated-error-about-1991.html
  
  Benefits to sole mothers were not cut by 25%. From Tim Garlick’s ‘Social Developments’: “Lone parents faced significant cuts: 10.7 percent for beneficiaries with one child; 8.9 percent for those with two children.”
  
  At the same time means-tested Family Support for beneficiary children was increased and Community Services cards were introduced to subsidise health services for low income.
  
  In addition the maximum Child Care subsidy increased from $32 to $65 per week to assist parents to take employment.
  
  The latter developments from the reform period have been forgotten over time.
  
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  May 21, 2021 9:47am
- Liberty
  
  If our maxcist controllers are going to return the country to Muldoonism.
  Could they at least get the budget right by mentioning “Farmers” and if you are
  So intent on shagging the economy. Do it with a chuckle.
  
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  May 21, 2021 10:48am
Happychappy

The same old story in the making after the lollies scramble budget from Grant Robertson and Labour yesterday it amazes me that Labour Governments from never learn from previous mistakes and continue to throw billions at problems of their own makings.
The one thing this budget will do a d that will be at the expense of poverty and the children brought up that experience it , parents will now be able to continue smoking, partying and lazing around watching sport on their pay for view television while the same children remain a statistic in the fight against poverty .Governments might think they can change peoples lives but there is many out there that will enjoy these payments on this inept Government.
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May 21, 2021 8:08am
- Ruahine
  
  Not to mention all the extra money that will flow through into gang activities from the ‘generosity’ of the gangs beneficiary girlfriends.
  
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  May 21, 2021 8:41am
  - Tall Man
    
    I think you’ll find the bulk of the “latgesse” flows through the sale of illicit narcotics.
    
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    May 21, 2021 9:48am
    - Tall Man
      
      largesse …..
      
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      May 21, 2021 10:03am
  - oldfella
    
    Any stats around on how many gang members are on some kind of long-term unemployment benefits and being paid to be gangsters?
    
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    May 21, 2021 11:23am
Greg Ettridge

It is just stupidity, stop serving meals and drinks if they are half serious, make hi grade masks paid by the fools forcing them on people pay compulsory.
Cover everyone’s eyes, just another clueless fear directive.
Corn chips a definite ban, they could produce one cough that will bring the whole plane down and into Q.
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May 21, 2021 8:09am
- Greg Ettridge
  
  Sorry for two posts deleted this one but didn’t delete.
  Maybe the mods have to delete it!
  
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  May 21, 2021 8:19am
Maxx

Grant needed a theme for his spend up. He couldn’t point to the Clark or Lange governments for obvious reasons and say they didn’t address the problems, so all that was left was to pick the scapegoat for his frivolous spending spree and give a reason. The funny thing is for those that demand to right the wrong, it’ll never be enough.
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May 21, 2021 8:13am
- amospicton
  
  He also fails to understand that he only had the capacity to go on the spending spree he has done over the last year or so because previous governments got the books in order. He’s stealing from the future in order to feel good about himself today.
  
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  May 21, 2021 8:44am
  - Maxx
    
    Grants way of feeling good about himself today is to ensure that he is elected tomorrow. He has never genuinely given me a belief that he cares about the people he represents.
    
    What else does the world hold for Grant outside of politics? Very little.
    
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    May 21, 2021 9:46am
  - kowtow
    
    This is most likely Cindy’s stab at eliminading child poverdeeee .
    
    And when it hasn’t worked , there’ll be more next year.
    Till the final pre election budget which will be the Motha of All Bribes , to win back the thicko swing voter .
    
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    May 21, 2021 12:21pm
Mike

Happy Pink Shirt Day!
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May 21, 2021 8:13am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  So when will you stop being a bully?
  
  17 6
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  May 21, 2021 8:38am
  - RW Capitalist
    
    Wear the pink shirt then go back to being a bully tomorrow.
    This solves nothing, just virtue signaling.
    
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    May 21, 2021 9:03am
  - mikenmildagain
    
    Never have been, Steve. when will you stop believing random bullshit from the internet?
    
    3 10
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    May 21, 2021 9:31am
    - Steve Otto(North Shore)
      
      I’m sorry, show me on this doll where I hurt you
      
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      May 21, 2021 2:23pm
      - Batman
        
        Cheap, Steve.
        
        Both of you are throwing handbags at this point.
        
        1 3
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        May 21, 2021 3:55pm
- Mobile Michael
  
  I’m wearing blue today, kindness comes in all colours.
  
  I refuse to buy a pink t-shirt made in an asian sweatshop to signal that I care about others. Judge me by my actions.
  
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  May 21, 2021 11:30am
Maggie Pie

TRENDING

#HePuaPuaCoup

“A few elitist Maori will gain majority control over much of the land and resources of New Zealand…..”
– Richard Prosser (ex NZ First MP)

https://twitter.com/anticonz/status/1395135222778236930
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May 21, 2021 8:15am
- Mike
  
  Even among the dim bulds that comprised NZ First MPs, Prosser did not shine.
  
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  May 21, 2021 8:23am
  - Yabster
    
    But no comment on the actual topic? typical milky…
    
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    May 21, 2021 9:09am
    - mikenmildagain
      
      Oh, sure I’m going to comment on Maggie’s random shit from Twitter…
      
      4 12
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      May 21, 2021 9:53am
      - Maggie Pie
        
        Pray tell milkey….when was the last time any of your comments went ‘gold’ ? I’ll wait. LOL!!
        
        9 1
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        May 21, 2021 11:45am
      - Yabster
        
        just a comment on He poo poo would be great.. oh maybe you haven’t read it and its definitely not policy…
        
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        May 21, 2021 1:59pm
  - KevO'Brien
    
    Show me a Labour one that does…
    
    7 3
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    May 21, 2021 9:37am
  - kowtow
    
    How many dimmies does it take to change a buld.
    
    3 3
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    May 21, 2021 9:42am
  - Tall Man
    
    Kindred spirit then mikey?
    
    4 2
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    May 21, 2021 9:55am
- JohnStanton
  
  Why listen to an ex NZ First MP?
  
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  May 21, 2021 8:33am
  - Maggie Pie
    
    Preferable to listening to the manager of a Rotovegas MIQ facility.
    
    21 2
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    May 21, 2021 8:52am
    - Frank the tank
      
      Surely not that high up the food chain Maggie – assistant manager more likely but agree with your sentiments.
      
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      May 21, 2021 9:14am
- Batman
  
  To the surprise of nobody, Maggie’s hashtag is not trending in the top 30 topics in NZ.
  
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  May 21, 2021 3:58pm
Paulus

I hope the three year pay rise cancellation for Public Servants understand that the Budget has taken their rises and given them to the Beneficiaries and Maori, who may be both of course.
Why should unemployed actually work when they can be better off not doing so – so Ardern why stop the overseas people like say from the Philippines who actually work well here whilst so called New Zealanders can’t be bothered whilst they get money for nothing from the taxes of those who work.
It is a Labour Party shambles Budget for Beneficiaries and certainly a bonanza for Maori spenders.
But 53% of idiots voted for it.
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May 21, 2021 8:20am
Maxx

I may be in the minority here but I’m in favour of the unemployment insurance idea and I think it’s long overdue. It’s broadly user pays and should in theory reflect getting out of it what input in (if I ever need it).

What I don’t like about it are many;
– Another announcement without any form of what it will actually be apart from “modelled on ACC”
– Upto 80% of current earnings. What does this mean? Will it be like the wage subsidy, capped? If I earn $3k per week and what I out into this insurance is based on that, but I only get 30% back then you can shove it up your arse. I’m not over funding something so someone who earns a quarter of what I do get sore than what they currently get. That’s just a tax to support the unemployment benefit.
– It’s a new tax Grant even if you say it’s a levy. Liar liar pants on fire
– And finally, stop announcing shit that you don’t have details for. You lazy arses. Do your fucking job properly.
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May 21, 2021 8:23am
- Philview
  
  Will it be user pays or employer pays?
  
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  May 21, 2021 8:52am
  - Paulus
    
    Blimey – how dare you ask !
    
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    May 21, 2021 11:17am
  - Weetbix3ways
    
    Yes.
    
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    May 21, 2021 12:03pm
- Libertarians are right
  
  Of course I’m for it. I literally voted for it (amongst other things) at the last election.
  
  It’s an ACT policy which, like always, Labour has stolen and pretended it’s there’s. Also – it’s worth pointing out that they have no mandate for this either.
  
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  May 21, 2021 9:24am
- KevO'Brien
  
  It’s been thoroughly traversed previously. Govt support is still needed for those who fall through the cracks.
  
  The present simpler works if not messed around with. Insurance proposals are much more complex and expensive to administer. The basic benefits with integrated WFF, Accom Supplement, Health Benefit and Power Allowance provide for all groups and maintain reasonable equities. They should not be too generous and used as a lolly scramble.
  
  The demand for increases is driven by the irresponsible Min Fin who has given into union price pressures and gone mad with spending of our childrens’ futures.
  
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  May 21, 2021 9:51am
  - Maxx
    
    I don’t see how the present system works for anyone but those on the lowest incomes? If I lost my job today as my wife earns an income that far exceeds the threshold for support and even if I was eligible would no where come close to meeting our household expenses. As a household we would go backwards extremely quickly into a dire position and I would likely have to take the first job that came my way. And it is through this that you end up with people underemployed or not doing work that is fulfilling to them.
    
    Could I get by without this. Yes. Could I get by without fire insurance yes. But I have it in case my house burns down. It’s not a straight comparison but roughly translates. Why don’t we get rid of house insurance and if your house burns to the ground you get a $50k payout from the government and that’s it.
    
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    May 21, 2021 11:24am
    - KevO'Brien
      
      There are always exceptions. Two higher earning partners are likely to have a problem when lifestyle changes. I have seen one of NZ top people getting tax relief on hardship grounds on retirement.
      
      For some individual insurance may be the only way and once, working for an insurance company, my life insurance got paid out in full when a permanent health problem knocked me out of the regular work force.
      
      We have come to our present system over a very long time and both parties have batted it around. My background is tax and social security administration and I believe what we have is relatively economical to operate. The Social Security Act is still the backbone. Govts can make operative decisions speedily. The former family benefit has gone but those means tested allowances for dependants are all covered by WFF which provides for all below defined income thresholds. If we did not have WFF we would be back to a rebate scheme. That would delay payments which now are fortnightly. IRD partly administer that area so it meshes well with a controlling oversight. Payments for health needs such as doctors are also included. These payments are all means tested and form part of a comprehensive system. The cater well for those unable to work, an imperative part of the health system.
      
      One strange payment is the Accommodation Supplement which addresses the equity issues between those getting a state subsidised rental and others paying their own way. Many of them are receiving similar lower incomes and this fixes that anomaly.
      Winz has powers too to make some small grants to assist with dental needs or other budgetary impacts. Frequently that is done by way of an advance which may allow a beneficiary to get their family car working again.
      Like in this budget govts set the major benefit rates but the Social Security Commission, the operative arm of Winz effects the minor rules.
      
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      May 21, 2021 3:27pm
      - Red Fred
        
        [Deleted – a ban will follow if you continue in this way. Mod]
        
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        May 21, 2021 8:42pm
  - Maxx
    
    Adding further to this, the current system broadly only works for the unemployable – those that don’t have any skills or anything really to offer an employer even at minimum wage, and it’s current guise should probably be relabeled to a UBI for those not in work.
    
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    May 21, 2021 11:26am
- Tom Hunter
  
  Funnily enough it’s been the approach of US unemployment benefits for generations now, and it was long regarded by the non-US left as simply another example of how harsh the US system was as it was explicitly designed to force the unemployed back into work – and sort of work – as soon as possible or as late as when the benefits ran out.
  
  I wonder if any of the Left will point this out?
  
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  May 21, 2021 11:05am
  - Batman
    
    Well it’s harsh in the US where there is no other real social safety net.
    
    It makes more sense here where we have a basic minimum standard of care for our citizens and permanent residents.
    
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    May 21, 2021 4:00pm
Benedict Yu

I have a friend who works with social housing clients. He says 80 percent of them are beneficiaries and will be for life. They have no incentive to work. And the increase in benefits will just entrench dependence further.

The best thing the government could do on benefits would be to INCREASE them a bit further, but time limit them to five years over your lifetime. Except for people with serious disabilities.

The government should also have a long term plan to restore families. I advocate rewarding parents who are MARRIED and who stay together until their kids are at least 16.
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May 21, 2021 8:25am
- I remember when
  
  Once again the government is trying to solve the problem by increasing one part of the solution.
  Obviously there are other inputs needed if the policy is going to have a meaningful effect.
  This is called the ‘too hard’ basket.
  
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  May 21, 2021 9:00am
- Inandout
  
  BY, there are holes in your argument because drug dependancy ‘learned’ while on a benefit makes sure the entitled ones go full ‘serious disability’. Any doctor will relate cases of young people who were once healthy and are now smashed by illegal drug taking. The old saying about idle hands is so true.
  
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  May 21, 2021 9:15am
  - Benedict Yu
    
    People who are disabled by drug use miss out. Problem solved.
    
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    May 21, 2021 10:03am
    - artemisia
      
      Cheaper to pay the dole than (try to and fail to) fix them. Note – carefully avoiding the term Jobseeker here.
      
      Some do get stopped from collecting the dole. A relative was ejected from the dole after two quite generous business grants failed to produce an income. Never had any chance of success except success for WINZ that could reset the clock so nobody noticed he was on the dole for more than three decades. Grants were not spent on business setup.
      
      With no income and no employer willing he went to uni and scored student allowance, student loans, additional taxpayer help. Graduated too. Physically and mentally able, but a bad attitude. On the pension now, whew.
      
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      May 21, 2021 1:48pm
  - Observer of Life
    
    Heard a Dr (Ian – now retired) phone Peter Williams this morning. He was saying that 80% of those that turned up to his surgeries to get/renew their benefits did not need to be on those benefits, and if he questioned them, the ‘patient’ would intimidate/threaten him. Says this happens in every surgery around the country. THAT needs to be investigated!
    
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    May 21, 2021 1:19pm
- Hard Cheese
  
  There was a story of a single mother in the paper this morning, complaining that the benefit increase in the Budget wouldn’t stretch to a new sweater. 26 years old, she had been on the benefit 6 years!!! FFS! I looked for the part of the story where she had 5 children under 8 years old, but no, only one – pictured on holiday or something, carrying her daughter who was eating a giant waffle cone ice-cream. 6 years! I guess every day is a holiday if the taxpayer is footing the bill for you not to work.
  
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  May 21, 2021 1:25pm
KevO'Brien

A bit of sanity to lighten the day:
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2021/05/20/the-1-5c-hysteria/

Willis Eschenbach shows how the past cannot be explained but the authoritarians want to tell the future.
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May 21, 2021 8:27am
Humble Capitalist

There must be an internet polling panel that will give this budget a 10 out of 10. We must find one and put it on the propaganda at 6pm.
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May 21, 2021 8:27am
- Flossie
  
  You wouldn’t have found it on AM Breakfast this morning – 21% thumbs up, 79% thumbs down!
  
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  May 21, 2021 9:22am
  - riffer
    
    Perhaps those stuck at home watching telly with time to vote should get a bloody job then.
    
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    May 21, 2021 11:54am
    - Flossie
      
      riffer – people were saying the budget was no good, which is hardly what you’d expect the unemployed to say.
      
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      May 21, 2021 12:04pm
  - jon
    
    Gee, the always hyped up Tova, whats her name, wont like to hear those kind of results on her fellow workmates show.
    
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    May 21, 2021 9:50pm
Happychappy

Budget 2021: Government expects’ very sharp’ [drop] in house price growth.
Well with house price growth still forcast to rise by over 2.5% until 2023 according to Treasury soon how is this going to help young people and those older ones that do not want to waste their hard earned savings on rent inreases into the housing market.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/budget-2021-government-expecting-very-sharp-drop-in-house-price-growth/HHHFW3OWBQVKNW7WCJS6CQNAXI/
Jacinda Ardern our Prime Minister and Finance Minister Grant Robertson are in lulu land if they think their policies will help those into their own homes.
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May 21, 2021 8:28am
Scott

While things are getting crazy here in New Zealand, spare a thought for America where far left local governance is reaching peak stupidity and hypocrisy.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot of Chicago has now said that she will not grant one-on-one interviews with white reporters. She will only sit down for one-on-one interviews with people of colour, black people and brown people.

Apparently that is all okay by the mainstream media? Imagine if a white elected official (Ms Lightfoot is black) said I would only grant interviews to white people. I am not interested in being interviewed by black or brown people. Every reporter, every editor, every mainstream media host, their hair would immediately be set on fire!

But it’s okay when a black Mayor does it? The peak stupidity does not end there. Ms Lightfoot has time to devote to these pronouncements. While she does not have time to deal with the out-of-control crime rate in the city she is supposed to govern.
According to reports over 40 people were shot in Chicago just last weekend! You would think Ms Lightfoot would want to make solving crime her priority? But no – race wins every time. Sad!
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May 21, 2021 8:33am
- Surely Knott
  
  “The New York Times‘ election postmortem declared “It Wasn’t About Race,” pointing to ward-level maps to observe that “Ms. Lightfoot and Ms. Preckwinkle appealed to mostly white communities” on the North Side”
  
  Lightfoot was voted in by white communities, which make up the largest demographic in Chicago. Have white communities had enough of the self flagellation and and self hate yet? Perhaps they will rethink their vote to someone who doesn’t discriminate against them. But probably not.
  
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  May 21, 2021 9:03am
  - Tom Hunter
    
    Have white communities had enough of the self flagellation and and self hate yet?
    
    I can assure you that they have not – as incredible as that might seem.
    
    It was actually nice to see one MSM local reporter push back on this. Granted an interview because of his skin colour (he’s hispanic) he declined unless all the reporters got access.
    
    The more incredible thing to me is that Critical Race Theory has now so completely smashed through the rails that a mayor of a major American city feels able to not just imply awful things about White’s but explicitly act and speak on them like a mirror image of George Wallace and company.
    
    Segregation Now. Segregation Tomorrow. Segregation Forever.
    
    Except for her married partner of course, who is as White as they come.
    
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    May 21, 2021 11:13am
- I remember when
  
  No doubt her salary will also be from only black financial sources.
  
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  May 21, 2021 9:03am
- David George
  
  The black utopians are setting up “Hammer City”
  , a communist “ethnostate” that promises “no rent”, “no cops” and “no white people” in Colorado. Not racist of course just no Wypipo allowed.
  Wakanda comes to America, or is it Zimbabwe. Either way, you can donate on their webpage or sit back and watch this fascinating initiative, a model for Iwi perhaps?
  
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  May 21, 2021 9:43am
cas

Did Trev have anything to say about Jacinda hugging Grant yesterday?
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May 21, 2021 8:36am
Sir Cullen's Sidekick

Prediction. The commies at TV1 will come up with the ONN-CB poll results next Monday which will show Labour at historic high of 60% and National at a historic low of 20% and declare that the budget was a blockbuster success and National will not recover from this for decades. Watch for it.
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May 21, 2021 8:36am
- I remember when
  
  Labour, barring their usual implementation difficulties, have probably guaranteed the next election.
  However they have, at the same time, seriously dented changes of a fourth term.
  Too much money spent and too many things to go wrong.
  
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  May 21, 2021 9:08am
  - kowtow
    
    No, too early in the election cycle .
    Wait for the election year budget , now that’s going to be the block buster.
    
    You ain’t seen nuttin yet.
    
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    May 21, 2021 10:01am
    - Batman
      
      You’re right that its way too early.
      
      This is the budget the year after an election.
      
      After three years of pay restraint, economic sluggishness, and failing delivery, they will encounter a very grumpy electorate in 2023.
      
      The main key to a change of government will be National ditching the failed Judith experiment and installing someone who can actually win an election from the middle.
      
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      May 21, 2021 4:07pm
- Frank the tank
  
  Thanks for making me puke in my throat.
  
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  May 21, 2021 9:17am
- KevO'Brien
  
  Watch out for people marching in the streets too.
  The Budgie is aimed to divert that. This gobblement hasn’t a hope of stopping the price level rises they have started. Throwing money at it is only going to make it worse. Muldoon had to undo the last one of these they started and I am sure Judith will be left that legacy too.
  
  The only way forward is to sack the present govt and get one with strength to do what must be done. Prices must be contained or they will contain you.
  
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  May 21, 2021 10:00am
Steve Otto(North Shore)

So nothing in the Budget for Superannuitants ,or am I missing something? Seems it is not classed as a ‘benefit’ now.
Once again the Govt shits all over the retired. My property land only value has increased nearly$20K in the last 3 years. The Rates have increased, and plus GST you robbing bastards
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May 21, 2021 8:36am
- kowtow
  
  Yes but an awful lot of them voted for this clusterf#@k , esp the wimmin , as St Jax saved them from certain and painful death . Their Teddy Bear Indulgences didn’t save them from ongoing penury while their rates , heating and basic food costs go up and they witness other people being pushed in front of them in the even longer health queues.
  
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  May 21, 2021 8:52am
- grumpy
  
  You have property? Rich prick!
  
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  May 21, 2021 9:27am
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    Yer, and freehold LOL.
    Actually I own nothing, some weird Trust does
    
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    May 21, 2021 9:42am
- MCos
  
  Have you claimed a rates rebate?
  
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  May 21, 2021 9:38am
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    Does not apply. I still work (4 days a week) so my income level does not qualify for any rebate.
    The Govt and Council just milks those over 65.
    My partner does not work anymore because if the total income gets past a certain level I end up paying 70 cents tax on every dollar.
    Robbing bastards, look it up
    
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    May 21, 2021 12:33pm
    - MCos
      
      So you’re not retired then & you’re collecting $1200+ from the taxpayer every fortnight and you want another $80 (less tax).
      I’ve got no problem with over 65s working & collecting the pension. Means testing is more expensive than it’s worth for such big numbers of people. Grizzling because you want a handout annoys me.
      
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      May 21, 2021 1:44pm
      - Steve Otto(North Shore)
        
        Dunno where you get the $1200 from. My partner is 61 and does not work. Hard to find a job at 61.
        I am the sole source of income
        
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        May 21, 2021 2:26pm
    - Red Fred
      
      Was ok when Muldoon was taxing at 66% tho wasn’t it.All the Nationl suppporters told me it was ok athe time.
      
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      May 21, 2021 4:07pm
- KevO'Brien
  
  No increases for dependent children of superannuitants either. We are probably fairly rare but previously we have been given the same as other citizens.
  Law has ceased to be respected in NZ.
  
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  May 21, 2021 10:04am
- Sir Cullen's Sidekick
  
  Super oldies voted for Jacindar – “isn’t she wonderful” – so time for them to cop it on the chin and keep voting Cindy.
  
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  May 21, 2021 10:21am
  - KevO'Brien
    
    My only vote for Cinders is out of the fireplace and into the compost heap.
    
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    May 21, 2021 11:35am
- Paulus
  
  Heard the other day Tauranga Commissioners looking at 17.5% rates increase this year, and possible similar next.
  So huge increases in Valuations and you get a double whammy like Auckland is about to do.
  
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  May 21, 2021 11:23am
- KevO'Brien
  
  National Super is not a basic benefit.
  
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  May 21, 2021 3:35pm
Yvette

“A ‘righting of wrongs’ as Ardern finally tackles New Zealand’s inequality crisis”
According to the finance minister Grant Robertson, after the new programme of increases is rolled out, the main benefit rates will be between $32 and $55 per adult higher. This, together with increases of $25 a week in student allowances, involves a substantial budget increase of nearly $1bn a year.
– Guardian, this morning (Bryce Edwards)

Labour 2018 Budget
Most of the big ticket items were announced prior to Christmas, in the 100 day Budget, including a whopping $5.5b families package.

Labour Party website – achievements:
Boosted the incomes of around 384,000 families by an average of $75 a week through our Families Package

And on that, Bryce Edwards continues, from above –
Labour came to power in 2017 promising to fix these problems, but the past four years have disappointed progressives. In fact, according to some, inequality has actually worsened considerably under Ardern.

$5.6 million [billion], then didn’t work – but yesterday’s benefit boost “involves a substantial budget increase of nearly $1bn a year” – and that will work?
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May 21, 2021 8:37am
- Ehlana
  
  If it doesn’t work Yvette, we will try a $2bn a year boost. By we I mean the government will mandate it and you and I will pay for it.
  
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  May 21, 2021 10:42am
- rockape
  
  Of that$55 a week how much do you think goes back to the Government. It’s taxed then there is the reduction in housing allowance then GST to top it off. The rest will no doubt be swallowed up in the next couple of months by increase in the supermarket due to inflation and extra costs due to increased employment costs.
  
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  May 21, 2021 11:36am
- KevO'Brien
  
  Didn’t boost my family income. Two kids at college and prices raising daily.
  Did they cancel my free annual doctor visit too?
  
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  May 21, 2021 11:40am
Simon

Separate development for maori. Best not look up the theory around separate development. ( The practice was horrible of course, which also disproves the theory.) The theories really developed / progressed by Afrikaner intellectuals / academics in the 1920s. Came into force in 1948. But these 1920s theories are the basis for Maori separatism in NZ 2020s.

Now the agenda blames something called systemic racism. But they are not being honest with themselves or anyone else.

Also race based programs & separate development for Maori is an admission that multiculturalism is a failure.
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May 21, 2021 8:39am
- Flossie
  
  I do not understand the co-leader of the Maori party being so anti white. I’m sure I read her own mother is Irish? How come then she would be 100% Maori when it is to her benefit to be exactly that.
  
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  May 21, 2021 9:26am
  - Jack5
    
    People of mixed ethnicity sometimes exaggerate one of their ethnic lines to appear “more X than X”.
    
    An example from outside New Zealand is Quanah, the Comanches’ last great fighting chief from the 1870s. Quanah was the son of Cynthia Ann Parker, who was kidnapped from a White settler family and integrated in the tribe.
    
    A more terrifying case is that of Adolf Hitler, who has been shown by DNA studies of relatives, to have been part-Jewish.
    
    https://www.history.com/news/study-suggests-adolf-hitler-had-jewish-and-african-ancestors
    
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    May 21, 2021 12:30pm
- Local Miller
  
  Relatively few know that the word “apartheid” was a corruption of the two Afrikaans words “aparte ontwikkeling” (although “aparte” wasn’t really an Afrikaans word) it literally means “separate development”.
  Any policy in any country that proposes separate systems based on race is by definition apartheid.
  Personally I believe NZ is getting to the point where they are going to need to apologize to SA for their treatment back in the day.
  
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  May 21, 2021 9:31am
  - Tall Man
    
    Actually, for NZ ardern has coined a new word, similar but entirely different ”””
    
    apart hate.
    
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    May 21, 2021 9:58am
  - cmm
    
    No it is not a corruption of two words. It is one word.
    apartheid means apart-ness
    
    “-heid” is the Afrikaans equivalent of “-ness” in English.
    
    For example
    skoonheid = clean-ness = cleanliness (or beauty)
    vriendelikheid = friendliness
    verantwoordelikheid = responsible-ness = responsibility.
    
    But yes, it does refer to separate development.
    
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    May 21, 2021 11:44am
  - Red Fred
    
    [Deleted – 2 weeks ban for continual abusive posting. Mod.]
    
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    May 21, 2021 9:15pm
Maggie Pie

Anyone else catch ‘POLICE 10/7’ last night on TV2?
It would have to be one of the most abominable episodes we have ever seen!
Those poor cops, fresh out of Police College, having to handle the ‘dregs of society’ makes for disturbing viewing. How they keep their cool is beyond us.

Like my partner commented…. funny you never see Andy out there in all his regalia supporting the troops.

If you missed it – available now ‘On Demand’
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May 21, 2021 8:39am
- kowtow
  
  Andy went a Burn Loot Murder vigil .
  
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  May 21, 2021 8:52am
- Surely Knott
  
  We were told last week by experts that there was no need for king hit legislation as assaults are already appropriately dealt with under the law.
  
  Yesterday, Auckland District Court Theo Mckewen Tagatoa, 39, was convicted as one of the men in a bar brawl where multiple people attacked the victims leaving one victim needing “half his skull removed to relieve pressure on his brain.”
  
  What is the outcome of this extreme assault. Stuff doesn’t put a picture of the man convicted in the paper – why the inconsistency. And 8 Months home Detention and $1000 paid at $25 bucks a week to the victim. No jail time. No public photo.
  
  https://westauckland.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/sb-instagram-feed-images/79485734_158382198722314_1666927477019264001_nfull.jpg
  
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  May 21, 2021 8:55am
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    It sure doesn’t seem that our current law discourages random, unprovoked cowardly attacks.
    
    https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/125204030/mobster-arrested-for-unprovoked-attack-on-promising-rugby-player-in-christchurch
    
    Bugger up someone’s life for ever and get a wee penalty.
    
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    May 21, 2021 9:38am
    - cmm
      
      We often hear than NZ’s violence and murder rates are going down, but is that true?
      
      Perhaps the only reason murders are as low as they are is because emergency medical care has improved hugely over the last 20 years and people who would have died (and would have been counted as murders) are now surviving (and are no longer classified as murders).
      
      When you’re only being kept alive by being kept in an induced coma, or by cutting off the back of your skull to prevent coning, then you’re getting a pretty big intervention.
      
      Both these guys would likely have died not very long ago.
      
      20 years ago the guy who gets 80 hours of community service would have been up for murder for exactly the same assault and the same actions.
      
      The only difference is that the modern medical system could save the victim’s life (well, to the extent it has been saved).
      
      It seems bizarre that the crim is only getting a lighter sentence because a surgeon did a great job.
      
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      May 21, 2021 3:08pm
      - Salacious Crumb
        
        Don’t kid yourself. After a decompressive craniectomy that poor boy has years of rehab and relearning ahead. Most likely life changing injuries that he’ll never fully recover from.
        [Sentence deleted. As bad as this story is, don’t advocate violent retribution – Mod]
        
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        May 21, 2021 3:17pm
      - cmm
        
        Yup there is no way he will recover.
        
        Even people with a nasty concussion don’t ever fully recover.
        
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        May 21, 2021 7:38pm
  - cmm
    
    In both these cases, “the system” (ie. cops and judiciary) have all the tools they need.
    
    What is problematic is the dudges that fail to apply the tools they have available.
    
    The judge bought the criminal’s sob story about being sorry for what he’d done and hands out a short period of living at home, 80 hours of community service and $25 a week fine.
    
    The only things the crims are really learning is that if they put on a good sob story they can get away with anything – even near murder.
    
    What’s the bet he only turns up for 20 hours of community service?
    
    I am opposed to laws that call out specific types of attack (eg. the King hits/coward’s punches). All assaults of a similar magnitude should be treated the same.
    
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    May 21, 2021 11:12am
I remember when

DA says killing of Andrew Brown ‘Justified’:
The police officers who shot and killed Black motorist Andrew Brown were justified in their use of deadly force, a North Carolina DA ruled.
Pasquotank County DA Andrew Womble said Brown had endangered the three sheriff’s deputies’ lives by driving towards them.
But lawyers for Brown’s family described his death as an ‘execution.’
The officers will now be reinstated and retrained.
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May 21, 2021 8:46am
graham

This article from Fran O’Sullivan is pay-walled, but just the first sentence is worth reading:

Why didn’t Grant Robertson and Jacinda Ardern persuade their bosses in the fifth Labour-led Government to roll back key elements of Ruth Richardson’s “Mother of all Budgets” if they thought it so iniquitous?

Why indeed.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/budget-2021-fran-osullivan-look-to-the-future-dont-dwell-on-rewriting-the-past/SLC6YZ6EHYDUKQUVBTWWTETSIY/
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May 21, 2021 8:48am
- cmm
  
  This is nothing to do with historical Labour. This is all to do with Brand Jacinda.
  
  What they really care about is how this looks for the UN luvvies and #CinD4UN!
  
  She’s sorted gun control better than any leader in the world. She’s sorted online terrorism with the Christchurch Call. She’s sorted Covid better than any leader in the world. . She’s sorted climate change by putting in the Hamilton train. Now she’s fixed social budget issues that 30 years of subsequent governments could not fix.
  
  All that and a mum too!
  
  She is clearly wasted in a little back water of 5 million people. She needs to go to head the UN where she can run the Team of 7 billion!
  
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  May 21, 2021 9:14am
  - KevO'Brien
    
    Auckland Island in the South may be more suitable.
    Her terrible legacy is going to be, being blamed for runaway inflation. I’m sure that’s what the budgets responding too.
    I warned that economics would catch up with her.
    
    10 4
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    May 21, 2021 10:11am
  - Red Fred
    
    Nononno we want her here till 2038 by which time the ngats may have polished one of their turds and come up with a (urk) palatable leader . … [Deleted.]
    
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    May 21, 2021 8:33pm
Greg Ettridge

The bubble has burst already,
The warriors to stay in Australia.
The press won’t report this as it is.
The panic over a few cases has sealed the fate of this team playing at home.
WA lost a few AFL games but are starting to wake up that they are going to lose fixtures if they panic.
Remind me, how many people have caught China flu outdoors, a few Indians on a construction site in Singapore, maybe someone can add to the list, think it will be a very short list.
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May 21, 2021 8:50am
- Brian McDonald
  
  The players agreed to the idea if you followed the whole story. The idea getting trapped on one side of the Tasman or the other wasn’t appealing and they are well settled for the season and maybe next.
  
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  May 21, 2021 11:00am
RW Capitalist

AMshow poll
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/shows/2021/05/question-of-the-day-budget-2021-thumbs-up-or-thumbs-down.html
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May 21, 2021 8:53am
- Local Miller
  
  And again the poll is closed after 3 hours because they aren’t getting the response they want. 79% thumbs down!
  Well at least there are some people left in NZ with a bit of sense.
  
  25 2
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  May 21, 2021 9:19am
  - Flossie
    
    Perhaps they just close the poll at the end of the show?
    
    5 1
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    May 21, 2021 9:29am
  - Observer of Life
    
    My VERY left leaning brother has finally seen the light. Previously Cindy of the Pestilence and anything remotely to do with Labour could do no wrong. Not now. This budget appears to be the straw that has broken the camels back.
    
    12 0
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    May 21, 2021 1:29pm
- Red Fred
  
  Duncan Garner is a sort of friend of the family,he has stayed at the family farm.None of us watch the show because of the …[deleted] .Duncan shot the second winingest pig at the the local pig hunt a few years ago 300 metres from the milking shed .He was in the pub by 10 .30 celebrating .no labour supporter watches the show that I know.Your poll is shit.Also … [Deleted, as will be further abusive name calling posts. Mod]
  
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  May 21, 2021 8:28pm
cmm

When is Labour Party going to rebrand to what they are: The Beneficiary Party.
26 2
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May 21, 2021 8:54am
- KevO'Brien
  
  The Commie Wannabes more like.
  
  3 3
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  May 21, 2021 11:42am
cmm

Sorry grammar Gestapo, that should have had a question mark at the end.
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May 21, 2021 8:55am
Steve Otto(North Shore)

“But how will we tell the difference between vaccinated and non-vaccinated people?”
Well vaccinated people never shut the fuck up about it, so it should not be too hard
21 5
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May 21, 2021 8:55am
- H. Upmann
  
  They have taken the vegan virtuous to a new level, lookatme, lookatme. Much more mainstream.
  
  6 2
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  May 21, 2021 9:33am
- Scooter
  
  Even posting jabs just done on FB losers
  
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  May 22, 2021 9:11am
Maggie Pie

TWITTER TRENDING

Remember when Melbourne was ranked….
‘The World’s Most Livable City’ for 7 years in a row?

https://twitter.com/scorcherzz/status/1395169251279974408

LOL!!!
14 2
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May 21, 2021 9:00am
- Frank the tank
  
  Commie Dan sorted that – white flight to the Goldie is an increasing phenomenon. Significant capital appreciation in SE Queensland property forecasted over the next 5 years.
  
  10 1
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  May 21, 2021 9:20am
- MCos
  
  Not the sort of thing you’d see in Mangere Bridge.
  PC Plod wouldn’t want to lose his spot in the queue at the bakery to interfere.
  
  9 1
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  May 21, 2021 9:51am
  - Tall Man
    
    When you said “lose his spot” I started to wonder.
    
    2 0
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    May 21, 2021 12:53pm
- Inandout
  
  Maggie, was there in late 2019 and it was a beautiful city despite being union controlled. The nightlife along the river was so calm, safe and friendly. I don’t recall any anti social display like the copulating couple but the ‘mobile attached Asians’ were experts at dodging pedestrians while glued to their screens. Travel anywhere will never be the same.
  
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  May 21, 2021 10:01am
- Graeme Hall
  
  Nowadays – the World’s Most Copulable City
  
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  May 21, 2021 2:30pm
Nickc2

Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump, and Jacinda Adern all die and wind up in Hell.

While there, they spy a red phone and ask what the phone is for. The Devil tells them it’s for calling back to Earth.

So Putin calls Russia and talks for 5 minutes. When he’s finished the Devil informs him that the cost is a million dollars, so Putin writes him a cheque.
Next, Donald Trump calls the U.S. and talks for 30 minutes. When he’s finished the Devil informs him that the cost is 6 million dollars, so Trump writes him a cheque.

Finally, Jacinda has her turn and calls New Zealand for 4 hours. When she’s finished, the Devil informs her that there would be “No Charge” and to feel free to call New Zealand anytime.
Putin and Trump go ballistic and ask the Devil why Jacinda got to call New Zealand for free.

The Devil replied : “Since Jacinda Adern became Prime Minister of New Zealand, the country has gone to Hell, so it’s a local call.
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May 21, 2021 10:03am
- mikenmildagain
  
  Donald Trump dies and goes to hell. The Devil tells him. “you are a special case, so I’m going to let you choose your own punishment”. the Devil shows Donald three cages. In the first, Hitler is being dismembered, alive, for a medical experiment. In the second, Stalin is being boiled in oil. In the third cage, Mao is making love with Princess Diana.
  “Cage number three! That’s what I want!?” shouts Donald.
  “Ok” says the Devil. “you get Diana’s punishment”.
  
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  May 21, 2021 11:37am
Maggie Pie

STUFFED NZ….
‘Rotorua Tourism and Accommodation providers raise concerns about new Ad campaign designed to attract visitors back to the city….’

https://youtu.be/sAG8fOaKOC8

😀
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May 21, 2021 10:18am
- burt
  
  That looks like a night in a Rotorua motel that has emergency housing “clients” in it.
  
  12 0
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  May 21, 2021 11:25am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Once were Warriors 2021
  
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  May 21, 2021 2:38pm
Tauhei Notts

I made a purchase in my local dairy and paid by cash. The shopkeeper told me that between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. every purchase had been paid for by eftpos; that is, no cash. Even eighty cents for lollies. She thinks that since the Covid virus people are scared to handle coins.
Then I thought; “what a wonderful way to introduce a cash-less society”. Any other way would have Joe Public raving.
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May 21, 2021 11:15am
- Steve Todd
  
  Did you enjoy putting up that nice, little, anti-Labour government anecdote, Tauhei?
  
  The cashless society is rapidly approaching — and has been for some years — regardless of disease, or Labour governments.
  
  I have been using EFT-POS / bank cheques since the 80s, and switched to internet banking (IB) in 2012. (I’ve been retired for some years now, and find IB brilliant.) I can’t remember the last time I paid cash for anything — certainly not since last century.
  
  Sorry if you now feel quite deflated, but that can happen when you I go in for the cheap laugh.
  
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  May 21, 2021 11:51am
  - Tauhei Notts
    
    Anti-Labour!
    About the only anti Labour thing I do is pay my unwaged $5 subscription to The Party by cheque so that the bastards have to go all the way to the bank to deposit it.
    When I help out at my Club as an unpaid volunteer behind the bar, I always give preference to cash customers, as I have found that cash transactions are four, possibly five, times faster than eftpos transactions. If the Club could afford an expensive eftpos machine, with all the bells and whistles, that might change things, but if the Club could afford that then they could afford to pay me. They can’t.
    Internet banking: I recall on Thursday 1st April I was able to file three GST returns before 9 a.m. that morning. It is wonderful; but where I spend my cash is my business and nobody else’s.
    
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    May 21, 2021 1:15pm
    - Swifty
      
      “About the only anti Labour thing I do is pay my unwaged $5 subscription to The Party by cheque so that the bastards have to go all the way to the bank to deposit it….”
      
      Hahahahahaha!
      
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      May 21, 2021 1:50pm
    - Steve Todd
      
      Then it’s really hard to know what the point of your first comment was. It came across to me as something like — “I wouldn’t put it past this Labour government, being the control freaks they are, to use COVID-19 sometime soon to impose a cashless society us”, when we are well on the way to being there already.
      
      Your local dairy and your local club are two, different organisations. I made no comment on where you spend your cash. Perhaps we could both have expressed ourselves a little more clearly.
      
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      May 21, 2021 1:59pm
  - kowtow
    
    If one is pro labour, small ‘l’ , then using all these new fangled contraptions is anything but labour friendly.
    
    Huge numbers of bank workers have been and now retail workers will be made redundant by automation .
    
    And I’m not talking about the steam engine or spinning jenny , but the Luddites did have genuine grievances.
    
    Back to the present ;
    
    Convenient , most certainly .
    Socially responsible , debateable.
    
    Cashless society is the totalitarian’s ideal , just look at how it operates in China.
    
    4 2
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    May 21, 2021 2:32pm
Jack5

How diverse and cosmopolitan is New Zealand?

Blogger Karl du Fresne echoes what we hear and read frequently:

We live in one of the world’s most diverse societies. In the last Census (2018), 1.2 million of us – that’s 25 per cent – were born overseas. New Zealand is home to people of more than 200 ethnicities.

For comparison, the proportion of overseas born people in Australia is 29 per cent.

New Zealand is far from the top of most diverse countries according to the Fearon and Alesina comparison methods, but rankings accessible seem a few years out of date. New Zealand tends to rank around 77th or 107th in diversity on these, depending on analysis method.

New Zealand is more diverse than it was, but it’s not one of the world’s most diverse societies.

Papua New Guinea is described by some analysts as the world’s most diverse countries, and is followed by a string of African countries.

The world’s least diverse include Japan, the South Korea, North Korea, Uruguay, Argentina, China, Finland, and Iceland.

Another aspect – the views of varies countries’ citizens on how diverse their countries are:

https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2019/04/22/how-people-around-the-world-view-diversity-in-their-countries/
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May 21, 2021 11:22am
Fisiani2

Pharmac gets $200M
Scott Base gets $300M
Penguins before sick people.
23 2
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May 21, 2021 11:33am
- Batman
  
  Careful now, that Scott Base redevelopment was the brainchild of the National Government! ?
  
  3 4
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  May 21, 2021 4:20pm
Maggie Pie

TRENDING….A MUST READ!

“So much for Jacinda’s promise of transparent government…..To whom does she owe allegiance?”

https://www.spectator.com.au/2021/05/the-fight-for-new-zealand-is-now-underway/
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May 21, 2021 11:34am
- KevO'Brien
  
  National Party__Please read and act.
  
  13 4
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  May 21, 2021 11:48am
- Badger
  
  Fight? What fight?
  
  1 0
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  May 21, 2021 8:22pm
cmm

Look at this delightful pair who thumped a 92 year old victim.

Poor old lady probably opened the door to them to be friendly/helpful to these two and ends up being hit on the head.

While it is extremely disturbing that these two would feel entitled to attack and rob an old dear, it is almost as disturbing to see that it has taken over 2 years for this to go to trial.

Sure, we can blame CV19 for a bit of this, bit not much. A 92 year old deserves to get her day in court and see the wrongs of the world put right.

Are the courts are so choked that it takes two and a half years to hear a case like this? If so, the criminals are really getting the upper hand in society.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/northland-woman-admits-robbing-92yo-in-her-home-near-kawakawa/7LBXA7CTJLLGZRPYHCNL3PMAVE/
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May 21, 2021 11:54am
- riffer
  
  Yep. Addiction to gambling and alcohol. Never a good combination.
  
  8 1
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  May 21, 2021 12:06pm
  - kowtow
    
    So it’s the gambling and alcohol to blame , not personal choice ?
    
    12 1
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    May 21, 2021 1:42pm
  - cmm
    
    That’s a long bow to draw.
    
    It might be fair to blame them blowing their money on addictions, but no booze and pokies ever forced anyone to beat up a 92 year old dear.
    
    You need to be severely over-entitled to think that this is anywhere near Ok.
    
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    May 21, 2021 2:37pm
- rangitoto
  
  Be kind (to criminals) says Jacinda.
  
  9 1
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  May 21, 2021 12:19pm
- Swifty
  
  Aaaaaand here’s another one:
  
  https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/300313592/two-arrested-after-elderly-woman-attacked-and-robbed-in-whangrei
  
  What’s the bet it’ll be roaming bands of Chinese women….or Welsh……or, even more likely, Indian.
  
  You see a bunch of Indian women walking towards you late at night, you better run…..
  
  4 1
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  May 21, 2021 2:49pm
Raphael

So Google Docs is now going to be analysing your documents and suggest edits if you don’t use inclusive language

h/t The Quartering: https://youtu.be/xLcC4hxrfVM
6 1
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May 21, 2021 12:17pm
- KevO'Brien
  
  Haven’t used Google Docs for years.
  
  3 1
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  May 21, 2021 3:40pm
oldfella

Remember those compulsory PE sessions at school back in the day? Maybe they had more value that we realised.
++
Children who are more physically active may behave better, exhibit more self-control and perform better in school, according to a study published Wednesday by PLOS ONE.
A direct correlation exists between physical activity, as measured by a wearable device, and emotional regulation, or the ability to control emotions, in children ages 7, 11 and 14, the data showed.
https://www.upi.com/Health_News/2021/05/19/children-physical-activity-behavior-study/4261621449796/
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May 21, 2021 1:06pm
- Benedict Yu
  
  Are you saying that New Zealand children don’t do exercise at school??
  
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  May 21, 2021 2:53pm
Fletch

If the government really wanted to uplift the country, they should have slashed business taxes. Then businesses could have grown, hired people, etc, and there would be less unemployed. As it is, the more they are taxed, the more staff they have to lay off or cut staff hours. And no way can they afford to build or expand. Exactly the wrong way around.
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May 21, 2021 1:16pm
- septic skeptic
  
  Cindy and Robbo will continue to lavish their kindness on their voter base at the expense of business owners and the productive members of our society. Expect more government mandated wage increases once the unions start to exercise their new powers under “fair pay agreements”.
  The crop they will reap is less new jobs, less net taxpayers, less investment in new business, more brain drain to Australia. IMO the growth forecasts in yesterdays budget are ludicrous.
  
  14 1
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  May 21, 2021 1:30pm
  - Red Fred
    
    Rude bias ,or are you a trained economist.Have you read the latest Moodys report .? Thought not .
    
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    May 21, 2021 8:08pm
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Labour have no idea on how to run a business, and if they did, they would fuck it up by lunchtime
  
  17 3
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  May 21, 2021 1:49pm
  - Red Fred
    
    Bullshit ,I ran a furniture manufactury for 12 years and finished up with 35 staff .Got an award from Sir Les Mills for a high percentage of workers with disabilities.They were not all National party supporters .YOU are just full of it .
    
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    May 21, 2021 8:06pm
    - WaveyDavey
      
      Course you did…
      
      Nurse. He’s escaped again
      
      7 1
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      May 21, 2021 8:38pm
  - Badger
    
    A country isn’t a business.
    
    1 0
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    May 21, 2021 8:24pm
- cmm
  
  NZ does not have an unemployment problem. Nor does Aotearoa.
  
  What NZ lacks [? has] is a problem with motivation and responsibility.
  
  We do not need to create more jobs. We already can’t fill the positions we have open. What we need are less people deciding to not work.
  
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  May 21, 2021 2:41pm
Bobba Fret

Martin Devlin following in Tony Veitch’s footsteps?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/300311656/controversial-radio-host-martin-devlin-offair-after-throwing-punch-at-young-journalist-in-nzme-newsroom-and-inappropriate-messages
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May 21, 2021 1:55pm
- kowtow
  
  Very nice hit job there by one pack of low life reporters on another .
  
  One would hope all their domestic / work relationships are as pure as the driven snow .
  
  I like the line from NZME though ;
  
  ‘ “NZME does not comment publicly on any employment matters.” ‘
  
  They do when it’s someone else’s ie Israel Folau or anyone else the lowlife media paint a target on.
  
  10 2
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  May 21, 2021 3:31pm
  - sooty
    
    Along with the man from synlait!
    
    1 0
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    May 21, 2021 6:24pm
kevn

@SteveO… add to that, the ‘getting children out of poverty’ will not happen with the odd exception.
I fear that poor parenting will be just the same, poor parenting. More money for pokies, booze and smokes.
Bill English had the plan, creating one family betterment worker, to one family. Getting the families on the road to being sorted. Directly.
labour and the coalition of losers just dumped his very good, ready to go plan.
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May 21, 2021 2:08pm
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Money will not fix it. I quote “Families without Fathers is the problem” – Candace Owens
  
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  May 21, 2021 4:04pm
curry4me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NS3UoI2g2o
Samoa’s new Leader Cancels China-Backed Port.

Samoa’s Prime Minister-designate has promised to cancel a $100 million port project funded by China. She says the island has bigger priorities than a brand new wharf. Samoa joins a growing list of Pacific islands that are standing up to Chinese aggression.
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May 21, 2021 2:11pm
curry4me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zpwe-yQZ_BY
Israel finally Realizes that China is no Friend.

Israel has realized that it cannot sustain business ties with China and this realization is bound to hurt China, with some serious consequences.
10 1
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May 21, 2021 2:11pm
Cassandra

Just to beat Mikey to it: this day in 1840 Hobson declared British sovereignty over New Zealand. Surely this should be our national day. This is the end of the process started on 6 February. Happy New Zealand Day!
15 1
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May 21, 2021 2:13pm
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  How mean, taking his glory
  
  6 2
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  May 21, 2021 4:04pm
  - Mike
    
    It’s pink shirt day, Steve, so I hope you haven’t been bullying anyone.
    
    2 1
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    May 21, 2021 5:22pm
Benedict Yu

Why did not the Labour Party have election policies of creating separate Maori housing, abolishing the DHBs and increasing benefits?

My mate who works with social housing clients and I are catching up tonight for a drink. He texted me that they are all celebrating the increase in benefits. By buying more beer ?.

The stories he tells are amazing. He went around to a house last week to find holes kicked in a bunch of walls. Says to the woman “What happened?” she says “my daughter got mad at me so kicked the walls” daughter is 16 and was asleep in bed in the middle of the afternoon.

Apparantly they can’t get evicted because they will just end up in motels.
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May 21, 2021 2:43pm
- kevn
  
  @Bened… Lots of similar tales. I was in the queue at a WINZ office behind 2 young maori girls. Their story was, been at a tangi up north, came home (BOP), had a fight with her mother who kicked them both out. Been around town to find somewhere to stay, no luck anywhere. Had a car and a tent and were asking for WINZ emergency accommodation.
  Maybe best to say big sorry to (probably a long suffering) Mum… maybe?
  
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  May 21, 2021 6:18pm
- Red Fred
  
  I beieive that story Benedict.What would your solution be .?
  
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  May 21, 2021 8:00pm
  - Captain Mainwaring
    
    Sterilisation about 20 years ago would have fixed it.
    
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    May 21, 2021 9:25pm
Maggie Pie

WHAT IS GOING ON IN NEWMARKET?

My partner’s mum called earlier to see if I wanted to go shopping at Westfield. Told her I better not, because we were waiting for a delivery from ‘My Food Bag’.
(Last time they came the gates were locked, the silly courier left it on the neighbors doorstep! ORRRKWOOD – because we don’t speak to them)

Anyway, Ma’s back home now and has just txt me a pic of what must be a 200kg Beggar, sprawled outside Smith & Caughey, legs half-way across the footpath, filthy coat, and her feet bound up with what appears to be brown packaging tape!! 🙁

As ma said, “There’s never a Cop around when you need one”

SHEESH.
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May 21, 2021 3:17pm
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Queen street is now a shithole. Walked down from the Hospital 2 weeks ago. Just disgusting.
  Calling Orson, calling Orson, come in Orson – and Goff answers the phone
  
  12 2
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  May 21, 2021 4:10pm
  - Red Fred
    
    That would be Keys 60000o top quality imports boyo.Hows that traffic.?
    
    0 7
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    May 21, 2021 7:58pm
    - WaveyDavey
      
      Funnily enough it’s almost invariably the indolent indigent sprawled on the pavements
      
      Most immigrants are doing rather well through their own devices
      
      But on this, and previous evidence, you do seem erm… “disconnected” shall we say
      
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      May 21, 2021 8:34pm
      - WaveyDavey
        
        indigenous, sorry
        
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        May 21, 2021 8:36pm
- rangitoto
  
  With Cindy’s bene increase, she will be able to hit 250kg easy.
  
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  May 21, 2021 5:07pm
  - Maggie Pie
    
    😀
    
    4 0
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    May 21, 2021 7:14pm
Happychappy

I heard the Minister of Social Development tell the joke of the century this morning while traveling to Hamilton.
Minister Carmel Sepuloni made the statement if we hadn’t looked after the books we would not have been able to do what we have done .
So can someone please explain how borrowing another $100 billion on top of the $ 100 billion that was borrowed in Covid-19 is looking after the books and how does that help many future generations pay for this debt.
Treasury is there to advise you but it is a lottery for them to guarantee how long it will take this Government and Future Governments to repay it.
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May 21, 2021 3:25pm
- Red Fred
  
  [Deleted – if you can’t post civilly & without abuse, don’t bother. Mod.]
  
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  May 21, 2021 7:55pm
  - Badger
    
    I wonder how any moderator remains sane after reading this crap all day. 🙂
    
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    May 21, 2021 8:28pm
    - Captain Mainwaring
      
      Red Fred seems to be the new Ztev.
      He won’t be missed.
      
      6 0
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      May 21, 2021 9:29pm
Maggie Pie

BREAKING

(Modz>>>don’t let ‘milkey’ klik on this.)

WATCH LIVE…..Jewish man being beaten up by gang of cowardly Palestinians on Manhattan Street.

https://twitter.com/Breaking911/status/1395584059242434560
9 4
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May 21, 2021 3:49pm
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Mike is just gathering ‘videoshopped’ evidence from CNN/MSNBC/WP as we speak
  
  5 4
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  May 21, 2021 4:13pm
  - Batman
    
    I’ve seen some footage from NYC as well of a small firework / Molotov being thrown in the diamond district and a guy being arrested from a convoy of idiots.
    
    So this stuff is certainly real. Not everything is a media conspiracy Steve
    
    9 2
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    May 21, 2021 4:25pm
    - Steve Otto(North Shore)
      
      Going by the World Media there would be about 80% bullshit from the media. I refer to opinion media pieces where the sheeple refer to the SAME source
      
      10 4
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      May 21, 2021 4:42pm
greybeard

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/300311656/ashamed-radio-host-martin-devlin-offair-after-throwing-punch-at-young-journalist-and-inappropriate-messages
Christ ! Another Tony Veitch !
Sports are dangerous !
5 3
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May 21, 2021 3:56pm
- sooty
  
  Not as good as Sir Bob Jones, his one hit Rod Vaughan on the hooter
  
  4 0
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  May 21, 2021 6:15pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

History – recent history – 8 min before you go to the pub.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dye1_M0c8U4
3 4
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May 21, 2021 4:53pm
RW Capitalist

I don’t think I miss heard this.
Our govt. claiming , last week I think, to be going into talks regarding Free trade with the UK.
We have heard NOTHING since.
I did however hear that Australia and the UK have already signed one.
Are we late and weak to the party AGAIN?
7 0
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May 21, 2021 5:19pm
- rockape
  
  With Damien O’Connor in the negotiations what do you expect. The laziest MP in parliament.
  
  4 0
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  May 21, 2021 9:08pm
- marcw
  
  I don’t think parties have reached an agreement yet – but indeed both Australia and NZ are negotiating a trade agreement, and there is some political push-back in the UK on the idea of tariff free trade in meat. There have been reports in “The Telegraph” discussing the farming, consumer, and political aspects.
  
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  May 21, 2021 9:16pm
ISeeRed

What specific sin triggered his loss of faith in the Anointed One?
2 0
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May 21, 2021 6:58pm
WaveyDavey

Here we go, the softening up begins

https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2021/05/newshub-reid-research-poll-shows-kiwis-don-t-think-government-is-doing-enough-to-fix-housing-crisis-and-want-prices-to-fall.html

Get. Out. Now.
6 1
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May 21, 2021 8:18pm

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