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July 17, 2021 8:00am by Kokila Patel

General Debate 17 July 2021

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General Debate

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Happychappy

Finance Minister Grant Robertson has described the highest inflation in a decade as a” problem of growth ” as said earlier in another article growing pains, brushing off concerns that labour policies are forcing prices up.
“New Zealand is in a strong position economically, we have good levels of growth, we have low employment, there are now something’s coming through that are part of our system designed to manage that ” Robertson said on Friday.
His comments come after Stats NZ reported the annual inflation had increased to 3.3% the biggest increase in ten years, which it said was driven by Housing and petrol.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2021/07/finance-minister-grant-robertson-brushes-off-concerns-labour-policies-caused-inflation-increase.html
This what happens when you let the Reserve Bank and the Finance Minister loose with printing money and tossing it about like it’s never ending and using the popularity as a election bribe to keep you in power until problems like this surface and you have know where to hide.
People only have to go back to the late 1980’s when people couldn’t afford to pay their mortgages and lost their houses through high inflation to realize if you can’t control it there will be pain and lots of it.
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July 17, 2021 8:00am
- Happychappy
  
  I am not a fan of Stuffs Senior Editor but Luke Malpass has excelled today in his column on the Government. Those that don’t believe Labour ,Jacinda Ardern and Grant Robertson have used COVID-19 to foster votes and elecectioneered on Covid , this is telling from Luke Malpass with this paragraph.
  Labour has found a Covid formula that works for it Politically and appears eager to stick to it. There’s also been a lesson from Australia’s Scott Morrison; don’t make promises you can’t keep, but that can be excuse for inaction while economics build inside our little Island fortress.
  https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/125774130/forget-covid19–the-retail-politics-of-costofliving-is-coming
  
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  July 17, 2021 8:32am
  - Loddenthinks
    
    I’m happy to take your word for it Chappy, but I won’t go there. I’ll give stuff-all to $1uffed.
    
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    July 17, 2021 10:16am
- RockyJ
  
  It’s the economy, stupid.
  Cameron Slater makes the point that Labour has a perfect record of always leaving office with the economy in recession. It would be worth it if that is what it takes to get this destructive crowd out of our lives
  
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  July 17, 2021 8:50am
  - gump
    
    I wouldn’t take anything Cameron Slater says seriously. He quite literally has a perfect record of wrecking every business he has been involved with.
    
    It’s fairly easy to see where his obsession with blaming politicians comes from. It allows him to avoid taking any personal responsibility for his own lengthy record of failure and incompetence.
    
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    July 17, 2021 9:39am
    - krazykiwi
      
      In this instance Slater is correct. Labour governments leave office with our economy in recession. No amount of detesting the guy changes the accuracy of his assertion
      
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      July 17, 2021 10:44am
      - gump
        
        It’s not true though. That’s the problem.
        
        Slater has never told the truth. The recent court proceedings have made that point painfully clear to everyone.
        
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        July 17, 2021 12:39pm
      - krazykiwi
        
        Sorry gump. It is true. The first time I heard this assertion I decided to verify it, and went back over the records. To be fair there was one National government that left office with a recession in play. But Labour governments have definitely cornered the market on screwing the economy.
        
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        July 17, 2021 1:39pm
    - igm
      
      Slater runs a damm good blog, no room or time for gutless useless leeching lefties!
      
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      July 17, 2021 12:07pm
      - gump
        
        Slater ran multiple companies into the ground which collectively swindled and withheld hundreds of thousands of dollars in unpaid taxes from the NZ taxpayer. This is extensively and unambiguously detailed in the receivership reports which accompanied the business failures.
        
        Remind me again who is the leech?
        
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        July 17, 2021 12:32pm
    - kevn
      
      @gump… Slater is doing much more than you, who is just minor sniping from the sidelines.
      
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      July 17, 2021 7:56pm
- Simon
  
  Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
  Did National oppose the RBNZ’s large scale asset purchase? What is National position on this now?
  
  In theory RBNZ could sell back the bonds in the market and reverse the money printing i.e start draining the money printing. Is that National’s position?
  
  National claim they are for “free markets” but the RBNZ’s massive money printing is a horrible state distortion of the economy. But then Labo & National are joined at the hip.
  
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  July 17, 2021 8:55am
  - Tony Stuart
    
    I think you’ll find National has expressed concern at the level of borrowing and QE for a number of months. It’s just that you never get to hear about it! Just this week, Andrew Bayly applauded the stop to stimulus.
    
    https://www.national.org.nz/halt-to-monetary-stimulus-welcomed
    
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    July 17, 2021 9:35am
  - Liberty
    
    “Labo & National are joined at the hip.”
    The stupid statement of the week.
    There will always be some similarities between parties.
    Such as pillage and spend. How that is achieved or justified is very different
    Between between Labour and National
    Labour has to comply with the failed marxist / UN agenda. Of wealth distribution and social engineering. Property rights are the anti christ unless you are Maori.
    National is for growth and the freedom of choice. Granted it hasn’t always worked.
    But it would be far better than living in a virtual gulag.
    
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    July 17, 2021 10:44am
- In Vino Veritas
  
  What a load of tosh. Robertson wouldn’t know his arse from his elbow. Growing pains. What a turd. Increasing money supply = inflation of money supply. Low unemployment means plenty of demand but if production doesn’t keep up with demand, then inflation. And of course prices of imports are going up and there are supply chain issues. He needs to sod off back to being a student politician, then decisions he makes have no consequences.
  And on the RBNZ, most of the Aussie bank head honcho’s think Orr is a moron. And they’d be correct.
  
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  July 17, 2021 8:55am
  - Paulus
    
    Orr is not a moron – he is a puppet of his boss Robertson who is though.
    
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    July 17, 2021 10:35am
    - kowtow
      
      Orr ?
      
      Forest trees and the economy , spends a fortune doing up the lobby , produces reports which are nothing but maori word salads ……
      
      I’ll go with the Ozzie bankers’opinion , thank you.
      
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      July 17, 2021 3:18pm
  - Liberty
    
    The principle reason for rocketing inflation is the productive sector being forced to comply to Labour government socialist agenda.
    
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    July 17, 2021 11:05am
    - Nickc2
      
      Amen!
      
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      July 17, 2021 6:48pm
- igm
  
  This is communism by stealth . . . Ardern will be looking good at UN.
  
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  July 17, 2021 9:02am
  - Maxx
    
    I would more liken it to facism.
    
    Fascism is distinguished by an absence of coherent economic ideology and an absence of serious economic thinking. Decisions taken by fascist leaders cannot be explained within a logical economic framework. Fascists also typically exhibit control over private property but stop short of nationalising it.
    
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    July 17, 2021 9:47am
    - Bluegrass
      
      Fascism, at its core, is the view that every nook and cranny of society should work together in a kind of spiritual union toward the same goals overseen by the state.
      
      “Everything in the state, nothing outside the state,” is how Mussolini defined it.
      
      Mussolini coined the word “totalitarian” to describe not a tyrannical society but a humane one in which everyone is taken care of and contributes equally.
      
      Ring any bells?
      
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      July 17, 2021 12:53pm
  - RockyJ
    
    Agree but it is more like National Socialism than communism. Communism is based on class war whereas Nazi ideology is based on race war. Race war is worse.
    
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    July 17, 2021 10:05am
    - igm
      
      It is actually war against business in general.
      
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      July 17, 2021 12:08pm
    - UrbanNeocolonialist
      
      Why? Kulaks in USSR got murdered just as dead as Jews in Germany. All totalitarian tending ideologies are (in practice) evil
      
      Communism killed vastly more than Nazism in 20th Century
      
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      July 17, 2021 1:04pm
      - RockyJ
        
        Race war is worse because it enables you to dehumanise your victims. Once they are no longer human you can do to them whatever you want without guilt.
        
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        July 17, 2021 1:22pm
  - Paulus
    
    She is not good enough for a decent job at the UN – if she went I will pay her first class fare – one way.
    
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    July 17, 2021 10:36am
  - tf78
    
    igm, they may have to have a name change to “Divided Nations”.
    
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    July 17, 2021 10:43am
  - NZer In Exile
    
    Not sure if Ardern wants “communism” for NZ. I’m not a mind reader so there’s no way of knowing. She’s not exactly transparent! It appears she wants all the social niceties of Scandinavian economies. Without a powerful industrial or commodities base that isn’t going to happen. So it will probably be (as much as possible in a woke economy) nice/r sheltered workshops and perks for those with woke “qualifications” and social credit scores, and hard grind for everyone else.
    
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    July 17, 2021 6:00pm
- Benedict Yu
  
  “there are now something’s coming through that are part of our system designed to manage that”
  
  In my experience, when people start answering questions in word soup and terrible grammar they have no clue what they are talking about.
  
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  July 17, 2021 9:05am
  - tui47
    
    Sorry accidentally downticked you while trying to give your comment an uptick!
    
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    July 17, 2021 9:22am
  - Maxx
    
    If they use enough words that don’t make any sense then they can’t be held to those words, nor is their any ability to follow up with a question to clarify.
    
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    July 17, 2021 9:48am
    - NZer In Exile
      
      Max listening to the pressers, that seems to be the plan. It’s almost as if they are following a game plan they got from a book….. https://bolenreport.com/saul-alinskys-12-rules-radicals/
      
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      July 18, 2021 2:34pm
  - Nickc2
    
    I note with concern he hasn’t said what these things coming through are. This is probably because his script writers are on holiday or there aren’t things coming through. I tend to believe the latter.
    LYING INCOMPETENT BASTARDS!
    
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    July 17, 2021 9:58am
- all true
  
  What do you expect from a Finance Minister who studied Political Science and never have been employed other than with some governmental departments.
  And this person now make financial decisions on behalf of Kiwi’s, not even capable of reading a P&L Sheet.
  Give me break.
  
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  July 17, 2021 9:11am
  - Paulus
    
    He was the bookkeeper for the Wellington Students Union I believe.
    Assume the auditors were good.
    
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    July 17, 2021 10:38am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  2nd mortgage @ 22%to pay out for my divorce and keep the house. They don’t know how lucky they are.
  
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  July 17, 2021 9:14am
- Paulus
  
  Robertson is only a puppet told what to do politically by Ardern who is getting worse at setting her after political game in stone.
  Her memorial will be something to see once it comes about in the outside world, not in New Zealand.
  She sadly is a disaster, and the train wreck that is coming is on to her virtually alone.
  I will not comment further today.
  
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  July 17, 2021 9:20am
  - igm
    
    And who controls Ardern? She sure has no political nous so she must get daily briefings from CCP and UN . . . she is a disgrace to New Zealand.
    
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    July 17, 2021 2:38pm
- RW Capitalist
  
  An analogy for ya.
  Grant Robertson’s “growing” economy.
  scene
  You have a mortgage free home
  You mortgage it (borrow).
  You buy a fleet of Rolls Royce’s, are you any richer than you were yesterday?
  NO and you still have to pay your mortgage.
  This is what they have done….bought the APPEARANCE of economic growth while ignoring the borrowing ( the equivalent of the USA borrowing $7 trillion).
  Inflation and interest rates can be controlled by genuine growth, where business’ are encouraged to grow at their own rate by the removal of these ridiculous new rules and taxes.
  and
  without the govt. picking the winners THEY want for political reasons instead of economic ones….to make them look good.
  My advice to all new employees has always been.
  The best way to look like you are doing a good job, is to actually do a GOOD JOB.
  
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  July 17, 2021 9:33am
  - Prince
    
    Best comment I’ve read all week.
    
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    July 17, 2021 10:30am
- Suze Wainwright
  
  Far out! Have the wedding details been announced yet?
  
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  July 17, 2021 9:43am
  - Suze Wainwright
    
    It’s now clear why Robbo gave his ‘comedy’ speech describing the National Party problems in the House the other week…
    
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    July 17, 2021 9:51am
- trout
  
  Robertson is either totally deluded or just dishonest. The ‘growth’ economy is the equivalent of a sugar hit; Robertson has laundered 100 billion dollars (give or take) through futile projects, over priced infrastructure, working groups, handouts, and an overpaid, bloated bureaucracy. Given all that money washing around what do the recipients do; they cannot travel, they have Govt. expense accounts, don’t need a new car, so they buy houses. Well, the music has stopped and ugly inflation is now with us; hurting the very people Jacinda pledged to look after. The kids that Robertson & Co. encouraged to buy overpriced houses and take on massive loans are now in deep trouble; but that is not a concern of our Finance Minister; he blames poor judgement on their behalf.
  
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  July 17, 2021 9:43am
- KevO'Brien
  
  The 3.3 % doesn’t agree with the weekly shopping experience. AR Labour statisticians feeding Pooh Bah with just numbers?
  
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  July 17, 2021 11:14am
- pdm
  
  `This what happens when you let the Reserve Bank and the Finance Minister loose with printing money and tossing it about like it’s never ending…………….’
  
  Both promoted way above their capabilities.
  
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  July 17, 2021 11:15am
Tasman Terror

“I reject the premise of your question.”
Most people would say “no”but Orwellian speak is de riguer for concerned frowny face.
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July 17, 2021 8:08am
- Tony Stuart
  
  She can’t say “No” to most of the questions where she rejects the premise of the question. If she did, she would be misleading Parliament.
  
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  July 17, 2021 8:38am
  - G152
    
    You mean that shes not already misleading Parliament ??????
    
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    July 17, 2021 9:03am
    - Tony Stuart
      
      That’s another issue completely!
      
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      July 17, 2021 9:24am
    - Steve Otto(North Shore)
      
      Have to circle back to you on that
      
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      July 17, 2021 10:00am
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    They don’t teach “NO” at Waikato Uni
    
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    July 17, 2021 9:59am
    - tf78
      
      Steve, I thought “NO” meant no, no!?
      
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      July 17, 2021 10:47am
      - Steve Otto(North Shore)
        
        ‘No’ does not mean no at the Labour Youth Camp ….
        
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        July 17, 2021 2:55pm
    - 3-coil
      
      Steve: you mean she never said “no” at Waikato Uni?? I totally refude that!
      
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      July 17, 2021 10:50am
    - KevO'Brien
      
      It’s not common throughout Polynesia. It’s always “yes”.
      
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      July 17, 2021 11:15am
  - Herodotus
    
    Why don’t reporters/interviewers follow up this rejection of the premise as to Why this rejection ? Let the reasoning be critiqued not this “I reject” and walk away approach that is so easily allowed to be accepted.
    
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    July 17, 2021 11:44am
- I remember when
  
  The single most important technique to handle tough questions.
  
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  July 17, 2021 8:38am
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    It is so formulaic and predictable, isn’t it?
    
    She seems incapable of negating curly questions by providing relevant information.
    
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    July 17, 2021 9:34am
    - Suze Wainwright
      
      Oh, I just thought she got other people to answer her hard questions…
      
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      July 17, 2021 9:44am
      - KevO'Brien
        
        Ardern has assumed the responsibility of one who has the duty to be able to answer questions.
        If she was a commercial HOD she would be sacked and possibly charged with fraud for misrepresenting her and her Party’s unfitness for the job.
        
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        July 17, 2021 11:19am
Matt Long

Based on numbers from events across the country around 50,000 people attended protests against Jacinda’s policies. In response she sloganeered about fresh water and climate change, some of the crises that were her election platform, along with the housing crisis.
Why is the answer to all of these problem more socialism and failure I wonder? For example if climate change is so important why not pay people to let their land revert to wetlands and sequester CO2, or promote and pay for CO2 sequestered in the soil? Why instead attempt to destroy the rural community and subsidise foreign corporations to buy up farmland and plant it in what is becoming one of the worst weeds in New Zealand? (Carbon Units have hit $46, these corporation are getting some serious money.)
There is a crisis in Rural NZ, it is a crisis created by Government. It is also a mental health crisis; during the recent national Feildays fully one quarter of attendees went through the Mental Health Stand. This would never have happened prior to the application of Jacinda’s kindness.
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July 17, 2021 8:16am
- Matt Long
  
  I was going to use some hyperbole around Kulaks in my comment, but found on searching Kulaks on Google the number one suggestion is “Kulaks Deserved It.” World socialism is a sick disease.
  
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  July 17, 2021 8:20am
  - oldfella
    
    INT: MIDNIGHT. PM’S RESIDENCE
    Jacinda, Ardern, looking slim and gorgeous in her designer nightdress, WEEPS as she picks up a pen and writes, ‘They are us … except if they are bloody farmers. In which case they are definitely not anyone I give a shit about.’
    
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    July 17, 2021 10:07am
    - oldfella
      
      Dearest Jacinda, I have a suggestion. If you can make Kiwis eat less meat, then you can get rid of all those pesky farmers who don’t seem to like you very much.
      Do you think this UK scheme might work in Aotearoa?
      https://herculeanstrength.com/british-government-less-red-meat/
      
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      July 17, 2021 12:17pm
- Hollyfield
  
  Reading the comments on her Facebook page is interesting – around 80% negative. The top comment when sorted by relevance had 1.2K likes around midnight, now has 1.4K likes. When sorted by newest, the first 18 comments are negative. Big turnaround compared a few months ago.
  
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  July 17, 2021 8:33am
  - mstewart
    
    This is exciting research !!!
    
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    July 17, 2021 9:47am
- Sir Cullen's Sidekick
  
  Cindy’s kindness was rewarded by the sheeple and continue to be rewarded as per the opinion polls and backed by the suitably bribed MSM. This is not going to be changed by traitors on tractors. They deserve this for ditching National and voting Labour.
  
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  July 17, 2021 8:36am
- Simon
  
  Its not just Labo, National are hot for man made climate fraud. Todd Muller creeping around was dripping wet for the fraud.
  
  National party types always go on about “socialism of Labo” but its fake as Cindy’s messaging.
  
  National are a stinking failure. The sooner they fold into where most of them belong with Labo and there is a genuine opposition in NZ the better.
  
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  July 17, 2021 8:38am
- I remember when
  
  You mean like – accept that grass does affect the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere.
  After that all that pastoral farming does is recycle the CO2 over and over again.
  
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  July 17, 2021 8:42am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  I think y0u could easily double that number
  
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  July 17, 2021 10:01am
- Paulus
  
  Understand this morning she says she does not care about yesterday’s farmer protest, she is going ahead to do what she said.
  
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  July 17, 2021 10:41am
- KevO'Brien
  
  The water fraud has gone on since the year she was first elected. It was a Maori set-up and she has been outsmarted.
  
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  July 17, 2021 11:21am
Andrei

You have to laugh – after boosting “gay marriage™” and mocking “slippery slope” counter arguments our blog host now invokes Godwin as his feet slide out from beneath him on that metaphorical slide.
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July 17, 2021 8:17am
rouppe

Stuff has written a piece on a group of doctors who have written an open letter raising concerns about the covid vaccine.

They name the doctors, except those that have since changed their minds.

Pretty bullying behavior in my opinion. I wonder if I can make some money supplying them with pitchforks and torches.

Disclaimer: I’ve had the vaccine
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July 17, 2021 8:20am
- Benedict Yu
  
  To be fair the doctors did sign an “open letter” and published it on their website.
  
  But I agree that the tone of the article is unthinking attack.
  
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  July 17, 2021 9:10am
- [email protected]
  
  And those doctors are already being threatened with the loss of their livelihoods.
  
  They are risking their jobs by telling patients what they believe to be the truth.
  
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  July 17, 2021 9:29am
  - MCos
    
    Doctors aren’t infallible.
    
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    July 17, 2021 11:04am
  - arkhad
    
    Doctor’s may have views about efficacy etc but one of the named doctors has persuaded my elderly mother that ‘more people have died of the vaccine than died of covid’. She has been repeating it in her retirement village saying my doctor friend told me and they would know because they’re a doctor. Such is my mother’s mental state that she doesn’t recognise that that is demonstrably false and frightens her fellow residents.
    
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    July 17, 2021 11:28am
    - freemark
      
      I dunno. When any death after a meaningless 40 or more cycle PCR test is labelled as from Covid, (those who drop dead not long after the jab included) while there is definitely a hesitancy to report vax related issues, he may well be right. The premise that anyone but (including?) the vulnerable should be shot up with an experimental gene manipulation therapy still in the test phase is completely insane.
      
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      July 17, 2021 6:15pm
RockyJ

Richard Shaw, professor of politics at Massey University writes its time pakeha face up to the confiscation of Maori land and “end the forgetting”. Fair point but then I ask myself “then what?”
He makes the point that the wealth of confiscated land has been a factor in pakeha economic advantage and uses the “forgetting” as a justification for the revised history curriculum. He doesn’t go further but leaves us a massive turd of an implication.
There will be no justice if we commit another wrong to try solve a past wrong. Implementing any of He Puapua would be wrong. People like the idiot professor need to be careful what they wish for. New Zealand is entering very dangerous waters.
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July 17, 2021 8:22am
- G152
  
  And we could just maybe extend this line of thought to those tribes who were decimated and their lands taken prior to the arrival of Europeans.
  
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  July 17, 2021 9:05am
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  Land-owning cow cockies might be part of Richard Shaw’s past, but they are not part of my family’s past.
  
  https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/on-the-inside/447051/opinion-it-s-time-for-pakeha-kiwis-to-own-their-past
  
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  July 17, 2021 9:06am
  - chukar
    
    Enough,
    It is time all New Zealanders acknowledge we are one country and our origin is intertwined irrevocably by mixed marriages and working together.
    It is totally out of order for anyone ,particularly those with mixed parentage ,to try to gain privilege or advantage because of their history.
    We have one life and what we do with it is solely our own responsibility!
    
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    July 17, 2021 9:53am
  - rouppe
    
    Exactly. My parents arrived on a boat from the Netherlands in 1952 with a suitcase.
    
    None of my ancestors contributed to any wrongs committed by the English.
    
    Not only that, but their native language was suppressed, yet they still led successful lives and brought up 4 successful children.
    
    If you want to end “forgetting” then end forgetting that many now New Zealanders came here in good faith sand weren’t expecting to be convicted and finedb annually for something they didn’t do
    
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    July 17, 2021 11:28am
  - Hard Cheese
    
    Like many other Pakeha (and non-Pakeha) migrants, my great-grandparents arrived in this country long after the events Shaw describes. If his family grew to be well-off landowners because of Maori land confiscation, if he feels go guilty about it there’s nothing him stopping reaching into his pocket and paying reparation. Instead he bundles all Pakeha as being responsible so he can offload the shame about his forebears involvement, and better yet, get everyone else to pay for it.
    
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    July 17, 2021 1:27pm
- cmm
  
  The point these people fail to understand is that the raw land is not wealth. The raw land was turned into wealth by development.
  
  New York was established on Manhattan Island. That is some of the most valuable real estate in the world. If the Native Americans had not traded it for a few blankets and trinkets, the Dutch colonists would have just set up somewhere else and New York would be there.
  
  The same is true for any city, or NZ in general. If the Brits had colonised PGN instead of NZ then PNG would be wealthy and Aotearoa would be a basket case living on foreign aid.
  
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  July 17, 2021 9:11am
  - Benedict Yu
    
    “The raw land was turned into wealth by development”
    
    Which is why Zimbabwe farms that were confiscated are now worthless and full of weeds.
    
    In New Zealand that is why communally owned Maori land is commonly full of seeds. In contrast, in Canterbury there are industrial scale dairy farms owned by the commercial arm of Nga Tahu with the best people running them.
    
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    July 17, 2021 9:21am
    - Jack5
      
      Who is Richard Shaw, this latest NZ Herald commentator to hector non-Maori readers to “come to terms with their past”.
      
      Where Shaw’s coming from is: if you are a non-Maori in New Zealand you live on stolen land. Give back the fruits created from developing it, and give it back to activists.
      
      Shaw in his Herald article apologetically recounts his pakeha ancestor’s service in the Armed Constabulary during the land wars and following, and implies New Zealand owes Maori the economic value of what settlers created on once-Maori land.
      
      No mention of recompense for creating the grasslands, the intricate infrastructure, or making available export markets within the British Empire, or the new land ownership and transfer system that was crucial for economic development. Colonisation was about far more than just the arrival of a new race of people.
      
      No mention that many Maori fought alongside and for the colonial forces.
      
      No mention that New Zealanders are now a blended breed, many identifying as Maori, many identifying as White. So mixed that some people need to wear ornaments to show how they identify racially.
      
      My unproved suspicion is that self-flagellation like Shaw’s, like that of extreme climate change fanatics such as the mad Swedish girl, comes from the decline of belief in Christianity. This religion previously provided for such emotional release.
      
      Back to our initial question: who is Shaw?
      
      He’s a professor of politics at Massey University, and teacher of one of the compulsory subjects when you study for a Massey B.A. The university describes this core subject as ““Turangawaewae: Identity and Belonging in Aotearoa New Zealand.”
      
      The online Maori dictionary gives the first meaning of Turangawaewae as: domicile, standing, place where one has the right to stand – place where one has rights of residence and belonging through kinship and whakapapa.
      
      Massey says its B.A. compulsory core papers that “challenge and explore ideas, myths and hidden truths around identity, belonging and citizenship”. The other compulsory papers are: “Tu Kupu: Writing and Inquiry”; “Tu Arohae: Critical Thinking”; “Tū Rangaranga: Global Encounters”; and “Tū Tira Mai: Practising Engagement”.
      
      Shaw is a Massey man through and through.His initial undergraduate degree, a B.A. In social work, was from Massey. He followed this with a Massey M.A. and a Massey Ph.D.
      
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      July 17, 2021 9:31am
      - RockyJ
        
        Thanks for that Jack. I have noticed that the most destructive government policies seem to have as their source some academic. So the process is 1. Academic writes a paper. 2. Labour politician adopts it as policy. 3. Poor dumb schmuck bureaucrat has to implement it. 4. Target of policy (you and me) has to live with it.
        It is a convenient cycle of stupidity. Academic lives in a world where there are no consequences, politician lives in a world of no blame, bureaucrat lives in a world of no joy, you and me live in a world of no freedom or prosperity.
        
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        July 17, 2021 9:56am
      - sooty
        
        Never left school in his life.
        Which explains his one eyed view!
        
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        July 17, 2021 10:12am
      - oldfella
        
        Jack, what is Richard Shaw’s real name? I mean his Maori moniker? /s
        
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        July 17, 2021 11:38am
      - Bob
        
        Shaw is a Massey man through and through. His initial undergraduate degree, a B.A. In social work, was from Massey. He followed this with a Massey M.A. and a Massey Ph.D…..
        
        I am old enough to remember when Massey was an agricultural college; with world recognised research experience in agriculture and horticulture. Then it became a university, and a repository for all those who wouldn’t be able clpe with a STEM subject degree course.
        
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        July 17, 2021 11:44am
      - Jack5
        
        Radio NZ has now teamed with NZ Herald and is running Shaw’s anti-colonialism rant.
        
        The Ardern Media Corporation – State radio, State TV, and subsidised print media – making a joint stand.
        
        https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/on-the-inside/447051/opinion-it-s-time-for-pakeha-kiwis-to-own-their-past
        
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        July 17, 2021 11:46am
      - Cobolt24
        
        Apologies for reporting RockyJ comment not seeing there wasn’t a reply option.
        
        “Many on the political left are so entranced by the beauty of their vision that they cannot see the ugly reality they are creating in the real world.”
        – Thomas Sowell
        
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        July 17, 2021 11:53am
      - kloyd0306
        
        What is stopping “never existed outside the marxist education system” professor Shaw from giving his improved land back to the maoris?
        
        I’ll wait here because it will never happen.
        
        That is major problem with woke lefties. Any such punitive policies are not indented for them.
        
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        July 17, 2021 3:16pm
    - rouppe
      
      An I correct in believing that those commercial arms of iwi trusts pay no tax?
      
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      July 17, 2021 11:31am
  - MCos
    
    “If the Brits had colonised PGN instead of NZ then PNG would be wealthy and Aotearoa would be a basket case living on foreign aid.”
    
    Part of PNG was colonized by Britain.
    
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    July 17, 2021 9:29am
    - Paulus
      
      He was the bookkeeper for the Wellington Students Union I believe.
      Assume the auditors were good.
      
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      July 17, 2021 10:45am
    - GT Build
      
      It was leased not colonized they never owned the land or governed png
      
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      July 17, 2021 11:21am
    - Jack5
      
      Or, MCos, if New Zealand had never been colonised, what would it now be more like? Australia or Fiji?
      
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      July 17, 2021 11:49am
  - Bob
    
    cmm…
    are we not now practically a basket case, without the foreign aid?
    
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    July 17, 2021 11:38am
- Benedict Yu
  
  I would never have said this even 3 months ago. But I now think it is only a matter of time before we see Maori activists, cheered on by white academics like this guy, call for the confiscation of white owned farms. Zimbabwe style.
  
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  July 17, 2021 9:15am
  - Paulus
    
    Understand that Waihiki is next on the list, unrest created by the Marina legally being built.
    
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    July 17, 2021 9:23am
    - oldfella
      
      Paulus, just imagine if Maori tried to take back Waiheke?
      How quickly would the mostly-white well-heeled (probably Cindy loving) residents develop a bad case of NIMBY?
      
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      July 17, 2021 11:43am
      - RockyJ
        
        They have already tried, at least grabbing a co-governance arrangement of the coastline with the local greenie collective. The locals organised a petition in opposition which led to the alliance with the greenies falling apart and the Ministry of Primary Industries not supporting their coastline proposal. Just goes to show we can win some battles.
        
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        July 17, 2021 11:03pm
- Gravelroad
  
  @RockyJ
  So,what has been the point of the many Treaty of Waitangi money and land settlements then?
  A co-leader of the Maori Party has been on social media bitterly reprimanding farmers with the usual grievances around land confiscation and water pollution caused only by the white man.
  I wonder if she knows the extent of the Ngai Tahu agricultural and forestry land ownership in the South Island?
  They own and run a huge dairy farm in Eyrewell, North Canterbury (I have been there) and various other land-based enterprises over many thousands of hectares.
  These are Maori owned businesses. They are farmers and land users just like us, but not subject to the same level of criticism, of course.
  
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  July 17, 2021 9:27am
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    Labour and the Maori Party folk need to tread carefully with the many restraints they are placing on primary producers in NZ.
    
    They don’t seem to realise that some iwi are heavily involved in agribusiness, horticulture, forestry and fishing.
    
    The latest figures show that of New Zealand’s asset classes, Māori own 50 per cent of the country’s fishing quota, 40 per cent of forestry, 30 per cent of its sheep and beef production, 30 per cent of lamb production, 10 per cent of dairy production and 10 per cent of kiwifruit.
    
    Collectively, Māori own $13 billion in primary sector assets, according to the Māori Investors Guide 2017.
    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/agribusiness-report-three-concerns-underpinning-maori-agribusiness/N7BAMSISLFEBSEBLSL6MJYYC3U/
    
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    July 17, 2021 10:09am
    - sooty
      
      Are we about to have one law for you and another for me?
      
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      July 17, 2021 10:15am
      - Paulus
        
        How will I be able to identify which is a Maori Cow and which is not ?
        
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        July 17, 2021 10:46am
      - Maggy Wassilieff
        
        Hasn’t that always been the case?
        https://s3.amazonaws.com/lowres.cartoonstock.com/social-issues-justice-lawyers-legal-city_hall-federal-jhan1306_low.jpg
        
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        July 17, 2021 11:00am
      - Nickc2
        
        Paulus @ 10:46AM
        Paulus, you will invariably find the cows following you expecting you to feed their calves are . . . . .
        
        7 1
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        July 17, 2021 12:20pm
    - Swifty
      
      Many Maori are leading the anti-SNA activity up north.
      
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      July 17, 2021 10:49am
  - Paulus
    
    Assuming they are not bankrupt do they pay any tax ?
    
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    July 17, 2021 1:49pm
- Odakyu-sen
  
  “Maori land” land in Shaw’s writing obviously includes land owned collectively (by iwi and hapu) but does it also include land owned freehold by people who self-identify as Maori?
  
  This is a serious question.
  
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  July 17, 2021 10:22am
- Sacha
  
  “the wealth of confiscated land has been a factor in pakeha economic advantage ”
  I know of productive farmland that was returned to maori ownership, but within a few years returned to gorse and blackberry. To my knowledge, it is still a wasteland after 30 years.
  If maori valued ‘pakeha economic advantage’ surely they would try to join in. But many of them seem to think that being kept in paucity by the state is an acceptable solution.
  
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  July 17, 2021 10:48am
- KevO'Brien
  
  More long pork for dinner?
  
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  July 17, 2021 11:23am
- lifesgood
  
  Massey University – says it all.
  
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  July 17, 2021 12:52pm
Yvette

Farmers shouldn’t expect the Government to back down from its commitments in the face of massive protests expected throughout New Zealand on Friday, David Parker says. [1]

– the same David Parker who threatened farmers on water taxes when he said ‘”I’m not here to negotiate, don’t push me or it will be 2c instead of 1c” [2]
The water taxes were of course the first hiccup Jacinda had struck since Andrew Little rang her while she was enroute to Parliament one morning and told her he was standing down and she was now Labour Leader. Realising that the size of water taxes were an undesirable unknown in an Election campaign, Ardern impulsively threw it out of the cot at the time with her first “Captain’s Call”, shoving it sideways into the first of her scores of “working groups or committees” – the one that finally produced the Capital Gains Tax proposals, which met the dismal demise of a “national conversation” in which Labour never outlined their side for anyone to discuss – remember?.

And it pays for anyone now who is concerned about 3 Waters to go back and see what all parties said about ownership of water when a levy was proposed on it, because the Chinese in particular were bottling it and shipping it away offshore.

[1] https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2021/07/groundswell-protest-david-parker-says-don-t-expect-backdown-from-government-commitments.html
[2] https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2017/08/david_parker_threatens_farmers.html
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July 17, 2021 8:25am
- Tony Stuart
  
  David Parker has a deep-seated loathing of farmers and the rural sector in general. It’s probably developed since the good folk of the Otago electorate kicked him to touch in 2005, when Jacqui Dean won the seat.
  
  Personally, I’d have far more faith in the opinions of the good folk of what was the Otago electorate, now known as Waitaki, than in the views of the embittered past-his-use-by-date David Parker.
  
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  July 17, 2021 9:41am
  - 3-coil
    
    TonyS (9.41am): You can measure David Parker’s character by his shabby treatment of not just farmers, but even NZ Labour Party’s own supporters too. Parker is totally self serving prick, with a total lack of empathy for others – typical of those with Narcissistic Personality Disorder.
    Character Reference #1: Toy Love frontman Chris Knox was an active devoted, high-profile Labour Party supporter and servant, until he suffered a major debilitating stroke. While Knox sat dribbling in his wheelchair, Parker’s support for the Labour battler was to move in on his wife, and make Knox a cuckold. The slimeball lowlife David Parker thinks of nobody but himself – he is pure scum, and anybody who trusts him is a fool.
    
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    July 17, 2021 10:27am
  - Dougal10
    
    The late Howard Patterson also helped turn him into an angry little farmer hating man.
    
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    July 17, 2021 10:43am
  - KevO'Brien
    
    We agree!
    
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    July 17, 2021 11:24am
Souvlaki

Q: Was Ardern/ the Govt blackmailed by the Mongrel Mob?
The return of proceeds of crime to them at any level of rationalisation is inexplicable !
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July 17, 2021 8:30am
- Chuck Bird
  
  FYI
  
  https://twitter.com/simonjbridges/status/1336899416389603329
  
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  July 17, 2021 8:54am
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    But isn’t the official line that Harry Tam is a FORMER Mongrel Mob member?
    
    The organisation involved in running the programme – Hard to Reach – is run by co-director Harry Tam, a former Mongrel Mob member.
    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/446977/is-labour-funding-the-mongrel-mob-what-you-need-to-know
    
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    July 17, 2021 9:15am
    - Tony Stuart
      
      No Maggy – as of November 2020, he was still a patched Mongrel Mob member, as can be seen in this video where he boasts of his 47-year membership of the Mob.
      
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b96-bnp387M
      
      And from about the 6 minute mark of the video, he does what is little more than a recruiting spiel for the Labour Party, urging Mob members to vote Labour to keep National’s “motherf@#kers” and “c*nts” out of government. That’s is stark contrast to Andrew Little’s portrayal of HT as a former gang member who has been a public servant longer than he has been a gang member (Newstalk ZB, Tuesday 13/7).
      
      RNZ, NZME, Newshub and the Spinoff have bought Little’s spin in its entirety, and are furiously trying to hose down the perception that the Mongrel Mob is somehow distant from this allocation of funds intended for the VICTIMS of crime, rather than the perpetrators.
      
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      July 17, 2021 9:49am
      - Thought Criminal
        
        Are they simply buying votes? Remember when they gave prisoners the vote?
        
        21 1
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        July 17, 2021 9:55am
      - Souvlaki
        
        Below quote on Trotters article yest :
        
        Anonymous said…
        So completely out of touch that I the only question that I am left with is,
        Who has what on whom.
        
        16 July 2021 at 17:12
        http://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/2021/07/drawing-heat.html
        
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        July 17, 2021 9:56am
- MrTips
  
  Given the numerous rumours that have circulated for some years now, almost a decade, one could be forgiven for asking. A bit like the lab leak theory for COVID, it might be funny how things turn around in 12 months time.
  
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  July 17, 2021 9:00am
UkiWop

I just can’t help wondering what Putin was really thinking when Ardern presented herself and her WW views as the chair of the APEC meeting…

Maybe, “who does this woman think she is as a PM of only 5 million people, compared to my 160 million”
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July 17, 2021 8:33am
- Benedict Yu
  
  More likely he would have had the simultaneous Russian translation in his earpiece. And been thinking “What the hell?” or the Russian equivalent expression. ?
  
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  July 17, 2021 9:32am
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    Putin understands English and speaks it pretty well.
    Perhaps Our Dear PM’s Kiwi accent would have caused confusion.
    
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    July 17, 2021 10:16am
    - jon
      
      Putin also probably knows the difference between BOUGHT and BROUGHT!!!
      
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      July 17, 2021 2:39pm
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    Putin speaks fluent English, but he would not understand Jaspinda’s word soup. Putin can speak enough English to correct his interpreters
    
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    July 17, 2021 10:25am
    - Nickc2
      
      Putin’s probably thinking “who in their right mind would elect something like that? If that’s democracy, forget it”!
      
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      July 17, 2021 12:31pm
    - Chuck Bird
      
      He probably speaks better English than Creepy Joe of Cindy.
      
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      July 17, 2021 8:13pm
  - Jack5
    
    Putin not only speaks English, but he can sing in it:
    
    https://youtu.be/ekeq4szDmJo
    
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    July 17, 2021 11:53am
- krazykiwi
  
  He would have rolled his eyes, thinking authoritarian amateur hour had arrived. Ardern isn’t the sharpest tool in the drawer, while Putin is, sadly, a dangerous genius.
  
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  July 17, 2021 9:59am
- Paulus Gnome
  
  I suspect they were all quietly listening to 30 Greatest Hits – The Elevator Edition while resisting the urge to poke them selves in the eye with the needle they brought with them in the eventuality of her chairmanship of the meeting being as bad as they suspected . . .
  
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  July 17, 2021 10:26am
Ron Jeremy

3 mins of news devoted to groundswell protest including comments from robber about unkind signs about Cindy and some farmer that didn’t agree with the protest. Pretty pathetic coverage of a large protest by a vital part of our economy . Funny no one thought to ask Covinda for her comment on it.
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July 17, 2021 8:35am
- Prince
  
  Marketing Rule #1. Your brand must never be involved in negative items.
  Protests: NO
  Vaccine Rollout Shambles: NO
  Public Sector deceptions: NO
  Orca Rescue: YES
  APEC coverage: YES
  
  It’s not rocket science.
  
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  July 17, 2021 10:44am
  - nathie
    
    Heroine of the Terrorist/Massacre movie: YES
    
    (WTF … oh I forgot, silly me. Local Optics are to be put aside for International Optics)!
    
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    July 17, 2021 2:24pm
- Paulus
  
  She did comment on it this morning – as expected.
  
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  July 17, 2021 10:48am
Kiwi_in_Paris

Another good explanatory video as to where SARS COV-2 came from:

https://brandnewtube.com/watch/event-2021-in-dallas-tx-dr-richard-fleming_eslCioAoMq7HsRV.html
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July 17, 2021 8:47am
Tony Stuart

What an amazing day it was yesterday as the farmers came to town. This morning’s Whanganui Chronicle story (written by a known Labour Party activist) puts the turnout here at 200 vehicles and 500 people; I personally thought there were considerable more than that. The racecourse car park was packed, and dozens of vehicles queued in the adjacent streets waiting to join the protest.

Interestingly, the Whanganui Chronicle story has four paragraphs quoting local MP Steph Lewis, who was not at the protest, followed by this:

Also at the protest was Whanganui based National List MP Harete Hipango.

Is it any wonder that accusations of media bias are made so frequently? But kudos to all those who turned out yesterday, not only in Whanganui but throughout the country, to send the Government a message it ignores at its own peril.
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July 17, 2021 8:50am
- Chuck Bird
  
  I was at Otorohanga. The protest went for many kilometres.
  
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  July 17, 2021 8:58am
  - jon
    
    DITTO for Dannevirke!
    
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    July 17, 2021 2:42pm
    - Nickc2
      
      Well done Dannevirke, my home town.
      
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      July 17, 2021 6:55pm
- In Vino Veritas
  
  Yep Tony, when its a Union protest there are “1000’s” and a close angle photo is taken of the 100 people all packed together. Anything other than supporting a Labour Govt gets downplayed completely.
  
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  July 17, 2021 9:00am
  - oldfella
    
    From the always-excellent Karl du Fresne, an update on what he calls the ‘Prada Project’, showing how far the NZ media has sunk.
    The line that once separated journalism from activism is being erased, and it’s happening with the eager co-operation of the mainstream journalism organisations that are lining up to take the state’s tainted money. We are witnessing the slow death of neutral, independent and credible journalism.
    http://karldufresne.blogspot.com/2021/
    
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    July 17, 2021 10:45am
    - oldfella
      
      BTW, in this blog piece, Karl also gets stuck into this country’s rising gun crime, the rural revolt, and the massacre movie. Read it all. Good stuff.
      
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      July 17, 2021 11:00am
- Matt Long
  
  And the main story about it on TVNZ news website was some apparently green person with a defaced poster grandstanding for the camera.
  
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  July 17, 2021 9:06am
- Nick R
  
  Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
  What peril is that, exactly? Whose mind got changed by the protests? A bunch of farmers and tradies who don’t vote Labour will continue to not vote Labour. But how is this going to shift the votes of the people who do? I note the farmers didn’t even bother trying to protest in Wellington. Not a single tractor on Lambton Quay. Tells you everything you need to know right there. They aren’t even trying to change minds, just preaching to the choir.
  
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  July 17, 2021 9:06am
  - Benedict Yu
    
    ” bunch of farmers and tradies who don’t vote Labour will continue to not vote Labour.”
    
    In the 2020 election, Labour won the Party vote by some margin in just about everywhere. From Taranaki to rural Southland. It is likely that many of the people at yesterday’s protest voted Labour at the last election. I think the ute tax and all the rest of it has burst the covid fear bubble.
    
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    July 17, 2021 9:37am
    - Nick R
      
      Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
      Well, we’ll see. But there is also a risk that voters will just have seen a bunch of feral farmers throwing a tantrum because they are finally being forced to clean up their act. Go and look at lefty Twitter and then tell me what you think
      
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      July 17, 2021 9:59am
      - Benedict Yu
        
        I’ve met a few farmers. None of them are feral.
        
        And the ute tax is plain idiotic for reasons I have set out here before.
        
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        July 17, 2021 10:55am
      - Sacha
        
        Are you another Labour bot, Nick R?
        
        21 1
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        July 17, 2021 11:14am
      - lifesgood
        
        “Go and look at lefty twitter” Are you mad?
        
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        July 17, 2021 1:01pm
    - Thought Criminal
      
      In a democracy you get the government you deserve. Especially if you let fear of covid override your better judgement.
      
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      July 17, 2021 10:00am
    - oldfella
      
      Benedict, apparently large numbers of rural folk drank the coolaid and voted Labour so Cindy could govern without the Greens. The theory being a Labour/Greens coalition would be terrible for farming communities.
      Guess what? Labour doesn’t need the Greens to be a nightmare.
      They’re already showing how well they can do on their own!
      
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      July 17, 2021 11:57am
      - tf78
        
        oldfella, each day I question more and more that “Labour victory”. Did it really happen?
        
        11 1
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        July 17, 2021 12:46pm
      - Paulus
        
        But almost certainly Labour vote will drop and the Greens will increase so that there will be a Labour/Greens Coalition whereas whilst National vote will increase ACT will also increase and keep National out.
        But Ardern will have gone anyway !
        
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        July 17, 2021 1:55pm
  - lifesgood
    
    The protestors deliberately avoided Wellington and they made a point of stating that. They didn’t want to be high jacked by politicians grand standing. That was a great move in my opinion. You need to keep up.
    
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    July 17, 2021 1:00pm
    - Sacha
      
      Yep, unless you are going to have a convoy of tractors driving up the front steps, there’s no reason to go to Wellington at all – at this stage of proceedings.
      I may well be out on my trusty quad come August.
      Haha!
      
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      July 17, 2021 7:12pm
- Gravelroad
  
  The media are generally trying to downplay the howl of protest by minimising the numbers of those attending.
  Social media anti-farmer campaign also underway.
  But – too late.
  The people know what happened and why it happened.
  This was in some ways an affirmation by the law- abiding, working, productive sector that they won’t be the socialist elites’ whipping boys and girls for much longer.
  
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  July 17, 2021 9:11am
  - ABS4EVA
    
    Socialism is just the first phase of Communism
    
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    July 17, 2021 8:07pm
I remember when

Why is ‘the permise of’ even included in the statement.
Why not be honest – I reject your question.
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July 17, 2021 8:52am
Gravelroad

The howl of protest meeting here yesterday was attended by Judith Collins.
Whether you support Ms Collins as leader of the Nat Party or not, it was great to see her looking surprised and happy at the reception she got.
I was with a group of colleagues and it was noted that there would not be many politicians (or general citizens) who could have survived the onslaught of insults, criticism, constant msm attack pieces and reprehensible “cartoons” directed at Ms Collins, and still be smiling (in public at least).
One of the group said many people’s mental health would have collapsed under similar circumstances.
But the journalists and social media warriors are very selective about whose mental health and personal welfare is fair game for trashing – and whose must be protected at all costs.
(Disclaimer: I am not a member of any political party and have not met Ms Collins).
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July 17, 2021 8:58am
- RockyJ
  
  I agree Gravelroad. It will take a politician with the guts of Margaret Thatcher to fix the problems this government is creating. I think “Crusher” has what it takes. Sure she is abrasive but we must back her
  
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  July 17, 2021 9:22am
  - oldfella
    
    Rocky, I really would like to see more of ‘Margaret Thatcher’ toughness from Judith Collins. If she’s really got it, let’s see it. There’s a lot to like about Judith, but she can never ‘out nice’ Cindy. That battle’s been lost.
    
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    July 17, 2021 10:24am
  - KevO'Brien
    
    Righting a wage/price spiral and locking down prices and wage increases will feel brutal.
    
    I’m sure Labour can’t produce stable prices, which is a basic requirement of any Finance Minster. The Americans are concerning with their inflation and suffering like us from an excess of money printing. We get their excesses too, transferred via the global banking system. Our markets are also integrated so we are less on our own than many are aware of.
    
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    July 17, 2021 11:36am
    - tf78
      
      KevO, why was Jacinda so keen to talk to the world’s War Mongers. Is it a case of “They are Us”.
      
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      July 17, 2021 12:52pm
      - KevO'Brien
        
        Pride?
        
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        July 17, 2021 4:14pm
- Okahu
  
  That is an unusually sweet and caring post to see on this site Gravelroad. Somewhat selective, perhaps myopic in its concern, but nevertheless touching.
  
  I’m wondering if someone exhorting us to “be kind” might have influenced you and your colleagues? Or perhaps concern for the mental welfare of politicians and regret for the impact of abuse from keyboard warriors is widespread in your circles?
  
  Good on you. Commendable. Rare decency to imagine politicians as people, not just targets for childish name calling and vitriolic abuse. I’ll check this blog later today to see if your generosity of spirit is infectious.
  
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  July 17, 2021 9:42am
  - Swifty
    
    Be sure to check out The Standard too.
    
    Please report back back to us on the levels of vile abuse you observed there.
    
    You know, for balance.
    
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    July 17, 2021 10:26am
    - Okahu
      
      Help us out here Swifty.
      
      Is that a lesson for the kids? If you point to someone else doing something ‘vile’ that means you can?
      
      I sometimes read people on this blog decrying moral relativism. I think their concern is that you need an absolute standard of conduct or you find yourself in a morass of subjective claims. Can we assume you are a relativist? It would appear to be pretty easy to find fault with the kind of ‘vile’ abuse Gravelroad has identified. Unless of course you could somehow find a reason to excuse it. You know, because…
      
      Are you familiar with the term whataboutism?
      
      In case you haven’t, I’ll do my best to explain because possibly accidentally, you have given a superb example. People who don’t like to acknowledge their own (or their groups) failings point to the failings of others as cover. It’s unfortunately common in people with retarded personal development and thus little or no ability for introspection. (Psychopaths might also employ the tactic but for them they likely know full well they are employing a bullshit argument as deflection, but just don’t give a shit, or even do it for kicks).
      
      Of course I may have misread the intent of your reply. Perhaps you meant that the vile personal abuse of our political figures Gravelroad identified is wrong, and just as bad if not worse elsewhere. Probably true, but reporting that wouldn’t ‘balance’ much would it?
      
      I sure hope you can clear things up.
      
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      July 17, 2021 2:34pm
  - Bluegrass
    
    Awesome example of the word ‘snide’, bud.
    
    Well done.
    
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    July 17, 2021 1:09pm
    - Okahu
      
      What’s that Bluegrass? An “I’ll see your ‘snide’ and raise you two ‘sarcs ’? ‘Bud’? “Well done”?
      
      Do tell us when you’re ‘all in’ and prepared to put some positions on the table rather than just make cheap quips from the sidelines.
      
      I’m pretty sure you will be good. Quipsters often are.
      
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      July 17, 2021 9:11pm
      - Bluegrass
        
        Get back to me when you practice what you preach.
        
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        July 18, 2021 9:16am
Tony Stuart

Is Stuff, by publishing this “reader story”, trying to suggest to us that people demanding to have their say on issues that affect them are indulging in “divisive dog-whistling”?

Surely, participation in democracy is even more important than democracy itself. So why is Stuff, which refuses to publish anything that contradicts the organisation’s position on man-made climate change, going out of its way to promote the demonisation of those who advocate participation in our democracy?

https://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff-nation/125771071/nationals-demand-the-debate-campaign-is-divisive-dogwhistling
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July 17, 2021 8:58am
- Swifty
  
  African Americans feature at or near the bottom of all key social indicators despite hundreds and hundreds of billions of dollars being spent on affirmative action programmes since the 60s.
  
  Lots of politicians, community leaders and business owners pushing the programmes have become extraordinarily wealthy however.
  
  Hmmmm.
  
  The author of the article you quite KS makes a fundamental error in assuming the initiatives proposed will automatically bring gains to Maori at the the coal face. They almost certainly won’t.
  
  The Maori on councils one especially makes me laugh. Plenty of Maori will benefit from from this – but they will be the ones already doing ok.
  
  The author reminds me of those naive folk who exasperatedly ask “how could anyone be against the goals of socialism?”. My answer is always, we’ve nothing necessarily against the goals, it’s the practical implementation that history shows never works.
  
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  July 17, 2021 9:23am
  - Benedict Yu
    
    There seems to be a disconnect between Maori elite and the Maori living in state houses being ravaged by crime and drugs.
    
    Setting up this Maori Health Authority will take years. Hundreds of Maori consultants will be flying to Wellington every week. There is zero evidence that all the obscene cost will make any difference to Maori health.
    
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    July 17, 2021 9:42am
    - Swifty
      
      That’s my belief Benedict.
      
      There are many, many Maori in NZ living extraordinarily successful lives. You’ve got to ask, what have they done/what are they doing that has delivered this success?
      
      There we will find the answers. Identify those attitudes, skills and behaviours and relentlessly hammer them in schools, clubs, marae, churches and homes over the next 50 years and we might get somewhere.
      
      Putting existing Maori elite into councils, separate Maori authorities, teaching Maori in schools won’t achieve a damn thing. Many Maori will just continue to be left behind and we’ll be having the same conversations in 20, 30, 50 years.
      
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      July 17, 2021 10:01am
    - kowtow
      
      Setting up a new authority will not make a blind bit of difference to people failing to get their children to brush their teeth , not eat mountains of sugar, fail to attend appointments or to fill out and complete a course of prescription.
      
      But as you say it will create a whole new well paid bureaucracy , and a whole lot more division and resentment .
      
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      July 17, 2021 10:11am
    - KevO'Brien
      
      What Maori health? Are they super different? Are they plumbed differently?
      
      We are being taken for a ride again. The object is to usurp power. They couldn’t manage that previously so now the young want to make a name for themselves by bashing Pakeha who have developed this country.
      
      Maori have shared fairly in citizenship gains to date. Like any group they have their differences but opting out is their choice and free to all citizens.
      
      It’s bad enough having full term babies left to die we don’t need the other barbarous cultural practices that tikanga would revisit on NZ. It would take $50 trillion to re-purchase NZ.
      
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      July 17, 2021 11:49am
  - Paulus
    
    According to official stats the percentage of African Americans is similar to Maori in New Zealand – 16%
    
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    July 17, 2021 1:59pm
- nathie
  
  TS – excellent points.
  
  It’s also noted that Stuffed’s so-called “Reader Report” is actually authored by a Marketing/Branding professional, who has form writing previous articles in support of changing European place names to Maori, supporting the removal of colonial statues and supporting BLM etc.
  
  In other words, the so-called “Reader”, is a highly opinionated woke Pakeha, perfectly matching Stuff’s (current owners) political framing and narrative.
  
  It’s also noted how the so-called “Reader” complains about supposed National Party “dog whistling”, but is in fact a skillful dog whistler himself as he purposely conflates the National Party’s (and ACT’s) concerns of Maori Elite/Activist demands to insert themselves into positions of (unaccountable) power, with that of National supposedly attacking Maori in general … which they clearly are not (and where’s the evidence for this? Oh right there isn’t any).
  
  Also noted one of the companies the so-called “Reader” works/used to work for has rebranded themselves with “Aotearoa” in their name (instead of NZ). Looks like they are milking this “cultural appropriation” for their own profits and wokeness feelz?
  
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  July 17, 2021 11:00am
I remember when

Open Records: Hospital Gouging the Uninsured:
A new law has let the Wall Street Journal verify that hospitals are charging uninsured patients more than the insured for the same procedure.
One horror story featured a man with a torn artery who ran up a $59,800 tab in 3 days.
Some procedures were charged at three times those negotiated with insurers.
The effect of the disclosure law, which began on 1 January, has been remarkable.
Many facilities, when confronted with publicity, immediately lowered their fees.
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July 17, 2021 8:59am
- [email protected]
  
  Because the insurance companies know the going rate for the various procedures whereas uninsured individuals don’t have a clue.
  
  If I, as an uninsured individual, discovered I had been ripped off I would get the best lawyer available and also let the world know who was doing the ripping off.
  
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  July 17, 2021 10:41am
- Matt Long
  
  Those laws, were they set in place by the bad Orange Man? Nice to know the swamp is back in charge again now.
  
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  July 17, 2021 11:18am
  - KevO'Brien
    
    There is middle insurance industry between doctors, hospitals and patients. A sweet middle rentier pool.
    
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    July 17, 2021 11:53am
- MCos
  
  It’s not as straightforward as you make it sound.
  Insurance companies own or have a piece of the hospitals they send the afflicted to.
  The money doesn’t necessarily change hands.
  
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  July 17, 2021 5:16pm
cas

I was reading a good article in North and South about the pressure on farmers and it mentioned there are farmer/farm worker suicides about once every three weeks. This is dreadful. Perhaps some journo can front Cindy or Robbo with this stat and then get stuck into them.

Kim Hill and Philippa Tolley are back on Morning report next week so I hope Kim gets to interview Cindy.

And the media is still brushing over ALL the problems and focusing just on the ute tax for the most part.
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July 17, 2021 9:29am
ABS4EVA

Does anyone else agree that Socialism is a Mass Mental Illness?

It seems to be able to invoke and create Mass Stupidity.
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July 17, 2021 9:29am
ABS4EVA

Imagine being a Gang Member in NZ?
What a life?

Jacinda’s Gang Golden Age.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

They must just fall over on the floor Laughing.
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July 17, 2021 9:34am
Happychappy

We continually condemn the media and many of there Journalists for their rubbish attitude but you have to take your hat off to Ryan Bridge for the $345 I he raised for Child Cancer by having his ponytail cut off yesterday. Well done Ryan it’s a pity more Journalists don’t use their time and ability to raise funds like you have instead of having orgasms over Jacinda Ardern.
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July 17, 2021 9:36am
- Happychappy
  
  $ 345.000 the figure was meant to read.
  
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  July 17, 2021 9:50am
  - oldfella
    
    Judith Collins was a happy participant and spent an hour on air with Ryan taking questions and pushing the Child Cancer fundraiser.
    Cindy never fronted, not even for a quick five minute call in.
    FWIW, Ryan will be hosting TV’s AM show next week, and the PM is a regular guest every Monday.
    Ryan: Why did you not support our Child Cancer Fundraiser? Is it because you refuse to appear on Magic Talk, even for a great cause like this.
    Cindy: I refude that question.
    
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    July 17, 2021 10:31am
  - Tall Man
    
    He would have to be one of the most neutral media personalities.
    
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    July 17, 2021 11:00am
BananaLlama

So now the left start rolling out muh stolen land narrative.

One Question.

How do they know if you paid down a mortgage or got it for free? is it because you are white? racists much?
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July 17, 2021 9:47am
slightlyrighty

Welcome to New Zealand, where our government will sit down with the gangs who by some estimates, are responsible for 40-50% of crime in NZ, but ignore the farmers, who are responsible for 65-75% of our exports.

If that thought doesn’t get you angry, then you’re part of the problem.
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July 17, 2021 10:00am
Tony Stuart

One of the most despicable aspects in the aftermath of yesterday’s A Howl of a Protest is the vitriol directed at the Canterbury farmer interviewed by One News, who said he was sick of losing mates to suicide. I’m not going to dignify people by republishing their tweets, but comments like “cry me a river” and “Captain Crocodile Tears” were at the most moderate end of the spectrum.

I guess, on the bright side, yesterday’s protest has brought plenty of haters out from under their rocks, and their hatred is on display for all to see, as unedifying as it is.
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July 17, 2021 10:03am
- kowtow
  
  If that was directed towards anyone other than a “southern pakeha farmer” the Media Pardy would be all over it as racist hate speech .
  
  But cos its not …….nothing.
  
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  July 17, 2021 10:07am
- Matt Long
  
  Tony, although I’m tempted I avoid the sewer that is leftist Twitter. At least at this point these people are confined keyboard hate and haven’t the opportunity to slither out from under their rocks as the tools of a fascist Government. In every society there are plenty of people willing to do evil in the name of “equality” or “justice.”
  
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  July 17, 2021 11:36am
  - Sacha
    
    I’m with you, Matt Long. The only twittery thing I have ever looked at are Maggie P’s posts. And they are quite often fun.
    I sometimes wonder how I know what’s going on in this country – I don’t look at tv, or read newspapers, and my FB page is all about my friends, so that leaves Kiwiblog and BFD, a couple of other blogs, and some YouTube channels. And still I know more about what’s going on than a lot of folks. Maybe it’s old age.
    
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    July 17, 2021 7:26pm
- Bob
  
  I imagine that Fraser House basement was very busy yesterday; particularly once the public support for the farmers and small business became apparent.
  
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  July 17, 2021 11:46am
- KevO'Brien
  
  At least the rural community are out in the streets. Now it’s our turn. This govt must be terminated forthwith.
  
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  July 17, 2021 11:56am
  - Sacha
    
    Well you know that’s not going to happen, Kev. We have to follow due processes otherwise we would be as bad as they are.
    But we will get there. I was quite surprised to see the support of ‘non-farming’ people yesterday. My faith in my fellow citizens has been somewhat restored.
    
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    July 17, 2021 7:29pm
nathie

Did Labour’s minders put the PM into their Witless Protection scheme yesterday?

Ten’s of thousands protest nationwide against the Labour government’s interference and over regulation with the rural sector …. and Jacinda Ardern is nowhere to be seen.

It also seems the team of $55 million (or is that $105 million) didn’t make any attempts to track her down for interviews or comments … which is incredibly bizarre considering Ardern was a target of the protest signs!

Otherwise presumably Ardern’s entire Comms Team of dozens of PR hacks went into “Angry Andy” mode “swearing down” at MSM reporters trying their luck contacting them hoping for some Cindy sound bites?

Nevermind, no such luck, so the MSM take the next best thing to be fed to them, lots of “attack” commentary provided by the guest article authors in today’s (and no doubt tomorrow’s) Stuffed and Herald …
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July 17, 2021 10:20am
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  Now, now..
  our Dear PM isn’t a young thing any more.
  
  She needs her beauty sleep.
  
  Our Dear PM had a late night engagement that ran into the wee hours.
  
  https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/125783481/apec-leaders-to-redouble-covid19-vaccination-effort-after-meeting-led-by-pm-jacinda-ardern
  
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  July 17, 2021 12:22pm
  - nathie
    
    Heh 🙂
    I think you’re right, check out this photo of her last night, despite the beaming smile that the likes of Colgate advertisers would pay mega$ to use, our Dear PM does look really, really tired (the eyes give it away)!
    
    https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/125784049/us-president-joe-biden-announces-nominee-for-new-ambassador-to-new-zealand
    
    But to be fair, I think Jacinda Ardern has given the Labour Party her best (after all “I don’t want to be a PM”, she used to say previously) and it is probably time that the rest of the Labour Party, including Party Officials themselves (and her mentor and sponsor, Helen Clark) allow Jacinda to do what I suspect she would like to do (if only she could) which is have someone else “step-up” and allow her to step-down and spend more time with her family and cherish those precious moments being with one’s child, watching them develop and grow.
    
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    July 17, 2021 12:41pm
    - lifesgood
      
      Nope, she wanted the glory she can pay the consequences. I have absolutely no time for the woman. She knew she was pregnant when she took on the job so clearly puts her child second.
      
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      July 17, 2021 1:10pm
      - nathie
        
        Sure, but my point is, she’s the puppet (yes a willing puppet as you correctly point out), having her stings pulled by the Labour Party!
        
        And it’s time for this freak show to end!
        
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        July 17, 2021 4:41pm
      - 70andstilllearning
        
        Do the math lg. Likely only after she won 2017 and bit like HC & pete. Which of course makes it more calculated in terms of electoral image.
        
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        July 17, 2021 7:24pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

Howl of a Protest. I think NZ should invite Count von Count and Big Bird to teach the media how to count ……
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July 17, 2021 10:29am
oldfella

Sad but true: 😉
A king wanted to go fishing, and he asked the royal weather forecaster the forecast for the next few hours.
The palace meteorologist assured him that there was no chance of rain.
So the King and the Queen went fishing.
On the way, he met a man with a fishing pole riding on a donkey, and he asked the man if the fish were biting.
The fisherman said, “Your Majesty, you should return to the palace! In just a short time I expect a huge rain storm.”
The King replied: “I hold the palace meteorologist in high regard. He is an educated and experienced professional. Besides, I pay him very high wages.
He gave me a very different forecast. I trust him.”
So the King continued on his way.
However, in a short time a torrential rain fell from the sky.
The King and Queen were totally soaked.
Furious, the King returned to the palace, and gave the order to fire the meteorologist.
Then he summoned the fisherman and offered him the prestigious position of royal forecaster.
The fisherman said, “Your Majesty, I do not know anything about forecasting.
I obtain my information from my donkey.
If I see my donkey’s ears drooping, it means with certainty that…it will rain.”
So the King hired the donkey.
And thus began the practice of hiring dumb asses to work in influential positions of government.
The practice is unbroken to this date…
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July 17, 2021 10:33am
Steve Otto(North Shore)

https://babylonbee.com/news/bernie-sanders-heads-to-cuba-to-inform-protesters-they-have-the-best-healthcare-housing-programs-in-the-world
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July 17, 2021 10:40am
3-coil

POTUS has garbled/announced the new US Ambassador to New Zealand: ex-Democratic Senator (NM) and retired lawyer Tom Udall. My US buddy (ex-Republican Senator) says he is a “good guy” – we’ll have to wait and see!
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July 17, 2021 10:41am
Clyde

The latest Braunias column “The Secret Diary of they are us” is worth a read. A piece on the script of the St Jacinda heroine of the mosque.
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July 17, 2021 10:42am
- Sacha
  
  Link?
  
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  July 17, 2021 7:35pm
surfing

https://nopunchespulled.com/2021/07/14/the-next-election/

Bob Jone’s prediction for nats to win the next election. I hope so.

But I’m not so sure. This labour govt is the worst in a very long time. Even worse than Helen Clark’s, which was truly awful.

But, I’m in the minority view.
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July 17, 2021 10:44am
- Gravelroad
  
  @surfing:
  I think that Jacinda’s infatuation with the gangs has been a tactical mistake.
  It has got the attention of people who usually have only a remote or passing interest in politics and who have so far been prepared to go along with the “I saved you all from Covid” cult.
  The donations to the criminal drug dealers and the extra taxation on the vehicles needed by “rich prick” farmers and tradies are actions which will be a step too far for many swinging voters.
  Am seeing it already in my circle of friends and acquaintances.
  
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  July 17, 2021 12:42pm
  - surfing
    
    Fingers crossed you’re right.
    
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    July 17, 2021 4:24pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

Texas Republicans Hire Mentally Unstable Lunatic To Track Fleeing Democrats. https://babylonbee.com/video/80
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July 17, 2021 10:45am
Maggy Wassilieff

The problem with the School Truancy service

https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/opinion-analysis/300358860/truancy-crisis-inquiry-must-look-to-support-whnau-and-address-mental-health

Basically, a black hole where money disappears and nothing effective results.
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July 17, 2021 11:12am
- KevO'Brien
  
  If they provided a decent education they kids would be pleased to attend. The latest irritant is excessive misuse of Maori. Why attend if you do not need to?
  
  A daughter took 3 months off to go to the UK when about 12. She enrolled to study singing this year and didn’t have sufficient credits for Uni. Gained half a year’s in 3 weeks and on her way to being an opera singer.
  
  The schools ignore people of potentially higher ability or fringe conditions like ADHD. Those kids have to manage on their own. They may not attend perfectly but they do make it. The lesser abled turn to minor crime when bored.
  
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  July 17, 2021 12:06pm
  - Tall Man
    
    “or fringe conditions like ADHD.”
    
    Not the achools I have been involved with, in fact, the adhd kids dominated both the teacher’s attention and the resources of EOTC, in my opinion.
    
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    July 17, 2021 1:43pm
    - lifesgood
      
      Tall Man – Absolutely, to the detriment of gifted children.
      
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      July 17, 2021 2:16pm
      - Jack5
        
        Some ADHD kids are gifted children.
        
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        July 17, 2021 2:38pm
      - KevO'Brien
        
        I’ve had gifted adhd ones.
        
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        July 17, 2021 4:19pm
    - Tauhei Notts
      
      WTF is E.O.T.C.?
      There is a modern trend to use abbreviations that few comprehend, as it makes the dongbeaters using them feel important. I’m the dongbeater who used WTF, because I try to refrain from using obscene words.
      
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      July 17, 2021 3:12pm
      - Tall Man
        
        If you have children in school or are involved with a school you would know.
        
        Education outside the classroom.
        
        Like WTF, it is a widely used acronym so basically I’d say if you don’t know you don’t need to know, no offense intended.
        
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        July 17, 2021 8:58pm
Swifty

I’ve been plowing through a number of William F. Buckley’s Firing Line episodes on YouTube over the last year or two.

Here’s one of the most entertaining episodes I’ve seen recently:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJIWgevK4zw

The featured guest is Madalyn Murray O’Hair of the American Atheists, on the separation of church and state.
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July 17, 2021 11:51am
- Harriet
  
  Cheers for that Swifty — just the other day I used exactly the same arguments over school funding that Buckley himself was raising when I was talking to Alwyn Poole.
  
  Poole said “I think you are trying to be funny!”
  
  My whole argument[like Buckely’s] is based on the fact that ALL people are taxed for education but private kids receive only about half of that back in funding for their schools, and parents then have to pay additional money[fees] to MATCH that of kids in public schools.
  Not only can Alwyn not add up – but then complains about the funding he doesn’t get – from the same government!
  
  Alwyn is also of the opinion that if kids in public schools pay for private tuition after school, they are NOT cheating the system. He can’t see Asian kids, or at least he can only see their results.
  
  He has more in common with private schools/kids/parents than public schools. He sees ‘poor kids’ but can’t see ‘poor parents’.
  
  He needs to support vouchers[another of Buckley/Roger Doughlas points] rather than funding. Cheers Swifty.
  
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  July 17, 2021 5:03pm
  - Swifty
    
    If we attached education funding which followed the kids we would see a revolution in the academic achievement of our children in my view.
    
    At the moment we have pretty much the worst possible model – an effective Govt monopoly, zoning, with a bloated and clearly poor performing education ministry coupled with union domination of the sector and which has so much power it can extinguish all competitors using their political pull thereby preserving their incumbency.
    
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    July 17, 2021 6:04pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2021/07/14/cubans-rally-in-florida-communism-the-last-thing-you-want-for-a-country-like-america/
7 2
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July 17, 2021 12:12pm
Swifty

The Greensill Capital rise and fall….

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IxXWCLBPiI
3 2
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July 17, 2021 1:07pm
- Harriet
  
  I can’t find it but they had a big piece on it here in aussie a couple of days back.
  
  His family farm growing up around Bundaberg[from memory] was about 80 acres[i think sugar cane]. They bought up properties and now they hold something like 200,000 head of sheep. He was known to tell everyone he’s ‘really a farmer’ but all the locals said he had nothing much to do with the small family farm and was known at the age of about 20 to wear ‘the nicest suit in town’ and be ‘more into the books’ than anything else.
  
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  July 17, 2021 3:32pm
Tasman Terror

Say and walk away….. that is socialism 101.
7 2
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July 17, 2021 2:05pm
redflagged

Hi Folks. Haven’t seen much on the Te Huia Hamilton-Auckland train service.

That might be due to the patronage reports showing an abysmal 31% drop in people using the service compared to even it’s hyped up yet pathetic and predictably lackluster first month in April.

Averages about 44 return trip passengers a day, with the website claiming the service is shaping the future of rail public transport in the Waikato and help reduce New Zealand’s carbon footprint. Better off burning the $100 million.

https://www.tehuiatrain.co.nz/assets/Te-Huia/Patronage-reports/Te-Huia-patronage-data.pdf
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July 17, 2021 2:32pm
dave_c_

Covid :
Moderna jab spreading ‘Graphene Oxide’ into your bloodstream.
Claims are being made that this is a contributor to those who are experiencing ‘clotting’, and other issues.
5 1
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July 17, 2021 3:08pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

Tell me this Biden bastard and the Dems are not corrupt.
https://bongino.com/tucker-carlson-joe-biden-using-our-military-to-fly-illegals-into-our-country/?
17 3
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July 17, 2021 3:19pm
kevn

@SteveO… The APEC zoom thing. Impressed ?
More yakking and then ?
3 2
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July 17, 2021 3:50pm
dave_c_

There could be hope for some !
Todays feel good and hilarious video.
Only 18 seconds long !
https://rense.com/general96/the-future-of-unvaxed-men-in-america.php
5 1
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July 17, 2021 3:58pm
CAKE FACE1

I hope there will be some new opinion polls out in the next couple of weeks.

It feels like National is doing better, but the Jacinda cult could still be a tough nut to crack. Jacinda cultists are typically fixed and murderous…

Anyway, I would be very interested to see some current poll numbers…
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July 17, 2021 5:13pm
- lifesgood
  
  Totally agree Cake Face, but the biased MSM will either ignore and not publish results favourable to right leaning parties or try to put a positive spin on them in favour of the left
  
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  July 17, 2021 5:51pm
- Tall Man
  
  The nut is cracked and the flesh is oozing out.
  
  It will snowball and roll up the snowflakes …..
  
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  July 17, 2021 8:59pm
Cobolt24

https://wolfstreet.com/2021/07/14/bank-of-canada-tapers-bond-purchases-3rd-time-bank-of-new-zealand-stops-qe-cold-turkey-citing-housing-bubble-in-least-regrets-policy/
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July 17, 2021 6:48pm
Tauhei Notts

I think you are terribly wrong to describe Jacinda cultists as murderous. Dangerously deranged? Most certainly. Phucked in the head? Totally. Intolerant? Absolutely.
But not murderous.
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July 17, 2021 9:17pm
gorse

Old women. They think Jacinda saved them. Apparently that is what’s being said in old folks home. We are stuffed.
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July 17, 2021 10:26pm

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