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October 2, 2021 8:00am by Kokila Patel

General Debate 02 October 2021

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General Debate

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Tony Stuart

It’s official; Labour’s infamous Billion Buck Bike Bridge is dead in the water:

The Government has confirmed it is scrapping plans for a $785 million cycle bridge across Auckland’s Harbour in response to public pressure, and will instead use the money on projects such as speeding up the Eastern Busway.

In early August, the NZ Herald reported the cycle bridge was poised to be scrapped after strong public opposition to the cost of it and revelations the benefit to cost ratio was very low.

Transport Minister Michael Wood has now confirmed the controversial Northern Pathway will not go ahead.

“It did not get the public support needed for a project of its scale, and we acknowledge that.”

Wood said the money allocated for the cycle bridge would now be used on other projects, such as bringing forward the $1.4 billion Eastern Busway project.

In a Newshub Reid Research poll in early August, 81.7 per cent of respondents said they did not support the crossing and only 11.9 per cent said they did.

Wood said Waka Kotahi would look at lower-cost options for getting cyclists and walkers across the harbour.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/government-scraps-785m-auckland-harbour-cycle-bridge-eastern-busway-the-winner/3FHI5GTQWJ2MFCR5Y7DMCAQARM/

Michael Wood is lucky Auckland is locked down at the moment. If he was to venture out to Ponsonby or Grey Lynn, he would be sure to be set upon by lycra-clad warriors, furious at his treachery. However most of us, according to the Reid Research poll, will be glad he has read the tea leaves.

This was an inordinate amount of taxpayer dollars to spend on a project that would benefit a privileged few from Auckland’s leafy suburbs. Even worse, the money was all borrowed. On this one occasion (and one occasion only!) I commend Labour for being poll-driven!
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December 2, 2019 8:44am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  It was a diversion
  
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  October 2, 2021 8:52am
  - Megatron
    
    The 3 waters coup was the diversion. Democracy – bollocks!
    
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    October 2, 2021 8:55am
    - zulumonster
      
      However, if the reason for not proceeding with the bridge was a lack of public support, the same should be the same for 3 Waters.
      I hate to think the machinations and twists contortions Mahuta will take us through to get some Frankenstein version of what she is after after a large number of councils withdraw support. Whatever it is, it won’t be pretty.
      
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      October 2, 2021 4:52pm
- CJames
  
  I notice that the funding isn’t going to be used for second harbour crossing. That is what is actually needed. Bridges have a finite life.
  
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  October 2, 2021 8:53am
  - Ra Henare
    
    Mmm Finite life for bridges.?
    Guess you missed out some bridges still in use and over 2000 years old 🙂
    https://www.oldest.org/structures/bridges/
    
    Sheesh even the youngster (120 years+)London’s tower bridge is still going strong.
    
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    October 2, 2021 9:43am
    - mikenmildagain
      
      Perhaps he meant Simon Bridges?
      
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      October 2, 2021 10:33am
      - Batman
        
        Hahaha fair enough MM. Though I feel some will think you’re serious…
        
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        October 2, 2021 12:03pm
    - Caine9
      
      True, but Tower Bridge was built to last. By modern standards is was over engineered and it takes nothing like the load the Auckland Harbour Bridge does. Heavy vehicles aren’t allowed on it either.
      There is a real lesson here though, when the harbour bridge was built it was already inadequate and we still never build anything with future-proofing in mind. The cheapest option to fix today’s problem is what drives our infrastructure spending. It is short sighted, ultimately far costlier in the long run
      and so damn third world.
      New Zealand never learned the lesson of the Auckland Harbour Bridge. Can’t see that changing anytime soon, either.
      
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      October 2, 2021 11:58am
      - marcw
        
        Really … never learned the lesson?
        Manapouri
        Marsden Point
        Clyde Dam
        Glenbrook
        Geothermal energy
        …
        Transmission Gully
        Fibre network
        Auckland East West Link
        
        .. guess who got these projects or planning started (it starts with N)? May not have been perfect, but look at the actual benefits overall.
        
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        October 2, 2021 12:24pm
      - Okahu
        
        If we’re looking at options, perhaps a cheap flat ish bridge like the Onehunga to Mangere crossing would make sense. The Navy would need to relocate its dangerous goods stores and some tall masted yachts would be impacted. The big impact would be on weekly supply ship to Chelsea Sugar. The cost to users and the environment of putting an unnecessary and artificial hill into the the busiest busiest stretch of road in New Zealand has been huge. The cost of moving those navy and Chelsea services a one off.
        
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        October 2, 2021 12:48pm
    - CJames
      
      No Ra – The Harbour bridge is steel, not stone. It was also built a lot closer to the load limits, not overengineered. There is a lot more traffic and it is heavier – even SUVs are twice the weight of old family sedans. That means there is a lot more fatigue. And that can lead to catastrophic results.
      They have had welders under there welding up the cracks (and they were big ones) regularly, but you can only do that so many times. To replace out the tired steel using a floating crane and prefab sections will mean taking it OOS for maybe six months.
      
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      October 2, 2021 7:25pm
  - Paulus Gnome
    
    Nope, an even more expensive fing bus lane which would have been the plan all along.
    
    We have been played, again . . .
    
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    October 2, 2021 10:12am
  - Stellaboxer
    
    Pooh Bridge is for sale maybe Grant Robinson could cut the ribbon
    https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/pivotal-bridge-from-winnie-the-pooh-series-to-be-auctioned
    
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    October 2, 2021 2:41pm
    - pdm
      
      Bloody hell – now way would Jacinda let anyone but herself do that. She is not one for sharing the very occasional good things that they achieve.
      
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      October 2, 2021 7:24pm
  - Master Mariner
    
    In my mind, When you have to close the Harbour crossing “Due to high winds”, There is something seriously amiss.
    Tacking a Bike lane aint an option.
    What would I know.
    Nothing is fit for purpose and Billions squandered.
    Gee who would of thought.
    
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    October 2, 2021 5:19pm
- Southern Raider
  
  Add it to the other Labour failed projects that never even get a single spade turned
  
  Best the media not forget. This wasn’t a feasibility study or a throw away comment of an idea. Labour gathered the media and did a major announcement that this was happening
  
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  October 2, 2021 9:00am
- artemisia
  
  Recall reading that in Amsterdam common for cyclists needing to cross the water to have 2 bikes, one on each side. And use existing ways to cross.
  
  That would be a cheap option for Auckland. Build bike parks either side, charge to use and scale up / upwards to meet demand.
  
  An idea anyway.
  
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  October 2, 2021 9:02am
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    Charge to use bike parks? Are you kidding? When have you ever heard of a freeloading cyclist pay for anything???
    
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    October 2, 2021 10:13am
    - pdm
      
      Bloody hell imagine if they were charged for putting air in their tyres – what an uproar.
      
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      October 2, 2021 12:34pm
- redeye
  
  How much has been spent already?
  I’d bet it is in the millions regardless that it was obvious to anyone with an IQ higher than their shoe size that this was a complete dud from the start.
  
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  October 2, 2021 9:06am
  - pdm
    
    Probably from Robbo’s secret Covid funds.
    
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    October 2, 2021 12:35pm
- WaveyDavey
  
  Did they ever buy those houses at the Northern end of the bridge?
  
  If so… state housing site?
  
  https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/300329550/crown-to-buy-and-demolish-harbourfront-homes-worth-23m-to-build-aucklands-new-cycling-bridge
  
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  October 2, 2021 9:12am
- Jade Warrior
  
  Michael Wood and his government would have been better off if they had announced a new Auckland harbour bridge for everyone – drivers, cyclists, pedestrians, maybe even light rail. That is what Auckland really needs as the current bridge seems to be approaching the end of its life.
  
  But as is so often the case in this country when it comes to basic infrastructure, we go for the cheapest option that typically doesn’t meet the future needs of the community it serves. Case in point – the current Auckland harbour bridge – originally it was just four lanes. Was there anyone in the government at the time who gave any thought to the possibility that the new bridge might stimulate urban development on the North Shore and that more lanes might be needed?
  
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  October 2, 2021 9:12am
  - Benedict Yu
    
    A while back I read a story about the design of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. It opened in 1932, was 10 lanes wide, walkways and two railway tracks. It was the widest bridge in the world and hugely over designed for traffic needs at the time. There were a lot of critics. But the designer won the debate and Sydney got its iconic bridge. It met traffic demands for the next 50 years until a tunnel was added in the 1980s.
    
    It is such a shame that the designers of the Auckland harbour bridge did not have the same foresight. We could add The Terrace and Mount Victoria tunnels in Wellington.
    
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    October 2, 2021 10:21am
    - mikenmildagain
      
      The Italians who tunnelled under the Remutaka Range offered to stay on and do a road tunnel as well in the 1950s. Too expensive.
      
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      October 2, 2021 10:36am
    - calendar girl
      
      B.Y. – the designers of the Auckland Harbour Bridge may well have had the vision or foresight to build a much grander and more functional bridge. Sadly, the national and local politicians of that era had neither the foresight nor the courage to pursue that more practical investment for the obvious longer-term needs of Auckland.
      
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      October 2, 2021 11:21am
  - GJM
    
    As I understand it, the bridge was crippled by a promise that it would not cost more than 6 million pounds, which is $310m today, and as a result they turned down an offer from the Sydney Bridge designers and builders to do the same thing again.
    Interesting that in 1958, they could build a 4 lane bridge for $310m, yest today a cycle bridge is 2.5 times that, and realistically many times more, based on the inner city tunnels.
    
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    October 2, 2021 10:33am
  - pdm
    
    That would be a bridge or idea too far for this lot.
    
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    October 2, 2021 12:38pm
- In Vino Veritas
  
  “bringing forward the $1.4 billion Eastern Busway project”. What horseshit. He means the Busway that is half completed that they CANCELLED to divert the funding to the bike lane. These clowns couldn’t organise a piss-up in a brewery.
  
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  October 2, 2021 9:29am
- Bobba Fret
  
  Labour keeping up their ‘fail’ rate. At least this time they have seen sense reasonably early on.
  
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  October 2, 2021 9:29am
  - pdm
    
    Yeah – probably only chucked $50mil into the `black hole’.
    
    Doesn’t matter it was only taxpayers money.
    
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    October 2, 2021 7:27pm
- Rich Prick
  
  Wood said Waka Kotahi would look at lower-cost options for getting cyclists and walkers across the harbour.
  
  They’re called ferries, and they won’t cost the rest of us a cent because they are already there. Moron.
  
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  October 2, 2021 9:32am
  - CSadler
    
    Choppering the punters across the ditch would have been cheaper
    
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    October 2, 2021 10:47am
  - The Scunner Campbell
    
    I think they will go ahead with the original plan of closing 2 lanes for cyclists.
    
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    October 2, 2021 9:01pm
- Tomtoddy
  
  It might be commendable stopping the project but only someone with brown stuff for brains would have ever given the idea a second thought.
  
  It was the craziest, most ill-considered, grandiose idea I have ever heard of anywhere.
  
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  October 2, 2021 9:34am
  - MCos
    
    Transmission Gully’s not looking too flash right now.
    
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    October 2, 2021 10:20pm
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  Notice how all the important announcements occur in the weeks when Parliament isn’t sitting.
  
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  October 2, 2021 9:39am
  - mikenmildagain
    
    Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
    Parliament sits for about 90 days per year. So your preference would be for the government to make important (however defined) on those days?
    
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    October 2, 2021 9:44am
  - UrbanNeocolonialist
    
    Notice how all the ~~important~~ embarrassing announcements occur in the weeks when Parliament isn’t sitting.
    
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    October 2, 2021 9:50am
    - pdm
      
      Bet Jacinda wasn’t within a bulls roar when the cancellation was announced.
      
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      October 2, 2021 12:40pm
  - Tony Stuart
    
    To be fair Maggy, Parliament did sit this week, albeit without the Auckland MP’s, including Michael Wood.
    
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    October 2, 2021 10:17am
    - Maggy Wassilieff
      
      When did Michael Wood make the announcement, tho’?
      I saw nothing about it until this morning.
      
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      October 2, 2021 10:22am
      - Nigel Kearney
        
        Presumably after 7pm on Friday so it wouldn’t make the TV news.
        
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        October 2, 2021 10:36am
      - sooty
        
        If the media didn’t report it maybe he needs a big box to stand on to be seen!
        
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        October 2, 2021 11:38am
      - MCos
        
        I thought it had been cancelled weeks ago.
        
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        October 2, 2021 10:22pm
    - Maggy Wassilieff
      
      Here is this Government’s Press Release..
      https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA2110/S00013/government-decides-not-to-proceed-with-northern-pathway.htm
      
      Saturday, 2nd October, 2.03 PM
      
      I rest my case!
      
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      October 2, 2021 2:30pm
      - mikenmildagain
        
        So is it still your contention that government announcements should only be made when the house of representatives is sitting?
        
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        October 2, 2021 6:59pm
- Northshoredoc
  
  Often wondered why the council doesn’t just have a largish barge to drop cyclists from one side of the bridge to the other ?
  
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  October 2, 2021 10:47am
- RW Capitalist
  
  It would appear that, when it comes to Auckland, they have started the wish list from the least important.
  My list, in order of importance
  1. Increase water storage, for the increased population.
  2. As in 1. for both storm water and sewage
  (it appears their focus is on this ridiculous power grab ,3 waters)
  3. 2nd harbour crossing
  4. Improved motorways and some form of bypass, to get goods around Auckland
  5. Increase port capacity.
  6. Increase airport capacity.
  .
  .
  .
  .
  127. Light rail
  128. Rail tunnels (that will NEVER be used to capacity)
  129. Cycle path across the harbour.
  
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  October 2, 2021 11:42am
  - Okahu
    
    Wouldn’t the new harbour crossing you prioritise as no3 likely consider how to travel on rail, foot, bike, scooter, pram, skateboard, hoverboard…etc?
    
    Sometimes it’s good to see where you went wrong the first time. Billion dollar blunders are embarrassing.
    
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    October 2, 2021 12:53pm
- RockyJ
  
  Cycle bridge cancelled “because it didn’t get public support”. Not because it was always a dumb idea. Stupid public. What a weasel excuse
  
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  October 2, 2021 1:25pm
Warren

Coronavirus man with Covid -19 believed to have gang links, allowed to self isolate at home.
Is this what you would expect as regular behavior from the Government our Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Health Director Ashley Bloomfield I doubt it would be expected from anyone else.
Newshub can reveal Covid- 19 positive male, believed to have gang leaks was allowed to self isolate at home in South Auckland- but nearby residents say people in the household were seen walking around the neighborhood.
A green portaloo was the only remaining sign of a home isolation arrangement, it was there for the security to use.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2021/10/coronavirus-man-with-covid-19-believed-to-have-gang-links-allowed-to-isolate-at-home.html
The guard was keeping a watch on the Covid-19 case in isolation- although nearby residents say the family didn’t stay home, and were see walking up the road to the shops.
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October 2, 2021 8:00am
- ecco
  
  The neighbour was very brave to appear on that article. I find tv3 one of the least tainted media outlets with regards to biased reporting (apart from toxic Tova).
  
  Goodness how much is it costing to have 24/7 security guard so this individual can enjoy home isolation? Is this option available to all NZers?
  
  I thought the government was about to trial home quarantining, not to be implemented till next year, some three months away.
  
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  October 2, 2021 8:37am
  - Tony Stuart
    
    Michael Morrah has been outstanding over the last eighteen months. People are now going to him because they know they can trust him with their stories.
    
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    October 2, 2021 9:07am
    - Bobba Fret
      
      Agree. Michael Morrah is one of the few decent reporters.
      
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      October 2, 2021 9:33am
      - sooty
        
        Meanwhile, he probably jumps the back fence!
        
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        October 2, 2021 10:25am
- Gravelroad
  
  @Warren-
  What is this love affair that the Prime Minister and the Labour Party has with the gangs?
  Is it just protecting a voting block?
  Don’t sports people vote Labour?
  Why was a gangster allowed to self isolate at home when no one else can?
  I’m just not seeing it.
  
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  October 2, 2021 8:39am
  - MarkF
    
    #Gravel Sadly this Labour Government has neither the inclination nor, more importantly, the means to stop it!
    
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    October 2, 2021 8:51am
  - lifesgood
    
    Maybe they know too much.
    
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    October 2, 2021 9:02am
  - MCos
    
    Didn’t you read the article?
    
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    October 2, 2021 9:10am
    - mikenmildagain
      
      Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
      Don’t be silly.
      
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      October 2, 2021 9:45am
    - WaveyDavey
      
      I did and it didn’t answer the question
      
      “Why was a gangster allowed to self isolate at home…”
      
      Perhaps I missed it, perhaps you could show me where it did?
      
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      October 2, 2021 9:55am
      - sooty
        
        Maybe the police are scared of gangs?
        
        15 1
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        October 2, 2021 10:26am
    - Michael Johnston
      
      I read it. All it cited by way of a reason was “exceptional circumstances”. Do you think that constitutes an explanation? Did you read the article?
      
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      October 2, 2021 10:20am
  - Tony Stuart
    
    Remember the video of Harry Tam telling Mongrel Mobsters last year to vote for Labour?
    
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    October 2, 2021 9:15am
    - mikenmildagain
      
      Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
      No, but I recall the Black Power haka for Muldoon at his funeral.
      Do Labour and National have opposite gang preferences? Red versus blue, too!
      
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      October 2, 2021 9:50am
  - WaveyDavey
    
    Gangs?
    
    “Marginalised community groups” if you please
    
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    October 2, 2021 9:17am
    - Paulus Gnome
      
      you can roll a turd in glitter . . .
      
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      October 2, 2021 10:25am
    - Suze Wainwright
      
      Okay, so it appears the virus is rampant among the city’s ‘marginalized people.’
      
      Just how many ‘marginalized people’ are there and how ‘marginal’ are they really?
      
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      October 2, 2021 11:14am
  - 70andstilllearning
    
    New agency required to enforce current legislative programme. Why start from scratch. Negotiations well in hand.
    
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    October 2, 2021 9:27am
  - RW Capitalist
    
    Plausible conspiracy theory, considering they have been corrupt on almost everything else they have brought forward
    3 waters etc
    .
    https://www.britannica.com/topic/SA-Nazi-organization
    Maybe she intends to use the gangs.
    
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    October 2, 2021 11:47am
    - Aurelia
      
      Yep the gangs will be the brown shirt thugs reimagined. Hey they are the only peeps with guns these days.
      
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      October 3, 2021 12:03am
- mandk
  
  It is exavtly what you would expect from Cindy and the Crim Huggers.
  
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  October 2, 2021 8:58am
mikenmildagain

Happy International Day of Non-Violence! Commemorating the birthdate of Mahatma Gandhi.
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October 2, 2021 8:01am
- kowtow
  
  Half naked fakir.
  
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  October 2, 2021 8:53am
  - mikenmildagain
    
    Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
    I don’t want to discuss your mother.
    
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    October 2, 2021 9:20am
    - kowtow
      
      You suffering with oedipus complex.
      
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      October 2, 2021 9:46am
      - mikenmildagain
        
        From Tom Lehrer:
        
        There once lived a man named Oedipus Rex
        You may have heard about his odd complex
        His name appears in Freud’s index
        ‘Cause he loved his mother.
        
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        October 2, 2021 10:12am
- Okahu
  
  Dick Scott’s book on Parihaka suggests that much as Māori had successfully employed trench warfare against European invaders with some success, presaging their use in WW1, the chiefs Te Whiti and Tohu had also employed non violent resistance as a strategy against colonising imperialists well before Mahatma Gandhi.
  
  Perhaps we need our own celebratory non violence (and exiled and falsely imprisoned) day to celebrate their and their peoples sacrifices? We do after all celebrate our firsts as they apply to Suffragettes and mountain climbers and nuclear physicists.
  
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  October 2, 2021 9:30am
  - mikenmildagain
    
    Yes, a remarkable approach when there could be no more armed resistance to the confiscations.
    
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    October 2, 2021 10:13am
  - Jack5
    
    The myth that Maori invented trench warfare dies hard.
    
    Roman legions entrenched their camps, and a French military engineer, Sebastien Le Prestre de Vauban, took trench warfare to a new level in 17th century siege tactics.
    
    Military historians tend to agree that modern trench warfare evolved from the siege of Sevastopol in the the Crimean War 1853-1856.
    
    Maori were innovative and skilled with their defensive entrenchment, but they didn’t invent it. Nor were they influential. Where is the evidence that the trench tactics used in the American Civil War in the 1860s were inspired by, or even influenced by, Maori?
    
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    October 2, 2021 12:00pm
    - mikenmildagain
      
      Yeah, that was an overwrought claim, which didn’t need to be made, to draw attention to remarkable Maori feats in engineering.
      
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      October 2, 2021 1:33pm
      - Okahu
        
        Settle down Milky. The battle of Ohaeawai was in 1845 since that predated both the Crimean and American Civil Wars I’ll leave it to you to figure how much they could have contributed to Māori understanding of trench warfare.
        
        In 1842 the first battle of Kabul is remembered as the first ever loss by an invading British imperial army. But that loss was due to the need for a forced march of a small expeditionary force with its entire retinue of women and camp followers, in winter, without food or winter clothing. This after the camp in Kabul itself became indefensible following an uprising of the much greater numbers of locals.
        
        Those the cold didn’t kill were picked off by snipers behind cover who knew the passage the marchers had to take, at a crawl, through the snow, almost without ammunition. In fact the last heroic stand from which but one man escaped to tell of the massacre is remembered as fought by the British with bayonets alone.
        
        Three years later the Imperialists were at it again in the north of Aotearoa. This time they came prepared. Brought canon and trained men. They also had an officer class who were entirely familiar with Wellington and Napoleon’s use of rank and filed men engaging above ground without cover just 30 years previously.
        
        At Ohaeawai they met a small group of highly motivated defenders who endured days of sniper and canon fire to subdue their position. Little did they know their canon was practically ineffective against the trenching the defenders employed.
        
        The English were unencumbered except by their prejudices. They controlled all access to the pa and were much better armed and could chose any tactical measure. The timing of the battle, or at least the coup de grace they anticipated was in their hands.
        
        Imagine then the horror as when after a suicidal feint by a few brave defenders they believed their time had come. And off they marched until at close range, through the stick defences that still stood they were met with a devastating light arm firestorm. Within a matter of minutes 140 of the invaders lay dead or wounded and the battle was lost. Perhaps Afghanistan had greater numbers but they were on a losers cause. This was imperial might humbled in the field.
        
        Does that constitute as influential Jack5? Since you ask.
        
        Now credit to Jack5 for knowing that a French engineer in the 17th century had knowledge of and apparently employed trenching. Of course you have to wonder if the library at the pa was stocked with the particular volumes that dealt with that history and his thinking. Or indeed those libraries of the English regiments that their officer class would have studiously read. Perhaps Jack5 will know that too? We bow to your wisdom old boy.
        
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        October 2, 2021 4:22pm
      - mikenmildagain
        
        Cool story, bro. now tell me about Wellington’s lines at Torres Vedras….
        
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        October 2, 2021 7:02pm
      - Jack5
        
        Okahu, the point is whether Maori trenching tactics influenced the Crimean War or the American Civil War. Where is the evidence for that? There is none.
        
        No-one in the thread suggests Maori copied Sebastien Le Prestre de Vauban or the Roman legions in trench warfare.
        
        The point is the claim that Maori invented trench warfare. “To invent” entails discovering something previously unknown, but trench warfare was not unknown.
        
        Maori fortifications against cannon were innovative and sophisticated, but why over-egg this skill? That detracts from the accomplishment.
        
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        October 2, 2021 8:30pm
      - Okahu
        
        Quite magnificent. Permanent defences to immovable high value targets. Built by tens of thousands in stone, in every sense. And employing the trench, as it was, as a moat to heighten the elevation behind. Or as non continuous defence but impediment when employed between the lines of forts.
        
        By WWI you dug in where the battle found you. Ohaeawai was a site chosen stronghold carved in the earth to confirm and defend rights. Made ready for bombardment for the first time this battle. But it could have been anywhere.
        
        It is nothing but an historical tragedy that the British apparently took no lesson from their failure there to bombard an enemy dug into the landscape into submission. And then rarely by frontal attack.
        
        Not that the use of a spade hasn’t been rife since, forever. Or that I ever said Māori were the first. I’m afraid that was Jack5 telling me they weren’t (and getting all confused by dates).
        
        I was riffing on the thought that trenches were to ww1 what Ghandi was to nonviolent resistance. Which is why I remarked trench use by Māori presaged the trenches of WW1. Much as Te Whiti had beaten Ghandi to the punch. Perhaps I misread your reply to J5. You weren’t clear, hence the ‘settle down’. Apologies if out of order. Surprised at the rebuke. Normally eye to eye. And yes very cool story.
        
        So go the mighty blacks! For the love of the game the bok must be sent home in despair at what they have become.
        
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        October 2, 2021 9:53pm
      - mikenmildagain
        
        For once Jack and I agree. It was a rhetorical overreach by Belich. Another useful example that history is literature and that historians use literary devices.
        
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        October 2, 2021 10:08pm
      - Okahu
        
        Sweet Jesus Jack5. I never said the Māori influenced anybody in Crimea or the US. You wrongly said they couldn’t have. Nor did I say they were the first to dig trenches, though bizarrely you thought that was my point. Huh? Just their use presaged meaning foresaw or portended trenching (and it’s horrors) in WWI. Give it up man.
        
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        October 2, 2021 10:08pm
- mikenmildagain
  
  I don’t know where a former governor-general got this information for a speech, but it is thought provoking:
  
  “Several accounts confirm that Mahatma Gandhi read reports of the actions of Te Whiti o Rongomai, the Maori leader of Parihaka, in the Taranaki on the North Island West Coast. About 15 years before Gandhi’s first steps in active non-violence were taken in South Africa, Te Whiti and his close relation, Tohu Kakahi, mobilised people against confiscation of Maori land by the Government. They employed passive resistance, for example by ploughing the land to prevent the building of roads, and removing survey pegs, and things of that kind. Eventually, legislation was used to arrest and detain Te Whiti and others without trial, but reports of the Maori ploughing tactics in 1880 and 1881, and mass submission to arrest, reached and influenced the thinking, a decade or so later, of a young lawyer considering non-violent action against practices of the government in South Africa,” he said.
  Sir Anand was delivering the keynote address at the 150th Birth Anniversary celebrations of Mahatma Gandhi organised by the Indian High Commission and the Wellington Indian Association at Bharat Bhavan in Wellington on Friday, October 5, 2018.
  
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  October 2, 2021 9:34am
  - kowtow
    
    A thought provoking interview from the Times of India
    
    “Gandhi never made a secret of sleeping naked with is great-grand daughter and the wife of his great-grand son. It may have been his way of testing his control over his sexual drive, but these women were used as guinea pigs. If he had used other adult women, it would have been nothing more than interesting gossip. But Gandhi chose a teenage blood relation and a great-grand-daughter-in-law for his sexual whims. It is as unforgivable as it is unbelievable. I do not belong to the brigade that admires the Emperor’s new clothes, ”
    
    https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/the-interviews-blog/gandhi-was-obsessed-with-sex-while-preaching-celibacy-to-others-kusoom-vadgama/
    
    Not to mention a racist.
    
    In 1904, he wrote to a health officer in Johannesburg that the council “must withdraw Kaffirs” from an unsanitary slum called the “Coolie Location” where a large number of Africans lived alongside Indians. “About the mixing of the Kaffirs with the Indians, I must confess I feel most strongly.”
    
    https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-34265882
    
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    October 2, 2021 10:27am
    - mikenmildagain
      
      Now do Churchill.
      
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      October 2, 2021 10:48am
      - Jack5
        
        If New Zealand wants to celebrate indigenous pacifists, the perfect example are the Moriori.
        
        And look where that got them: slaughtered by Taranaki Maori invaders of the Chatham Islands.
        
        As for Milky’s 10.48: Churchill was never a pacifist, and thank God for that!
        
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        October 2, 2021 12:05pm
      - mikenmildagain
        
        Churchill was a racist, bloodthirsty, blowhard, indifferent to any suffering that wasn’t English.
        
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        October 2, 2021 1:35pm
      - Jack5
        
        Milky, some of the Indian people settling in English-speaking countries are prominent in the Woke movement to diminish the reputation of Churchill.
        
        They may well be right about non-relief, or inadequate relief, of the Bengal famine in 1943, when world war was raging.
        
        But I don’t think you can blame Churchill, or Britain, for the divide between Muslims and Hindu people in India.
        
        Nor for the nasty discrimination in India against Dalits, who are ranked bottom of the castes.
        
        Indian Christians, too, are being murdered, raped, and their churches are being burned down.
        
        India’s been independent for 74 years. It’s hard to accept colonialism’s to blame for this brutality.
        
        https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2014/4/22/rampant-discrimination-in-indias-schools
        
        AND
        
        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violence_against_Christians_in_India
        
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        October 2, 2021 3:18pm
      - Okahu
        
        I love the story, apparently true, that some of the most famous and stirring speeches that Churchill gave, and which undoubtedly galvanised the British, were delivered by the voice artist that the BBC employed to do the Winnie the Poo characters.
        
        Apparently having a sozzled old lush slurring into the microphone just wasn’t acceptable. Damn fine writing though and I believe that was his. Probably downed a flute of Pol Roget each paragraph and a bottle to celebrate the final edit. Then “Take me to the Beeb, it Jeeves! I’ve got a speech to deliver to my people over the wireless, hic!”
        
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        October 2, 2021 6:02pm
      - Jack5
        
        Churchill a sozzled old slush? He had a speech defect, but he did like booze.
        
        He wasn’t alone among top fighting men who drank heavily.
        
        Men like General Ulyssses S. Grant, who turned the American Civil War around in favour of the North.
        
        There’s a famous story, perhaps apocryphal, about complaints to President Lincoln about having Grant, a drunkard, as military commander.
        
        According to the New York Times of 30 October 1863, Lincoln said that if he could find out what brand of whisky Grant drank, he would send a barrel of it to all the other commanders.
        
        An an actor may have read some of Churchill’s speeches on radio, but Churchill did record themselves for release on records after the war, and he delivered his own speeches in the House of Commons, including the speech on 4 June 1940 that is regarded by many as one of the greatest speeches in history.
        
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        October 2, 2021 8:41pm
      - Jack5
        
        Edit: Churchill did record ~~themselves~~ them himself for release on commercial recordings after the war.
        
        Sorry!
        
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        October 2, 2021 8:52pm
  - Don Beckett
    
    Yes, I heard that story probably around 50 years ago, and I have no doubt to it’s authenticity. Can’t recall the source.
    
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    October 2, 2021 12:17pm
- WaveyDavey
  
  Celebrating a paedophile and wife-beater mikey? Odd call
  
  https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-gandhi-none-of-us-kne_b_842941
  
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  October 2, 2021 9:56am
  - mikenmildagain
    
    Perhaps all your heroes are perfect humans – even Übermensch, maybe.
    
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    October 2, 2021 10:15am
    - WaveyDavey
      
      Not at all, but perhaps you and “your side” could remember that when going after flawed but ultimately beneficial white people
      
      You might find that I’ve called for context more than any other poster on this site
      
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      October 2, 2021 12:34pm
    - WaveyDavey
      
      Perhaps colonisation isn’t all bad after all eh?
      
      13 2
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      October 2, 2021 12:40pm
      - mikenmildagain
        
        Could you put some ‘context’ around that? Colonisation is done for, and principally benefits, the coloniser.
        
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        October 2, 2021 1:37pm
      - WaveyDavey
        
        Of course…
        
        Let’s take a NZ perspective shall we?
        
        An end to cannibalism, an end to starvation, an end to slavery, medical care, welfare, education, communications, the horse, agriculture, animal husbandry, law, justice, the steam engine, maths, engineering, science, navigation, metal, an alphabet, a written language…
        
        Oh and the wheel
        
        “What did the Romans ever do for us?” Eh mikey?
        
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        October 2, 2021 6:04pm
      - mikenmildagain
        
        But what has been lost in the rush to satiate materialistic obsessions? It doesn’t appear that human behaviour has changed for the better, anywhere, just because we have fancier machines with which to kill each other.
        
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        October 2, 2021 7:06pm
      - WaveyDavey
        
        Oh dear, you do tend to the hysterical don’t you?
        
        Here’s a really easy question for you.
        
        Would you rather be a 3o something person in NZ today or 200 years ago?
        
        If the former then you mainly have colonialism to thank for that
        
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        October 2, 2021 7:37pm
    - Sponge
      
      How does that fit with your criticism of Churchill above?
      
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      October 2, 2021 7:23pm
      - WaveyDavey
        
        Easily explained by mikey and the Year Zero cult that is the left today
        
        History only started yesterday… white people have only ever done evil… non-white people are only ever victims… “my” heroes may be excused their “foibles” yours may not…
        
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        October 2, 2021 7:32pm
- Greg Ettridge
  
  with a complete internet blackout over Melbourne, the ever so gentle Victorian police will miss this memo.
  Let the bashing of citizens to protect their heath continue
  
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  October 2, 2021 11:05am
Scott

I really don’t think we have paid enough attention to Australia and the massive protests against lockdowns and the heavy-handed police response. Melbourne has become the most lockdown city in the world. They have been locked down for seven months, off and on, and people have just gone mad and can’t cope anymore.

Apparently the authorities have declared a no-fly zone over Melbourne. This is so no one can fly drones over the city during protests and film how large the protests are. They are afraid that others will join the protests. This no-fly edict has apparently been accepted by the local media.

Think about that. The authorities are banning reporting on a major issue involving protests by thousands and thousands of Australians. And the fearless defenders of truth, the news media, meekly accept it.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/09/aussie-police-urge-government-issue-no-fly-zones-melbourne-people-wont-see-massive-anti-government-protests-video/
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October 2, 2021 8:13am
- Ruahine
  
  Meanwhile in Auckland, Arderns friends can have a great old time flouting the rules that us law abiding citizens would be arrested for.
  But Oh No. Not Arderns friends. So more lockdowns for Auckland.
  
  https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2021/10/headhunters-funeral-procession-in-west-auckland-appears-to-flout-covid-19-alert-level-3-rules.html
  
  https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/300420894/mourners-at-large-funeral-procession-in-aucklands-henderson-reminded-of-level-3-rules
  
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  October 2, 2021 8:38am
  - oldfella
    
    @Ruahine: that Mob funeral story broke early enough in the day for both TV news programs to have gone out, shot their own footage, and sought comments. Certainly the story was getting substantial coverage on stuffed and horrid by mid afternoon.
    Despite that, not only did neither 6pm TV bulletin have any footage, neither of them even acknowledged it had happened! Sheesh.
    Once Were Journalists!
    
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    October 2, 2021 10:19am
- Rich Prick
  
  VIC police are out of control. Some of the footage I’ve seen makes the Chinese look tame. They have burned all respect and the consequences of that will be well deserved.
  
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  October 2, 2021 9:10am
  - Don Beckett
    
    Vic. police have always been considered akin to the gestapo, and their corruption – particularly in the 1970’s & ’80’s is well known.
    
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    October 2, 2021 12:21pm
- Man Among the Ruins
  
  Doesn’t it speak volumes? If you’re doing nothing wrong, you’ve got nothing to hide, right Dan Andrews? They don’t want people to know the level of resistance, because the implications are terrifying – they want to give the impression that everyone is in board. They are not on board and the authorities know they are not, and there is a real fear that a little bit of popular momentum will breach the dam constructed of fear and propaganda.
  
  Check out the discordance between rhetoric and reality in Scomo’s recent BS speech to the UN:
  
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoIPToh-i3k&t=2s
  
  Moreover, Avi Yemini is a great reporter of events on the ground in Melbourne. Check out his YT channel. Also “Live World” features many short clips of marches and protests that you will never see on MSM.
  
  The preferred narrative is that sceptics are fringe nutters who are “dangerous.” These are just ordinary people who have had enough and see through the charade. However, no doubt they are dangerous to anyone pushing a false narrative down the throats of the credulous.
  
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  October 2, 2021 9:11am
- MCos
  
  The no fly order was lifted the next day.
  It was nothing to with shocking the public with the size of the crowds, but to stop the organizers using the live info to direct mob where to go.
  
  6 22
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  October 2, 2021 9:21am
  - Greg Ettridge
    
    It was lifted because two media companies hired Australia’s leading media lawyers, Justin Quill he tore them apart in the high court, the verdict was damming and will not pull this stunt again.
    I guess it is “normal” to do what Vicpol are doing to their citizens. Be very careful what you wish for.
    
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    October 2, 2021 11:19am
- Okahu
  
  Did the authorities close the cellphone towers so you couldn’t livestream from atop a mailbox? I think your effort to find tyranny is evidence of a febrile mind. Moreover I would be bloody surprised if it was ever legal for punters to fly their drones in the CBD.
  
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  October 2, 2021 9:39am
  - Greg Ettridge
    
    still are and internet.
    
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    October 2, 2021 11:08am
- thirteenstars
  
  A few weeks ago the FAA in the US told Fox News it couldn’t fly a drone over the bridge in Del Rio, TX to observe the 10,000 illegal immigrants living under that bridge. Fortunately they have firm protections for free speech in the US and the order was soon rescinded.
  
  A nice twist to the story is that following the filthy, dirty misrepresentation of mounted Border Patrol officers supposedly using “whips” to control illegals, the Border Patrol obligingly took Fox up in one of their own helicopters to do the coverage.
  
  What a great country. The president pisses all over his own Border Patrol, saying “they will pay” for using “whips”, which was all lies, and so the BP jumps to the aid of the media that’s actually exposing Biden’s horseshit.
  
  Can you imagine NZ Police doing the same to expose government hypocrisy? No, no. Close ranks. Stay staunch, and sneer at press conferences when reporters ask you inconvenient questions. That’s the Kiwi way.
  
  And you can sure as hell bet that when push comes to shove, the NZ Police will use every tactic the Australians have used, and more, to enforce increasingly deranged government policy.
  
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  October 2, 2021 10:45am
Paulus Gnome

Tony Alexander for an hour.

An hour you say?

Trust me, it is an hour well spent.

https://spaces.hightail.com/receive/HqCKYGqZn7/dXMtZjMzZjE0MWUtMmIzYi00YTJkLWIxZDUtMGEzM2VkNDJlOGY4
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October 2, 2021 8:19am
- Frank the tank
  
  A likeable and knowledgeable economist. His stories re Muldoon were always entertaining. Was at BNZ when he left. Got the feeling he couldn’t be firetrucked with the corporate bs.
  
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  October 2, 2021 8:42am
- Tony Stuart
  
  At the National Party conference recently, Cameron Bagrie was one of the guest speakers, and his warnings too were very sobering. When inflation forces interest rates to rise, hang onto your hat because it’s going to get rough!
  
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  October 2, 2021 8:47am
  - mikenmildagain
    
    Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
    Seems like you are looking forward to it, Tony.
    
    2 41
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    October 2, 2021 9:00am
    - Tony Stuart
      
      Not at all mikenmild. Increasing interest rates on debt will hit us harder than any increases in interest payments on investments.
      
      37 1
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      October 2, 2021 9:18am
      - mikenmildagain
        
        All depends on whether one is a nett lender or debtor, I guess.
        
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        October 2, 2021 9:21am
      - Tony Stuart
        
        It also depends on whether or not one has ploughed most of their savings and equity into a business, as many New Zealanders have.
        
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        October 2, 2021 9:27am
      - Jack5
        
        Milky, your point implying debtors might welcome inflation is flawed.
        
        In inflation, interest rates rise in parallel, or near-parallel, so the debtor, too, ends up paying more.
        
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        October 2, 2021 12:08pm
    - In Vino Veritas
      
      mike, NZ will get exactly what they voted for. No one is to blame but the voters. Inflation invariably hits lower and middle income earners the most. And the lower income earners are the people that tend to vote Labour. So, they’ve voted to make themselves poorer. Which is irony.
      And they do it time after time after time. High interest rates fighting inflation (higher food and energy costs among others) caused by printing money. They get what they deserve.
      
      16 1
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      October 2, 2021 10:30am
  - Suze Wainwright
    
    Oh pish posh; the beautiful set would much rather listen to Rod Carr speak
    
    16 5
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    October 2, 2021 9:05am
    - oldfella
      
      @Suze
      Or listen to Jethro. He’s fab. Doesn’t know anything about finance, but then nor does Grant.
      And Jethro’s got a new TV show. Wow.
      
      17 1
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      October 2, 2021 10:34am
      - sooty
        
        Oh loverly, we have to put up with him on the telly now in prime time! At least before he was lumped in with all the repeats!
        Is he a condition of the media bribe?
        
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        October 2, 2021 11:43am
      - RW Capitalist
        
        Wonder who’s recommendation got him that?
        
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        October 2, 2021 11:57am
  - ecco
    
    Bagrie is on every Tuesdays, 6.23am on the AM show. Always find his insights interesting.
    
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    October 2, 2021 9:34am
  - RW Capitalist
    
    Pay down your credit cards and mortgage as fast as your can,
    Luxuries of the near future, will be measured in the affordability of YOUR mortgage, your groceries.
    ie a roof over you and your families head and food on the table.
    Spend on shoes now is food in 6 months.
    
    16 1
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    October 2, 2021 11:55am
    - mikenmildagain
      
      Damn! And I just bought some new shoes. What am I going to do in six months?
      
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      October 2, 2021 1:43pm
    - Nickc2
      
      Robbo’s father was an accountant and Robbo has been reported as saying he wanted to be a better accountant than his father. His father must have been pretty ordinary eh.
      
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      October 2, 2021 3:59pm
  - alloytoo
    
    Sadly this government’s policies have been inflationary from day one, covid has just accelerated the inevitable.
    
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    October 2, 2021 12:12pm
Frank the tank

I’m going to miss Gladys. Strong, smart women with an impeccable dress sense. A significant number of our female politicians could learn from how she presented herself.

One of the few adults in Australasia politics has gone. Whilst not perfect have a look her roadmap out of Kungflu as opposed to the clown above her and the pillock below her.
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October 2, 2021 8:21am
- mikenmildagain
  
  Those Aussies sure love their corruption enquires.
  
  11 10
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  October 2, 2021 8:30am
  - Frank the tank
    
    You couldn’t have it here – half the cabinet would be in the doc at the same time!
    
    33 3
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    October 2, 2021 9:14am
    - mikenmildagain
      
      You are concerned about corruption in conservation?
      
      3 27
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      October 2, 2021 9:22am
      - Maggy Wassilieff
        
        We all should be..
        
        https://www.newsroom.co.nz/docs-mackenzie-project-dubbed-a-disaster
        
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        October 2, 2021 9:29am
  - Nickc2
    
    Yes. IMO and others, there should have been an inquiry into the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) itself. There was a person in charge of the thing who publically admitted she loved the job so much, it was like ‘pulling wings off butterflys’. She was in charge when they carried out a which hunt against Margret Cunneen SC. Margret was a Police Public Prosecutor at the time. She was cleared by the Commission but not the court of public opinion. I knew her and her husband and they are good people and certainly didn’t deserve what ICAC put them through.
    IMO, when the investigation was handed to ICAC, ICAC saw a notable head standing out above the rest and decided they should chop it off so to speak.
    
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    October 2, 2021 9:31am
- Nickc2
  
  Who’s the clown and who’s the pillock?
  
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  October 2, 2021 8:44am
  - Frank the tank
    
    Clown = Anastasia “pie-chucker”
    Pillock = Dictator Dan Andrews.
    
    Have a look at Dan’s “freedoms”. Then you won’t wonder why there is rioting on the streets.
    
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    October 2, 2021 9:17am
    - Nickc2
      
      TKS, I mistook your above and below as being a seniority issue rather than a Geographical one.
      However, in hindsight, I agree with your descriptions of them. I would have been more verbose though which would have earned me a banning from the mods.
      
      2 3
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      October 2, 2021 9:45am
    - Okahu
      
      Hey Frank! What are your thoughts on Fortress West Australia?
      
      Bloody impressive how they have kept the virus at bay, the hospitals free of the sick and the economy roaring along despite the iron ore price crash eh? Apparently the rest of the country are demanding some of their GST surplus! Bloody bewdy eh?
      
      Actually, not wanting you to have a cardiac episode best you don’t look at any of their official govt docs. Every single one includes an acknowledgement of the Aborigines as the first peoples and a declaration of respect for their ancestors and their culture. Might be a bit heady for some around here so fair warning.
      
      4 16
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      October 2, 2021 9:58am
      - Cinematic
        
        WA wins the gold medal for delaying the inevitable.
        
        15 1
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        October 2, 2021 10:26am
      - Frank the tank
        
        Your point is?
        
        They are living in same deluded bubble we had last year. Let’s see long term how they fare. Kungflu has to come in there like everyday else.
        
        All McGowan is doing is delaying the inevitable.
        
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        October 2, 2021 10:29am
      - In Vino Veritas
        
        Despite the iron ore price crash Okahu? Iron ore prices are sky high. Why else do you think WA’s economy is rocking along? Well, other than the fact that they didn’t close down their mining businesses. Just like NZ tho, CoVid will come. Just like NZ, they have politicians who think it will magically go away.
        And we acknowledge Maori as well as respect their ancestors and culture. Just as we do our own. Except the Maori want us to pay for the respect we give. And pay. And pay and pay.
        
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        October 2, 2021 10:42am
      - oldfella
        
        @Okahu
        Aboriginal people are known to have occupied mainland Australia for at least 65,000 years. It is widely accepted that this predates the human settlement of Europe and the Americas.
        Not like our own ‘aboriginals’ who were blown ashore while sailing in the neighbourhood around 600 years ago. But what’s a difference of 64K years between friends? /s
        
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        October 2, 2021 10:44am
      - Okahu
        
        Vino, do keep up…
        
        https://tradingeconomics.com/commodity/iron-ore
        
        You’re welcome.
        
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        October 2, 2021 6:16pm
      - In Vino Veritas
        
        Interesting Okahu. But stupid. Try this:
        https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-09/wa-budget-5-point-6-billion-surplus-but-no-border-reopening-date/100438990
        I think it says “Sky-high iron ore prices have fuelled Western Australia’s record $5.6 billion budget surplus”. And that is as of 9 September. Do try and keep up Okahu. Or at least, don’t make shit up.
        
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        October 2, 2021 8:24pm
    - Greg Ettridge
      
      Best one this week after half a year in Victoria, you can play golf but you can’t go to the toilet.
      Can’t wait to see the scientific evidence on that.
      They gave us an extra 10 outside to 30 but 10 inside.
      The week has been like the middle of winter, these despotes are just going to keep going till they have destroyed every single small business.
      
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      October 2, 2021 11:31am
  - WaveyDavey
    
    Anastasia and Dan
    
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    October 2, 2021 9:21am
- Tom Hunter
  
  Meh. I liked what this guy did to Gladys’s various utterances in The truth shall set you free
  
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  October 2, 2021 9:11am
  - mikenmildagain
    
    You getting much traffic from here to that sad site, Tom?
    
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    October 2, 2021 9:25am
    - Steve Todd
      
      Timely question, mikenmild.
      
      I’ve noticed recently that Tom has stepped up his link-whoring to his own posts at ‘No Minister’, and not just from ‘Kiwiblog’, either. I recall, perhaps two or three years ago now, a moderator telling him to stop doing it, but they appear to be giving him free rein now.
      
      Apart from, as you imply, generating traffic to ‘No Minister’ (which certainly would appear to need it), I think Tom is just trying to show everyone how clever he is to have already commented at length — several weeks, or even months, ago — (even if only tangentially, as is often the case, including with his 9:11AM comment, above) on a topic now being discussed here.
      
      Tom could just as easily have made his point, above, by linking directly to the YouTube clip, but, of course, that would not have served his real purpose for commenting.
      
      Take note, Tom — we’re onto you.
      
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      October 2, 2021 11:21am
ecco

Excellent article on the Bassett Brash Hide site on the methods of corruption being used by Ardern and Labour to influence the NZ MSM.

https://www.bassettbrashandhide.com/post/sliding-in-the-polls

Along with the media bribe fund, huge amounts of covid advertising is being placed by the government with msm. Truly scary stuff. I was wondering why we were getting absolutely bombarded with government covid ads,out of all proportion, and how much this is all costing the nz tax payer.

We see evidence of the manipulation of the media today with the Ferald and stuffed running virtually no articles on the government covid response or any of the hairbrained policies that were announced this week. Clearly an order from the beehive to these organisationss, after last week’s clobbering of them following Key’s covid plan article.
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October 2, 2021 8:30am
- jon
  
  The first thing an incoming Nat/Act govt needs to do is to stop the funding of MSM.
  
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  October 2, 2021 9:59am
- Okahu
  
  If John Key could pinch off a figure like $1b a week to have Auckland at level 3 per week (bit of pushback on that steamer required) we do know the govt is paying through the nose to have the city closed down.
  
  We also know we can enjoy an open city when it s sufficiently vaccinated, so how much pro vaccination media is too much? Or is money spent on continuing lockdown (with all their unhappy side effects) better spent than efforts to promote opening?
  
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  October 2, 2021 10:07am
  - In Vino Veritas
    
    How about if we had vaccinated way earlier Okahu? How about if we HAD been first in line, as told by Ardern? How about that? We wouldn’t have had all this lock-down shit. But hey, it’s the next generations and the low income earners who will suffer the most in the future. I remember when Ardern, Robertson, Little et al were wailing like pigs that National had debt of $23bn after the GFC and Canterbury earthquakes. $50bn makes it look like pocket change now.
    
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    October 2, 2021 10:56am
- GJM
  
  Money well spent by Dear Leader to keep the sheeple in the dark, especially as it is doesn’t cost them a cent as the taxpayer picks up the cost of being lied to.
  It even works on a cost benefit ratio. Spend $55m, or $105m or whatever we are up to now, and you get monopoly control over water and health services in the country. A huge return on investment.
  National need to go through wellington with fire and sword. Minimum 30% cut in staff, with a complete disestablishment of several ministries and quangos like the Human Rights Commission, children’s Commission, etc.
  
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  October 2, 2021 10:49am
- ecco
  
  Robertson needs to release how much advertising has been placed with Nzherald and stuff so voters can see the extent and size of these contracts. Also details need to be released on the pricing of these companies’ contracts. Huge amounts of tax payer funded debt are being spent by Robertson in the name of covid. There needs to be some accountability of this expenditure and to also ensure the contracts were entered into at arms length, commercial rates.
  
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  October 2, 2021 12:22pm
blue collar

Fascinating watching the labour govt slow motion political suicide
Speaking of suicide , are the delayed stats out yet ?
Their failed delivery on everything aside , the 3 waters theft alone will sink them .
, if they try and implement the Maori health and health in general restructure past forming boards n talking , that will be a balls up n sink them .
Undemocratic maori wards Didn’t help their popularity
Locking Auckland up in level 2 is outrageous and will sink them … it’s coming right ? Thinking aucklanders will be happy coz they can go to a cafe and shop …. but not travel and restrict business …. they really are that naive
So what does labour do for political points ??
Back off from the virtue signalling cycle bridge that everyone has forgotten about , we still hate them for trying it on in the first place .
The Maori caucus has sunk labour , Robertson and Cindy hv broken our economic health …. and once the suicide stats come out , I think will be evident our mental health as well .
The anxiety levels of youth and timid adults is through the roof thanks to govt fear porn rammed down their throats on climate and virus issues . Nice one labour ? well down you morons .
I dunno about you guys …. everyone in my world is ready to take to the streets , we’ve had enough , the tipping point will be when the govt steals our water assets off our councils …. people are angry , hoping it doesn’t happen … if it does …mass . protest time folks . It’s up to us .
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October 2, 2021 8:37am
- Southern Raider
  
  They won’t release the suicide stats
  
  We would have lost more people to suicide in the last two weeks than from this whole COVID mess over 18 months
  
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  October 2, 2021 9:20am
  - mikenmildagain
    
    How often do you think suicide statistics should be released?
    
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    October 2, 2021 9:26am
    - Ruahine
      
      Every day at 1 pm would be ideal along with the number of murders and stabbings and shootings.
      
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      October 2, 2021 9:57am
      - oldfella
        
        @ruahine, along with the numbers of gang members doing burn-outs and wheelies at illegal mob funeral gatherings.
        
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        October 2, 2021 10:48am
      - In Vino Veritas
        
        And the debt numbers Ruahine.
        
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        October 2, 2021 10:57am
      - TS Child
        
        And the number of deaths from other medical events – along side the age of those deaths. Let’s have some clear comparative data.
        
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        October 2, 2021 11:09am
    - blue collar
      
      Chief coroner releases provisional suicide stats annually … has been August for the last 4-5 years , was oct in 2015 I think …. at the moment it is earmarked for oct 4th .
      Govt mental health mob release suicide facts with a 2-3 year lag which incorporate iffy cases I guess , as there seems to be a backlog in actual coronial findings , and investigations to officially prove some .
      5 min read but that’s my rough take .
      
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      October 2, 2021 10:07am
      - mikenmildagain
        
        Exactly – the process to declare a suicide can be complex and time-consuming.
        
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        October 2, 2021 10:18am
    - Man Among the Ruins
      
      Maybe they could squeeze the daily suicide numbers into the 1pm briefing as and when they occur? All lives matter of course, so why should a (admittedly very rare indeed) Covid death be any more of a solemn occasion than someone likely pushed over the edge by Ardern’s edicts?
      
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      October 2, 2021 10:08am
    - I remember when
      
      A lot more often than some of the potentially dangerous criminals.
      
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      October 2, 2021 2:26pm
  - MCos
    
    Provisional numbers are released on Monday up to the end of March.
    Unexpected deaths, which obviously includes suspected suicides, go to the coroner for assessment. Not an quick process.
    
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    October 2, 2021 10:05am
  - Okahu
    
    Speaking of fear you have to admire the pincer movement we are seeing. The very real threat of a novel virus is being made worse by the fear porn tactics of the anti-vaccers (available here on this fear-porn disseminator every day). Field Marshall Friedrich Paulus’ experience could tell us a thing or two what happens when a pincer movement is successful.
    
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    October 2, 2021 10:22am
- Unity
  
  I totally agree blue collar. We have to get off the couch and start showing this dreadful Government that we won’t take any more of their controlling Communist-like behaviour. We will need the numbers of people as that is the only thing that will make Government sit up and take notice. Too many people are just rolling over and letting our country become another Zimbabwe, without even a murmur. People power is what it will take to stop our ‘rulers’ in their tracks. Please take note everyone and be prepared to act.
  
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  October 2, 2021 9:35am
Yvette

3 Waters
It remains difficult to predict whether local authorities may choose to opt out (for example if they believe their water infrastructure is already at a high standard) and whether the Government may need to move from the carrot to the stick in that case.(slight “hate speech”?) [1] June 2021

Each entity board will be required to have collective competencies in Treaty of Waitangi, mātauranga Māori, tikanga Māori and te ao Māori. An individual or a number of individuals will be required to have expertise in the exercise of kaitiakitanga, tikanga and mātauranga Māori relating to delivering water services [2]

THREE WATERS REFORM TO GIVE IWI / MĀORI DOMINATING INFLUENCE [2]

The Four entities also enable better relationships with iwi / Māori, which requires decisions on entity boundaries to be informed by an understanding of rohe / taktakiwā [tribal] boundaries and water catchments from source to sea. [3]

• So an off-the-wall (atu i te pakitara) question: Will the fact that Ngāi Tahu (Entity D) has the resources to cater for 864,350 people [4] compared to Auckland and Northland regions (Entity A) with 1,725,853 people – so with “D” (Ngāi Tahu) being 48 percent of “A” (Tamaki Makaurau iwi) – will this inequity trigger the Ngāi Tahu “top-up relativity clause” in their original Treaty of Waitangi settlement?
– see “Why Ngāi Tahu and Tainui’s Treaty payment top-ups are fair and legal [5]

… at Westland District Council, the Mayor Bruce Smith is calling for a binding referendum, seeking direction on in or out. “It’s called democracy” says Mayor Smith [2]

Obviously all adults in New Zealand, presumably being rate-payers to someone (either directly or through rent), should demand a referendum.
___________________
Bumf –
[1] https://www.russellmcveagh.com/getmedia/ab3d1ada-20d5-4917-a2e4-e8925aa603e3/Three-Waters-Reform-final-for-website.pdf/
[2] https://www.democracyaction.org.nz/planned_three_waters_entities_governance_undemocratic
[3] https://www.southlanddc.govt.nz/my-southland/three-waters-reform/
[4] https://www.hb3waters.nz/assets/Uploads/Quick-Guide-to-Government-Three-Waters-Reforms.pdf
QUICK GUIDE TO GOVERNMENT THREE WATERS REFORMS
A chart, Entity and connected population, shows –
Entity A ( Auckland and Northland regions) has 1,725,853 people; B. 799,608 (All districts from the Waikato, Bay of Plenty and Taranaki regions and the upper parts of Manawatū-Whanganui region (Ruapehu, Whanganui and Rangitikei); C. 955,154 (• Districts in the eastern and lower part of the North Island • Gisborne, Hawke’s Bay region, lower parts of the Manawatū-Whanganui region (Horowhenua Manawatū, Palmerston North and Tararua) and Wellington regions, and the local authorities at the top of the South Island (Tasman, Nelson and Marlborough) and Entity D. 864,350 (The districts and regions in the rest of the South Island, including those parts of the Marlborough and Tasman districts that comprise Ngāi Tahu takiwā)
[5] https://thespinoff.co.nz/atea/23-01-2018/why-ngai-tahu-and-tainuis-treaty-payment-top-ups-are-fair-and-legal/
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October 2, 2021 8:39am
- mikenmildagain
  
  What is the likely timing? Seems to me this could be a major election issue for local bodies next year and for the country as a whole in 2023.
  
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  October 2, 2021 9:28am
  - Rich Prick
    
    Which is why the Government is looking to postpone the 2022 local authority elections. They know that councillors who have voted to get onboard with 3 waters will be flushed out. And no, it’s not about Covid-19, local elections are all postal.
    
    https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA2109/S00275/government-wants-power-to-delay-local-elections-through-2023.htm
    
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    October 2, 2021 10:03am
    - DeepBlue
      
      The next local body elections will be delayed until 2023, after the government finishes implementing its review/restructure of the Local Govn Act.
      
      I can see Mahuta offering a carrot and saying .. I have listened to the Councils who want to delay and tie the decisions together.
      
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      October 2, 2021 10:19am
      - mikenmildagain
        
        Yeah, that would be smart politics. The last successful local body reorganization was done swiftly in 1987 or 88.
        
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        October 2, 2021 1:49pm
- Taieri
  
  Each entity board will be required to have collective competencies in Treaty of Waitangi, mātauranga Māori, tikanga Māori and te ao Māori. An individual or a number of individuals will be required to have expertise in the exercise of kaitiakitanga, tikanga and mātauranga Māori relating to delivering water services
  ——————-
  
  Can the meaning of these things even be defined?
  
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  October 2, 2021 9:48am
  - Rich Prick
    
    No, but it will be expensive and will create some new millionaires, that much is guaranteed.
    
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    October 2, 2021 10:31am
  - KevO'Brien
    
    Not, if you don’t want to be offended. Te Ao Maori collides with a Christian perspective. We avoid Maori spirits. Public servants being force fed need to be assured they are not praying to strange deities.
    
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    October 2, 2021 10:34am
  - Nickc2
    
    Wow, I was just thinking what would happen if I advertised a job and specified the workplace is a Te Reo free space. I’m sure if there isn’t a law covering such a situation, there would be a special sitting of Parliament to pass one.
    
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    October 2, 2021 1:48pm
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  Gisborne District Council has given 3 waters the big thumb down
  
  https://www.gisborneherald.co.nz/local-news/20211001/councillors-vote-unanimously-to-opt-out/
  
  GDC made workable arrangements with all Iwi and other interest groups ages ago about its 4 Waters (Mahuta’s plan doesn’t address Flood water schemes).. and doesn’t need central Government flushing all its hard work “down the loo”.
  
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  October 2, 2021 10:11am
- oldfella
  
  @Yvette
  
  An individual or a number of individuals will be required to have expertise in the exercise of kaitiakitanga, tikanga and mātauranga Māori relating to delivering water services
  
  Exactly. How can you achieve anything in this country without a good grasp of all those things. A lack of them probably brought the Ak cycle bridge plan crashing down. //s
  
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  October 2, 2021 10:55am
I remember when

Whakatu Freezing Works closure on Friday, October 10, 1986, will have its 35-year celebration and commemoration on Saturday, 9 October.
Whakatu was New Zealand’s largest meat-processing plant and its closure resulted in around 2200 people losing their jobs.
The ceremony will start with a ceremony at the Whakatu memorial stone.
Firms of this type really were like a big family and for many years the wharfies and freezing workers set the bar for award increases.
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October 2, 2021 8:42am
PhilBest

Kiwis (and Aussies) trapped overseas need to organise boats for themselves. If “refugees” in their millions are already doing this (eg across the Mediterranian and the English Channel) and the western establishment is completely OK with this, how come no-one has started arranging this for Kiwis and Aussies who just want to go home??

Heck the establishment doesn’t even care about the Covid status or vaccination status of millions of “refugees” from Afghanistan, Northern Africa, Haiti, the Middle East, etc – why shouldn’t the governments in this part of the world be made to get with the globalist program, starting with THEIR OWN PEOPLE?

Going by previous experience with Covid outbreaks on cruise ships, it wouldn’t even matter if Covid rampaged through those on board during their several weeks at sea en route, they’d all survive and arrive with natural immunity. Especially if they all aim to get enough fresh air, rather than sticking to their cabins, which was a massive own-goal with the cruise ships, and which will have killed the handful of oldest and weakest folk who did die.

Maybe Clive Palmer could arrange something for Aussie, not sure who we have here who might do it.
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October 2, 2021 8:46am
- Southern Raider
  
  How about they rent a cruise ship and bring themselves over from Aussie
  
  Imagine the cruise liner coming into Auckland harbour and our navy trying to pretend they will sink it if it doesn’t stop . Jacinda would be bedside herself
  
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  October 2, 2021 9:38am
  - DeepBlue
    
    Cruise ships are banned. Can only be small craft crewed by NZers.
    
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    October 2, 2021 10:21am
    - PhilBest
      
      Define “small”
      
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      October 2, 2021 10:52am
  - Okahu
    
    You don’t think the forfeiture of the ship would be a disincentive? Perhaps stewmar and rich prick could load up a give a little page to offset the loss?
    
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    October 2, 2021 10:25am
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    Our Navy ain’t got amo, would have to import some
    
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    October 2, 2021 10:31am
    - mikenmildagain
      
      Pretty sure our armed forces can sink any cruise ship that comes into the gulf.
      
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      October 2, 2021 1:53pm
      - Steve Otto(North Shore)
        
        Kamakazi in a C130? They need to go anyway
        
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        October 2, 2021 3:30pm
  - sooty
    
    What happened to the 50 yachts from the islands?
    
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    October 2, 2021 10:35am
Benedict Yu

Something I wanted to share about serious COVID vaccine side effects.

The vaccines are now known to cause rare but serious adverse reactions in the heart and also blood clots. There is now evidence that these adverse effects are being caused by the vaccines being accidently injected into a blood vessel rather than into the muscle.

The COVID vaccine is an intramuscular vaccine. It is NOT designed to be injected into a blood vessel. In MOST people there are no major blood vessels near the surface of the deltoid muscle. But there are always exceptions.

In most countries, nurses were trained to insert the needle, and then draw back briefly. If there is blood in the syringe STOP. Apparantly this happened rarely. Like 1 in 10000 injections. So the practice has been stopped in most countries, including New Zealand.

So a bunch of researchers recently decided to test this in mice. They injected the COVID vaccine intramuscularly in one group of mice. And intravenously in another group. ALL of the mice that were injected intravenously developed severe heart problems. NONE of the other mice had problems.

Really good video by Dr John Campbell here.

https://youtu.be/nBaIRm4610o

He is on a crusade to have the vaccination technique changed but is hitting a brick wall in the UK.
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October 2, 2021 8:56am
- David Garrett
  
  Benedict: I think you posted on this before? Someone did…which prompted me, when I had my first shot, to ask the nurse [she confirmed she was a nurse with 15 years experience] to “aspirate the needle”, which is what the technique is apparently called. She had no idea what I meant, and when I explained, she said she had never done that in all her years as a nurse.
  
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  October 2, 2021 9:06am
  - Benedict Yu
    
    Yes it was me. That was before the mice study.
    
    It seems to be a controversial debate. Drawing back on the syringe adds about 10 seconds to the process. And because hitting a blood vessel is rare it seems like a lot of nurse educators just gave up on it. I read a comment yesterday from a nurse. In a 40 year career she had hit a blood vessel twice. So it could be one in 30000 or 50000. She did say when it happened it scared the shit out of her.
    
    Now with COVID we are talking about injecting billions of people. So one in 50000 is a lot of people.
    
    The evidence is not conclusive of course. But it seems a reasonable hypothesis that this is the cause of the heart problems and blood clots.
    
    Of course the profession does not want to have any part of this debate because they would be open to lawsuits from people who had suffered serious heart damage. The vaccine manufacturers are safe. Their ‘user guides’ say do NOT inject this into a vein.
    
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    October 2, 2021 9:25am
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    I have never seen or heard of that. I thought air was expelled from the needle by pushing out a small amount of fluid before injecting
    
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    October 2, 2021 10:38am
    - Benedict Yu
      
      Yes but that is for a different purpose. It won’t tell you whether in a vein or not
      
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      October 2, 2021 11:37am
      - Steve Otto(North Shore)
        
        Yeah I understood that part about seeing blood
        
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        October 2, 2021 2:21pm
- westernScientest
  
  This makes a huge amount of sense, and could explain a bunch of the variation between studies. It would be interesting to know if some trials, particularly Pfizers own ones they did this.
  Remember one of the claims from Pfizer and others is that the mRNA should not leave the injection site, but there is evidence of it in places it shouldn’t be. Maybe this is actually a major driver of risk of side effects.
  
  I hope there is more work on this.
  
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  October 2, 2021 9:13am
  - Alan Wilkinson
    
    If proven there will be lawsuits in the US. My ex RN wife says she was taught always to aspirate her injections. However it certainly wasn’t done for our Covid jabs.
    
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    October 2, 2021 7:42pm
- Ed Snack
  
  You might find that I mentioned this as well several weeks back. There was a paper I cited that found that the S (spike) protein which is what the mRNA is programmed to make binds to a cell receptor called CD35 which is expressed in heart and related muscles. When bound it is cytotoxic and causes inflammation, hence the myocarditis and clotting issues.
  
  I speculated that the issue was from cases where the intramuscular injection also delivered the mRNA to the bloodstream which would take some of it to the heart area and likely trigger these issues.
  
  Spike protein though also circulates even from intramuscular sites at times, however when the S protein is part of the virus itself it cannot bind to CD35, thus the binding site is probably normally inside the virus and only exposed in the free protein.
  
  Not sure if I’ve seen any proposed explanation why children and younger people seem to suffer disproportionately from this, maybe there’s an age mediated difference in circulation to muscles ?
  
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  October 2, 2021 4:17pm
I remember when

The number of log train services between Wairoa and Napier every week is set to double with a new weekday service.
The new Weekday log train services are due to start on Monday.
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October 2, 2021 8:58am
- Ed Snack
  
  So twice a week now, and that means that each train will have only half the excess costs maintain the line allocated. Still costing a shed load per train though…
  
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  October 2, 2021 4:18pm
Tony

I was speaking to a friend the other day who is obviously in the “vaccine hesitant” camp.

He asked me if I had been jabbed. He said that he was part of the control group because every experiment needs a control group.

I thought that was quite a creative answer so far as not being vaccinated is concerned.
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October 2, 2021 9:01am
- PhilBest
  
  Yes, one of the things underlying conservation is that we must prevent species going extinct because they could have held the key to something in future.
  
  So what about unvaccinated humans?
  
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  October 2, 2021 10:54am
  - mikenmildagain
    
    The unvaccinated are equivalent to the spaceship full of the Golgafrinchan outcasts in The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
    
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    October 2, 2021 1:58pm
    - Ed Snack
      
      Not exactly, the Ark B types are the current mask and lockdown fanatics, puffed full of their own importance. I see you as a classic Ark B type actually Mikey, down to a T.
      
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      October 2, 2021 4:21pm
      - mikenmildagain
        
        If you heard my poetry, I’m pretty sure you would count me among the Vogons.
        
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        October 2, 2021 7:10pm
kowtow

Why were Bracken’s guards laughing with her through the evidence ?

What’s that about ?
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October 2, 2021 9:02am
- Tony Stuart
  
  A decided lack of remorse, I would think.
  
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  October 2, 2021 9:28am
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  Not very professional behaviour from Corrections staff…and clearly another slap in the face for the grieving family and the NZ Police.
  
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  October 2, 2021 9:35am
- Gravelroad
  
  Family.
  
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  October 2, 2021 9:52am
kowtow

Front page screaming Ferald headline

Covid devours leading Auckland restaurants

No , that’s down to Ardern , not Covid.

And their cartoon attacks brain Tamaki for having his rally and compromising lockdown.

Low hanging fruit there , nothing about all the appalling gang antics that are the real problem.
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October 2, 2021 9:13am
- Nickc2
  
  What’s the difference between a Religion protesting and a Maori Gang (Black Power) doing what they did yesterday? IMO, nothing.
  Tonight, TV News will be flooded with video and comments about the religious protest but yesterday’s lawbreaking by the Black Power gang didn’t even get a mention during the 6:00PM News.
  
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  October 2, 2021 10:04am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  “Ardern, not Covid” She absolutely refudes that
  
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  October 2, 2021 10:43am
burt

The next major challenge for our health system is just around the corner.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/mystery-rise-in-heart-attacks-from-blocked-arteries-m253drrnf
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October 2, 2021 9:23am
- Inandout
  
  burt, health is often attributed to lifestyle. Eat food that aids blocked arteries and you will be on statins for the rest of your life. Lockdowns also contribute to unhealthy eating.
  
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  October 2, 2021 10:11am
Frank the tank

Spare a thought for Simon Wilson this morning. He will feel like someone shat in his cornflakes following PeeWees cancellation of the woke bridge.

Then start laughing and don’t stop till it hurts.
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October 2, 2021 9:23am
In Vino Veritas

US of A. Inflation is “transitory” Yellen, Powell and Biden said. A few months of higher inflation they expected. But whoops, Powell now comes out and says he expects it to continue into 2022. We printed money and inflation was to be “transitory”. Yeah, right.
Latest numbers Personal Consumption Price Index for August increased 4.3 percent from one year ago.
Energy prices are up 24%. Food is up 2.8%. Core PCE (excluding those two) rose 3.6%, the highest since 1991. Look out NZ.
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October 2, 2021 9:34am
I remember when

Lake Weed project past $3m: 30 September, 2021:
Harvesting was meant to be trialed in 2021, but unexpected costs had affected budget.
A report for a council meeting stated $2.843 million had been spent and council approved a further $223,600 towards the trial.
Horizon’s Jon Roygard said security, legal challenges, compliance monitoring, weed disposal and Tangata Tiaki all contributed.
Council were awarded legal costs after legal challenges failed but not all of it has been recovered.
Horowhenua mayor Bernie Wanden, Lake Horowhenua Trust trustee Clinton Hemana and Muaupoko Tribal Authority CE Di Rump all want the project to continue.
What should have been a sprint was made into an ultra-marathon.
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October 2, 2021 9:38am
Tony Stuart

An excellent column from Steven Joyce this morning. As it is paywalled, I trust the moderators will indulge me posting a portion:

In 1979 an academic lawyer at Victoria University wrote a book about New Zealand politics called Unbridled Power. I was at school and bought a copy which I still have.

It was a story of New Zealand’s then rather unique form of government. Its message was summed up in the title of a chapter called “The Fastest Law in the West”.

With only one chamber of Parliament, no provincial or state governments, and a first-past-the-post voting system, the description was very apt.

Between three-yearly elections, the government of the day could do pretty much whatever it wanted. And from the 1970s to the 1990s a succession of governments did exactly that.

Laws were changed frequently, often in a few days, without meaningful discussion outside of ministers talking amongst themselves. Many law changes bore a loose or no relationship with what a government promised to do at an election.

There were so few checks and balances our system was often described as an elected dictatorship.

Rob Muldoon was the first Prime Minister who really took advantage of this unique governing system. He made himself both the nation’s leader and its finance minister and then proceeded to treat Parliament as his personal rubber stamp.

As the world economic situation deteriorated he took more and more outlandish decisions that impinged on people’s liberties and livelihoods, until the public finally threw him out.

Then followed two governments that, while in many ways doing necessary things, managed to betray their voting bases. The Lange/Douglas Government, which included the book’s author Geoffrey Palmer, turned its back on the Labour faithful with its economic reforms, and the Bolger Government did the same for its base with the superannuation surtax.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/steven-joyce-jacinda-ardern-government-getting-too-big-for-its-bossy-boots/EPSVM4IXYMAQXGTDDVO66HNFBE/#

Joyce then turns his attention to the current government, noting how bold it has become since last year’s election. But the money part of his piece touches on the Three Waters policy:

But the biggest over-reach of all so far is minister Nanaia Mahuta’s threat to confiscate water infrastructure assets owned by ratepayers without fair payment, in order to create four new corporate water entities around the country.

She is also refusing to provide shares in or direct oversight of those entities back to local councils.

That is a travesty.

There are good arguments for water reform, and some amalgamations into regional entities that can borrow money to invest in assets makes sense. But confiscating the assets of any organisation not owned by central government is going several steps too far.

These are all signs of a government getting too big for its boots. The impression is worsened by the expensive wall-to-wall propaganda, sorry — advertising, being employed to sell the water reforms and other contentious policies like the gold-plated tram for Auckland’s inner west. Covid-19 publicity is legitimate, political propaganda is not.

The cartoon advertisements for the Three Waters programme are disgraceful propaganda. The sight of green sludge coming out of a tap into a bathtub is complete hyperbole, yet Labour has shamelessly used these advertisements to prepare the ground for Mahuta’s grand asset-strip.

Judith Collins stated unequivocally yesterday that National will fight Three Waters, and will reverse the policy when it becomes government. That’s good news, given Mahuta’s determination to push ahead despite many local councils around the country voting unanimously against the proposal.

In many ways it’s a travesty that Steven Joyce was not elected National leader in 2018. He may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but he is an astute businessman and politician. It’s good that at least we get to read his opinions, even if the Herald tuck them away behind their paywall.

Last week it was John Key, and this week it’s Joyce. That popping sound you can hear is a series of brain explosions coming from the left, in whose heads Key and Joyce live, rent-free!
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October 2, 2021 9:46am
- Jade Warrior
  
  You could almost conclude that those Three Waters TV adverts are as rude as, eh? ?
  
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  October 2, 2021 10:05am
- Prince
  
  Joyce lost my respect when he was defenceless when Labour put up economists to attack his shadow budget in 2017.
  Why did he not have one economist to defend him ? It was a critical point in that election and he was asleep at the wheel.
  
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  October 2, 2021 10:06am
- surfing
  
  I really like Joyce, and it is unfortunate he was never PM … I’m not sure he ever wanted to be (anyone know?)
  
  His back of the napkin calculations of labour’s budget mistakes always seemed to ring true to me. It is a wonderful thing how the NZ Treasury with hundreds of highly trained academics were beaten by Joyce’s 5 minute napkin calculation.
  
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  October 2, 2021 10:28am
- KevO'Brien
  
  Mahuta makes Muldoon seem like an angel.
  
  I see her actions as underhanded and essentially a Maori re-take of land and water to which some people feel overly attached.
  National cannot let them succeed.
  
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  October 2, 2021 10:42am
  - Jack5
    
    Graham Greene wrote a good novel about a “whisky priest” in Mexico.
    
    Let’s class Muldoon, then, as a whisky angel.
    
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    October 2, 2021 12:19pm
- Ian Boag
  
  Just out of curiosity, is this very different to the way the locally owned power boards got hoovered up way back when?
  
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  October 2, 2021 12:52pm
  - waripori
    
    Did the customers of the Power Boards not get shares in the entities that took them over? That is why you get odd situations like the Trust that owns a chunk of Trustpower and passes on rebates. No suggestion of anything like that with water assets. Probably because no net revenue to do anything with. Only costs and dont drink the water notices.
    
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    October 2, 2021 1:41pm
- chukar
  
  TS,
  Thank you for sharing this.
  You have rather cherry picked the article by removing his comments on MMP.I disagree totally with his view of MMP.
  MMP has made NZ politics so much worse not better.It has largely destroyed democracy in NZ.
  
  Minor party’s picking the Government, rewarded by Ministerial portfolios with some Ministers with less than 1% of the total popular vote.
  Half of the existing politicians have not received ballot box scrutiny, and ,I suggest, some would be most unlikely to survive proper electoral scrutiny.
  This is not democracy!
  Elections now take place with a focus on the centre.This means similar policies are adopted by all the major parties effecting a single government with little difference between them.
  NZ has created its own one party government.
  In other MMP countries this dysfunctional system only creates 20 -30% voters interest in countries such as Germany.
  Again totally undemocratic!
  
  There needs to be a political system change in NZ
  
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  October 2, 2021 5:04pm
Southern Raider

Peter Ellis case looks to be going to the Supreme Court this week. Had to use a Māori cultural condition to convince the Supreme Court to allow a review after death

I hope he finally gets the peace he deserves

Those parents had mostly studied sexual abuse and just developed and spread this weird satanic sexual abuse cult theory through ChCh and the jury brought it
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October 2, 2021 9:47am
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  There will still be a group of people desperate to downplay the role they played in this appalling travesty.
  https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/126546129/peter-ellis-30year-effort-to-clear-his-name-reaches-final-supreme-court-hearing
  
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  October 2, 2021 10:18am
  - Jack5
    
    That’s a good article by Martin van Beynen that you link, too, Maggy.
    
    The Peter Ellis mass-hysteria prosecution, one of a series sweeping the world, is a stain on the New Zealand justice system.
    
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    October 2, 2021 12:12pm
    - Maggy Wassilieff
      
      It is a stain on many aspects of NZ society:
      
      Psychobabble nonsense that was not laughed out of existence by “professionals”
      Legal bullshit that was not exposed by the legal profession
      Political interference/indifference by local and national councillors and MPs
      Appalling judgement by RNZ staff
      Gullibility of many NZers
      
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      October 2, 2021 3:47pm
Yvette

For those upset that the fourth estate may have become the fifth column –
110 journalist roles funded to provide Public Interest Journalism across the motu
https://www.nzonair.govt.nz/news/110-journalist-roles-funded-provide-public-interest-journalism-across-motu/
Funding administrator NZ ON AIR – Public Interest Journalism has received an $18m boost with the announcement of funding for an additional 110 journalists* across Aotearoa with a specific mandate to produce stories that keep New Zealanders informed and engaged, and support a healthy democracy.
___________
motu – bless NZ ON AIR’s little cotton socks – for those who do not know, this word has about five different meanings but in most cases, it is used for “country” when describing New Zealand as a “nation”

And – “bless their little cotton socks” – In 1858 as Bishop of Calcutta, Mr Cotton created schools for Eurasian children. As part of his philanthropy, he ordered dozens of pairs of socks to be sent over for the children, blessing them on arrival. One day, an overeager staff member handed out the socks before they were blessed so in future a note was added to the crates of socks saying “Cotton’s socks for blessing”.
So when when “hate speech legislation eventually eventuates, you may no longer be allowed to use this expression for reasons of religious favouritism, colonialism, and / or ethnicity denigration :o)
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October 2, 2021 9:57am
- Jack5
  
  Politicians and media are appalling in this corruption.
  
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  October 2, 2021 12:14pm
Maggie Pie

Meanwhile, the 81,000 GENUINE cases on the Hospital Waiting List, will now be facing an even longer wait….

https://twitter.com/nzherald/status/1443999819740155918
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October 2, 2021 10:20am
- Taieri
  
  This is simply not true. The only genuine cases nowadays are Covid-19 related. All other illnesses have been irreversibly abolished. Thus spake our Kind and Beloved Leader and Her Court…
  
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  October 2, 2021 10:29am
- Maggie Pie
  
  So, first we had ‘Lilac Grove’….now it’s ‘Saintly Lane’
  
  What is with these Westies?
  
  LOL!!
  
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  October 2, 2021 10:32am
  - pseudonymous
    
    Saintly won a Melbourne Cup.
    
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    October 2, 2021 12:47pm
Bobba Fret

Has anyone heard if the group headed by Grant Robertson to actually get projects achieved (whatever it was called) have actually achieved anything? It’s gone awfully quiet.
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October 2, 2021 10:28am
- ecco
  
  Shovel ready?
  
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  October 2, 2021 1:42pm
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  The “Implementation Unit”
  
  They published a report last week….
  https://dpmc.govt.nz/our-business-units/implementation-unit
  
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  October 2, 2021 3:50pm
  - Warren
    
    It sounds like something expensive Maggie W more money to the Labour Party elite and I doubt it will be pocket money.
    
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    October 2, 2021 5:32pm
Fletch

Tanya Davies, an MP in Australia has brought this legal decision to the attention of everyone. It originally concerned a case brought by a worker who didn’t want to be forced to take the flu vaccine, but the decision also comments on mandatory covid vaccination. It basically goes against the Fair Work Act in Australia which says that vaccinations should be voluntary.

[105] The stated position of the Australian Government is that the vaccine is voluntary. On 21 July 2021, the Prime Minister in a media conference stated that “people make their own decisions about their own health and their own bodies. That’s why we don’t have mandatory vaccination in relation to the general population”.

[106] On 13 August 2021, the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) and the Business Council of Australia (BCA) issued a joint statement on mandatory COVID vaccinations in which it acknowledged the Australian Government’s COVID vaccination policy that the vaccine is voluntary, and confirmed the views of the BCA and ACTU that “for the overwhelming majority of Australians, your work or workplace should not fundamentally alter the voluntary nature of vaccination”

[107] The Fair Work Ombudsman has publicly stated that employers will need to have a “compelling reason” before requiring vaccinations, and that “the overwhelming majority of employers should assume that they can’t require their employees to be vaccinated against coronavirus”.

… [Deleted – it’s in the link. Mod.]

https://www.fwc.gov.au/documents/decisionssigned/html/2021fwcfb6015.htm

It goes on to point out the Siracusa Principles document and paragraphs in that document that also declare “No state party shall, even in time of emergency threatening the life of the nation, derogate from the Covenant’s guarantees of the right to life; freedom from torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, and from medical or scientific experimentation without free consent”
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October 2, 2021 10:44am
- Fletch
  
  As the mod has (rightly) deleted part of my lengthy post, I should say that the legal decision goes on to point out that the vaccine does not stop Covid, which can still be caught and transmitted, and also that the vaccines are only provisionally approved for use in Australia and are accordingly still part of a clinical trial, which no one can be coerced or forced into taking part in.
  
  I am reading on the Medsafe site, that the vaccines only have provisional approval in NZ as well.
  
  https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/diseases-and-conditions/covid-19-novel-coronavirus/covid-19-vaccines/covid-19-assessing-and-approving-vaccines#what
  
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  October 2, 2021 11:51am
Maggie Pie

A bestie retweets…..

This from the FDA’s own YouTube account.

https://youtu.be/WFph7-6t34M

The hearing was 8 hours long. There were 18 members on the FDA Vaccine Expert Panel. They voted 16:2 AGAINST the 3rd booster shot for the general public…..saying the 3rd does of the Pfizer vaccine ‘should only be for people who are in very specific high risk categories’.
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October 2, 2021 10:58am
- oldfella
  
  @ Maggie.
  Slow Joe has just announced that he’s had his booster shot. To be fair, I guess he is at high risk – of being knocked off his perch any tick of the clock by ‘Round Heels’ Harris.
  
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  October 2, 2021 11:21am
  - Ed Snack
    
    Did you note the theatre act it was ? Joe, sitting there in front of these windows with a beautiful day backdrop…..then someone goes and publishes a photo that shows that the backdrop was just stage props, nothing real at all. Probably the vaccine was just Joe’s basic daily anti-senility dosage anyway, but still.
    
    Is EVERYTHING done by the current US administration full of lies and misrepresentations ?
    
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    October 2, 2021 5:40pm
K

The government announced this week, quietly by its standards, that it is doubling the EQC cap (the first loss paid by EQC to a homeowner due to natural disaster) from $150k to $300k. The tax that you pay for EQC on your insurance premium will increase by $207.

The minister’s office said “An increase in EQC cover reduces the cover (and therefore cost) insurers need to provide and their cost of providing this insurance. It’s expected these changes will flow through to the premium homeowners need to pay”. The media release tells us twice in the same sentence that insurer costs will decrease. It implies that all homeowners will be better off and will enjoy lower premiums.

However, This seems unlikely to be the case for the majority of Kiwis. If you live in Auckland, Northland or Waikato, you will already be paying a very low natural disaster premium on your private insurance policy (most likely a fair bit lower than $207). So how is the government taking on part of that risk from private insurers and charging you $207 in tax going to reduce your cost? Any reduction in price for the natural disaster premium will be minimal given the already low price. Your overall cost will probably increase to subsidise poor old Wellingtonians, struggling through the pandemic in their safe, generously paid public sector jobs, also sitting on skyrocketing land values.

A lot more risk will be transferred to EQC which was bailed out by the government guarantee post Christchurch, and will be again after the next big earthquake (just at a larger scale). This effectively transfers risk from homeowners to the taxpayer in general. For a government apparently concerned with non-homeowners being locked out of the housing market, why are they using those same peoples’ tax dollars to subsidise incumbent homeowners?

“Insurance premiums charged in different regions will be monitored. If insurer pricing doesn’t behave as expected, the Government is open to considering options such as a competition study to give consumers assurance the market is competitive.” – I wonder what “as expected” means to this lot. No doubt it means something unrealistic and unachievable, and the market study will recommend further government encroachment or a complete takeover of the private market.

One day the big Wellington earthquake will hit. By then maybe the government will be covering all the risk and paying out on all the residential claims. God help any Wellingtonians who survive that disaster.
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October 2, 2021 11:20am
- Paulus
  
  There are a number of points here re EQC cover – doubling the limit to $300,000 is allright but remember that there is a single cost alone, like any insurance cover.
  EQC cover is a for a limited risk within the insurance policy – not a wide cover unlike the standard insurance policy which is varied and wide for other eventualities. So the EQ element of the limited policy amount to $300,000 is only a small part of the overall risk.
  Remember effectively the EQC cover premium is like a tax Government really.
  Now it was said that this would cover everybody but but but
  EQC cover is only granted to those with a valid Fire Policy not like the Christchurch fiasco where by everybody politically and socially supported felt that any money was there for them, not forgetting the AMI debacle and subsequent ongoing legal trials. The policy holders holding cheap AMI policies OWNED the company and that should have been the end of it, but a it was Christchurch and Politics became the norm.
  Now any property with a mortgage is bound to continue to hold a valid insurance policy at all time of the mortgage naming the mortgagee – say a Bank, that they too are covered for their share – is this still being done ? – am not sure until the claim comes then bingo !
  We are hearing that people can no longer afford insurance, so they do not have any household insurance, so no EQC cover, but do they expect the rest of the policy payers and taxpayers to bail them out – Christchurch again. ?
  
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  October 2, 2021 1:13pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

In other tweets the pink terror is taking a few days off. Why?
Oma rapeti, oma rapeti, oma oma oma.
No link, I don’t do twitter
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October 2, 2021 12:02pm
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Here it is.
  https://twitter.com/SiouxsieW/status/1443722417205964801
  
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  October 2, 2021 12:05pm
  - lifesgood
    
    And don’t bother coming back.
    
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    October 2, 2021 1:00pm
- Cinematic
  
  Oh no what will we ever do with out her..!
  
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  October 2, 2021 1:56pm
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    You could go to the beach for a swim – best wait for level 4 though
    
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    October 2, 2021 2:57pm
Batman

Sadly the United States has become a very good case study for what happens when a chunk of your population chooses to pretend that Covid is no worse than the or is a government plot to control you.

In the last three months, deaths have been concentrated in the South, which has been lagging on vaccination due to political and media disinformation. Most of those are unvaccinated, and they’re ten times more likely to die than the vaccinated.

The result? 700,000 dead, with those above 54 still heavily affected group each time there is an outbreak and rise in deaths, though Delta is proving more deadly for age groups under 54 now. Gen X and even millennials in their 20s and 30s are now dying where they didn’t previously.

In one painful case, a 64 year-old church volunteer’s adult children advised her not to get the vaccine. She caught delta and died. Her children have been left wracked with regret and have condemned themselves for giving her that advice.

Get vaccinated, motherfuckers. The KB comments community isn’t young and a large number of you will be extremely at risk if we end up achieving the goal of those here to let covid sweep across our population.

I don’t think any of us would like to see KBers begin disappearing and dying due to Covid.

U.S. Coronavirus Death Toll Surpasses 700,000 Despite Wide Availability of Vaccines https://nyti.ms/3kXtKhz
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October 2, 2021 12:23pm
- Man Among the Ruins
  
  So, only 0.2% of the US population? Yeah, still not worth it. Stop panicking, it’s extremely unbecoming of you.
  
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  October 2, 2021 12:49pm
- Fletch
  
  In the last three months, deaths have been concentrated in the South, which has been lagging on vaccination due to political and media disinformation. Most of those are unvaccinated, and they’re ten times more likely to die than the vaccinated.
  The result? 700,000 dead, with those above 54 still heavily affected group each time there is an outbreak and rise in deaths
  
  Um, there are only 718,866 Covid deaths in the whole of the United States, according to the Worldometer. You make it sound like there are 700,000 dead in just the South, which is obviously not true.
  
  As the population of the U.S is 333,452,707 according to that same site, that means the number of deaths by Covid is 0.216% in the U.S
  
  This means that 99.78% of the the country has not died from Covid.
  
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  October 2, 2021 1:08pm
  - dcrane
    
    Fwiw the recent wave in the south was probably the seasonal effect of people concentrating indoors in the air-conditioning. It’s abating now as things cool down. We can expect cases to rise in the North soon as everyone retreats from the cold.
    
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    October 2, 2021 2:03pm
  - mikenmildagain
    
    Yeah, tell us when it gets as a deadly to the US as the Second World War, which only took 0.32% of the 1939 population. So 99.68% of the US population came through the war just fine.
    
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    October 2, 2021 2:05pm
  - mandk
    
    On an annualised basis the number of covid deaths in the USA has been a bit less than 500,000, although that is an overcount because any death after a covid diagnosis is counted as a covid death.
    
    By comparison, the total number of deaths is about 2,900,000.
    
    So, at most, covid has been responsible for 17% of deaths.
    
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    October 2, 2021 5:00pm
- Liberal Cliche
  
  Notice the increase in aggression among the max vax’d?
  
  Yep just like the mRNA mice in the trials.
  
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  October 2, 2021 1:30pm
  - Inandout
    
    LC, I became more agressive toward Jacinda so maybe that is a byproduct of the vaccine.
    
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    October 2, 2021 2:50pm
- Cinematic
  
  Motherfuckers? Wow, someones writing cheques they can’t cash.
  
  You appear hysterical. I suggest you take a long break from Kiwiblog.
  
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  October 2, 2021 1:53pm
- dcrane
  
  Some good context on media coverage of this via Greenwald:
  
  https://outsidevoices.substack.com/p/the-nyts-partisan-tale-about-covid
  
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  October 2, 2021 1:59pm
- dcrane
  
  A smart person would know that calling people motherfuckers is guaranteed to make them less likely to get vaccinated.
  
  Unless you’re a dumb person, Batman, I have to conclude you’re trying to hurt people.
  
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  October 2, 2021 2:01pm
  - Ed Snack
    
    Why not both ?
    
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    October 2, 2021 5:46pm
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Never had anaphylaxis Batman? Try it one day, but wait until you are 68, then tell me an untested medication (not a Vaccine) is OK
  
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  October 2, 2021 2:26pm
  - Northshoredoc
    
    The pfizer vaccination has been very well tested Steve.
    
    Anaphyaxis is a very rare adverse reaction to this vaccine, have you had allergic type reactions to any other vaccines ?
    
    Yes I’m aware you had an extreme allergic reaction to suxamethonium this is a rare but well documented adverse event to this muscle relaxant.
    
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    October 2, 2021 3:00pm
    - marcw
      
      It’s a pity Steve isn’t a vegan NSdoc – we would have heard about it less than his allergic reaction.
      
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      October 2, 2021 3:06pm
      - Northshoredoc
        
        I don’t care if Steve is vegan, vegetarian or indeed whatever he eats.
        
        I do care that he makes the right decision for himself and with due thought for his family as to whether he gets vaccinated or not.
        
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        October 2, 2021 3:35pm
      - Steve Otto(North Shore)
        
        Try the reaction one day smartarse – but wait until you are 68 first, then tell me how you did
        
        4 6
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        October 2, 2021 3:40pm
    - Steve Otto(North Shore)
      
      Bullshit. 18 months is not enough time for testing. Don’t call yourself a ‘doc’ when you don’t know that the Covid vax is just medication (or placebo) Not a vaccine like we all took when younger.
      Read what you wrote. You mentioned ‘rare’ twice so there is a conflict in your comment.
      Why would you say anaphylaxis is rare to the Covid “VACCINE” when there have been 39 cases in NZ alone. You will never hear that on NZ media, gotta keep the Covid fear porn going for socialist control
      
      7 7
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      October 2, 2021 3:39pm
      - Steve Otto(North Shore)
        
        I know you will ask for a link. Use your corrupted google machine. It is deep in the bowels of the MOH website
        
        5 6
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        October 2, 2021 3:42pm
      - Maggy Wassilieff
        
        NZ Medsafe now has 47 reports of anaphylaxis after having the Covid vaccination.
        
        https://www.medsafe.govt.nz/COVID-19/safety-report-28.asp
        
        9 1
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        October 2, 2021 3:58pm
      - Northshoredoc
        
        Yes that’s correct Maggie, as noted on the Medsafe website these include Type 1 – 3 anaphylaxis and are a rare side effect for the just short of 4.3million doses of vaccine given to date in NZ.
        
        Steve has had a scary experience with his anaphylaxis during surgery which is also quite a rare event but less so than anaphyaxlais with the vaccine, about 1:20,000 surgeries will have an anaphylaxis episode – so a surgical team will see this during surgery maybe less than 10x in their entire working career.
        
        As I said before I would like Steve to make an informed decision based on what’s best for him as a 68 year old who will likely be exposed to the virus at some stage during the next couple of years.
        
        4 1
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        October 2, 2021 5:30pm
      - surfing
        
        Charming.
        
        3 1
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        October 2, 2021 5:41pm
      - Ed Snack
        
        To be fair though, in something over 3.5 million people receiving a vax shot or two, 47 such reactions is a pretty small percentage.
        
        One of the reasons that people are supposed to stay around for 15-30 minutes after getting Vaxxed (and used to apply to flu as well) is because some people do get such a reaction, and it usually manifests pretty quickly. It is dangerous but if detected in time is usually able to successfully treated.
        
        The prime issue with this mRNA vax though is not anaphylactic shock, that’s common to many shots including well tested standard type vaccines.
        
        Like it or not, the current crop of Covid vaccines do seem to be generating a very much larger number of severe reactions and deaths. Some could be simply the sheer number administered, but the effect is very noticeable. That isn’t really in doubt, if you look at the US VAERS system, just for deaths, the totals recorded were slowly increasing from around 1,000 to 1,500 over the last 20 years, but have spiked to more than 20-30 times that. The only major new vax program is Covid, so that is driving those numbers. VAERS is voluntary reporting only, so the exact numbers are not all that reliable, but the effect is so large it cannot really be doubted.
        
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        October 2, 2021 5:55pm
      - MCos
        
        47 allergic non-lethal treatable reactions out of five million plus jabs.
        
        3 4
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        October 2, 2021 6:21pm
      - Steve Otto(North Shore)
        
        Happy you are starting to understand NSdoc. I had a close call with death, too close
        
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        October 3, 2021 8:01am
    - dcrane
      
      I’d feel a lot better about all of this “testing” if it seemed like drug companies were gathering systematic data from the billions getting the jabs. Instead mostly all we have is this haphazard voluntary VAERS system, which was never intended to create scientific data.
      
      4 3
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      October 2, 2021 5:10pm
- alloytoo
  
  New York Times is no longer a credible news source.
  
  4 1
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  October 2, 2021 5:03pm
Maggie Pie

We were just taking lunch at home and listening to ‘ZB Sportstalk’
How much longer before we can head up to Parnell FGS?

Heard some drongo phone in and say…..”Israel Adesanya was BIGGER than the All Blacks”
LOL!!

Personally, I find him an unlikeable vulgarian loudmouth skite 🙁
All the girls at tennis think the same way as well.

What I base a persons character and popularity on, is whether we’d want them over for a Dinner Party.
The quicker he buys a ticket to the US the better if you ask moi.

.
12 8
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October 2, 2021 1:26pm
- mikenmildagain
  
  Oh, surely you’d have him over at some other kind of party, Maggie?
  
  6 23
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  October 2, 2021 2:06pm
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    That is not trolling, it is disgusting
    
    8 5
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    October 2, 2021 3:44pm
    - All_on_Red
      
      Mikey seems to have a problem with women.
      
      11 4
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      October 2, 2021 4:46pm
    - mikenmildagain
      
      I hope you reported the comment.
      
      4 0
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      October 2, 2021 7:51pm
- MCos
  
  Inasmuch as there’s a world beyond our shores of course he’s more popular than the ABs.
  So are the Blackcaps; well they were until they pulled the plug on the Pakistan tour.
  At least Adesanya isn’t reduced to scratching out a living making ads for *gulp* the Chemical Warehouse.
  
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  October 2, 2021 5:54pm
  - mikenmildagain
    
    “I knew it, Dan”
    
    2 0
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    October 2, 2021 7:52pm
Alan Wilkinson

More statistical crap from “experts”/Newshub/Stuff:

But Jackson told Newshub Nation that would not be enough, and at least 95 per cent coverage was needed “unless you want what you see in Australia”, where hundreds have been testing positive each day.

Lifting lockdowns with 10 per cent of eligible people unvaccinated would lead to “brutal” results, he said.

“Are you happy with thousands of people in hospital, hundreds of people dead, [or] one in three people with long Covid? I mean, just how brutal do you want to get with this?” https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/300421359/covid19-nz-needs-to-hit-95-jab-rate-to-avoid-brutal-alternative-expert-says

With 90% vaccination there is no possibility that 30% of the population will get long Covid and if there was then achieving 95% vaccination would make no difference.
8 0
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October 2, 2021 4:06pm
- freemark
  
  It’s becoming clear that many NZ “experts” as sought out by the MSM are either dishonest, stupid or corrupt. This guy above “1 in 3 long Covid.” FFS doesn’t he keep up with International research & observed data? “100’s may die.” FFS almost 100 die in NZ every day.
  My theory looks more plausible every day… the seasonal virus is waning in it’s toll. If/when it fades away without the predicted carnage there are a lot of reputations destroyed- like this guy. If they can’t point to a massive jab rate as being the cause of the missing carnage they are f**ked.. as is the MSM, as should be most of our political class. I look forward to it, I’ll happily do my bit on the squad…
  
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  October 2, 2021 5:59pm
Maggie Pie

A MUST WATCH 😀 😀 😀

Kat just tweeted this ‘vaccine’ advertisement…..
It’s absolutely hilarious !!

https://twitter.com/KathMLee1/status/1444026518561337352
10 4
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October 2, 2021 4:38pm
- dcrane
  
  lol they missed out swollen testicles!
  
  4 1
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  October 2, 2021 5:14pm
Fletch

If you’ve ordered anything from the U.S that will be delivered by the USPS you’re going to be sadly out of luck –

United States Postal Service suspends mail deliveries to New Zealand

The United States Postal Service (USPS) has suspended mail deliveries to New Zealand due to an unavailability of transportation.

The USPS said on its website that it was temporarily suspending international mail acceptance for a number of destinations.

It said this was due to “impacts related to the Covid-19 pandemic and other unrelated service disruptions”.

New Zealand and 21 other countries were listed as being suspended due to “unavailability of transportation”.

Australia and Samoa were also among the suspended destinations.

The USPS asked customers to “please refrain from mailing items addressed to the countries listed here, until further notice”.

Disrupted USPS services to New Zealand included priority mail, first class packages, airmail and surface mail.

It said military and diplomatic mail would not be affected, unless noted.

In September last year, New Zealand Post announced the USPS had increased charges for mail and parcel delivery, which meant the cost to send mail to the US would “increase considerably”.

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/452764/united-states-postal-service-suspends-mail-deliveries-to-new-zealand
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October 2, 2021 5:11pm
- [email protected]
  
  Yes, and some packages we have sent using NZ Post Express Courier service to a number of countries are still sitting in New Zealand for weeks. Pay for a premium service and do not get what you pay for.
  
  7 0
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  October 2, 2021 8:13pm
  - WaveyDavey
    
    Yep. Paid a small fortune for an express courier to get some financial documents to Aus
    
    Tracked it online and watched it sit at Auckland airport mail handling for 3 days
    
    Delivered within 4 hours of reaching Brisbane
    
    5 2
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    October 2, 2021 9:13pm
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Got my Trump 2024 flag just in time
  
  0 0
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  October 3, 2021 8:06am
Littletramp

So we read today that US pharma company Merck has produced a tablet that has proven early effectiveness with covid sufferers. It seems very close to submitting for approval, that FDA indicates would be given with urgency.
Who is Merck? Oh, the owners of Ivermectin. What a shock!
6 3
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October 2, 2021 5:56pm
- dcrane
  
  And one of its key functions is an inhibitory action that has already been demonstrated for ivermectin in vitro.
  
  3 3
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  October 2, 2021 7:48pm
- Aurelia
  
  It’s Merks repatented ivermectin
  
  0 0
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  October 3, 2021 1:00am

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