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May 26, 2021 8:00am by Kokila Patel

General Debate 26 May 2021

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Happychappy

Budget 2021 : How do you measure the cost of doing nothing?
All the numbers in last weeks budget- and theee were a few- $3.8 billion was the most important. It’s also a number that is almost entirely made up most of the others were costed, modelled at extra, but the big number $3.8 billion came from nowhere. What the number refers tois the amount of spending set aside to fund new initiatives, its politically important, in that it signals to voters how much new money the Government is willing to give to new policy.
It’s not hard to see why Grant Robertson and co Leader ( former associate finance minister James Shaw) want to look at reforming the way the budget works, particularly when it comes to making policy around Climate Change.

https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/300316496/budget-2021-how-do-you-measure-the-cost-of-doing-nothing
Is this what former National Party voters had in mind when for the past two elections making sure Jacinda Ardern led the Government because with the majority given to her at the last Election means that the eye that the Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern with Finance Minister Grant Robertson and Green co leader James Shaw have on changing the finance Act could be devastating fo NZ and our economy.
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May 26, 2021 8:00am
- Yabster
  
  some other budget facts: net drain anyone???
  
  $1.3b for ‘Maori’ in Budget
  The proposal to spend $1.3 billion in the next financial year on “Maori” cannot go without comment. Proposed spending includes:
  
  $427.8 million supposedly for “Crown-Maori” relations, but actually for Treaty settlements.
  $380 million to deliver 1000 new homes for Maori including housing on Maori land, repairs to about 700 Maori-owned homes, and expanding support services.
  $242.8 million for Maori health initiatives including the new Maori Health Authority.
  $150 million for Maori education including $20 million to support Maori boarding schools.
  $42 million for Maori media.
  $23.4 million for the well-being of Maori children and families.
  $15 million for Maori tourism.
  $14.1 million for tribal data collection.
  $14.8 million for a Maori language strategy so that one million New Zealanders will be able to speak basic Maori by 2040. See See Budget 21
  A total $1.4 billion has been set aside over four years to spend on Treaty settlements (which is on top of the $4 billion already paid).
  
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  May 26, 2021 8:17am
  - cmm
    
    These are only the direct allocations. The next level down there’s a whole lot more.
    
    For example, in the general health budget there will be a whole lot of money being soaked up by translating/printing posters in Maori (that nobody can read), but special accommodations for Maori in hospitals & the health system.
    
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    May 26, 2021 8:36am
    - KevO'Brien
      
      What about the Irish?
      
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      May 26, 2021 9:35am
      - Maggy Wassilieff
        
        You’ll get a Republic within Ms Ardern’s lifetime.
        
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        May 26, 2021 10:01am
      - slightlyrighty
        
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boO4RowROiw
        
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        May 26, 2021 10:07am
      - Paulus
        
        You got Tova – won’t that do!
        
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        May 26, 2021 1:33pm
    - Suze Wainwright
      
      But the symbolism is just beautiful!
      
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      May 26, 2021 10:12am
  - Yvette
    
    Yabster
    Taking one small aspect of this budgeting, it would a worthwhile exercise to pay some authority a reasonable fee to actually determine what is annually spent of preserving and encouraging the learning of te reo Maori, which has usually been around $400 – $600 million a year.
    Nobody, including Google, can give a definite figure on the amount or what exactly it is spent on, but every Budget or funding instance, like Covid allocations last year, extra amounts are added, as in your list: $42 for Maori media, and $14.8 for a strategy for one million New Zealanders to be able to speak basic Maori by 2040.
    
    An aside – When I attempted to learn Maori in evening classes one stage, it finally failed because the Maori teacher in fact did not know enough English grammar to answer questions, like for example “The man stepped down from the bus before it had actually stopped” when the verbs were both in the past and for assumed ACC and insurance needs, it was required to express the man’s action happened before the bus stopped. The teacher didn’t grasp the question and we never understood the answer.
    Are there enough qualified teachers to teach one million students by 2040?
    
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    May 26, 2021 9:15am
    - Pharmachick
      
      Yabster,
      
      I learned Maori in the early-mid 1980s. we were the experimental generation (before Kura kaupapas were implemented) so mostly it was a “bilingual” class somewhere between standard 2/3/4.
      
      I don’t speak “standard” Maori as its taught in school or Uni in NZ right now. My two major teachers were Wasi (Evelyn) Poumako [Arawa] and Bob Grey [originally from Pipiriki, down Wanaganui way]. They had learned in the oral tradition, before the “standardization” of NZ Maori. Anyhow means I speak a bit of a dialect. The main point in response to you is that years and years later I started learning Arabic (Egyptian Arabic) because I used to teach a class in Cairo for 2 weeks a year. What struck me is that Arabic is a highly abstract language, and very poetic (I am reliably informed that Farsi is even more so)… the way I learned Maori was the same. Sometimes as a kid I remember being frustrated by the exact type of “non-conformity” you describe… ultimately I was young enough to just accept that the “rules” were different for that language (and that absolutely helped me for learning Arabic BTW).
      
      I am not defending insufficient teachers, but I am raising the concept that many grammatical constructs don’t translate across vastly different languages and language groups. My other personal example: I am fluent in English, Maori and French, can get by in Italian, Spanish and Egyptian Arabic (terrible grammar), and cannot acquire a word of German beyond Danke and Bitte… to my despair.
      
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      May 26, 2021 2:34pm
      - Jack5
        
        That’s interesting, Pharmachick.
        
        German is the closest to English of the languages you mention (French, Maori, Italian, Spanish, Arabic). Until around the 14the century, English speakers, Dutch speakers and Low German (Plattdeutsch or Low Saxon) speakers could understand each other.
        
        Am I right in thinking, Pharmachick, that you live in Canada?
        
        If you meet Canada’s Mennonites – those who speak Plattdeutsch rather than those who speak Swiss German (Pennsylvania Dutch) – it would be interesting for you to hear if their speech is close to English.
        
        There’s never been a better time to learn languages. Youtube is awash with free language-learning series, and the internet has many exchanges where you can for very reasonable prices get Skype (or equivalent) lessons from native speakers (see iTalki).
        
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        May 26, 2021 4:35pm
      - MCos
        
        When it comes to languages it seems so have got it & some ain’t.
        I’ve struggled with Thai even though I’ve been exposed to it for years & taken plenty of lessons.
        On the other hand a friend of mine learned it very quickly including writing & reading, he can also speak Serbian, Russian including reading and writing Cyrillic, German & French.
        A Thai guy I follow on Facebook can at least understand thirty languages.
        At my son’s school the PI kids are, of course, bilingual.
        
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        May 26, 2021 4:51pm
  - greybeard
    
    There will be a hell of a lot of new black (and blacked-out) 4×4 Rangers on the roads next year !
    
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    May 26, 2021 10:01am
  - Fidel Cashflow
    
    That’s apartheid. That much is unarguable and it is indefensible. Collins doesn’t need to make shit up, because it’s all right there. Given that 84% are not Maori, and so won’t benefit at all from this, that is her audience.
    
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    May 26, 2021 10:05am
    - Flossie
      
      Does it therefore follow Fidel that Maori do benefit from speaking that language? Don’t really know how.
      Everywhere I go I see people of other cultures out with their children and they are happily conversing in their own native tongue, obviously what they speak at home. When you engage with one of them they reply easily in English. So I guess what I’m saying is why don’t those who wish to speak Maori do so in the home?
      
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      May 26, 2021 10:58am
  - crikey
    
    I must have missed the allocation for the English language strategy so that Maori who can’t speak English properly can learn do do so. It must be worthwhile to be fluent in one of the most widely spoken and written languages worldwide. You know, something of real value.
    
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    May 26, 2021 12:02pm
  - doggone7
    
    I’m trying to work how your list measures up with Happychappy’s ‘doing nothing.’
    
    Is doing nothing ‘delivering 1000 new homes for Maori including housing on Maori land, repairs to about 700 Maori-owned homes, and expanding support services’?
    
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    May 26, 2021 12:43pm
  - surfing
    
    Surely the learning of a language should be an individual choice?
    
    I get basics, such as learning to count to ten in maori might be fine, but, basic maori?
    
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    May 26, 2021 3:59pm
    - KevO'Brien
      
      Basic Maori is now pidgin: basically useless post 1840. Now English is being sprinkled with ungrammatical transliterated English-Maori. Maorising an English word renders it unfit to to be used an English sentence. Is it lawful? How can we have two separate official languages intermingled?
      
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      May 26, 2021 6:13pm
      - cha
        
        Basic Maori is now pidgin:
        
        Says an apparent native speaker of a language consisting almost entirely of ungrammatical, transliterated French, Latin, and Germanic words.
        //
        
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        May 26, 2021 6:35pm
- Colville
  
  The Ardern sycophant who wrote the piece (Coughlan) tries to tell us that the budget numbers dont mean anything and we shouldnt worry if that wonderful Mr Robertson spends a bit more and borrows a lot more because its only numbers and its all made up really.
  
  What could possibly go wrong?
  
  Meantime Sir John is warning us that higher interest rates are coming and people are going to get in the shit having borrowed too much.
  
  https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/homed/housing-affordability/300316220/fears-reserve-bank-faces-choice-between-recent-house-buyers-and-economy
  
  Well a crash will fix housing affordability wont it Jacinda?
  
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  May 26, 2021 8:19am
  - Suze Wainwright
    
    I don’t understand all the cynicism and negativity here today – Ms Ardern said aotearoa’s well-being budget would fix broken politics way back in early 2019… so there!
    
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    May 26, 2021 10:25am
    - Maggy Wassilieff
      
      I don’t understand all the cynicism and negativity here today
      
      I think we all must be missing her lunchtime homily from the Podium.
      
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      May 26, 2021 10:31am
      - Tony Stuart
        
        Speak for yourself Maggy 😀
        
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        May 26, 2021 12:32pm
  - Tony Stuart
    
    The Ardern sycophant who wrote the piece (Coughlan)…
    
    How can this be? Martin Williams vowed and declared last week that Thomas Coughlan from Stuff was an embedded National Party plant!
    
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    May 26, 2021 12:31pm
    - Steve Todd
      
      And there we have it: If you’re right-wing, the media is left-wing; if you’re left-wing, the media is right-wing.
      
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      May 26, 2021 12:37pm
      - Batman
        
        My old boss had a joke that if nobody was particularly happy you’ve probably landed in the middle on an issue. It seems Mr Coughlan has succeeded in that!
        
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        May 26, 2021 1:19pm
      - Jack5
        
        Citing the blog posts of Martin Williams to support a claim that the New Zealand media are not Left-biased?
        
        Martin Williams no Ardernist “useful idiot;” he’s smarter than that. Martin’s posts are more like agitprop for Ardernism.
        
        New Zealand media are absolutely pro-Left, pro-Ardern, pro-Maorification (evidence -the NZ Pidgin they inflict on viewers, readers and listeners).
        
        Just what you’d expect when you are either owned by the Government or depend on taxpayer subsidies to survive.
        
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        May 26, 2021 1:44pm
      - Loddenthinks
        
        @Jack5 re Martin Williams – yes he’s smart alright. About as smart as paint.
        
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        May 26, 2021 5:27pm
Tomtoddy

It should be compulsory reading. It is Richard Prebble in the Ferald, today, on emerging inflation. It is deeply, deeply disturbing.

Robertson is a new “Muldoon”, but with less ability. Muldoon had a few Ministers around him who knew their job. Robertson doesn’t. Muldoon had a some strong journalists who lashed his economic management. Robertson doesn’t. Muldoon had a Roger Douglas in the wings with an alternative, correcting budget and the balls to deliver it. Robertson doesn’t.

Inflation is thieving from your kids and grandkids. It is a fast and certain path to poverty. It kills savings. It destroys initiative, entrepreneurship, sound strategic, business, decision making. Once it gets a toehold it feeds on itself, growing at a frightening pace. It is to be feared.

No one in the Ardern government has experienced inflation first hand. They do not even realise how they are pouring fuel on the fire. A foolish, fawning media preoccupied with frippery wouldn’t know ‘inflation’ if they fell over it in the street. No checks and balances in the fourth estate. Only a few blogs to raise the alarm and a shrewd observer in Richard Prebble who knows better than anyone the pain of inflation and the greater pain of eradicating it.

The Reserve Bank has gone from being a world recognised authority backed by amazingly smart legislation to being a nest of dangerous incompetence and immaturity.

Robertson’s budget recklessly adding debt, throwing money around in unproductive sectors, ignoring the very activities that are holding the economy up, rewarding all the wrong things, has given the already established inflation a massive boost. Worry about the PC nonsense, fret about the insidious “Maorification”, agonise over the useless climate change antics, be concerned about poor quality education, growing welfarism, rampart crime but much of that can be fixed by a focused, strong minded government in one term. Inflation on the other hand takes a generation to correct.
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May 26, 2021 8:03am
- Simon
  
  NZ’s chicken shit economy is a shell game. An economy built around shopping malls, traffic cones, immigration & housing. Held together by ever decreasing interest rates, and mad money printing.
  
  Once interest rates rise in response to inflation it adiós, muchachos.
  
  If you have any loans like housing fix the interest rate for long as possible. You will do ok. But know that in 5 to 10 years time NZ will be a lot poorer than it is now. The sheep that put the clown show into gubermint will go to the wall.
  
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  May 26, 2021 8:19am
  - crikey
    
    “ The sheep that put the clown show into gubermint will go to the wall.”
    
    And those of us who didn’t (put the clown show into gubermint) will be carried along with them.
    
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    May 26, 2021 12:07pm
  - Badger
    
    You forgot coffee – young people making coffee for old people.
    
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    May 26, 2021 10:09pm
- Inandout
  
  Tom, I was amazed at how difficult it is to hire a tradesman, but then I learn that many are held up on jobs because of the scarcity of materials and fittings. Gib board, timber framing, hardware, fence posts and even plastering products. Some jobs are being held up for many weeks and the builder has to juggle or just stop and wait.
  
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  May 26, 2021 8:42am
  - Jack5
    
    Apart from booming demand, supplies are under wartime-scale pressure.
    
    Shipping, hit by the pandemic, is struggling to cope. Global container costs have tripled over the last year.
    
    There’s never been a better time for an NZ Opposition Party: neo-apartheid being imposed on the ethnic majority and non-Maori minorities; soaring inflation; housing in crisis.
    
    The Government’s key weapon is control of media: State TV, State Radio, and print media dependent on State subsidies. Is National hammering this? If you can’t get a hearing at some meeting, hammer the chairman.
    
    If National can’t turn Labour into mince at the next election National will be replaced by a new party that will make many voters uneasy.
    
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    May 26, 2021 10:48am
- Philview
  
  Tom,
  The God of the Forest is watching over the Reserve Bank. Show some respect!!
  
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  May 26, 2021 10:30am
- KevO'Brien
  
  Robertson is the new Bill Rowling who lead NZ into a wage/price spiral with Norm Kirk cheering him on. The unions pushed the Arbitration Court for compulsory wage orders. The spending on those increased prices… repeat until Venezuela. That came in the form of the “balance of payments” shortfall. The NZ dollar then had a fixed exchange rate and the demands for goods and services had to come out of our current account. That invited international speculators to bet against our currency.
  Muldoon was the fixer-upper. It was tough going
  
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  May 26, 2021 11:05am
  - MCos
    
    “Muldoon was the fixer-upper.”
    
    Unfortunately
    
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    May 26, 2021 6:41pm
Simon

Letter by NZ Doctors with Concerns Over Pfizer Vaccine

The clinical trials will not be completed until 2023.

Nobody currently knows how safe or effective this novel mRNA technology is in the medium to long term, but highly credible medical experts around the world, and even some vaccine developers themselves, are predicting problems and raising urgent red-flag concerns.

If any safety issues are identified in the remaining period of the trials the effects could be catastrophic for our community or a proportion that have already received the vaccine.

The signatories are mindful of their obligations to discuss risks, benefits and uncertainties of any treatment and to ensure informed consent of all patients before giving any treatment and of the other important obligations under the Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers Rights. Our insurers have affirmed this obligation.

Compelling patients or workers to receive drug, medicine or vaccine which is still investigational would set a significant medical precedent, which would run counter to all international codes of medical ethics since the Nuremberg Code of 1947 and Declaration of Helsinki in 1952.

https://kti.org.nz/?p=361

Etc etc
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May 26, 2021 8:07am
- Mr_Blobby
  
  Aren’t you glad the government went soft and slow on vaccination.
  
  Their incompetence may just save us.
  
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  May 26, 2021 10:09am
- Fidel Cashflow
  
  Yes. There was a time when science said that Thalidomide was safe. It was far too late when science changed its mind about that. Any benefit that could possibly be gained by lining up for your shot is far outweighed by the very real chance of destroying your health irreparably. What will your recourse be at that point? An apology?
  
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  May 26, 2021 10:18am
  - oldfella
    
    Fidel, there are plenty of examples of drugs being pulled off the market. One was Vioxx, a Merck & Co anti-inflammatory which they withdrew in 2004 when it was found to cause an increased risk of heart attacks and strokes.
    
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    May 26, 2021 10:55am
- Fletch
  
  Good letter. I wish it was signed by more than 43 doctors though.
  
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  May 26, 2021 10:57am
  - Batman
    
    Might provide us with a clue as to the validity of the concerns, though.
    
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    May 26, 2021 1:21pm
  - JackRabbit
    
    Given that most doctors don’t have time to do research, 43 is an alarming amount. But for every doctor that signed it, there will another dozen who are also concerned but hesitant about putting their name down.
    
    From personal experience, the two most vocal groups (in private conversations) opposed to taking the vaccine are the over 60’s, who are old enough to be aware of the past failures with untested drugs; and medical professionals, including doctors, nurses (and nurse aids). It is part of their job to be aware of drugs they are prescribing or injecting under instruction.
    
    Most professionals are aware of the normal time to get certification – it is part of due diligence they have to be aware of. And since we have almost no deaths from Covid-19, it seems a giant overkill, unless you are going overseas. Most smart people have resigned themselves to the fact that travel overseas, even to OZ, is not desirable right now. Two or three years of staying in NZ is a small price to pay to keep their families safe.
    
    Also many are aware of the MIQ Managed Incubation Quarters ‘clusterduck’ where non infected people are put into the same building as infected people, and the air being circulated. Based on the governments own fear porn i.e. that Covid-19 is sneaky and cunning, many realised early on that Covid-19 could get past most masks and most filtration systems.
    
    Under inductive reasoning, the foundation of the modern scientific method, only one doctor expressing concern, with relevant supporting information, should trigger an objective investigation. One logical scientific argument should trump 1000 emotive fear porn arguments lacking clear scientific information.
    
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    May 26, 2021 1:30pm
cmm

When reading about the ram raid in Ruakākā, Whāngārei, I noticed something. The more macrons in a place name, the more dangerous the place seems to be.

Safe place
Dāngērōūs plācē

But they’re relieve nobody got hurt. Nope, pity one of those ram raiders didn’t get hurt.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/alleged-thieves-use-car-to-smash-into-northland-petrol-station/RVCKTVW6YGVC46FP6EOQREIX6E/
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May 26, 2021 8:10am
- Ruahine
  
  Alleged. More stupidity from the useless MSM.
  
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  May 26, 2021 8:35am
- Paulus Gnome
  
  Macrons are right up there with silly name syndrome, never a good outcome.
  
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  May 26, 2021 8:58am
  - Batman
    
    I assume you take the same view about Umlauts?
    
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    May 26, 2021 1:22pm
    - Loddenthinks
      
      Certainly take the same view about people pretending to be super-heroes. Just sayin’
      
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      May 26, 2021 6:01pm
Tricati

So, the Crown Entities debt is at 13 Billion, heading to 20 Billion by 2025 and this info comes out after the budget.
The fact the Crown Entities have to borrow at a higher interest rate to that of the government would indicate they have been used to hide the true cost of the governments socialist agenda, and all Robertson can say is ‘National also did it’.
When will the real economists start to comment on the burgeoning government debt in NZ, and the likely impact that will have on ‘Joe Public’, as that is when the average punter will start to take it seriously as it hits their pocket.
I’m calling BS on this government being fiscally prudent, and have no transparency.
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May 26, 2021 8:10am
- Happychappy
  
  Any bets that half of that 13 billion is for state housing that they keep borrowing to address on a consistent basis to try and lower the figure of those on the waiting list. The problem is they can just keep borrowing without the public’s knowledge of the cost to taxpayers.
  
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  May 26, 2021 8:44am
Maggy Wassilieff

The Mongrel Mob reform seems to have hit a brick wall

https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2021/05/national-mp-simeon-brown-receives-more-death-threats-from-mongrel-mob-after-criticising-funeral-procession.html
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May 26, 2021 8:19am
- cmm
  
  Given the way the Mob state funeral was handled by the cops and Nash, I think we can just give up hoping there is going to be any improvement.
  
  Those gang dickheads can smell weakness from a mile away and are exploiting it.
  
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  May 26, 2021 8:29am
  - Paulus
    
    And $90 million less Budget money for the Police too!
    
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    May 26, 2021 8:33am
    - cmm
      
      Until the cops can show they’re using their budget effectively I am not opposed to them having budget cuts.
      
      Give them $200M more and what would they do? Probably just buy flasher guitars for the next cuddle fest with Ihumātao trespassers.
      
      At the moment, it is wokeness, not budget, that is preventing the cops from being effective.
      
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      May 26, 2021 8:50am
      - agent
        
        I think it’s a form of showing off that they are “defunding the Police” due to them being racist organisation.
        
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        May 26, 2021 11:14am
      - cmm
        
        agent: I think there is adequate evidence that they are a racist organisation.
        
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        May 26, 2021 12:21pm
      - sooty
        
        Yer, a new maori gang.
        
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        May 26, 2021 12:54pm
  - tf78
    
    cmm – I reckon, like Venezuela the gangs will become our police force.
    
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    May 26, 2021 9:03am
    - kowtow
      
      This is part of our long march to failed state status .
      
      We’ve gone from the top of the OECD to the bottom.
      
      Now the rule of law and the Queens’ Writ does not run in certain parts of the realm.
      
      BTW it appears this funeral took place in a school where the pupils were told not to come in for two days . An MP has received death threats .
      
      Are we going to see proper coverage of this in our newspapers , and across the media . Editorials and opinion pieces on a daily basis , like how they obsessed over the Evil Orange man ?
      
      Crickets.
      
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      May 26, 2021 9:57am
- Tony Stuart
  
  Leopards and spots?
  
  That coverage in Stuff yesterday was damning for both the Police and the government; wall to wall motorbikes, and cars with mobsters hanging out of them, one poor bugger going the other way pretty much forced off the road, and not a Police car to be seen.
  
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  May 26, 2021 8:51am
  - kowtow
    
    Damning ?
    
    No , this gubmint can be very proud of its achievement .
    
    It has turned New Zealand into Aotearoa , cos that’s what we’re witnessing .
    
    The passing away of the old order of equality before the law , one law for all , respect for the law etc
    
    Now ?
    
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    May 26, 2021 9:15am
- GJM
  
  At least it might wake up the National politicians 5hat there is a problem and they need to stop being so wer
  T and like a lesson huggy Labour Lite.
  “A liberal is just a conservative who hasn’t been mugged yet”.
  
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  May 26, 2021 8:51am
Yabster

[Deleted – Mod] in full steam:

Two govts under tribal rule plan moving ahead?
It looks like Jacinda Ardern’s He Puapua plan to set up two governments under a tribal monitoring committee within the next 19 years is quietly rolling on. The steps so far are:

The abolition of the right of local communities to hold binding referenda on Maori wards.
Forcing Maori language and culture on to government departments and local authorities, while the state-funded media replaced news with separatist propaganda.
Replacing English names of places, streets, towns, buildings, and government agencies with Maori names. Even the nation’s name “New Zealand” is being changed by stealth.
Setting up a separate Maori Health Authority with veto rights over the entire health system.
Transferring the marine and coastal area to Maori, with a precedent set two weeks ago by the High Court in the Bay of Plenty.
Transferring ownership of the conservation estate to private tribal entities, as recommended by the Options Development Group.
Imposing 50-50 council-tribal control over water through the Three Waters Reform.
Imposing a revised history curriculum, that looks more like Maori studies, which intends to indoctrinate our children about the evils of colonisation.
If Minister Nanaia Mahuta’s review of local government follows the He Puapua plan, councils will consist of 50 percent Maori seats.

[Mod – use the correct title please]
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May 26, 2021 8:19am
- Paulus
  
  Yes, well underway already clandestinely.
  Media will hush up as much as possible.
  
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  May 26, 2021 8:34am
- RockyJ
  
  Scary and bad. I read an article by John Minto (remember him? He who fought apartheid) who said that He Puapua would strengthen democracy. Just shows that he, like many others, believes the problem is really white people.
  
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  May 26, 2021 8:43am
- Yabster
  
  the Mod doesn’t like my new name for the crappy 2040 plan,,, but it is very apt…..
  
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  May 26, 2021 8:46am
- Steve Todd
  
  Relax, Yabster.
  
  A National-led — or should that be an ACT NZ-led? — government will bin He Puapua long before 2040. Won’t it?
  
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  May 26, 2021 9:01am
  - Yabster
    
    maybe so Steve but that’s a lot of unwinding don’t you think- why do you think there’s such a rush to get the Maori Health Authority up and running – once its going its not that easy just to stop it.
    
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    May 26, 2021 9:08am
    - Steve Todd
      
      Not if (despite National 1960-1972, and Sir Cullen’s Sidekick’s predictions) we see a change of government at the 2026 election (which, in my view, is likely).
      
      Regardless, Governments can do what they like — look at the move to dismantle Annette King’s DHB system.
      
      He Puapua hasn’t even been looked at by the government yet, let alone any of its recommendations put to the People, in one or more referendums.
      
      Yes, 2040 will be upon us before we know it, but it’s still a long way away, and there is much that will unfold between now and then. For example, COVID-19 won’t always be an all-consuming issue, and the People will tire of the prime minister soon enough.
      
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      May 26, 2021 9:56am
      - Jack5
        
        Steve Todd says He Puapua hasn’t even been looked at by the government yet, let alone any of its recommendations put to the People, in one or more referendums.
        
        There won’t be referendums. Was there a referendum on the NZ child welfare? On Maori and Pacific Islander courts? On a race-based health authority?
        
        Ardernism is neo-apartheid and our Marxist leader is pushing it down voters’ throats.
        
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        May 26, 2021 10:58am
      - Steve Todd
        
        I have (admittedly only skim-)read this document, several times, https://iwichairs.maori.nz/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/He-Puapua-for-OIA-release.pdf, and there is certainly no mention of referendums in it. In fact, it strikes me as very pie-in-the-sky stuff.
        
        If any future government succeeds in imposing He Puapua upon the People without one or more referendums, then surely it will be by having brought the People along with them. Otherwise, the near future doesn’t look good.
        
        My prediction? Somewhere along the line, it will quietly be dropped. Why? The prime minister is clearly not interested in it; she wants a third term. Then, she’ll want a fourth term. In 2026, or 2029 at the latest, there will be a change of government.
        
        He Puapua is going nowhere anytime soon — assuming the opposition parties really do oppose it.
        
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        May 26, 2021 11:42am
      - Yabster
        
        how can it be dropped when many of its recommendations are already happening??
        
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        May 26, 2021 11:58am
      - Steve Todd
        
        @Yabster @ 11:58AM
        
        Yabster! It’s way too soon to panic.
        
        (Skim-)read the report. What you speak of is nothing (and can be reversed by a future government) compared to the tough stuff contemplated (by the report’s authors) to be put in place during the latter half of the 30s.
        
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        May 26, 2021 12:48pm
      - Yabster
        
        no panic from me Steve- how do your reverse the children being taught rubbish re history? not that easy.
        
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        May 26, 2021 12:59pm
      - Steve Todd
        
        @Yabster @ 12:59PM
        
        Well, Yabster. It all comes down to what is rubbish. Your rubbish may not be my rubbish, and vice versa. It’s the contest of ideas, whether on the political front, or within society.
        
        As has always been the case, throughout history, the times ahead look to be interesting, if not fascinating.
        
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        May 26, 2021 1:31pm
    - Sacha
      
      Once its clients begin complaining about the MHA outcomes, another round of financial re-adjustment will be instigated.
      And the customers will start opting to go onto the Multicultural HA books.
      The Maori HA will become exclusive, like the Waiting Tribunal –
      
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      May 26, 2021 11:43am
  - septic skeptic
    
    So long as it is driven by ACT
    
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    May 26, 2021 9:47am
  - Fidel Cashflow
    
    Probably not. The fear of being labelled racist in the short term will outweigh the bifurcation of society on racial grounds in the longer term. I hope I’m wrong. They shouldn’t pander to the aggrieved minority. Repudiating this shit daily until the plan is binned is the only way to victory, and it will work, which is why the banshees start squealing whenever Collins goes down the path of calling it what it is.
    
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    May 26, 2021 10:23am
  - RockyJ
    
    That unwinding will happen and will be the cause of serious unrest. The conservative government that does this should also take the opportunity to hold a referendum on the Maori seats in parliament and wind up the Treaty processes forever. Also significantly defund the Humanities departments and law schools in our universities where much of this destructive bullshit comes from
    
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    May 26, 2021 10:32am
    - Steve Todd
      
      Also significantly defund the Humanities departments […].
      
      Careful, Rocky.
      
      Sir Bob Jones has always favoured Humanities graduates as employees of his companies. From memory, it has something to do with their consequently proven ability to think critically.
      
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      May 26, 2021 11:07am
      - Batman
        
        Correct Steve. I don’t know how many marketing or commerce grads I have dealt with who need a good couple of years of work experience before they even start to show promise as critically thinking adults.
        
        The humanities kids have no such problem…
        
        Also, law is hardly the issue. They’re the most straight up and down boring sods anyway. Plus half of them end up green bottle lager drinkers with pointy shoes, hardly woke but hardly worth making friends with!
        
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        May 26, 2021 1:27pm
      - Jack5
        
        Batman lauds humanities graduates over business graduates ..
        
        But what about the humanities graduate flakes who come out of Massey?
        
        Were we worse off when this was a world-class agricultural/horticultural university? Four-fifths of our export earnings come from that sector.
        
        Marketing courses can be flaky, but so can sociology, anthropology, and “X culture” courses.
        
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        May 26, 2021 1:51pm
      - Batman
        
        How am I responsible for Massey? Sounds like you were looking for a reason to have a wah at me.
        
        Yeah we probably were quite well off having a dedicated Ag University.
        
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        May 26, 2021 1:58pm
      - Steve Todd
        
        Heh, heh, heh.
        
        Thanks, Batman. Great response.
        
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        May 26, 2021 2:01pm
    - oldfella
      
      Rocky, National intends to contest the Maori seats at the next election. Why?
      Personally, I’d prefer they reverse that decision and promise a binding referendum so all Kiwis can decide on the future of those seats.
      They should pledge to do it during their first term back in Govt, and I’m sure ACT would back them.
      
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      May 26, 2021 11:34am
  - Yabster
    
    Geeze Steve your ok with NZ History curriculum- anti colonialism, white privilege etc?
    
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    May 26, 2021 3:20pm
    - Steve Todd
      
      I’m not quite sure which of my comments you’re reacting to, Yabster: let’s just wait and see what the curriculum is.
      
      At this stage, it is my view that the Right, as it tends to do when a Left government is in power, is grossly over-reacting to the as-at-now non-issue of He Puapua, without being in possession of the facts.
      
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      May 26, 2021 4:05pm
- tf78
  
  Yabster, I did the survey on the new history curriculum last night – it asked what Iwi I belonged to, I put New Zealand Taxpayer Iwi.
  
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  May 26, 2021 9:05am
  - RockyJ
    
    I have filled it in about 40 times. Each time I self identified as a Maori.
    This is the first time I have come across a survey I was able to complete as many times as I want. The Ministry of Education are either idiots or have their own computer doing it over and over.
    Here is a clue as to how I responded: “Strongly oppose”
    
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    May 26, 2021 12:26pm
- Southtop2
  
  Yabster – we may be able to save the South Island but Aotearoa (original name for the North Island) looks stuffed.
  
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  May 26, 2021 9:38am
  - Yabster
    
    Hopeful but not sure about that, Ngai Tahu have a huge influence in the south -esp for an iwi of 60,000, you have to consult them if you want to pass wind…
    
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    May 26, 2021 10:36am
    - Batman
      
      You’ll all just have to go and live this separatist roleplay exercise in Australia.
      
      Enjoy the plagues!
      
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      May 26, 2021 1:29pm
      - Jack5
        
        Yabster, there’s only one “separatist role play” exercise allowed in NZ, and it’s not a South Island separatist role.
        
        However, MMP conceivably could enable some sort of small South Island representation in Parliament, though that’s unlikely.
        
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        May 26, 2021 1:53pm
      - Batman
        
        Well the ‘mainland’ does have a bit of a ticket on itself ??
        
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        May 26, 2021 1:56pm
- Philview
  
  Don’t forget the $50 million pumped into public service journalism conditional on promoting the concept of Partnership, in other words selling He Puapua on behalf of the Government and attacking counter arguments.
  
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  May 26, 2021 10:43am
G152

Just love that Island democracy where even those outvoted still hang on to power and no-one seems bothered
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May 26, 2021 8:26am
- Cassandra
  
  To be fair, the outgoing party got 55% of the votes. It’s just that Samoa has FPP and that party mismanaged its candidates thus allowing FAST to come through on the inside. A one seat majority and 37% of the vote is hardly a mandate.
  
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  May 26, 2021 9:13am
  - Steve Todd
    
    Cassandra: At the 1993 election, National attained 35.05% of the vote, and gained a one-seat (50/99) majority.
    
    While I was most certainly one of those who questioned Jim Bolger’s “mandate”, not too many others, as a percentage of the population, did.
    
    Thank goodness we voted in favour of MMP at the same election.
    
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    May 26, 2021 10:51am
    - Jack5
      
      MMP?
      
      Steve, you usually support STV. What’s happened?
      
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      May 26, 2021 11:11am
      - Steve Todd
        
        Indeed I do, Jack, first and foremost, and always.
        
        However, STV finished a distant second on 19 September 1992, so, in order to get rid of FPP, I had no choice but to get in behind MMP during 1993.
        
        At the risk of boring everyone, once that battle was won, I (with others) then got stuck into an eight-year campaign to get STV enacted for local elections.
        
        So, have no fear, Jack. Nothing happened. I’m just taking it one step at a time. Getting (my version of) STV for parliament is the ultimate goal, but, like so many (in the UK, especially) before me, I am realistic enough to know that I won’t live long enough to see it.
        
        Then again, UK promoters of Meek’s method of STV never dreamed that it would be used in public elections in their lifetimes, either, and then, all of a sudden, in the 90s, along came Stevie on the other side of the world, and the rest is history.
        
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        May 26, 2021 12:02pm
- kowtow
  
  A bit like how Winnie appointed the minority here ,and we are a PI nation .
  
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  May 26, 2021 3:40pm
- tf78
  
  G152, I suspect the outgoing PM will be a bit worried about the deals he made with China if he can’t follow them through.
  
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  May 26, 2021 5:21pm
cmm

The story about the drug dealer leaving loaded guns in his car & house is disturbing on so many levels.

1) What sort of dickhead leaves loaded guns around like that in a house with small kids?
2) Cops say the gun was stashed behind a kid’s bed, defendant says it was in a store room. Geez can’t a detail that big be figured out in a court of law? either the cops are really sloppy at recording evidence or the lawyer’s pretty good at he said/she said.
3) Mother in law says he’s a good boy.
4) Dudge hands out community service to a drug dealer who has 3 ILLEGAL loaded guns (unlicensed owner as well as being illegally modified) lying around + drugs.
5) Crap reporting from Stuff showing picture of a legal shotgun in the hands of a hunter.
6) Crap reporting from Stuff saying it was a 30 gauge (no such thing – maybe a 20 gauge).
7) Poor bloke apparently was forced into crime by the CV19 slump. So desperate for money that he bought a BMW.
8) Judges seem to have given up on ever reforming their “customers”: “While Judge Smith stressed the seriousness of the situation, she also noted it had been at least a decade since Amoroa had come before the court. For someone with his background, she said, that had been a significant triumph.”

Yup, being able to dodge the law for a few years and then be bust with a bunch of drugs and three illegal firearms left around dangerously is now considered “doing really well”.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/drug-dealer-who-stashed-gun-by-kids-bed-avoids-prison-after-surprise-help/2YEGNIWEXZ3XSRPYHVLLAMYZVE/
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May 26, 2021 8:26am
- MCos
  
  Not crap reporting from Stuff, it’s the ODT via the NZH.
  
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  May 26, 2021 9:18am
  - cmm
    
    Thank you for the correction.
    
    It’s a sad day when the Herald is as sloppy as Stuff.
    
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    May 26, 2021 11:18am
    - MCos
      
      The ODT.
      
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      May 26, 2021 3:02pm
      - cmm
        
        The Herald published it.
        
        A paper is still responsible for editing its content even if it was cut n paste from somewhere else.
        
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        May 26, 2021 5:19pm
Steve Todd

The journey away from magical thinking, toward scientific reality and the “embrace of secular humanism”, is an intriguing one.

See https://www.patheos.com/blogs/daylightatheism/2021/05/recovering-a-lost-treasure/?
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May 26, 2021 8:27am
- cmm
  
  There’s a fusion. We now have magical scientific thinking.
  
  People take some ridiculous statement, sprinkle it with some scientific-sounding bullshit to give it credibility, then put it in from of the people and scream at anyone that disagrees that they are science deniers.
  
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  May 26, 2021 8:41am
  - rangitoto
    
    Throw in a taniwha and tree god or two and we are back to stone age polytheism.
    
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    May 26, 2021 10:04am
    - cmm
      
      But at least when people say tainiwha you know they’re nuts.
      
      What’s far more problematic is people mis-quoting science and scientists. Throw in a line or two from Einstein for good effect.
      
      eg.
      
      Solar fanboy : Solar panels are efficient because they use the photo-electric effect that was explained by Einstein.
      Skeptic: No they are not efficient and have some serious problems.
      Solar fanboy: Oh so now you think you’re more clever than Einstein.
      
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      May 26, 2021 11:26am
  - cmm
    
    Here’s another example: some mumbo-jumbo “science” to back up water births
    
    Janine Gard: Water births our aquatic past
    
    “Many evolutionists now support what’s called the ‘aquatic ape theory’, based on the idea that we had a long period in our evolution when we lived by the waterside.”
    
    Apparently water births are the way to go because maybe pre-Neanderthal humans might have lived next to the water.
    
    By that logic we’d have webbed feet, blow holes on the back of our heads and only eat fish.
    
    If we did really have an “aquatic past”, then we’ve had millions of years of evolution to get away from it – so much so that it is now meaningless.
    
    To be clear I have no problems with water birthing and I think it likely has huge benefits in many cases. But let it stand on a factual basis – no need to surround it by bullshit to add more “credibility”.
    
    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/hawkes-bay-today/news/janine-gard-water-births-our-aquatic-past/H3VJ5DAIYXG2BFZJFG3XQZ6BWI/
    
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    May 26, 2021 2:22pm
Maggy Wassilieff

Draft History curriculum under the gun, again.

The draft has the air of a 21st century revival of the 18th century Enlightenment concept of the ‘noble savage’, children of nature in an undisturbed state.
…
Although initial contacts between Māori and Europeans and early colonial history were covered, the Musket Wars were not. Those devastating conflicts between 1806 and 1845 were, as he says, the “longest period of continuous warfare” in Aotearoa New Zealand.

https://www.newsroom.co.nz/telling-it-like-it-was-the-timid-curriculum
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May 26, 2021 8:36am
- cmm
  
  “longest period of continuous warfare” hmmm.
  Well that’s what is recorded.
  If there were records going back to per-European times then quite likely we’d see something very different.
  
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  May 26, 2021 8:44am
  - Cassandra
    
    As Crosby explains in his book, probably not.
    
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    May 26, 2021 9:14am
    - Jack5
      
      So colonialism saved Maori from endemic tribal warfare, bloodshed, brutality, and slavery?
      
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      May 26, 2021 11:21am
      - crikey
        
        And also, eventually, saved what Maori had left of the Moriori.
        
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        May 26, 2021 12:21pm
  - KevO'Brien
    
    There are records. Maori didn’t haven’t a written language but their carvings and art work embody their histories. Ownership of land passed by battle and taking the mana of the disposessed by mouth is all recorded. These establish their individual land titles. That is why Ihumatao is important Fletcher’s title to that from a Maori viewpoint has been taken by activists.
    
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    May 26, 2021 11:24am
Benedict Yu

The new Governor General was the executive director of Greenpeace between 1992 and 1995.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2005/apr/20/childrensservices.guardiansocietysupplement

I realise that does not disqualify her from the job. But it does indicate an outlook on the world and society that is at odds with an objective of growth and prosperity.

At the end of the day it does not matter that much. But in my opinion there were better candidates.
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May 26, 2021 8:47am
- Steve Todd
  
  At the end of the day it does not matter that much.
  
  In actual fact, it doesn’t matter in the slightest.
  
  But in my opinion there were better candidates.
  
  Who’s to say they weren’t approached, but respectfully declined?
  
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  May 26, 2021 9:17am
  - Benedict Yu
    
    And she was the best one of those who did not decline?
    
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    May 26, 2021 9:53am
    - Steve Todd
      
      Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
      Sorry, Benedict. You’re just going to have to wait until we have a government you approve of, before we have another Governor-General to your liking.
      
      Not everyone thinks like you, pal. Get used to it.
      
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      May 26, 2021 10:22am
      - Jack5
        
        Nor does everyone think like you, Steve.
        
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        May 26, 2021 10:59am
      - Steve Todd
        
        @Jack5 @ 10:59AM
        
        True. So very, very true.
        
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        May 26, 2021 12:09pm
Simon

How long before IRD is hacked and all your income details are available on the dark web.

That might wake the tards in Wellington up. They couldnt give a shit about patient details from Hamilton on the dark web. But their own tax information.
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May 26, 2021 8:48am
lemuzz

I would love to see a cost benefit analysis for Hillside Workshops in the manufacture of rolling stock . The machinery required is not what they have now and modern machinery will need major foundation attention. Machinery required will cost millions of dollars. There are large heavy engineering companies in most cities already and could easily manufacture all wagons needed for rail. The skilled workers are all presently employed in a buoyant industry in their city of choice. The government should produce numbers of wagons required, numbers of staff to be employed, where these staff are going to come from and the cost of plant and buildings needed.
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May 26, 2021 8:55am
- Nickc2
  
  Hey, when did money and common sense count for anything? It’s what the Unions want that counts. Who cares about cost-benefit analysis, the taxpayers will foot the bill. //
  
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  May 26, 2021 9:56am
  - Sacha
    
    In my mind, Dunedin is synonymous with the West Coast where Unions are concerned.
    Maybe slightly more bone-headed.
    
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    May 26, 2021 11:53am
    - sooty
      
      But how many workshops have a railway line in the back door?
      Otherwise it’s a case of truck product in and out!
      
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      May 26, 2021 1:02pm
- Captain Mainwaring
  
  And how are locally assembled wagons going to be any cheaper than fully assembled ones? And how is the quality going to be any better when the quality issues are due to shitty Chinese steel irrespective of where the assembly takes place?
  Virtue signalling in the extreme.
  Let’s go back to locally-assembled TVs from Waihi.
  
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  May 26, 2021 10:11am
  - DeepBlue
    
    Really depends on whether a dismantled wagon is shipped per container, or we buy bulk parts to assemble. Both sound very 1970’s.
    
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    May 26, 2021 10:29am
    - Batman
      
      Let us never forget that the good old days were actually a soviet-esque cluster fuck and sent us bankrupt.
      
      9 1
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      May 26, 2021 1:35pm
- Paulus
  
  Aren’t these new Rail Trucks made up from many lego type parts each imported from overseas eg wheels from USA, framing from Japan or China, brakes from Australia – we have no industrial steel manufacturers – all at what cost from fully made up sources.
  
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  May 26, 2021 1:48pm
Rusty

Did our PM say NZ will eventually become a republic sometime in her lifetime?

I think she should keep her views to herself and not predetermine something that hasn’t happened.

The people of this country decides that not her.
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May 26, 2021 8:55am
- MCos
  
  She’s allowed to have an opinion on the matter as a free citizen of NZ.
  PM Jim Bolger was in favour of us becoming a republic.
  Wayne Mapp isn’t, or wasn’t. He may have changed.
  Personally I don’t like the idea of Kiwis being forbidden from being our own HoS.
  
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  May 26, 2021 9:38am
  - MCos
    
    #34 in the line of succession to the British Throne, soon to be 35, has a Maori father. Now wouldn’t a few people on this forum choke on their bile if she somehow became Queen Senna!
    There’s a few people would run a mile before curtsying to a Maori Queen, I’ll be bound!
    
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    May 26, 2021 9:44am
  - Tony Stuart
    
    What she stated however was not framed as an opinion; she effectively made a statement of fact that New Zealand WILL become a republic in her lifetime.
    
    Such a significant constitutional change will require a referendum to drive it, so that every New Zealand voter can have their say. Ms Ardern shouldn’t simply assume that everyone sees the world through the same eyes she does.
    
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    May 26, 2021 10:19am
    - Steve Todd
      
      Frame her comment any way you like, Tony, it was still nothing more than her opinion.
      
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      May 26, 2021 10:34am
      - Jack5
        
        Red Jacinda controls the media: State TV, State Radio, and the subsidised newspapers.
        
        The relevance of Her opinion is in the tradition of Stalin’s, Lenin’s, Mao’s.
        
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        May 26, 2021 11:06am
      - Steve Todd
        
        Hey, Jack. Settle down. A bit OTT, don’t you think?
        
        Jacinda will almost certainly be without political power by November 2026, at the latest — and New Zealand will still firmly be a constitutional monarchy.
        
        Just as she will not act on He Puapua, nor will she act on the monarchy v. republic issue (for the same reasons I gave in response to your 10:58AM comment, at 11:42AM, above).
        
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        May 26, 2021 1:14pm
      - MCos
        
        “Red Jacinda controls the media: State TV, State Radio, and the subsidised newspapers.”
        
        Sure.
        
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        May 26, 2021 3:05pm
- Paulus
  
  Captains’ Call !
  
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  May 26, 2021 1:50pm
Maggie Pie

I vaguely recall a year or two back, there were a lot of comments referring to links between certain Labor Party associates and lawnmowing contractors.

Now I get it… 😀

https://twitter.com/fuchsschwaenzer/status/1396810312280576000
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May 26, 2021 9:09am
- Tony Stuart
  
  Many a true word is spoken in jest…
  
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  May 26, 2021 10:22am
burt

This is a shout out to all those people who supported Biden and are also worried that Shadbolt may have cognitive issues and therefore be unsuitable as a Mayor.

Go you guys, showing your own cognitive dissonance bold and clear for us all to see.
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May 26, 2021 9:10am
- Inandout
  
  burt, ‘none are so blind’ as my Gran used to say.
  
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  May 26, 2021 10:02am
Durden

Quality of NZ “journalists” displayed in Stuff today.

Apparently “The lunar eclipse, where the moon is completely hidden by the sun from Earth…”

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/300316634/blood-supermoon-visible-for-the-first-time-in-40-years-how-to-capture-it
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May 26, 2021 9:28am
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  Grief!
  
  Clearly no-one in Stuff reads the stuff they write.
  
  Did no-one think why we would be able to see a blood red moon if it was completely hidden by the sun?
  
  Did no-one think what would happen to global warming if the sun slipped into orbit between the Earth & the Moon?
  
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  May 26, 2021 9:43am
  - I remember when
    
    Perhaps you are on to something.
    
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    May 26, 2021 9:56am
Maggie Pie

TRENDING….
It’s a year ago today since convicted criminal George Floyd died of a drug overdose.

FOX reports since then…..the good people of Minnieapolis have seen a 108% increase in homocides, a 153% increase in shootings, and a 222% increase in carjackings.

Just saying,
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May 26, 2021 9:30am
- Inandout
  
  Maggie, 108% of gays?
  
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  May 26, 2021 10:04am
I remember when

TV News:
Jacinda, “It (Hillside) will guarantee the quality of our rail infrastructure.”
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May 26, 2021 9:40am
- Happychappy
  
  But they won’t be able to guarantee the the people that use them as their way of transportation as the Hamilton train this morning would have been lucky to have dozen travelers on it this morning.
  
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  May 26, 2021 11:39am
I remember when

Marsden Point Refinery likely to close.
Will this influence the siting of the (ex?) Port of Auckland.
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May 26, 2021 9:41am
- kowtow
  
  No oil refinery.
  
  Talk about a lack of strategic vision, what could possibly go wrong?
  
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  May 26, 2021 10:36am
  - MCos
    
    I expect the people that own the place have taken that into consideration. Presumably it’s cheaper to ship in the finished product than refine it here.
    So it’s only going to be a distribution centre.
    Finished product is imported to three other locations around the country.
    
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    May 26, 2021 11:09am
    - Jack5
      
      With Ardern ending New Zealand’s future oil and gas production potential, there’s less reason to maintain the Marsden Point refinery.
      
      Australia is taking different approach: it’s spending about $NZ2.5 billion subsidising its refineries to keep them operating –
      
      https://news.trust.org/item/20210516235201-79hom
      
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      May 26, 2021 11:31am
      - Ian Boag
        
        Marsden Point is a small refinery. Refineries are sort of built to process specific types of crude and it was not able to process NZ crude – and it was becoming unprofitable.
        
        It is what it is. Go figure.
        
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        May 26, 2021 12:08pm
    - rangitoto
      
      The only reason for having a refinery here would be local oil wells but Taxinda has banned those.
      
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      May 26, 2021 11:44am
      - MCos
        
        It doesn’t refine local oil, never has. It’s a different grade and is shipped elsewhere.
        
        5 2
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        May 26, 2021 12:34pm
    - Nickc2
      
      What will NZ do for petroleum products when China chooses to blockade all supplies in and out of Aust and NZ. Let’s face it, we’ll be effed.
      IMO, we should be buying what we can on the fuel market and storing it where we can for such an occasion.
      
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      May 26, 2021 12:59pm
      - DeepBlue
        
        A Chinese blockade would always exceed our ability to prepay and then store meaningful quantities of fuel.
        
        7 0
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        May 26, 2021 3:35pm
      - MCos
        
        I’ll take my chances, Nick
        
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        May 26, 2021 4:28pm
  - burt
    
    No oil refinery.
    
    Talk about a lack of strategic vision, what could possibly go wrong?
    
    The Great Leap Backwards use to be satire, now we’re living it. Welcome to Arderns’ NZ.
    
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McGillicuddy_Serious_Party
    
    Central policies in every election included a return to a mediaeval lifestyle, known as the “Great Leap Backwards”[6] and (superficially) the restoration of a monarchy…
    
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    May 26, 2021 2:36pm
- fightingtemeraire
  
  They will have to:
  
  1 Put a double line into Akl for the railway.
  
  2 They will have to put in a Motor way from Whangarei Port to Akl.
  
  3 They will have to build more wharves at Whangarei and then put in Container Cranes and all the ancillary equipment.
  
  4 Build accommodation, hospitals, schools etc for the new work force
  
  5 Put in the maintenance facilities for the plant.
  
  6 Move the Navy Base up and put in a dry dock and all the ancillary equipment and accommodation.
  
  10 years and 50 billion +.
  
  Whatever could go wrong with these numpties in charge.
  
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  May 26, 2021 11:33am
  - MCos
    
    The ‘numpties’ are no longer in parliament.
    
    Your points #1 & #2 would make a lot of people happy regardless of the port situation.
    Tourism in the Far North would love better access to the rich Jaffas.
    The extension of the Northern MW to Warkworth is due to open later this year. That’ll help.
    
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    May 26, 2021 12:43pm
    - pseudonymous
      
      And who was it that derided the motorway by calling it “the holiday highway”?
      
      5 0
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      May 26, 2021 4:19pm
      - MCos
        
        Whether or not the label is derisive it’s true.
        Anyone who gets stuck in the holiday traffic north of Silverdale knows that.
        It’s also the arterial route for logging trucks that piss a lot of people off.
        
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        May 26, 2021 7:25pm
Prince

I wonder why, in the Newshub headline world, Judith Collins ‘lashes out’, and Jacinda Ardern ‘pushes back’.
What could Newshub’s agenda possibly be ?
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May 26, 2021 9:45am
- MCos
  
  That’s the nature of our governmental system.
  Oppositions criticize (‘lash out’ in tabloid speak) and governments defends their actions (‘push back’).
  They have to chuck in some histrionics to catch to eye!
  Happens on this forum all the time.
  
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  May 26, 2021 11:17am
- calendar girl
  
  To reveal openly its preference for Ardern’s Labour Party?
  
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  May 26, 2021 11:38am
Aunty

So it’s the 26th of May 2021 today and Group 3 individuals (those who are at high risk of becoming seriously ill from Covid) are supposed to be vaccinated from late May.

Well, it’s late May.

Do you know anyone in this group who has been vaccinated (outside of Labour voters in South and West Auckland) or who has even been contacted by their DHB for a vaccination? Because I don’t.

As we have all predicted, this is going to be the mother of all cluster-fucks!

And the news media is doing what about it?????

Which begs the question what do you do when you have unreliable and untrustworthy news media in your country?
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May 26, 2021 9:53am
- Tony Stuart
  
  I finally got my flu vaccine yesterday. I don’t have a clue when I will be offered a Covid-19 vaccine (I’m 65, with a couple of chronic underlying health conditions), but it won’t be for at least a fortnight after the flu shot.
  
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  May 26, 2021 10:07am
  - Yvette
    
    Tony
    Like you, I’m over 65 (plus a bit more) and with a couple of chronic underlying health conditions.
    The health centre I use rang me to ask if I wanted the ‘flu injection and I said I didn’t want it to compromise my having the covid shot whenever that might come up. And the health centre nurse said you can phone this number and make an appointment for your covid injections.
    So that was arranged by chance.
    I’m still mystified by how I would have otherwise be told when the covid vaccination would have been available.
    
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    May 26, 2021 10:55am
  - Sacha
    
    Tony, you will be fine if you keep your personal space. Stay away from close contact crowds.
    Get out in the fresh air, well wrapped.
    Eat well, & consider taking Vit D. Look after your present medical concerns.
    Above all, don’t worry about an invisible enemy – it may never find you.
    And Go Well.
    
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    May 26, 2021 12:06pm
    - MCos
      
      About all.
      Don’t take medical advice from anonymous strangers.
      
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      May 26, 2021 1:00pm
      - Steve Todd
        
        C’mon, MCos, be fair. Sacha was giving Tony some friendly, general well-being, “in these uncertain times”-advice, not medical advice.
        
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        May 26, 2021 2:25pm
      - MCos
        
        There’s sense in what he says.
        However the graveyards are full of people who haven’t worried about invisible enemies.
        
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        May 26, 2021 3:12pm
- Fidel Cashflow
  
  Just wear a mask then, coz they work eh. The best precaution in the fight against Covid is to stop watching the news.
  
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  May 26, 2021 10:31am
- Daphne Whitethigh
  
  My 84-year-old mother lives in West Auckland and has had no communication about her Covid vaccination. Why is this Group 3 mismanagement not headline news every day?
  
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  May 26, 2021 10:47am
  - KevO'Brien
    
    My GP had hers ages ago and expected to get me in due course. She was not bothered about by polite refusal.
    
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    May 26, 2021 11:34am
  - Aunty
    
    Your mother must be the wrong skin colour, Daphne.
    
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    May 26, 2021 11:34am
- Jules99
  
  I know three over 80’s living in South Auckland who have been invited for an appointment. One of them is in a care home and he had it last week. The other two are taking a wait and see approach, hoping they can get it via their GP later in the year. Both in good health so not that worried. All white, by the way, even though the reason supposedly is to reach Maori and Pacifica.
  
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  May 26, 2021 12:26pm
- MCos
  
  My sister in Ashburton had her second vaccine the other day.
  
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  May 26, 2021 1:06pm
- Paulus
  
  Obviously the so called MSM are not receiving enough regular taxpayers money !
  
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  May 26, 2021 1:54pm
- Aunty
  
  So the latest update (from Business Desk)
  
  “The rollout of the national booking system for New Zealand’s covid-19 vaccination programme is running a month late.”
  
  Apparently, the Covid vaccination booking system that was contracted to an Irish company to do (oy vey!) in a closed procurement process will not now be ready until the end of June and is currently only operational in Otara, Manurewa and Kaikoura. The other DHB will have to wait.
  
  According to the Business Desk article, Group 3 vaccinations were originally supposed to start in mid-April. Then they were pushed back to the end of May and now it looks like they will be pushed back to when, the end of June?
  
  Unbelievable.
  
  Welcome to the thrid-world, folks.
  
  https://businessdesk.co.nz/article/technology/covid-vaccine-booking-system-rollout-a-month-late
  
  (Might be behind their paywall).
  
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  May 26, 2021 5:18pm
  - Nickc2
    
    Yes, and a corrupt 3rd world country governed by a bunch of lying crooks.
    
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    May 26, 2021 7:13pm
I remember when

What a difference a Year makes:
CNN: 5 May, 2020.
“Anthony Fauci just crushed Donald Trump’s theory on the origins of the coronavirus>”
CNN: 245 May, 2021.
“Why is Anthony Fauci hedging on the origins of the coronavirus?”
Why don’t they just do a Fact Check, maybe date it May 2020.
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May 26, 2021 9:54am
- kowtow
  
  Note , now they’ve got rid of Evil orange Man , the Media Pardy are dipping their toes gingerly into places they took the opposite view of only a few months ago.
  
  ps Our dick head useless media still behind on the play. ie Charlie Mitchell “long read” stuffed.
  
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  May 26, 2021 10:35am
  - Batman
    
    Unfortunately headlines have misled you chaps again.
    
    He said that it is highly likely that is originated naturally then infected people in wuhan, including the lab staff. Which makes sense.
    
    Would be great if we actually had a good investigation so we could stop this politically loaded crap about the source.
    
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    May 26, 2021 1:41pm
- Surely Knott
  
  The Shame of the BBC sure. But the Shame of mainstream media in general. Stuff is running an article by Washington Post Fact Checker Glenn Kessler, “Covid- 19 How the Wuhan Lab-leak theory suddenly became credible.” Thanks Glenn it seems we are now allowed to consider this theory. Anyone previously suggesting it as a possibility was called a “conspiracy theory super spreader.” What has changed. He says that some “experts fought against the conventional wisdom and began to build a credible case, rooted in science,….” Yip that’s fine but at the time media said it was a FACT that the virus didn’t come from the the lab. And the herald wrote an article, “The superspreaders behind top covid 19 conspiracy theories” defaming anyone who suggested it was from the Lab, will they apologise? It seems the conspiracy theorists were actually truth tellers and it was the media once again trying to shut down reasonable discussion. The science wasn’t settled and it wasn’t a conspiracy.
  
  https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/the-superspreaders-behind-top-covid-19-conspiracy-theories/3UYYYQVGZUYY2VFYTJA4S5DGCA/
  
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  May 26, 2021 2:18pm
  - doggone7
    
    The Wuhan Lab-leak theory suddenly became credible to millions when the President of the USA said it had come from a lab.
    
    The instant he said that nothing else mattered.
    
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    May 26, 2021 2:47pm
Fletch

Actress Ellen Page has posted an image of her “transformation” into a guy. The Herald has stopped comments being allowed to be made under the story on their Facebook page. Too many “transphobic” comments apparently.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/elliot-page-uploads-first-shirtless-picture-on-instagram/LTTGIH6VQVY2VMH7HW726DWKU4/

To be honest, I think it is horrific. Meanwhile, 60 Minutes has run a segment on young people transitioning and detransitioning and how it is much too easy to do.

https://www.dailywire.com/news/60-minutes-runs-explosive-segment-featuring-young-transgender-individuals-who-decided-to-reverse-course
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May 26, 2021 9:56am
- Swifty
  
  Elliot Page is not a bloke and never will be.
  
  A woman can no more become a man than I could become 7ft tall, or Chinese, or a horse.
  
  Don’t get me wrong, I believe Elliot Page should be free to do anything they see fit; talk, think and act anyway they like – but ‘they’ will never be a man just as men can never ‘become’ women.
  
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  May 26, 2021 10:23am
- Fidel Cashflow
  
  Never heard of him; couldn’t care less.
  
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  May 26, 2021 10:32am
- Aunty
  
  Frankly, am I the only one who just doesn’t care and is not interested?
  
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  May 26, 2021 10:46am
  - alex Masterley
    
    Nope.
    I am in that dont care/not interested segment as well.
    
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    May 26, 2021 2:51pm
- Bobba Fret
  
  So that’s what you have to do these days to get six pack abs!
  
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  May 26, 2021 11:39am
  - Fletch
    
    Probably transplanted them in at the same time.
    
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    May 26, 2021 4:34pm
Nickc2

Hey, when did money and common sense count for anything? It’s what the Unions want that counts. Who cares about cost-benefit analysis, the taxpayers will foot the bill.
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May 26, 2021 9:57am
Maggy Wassilieff

I hadn’t realised Dr Shane Reti was so familiar with the IT set-ups in our Health System.

But Judith Collins mentioned on Morning Report today, that he has practical experience in this field.

That would explain why he has been so anxious to ensure that our DHBs were on top of IT security.

It is such a pity that his Tuesday Morning interviews on RNZ First-Up (around 5:50am) are not more widely broadcast.

https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/first-up/audio/2018796816/national-s-shane-reti-samoa-dame-kiro-and-cyber-security

(His comments on Hospital cyber-security are from 2:30 min)
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May 26, 2021 9:59am
- Tony Stuart
  
  Dr Reti is familiar with most things in the health system having been a GP, an Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School, an adviser to the NZ Consulate in Dubai and a member of the Whangarei District Health Board. His health credentials are impressive and impeccable.
  
  He is still registered as a medical practitioner, and sees patients when Parliament is not sitting to keep his hand in.
  
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  May 26, 2021 10:28am
  - DeepBlue
    
    Your last paragraph is most interesting and a refreshing surprise.
    
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    May 26, 2021 10:33am
    - Tony Stuart
      
      Yes, I was surprised when I first read about it too. But having met the bloke a couple of times, I shouldn’t have been surprised at all; he is a remarkable bloke.
      
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      May 26, 2021 10:43am
      - Bobba Fret
        
        In my opinion he is one of National’s most talented MP’s and they need more of his calibre.
        
        18 0
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        May 26, 2021 12:09pm
      - Tony Stuart
        
        I’d go even further, and say that he is one of the most talented MP’s in the entire Parliament.
        
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        May 26, 2021 12:14pm
      - Bobba Fret
        
        Yes Tony I agree he is one of the most talented in all of Parliament. I was taking it as a given that everyone knows that the talent in Labour is so sparse, that pretty much all National MP’s are more talented than the Labour party equivalents.
        
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        May 26, 2021 1:37pm
  - Tony Stuart
    
    Oh, and he’s also certified as a Chartered Accountant!
    
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    May 26, 2021 10:40am
    - Bobba Fret
      
      Remember Seymour’s quote: “If Kelvin Davis is number 2, and Phil Twyford is no. 4 on the list, then imagine what no. 50 is like.”
      That’s gold IMO.
      
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      May 26, 2021 1:39pm
Inandout

Don Lemon’s viewership on CNN has dropped 75%, that is a whopping amount.
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May 26, 2021 10:17am
- Fidel Cashflow
  
  75% of fuck all is still fuck all. Not much has changed then.
  
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  May 26, 2021 10:33am
- Maggie Pie
  
  We stopped watching him ever since it was reported he’d put his hand down his own shorts and played with his genitals, before then putting his fingers under some poor guys nose in a bar and asking him….. “if he liked the smell of pussy or dik”
  
  (Was talk he’d been charged with sexual assault….. but I’m not sure of the outcome)
  
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  May 26, 2021 10:58am
  - Swifty
    
    Disgusting.
    
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    May 26, 2021 11:49am
- Batman
  
  Ahhh yes so you found the story on the Fox website, very good.
  
  I’m sure they also included that all cable has dropped and Tucker Carlson has been particularly badly hit…
  
  “Cable News Network Viewership Continued To Drop In April Vs. 2020 – Deadline” https://deadline.com/2021/04/cable-news-viewership-drops-across-the-board-in-april-1234745199/amp/
  
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  May 26, 2021 1:45pm
Fletch

Are we being given conflicting information on the pause of the travel bubble? The news report is telling me –

“New Zealand’s travel bubble with Victoria has been paused as Melbourne’s latest Covid-19 outbreak grows to nine confirmed cases.”

https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/morning-briefing-may-26-new-travel-headaches-nz-shuts-door-victoria

But I know someone in Australia who is saying, “it’s not 9 either it’s 6 and restrictions are only in place for greater melb not all Vic. Is no travel anywhere outside of melb”
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May 26, 2021 10:20am
- DeepBlue
  
  Maybe the issue is flights via Melbourne Airport, but the backdoor to greater Victoria via Sydney, Adelaide etc remains available as long as the interstate borders stay open.
  
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  May 26, 2021 10:36am
- Fidel Cashflow
  
  Conflicting information on Covid? It’s been conflicting since day one, which is why I don’t believe anything they say.
  
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  May 26, 2021 10:38am
Libertarians are right

I’ve done some more reading about the Samoan situation and the argument for 5 female MPs seems to be that since the “this is currently 5” was not changed to 6, the Supreme Court made their decision based on 5. They are basically saying it’s the previous Government’s fault for not updating the Constitution.

The issue is that I’ve looked through the Constitution for any sign of legislative amendments re the change from 49 to 51 MPs and there are none (the Electoral Constituencies Act 2019 makes the change but doesn’t explicitly amend the Constitution) which would suggest that the document is partially fluid with regards to numbers that can fluctuate and it may simply be a bureaucratic admin error to not update 5 to 6 when they updated 49 to 51 rather than MPs missing their chance re legislative changes.

Since Bureaucrats have no legislative power or the power to make legal rulings (i.e. what constitutes 10%), then surely the “this is currently 5” is irrelevant and was only relevant when it was written (when there were only 49 MPs)?

I might be wrong of course since there is no secondary legislation regarding female representation but it looks like an admin error rather than a legislative error.
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May 26, 2021 10:45am
- KevO'Brien
  
  These matters will be sorted out at the Joint Heads of State level.
  
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  May 26, 2021 11:38am
I remember when

Stuff: 21 May: The Scientist and the rabbit hole:
“In August Thornley said Sweden looked like it may have reached ‘herd immunity.'”
The article then stated that ‘Sweden’s confirmed cases have increased 10-fold since August.’
This statement is obviously on a par with the statement claimed to have been made by Thornley.
It can only be correct as a reflection of official testing having massively increased.
Covid Deaths to 31 Jul, 2020. Total – 5719.
From 1 Aug 2020 to 24 May 2021. Total – 8641.
Surely the article isn’t suggesting that covid has become less deadly in Sweden since the First of August last year.
In fact, the potency is only 15% of that of the first wave.
Should we be celebrating the remarkable performance of the Swedish medical system.
An interesting fact of the Swedish deaths is that they peaked at largely the same number of daily deaths.
When the timing is considered, Spring for the first wave, and Winter for the second, this suggests some possible improved outcomes.
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May 26, 2021 10:56am
Maggie Pie

With the decision as to whether this years Olympic Games will go ahead still hangs in the balance….it makes you wonder as to why women athletes would bother to compete anyway.

https://twitter.com/OKBiology/status/1389192371238277120
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May 26, 2021 11:27am
Maggie Pie

And remember a few days back when I asked for a friend if there were any rules around having CCTV cameras installed in the women’s changing rooms?

What about this creep!
Managed to get name suppression by claiming he was…. ‘mentally ill’. Nothing to do with who he was or what he did of course.
I’m sure some people think I’m slightly mad – but I don’t go round filming them in their toilets!!

https://twitter.com/nzherald/status/1397106439538286593
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May 26, 2021 11:58am
Inandout

Power corrupts and this guy is a classic example.
https://trends.gab.com/feed/5e8275900d86876052a853ae/item/60ad8c668bc2c720dca9d236

Why anyone would live on FB amuses me.
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May 26, 2021 11:58am
- Batman
  
  I know right, for lots of people it leads to believing in a secret plot of unseat the deep state, crazy theories about bamboo ballots, and an alternative reality where no other opinions get through.
  
  3 8
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  May 26, 2021 1:54pm
  - Inandout
    
    Bat, you are either terribly gullible and tribal left or something more weird. If somehow Jesus arrived in a chariot in a blaze of thunder you would claim it was a Hollywood stunt. It happened Bat, end of story.
    
    8 3
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    May 26, 2021 2:19pm
- Vory v zakone
  
  Meanwhile…
  The “conspiracy theorists” are gaining traction in New Hampshire, Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, and Pennsylvania!
  
  Is it possible that the “conspiracy theorists” are NOT “conspiracy theorists” at ALL?
  
  Question: How many sound asleep Americans are going to wake up to eat crow when they realize they were played by a bunch of mockingbirds and traitors???
  
  Answer: Too many.
  #thebestisyettocome
  
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  May 26, 2021 8:53pm
cmm

This is a sad business, but it really does underline how ineffective police are in dealing with the issues before they escalate to the point where the knives come out.

How does a bloke rack up 21 noise complaints with no consequences so that he keeps on offending?

The cops did nothing.

No wonder the victim of this abuse (and subsequently the murder victim, ok ALLEDGED) was driven to the vigilante act that sparked this.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/125250055/murderaccused-told-police-it-was-a-good-thing-nz-did-not-have-death-penalty
11 0
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May 26, 2021 12:09pm
- MCos
  
  I’m picking the noise wasn’t as bad as the article would make out.
  
  0 14
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  May 26, 2021 1:10pm
- Inandout
  
  cmm, I was once told by a sparky that if noisy house has a pole feed then those porcelain insulators make good targets for a slug gun with night vision. Apparently takes many hours for the power board to respond but the stereo is muted.
  
  9 1
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  May 26, 2021 2:24pm
  - Steve Todd
    
    Inny, in terms of getting away with it, that might work, but only if no-one in the neighbourhood knows you have a slug gun with night vision. How likely would that be?
    
    3 1
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    May 26, 2021 2:50pm
    - Inandout
      
      Steve, my neighbours know my car, my mower and little else if I was so inclined to own an air rifle.
      
      7 1
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      May 26, 2021 4:22pm
      - Steve Todd
        
        Fair enough, but my reference to “you” was collective, not specifically aimed just at you.
        
        1 1
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        May 26, 2021 5:05pm
cmm

Now here’s a story for all boys to read.

Keep your dick away from crazy.

FFS: Genetic pain, negative patterns imprinted on their DNA…

I’ll wager 50cents and a servo pie she will say it can all be backed up with science about energy fields etc.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/meghan-doing-reiki-on-archie-to-cure-genetic-pain-source-claims/4ADLDSCYYASTEB4VQM24652XH4/
13 1
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May 26, 2021 12:55pm
- lifesgood
  
  OMG, Harry’s got a screw loose, so has his wife. She’s poisonous. How come she was with her previous husband for at least 8 years leading a very happy lifestyle with no sign or talk of genetic pain. She only dumped him, by text message I might add, because she wanted to further her career. Poor Harry, he’s such a complete and utter fool to get sucked in by this black widow. I wonder when it will all come crashing down.
  
  15 3
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  May 26, 2021 1:04pm
  - Nickc2
    
    IMO, she must have been the easiest bonk he ever had in his life and all she could see was a sure-fire way to become a real-life princess (it didn’t work out too well though). Prior husbands and things can’t stand in the way of progress where being a real princess is concerned.
    
    11 3
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    May 26, 2021 1:14pm
  - MCos
    
    Do you get all your info from tabloids royal ‘experts’ & supposed ‘close confidants’?
    
    All this bullshit is just another reason why we should strip away all this Keeping Up With the Windsors tinsel & make our own way in the world.
    https://youtu.be/-4s_J10_dRY
    
    5 6
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    May 26, 2021 1:36pm
  - Inandout
    
    lifes, I can understand ‘fanny whipped’ but Harry had a whole army of beautiful women at his beck and call. Why pick a slapper?
    
    11 3
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    May 26, 2021 2:00pm
    - MCos
      
      Hash.
      
      BTW
      I know you might get all your info from read fairy tales to children, but Princes don’t go around ‘picking’ who they will marry.
      On second thoughts.
      Charles did.
      
      3 4
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      May 26, 2021 3:18pm
- rockape
  
  I think Andrew had an over protective mother and now has Mummy issues. Poor guy just needs a decent root of someone his own age.
  
  4 1
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  May 26, 2021 4:45pm
Prince

Here we go. Vaccine supply is delayed.
Does the Govt;
a) Be upfront and announce the rollout is delayed by at least a month, and they are doing everything possible to get back on track to complete by year end. Admit their ordering and contracting process has been caught out and earlier assurances about ‘first in queue’ were baseless, or
b) Carefully plant some comments about ‘some risk’ to the rollout, change a few words on the website, try to squeeze out more jabs per vial against manufacturers (and DoH) instructions, and generally try to bullshit their way through and pretend nothing has gone wrong.

Not a difficult question given this is the most deceitful, obfuscating, marketing-driven Govt in our history.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/125251076/government-to-delay-rollout-of-vaccine-to-general-population-by-weeks
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May 26, 2021 1:22pm
- Jack5
  
  An outbreak such as occurred in the world’s most successful pandemic controller, Taiwan, would likely end the Jacinda Rapture.
  
  Taiwan last week raised the Covid-19 alert to level 3, and this has now been extended to June 14. School classes have been suspended until then.
  
  The Taipei Times today reports Taiwan’s Central Epidemic Command Centre expects he CECC expects 2 million doses of vaccines to arrive by the end of June and 10 million doses, including local ones, to be available by August.
  
  Latest cases (to today):
  
  Taiwan:
  23.5 million people; 5,456 Covid cases; 35 deaths; cases per million people, 229.
  
  New Zealand:
  5 million people; 2,669 cases; 26 deaths; cases per million people, 534.
  
  Taiwan news:
  
  https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2021/05/26/2003758060
  
  7 0
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  May 26, 2021 2:11pm
  - DeepBlue
    
    Last week reports were that one cluster began with Chinese pilots overnighting in Taiwan. China was only mentioned briefly before being removed from later articles. I found it interesting for two reasons:
    1. Why are pilots with Covid flying?
    2. Hasn’t China reportedly all but eliminated Covid cases?
    
    8 0
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    May 26, 2021 3:47pm
    - Inandout
      
      Deep, this merely adds fuel to the fire of those who have thoughts the Chinese deliberately released the virus. Either way it has completely wrecked the western economies.
      
      6 1
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      May 26, 2021 4:26pm
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  I think you have to PAY for it before it is made, and delivery instigated.
  Maybe ask Grant? Maybe not ask Grant? Ask Jaspinda, Chippie, Woods? no don’t do that, they all tell lies as well
  
  4 3
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  May 26, 2021 4:56pm
mandk

Well, blow me down:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/125251076/government-to-delay-rollout-of-vaccine-to-general-population-by-weeks

I tell you, my gast has never been so flabbered.
24 1
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May 26, 2021 2:02pm
- cmm
  
  Good news: Cindy shows up to take the podium.
  Bad news: she’s off touring a kindy.
  
  9 0
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  May 26, 2021 5:17pm
cmm

I am surprised, but perhaps I am not, by the stream of bullshit in the RNZ article on the National Māori Authority pushing their advocacy on booze.

“The National Māori Authority is demanding a halt on licences for new bottle stores, after multiple highly-publicised assaults in Auckland and Wellington CBDs.”

Oh, the good old “the booze did it” excuse. We’re seeing a whole lot of gangs shooting eachother and gang members attacking eachother. Nope, gangs are not the problem – it’s the booze.

“He told Checkpoint there is a sort of turf war situation developing on the central city streets late at night, where big, violent groups stick together and are on the lookout for anyone they do not like coming too close.” So gangs then.

“When you look at it, 495 million litres of alcohol sold in New Zealand in 2020 alone; 293 million litres of beer, 112 million litres of wine, 89 million litres of spirits. That equates to 100 or thereabouts litres on average between every man, woman and child in the country,”

Ok, maybe 495 million litres of booze, but it’s much less alcohol – probably an average of approx 7% alcohol so around 35 million litres of alcohol.

“We know that deprived communities experience more harm per drink, than more advanced communities with the same drinking patterns.”

Really? If so then it is not the booze that’s the problem but the people.

If so, then since everyone is out to make new racist laws in NZ maybe it is time to make differential laws for buying booze. Maybe Maori should be disallowed access to booze under certain conditions (eg. no spirits or no purchases after 7pm at night). Maybe alcohol free areas like they have in Alaska (no booze in Northland?).

PS: Why do even need Maori Wardens?

https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/morning-briefing-may-26-new-travel-headaches-nz-shuts-door-victoria
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May 26, 2021 2:08pm
- 70andstilllearning
  
  🙂 Already booze free areas in Northland ( council controls) plus no pub 🙂 ’cause woke AKL’ers (dreamers) shut it down once they bought it.
  
  Didn’t solve anything, as local “sports” clubs simple got licences instead.
  
  5 1
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  May 26, 2021 2:54pm
- 70andstilllearning
  
  FWIIW MA’s (runuanga for example) push the protestant “no booze” mantra but there is no pragmatic internal application – trust me.
  
  5 2
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  May 26, 2021 3:15pm
  - sooty
    
    No booze for maori, might work!
    
    3 0
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    May 26, 2021 3:59pm
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Certain places in Alaska are alcohol free. Get caught and you are in deep shit
  
  4 1
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  May 26, 2021 5:00pm
  - cmm
    
    Only if you’re a dealer. The drinkers themselves are “victims”.
    
    It makes easy money for smugglers. They can make a x10 mark up on booze for transporting it less than 50km.
    
    6 0
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    May 26, 2021 5:26pm
    - Jack5
      
      The National Maori Authority is a bullshit organisation with no “authority” about it whatsoever.
      
      For a discussion of this read the 12.40 and 5.44 posts, both near the bottom of General Debate thread, May 15:
      
      https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2021/05/general_debate_15_may_2021.html
      
      4 1
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      May 26, 2021 8:25pm
Maggie Pie

A tennis bezzie Tweets…..

‘In case you were wondering why Hazza has been keeping photos of Archie away from the media. LOL!!’

https://twitter.com/newscomauHQ/status/1397366878251601921

😀 😀 😀
7 2
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May 26, 2021 2:22pm
- kevn
  
  @Maggie… The house of reiki for baby and the family dog.
  
  3 0
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  May 26, 2021 2:57pm
  - Maggie Pie
    
    Om
    
    1 1
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    May 26, 2021 3:38pm
Loddenthinks

“We went hard, and we went early.”

“We’re at the head of the queue for vaccines.”

“There has not been a delay in the vaccine rollout.”

The reality is we went slow and soft, we’re at the back of the queue for vaccines, out vaccine rollout rate is by some distance the lowest of the OECD, and the government has just announced a (further) delay in the vaccine rollout. And in the same breath denied that it’s a delay.

It seems their stock lie is to say “We’ve always said…..” and hope like hell no media digging will uncover that they’ve never said any such thing. By an incredibly fortuitous set of circumstances, completely unrelated to the $105 m bribes, no media digging has taken place. Go figure.
25 0
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May 26, 2021 2:37pm
- fernglas
  
  “https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/443357/report-outlines-risks-posed-by-shortage-of-covid-19-vaccinators-in-auckland”
  And yet my partner, a recently retired GP, applied to go on the list of vaccinators two months ago and has only just received a circular saying that they have finally set up a system to contact applicants to get trained. The Ministry lies.
  
  16 0
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  May 26, 2021 3:18pm
  - Loddenthinks
    
    They lie like a flatfish.
    
    8 0
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    May 26, 2021 5:16pm
- kowtow
  
  Mere detail , of which the “She Saved Us Cultists” care not .
  
  The same people who don’t care about the very long list of failures and sneaky ventures this regime is responsible for.
  
  Instead of “Kia Ora , Welcome to Aotearoa ” signs at the ports we really should have;
  
  Abandon hope all ye who enter here.
  
  8 1
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  May 26, 2021 3:34pm
- 70andstilllearning
  
  Got the flu jab early May, rang up for C19 jab and told mid June appointment – sweet. Might be “lucky”, but will want {“guarantee”//sarc} , that I will get the second within required required effectiveness parameters before I submit to the first.
  
  7 0
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  May 26, 2021 3:35pm
  - sooty
    
    The cheques in the mail!
    
    3 0
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    May 26, 2021 3:56pm
- mandk
  
  Don’t be alarmed. It’s all part of NZ’s Minister of Sport’s cunning plan to ensure our FIFA world football ranking (122) is higher than our vaccine roll-out ranking.
  
  3 1
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  May 26, 2021 4:02pm
Maggy Wassilieff

Looks like the Waikato Hospital Hack is turning into a major pickle for our Government.

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/443399/waikato-dhb-cyber-attack-top-government-officials-hold-crisis-meeting
15 0
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May 26, 2021 3:20pm
- DeepBlue
  
  The crisis team should have been stood up on Day 1.
  
  6 0
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  May 26, 2021 3:51pm
  - cmm
    
    Unfortunately the problem solvers are often the last people listened to in a disaster.
    
    First they (the people in power) try to paper over the cracks. The last thing they want is someone telling them how much shit they are in.
    
    Then, by the time they are prepared to actually listen things have got way out of hand.
    
    9 0
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    May 26, 2021 5:33pm
- JerJer
  
  Sounds like they were completely unprepared for an event like this (which seems all too common). The CEO is making noises suggesting that they don’t have proper backups. Complete lack of disaster recovery planning here. They have lost the records, and the systems, they are going to have to pay whoever has locked them out, or they are done I suspect.
  
  8 0
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  May 26, 2021 3:54pm
  - cmm
    
    To be fair:
    A) Handling a hack is a very complicated business and requires a wide range of specialized IT skills. It is not something most IT departments are adequately trained and experienced in (after all, how often does it happen to any one organisation).
    B) This is the sort of thing that is complex enough that a national “squad” should be available to all government entities – a bunch of people that understand how to deal with this properly. We could justify that as a single “squad” for the whole of NZ, but not for every DHB to have one.
    
    8 0
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    May 26, 2021 5:31pm
    - Maggy Wassilieff
      
      a national “squad” should be available to all government entities –
      
      Thought that’s what the GCSB was for…
      and isn’t there an electronics specialist unit in the NZ Police?
      
      5 0
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      May 26, 2021 5:52pm
- sooty
  
  It’s that important that they are finally going to meet the goverment two weeks late!
  
  6 0
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  May 26, 2021 3:55pm
- MrTips
  
  Maggy, you don’t know the half of it.
  
  I said when it hit the news that it would become a bid-fest on the dark web.
  
  It already is.
  
  People forget that DHB servers link to a lot of other sites.
  
  Hold on to your privacy…..O wait, its just gone for tens of thousands of NZers.
  
  7 0
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  May 26, 2021 4:53pm
  - KevO'Brien
    
    Who’s next?
    
    5 1
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    May 26, 2021 6:32pm
- KevO'Brien
  
  What’s the ransom?
  
  5 1
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  May 26, 2021 6:32pm
Maggy Wassilieff

Our open, upfront, and in your face Government lackies caught out obfuscating and creeping around the Podium of Truth (again).

https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2021/05/covid-19-response-minister-chris-hipkins-dr-ashley-bloomfield-accused-of-hiding-vaccination-delays.html
15 0
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May 26, 2021 5:13pm
cmm

Poor bugger is going to get sentenced in July. More golf lessons?

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/alleged-isis-sympathiser-found-guilty-of-possessing-objectionable-hymns-acquitted-of-video-and-knife-charges/JF6SXPT46W5YYDG5S5O6F53Y34/
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May 26, 2021 5:14pm
Jack5

White allies of Maori separatists should be embarrassed by Maori Party co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer’s description of them.

In the “NZ Herald”, Ngarewa-Packer describes these folk, non-Maori New Zealanders, as people of the treaty, tangata tiriti, as distinguished from tangata whenua, or Maori.

Ngarewa-Packer says of these non-Maori allies of racial separatism:

“They are bold in their stances, often on the front line of many Maori protests, they’re respectful of reo and tikanga Maori and are able to recite karakia and their pepeha.

“They’re comfortable loudly declaring they’re recovering racists, and they teach anti-racism, extremely secure in knowing their place side by side with tangata whenua ushering in a new Aotearoa.”

“Recovering racists” campaigning for racial separatism, for neo-apartheid? Like an Alcoholics Anonymous branch brewing a craft beer.

A clue to Ngarewa-Packer’s thought comes from her description of her mother. She describes her as an Irish woman who “recognised the strength of her privilege”.

The Herald plug for the Maori Party’s Ngarewa-Packer:

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/maori-party-co-leader-debbie-ngarewa-packer-why-im-excited-about-the-future-of-aotearoa/TTK4URKUOF2BN6P3E6VU247HWM/
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May 26, 2021 5:14pm
- Prince
  
  This racial segregation will not end well.
  
  9 0
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  May 26, 2021 5:42pm
surfing

I understand there will be a blood moon tonight.

Under the new NCEA maori based curriculum, science teachers will be required to teach that the blood moon is caused by a battle between the moon and Rona.
13 5
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May 26, 2021 5:21pm
- Mike
  
  Yeah nah, no they won’t, any more than they will be ‘required’ to teach that Moses parted the Red Sea. Teaching of fables is optional, except in religious schools.
  
  3 3
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  May 26, 2021 5:56pm
  - surfing
    
    But , this is maori science, not fables.
    
    5 2
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    May 26, 2021 7:12pm
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    It mightn’t be compulsory… but the Myth of Rona and Mārama is well and truly integrated into the NZ Science curriculum already
    
    https://scienceonline.tki.org.nz/layout/set/lightbox/Nature-of-science/Nature-of-Science-Teaching-Activities/Different-stories-about-the-Moon-Rona-me-te-Marama
    
    7 2
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    May 26, 2021 7:31pm
    - mikenmildagain
      
      Discuss the story of Rona and any traditional stories that students know from other cultures for explaining the shapes seen in the Moon’s appearance.
      
      Pretty dangerous stuff.
      
      1 3
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      May 26, 2021 8:58pm
      - graham
        
        * sigh * I don’t believe anybody claimed this was “dangerous” apart from YOU, mikenmildagain.
        
        surfing mentioned that “Under the new NCEA maori based curriculum, science teachers will be required to teach that the blood moon is caused by a battle between the moon and Rona.”
        
        You basically said surfing was full of it – “Yeah nah, no they won’t, any more than they will be ‘required’ to teach that Moses parted the Red Sea. Teaching of fables is optional, except in religious schools.”
        
        Maggy pointed out that in fact it’s YOU who is full of it – “It mightn’t be compulsory… but the Myth of Rona and Mārama is well and truly integrated into the NZ Science curriculum already” and provided proof.
        
        At which point you started deflecting.
        
        2 1
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        May 27, 2021 7:42am
      - Maggy Wassilieff
        
        At which point you started deflecting.
        
        standard techniques for MMA/Mike troll
        
        Deflect/obfuscate/ introduce red herrings/abuse /lie
        
        1 1
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        May 27, 2021 7:50am
  - graham
    
    Have you looked at the Ministry of Education website recently, Mike?
    
    Here’s an exciting page for you – Aotearoa New Zealand’s histories books for schools.
    
    To promote Aotearoa New Zealand’s histories, the Ministry of Education is inviting schools and kura to order up to $200 of high-quality history books for their libraries.
    
    Two of the “high-quality history books” pictured at the below website are titled “How Maui Fished Up the North Island” and “Myths and Legends of Aotearoa”.
    
    https://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/News/Aotearoa-New-Zealand-s-histories-books-for-schools
    
    6 2
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    May 26, 2021 8:43pm
- Keith White
  
  “Moons that menstruate.”
  
  3 2
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  May 26, 2021 6:52pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

Nice – in the background. This is satire for you Mods who miss it …

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HObSl1xeD3s
4 2
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May 26, 2021 6:08pm
greybeard

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/125255376/terrorism-control-order-applied-to-person-linked-with-islamic-state-and-due-to-arrive-in-new-zealand
Totally stupid naive woke stupidity.
Refuse to have him.
3 1
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May 26, 2021 6:16pm
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  Probably a her…
  
  https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/new-zealand-says-australia-abdicated-responsibilities-over-dual-citizen-arrested-in-turkey-20210216-p572xx.html
  
  4 0
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  May 26, 2021 9:22pm
alwyn

My opinion of the Whanganui City Council has gone way, way up.
Not the Mayor but the Council.
They have decided that if they have $20 million to spend it should go on housing, not roofing their old velodrome.
This follows on from them deciding not to have Maori wards in the next election, in spite of the Mayor being keen on the idea.
Can we please have Councilors like that in Wellington?
11 0
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May 26, 2021 6:53pm
- Keith White
  
  Don’t raise it too high – this lot made the Wanganui River a person FFS.
  
  7 2
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  May 26, 2021 7:21pm
  - sooty
    
    So they are going to build a lot of council flats?
    Better make them bullet proof!
    
    0 0
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    May 26, 2021 9:44pm

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