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August 4, 2021 8:00am by Kokila Patel

General Debate 04 August 2021

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General Debate

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Happychappy

Without calling Bernard Hickey a expert you have like what he is saying about the Prime Minister, Labour and the housing crisis.
Here are all the levers the Government isn’t pulling to fix the housing catastrophe.
In response to claims successive Governments have enabled a massive Human’s rights failure the Prime Minister says her Government is doing all it can to fix the housing crisis, Bernard Hickey disagrees.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern defended her Government against the Human rights Commission accusation or breaching Human Rights Law on policy, she said the Government was “pulling all levers” on policy and acknowledged there was a crisis but didn’t need another report detailing the issue.
https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/03-08-2021/here-are-all-the-levers-the-government-isnt-pulling-to-fix-our-housing-catastrophe/
With the Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and the Labour Caucus it the same old story blame others for your own incompetence and make out you are winning even though the families you represent are the ones that are suffering.
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August 4, 2021 8:00am
- Happychappy
  
  More failure from Grant Robertson and Labour.
  “Way to many hoops”: Home Grant’s fall short with lowest ever payout.
  National Party spokesperson Nicolla Willis said the Government should have known the caps could not keep up with runaway prices.
  https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/way-too-many-hoops-first-home-grants-fall-short-with-lowest-ever-payouts/B2KLW6LJUAIVFMBJZ76GMPLJOE/
  The amount failures and lockups this Government has overseen is unbelievable and the sheeple till want to support this out of their depth bunch of cronies to Govern New Zealand.
  
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  August 4, 2021 8:23am
  - Tall Man
    
    Just for interest’s sake, why is it my responsibility as a taxpayer to provide a “freebie” for new home buyers?
    
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    August 4, 2021 9:15am
- Paulus
  
  But isn’t the recently appointed Chief Human Rights Commissioner, Paul Hunt, an import from the UK Labour Party so its all right and must be his fault whatever it is as far as Ardern is concerned – it is never hers.
  
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  August 4, 2021 8:37am
  - Jack5
    
    Andrew Little appointed Paul Hunt as Chief Human Rights Commissioner almost three years ago (October, 2018).
    
    In 2017 Hunt unsuccessfully ran for election to the National Policy Forum of the UK Labour Party, as a pro-Corbyn candidate.
    
    For two years, Hunt has been pushing for New Zealand to extend its human rights legislation to cover housing. He would make it every New Zealander’s constitutional “right” to be housed.
    
    This would make the State responsible for housing everyone in the country.
    
    That is Soviet scale and style housing, and Far Left stuff.
    
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    August 4, 2021 12:16pm
    - Aunty
      
      So in other words, we have a hard-core foreign communist as our Human Rights Commissioner. What would a communist know about human rights? How to mass murder people in the name of the Party, the State, and the Revolution?
      
      I mean you just could not make this shit up!
      
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      August 4, 2021 2:01pm
  - KevO'Brien
    
    Others are concerned about the way NZ is going too:
    https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2021-08-03/future-new-zealand-according-expert
    
    All this echoes my views for some time. The financial tsunami will doom Labour.
    
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    August 4, 2021 5:20pm
- Benedict Yu
  
  They are doing nothing. First step is to burn idiotic local government. They have a pivitol role in the release of urban land.
  
  Why is housing (relatively) affordable in greater Christchurch? Because Post earthquakes the government forced councils to release land for housing via emergency powers.
  
  As Christchurch residents know houses of every type and price range are sprouting like mushrooms.
  
  Jacinda has no clue what to do. Literally. It is ridiculous that a country like New Zealand with a small population has such expensive houses.
  
  Anyway it doesn’t matter why. In 2017 she said she had ALL the answers. Literally. She has failed big time.
  
  Let’s say I pitch to a company and tell them I can double their market share. But after I start playing market share crashes and company goes broke. I could not just say I tried and keep my reputation intact.
  
  To borrow a phrase from Greeta “How dare you”. Screaming that at jacinda on housing is totally justified.
  
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  August 4, 2021 8:42am
  - RiP NZ
    
    BY – has there been any historical precedent for a government failing so badly in everything they stated they would achieve – but enjoy such strong popularity?
    
    IQ of the average voter in decline, media partisanship on the rise.
    
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    August 4, 2021 8:52am
  - Tall Man
    
    “Why is housing (relatively) affordable in greater Christchurch?”
    
    After the eartyhquake many many tradesmen relocated to Christchurch to rebuild. Many are still there so Christchurch has a greater capacity to build than many other cities. It will change over time so a wise investor may be buying in Christchurch for the long haul …..
    
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    August 4, 2021 9:17am
  - stewmar
    
    She would todally refude thad
    
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    August 4, 2021 9:21am
- WaveyDavey
  
  Always remember Hickey wants a 30% fall in house prices, destroying many people’s retirement
  
  “Hickey said the economy would survive if there was a significant dip of 30 to 40 per cent in house prices to improve affordability, but it would mean a certain election defeat for Jacinda Ardern and Labour if they oversaw such a drop.
  
  “Some people worry about the banks, cause people might not be able to pay their mortgages if you saw a house price fall, actually the Reserve Bank has done modelling on this, New Zealand’s banks have quite a bit of capital and they could handle a 40 per cent fall in house prices no problem,” Hickey said.”
  
  https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/government-doesnt-want-push-house-prices-down-fearing-loss-votes-bernard-hickey
  
  It’s always worth revisiting “experts” like Hickey’s previous predictions to get a sense of how accurate their *expertise* has proven to be previously
  
  https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/ibernard-hickey-i-why-house-prices-will-fall-15-per-cent/SWSN4UHS4IWLT5OVKFKVZXYSFI/
  
  TL:DR: Man’s an idiot
  
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  August 4, 2021 8:46am
  - Jack5
    
    If Ardern hadn’t ruled out a capital gains tax, she could have taken the fuse out of the housing bomb by announcing CGT (with exemption family-home ownership of more than three years) would be doubled.
    
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    August 4, 2021 12:23pm
    - WaveyDavey
      
      Ahh the silver bullet
      
      I won’t bother rehearsing the arguments (again) as to why it doesn’t work
      
      I’ll just ask you to point me to anywhere that has a cgt on housing and is seeing more affordable house prices
      
      I recently bought a place in Aus, guess what – yep a cgt. Oh and a foreign-buyers tax and of course HPI is falling isn’t it?
      
      Nope it’s falling upwards to the tune of 16-18% in the last 12 months
      
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      August 4, 2021 12:42pm
      - Jack5
        
        Most developed countries have capital gains taxes. The exemptions I can think of are:
        
        – Belgium, though companies pay normal company tax on capital gains.
        
        – Switzerland, though professional investors are taxed on capital gains as though they were income, and all cantons tax capital gains on property.
        
        – Singapore, but the island republic imposes “stamp duties” on property transactions, and they were increased in 2013, for example, to dampen the market.
        
        – Malaysia, though it has what it calls a “real property gains tax”, paid by citizens and businesses. I can’t see the difference from a capital gains tax.
        
        CGT is just another form of tax, and is useful for steering an economy. It’s the total tax take that counts.
        
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        August 4, 2021 5:02pm
      - WaveyDavey
        
        So it does precisely nothing for housing affordability then
        
        I’m glad we can both agree on that
        
        What you’re calling for then, is increased taxation. Which is an entirely different argument
        
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        August 4, 2021 6:26pm
      - Jack5
        
        Wavey Davey, if I was advocating a tax on wealth I would suggest a return to death duties/estate duties. These are the ultimate form of capital gains tax, and the cheapest for the State to impose.
        
        However, death duties are too hard on family businesses, and can be especially onerous for farmers and tradies.
        
        I don’t see why gains from capital growth should be tax free, unlike personal income or company profit.
        
        I repeat from my 5.02 post: total tax take should be the target, both if you want lower tax and if you want higher tax.
        
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        August 4, 2021 10:23pm
    - WaveyDavey
      
      Oh and… she/they did bring in a cgt for investors – did you miss that?
      
      I thought that investors were the cause of all the unaffordability?
      
      Well they got a CGT and which way have house prices gone?
      
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      August 4, 2021 12:45pm
      - Jack5
        
        There has been a theoretical CGT for sharemarket investors for many years, but it depends on intention when you bought the stock, so it’s pretty weak.
        
        Property prices have soared around the world.
        
        In relation to citizen incomes, New Zealand house prices are now among the least affordable in the world:
        
        https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/110049950/auckland-ranked-among-worlds-least-affordable-cities-in-housing-report
        
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        August 4, 2021 5:05pm
      - WaveyDavey
        
        And a CGT will do nothing to improve affordability
        
        I get it. You want more taxes for “rich pricks” but at least be honest about it
        
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        August 4, 2021 6:26pm
    - Bobba Fret
      
      CGT would not reduce house prices…try buying a house in Sydney where there is a CGT.
      We already have a CGT for investment properties.
      
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      August 4, 2021 4:35pm
  - Adroit
    
    If house prices dropped 30%, they’d still be be north of what, 2017 prices? Anyone that can’t survive that drop is either over leveraged, or is a recent purchaser. But either way, there is no actual loss until you sale. The only limitation is that one can’t whack a new Ranger or boat on the mortgage
    
    At some point we need to shift from the housing market being our main wealth accrual factor to something that rewards and encourages productivity gain. The ponzi scheme that is housing ain’t it. If you can think of a fair way to reduce the prices of housing to make them affordable, but retain the nest egg would love to hear it.
    
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    August 4, 2021 12:31pm
    - Ian Boag
      
      dropped 30%, they’d still be be north of what, 2017 prices
      
      Try early 2020 ….
      
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      August 4, 2021 5:30pm
    - WaveyDavey
      
      I don’t claim to have the answer
      
      The government, however, claims exactly that. The onus is them, not me, it’s their job not mine
      
      I pay what I have to pay. It’s not my fault that the government is incapable and/or incompetent when it comes to housing (as well as pretty much anything else it touches)
      
      Ultimately I don’t care about housing affordability
      
      Plenty of the money that I’ve paid in taxes has been thrown at this problem to no avail and I’ve decided that country govt has had enough of my money and can go whistle
      
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      August 4, 2021 6:33pm
  - bartybart
    
    haha didn’t he move to wellington too, predicting an auckland price crash
    
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    August 4, 2021 1:50pm
  - Aunty
    
    Bernard Hickey an expert?
    
    Bwahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!! Thanks, I needed a good laugh.
    
    He’s just another old Bolshevik.
    
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    August 4, 2021 2:06pm
- Maxx
  
  And the latest lever (DTI ratios) will fix the market. Just like;
  Banning foreign buyers
  Kiwibuild
  LVR restrictions
  Screwing landlords part 1
  Screwing landlords part 2
  Screwing landlords part 3
  And all of the many other “solutions” that didn’t end up doing anything. But this latest will still be regurgeted in most of the media as a solution without mentioning all of the other failed solutions.
  
  For the record I’m not saying this shouldn’t be done, but let’s make sure for the record the reason behind it is to protect the stability of financial markets.
  
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  August 4, 2021 9:06am
  - Ian Boag
    
    Screwing ~~landlords~~ property speculators part 1
    
    and 2 and 3 ….
    
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    December 4, 2020 5:33pm
    - Loddenthinks
      
      Sad, bitter little man. And wrong, so wrong.
      
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      August 4, 2021 9:28pm
- rouppe
  
  I’ve noticed that there is a trend for Labour Ministers to fall back on “acknowledging” things, which seems to be a strategy to just push the problem aside with a side salad of “working on solutions”
  
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  August 4, 2021 10:23am
Scott

Readers may be interested to know that local Wairarapa tribes are trying to settle with the Crown after the latest settlement offer. The offer, get this, is $115m, a crown apology, 19,000 hectares of land and an additional $5m for local Maori wellbeing. This for a population of 12,000 local Maori!

And some Maori say this is not enough!

We must be a very rich country to afford this! Millions of dollars, thousands of hectares of land for just 12,000 people whose only claim to fame is that they have a few more Maori ancestors than others of us.

Who thinks this is a rip off and a rort? When will white people stop abasing themselves with endless apologies and paying of millions of dollars? This needs to end!

In not unrelated news the local ratepayers of the south Wairarapa are being hit with massive rates hikes. George Taylor, a pensioner who has lived in Featherston for 20 years says that some older people are considering cancelling their home insurance because they can’t afford it with the increase in rates. If only George had some Maori ancestors? ?
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August 4, 2021 8:00am
- krazykiwi
  
  Sadly I suspect that George have some Maori ancestors would make little difference. The value transferred by these ‘settlements’ is usually highly concentrated in tribal elites and their immediate relatives. Back in the day our international airline lounges were the places to hear these people parade, and talk loudly about their burgeoning wealth.
  
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  August 4, 2021 8:48am
  - Ruahine
    
    Often dressed like the slobs many of them are.
    
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    August 4, 2021 10:20am
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  It might pay if you learnt a bit of history of the Wairarapa tribes.
  
  How many folks know that some Wairarapa Maori were relocated by the Government onto land in the Central North Island (Pouakani block – Mangakino)?
  This was meant to be an exchange for the Government/settlers taking land around Lake Wairarapa.
  
  The trouble was that the Mangakino land never belonged to the Government – it belonged to Ngati Tuwharetoa and affiliated tribes.
  In the 1990s Ngati Tuwharetoa put in a claim to the Waitangi Tribunal for the return of their land
  https://www.govt.nz/browse/history-culture-and-heritage/treaty-settlements/find-a-treaty-settlement/pouakani-people/pouakani-deed-of-settlement-summary/
  
  Wairarapa Maori have been pissed around by Governments for over a Century…
  
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  August 4, 2021 9:29am
  - Tall Man
    
    Which is why we are forking out $120 million plus?????
    
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    August 4, 2021 9:33am
    - Ian Boag
      
      You could maybe propose (and justify) a different number. Go for it ….
      
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      August 4, 2021 5:36pm
      - Tall Man
        
        $8.75.
        
        Howzat?
        
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        August 4, 2021 9:57pm
  - Scott
    
    Maggy – and it might pay for you to be sceptical about official government history when it relates to supposed Maori grievances. My understanding is that the Waitangi Tribunal takes all Maori claims at face value and will not hear counterclaims from Pakeha.
    The study of history has been ideologically captured by people whose heart bleeds for Maori. So it is difficult to get a fair and balanced view about what really happened in the 19th century.
    
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    August 4, 2021 9:56am
    - Maggy Wassilieff
      
      If you think I am a naiive idiot who knows nothing of NZ History or the history of land purchases and reserves in NZ, or the background of NZ historians, then so be it.
      
      If you have time, I would recommend “Wairarapa Moana” – Chapters 6,7, & 8. and 14, & 15.
      https://www.almobooks.co.nz/p/new-zealand-non-fiction-wairarapa-moana-the-lake-and-its-people
      
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      August 4, 2021 11:34am
      - Tall Man
        
        But Maggie, how far back do we go to redress issues and from what I see few, if any, of the treaty settlements have lifted maori out of their poor quality lives wrought with poor health, criminal behaviour and anti social attitudes of many.
        
        Apart from a few of the selected elite.
        
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        August 4, 2021 3:37pm
      - Maggy Wassilieff
        
        how far back do we go to redress issues
        
        Look, The process started years back.. to date, not all iwi have had their claims settled.
        
        I agree some iwi have made a pig’s ear of their settlements… some haven’t.. but my reply to Scott was to draw his attention to a unique feature of the Wairarapa claim…and there’s a reason that Ngati Kahungungu are getting the Pouakani/Mangakino sorted now.
        
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        August 4, 2021 7:09pm
      - Exhumed
        
        Hi Maggie, sorry I pushed report accidentally.
        
        I meant to ask what you consider “full and final’ to mean?
        
        It gets signed off in this manner but there seems to be a degree of double dipping.
        
        When will full and final kick in?
        
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        August 4, 2021 7:58pm
      - Maggy Wassilieff
        
        In 2018, there were 53 claims still to settle.
        
        https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/104205997/the-amount-allocated-to-treaty-settlements-is-tiny-compared-with-other-government-spending
        
        I would say full and final is when all iwi have had their claims considered and settled.
        
        No new claims to be considered, unless it can be shown that some legal booboo occurred during the settlement process.
        
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        August 4, 2021 8:58pm
  - Scott
    
    But even if everything that is alleged in the New Zealand history is absolutely true, isn’t over $100 million +19,000 ha of land plus $5 million for Maori mental health a little excessive? We are talking 12,000 people who are of mixed heritage in the Wairarapa? The Wairarapa was very sparsely populated in the 19th century. The local people had little resources and here we are in the 21st century giving them massive amounts of wealth.
    
    Honestly do you as a taxpayer think that is an acceptable use of your taxes?
    
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    August 4, 2021 10:03am
    - Ian Boag
      
      So what is your number Scotty? Show us how you arrived at it …. you are too straight to give us rectal estimates ….
      
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      August 4, 2021 5:38pm
peterwn

The High Court has released its 179 page judgment in the Mrs Wallace v Attorney-General case concerning Constable A’s shooting of Stephen Wallace at Waitara in 2000.
https://www.courtsofnz.govt.nz/assets/cases/2021/2021-NZHC-1963.pdf

The Wallace family scored philosophical successes but did not achieve any practical success. The Court was concerned with two issues:
1. Whether there had been a satisfactory inquiry as to whether S8 BORA (Right of life) had been breached. She considered ‘no’ explained at length why and did an analysis.
2. Whether on the balance of probabilities Constable A’s use of force for self defence was justified. If not then the way would have neen opened for awarding damages. The Court considered it was.

The actions of the various police officers at Waitara that night was in essence vindicated. Of course there were issues around the edges but they were not really significant.

The Court was of the view that Constable A had not consumed alcohol in the hours proceeding the event.
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August 4, 2021 8:03am
Tall Man

https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2021/08/first-home-grant-payouts-fall-short-government-admits-it-got-it-wrong.html

As I have repeatedly said, NZ doesn’t have a housing crisis, we have a wage problem coupled with high expectations.

I have a young client who has bought house number 3 this year and is negotiating house number 4 in Auckland but this time with a mate 50/50 to make it doable.

He works 60 plus hours per week and is very frugal plus makes sure he keeps his bank on side.

Whenever I do a bit of research and look around the world I find that our pricing is not way out of line with other countries similar to ours but wages do seem a bit lower and the cost of living a bit higher.

No matter what labour does they will not change the market drastically and I can see things getting a lot worse for the lower income voters until supply ramps up massively, an unlikely prospect.
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August 4, 2021 8:07am
- KevO'Brien
  
  I have a client with 6 houses. He has his bank on his side too but interest takes 38% of his rents, insurance 19% and rates 16%.
  A small increase in interest rates will lead to severe pressure for rent increases.
  
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  August 4, 2021 8:24am
  - Ian Boag
    
    He is quite highly geared …. his choice I guess. Seems a bit odd that insurance is more than rates ….
    
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    December 4, 2020 9:29am
    - Tall Man
      
      Christchurch ……
      
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      August 4, 2021 9:32am
  - kevn
    
    @Kev… Sounds finely geared.
    
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    August 4, 2021 8:45am
  - Tall Man
    
    Exactly. As I have also said many have a very small marhin for error.
    
    Mortgage rate rises, rent controls or more “house wof” requirements are all it would take to tip the balance.
    
    Would that lower house prices, possibly but then without a major shift upwards in wages who would be the buyers ….. Investors of course.
    
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    August 4, 2021 8:56am
    - Tall Man
      
      “margin” …..
      
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      August 4, 2021 9:06am
  - artemisia
    
    Sounds like your client will be in trouble from 1 October this year when interest deductibility starts to reduce.
    
    Here’s an idea. Sell up enough to pay off borrowing, take the remainder and spend up. No pockets in a shroud.
    
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    August 4, 2021 9:31am
- WaveyDavey
  
  Wage problem? Really?
  
  No, we have a productivity problem – too many burger flippers and not enough talent
  
  We hear the whinge about Australians being paid more but never about relative GDP per capita
  
  NZ v Aus GDP – US$40k v US$55k or about a 30% difference
  
  and the pay gap? 22%
  
  If anything NZers earn more, relatively, than they’re worth
  
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  August 4, 2021 8:55am
  - Tall Man
    
    That’s why I used the term “wage problem”.
    
    I am well aware of what the primary cause of the “wage problem” is but apart from Alwyn Poole, few seem really concerned with the lack of delivery from our teachers.
    
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    August 4, 2021 3:34pm
    - WaveyDavey
      
      “Pay teachers what they’re worth” the ever-present bloody mantra
      
      Well on current form that wouldn’t be very much
      
      As I said, if we do have a “wage problem” it’s because most NZ worker are being paid more than they’re worth
      
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      August 4, 2021 4:24pm
      - Ian Boag
        
        Fair enough. You reckon paying teachers less would help.
        Correct me if I have this wrong …
        
        You reckon that any teacher in a decile 10 school (where kids achieve with lots of home support) should automatically be paid a whole lot more than teachers in a decile 1 school where the home life is a bit less education oriented and results are a bit harder to generate ..
        
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        December 4, 2020 5:45pm
      - WaveyDavey
        
        Consider yourself corrected then
        
        Putting words in my mouth does not an argument make
        
        Sure, pay teachers what they’re worth. I’m all for it. Unions not so much
        
        Identify the good and reward them, identify the bad (clearly the majority given NZ’s abysmal educational performance repeatedly reported upon) and either get rid or set KPIs for continued employment
        
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        August 4, 2021 6:37pm
- Benedict Yu
  
  Well I think you are totally wrong. Can you please share your data? Because I don’t see many people in other countries paying 1 million dollars for a 3 bedroom shit box in a place like Lower Hutt.
  
  Auckland and Wellington are not Sydney, Hong Kong and London. Try comparing house prices with Austin, Columbus, phoenix and mid size cities in France and Germany.
  
  The problem in New Zealand is rapid immigration coupled with poor performing local government on consenting and land release. Ridiculous and costly regulation of land use. Plus distance from markets resulting in poor competition and high materials costs.
  
  So to repeat you are wrong. There is a serious catastrophe going on in the housing market. You are not going to solve it by dialing up wages. And I have no time for people who blame young couples from being priced out of the housing market on the basis that they have avocado on toast in cafes occasionally.
  
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  August 4, 2021 8:55am
  - Tall Man
    
    Sorry Benedict, I am not wrong. The house I pointed you to in Tasmania well outside Lanceston, $950,000 Australian.
    
    Lower Hutt is a small commute into Wellington where the public service reigns supreme with an increase in the thousands since 2017. So similar to Canberra or Washington DC.
    
    “Currently, the average cost of a house in Washington DC is $637,000. (That’s $US)”
    
    https://www.realestateagent.com/real-estate-questions/what-is-the-average-cost-of-a-house-in-washington-dc.html
    
    “At the end of the September 2019 quarter, Domain reported a average house price in Canberra of $738,864,” “median house prices leaped by 6.8 per cent to $873,911 for this quarter but after dipping from $927,577.”
    
    Those are Australian dollars. Factor in that Australia has lower house construction costs and lower land prices than NZ and you start to see the problem. A desirable location and limited stock.
    
    It’s a world wide problem young man, not just New Zealand.
    
    Add in a government buying $750,000,000 worth of houses plus a few returning cash rich Kiwis and you have a problem which only a massive increase in stock will arrest.
    
    I also suggest you look at the “desirability” of Auckland and Wellington on the international market and you may then re-evalute your statements.
    
    As my wives will tell you, I am seldon wrong.
    
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    August 4, 2021 9:04am
    - Tall Man
      
      https://www.cntraveler.com/gallery/the-most-livable-cities-in-the-world
      
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Most_livable_cities
      
      Didn’t see Hobart or Lanceston anywhere though 😉
      
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      August 4, 2021 9:12am
    - WaveyDavey
      
      Yeah. The average house price in DC is probably not something you want to be basing any kind of argument on
      
      Much of the city is a no-go area and there are huge swathes of warzone-like projects that you wouldn’t venture into unarmed
      
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UfdocPGkio
      
      Somewhere nicer in DC, say Georgetown, has a median house price of US1.4m
      
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      August 4, 2021 4:29pm
      - Tall Man
        
        Probably equivalent to Wadestown, Thorndon, Khandallah, Kelburn.
        
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        August 4, 2021 10:00pm
  - Adroit
    
    Nor this rubbish about expectations. Just because previous generations lived in cold, damp shitboxes does not mean that it is a reasonable expectation that anyone else should. A Dr I spoke with said his family was colder in Auckland than living through winter in Canada because the houses here are so poor. We are over-represented in respiratory and other third world diseases because of (many) contributing factors, but definitely the state of houses here.
    
    Further more, developers don’t build (many) cheap/reasonable quality houses pitched at entry levels. People could do warm and dry without mod-cons, but those houses just aren’t getting made. Why? Because there is more money to be made by increasing value through more expensive fittings.
    
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    August 4, 2021 9:20am
    - Jack5
      
      Adroit, I know Russians in New Zealand who have found our houses cold.
      
      It’s not so much quality of houses as style and building materials.
      
      You can live in a luxury glass box which is great for outdoors life and entertaining eight months of the year, but then you may freeze – or spend heaps on heating – for the other four months.
      
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      August 4, 2021 12:30pm
  - RoboRob
    
    Agree with most of the above, however I think Covid has proved the issue is not immigration. The last 1.5yrs immigration has dropped dramatically, however house prices have increased faster than before also.
    
    I think that while immigration obviously has an impact on demand it also helps provide supply (builders etc). The racists in Labour liked to blame the housing crises on people with ‘Asian surnames’. Its much easier (and more popular) to blame issues on Asians than to take some responsibility for the problems ourselves.
    
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    August 4, 2021 10:52am
    - Paulus Gnome
      
      1
      
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      August 4, 2021 1:37pm
  - Ed Snack
    
    I reckon that you are all ignoring a major cause of house price increases – monetary expansion through “QE” and equivalent schemes. This has – and kind of always does- lead to asset bubbles. And what better haven for all that excess cash than real estate ?
    
    It’ s not the only cause, sure, but it is the equivalent of pouring petrol on a fire and adds to the pressures generated by immigration and limitations on supply.
    
    And I’d add that this is not just an NZ problem, worldwide there’s a bubble in real estate except in the few places where unbridled expansion of the housing stock is allowed. In those places there’s the same increase in real estate asset values, but distributed across a lot more housing rather than concentrated in the existing stock. This is not an issue the NZ government can easily address on its own, raise our interest rates would have a dire impact on our currency valuation and on export returns.
    
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    August 4, 2021 1:22pm
  - Inandout
    
    BY, or perhaps those houses on HGTV in smaller US towns around $300,000 for a huge dwelling (Yanks love big houses) and massive sections.
    
    2 1
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    August 4, 2021 1:22pm
    - Tall Man
      
      And miles from any transport hub. Remember, they are US dollars as well and many of the show are 3 years old and more.
      
      The show “hometown” has had an impact on local pricing but
      
      “There are currently 100 properties with a median home value in Laurel, MS of $118,000. The median list price per square foot in Laurel, MS is $79. Of the total homes in Laurel, MS 82% are for sale, 18% are for rent, and 53% are single family homes. Laurel, MS represents 0% of home addresses in the United States. Home values in Laurel, MS are 48% below the median home value in the United States.”
      
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      August 4, 2021 3:31pm
- I remember when
  
  As I get around Central North Island, and travelling through North Canterbury recently, the amount of visible new housing construction is impressive.
  Both new housing suburbs and old houses being demolished and two, or even more, houses in their place.
  Attempts to get tradesmen, building firms, already well into next year.
  If the world opens up more quickly than expected the effect might be considerable.
  At weekend heard of two older couples moving to Australia because of the lack of family visits with covid.
  
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  August 4, 2021 9:45am
- Bobba Fret
  
  I fainted when I read the headline “government admits it got it wrong”
  Couldn’t they find someone to blame?
  What about National nine years of neglect? isn’t it Nationals fault somehow? sarc/
  
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  August 4, 2021 10:39am
Frank the tank

Random questions for an idle Wednesday:

1). Is the Blairite really sick or is this another hissy fit because Grunter told her to stop being so woke?
2). If she is sick – has she had a swab inserted halfway into her brain like the passive aggressive voice in the media compels us to if we have flu like symptoms?
3). Are there any TAB odds on Laurell Hubbard re-transitioning post her Olympic career being over?
4). Has Reid Research replaced UMR as labor’s polling partner?
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August 4, 2021 8:10am
- igm
  
  Hubbard is no “her”, it is an apparition.
  
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  August 4, 2021 8:23am
  - oldfella
    
    igm, seems a re-transition would be difficult as despite what people on KB seemed to think, Laurel has had the chop.
    https://starsoffline.com/laurel-hubbard-before-and-after-as-a-man-surgery/
    
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    August 4, 2021 11:12am
    - oldfella
      
      Re Hubbard, this is also interesting.
      BBC did NOT screen live coverage of trans weightlifter Laurel Hubbard after warning it would report viewers who questioned her right to compete as a woman to ‘authorities’
      https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9856081/BBC-didnt-screen-live-coverage-Laurel-Hubbard-warning-viewers-questioning-right-compete.html
      
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      August 4, 2021 11:56am
      - Inandout
        
        old, balls I say!
        
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        August 4, 2021 1:24pm
      - Loddenthinks
        
        BBC Sport which I occasionally go to, had a piece along the lines of “5 athletes to watch at Tokyo” a couple of weeks back.
        
        Needless to say, the cheat was one of the anointed ones, with nothing but applause and acclamation for bravery and making history etc, one of the more sick-making hagiographies you’d ever see.
        
        Not one syllable about controversy, opposition or even the pretence of balance. Mind you, it’s the BBC so, you know….no surprises there.
        
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        August 4, 2021 9:37pm
- KevO'Brien
  
  Ardern goes to pieces easily. She has been reduced to tears in Parliament. A decent economic crisis will be too much for her to handle. I will be surprised if she finishes her season out.
  
  70 2
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  August 4, 2021 8:27am
  - Nickc2
    
    BRING IT ON!
    
    20 1
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    August 4, 2021 8:38am
  - sooty
    
    Media reported yesterday that she had the chinky flue test!
    Is she taking more time off work?
    
    10 2
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    August 4, 2021 10:42am
- DeepBlue
  
  She looked shockingly unwell in the photos from Sunday’s apology, particularly given she’d have seen this as a photo op.
  
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  August 4, 2021 8:53am
- rjay
  
  Didn’t she have the covid jab the other day?
  
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  August 4, 2021 9:12am
- Paulus Gnome
  
  The difficulty I understand with testing the Blairite, is finding a swab long enough to find the brain.
  
  3 million are on order . . .
  
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  August 4, 2021 9:29am
- lifesgood
  
  LOL! I thought that about Hubbard too. “Now that I know I’m a dud weight lifter I might as well be what I really am.”
  
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  August 4, 2021 9:36am
  - sooty
    
    Hay with daddy’s money you can be what ever you like!
    
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    August 4, 2021 1:02pm
Tony Stuart

There’s been lots of criticism from the Left on National for raising the issue of a referendum on any name change for New Zealand.

Newshub is running a poll this morning about a potential name change, and the results so far are pretty overwhelmingly in favour of the status quo by an even more conclusive margin than the Bike Bridge poll:

https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/shows/2021/08/question-of-the-day-what-should-new-zealand-officially-be-called.html

A name change certainly should not be contemplated without a referendum; it’s an issue that affects every New Zealander. I think Judith Collins and National are on the right side of this debate.
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August 4, 2021 8:12am
- KevO'Brien
  
  It’s the only side. The matter should not be on the agenda anyway.
  We have paid sufficiently for NZ to have naming rights.
  
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  August 4, 2021 8:28am
- westernScientest
  
  lol, 82/4/13 at 0825 and 6559 votes.
  I wonder if everything will revert to New Zealand now, or just go full Orwellian and remove any reference to New Zealand and pretend it never existed.
  
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  August 4, 2021 8:28am
  - graham
    
    Nope. It will be seen as proof that there is still so much work to do to decolonise this country, to quell the far-right white supremacists, to teach us all about the Maori and the amazing wonders they achieved before the British came here and ruined everything.
    
    Mike Hosking and Kate Hawkesby were talking about the poll showing how the vast majority of Kiwis are opposed to the cycle bridge, and musing about just how Labour could misread the mood of the country so badly on this. Hosking was of the opinion that one of the problems was that of ideology – “we’re right, everybody else is wrong, and we’re going to push through with what we KNOW to be right whether you like it or not, because we know better than you. You’ll see, we’re right and history will show that.”
    
    Same with this. Every time somebody complains about “too much Maori being spoken in the News” or “what’s the point of putting up road signs in Maori, who can read them?”, it will be seen as PROOF that there’s still too many racists out there and they need to double down until all the stale pale males either see the error of their ways, or die out.
    
    Because THEY’RE right, and YOU’RE wrong. And if 60%, or 80%, or even more people complain, you’re ALL STILL WRONG. So be quiet and just accept it, because THEY KNOW WHAT’S BEST FOR YOU.
    
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    August 4, 2021 10:06am
  - sooty
    
    Will she make another Captains call and change the name of NZ before the next election?
    National need to say if you do that sweeety. We will do one of our own and change it back!
    
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    August 4, 2021 10:46am
  - Tony Stuart
    
    Now 10,896 respondents, with 80% support for New Zealand, and only 5% support for Aotearoa. 15% support Aotearoa-New Zealand, which I could live with, provided that was the outcome of a referendum. I would however prefer the status quo.
    
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    August 4, 2021 10:59am
- redeye
  
  Tony you’ll remember the flag debate. Labour campaigned against the change regardless that their stated policy was to change the flag. Their issue seemed to be the referendum.
  And now they’re trying to change our countries name, and again they’re against any sort of referendum.
  
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  August 4, 2021 8:35am
- Paulus
  
  Currently 83% New Zealand (alone) so lets have a referendum – not bloody lightly.
  
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  August 4, 2021 8:41am
- MCos
  
  A few years ago David Cameron pushed through the Brexit referendum never thinking Yes would win.
  
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  August 4, 2021 8:46am
- BananaLlama
  
  Left wing activists taking an absolute drubbing in this poll. National should bring the topic up every now and again to get them squealing about how we shouldn’t be named New Zealand at all.
  
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  August 4, 2021 9:24am
- Homas
  
  I find it interesting that if anyone with a public platform gets caught using the spelling “Wanganui”, they will probably find themselves in for all sorts of grief, but hey, if you want to just make up alternative names for the whole country, it seems to be a case of you do you buddy.
  
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  August 4, 2021 9:28am
- NoFax
  
  The criticism from the Left is very easy to understand – a referendum would result in a massive win for “New Zealand”. The Left don’t believe in democracy and, therefore, will just impose this on NZ.
  
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  August 4, 2021 10:22am
- Rich Prick
  
  I once thought Aotearoa was slightly endearing. The overuse of the name to the exclusion of the proper name has made it cringeworthy and unpleasant. Much like an invasive noxious weed in the garden.
  
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  August 4, 2021 10:24am
- JerJer
  
  Same old same old. Even contemplating a name change is only something a Moron would do.
  
  Only the same 5% that support all the other stupid ideas support this, just like normal. They are very loud on social media of course, but reality is that the 5% are fringe crazies.
  
  There are literally 100s of reasons NOT to change the name of the country amd have yet to see one good reason TO change.
  
  If put to a referendum, it would fail miserably. If forced upon is by a foolish polly, then that would be the end of them.
  
  Summary. Never going to happen.
  
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  August 4, 2021 10:40am
  - kevn
    
    @jer… Ah, but the NZ name caper is a great distraction, really gets people riled so they take their eyes off the ball.
    So much other labour sh*t flowing it is hard to keep up.
    
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    August 4, 2021 11:30am
- Unity
  
  I’m totally fed up with hearing Aotearoa on TV every 5 minutes. We are New Zealand and proud of it. Aotearoa has nothing to do with it and in fact was made up by a white man many years ago. In fact I just wish we could have one Channel with English only spoken. There is a Maori Channel and other Channels pushing the language for those wanting to hear it. Our kids are going to grow up speaking Pidgin English the way we are going.
  
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  August 4, 2021 11:43am
  - Inandout
    
    Unity, try ‘Wha Go’ on Monday nights, Pippa and the stiff necked guy try and outdo one another on te lingo. And also try listening for the term New Zealand; it doesn’t exist.
    
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    August 4, 2021 1:53pm
  - KevO'Brien
    
    There are at least 2 Maori channels.
    
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    August 4, 2021 5:32pm
- jon
  
  Spot on Tony..this has to be the first time i have been disappointed in David Seymour with his flippant response to this important constitutional matter. Collins and the Nats are correct that any proposal for a name change for our country must be decided by a referendum.
  
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  August 4, 2021 1:45pm
  - Tall Man
    
    Perhaps David has a lot on his mind surveying his future as the captain of the good ship New Zealand …..
    
    He needs to get his feet back on the ground and stick to his current job.
    
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    August 4, 2021 3:25pm
    - KevO'Brien
      
      He would be best to support National who at least have had some experience.
      
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      August 4, 2021 5:34pm
Frank the tank

https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2021/08/duncan-garner-should-we-change-the-name-of-new-zealand-to-aotearoa-no-and-here-s-why.html

LOL. The Wokeborg will be after you Dunc. And I wouldn’t want to be within 10 miles of you pal when your ex-missus catches up with you..
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August 4, 2021 8:15am
- Unity
  
  Duncan is right with most of what he said but there never was a Partnership between Maori and the Crown. The Crown doesn’t go into partnership with its subjects. There is no partnership and there never was and there never should be. We should all be treated the same and stop treating Maori as ‘special needs’ people. It’s demeaning.
  
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  August 4, 2021 11:47am
  - Swifty
    
    The Crown cannot ‘go into partnership’ with its subjects.
    
    It’s constitutionally impossible.
    
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    August 4, 2021 1:05pm
Maggie Pie

DISCLOSURE: “I worked on Poto Williams 1st campaign”

– well butter my butt and call me a muffin!

https://twitter.com/therealgregjack/status/1422480246914240521
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August 4, 2021 8:18am
- Frank the tank
  
  How do you follow left wing twatter circlejerk groups Maggie?
  
  Reading that alone destroyed 3,000 brain cells.
  
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  August 4, 2021 8:22am
  - Maggie Pie
    
    Well check this idiot out Frankie!
    
    Calls himself a Lawyer…only excuse I can see is he’s a ‘Westie’
    
    https://twitter.com/sensitive_mike/status/1422474012593049601
    
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    August 4, 2021 11:19am
    - Maggy Wassilieff
      
      Perhaps Poto Williams never did any bottling, never read about genies in bottles, has never bottled things up inside, doesn’t hit the bottle, and never played spin the bottle.
      
      Just shows to go, you can’t put new wine into an old bottle.
      
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      August 4, 2021 11:52am
    - nathie
      
      Good to see Rachel Stewart calling out Labour’s “Mickey” Presland in the tweet above (and the subsequent tweets below RS’s calling the woke Labour/Green trolls out)!
      
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      August 4, 2021 11:58am
  - kevn
    
    @Frank… We are lucky to have Maggie sift through Twitter on our behalf. Generally great.
    Thanks Mags.
    
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    August 4, 2021 11:31am
- NoFax
  
  It is interesting to read the echo chamber of the Left. A National MP calls for a referendum on whether to change the name of NZ to Aotearoa. The Left interprets that as a ban on saying the word – but isn’t this exactly what they want, change the name of NZ?
  
  Also, can we just be factual when it comes to Aotearoa – that was not the Maori name for NZ before Tasman. There was no name for NZ and the first name for NZ was in fact New Zealand. Aotearoa came about in the 1860’s. It isn’t even in the Treaty of Waitangi!
  
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  August 4, 2021 10:27am
  - KevO'Brien
    
    I like New Tyranny. (Niu Tireni, I believe is in the Treaty.)
    
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    August 4, 2021 5:41pm
Ruahine

Finally we now know that Labour, Greens and Maori Partys do not believe in Democracy.
How dare people be allowed to vote about something like the name change of the country. They might just vote the wrong way.

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/448375/national-s-call-for-aotearoa-referendum-absurd-and-ridiculous
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August 4, 2021 8:23am
- rjay
  
  The Greens used to have a policy of citizen democracy
  
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  August 4, 2021 9:10am
  - Ehlana
    
    Was that back when they were interested in the environment?
    
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    August 4, 2021 3:01pm
    - alloytoo
      
      ah back when they were still pretending.
      
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      August 4, 2021 7:07pm
- MCos
  
  As long as the next National administration is going to have a referendum on changing the name of the country will they have a preliminary vote to determine the two most popular alternatives?
  It may well be that NZ & Aotearoa might not be the crowd favourites. What about Godzone, I’d vote for that!
  We could sell the naming rights. Fonterra Land, New Legoland. The obvious one would be Mao Peoples’ Paradise or some such
  
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  August 4, 2021 9:38am
Critical Thinker

10 absurdities that damaged the COVID pandemic response

1) This COVID-19 pandemic was never the “emergency” that governments, technocrats and the medical community and task forces told you it was. The infection fatality rate at most is 0.2%, and less than 0.05% when you look at ages 70 years old and below. And the risk of survival for persons 0-19 is 99.997%. With studies showing that more than 99% of COVID victims have had preexisting conditions. Especially obesity and anxiety.
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/310003

2) The PCR test used to diagnose positive infections is not a suitable test. It is very flawed and inaccurate. Around 90% of the “positives” are false positives in terms of being infectious.

3) An “infection” is not a “case.” Saying we have 10,000 new “cases” is false. Historically a case is when someone has actual symptoms and is sick.

4) This vaccines for COVID are not “safe and effective.” The vaccine manufacturers were not required to study where the spike protein travels to in the body and for how long and how much of it and for how long it would be produced. The spike protein can potentially be produced “forever” in you. We are seeing that the spike protein triggers blood clotting.

5) It is very dangerous to vaccinate COVID-recovered persons or persons with active infection. As this historically produces stronger variants of the virus.

6) The silence by the academic scientific community, the clinical medical doctors and the public health officials – all of them – is near criminal for the disaster of the pandemic response with the failed lockdowns, school closures, mask mandates, etc. and now the seemingly harmful vaccines.

7) Asymptomatic spread was a blatant lie. If you have little or no symptoms, you are not infectious. Yet this garbage of “asymptomatic spread” is still being used to lock down our societies and cost many lives.

8) Reinfection is rare. All cases (which are a very few that have been published) can be explained via a flaw in interpretation of the PCR test results.

9) These vaccines do not confer better, stronger immunity than natural exposure immunity. These vaccines, with the narrow “spike-specific” immunity, cannot compare to the broad, comprehensive, durable, long-lasting protection that natural immunity can confer.

10) We could have saved thousands of lives and have prevented hospitalization and death once treatment with Hydroxychloroquine, Ivermectin, and other anti-virals are started soon after infection, during the viral replication phase of the illness.

https://www.lifesitenews.com/opinion/lies-and-absurdities-that-damaged-the-covid-pandemic-response/
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August 4, 2021 8:23am
- Critical Thinker
  
  A lot of noise has been made these last few weeks about the rise of the new Delta and Lambda covid variants. There have been threats of a fourth wave, new lockdowns, and the surprise of increasing cases among the vaccinated… but is it really a surprise?
  
  While the media and government officials convinced people a vaccine would be the end of this hellscape, other suppressed experts have been warning about this exact situation for some time. New variants, whose origins all correlate with the locations of the initial vaccine trials (India, South Africa, Brazil, UK, USA), should have scientists thinking about a cause and effect relationship but is instead continue to be relegated to coincidence.
  
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5a7PLv9JkF4
  
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  August 4, 2021 8:31am
- krazykiwi
  
  This is a largely manufactured crisis. It has proven just how easily the majority can be psychologically manipulated into offering up their freedoms in return for perceived safety. Overall it has been a stunning success for the elites
  
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  August 4, 2021 10:40am
- freemark
  
  Sorry reported by accident. A good little CBS 60 minutes vid from 70’s on the Swine flu vax campaign back then. CDC features in it. https://youtu.be/4bOHYZhL0WQ
  
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  August 4, 2021 11:06am
- Aurelia
  
  Living up to your name I see critical thinker. Bravo. People need to stop being lazy and research from many sources. Get a wide view then draw conclusions. Get off the bloody 6pm news for God’s sake.
  
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  August 4, 2021 4:49pm
- KevO'Brien
  
  The url says it all. Are we all being had?
  
  https://thelibertyloft.com/opinion-covid-19-a-plan-decades-in-the-making-part-1-the-patents/
  
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  August 4, 2021 5:43pm
Tony Stuart

An interesting tweet from Jo Moir of Newsroom although the article she links to is behind a paywall:

Jo Moir @jo_moir

Kris Faafoi wanted to exit Parliament altogether at the last election to spend more time with his young family. But some in Labour convinced him otherwise.

As pressure mounts in his portfolios Faafoi is struggling to articulate the Government’s position.

https://twitter.com/jo_moir/status/1422644022703689730

Whoever convinced Faafoi to stand again at the last election did him and his family a grave injustice. Parliamentary life, and especially that of a Minister is brutal on families, and you can’t blame Faafoi for wanting to spend time with his partner and children.

But it would also seem to confirm what many have thought; that Faafoi’s heart hasn’t been in the job, hence the massive delays with immigration issues, reform of the Justice system etc, whilst he tinkers around the edges. I know when I was headed towards a mental health crisis, inertia and apathy were part of my daily routine; I constantly put things off, and in many cases, they were important things. For his own sake, I hope Kris Faafoi’s mental health is ok, and that he’s not afraid to ask for help if he needs it, because in the meantime, thousands of people are being directly affected by his avoidance of decisions. And if he really doesn’t have the appetite for Parliament any more, he should look after number one, and resign.
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August 4, 2021 8:24am
- Frank the tank
  
  Perhaps that explains multiple ministers performance
  
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  August 4, 2021 8:34am
  - Tony Stuart
    
    It could, although I believe that Faafoi was one of the more competent Ministers in Labour’s first term. I wonder however if he was looking to move on, but the PM offered him a higher ranking portfolio to keep him. If he was already having doubts about whether he even wanted to remain in Parliament, the additional portfolio responsibilities, especially Immigration in the Covid environment, may have simply overwhelmed him.
    
    The problem for Ardern would be who to replace him with if he did step away, and that’s where the shallow nature of Labour’s caucus will become even more evident.
    
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    August 4, 2021 11:04am
    - sooty
      
      Bring back Phill Twyford from the wilderness!
      
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      August 4, 2021 1:09pm
- emmess
  
  Sorry, don’t have much sympathy for fascists like him who want to jail good parents who protect their children.
  
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  August 4, 2021 8:47am
- hullkiwi
  
  Remember Tony in the last Parliament Faa’foi was seen as the rising star. That was easy when measured against likes of Clair Curran.
  
  This parliament with more pressure, the star seems to be burning out rather quickly.
  
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  August 4, 2021 8:49am
- Muttonbird
  
  Anyone having to answer HDPA’s gammon baiting questions would be driven to the edge.
  
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  August 4, 2021 10:30am
  - alloytoo
    
    someone telling porkies?
    
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    August 4, 2021 12:17pm
- Philview
  
  Kris is a likeable Minister and probably the reason he has been given the ideological poisonous policies to sell to the country. I have been expecting him to quit and show his integrity which I hope he does do.
  
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  August 4, 2021 11:12am
  - Tall Man
    
    “Integrity” …. You do know he’s a labour mp don’t you?
    
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    August 4, 2021 3:18pm
RiP NZ

So much guardianship,
…eight homes in the Mahia, Wairoa, Whakatāne and Kawerau

Join, the, dots.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/mpi-raids-multiple-properties-after-six-month-investigation-into-highly-organised-black-market-crayfish-ring/XUZ64KPKISAVG63IC3O7RKNCSM/
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August 4, 2021 8:30am
igm

Can see why nurses are so irate about the behaviour they are subjected to.
At 9.15 a.m. yesterday, in a ward on the second floor of Wellington Hospital, I witnessed what looked to be a gang member sitting in a waiting room, looking slightly agitiated. He was called for his appointment (sounded a European name), and slouched off.
A few minutes later there was a disgusting outburst full of English expletives, and threatening, then he left, telling everyone within hearing “no one effen tells me what to do”.
Maybe he get to a tohunga in a whare somewhere, he would not be missed by the white people who were trying to help him.
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August 4, 2021 8:32am
Maggie Pie

Watching the semi-finals of the ‘Women’s Beach Volleyball’ last night and thought to myself……if you HAD the choice, why would anyone in their right mind opt to be an 87kg female Weightlifter?

Just saying.
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August 4, 2021 8:33am
- Frank the tank
  
  The second week is definitely when the hotties come out Maggie. From the Eastern European track athletes, to the Dutch Women’s Hockey team, NZ’s sweetheart on the water and Russian divers my interest in the Wokelympics has picked up a lot.
  
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  August 4, 2021 8:40am
  - Frank the tank
    
    Forgot lovely Lydia starts her campaign today as well.
    
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    August 4, 2021 1:05pm
- MCos
  
  First point.
  I doubt if anybody had the choice.
  
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  August 4, 2021 9:48am
  - Maggie Pie
    
    Tbh, I wonder about you sometimes Cossie….
    
    Gav had the choice and transitioned to a female weightlifter didn’t he?
    
    SHEESH
    
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    August 4, 2021 12:29pm
  - Tall Man
    
    “Pies” may beg to differ.
    
    You can’t build a brick house without bricks.
    
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    August 4, 2021 3:17pm
- Tony Stuart
  
  To be fair Maggie, not every woman is born with a beach volleyball player’s body 😀
  
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  August 4, 2021 11:13am
  - Kiwi Dave
    
    To be fair, Tony, it seems not every woman is born with a woman’s body.
    
    As for Laurel, if she had chosen diving, I think she’d make quite a splash.
    
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    August 4, 2021 2:25pm
I remember when

Watching the female track events I wondered,
“Why are they wearing bikini bottoms in so many cases.”
Apparently the answer is that it is alright when it is their choice.
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August 4, 2021 8:41am
- Ed Snack
  
  I am told that some runners find it helps their running action. As a long term runner and having run in speedos in triathlons, there is a certain freedom I guess, might work differently for women. Nice short but loose shorts always worked for me, never liked running in bike shorts in duathlons though the padding for the cycle leg probably made a big difference.
  
  These days I refuse to run in speedos on public protection grounds !
  
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  August 4, 2021 1:34pm
  - Tall Man
    
    Is that last “l” supposed to be there?
    
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    August 4, 2021 3:15pm
Cassandra

Allegations that Andrew Cuomo sexually harassed 11 women. Apparently such behaviour is not confined to Republicans. But then Trump was actually a Democrat when he was active (allegedly) in this field.
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August 4, 2021 8:56am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Very sly dig at Trump. Lefties often mention to me that Trump has been divorced twice – as if that is a bad thing. I have been divorced as well, am I half as bad as Trump for doing so??
  Not really sure of your point other than TDS affecting you
  
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  August 4, 2021 2:23pm
  - Mark
    
    I am so glad I do not have to listen to your unhinged drivel in the smoko room at your workplace .I am trying to imagine the poor bastards that do.You are a walking stack of unhinged drivel,no substance ,like tall man just a waving tongue flapping in the breeze. Cmon Mr Otto Key let in 600000 immigrants in 9 years how many houses did he build ,how many tradesmen did he train?.OR SHUT THE FUCK uP.
    
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    August 4, 2021 10:12pm
    - Steve Otto(North Shore)
      
      People like you are the reason Trump will return. Come see me in 2022, or 2024
      
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      August 5, 2021 8:19am
dcrane

Just heard an ad for “Auckland light rail” on Newstalk ZB, full of happy talk about increasing access to our city. Have these been running often lately? Who is paying for them?
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August 4, 2021 8:58am
- sooty
  
  You and me of course!
  
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  August 4, 2021 11:15am
- Frank the tank
  
  Who is paying for them?
  
  Silly – you of course. Go on their website and see who the various ‘partners’ are for this propaganda.
  
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  August 4, 2021 11:26am
I remember when

“Anti-vaccination group’s billboards taken down after ‘harassing people’ trying to get vaccines:”
Of course there was no discussion about possible reasons for groups’ motives – other than they were anti-vaxxers.
Of course many would have been at the rather extreme end of the spectrum.
However there is a growing section of public asking whether vaccinations are always the answer.
Are there other approaches we could be using and are they another example of the influence of big pharma muscle in the debate.
No the protests at the vaccination centres may not have been intelligent but is there a danger that all debate on vaccines/vaccination gets closed down.
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August 4, 2021 9:13am
- Ehlana
  
  How does a billboard harass people?
  
  Especially, how does it stop them getting vaccinated?
  
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  August 4, 2021 3:04pm
  - Tall Man
    
    Struggling to get past the big words maybe …..
    
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    August 4, 2021 3:09pm
cha

When bankruptcy is a business plan….

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-08-02/trump-s-gdp-growth-was-the-worst-since-the-great-depression
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August 4, 2021 9:14am
- Ed Snack
  
  Remove the impact of the Covid pandemic and it is a different story though.
  
  In general, his economic policies were pretty good for the USA until derailed in 2020 by Covid.
  
  But typical of a leftoid to comment ignoring context.
  
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  August 4, 2021 1:37pm
  - Tall Man
    
    “leftoid”, you’re far too kind methinks……
    
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    August 4, 2021 3:08pm
    - Mark
      
      Care to compare with NZ old boy .?Thought not ,back to your trough chappie ,and stay.
      
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      August 4, 2021 10:38pm
cas

Lisa Carrington is a fantastic athlete and I certainly hope that she brings in more bling from her next two events. If she surpasses Ian Ferguson and we call her our most successful Olympian we shouldn’t forget Ferg wasn’t a fully professional athlete ie had to work, had no coach, no physio, no support systems other than his wife and certainly virtually no funding. That he achieved his success without the setup modern athletes have now is amazing.
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August 4, 2021 9:20am
- Stu2
  
  Ferg was a great canoeist, but he did lack competition at LA in 1984 as the soviet block boycotted those olympics
  
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  August 4, 2021 11:36am
- Nickc2
  
  Exactly cas. Unfortunately, the woke media won’t know about that (conveniently).
  However, top marks to Lisa Carrington. She put in the hard yards and is now reaping the rewards.
  That is not to take away the success of our other athletes and those whose hard efforts made it to the Olympics (with the exception of Hubbard).
  
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  August 4, 2021 12:35pm
Critical Thinker

Australia has fallen to the tyrannical Covidiocracy.

New Zealand is next.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8KScb7XjzE
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August 4, 2021 9:26am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Gotta agree that NZ is next. ‘Something is rotten down under’ and we have known it since Jaspinda got power. She will be watching Australia to see how she can enforce that power using a woke Police Force and an almost invisible Defence Force.
  But yep, it is coming. Socialists never relinquish their control without a fight – History
  
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  August 4, 2021 2:42pm
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Going to bang that on FB and see how long it takes them to flag it as false. Or maybe I will get jail again. Fact checkers tend to see facts as hate speech
  
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  August 4, 2021 2:50pm
I remember when

“Poll shows not many in favour of $785m Auckland Cycle Bridge:” Newshub TV3.
Tova starts off by lambasting what seems to be another Labour failure.
But wait, fortunately (as a result of the bad poll), them seem to have learned and the rethink shows they are listening.
Then, in a display of fairness and balance, she gives National a spray for complaining about the constant use of Aotearoa without public consultation.
Even shows deep research by, noting Aotearoa appeared on passports under National and John Key was in charge when they started using it on bank notes.
Now, she wonders, what can I finish with –
right, so when will Judith Collins be rolled as National leader.
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August 4, 2021 9:27am
Yabster

Three waters plan ‘He Puapua in action’
Imposed without warning or any electoral mandate, the total upheaval of water services in New Zealand – designed to deliver control to Maori – is He Puapua in action, commentator Muriel Newman said at the weekend.

“In September 2012 the Maori King Tuheitia told a meeting of over 1000 people from throughout the country that in spite of fresh water falling from the sky as rain and snow, it was owned by Maori,” Dr Newman wrote on the New Zealand Centre for Political Research website.

The Maori King said that “the ultimate goal for iwi is to retain management and control of water,” she wrote.

“Just nine years later, the Minister of Local Government Nanaia Mahuta is planning to deliver on her cousin’s goal by passing legislation that will give iwi, including her own Tainui tribe, the right to manage and control the country’s freshwater.”

“Minister Mahuta’s plan will result in freshwater, stormwater and wastewater assets and infrastructure owned and controlled by the country’s 67 local authorities – and paid for by generations of ratepayers – being transferred to four new regional water agencies 50:50 co-governed by iwi. Although local authorities will provide all of the assets, they will be given only 50 percent of the control. The other 50 percent will be given to local iwi,” Dr Newman wrote.

“Not only will councils effectively have control of their assets cut in half, Cabinet papers reveal an extraordinary requirement: all decisions undertaken by these new agencies –‘will require a super majority decision of 75 per cent.’”

“That means no decision can be made without the approval of iwi. In effect, iwi will have a veto right and be in control of all New Zealand water services decision-making,” she wrote.
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August 4, 2021 9:28am
thetiedarch

Here’s visual evidence of something DPF posted a while back. https://boysvswomen.com/#/

Someone has collated and visualized all the USA High School National Champs times/distances in Athletics and swimming vs the equivalent events for Women at the 2016 Olympic Games.

Its not even close.

And they say Trans Women should be allowed to compete with Women.
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August 4, 2021 9:30am
KevO'Brien

Is independent thought allowed any longer?
https://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2021/08/03/if-you-tell-the-truth-social-media-nazis-ban-you/
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August 4, 2021 9:39am
- Greg Ettridge
  
  Doesn’t look like texts are in the US
  This is the most disturbing video I have seen this week.
  Be quick it won’t be there for long.
  This is taking censorship to a whole new level.
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ncd7YUr3nsQ&t=4s
  
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  August 4, 2021 10:03am
- MCos
  
  I wondered that when I listened to Mike Hosking on the radio the other day.
  
  Back when I was at St Bedes independent thought was forbidden when it came to the fundamental teachings of the Catholic Church.
  I distinctly remember in Christian Doctrine class one day one of the kids asked a particularly curly question for which the teacher/priest had no ‘logical’ answer.
  ‘Why do we believe such & such?’
  ‘You have to have faith’
  You take it on faith, I take it on faith, the next person above me takes it on faith, right up to the Pope, but you must believe it.
  Did God create us, or did we create God to explain stuff we don’t understand?
  
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  August 4, 2021 10:07am
  - Frank the tank
    
    Stop trolling.
    
    There is far more free thought offered at my son’s all boys catholic school than the local woke public schools in the area.
    
    If it was that bad why are private schools and well-run integrated schools all receiving record enrollments over and above public schools.
    
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    August 4, 2021 11:30am
    - alloytoo
      
      MCos does however make a valid point.
      
      Much of the current woke agenda does have to be taken on faith.
      
      Diversity, Equity, Inclusion.
      
      There is no evidence to support the benefit of diversity.
      
      Equity is communism by any other name and properly discredited.
      
      Inclusion counterintuitively appears exclude those centred around average in favour of those on the extreme.
      
      These are areas which they demand we take on faith.
      
      Likewise climate change (and the horde of disasters to follow) too must be taken on faith.
      
      Temperature rises seem to be paused, and in some areas like Tokyo appear to have declined in the past century.
      
      Sea level rise remains consistent.
      
      Extreme weather events refuse to materialise and even those damn polar bears are flourishing.
      
      Speaking as one who has sauntered vaguely downwards (from belief), it would appear that an absence of belief in the youth has left them craving for something and vulnerable to the new woke religion and climate death cult.
      
      Private schools and well-run integrated schools are less vulnerable to the liberal woke agenda and offer a philosophy which is far kinder.
      
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      August 4, 2021 12:50pm
  - MrTips
    
    Interesting MCos. My sons went to Bedes and it was ALL ABOUT independent thought.
    
    Think what you mean to say is you just rejected it all outright, rather than make a serious attempt to try and understand any of it.
    
    As Fulton Sheen said: “There are not one hundred people in the United States who hate The Catholic Church, but there are millions who hate what they wrongly perceive the Catholic Church to be”.
    
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    August 4, 2021 12:48pm
  - Fletch
    
    Hmmm, but if God and his ways were 100% obvious to everyone, would you need any faith at all? St Thomas said he wouldn’t believe until he has seen the risen Lord in the flesh and put his fingers into the holes the nails made. Jesus appeared to the 12 (including Thomas) and allowed him to do just that. Jesus told him –
    
    “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
    
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    August 4, 2021 10:26pm
- Inandout
  
  KO, this brings us onto the subject of Peter Williams taking leave at a most unusual time when news items are abuzz and Sky Oz is temporarily suspended from YT.
  Garden leave, no not Peter…?
  
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  August 4, 2021 10:09am
Rusty

3News ran a story last night on Judith Collins and National suggesting Labour was trying to change the name of New Zealand to Aeoteoroa by stealth.

One dumbo reporter asked a National member “Who said the name New Zealand was the official name of this country?”

Unfortunately this National member didn’t give a convincing answer but he should have by simply asking this reporter:

“What is the Nationality of the people of this country called?”

This reporter would have to have answered “New Zealander”

What else are we called — what would we be called if it was Aeoteoroa?
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August 4, 2021 9:52am
- Than
  
  It could well be true that there isn’t a single document that declares New Zealand is the “official” name of the country. But there are thousands of individual locations where that name is used and completely understood – everything from passports, to birth certificates, to all the treaties we have with other countries, and on all our memberships in international organisations.
  
  Oh, and when people make the argument that Aotearoa is already on passports, that’s only sort of true.
  
  Passports are an explicitly bilingual document. Every single word in them is repeated in both English and Maori. So yes, the word Aotearoa is printed several times in passports… but never in the text which is nominally English. You could credibly claim the same for Aotearoa being on currency (although since it’s just the single word without any other context that case is more hazy).
  
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  August 4, 2021 3:37pm
- KevO'Brien
  
  Bloomin’ idiots.
  
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  August 4, 2021 5:49pm
Inandout

If the rumour that Jacinda is to stand down and Grant assuming the PM role had me thinking about openly gay leaders.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_openly_LGBT_heads_of_government
Interesting and food for thought.
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August 4, 2021 10:03am
Maggie Pie

WHAT?

Try to make sense of this……LOL!!

https://twitter.com/TrumpJew2/status/1422663075518365697

(comments are hilarious 😀 😀 :D)
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August 4, 2021 10:21am
Billy

If we are redefining the terms ‘man’ and ‘woman’ to be entirely psychological concepts and refer purely to self-identification, and there are no physical biological differences between men and women, then what is the point of dividing up sports by men and women?

Of course, when mens and womens sport were split up, it was precisely because these terms were defined in reference to physical biological differences.

How can we justify this segregation of sports by men and women, if whether you are one or the other has no bearing on performance? It would be more unjust than segregating based on race.

It seems, those who want to go with this new definition for these terms have two options:

1. Get rid of the distinction and watch as biological females never win a single event ever again (or only by chance), OR
2. We accept the new definitions of ‘men’ and ‘women’ but stop using those terms to divide up sport and instead divide sports up by male and female.
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August 4, 2021 10:25am
Muttonbird

Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
Why does National want to ban the use of Aotearoa?

Is it a case of free speech, but only for white speech?
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August 4, 2021 10:33am
- Frank the tank
  
  Why do you want the ram as much Maori down our throats?
  
  Does it make you sleep well at night while all those Maoris are in motel rooms?
  
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  August 4, 2021 11:33am
  - KevO'Brien
    
    Maori used to ram each other down their throats. Only when a shortage emerge did they call on Queen Vic to save them from extinction.
    
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    August 4, 2021 5:51pm
- Tall Man
  
  Distorting the facts again, you must be a labour supporter. Bullshit seems endemic within the labour party, shame really, they used to have such l;ofty ideals and principles.
  
  Having a conversation and maybe a referendum is very different that your made up version.
  
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  August 4, 2021 11:58am
  - Muttonbird
    
    Would be bloody hilarious if we did have a referendum and Aotearoa won…
    
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    August 4, 2021 1:40pm
    - Nickc2
      
      Canned
      
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      August 4, 2021 2:17pm
    - Tall Man
      
      It would, but it wouldn’t.
      
      ardern and stealth seem to be joined at the hip. Maybe she’ll make a “captain’s call” eh … Maybe she won’t be captain for much longer.
      
      “Wouldn’t that be loverly” …..
      
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      August 4, 2021 2:47pm
    - Frank the tank
      
      Keep dreaming. Back to the troll bridge.
      
      4 1
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      August 4, 2021 2:51pm
- alloytoo
  
  “Why does National want to ban the use of Aotearoa?”
  
  Could you please support your assertion?
  
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  August 4, 2021 12:53pm
  - Nickc2
    
    National don’t want to ban it. Put simply, it’s not the correct name for New Zealand. National want it put to a binding referendum and if the majority of NZers vote for a change, change will happen. National don’t want it changed by stelth as this Govt has set out to do.
    
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    August 4, 2021 2:23pm
  - Tall Man
    
    Trolls will troll…..
    
    5 1
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    August 4, 2021 2:47pm
  - KevO'Brien
    
    Insufficient use, or choice.
    It’s never been our name and never will be.
    
    4 1
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    August 4, 2021 5:53pm
graham

Headline on NZ Herald:

Laurel Hubbard had her moment. Now she’d like her privacy.

Fine by me, I’d be more than happy for the media to never write about Hubbard again. So all you media bods, how about you take Laurel’s hint and leave her alone? Trust me, I certainly won’t be filling your inboxes demanding to know what’s happening.
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August 4, 2021 10:38am
Captain Mainwaring

So Collins has now said she’s relaxed about the name ‘Aotearoa’ but favours a referendum on the issue.
Talk about having a bet each way. With this sort of ‘commitment’, National is truly stuffed.
Go Seymour!
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August 4, 2021 10:44am
- Taieri
  
  ACT leader David Seymour was full of support for National, his party’s traditional coalition partner, when it came to the results of Sunday’s poll, but that support stopped short on speech regulation.
  
  “Ultimately the Māori Language Act 1987 … says that Māori is a language of New Zealand. If people want to call it Aotearoa then that’s up to them. I prefer New Zealand but I would think New Zealand has bigger issues today than policing what people call the country.”
  
  ———-
  Bigger issues than the name of the country? Really? Lets call it Sheepland then?
  
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  August 4, 2021 10:50am
  - Ehlana
    
    Taieri, I think if we are going to change the name of the nation, that should be a decision for the nation, so a referendum is appropriate.
    
    But I also think David Seymour is right to suggest there may be bigger issues facing us right now – like the housing shortage, the pandemic that has our borders closed, the effects of that on our population and economy, our shortage of skilled workers, etc.
    
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    August 4, 2021 11:50am
Maggy Wassilieff

National calls out Academics who are part of the Close-down debate crew.

https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA2108/S00025/treatment-of-auckland-academics-veiled-censorship.htm
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August 4, 2021 10:58am
Souvlaki

As usual, Karl du Fresne nails the “cancel culture” in two successive columns…both worth reading and disseminating.
Our Universities are stuffed.
http://karldufresne.blogspot.com/2021/08/the-new-establishment-is-in-control-and.html
http://karldufresne.blogspot.com/2021/08/a-transformational-government-unlike.html
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August 4, 2021 11:04am
Maggie Pie

With the unemployment rate now down to 4%, Labor Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says she knows the name of every unemployed person in the country.
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August 4, 2021 11:10am
- I remember when
  
  In an earlier life I can remember a figure of thirteen unemployed being mentioned and departmental staff knowing their names.
  
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  August 4, 2021 11:30am
- I remember when
  
  You could say she knows all.
  
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  August 4, 2021 11:32am
- Tall Man
  
  A couple of points.
  
  “Māori are over-represented in the benefit system,
  making up 15% of the New Zealand population, but 36% of benefit recipients.”
  
  “369,300 working-age people receiving
  a main benefit as at the end of September 2020”
  
  “11.8 percent of the working-age
  population receiving a main benefit as at the
  end of September 2020”
  
  Moving people off the job seeker benefit onto a sickness benefit is a ploy employed by many.
  
  So currently, almost 12% of the population of working age are not, not the 4% unemployed labour are trumpeting.
  
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  August 4, 2021 11:55am
  - alloytoo
    
    Sadly many of those are unemployable.
    
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    August 4, 2021 12:57pm
    - 70andstilllearning
      
      About 8% – the 4% represents those that really can’t work for acceptable reasons.
      
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      August 4, 2021 4:01pm
      - alloytoo
        
        the official 4% are churn, people between jobs for a variety of reasons.
        
        We are at full employment at least from the perspective of those that really want to work.
        
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        August 4, 2021 7:14pm
70andstilllearning

So what what now madam PM & Min of Fin?

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/unemployment-plunges-to-4-per-cent-biggest-quarterly-fall-in-35-years/P6OEE5X4G2C7WTN67NEC3APTEI/

The Labour Cost Index (QoQ) increase has more than doubled from .4 to .9 (%)

So inflation big up, almost full employment ( is ~4% maybe the new level), and wages going up and closed borders, the spiral predictions are now clear.

So what now Cindy/Robbo – any ideas that might work? Probably not!
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August 4, 2021 11:17am
- alloytoo
  
  The wage inflation spiral is only just beginning.
  
  7 1
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  August 4, 2021 12:58pm
  - 70andstilllearning
    
    Inflation: 1.3 x 4=5.2 and will grow
    LCI: .9 x 4 =3.6 and will grow
    
    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/448417/nz-naive-to-shut-down-marsden-point-australian-analyst
    Well entrenched already mate. Never thought I would see it twice in a life time.
    
    Then again, never thought I would see a Labour Government that would repeat Norm’s mistakes.
    
    As someone here said yesterday – HC starting to look almost rational.
    
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    August 4, 2021 3:58pm
I remember when

Did New Zealand’s desire to be world leading mean Laurel Hubbard’s selection escaped full scrutiny.
Was sufficient attention paid to her psychological state.
Far from having too much testosterone her lack mental strength could be questioned.
Did she want to win enough or was she caught up in a gender journey.
Was her failure to front the media a sign of possible lack of confidence.
How much attention was there paid to her earlier elbow injury at the Commonwealth Games and is it still a psychological barrier.
She twice dropped the bar behind her and mentioned the injury in her after event interviews.
18 2
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August 4, 2021 11:25am
PeeJay

Was listening to Newstalk around 10.45am and heard Judith Collins on. Can’t remember the interviewers name, stand in for McIvor I think, but he was doing the usual left wing shit like changing the agenda, gotcha questions.

Well blow me down with a feather. Collins went after him, take no prisoners. It was bloody brilliant. She called him up on changing the agenda and then it got onto Ow-tee-a-rower. He criticised her pronunciation and she went after him again, calling him up as rude, noting how she never does it when Ardern mangles the english language, nor does any journalist etc and this is one of the reasons so many people don’t try to speak Maori for fear of idiots like him picking their pronunciation apart. Absolutely bloody brilliant.

Seems like the listeners were also unanimous in support of her calling him out.

I don’t know where this Judith Collins has been for the last couple of years but it’s bloody great to listen to! It’s like she woke up this morning and thought sod this polite shit, let’s call this bullshit out. I honestly believe it was impromptu – didn’t sound like she was working to an agenda, just sounded like she’d had enough of taking this shit.

Hopefully the start of a new media strategy rather than a blip. Carry on calling them out – and if that idiot Ferguson mutes your mic next time you are on red radio, stop going on and call her out loudly for being a labour sycophant.

Whether this is a new media strategy or just an impromptu ‘to hell with this’ it worked. Long time since I heard someone from National completely slam-dunk an interviewer – about bloody time I reckon!
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August 4, 2021 11:28am
- Isobar
  
  I’m sure the fifty or so listeners enjoyed it!
  
  1 18
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  August 4, 2021 12:44pm
  - Tall Man
    
    Silly boy, he said NewtalkZB not RNZ ….
    
    10 1
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    August 4, 2021 3:00pm
- The Feed
  
  Anyone got a link to this?
  
  4 0
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  August 4, 2021 1:13pm
  - Hollyfield
    
    https://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/on-demand/week-on-demand/
    
    You have to change city to “Christchurch”. It’s today from 10.07.
    
    Interesting the callers afterwards telling the host how rude he was.
    
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    August 4, 2021 4:15pm
- alloytoo
  
  Are you sure it was on NewstalkZB, can’t seem to find it?
  
  3 0
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  August 4, 2021 1:18pm
  - PeeJay
    
    Yep, certain. It was around 10.45am or so, maybe a little earlier but not by much. I actually double checked the station before I switched off the car – usually after Hosking, newstalk goes increasingly left wing until HDPA comes on so I was genuinely surprised. Fair play to the presenter / interviewer as well though – he dished it out to Collins but he took it back as well without any complaint – not a lot of media types these days will do that so fair play to him on that.
    
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    August 4, 2021 2:29pm
    - Yabster
      
      Interviewer was MacDonald- was about 10.15-10.30 should find it on demand.
      
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      August 4, 2021 3:56pm
      - alloytoo
        
        https://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/on-demand/week-on-demand/
        
        Christchurch 7:47 minutes into the 10:00-10:15 clip.
        
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        August 4, 2021 4:37pm
GJM

Wow, homeless ferals in Rotorua torch several cars in arson attack.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/i-dont-want-to-go-to-rotorua-victims-of-burnt-cars-at-hotel-carpark-speak-out/YWYEYP5KAF4G5J23PPD7C54TEM/

Who didn’t see this coming? More kindness, andJacinda will be happy as that is more cars off the road.
I avoid Rotorua and there is no way I would stay in Fenton St now.
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August 4, 2021 12:17pm
- MrTips
  
  Rotors has been shit for a while. Ever since Tamati and Chadwick took over.
  
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  August 4, 2021 12:50pm
barnacle bill

It was not as one sided as you would like us to believe.
John ? was the interviewer and he didn’t let her away with anything.

She was shown up just as many suspect as dictatorial and a bully.
My way or the Highway.
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August 4, 2021 1:30pm
- Tall Man
  
  “She was shown up just as many suspect as dictatorial and a bully.”
  
  Like ardern you mean?
  
  Maybe ask how many of Collin’s team have left then have a look at the turnover in cindy’s office ….. Perhaps they all left because they couldn’t get over the lumps in the carpet.
  
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  August 4, 2021 2:59pm
- alloytoo
  
  Do you have a link?
  
  2 0
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  August 4, 2021 3:20pm
- jon
  
  Good on Collins for not just rolling over like so many politicans seem to do and for her having the GRIT to push back against this host. Politics use to be robust but i guess all this be kind be nice crap has resulted in our current MPs not wanting to offend anyone.
  
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  August 4, 2021 8:43pm
Maggie Pie

TRENDING

1ZB’s resident leftard-wokesters run poll to see if listeners favor changing name of New Zealand to ‘Aoteearower’.
Head wokester puts it out there “that he has no problem with it”.
Says…… “Maori is a beautiful language”

LOL!!!

https://youtu.be/_v1G57bfpGc
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August 4, 2021 1:33pm
- Swifty
  
  But not as beautiful as English.
  
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  August 4, 2021 1:46pm
- Inandout
  
  Maggie, the most beautiful language is undoubtedly English and it has a massive vocabulary to boot.
  
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  August 4, 2021 1:57pm
  - Frank the tank
    
    Cmon English ain’t beautiful at all – it’s mangled German.
    
    French, Italian and Spanish are far more beautiful languages to listen to especially if spoken by an attractive female.
    
    As for Maori – I find it very guttural and hearing white people speak it sounds like they are passing kidney stones every time they utter a vowel.
    
    7 2
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    August 4, 2021 2:58pm
    - Cobolt24
      
      Suzie Ferguson!
      
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      August 5, 2021 7:02pm
- KevO'Brien
  
  Fossilised at about 1840.
  Underdone for modern use.
  
  4 1
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  August 4, 2021 5:58pm
Swifty

Behold, NZ’s dropkick of the year:

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/125962292/five-years-jail-for-underworld-gun-supplier-who-put-safety-of-our-community-at-risk

A barely adequate sentence, I would have thought more imprisonment would be appropriate.

This is the useless, selfish, self-absorbed, criminal behaviour which will ultimately result in a nationwide firearms ban on all New Zealanders and all firearms in future.

I feel it in my bones.
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August 4, 2021 1:45pm
Monique Watson

Isn’t Dame Anne Salmond prolific? And fruitier than Christmas cake. I think she’s decrying any kind of chain of command or governance as racist. How very anarchistic:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.newsroom.co.nz/rethinking-race-in-aotearoa%3famp=1
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August 4, 2021 2:18pm
- 70andstilllearning
  
  Her profile says different, but I’m sure her qual must be in flax weaving from one of the Poly’s
  
  5 1
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  August 4, 2021 4:42pm
- RockyJ
  
  Reading this stew of words I felt like a five year old being told why I can’t have an ice cream. The old trout is using the typical strategy of an intellectual losing an argument by doubling up on the complexity of what she is saying. I prefer a simpler explanation of why a western way of life is preferrable to a way of life based on east Polynesian Stone Age cultrure. This is because measurable life outcomes in western society are better. Life expectancy is higher, infant mortality is lower, material wealth is greater, individual happiness is higher. That is why New Zealand is a migrant attractor.
  
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  August 5, 2021 6:17am
Aunty

Question.

Since there have been 4063 locally acquired cases of Covid reported in NSW since June 16, and there are currently 286 Covid-19 cases in the hospital there, with 53 people in intensive care and 23 requiring ventilation (half of them will die), if Auckland had a similar outbreak with exactly the same numbers, would our hospitals be able to cope with 286 Covid cases requiring care, with 53 being in ICU?

We are for all intents and purposes the same as Australia, so Covid rates of hospitalisations there are likely to be the same as the rates of hospitalisations here.

But that’s only 4063 cases acquired over the last 2 months! Rather than that number, what if we had 5 times that number, 20,315? Still a small number out of a total population of >1 million.

Do you think we can cope with 265 in ICU and 115 on ventilators? What if it was 40,000 cases, 530 in ICU and 230 on ventilators?

Because if you do, I’ve got a rich verdant dairy farm for sale in the middle of the Sahara I’d like to talk to you about.
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August 4, 2021 2:20pm
- Tall Man
  
  Good thing it won’t happen then eh?
  
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  August 4, 2021 2:48pm
wreck1080

People should listen to the recent joe rogan podcast where he interviews a nth Korean female defector.

From the sale of human meat sourced from children , casual murder, hospital operations with no anaesthetic , prison camps, public executions for the crime of allowing the leaders photo become dusty (they search people’s houses at night for this crime), removal of females teeth for sexual reasons, rape by authorities, wiring the collarbones of prisoners together to prevent escape, famine used to control the population…. It goes on…

Then this defector goes to talk at the UN, and the UN seat her with the North Korean representatives. Can you imagine that? She thought they were going to kill her after her talk, on the way back to her hotel. No security.

Helen Clark was a senior UN executive, she never spoke up. Implicit approval of North Korea by the despicable UN.

The woke whine about transsexual rights but they don’t give a crap about far worse abuses.
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August 4, 2021 2:36pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

Some fun. Sent from a friend in Alaska of all places.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CRmhTBdAmlX/?
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August 4, 2021 2:58pm
All_on_Red

Oh dear. This will trigger the TDS morons.

‘During a closed-door lunch last week with some of his most vulnerable incumbents, House Democrats’ campaign chief (Maloney) delivered a blunt warning: If the midterms were held now, they would lose the majority.
Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.) followed that bleak forecast,… with new polling that showed Democrats falling behind Republicans by a half-dozen points on a generic ballot in battleground districts. ‘
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/08/03/sean-patrick-maloney-democrats-house-majority-502265
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August 4, 2021 3:16pm
cmm

Sad story, but that’s what insurance is for!

“We are just struggling and living hand to mouth, there is no way we will be able to afford to pay the bill, and I am so worried that could mean we lose our house and the stability we wanted to give our son,” he said.

Nope, it’s surely grandpa’s debt – not yours unless you chose to take it on.

“Lobo said he felt “awful” because his intention in coming to New Zealand was so he could help the couple.”

“I wanted to help them in caring for my grandson so they can have more free time, or focus on work. Instead I have become a burden to them, and I feel terrible,” he said.”

So it seems he was intending to live here for a long time because grandson would need looking after for a long time – not just a month or so as a tourist. How does that work? Was he intending to live here for a long time as an undocumented/illegal resident?

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/grandfather-visiting-from-india-faced-with-64000-medical-debt-after-heart-attack/2OC5ADPTIHG7N4YZYBTT5HBMCE/
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August 4, 2021 4:53pm
- Tall Man
  
  Exactly.
  
  Travel insurance for NZ is as cheap as chips compared to his airfare from India at this moment ……
  
  Maybe he needed to pack a few extra “treats” fpor the family rather than fork out for travel cover.
  
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  August 4, 2021 5:21pm
- fernglas
  
  If his heart was that bad, he would almost certainly have had symptoms before he came here. Perhaps that’s why he didn’t have health insurance rather than “I forgot”. Reporters need to dig a little deeper.
  
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  August 4, 2021 5:39pm
- WaveyDavey
  
  Just before lockdown…
  
  Now where can I go that has good healthcare and I have family? Hmmmm
  
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  August 4, 2021 8:30pm
WaveyDavey

Elvis Costello’s follow up single not quite so well received

(I don’t want to go to) Rotorua

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/i-dont-want-to-go-to-rotorua-victims-of-burnt-cars-at-hotel-carpark-speak-out/YWYEYP5KAF4G5J23PPD7C54TEM/
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August 4, 2021 5:09pm
70andstilllearning

Sheeesh!
I’ve tried to stay off this topic but this breaks the camels back:
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/tokyo-olympics-2020-kiwi-transgender-weightlifter-laurel-hubbard-hints-at-retirement-after-making-games-history/FKKFJ7P6RHH5OCA6KVA5RWAKQU/

“”Age has caught up with me. In fact, if we’re being honest it probably caught up with me some time ago,” said Hubbard, who at 43 was more than 20 years older than most of her rivals.”
Headline should have said:

Tokyo Olympics 2020: Kiwi Cheat Laurel Hubbard admits it Didn’t work.

FFS
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August 4, 2021 5:18pm
- WaveyDavey
  
  Profile raised. Narcissism satisfied. Victim points earned.
  
  Job done.
  
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  August 4, 2021 5:25pm
- sooty
  
  Daddy’s going to be so disappointed!
  Spending all that money to rearrange his son and now he’s going to flag it, with a DNFBHA!
  (did not finish, blow his arse)
  
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  August 4, 2021 5:48pm
  - 70andstilllearning
    
    ….. b…s
    
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    August 4, 2021 6:30pm

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