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August 14, 2022 8:00am by Kokila Patel

General Debate 14 August 2022

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General Debate

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NeverMindTheBollocks

Build it and they will come?

Turns out not.

What a waste of money.

https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2022/08/advocates-say-our-low-cycling-participation-rate-is-wake-up-call-for-new-zealand.html
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August 14, 2022 8:02am
- CJames
  
  There is a big difference between the recreational cycleways, which are booming, and the commuting ones which are failures, not getting anyone out of cars. Could this have something to do with the former being John Key’s idea, and the latter this governments?
  
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  August 14, 2022 8:57am
  - Captain Mainwaring
    
    Spot on there CJames.
    
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    August 14, 2022 9:05am
- Nigel Kearney
  
  “Our main cities are filled with cycleways and plenty of cyclists who know how to ride.”
  
  …
  
  “[We need more bike lanes] To encourage the majority of us who know how to ride to start pushing pedals again.”
  
  That’s genius. We have built these bike lanes and hardly anyone uses them therefore we need more bike lanes to encourage people to ride bikes.
  
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  August 14, 2022 9:06am
  - Matt Long
    
    There’s a simple reason people don’t favour cycling for commuting in New Zealand, it’s inconvenient and uncomfortable, as soon as people can afford it they use cars which are warm dry and easy.
    The advent of cheap Jap imports made cars affordable for nearly everyone in New Zealand and killed off the bicycle commuter, only a massive economic or energy shock would force people back on their bikes. Fortunately Labour has a plan 🤡🤡🤡🤡
    
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    August 14, 2022 9:17am
    - [email protected]
      
      Cycle to work and smell accordingly.
      
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      August 14, 2022 8:01pm
- Than
  
  Cycling is just a lot less practical than its advocates like to admit. I’m a big cycling fan, used to bike to work for many years, and still love getting out on nice sunny days. But there are good, solid reasons most people use cars.
  
  Let’s list out the circumstances where cycling doesn’t work;
  
  1 – Transport for anybody not in good physical health. So no good for the elderly, the disabled, young children, the severely overweight, or anybody simply in poor shape. This is especially true when there is hilly terrain involved, like much of Wellington or Auckland, and Christchurch’s Port Hills.
  
  2 – In poor weather. If it’s cold or wet out, cycling is a miserable experience. Yes it’s possible to dress for the conditions, but that only mitigates the discomfort, it doesn’t eliminate it. It’s just not reasonable to ask people to cycle on freezing winter mornings or in pouring rain, when they could be warm and dry in a car or bus.
  
  3 – When you have anything but a trivial amount of cargo. Go ahead and do a full weekly shopping trip on a bike, I dare you. Let alone buy an item of furniture, a major appliance, or move house. The maximum amount of stuff you can practically transport while cycling is a backpacks worth, plus maybe a couple of shopping bags on the handlebars. (I have seen those bicycle trailers, but have never tried using one, so I can’t comment on how practical they are. At a guess however, I’d imagine they would be both (A) exhausting to pull and (B) challenging to turn corners and navigate on anything but wide, straight roads).
  
  Cycling is just limited, and in many circumstances not a practical option. No amount of cycleways will ever change that.
  
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  August 14, 2022 9:39am
  - Bob
    
    Excellent blog ‘Than’, sums up the argument very well.
    Such rational thinking has not been encouraged since the 2017 Reset, and was totally forbidden following the Great REset of 2021.
    
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    August 14, 2022 10:01am
  - UrbanNeocolonialist
    
    And fundamentally incompatible with daily varying requirements of managing kids activities and emergencies plus a job. About 80-85% of adults have kids (eventually)
    
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    August 14, 2022 10:03am
  - Benedict Yu
    
    The thinking of councils promoting cycling as part of “climate action” is deeply flawed. The “negative externalities”, or the societal costs of emissions is reflected in the price of New Zealand Units in the emissions trading scheme. It is the job of councils to provide the transport infrastructure that people want, not what the councils think is a good thing.
    
    Apart from agriculture all emissions in New Zealand are in a binding cap of the ETS. By definition THE ONLY way to reduce New Zealand emissions is to withdraw units from the ETS.
    
    Higher carbon prices will drive up the cost of petrol. People can either pay the price, switch to cycling or buses, or buy an EV.
    
    I have no issue with building cycleways to make cycling safer. I do have an issue with justifying such a safety rationale by perverting it into a “climate emergency”. Because it is a nonsense. It leads to cult like behaviour which has turned some wide safe streets in Christchurch, such as Manchester Street into narrow dangerous streets.
    
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    August 14, 2022 10:20am
    - JJ56
      
      Even then cycling etc has a marginal impact on GHGs. Very short trips, low volume will be replaced by EVs. Less then a few % of transport GHGs.
      
      Same applies to urban form, and even more expensive with marginal impact in the foreseeable future.
      
      The Climate Change Commission got to include it by misquoting a research paper. Multiple previous reports to Govt had said it isn’t worth it.
      
      It all comes back to the quiet addition of “sustainability at any cost” into the target. That’s why the CCC’s prescription is so excessively expensive.
      
      Footnote: The ETS should do the heavy lifting, but there will still be circumstance where some Govt action can allow the market to clear at a lower emissions price.
      
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      August 14, 2022 11:08am
      - Benedict Yu
        
        “…but there will still be circumstance where some Govt action can allow the market to clear at a lower emissions price.”
        
        Only if the Government has better information on marginal abatement costs than the market. With this government that is highly unlikely.
        
        Example – changing out school coal fired boilers at a cost of about $50 million. The marginal costs would have been staggering.
        
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        August 14, 2022 12:08pm
      - JJ56
        
        Not only then, the market can be corrupt, or constrained from finding a more optimum pathway. The market may even be well aware of the distortions, but them’s the rules.
        
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        August 14, 2022 1:57pm
    - Hollyfield
      
      Benedict your sentence “It is the job of councils to provide the transport infrastructure that people want, not what the councils think is a good thing.” is a key problem with the current government.
      
      The Herald recently reported “Transport Minister Michael Wood plans to give councils the power to ban cars on roads at certain times and remove kerbside parking in favour of cycleways and bus lanes – without prior consultation.”
      
      The government is hellbent on doing whatever they think we should want without even bothering with a pretence of consultation with the people.
      
      This is not democracy, it’s heading towards a dictatorship. The only thing that gives me a small amount of hope is that the more undemocratic they behave, the further they will fall (if we are still allowed elections this time next year of course – and since they introduced a bill last year that would have allowed them to delay local body elections a limitless number of times up to 2023, nothing would surprise me).
      
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      August 14, 2022 12:29pm
      - kevn
        
        @Holly… Wood for brains.
        
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        August 14, 2022 2:19pm
  - C-Town
    
    4 – Needing a change of clothing. Especially when the weather is very wet or hot. Most people don’t cycle in their work clothes and they need to change into their work clothes when they get to work. Sometimes need to have a shower as well. And so more time taken.
    
    5- helmets. You have to wear a helmet when cycling. When you’re not cycling, you have to either keep wearing it, or carry it in your hands, or store it somewhere. Not very convenient.
    
    6 – security. Bikes are a lot easier to steal than cars. Even if you use a padlock and bikechain. These can be cut with a pair a pair of bolt-cutters. If you ride your bike somewhere and park it somewhere, you’re highly likely to have to walk home.
    
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    August 14, 2022 2:11pm
- Sir Cullen's Sidekick
  
  Jacindar says cycle way was John Key’s idea. I rest my case.
  
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  August 14, 2022 10:51am
- NoFax
  
  Cycling isn’t the answer to every trip but neither is the car. The Netherlands is often shown as how cycling is done. It used to be like NZ with cars dominating. But through changes to the roads cycling became a real option. The problem with our roads right now is that they are dangerous to ride bikes on with people getting killed from “dooring” and other people not seeing cyclists.
  I’m for choice and given the cost of building motorways I think a few extra cyclways are worth the investment.
  And if you want to drive then you will welcome more people cycling.
  
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  August 14, 2022 3:43pm
Warren

Jacinda Ardern our Prime Minister cannot help herself and no mater what the subject she always has to dig a bigger hole by reverting to lies.
Labour MP’s claim disputed , no room for bullies in Parliament says Jacinda Ardern.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/parliament-bullying-jacinda-ardern-says-gaurav-sharmas-claims-disputed-confirms-ongoing-staff-issues-in-her-mps-office/DFLAUODS6STW3R5DFHI74SXMSY/
Short Memories by our Prime Minister Trevor Mallard and the sex deviate that worked in her office come to mind.
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August 14, 2022 8:02am
- mandk
  
  I see the team of $55 million are working hard to ignore this.
  
  Barely a word about ongoing Labour bullying in Parlianent, but still a lot of comment about what Uffindell did 20 years ago.
  
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  August 14, 2022 9:08am
  - slightlyrighty
    
    Sharon Murdoch’s cartoon on Stuff is a noteworthy example on this, especially that Luxon has not made one comment on the Labour bullying story.
    
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    August 14, 2022 10:01am
    - peterwn
      
      Do not disturb the enemy when the enemy is making mistakes. Chris could however say “This is a matter for the Leader and the Labour Party to sort out”. Jacinda wisely made a similar comment about Sam’s issues.
      
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      August 14, 2022 12:08pm
  - Sir Cullen's Sidekick
    
    Yes mandk – The bribe partners are in damage control mode now.
    
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    August 14, 2022 10:52am
- rouppe
  
  Plus the statement that Early Intervention was supplied in order to correct the situation is in direct contrast to Sharma’s statements.
  
  Someone is lying
  
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  August 14, 2022 9:16am
  - Bob
    
    and it isn’t Sharma.
    
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    August 14, 2022 10:02am
    - Sir Cullen's Sidekick
      
      Bob – How do you know? The maori aunty across the fence told me this morning that Jacindar never lies and she believes her whole heartedly. So for the fear of losing the nice cakes she makes, I agreed with her and walked away with a piece of chocolate cake.
      
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      August 14, 2022 10:54am
      - KKKKatee
        
        And Cindy won’t give a shit about the Māori Aunty over the fence. You need to tell her that.
        
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        August 14, 2022 6:42pm
  - peterwn
    
    Chris was criticised by Fat Tony for not intervening quickly enough. However he expressed confidence in Sam because it would have been quite wrong to intervene on the basis of rumours and unsubstantiated information. When he had some ‘handle’ on the situation he acted decisively. As far as I am concerned now, he can flip Labour the bird by allowing Sam to remain.
    
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    August 14, 2022 12:13pm
    - Tony Stuart
      
      That will ultimately depend on what Maria Dew QC finds in her investigation. However I am aware that a number of people have written to her in support of Uffindell, which is heartening.
      
      I suspect that she will find insufficient evidence to “convict” Uffindell, and he will return to Parliament chastened, but ready to give a good account of himself.
      
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      August 14, 2022 1:50pm
- Ghost
  
  Well shit, if there is no room for bullies, then the ones at the to should go, jacinda, grant, Andrew, Tova,
  
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  August 14, 2022 9:27am
  - Bob
    
    you forgot Chippy!…
    
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    August 14, 2022 10:03am
  - Loddenthinks
    
    And McAnulty
    
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    August 14, 2022 10:20am
    - peterwn
      
      He will be hoping for a high list ranking for the next election – seems he can kiss goodbye to his electorate seat.
      
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      August 14, 2022 12:15pm
      - KKKKatee
        
        Once Ardern realises he has a ‘thing’ about her, he may be demoted to beyond the bottom of the list.
        
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        August 14, 2022 6:25pm
  - Sir Cullen's Sidekick
    
    Ghost – Good to see toxic Tova struggling against Hosking for ratings. Hopefully she will be shutdown soon.
    
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    August 14, 2022 10:56am
    - igm
      
      Maybe she should reside in Ukraine . . . she deserves it!
      
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      August 14, 2022 12:39pm
  - nathie
    
    And Woods, both of them!
    
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    August 14, 2022 11:28am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Her arrogance is astounding. She knows that we know she is a compulsive liar, and yet she just can’t help herself.
  
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  August 14, 2022 9:42am
  - Bob
    
    Dunning – Krugar syndrome???
    
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    August 14, 2022 10:03am
    - Steve Otto(North Shore)
      
      Maybe, and on top of that, an A Grade bullshit artist
      
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      August 14, 2022 11:42am
  - pdm
    
    ` She knows that we know she is a compulsive liar,’
    
    Steve maybe not – she (Ardern) is not the sharpest knife in the drawer.
    
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    August 14, 2022 10:29am
  - NeverMindTheBollocks
    
    She’s a compulsive liar and needs help. We should pity her.
    
    Shame the health sector is in a bit of a pickle.
    
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    August 14, 2022 1:14pm
- G the giant from Dunedin
  
  Has everyone forgotten Luisa Walls final speech where she stated the PM was a rotten bully, time for the rotten media to say Ardern has two strikes on bullying
  
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  August 14, 2022 11:26am
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    Seems folks have…
    “I’m not a minister because the Prime Minister told me I would never be in her Cabinet. And that was her decision, obviously, and I accepted that decision and then just got on with the job,” Wall said.
    
    “There were messages, probably not so subtle, that it wasn’t just she didn’t want me in her Cabinet – she was also very clear that she didn’t want me in her caucus. Again, you’re going to have to ask her about why she thought there was no place for someone like me in the Labour Party caucus.”
    
    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/departing-labour-mp-louisa-wall-gives-valedictory-speech-after-claims-she-was-unwanted/LVL373OGWHXXQGGRIUI2AHXCSE/
    
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    August 14, 2022 3:57pm
CJames

Neil Oliver certainly doesn’t pull any punches in his latest opinion piece on GB news. The hypocrisy of the elites and their profligate lifestyles, lecturing the proles to make savings, expensive energy, vaccines not working, corruption everywhere. People need to fight it. To quote him” It is hard to think the unthinkable. It’s hard to think that all of it, all the misery, all the suffering of the past and to come might just be about money, greed and power. It is hard to tell yourself you’ve been taken for a fool and taken for a ride. It’s hard, but the view from the other side is worth the effort and the pain. Open your eyes and see.”
https://www.gbnews.uk/gb-views/it-is-hard-to-tell-yourself-youve-been-taken-for-a-fool-but-open-your-eyes-says-neil-oliver/352031
I don’t think he will get an invite to Davos.
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August 14, 2022 8:07am
- Stellaboxer
  
  Neil Oliver has been a beacon of sanity and logic throughout the nonsense of the criminally insane Covid responses.
  
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  August 14, 2022 8:20am
  - Loddenthinks
    
    And (astonishingly, to me anyway) so has Russell Brand.
    
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    August 14, 2022 10:20am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  I will watch later. It is really a pleasure to listen to him. Scottish accent but so clear!
  
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  August 14, 2022 9:48am
- pdm
  
  CJ – wasn’t he coming to `The Wedding’ that never happens?
  
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  August 14, 2022 10:30am
  - KKKKatee
    
    Been parked for now. Even that won’t be enough to dig her out of the hole she’s currently dug for herself. Hardly a Kardashian.
    
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    August 14, 2022 6:55pm
Suze Wainwright

I guess what struck me about Dr Sharma’s appearance on 1News last night was how normal and unaffected by mental illness he seemed to be. His request for an inquiry doesn’t seem the stuff of spoilt tantrum or selfishness.

I for one am looking forward to seeing a leadership masterclass in how to deal with such a treacherous individual
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August 14, 2022 8:08am
- Tony Stuart
  
  Indeed Suze. He did an electorate clinic on Friday night, and a market stall yesterday morning; the very things a competent electorate MP should do. He’s also calling to an independent inquiry into his allegations, which suggests he is very confident they will stick.
  
  Will the PM do the right thing, once she has dried her tears from the Cullen memorial service. Perhaps she will consider how Helen Clark and Cullen handled such situations.
  
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  August 14, 2022 8:48am
  - Nickc2
    
    Will the PM do the right thing….
    Get real Tony, she’ll have to have a couple of Focus Groups to work that out, and then, if she doesn’t agree with their decisions, she will probably cry a river on TV1 and all her Govt’s shortcomings will be forgiven.
    
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    August 14, 2022 9:18am
  - Suze Wainwright
    
    Has anyone discovered the name of any disgruntled Labour Party member who feels they were the rightful candidate for Hamilton West at the last election?
    
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    August 14, 2022 9:46am
    - Tony Stuart
      
      Dr Sharma was first selected as Labour’s candidate for Hamilton West in 2017. After losing to Tim MacIndoe he worked as a GP in Hamilton for two years before winning the seat in 2020. I’m not aware as to whether or not he was challenged in 2020.
      
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      August 14, 2022 1:52pm
      - JJ56
        
        And not in 2017 by the looks of things https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2017/07/labour_standing_an_aucklander_in_hamilton.html
        
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        August 14, 2022 2:15pm
  - Ross Campbell
    
    “Perhaps she will consider how Helen Clark and Cullen handled such situations”.
    You are obviously trying to diminish Ardern by suggesting her leadership is not as good as Clark and Cullen but that seems a very lame comparison given Helen Clark was the one defending till the end one of the most corrupt politicians to ever serve in the NZ parliament being Philip Field.
    Not something to aspire too in my opinion.
    
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    August 14, 2022 10:00am
    - NeverMindTheBollocks
      
      Crickey. I’ve found myself upticking Ross!
      
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      August 14, 2022 1:15pm
    - Tony Stuart
      
      I’m sure that had Clark had her time over again, Field would have been gone by lunchtime. But that was one of the few times Clark allowed her personal loyalty to get in the way of caucus discipline. Heck, she even stood Winston Peters down as a Minister in 2008 whilst he was appearing before the Privileges Committee over the Owen Glenn donation!
      
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      August 14, 2022 1:54pm
    - ClanMcleod
      
      No, but Clark actually achieved a couple of the things she said she would. Ardern has achieved nothing but the destruction of NZ business and society.
      Helen Clark isn’t what you’d call a high bar, but Ardern hasn’t gotten close to Clark.
      
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      August 14, 2022 8:31pm
  - slightlyrighty
    
    Those tears at the hagiography of Cullen. t was almost Stalinesque….
    
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    August 14, 2022 10:02am
  - pdm
    
    Helen Clark would have sent H2 Heather Simpson to deal with Sharma.
    
    Ardern has no `hatchet person’ of the calibre of Simpson so she is stuffed on this issue.
    
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    August 14, 2022 10:32am
    - Sir Cullen's Sidekick
      
      pdm – what about wily Willie?
      
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      August 14, 2022 10:57am
      - pdm
        
        Willie would probably send the proven `big hitter’ Meka Whaitiri in backed up by the rest of the (so called) Maori Caucus.
        
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        August 14, 2022 1:21pm
    - peterwn
      
      Suspect H2 was already involved by allocating Sharma a dud staffer.
      
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      August 14, 2022 12:18pm
- Yvette
  
  Ardern has already made her move.
  My primary concern at the moment is Gaurav’s wellbeing. I’ve reached out to ensure him that we will provide him with the support he feels he needs,” she said.
  
  Gaurav – kind, caring use of first given name – is mentally unwell (mentally, for how else would he be unwell) and in need of support.
  Despite him conducting business as usual as Suze and Tony note.
  
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  August 14, 2022 9:04am
  - Benedict Yu
    
    Yes it is evil. Imply that the complainant is mentally ill. There is nothing kind about that woman.
    
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    August 14, 2022 10:22am
  - Loddenthinks
    
    “he feels he needs” – in other words, he’s clearly making it all up. Be kind, bitch.
    
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    August 14, 2022 10:29am
    - Tony Stuart
      
      Which, of course, he totally denied on TV last night. He said he was in great spirits, and was surrounded by supportive people. I suspect he’s not going to back down in a hurry.
      
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      August 14, 2022 1:56pm
  - Inandout
    
    Yvette, yes even the Soviets used this ploy of ‘mental instability’.
    
    ‘In a speech, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev said, “A crime is a deviation from the generally recognized standards of behavior frequently caused by mental disorder…To those who might start calling for opposition to Communism on this basis, we can say that…clearly the mental state of such people is not normal.”
    Jacinda is an appalling creature.
    
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    August 14, 2022 11:36am
  - peterwn
    
    Pious unctious claptrap especially when it was her henchpeople who were harassing and gaslighting him from the moment he set foot into Parliament. Seems like a bad cop / good cop routine except it is two bad cops in reality.
    
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    August 14, 2022 12:21pm
- nathie
  
  “I for one am looking forward to seeing a leadership masterclass in how to deal with such a treacherous individual”
  
  Last year on one of the talkback stations (might have been MagicTalk rather than ZB), they were having their regular panel discussions (on “rogue” MP’s from National and how they deal with them) and former Labour Party President Mike Williams (of flying to Australia to sniff out dirt on John Key fame) was practically gloating on how Labour’s leadership were so “good” (in contrast to National) that they managed to keep Labour MP disputes out of the public domain.
  
  Like the current Sharma situation, Labour will do all they can to suppress issues (rather than openly deal with them like National), and one wonders how much the MSM knows but chooses “not to go there”.
  
  Expect Labour to work behind the scenes to placate Sharma and hence minimal MSM coverage from now on as, despite his explosive allegations of bullying and corruption, one wonders whether most of the so-called fourth estate will again choose “not to go there”….
  
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  August 14, 2022 9:16am
  - Prince
    
    Would be fairly easy to collaborate the details Sharma gave about meetings etc, and look into McAnulty’s history, eg, at the TAB and how colleagues found him.
    But I’m not holding my breath.
    
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    August 14, 2022 9:45am
  - Benedict Yu
    
    It would be great if this guy were to go full rogue and resign from Parliament and contest the by election as an independent on an anti bullying platform. He probably does not have a future post 2023 anyway. I get the impression he is not going to be placated by Jacinda’s bull shit and lies.
    
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    August 14, 2022 10:26am
    - david
      
      How long can a party in power leave an electorate vacant because of an upcoming general election? Perhaps they will run the clock down before booting him into touch and delay the inevitable by not exposing themselves to the electorate before the GE.
      Put money on it, the Labour strategy is probably being put into place as we write using every trick in the book and a few that have yet to be written to ensure they retain power to the last second.
      
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      August 14, 2022 11:30am
      - Benedict Yu
        
        “A by-election will not happen in the following situations:
        
        the vacancy happens within 6 months of Parliament’s 3-year term ending;
        
        the Prime Minister informs the House of Representatives that a general election will be held within 6 months of the vacancy. OR
        
        In both of these situations, at least 75% of the members of Parliament must agree that the vacancy will not be filled.”
        
        https://elections.nz/democracy-in-nz/about-elections/what-is-a-by-election/
        
        No if he resigns there will need to be a by election. To avoid a by election he would need to resign after March 2023, and National would need to agree to leave the vacancy open.
        
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        August 14, 2022 12:13pm
      - Benedict Yu
        
        It will be interesting to see if Labour deselects him at the 2023 election.
        
        The irony is that, if he stands again in 2023, he has massively boosted his chances of winning his electorate. I would think that many National supporters would Party vote National and give this guy their electorate vote.
        
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        August 14, 2022 12:16pm
  - peterwn
    
    And Fat Tony (Mike) has the gall to criticise Chris Luxon with respect to his handling of Sam’s circumstances.
    Now, was it Labour people who were fearing ‘dirty politics’ by National in the run up to the 2023 election? Then Labour fires the first ‘dirty’ shot.
    
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    August 14, 2022 12:24pm
  - Paulus
    
    Dr Sharma is an eleted MP so it is not very easy to get rid of him before the election.
    The will of course try but consider that a) he is amvery well intelligent man and b0 he represents the current Indian vote.
    
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    August 14, 2022 1:21pm
- redeye
  
  “The Prime Minister’s press conference was full of soothing, reassuring words, concern about Doctor Sharma, which in retrospect looks a bit like being bullied by a wellness coach,” Josie Pagani.
  
  LMAO. Is Josie still a member of the New Zealand Labour Party?
  
  https://www.1news.co.nz/2022/08/13/mp-sharma-bullying-claims-need-independent-inquiry-commentator/
  
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  August 14, 2022 9:22am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Jaspinda has been stopped in her tracks. Doing a double take, she has come across someone who is way smarter than her, and someone who does not tell lies for a living.
  Also, I don’t think the good Doctor has mental issues. This bullying is something that Jaspinda can’t cover up, she has been busted!
  
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  August 14, 2022 9:54am
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    This bullying is something that Jaspinda can’t cover up, she has been busted!
    
    Alas, Our Dear PM hasn’t been busted….
    
    If the stench from this stinking episode can’t be contained, then a few sacrificial lambs will be offered up…..
    
    remember Andrew Kirton / Nigel Haworth
    
    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/labours-general-secretary-andrew-kirton-steps-down-for-new-job-at-air-nz/O7J33JLOGS7EMFRNU4H4HSRFZI/
    
    https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/115710495/labour-party-president-nigel-haworth-resigns
    
    Labour is toast without Jacinda…. she will be protected over the next few weeks.
    
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    August 14, 2022 10:01am
    - slightlyrighty
      
      but which pawns will be sacrificed to protect the Queen?
      
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      August 14, 2022 10:04am
    - Steve Otto(North Shore)
      
      ‘sacrificial lambs ?’ Who will she throw under the bus this time?
      I think she will run. Rumour, and only a rumour, the 757 is being prepared to leave NZ tonight. I do wonder if there is any truth in that.
      
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      August 14, 2022 10:06am
      - nathie
        
        Cartoon idea (if we had any decent cartoonists nowadays) … maybe Garrick Tremain could do this some justice:
        
        VIP 757 lands fast coming to a screeching halt (at an Aussie airport) with Jacinda immediately jumping out of the plane saying “Sorry for that I couldn’t get away fast enough”.
        
        An astonished Anthony Albanese (or fire truck fireman) says “Because you mean the plane was going to crash land”?
        
        Jacinda replies (with her trademark smile) “No I meant from NZ”!
        
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        August 14, 2022 11:38am
      - peterwn
        
        Nathie – then Jacinda realises she forgot her passport and the Aussies boot her out.
        
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        August 14, 2022 12:27pm
      - Maggy Wassilieff
        
        And if she forgot to fill out her NZ Traveller Declaration form, she can’t get back to NZ.
        
        https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA2208/S00131/scrap-the-traveller-declaration-form.htm
        
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        August 14, 2022 4:01pm
- UrbanNeocolonialist
  
  1st job for Labour (and really all they care about); find ways to minimize Sharma’s media exposure. He’ll be granted an enquiry, but it will be delayed and drawn out and require him to shut up.
  
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  August 14, 2022 10:09am
- G the giant from Dunedin
  
  They will bully him out of his job, Nats will be looking for a good candidate in Ham West next year
  
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  August 14, 2022 11:28am
- KKKKatee
  
  The only cry baby in this sorry saga will turn out to be Ardern. Hoisted by her own petard.
  
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  August 14, 2022 6:28pm
Stellaboxer

https://www.spiked-online.com/2022/08/07/zero-covid-has-cost-new-zealand-dearly/amp/ Very interesting piece by a far higher ranked epidemiologist than idiot Baker and given the conclusions probably why this regime doesn’t want an independent review.
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August 14, 2022 8:16am
- CJames
  
  The Great Barrington Declaration is something governments don’t want to talk about. That is why it should be an important document in any inquiry – why did the ideological capture occur.
  
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  August 14, 2022 8:52am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  That is well presented and easy to understand. Quite different than the usual NZ repetitive rubbish.
  
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  August 14, 2022 9:59am
- NoFax
  
  North Korea has dropped all Covid restrictions yet NZ remains at “Orange” for reasons…
  The Hermit Kingdom indeed!
  
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  August 14, 2022 3:50pm
3-coil

The true colours of our poodle MSM for all to see: SundayStarTimes this morning with no mention of the multiple Labour MPs and Ministers accused of bullying, and RadioNewZealand’s news bulletin…zero reference to the explosive Labour Party bullying story.

Looks like an extra weekend editorial direction received from Jacinda: gaslight the inconvenient bullying victims (Labour MP Dr Guarav Sharma, Anna Locke’s secretary etc); drag out any conspiracy theories or fluffy kitten stories to deflect; remove head from backside on Monday to evaluate if it was successful.

This is not MSM incompetence, it is evidential left wing politically biased lying by omission = MSM corruption.
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August 14, 2022 8:17am
- Tony Stuart
  
  To be fair, all the opinion-pieces will have been written and submitted for a Friday deadline, before Dr Sharma released his thermonuclear missile on Friday night.
  
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  August 14, 2022 8:50am
  - 3-coil
    
    You’re very charitable Tony 😊.
    
    …this morning sounded like RNZ had pre-recorded their 7amSunday news bulletin on Friday too!
    
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    August 14, 2022 9:06am
- Ghost
  
  And to add to Tony’s comment, stuff who own the paper have been running the story.
  
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  August 14, 2022 9:31am
- Prince
  
  Check out the Stuff cartoon today. BAU. But no political bias of course !
  
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  August 14, 2022 9:46am
Maggy Wassilieff

Labour fails to deliver again.

https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA2208/S00132/millions-spent-and-only-7-per-cent-of-target-reached.htm

Measles is bad news… transmits incredible easily…and for some unknown reason has slipped below this Government’s radar.
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August 14, 2022 8:19am
- Thought Criminal
  
  Seven percent is quite good for Labour.
  
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  August 14, 2022 8:21am
- Simon
  
  the word “reached” will be redefined to include those who could “reasonably” expect to hear about the measles vaxx program. Latest science from the crack model team, Experts, from Te Puu shows the measles program “reached” 95% of the eligible population. However the program effectiveness was blunted by colonialism and climate change.
  
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  August 14, 2022 8:56am
Humble Capitalist

Warriors, All Blacks, Comrade Ardern. Spot the odd one out this weekend.
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August 14, 2022 8:20am
kevn

do-little…
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August 14, 2022 8:21am
Brian McDonald

Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
So much for there being no improvement in the AB’s last week. Foster has to go and all that crap.
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August 14, 2022 8:22am
- R
  
  Yeha nah the Boks clearly threw the game because they want Foster to remain through to the World Cup. 🙂
  
  As Groucho Marx might have said: If you think that one game is enough to save Foster’s career, well, you might be right.
  
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  August 14, 2022 8:29am
  - Brian McDonald
    
    No way is he going to go as that would reflect on the NZRU and right now there is a good chance of winning the Rugby Championship. Some more small bits fell into place along with some further toughening up front. I liked seeing the fire in Frizzell just enough to say there’s a line and don’t cross it. A great team effort all and all that shut the crowd out.
    
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    August 14, 2022 9:00am
    - In Vino Veritas
      
      Brian, agree re Frizzell, but this performance is only patching up a few things. The big difference was Mounga’s ability to beat the rush defence with his passing. And the Boks were their own worst enemies (and that has been said many times before!) with their selections. How Marx wasn’t in the starting lineup is unfathomable. That guy is a beast of a player and would walk into the AB’s.
      Also, Mounga didn’t kick away as much possession as Barrett did last week. I still reckon the jury is well out on Foster. I think you will find we won despite him, rather than because of him.
      
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      August 14, 2022 9:38pm
  - pdm
    
    R you may be right – why would the Boks field a completely changed, inferior front row.
    
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    August 14, 2022 10:37am
    - G the giant from Dunedin
      
      Marx was put on the bench, he received a heavy knock last week when he left the field, he was ten men last week, and he was nothing when he came off the bench this week
      
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      August 14, 2022 11:38am
  - JerJer
    
    He needs to go, but he needs to stay as well. Foster is doing a rubbish job with the All Blacks, but doing a fantastic job at bringing the mood of the country down. We need as many people doing that as possible, as collectively that ensures a cha he of government next year, so Brian is doing everyone a favour by supporting him. Thanks Brian. We don’t need Razor to come in now and make it all better, that might just be enough to let Jacinda win next year. Razor will get his turn soon enough. I can’t wait for that day. Will be a massive improvement.
    
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    August 14, 2022 11:52am
- blue collar
  
  They worked out they hv 2 options . Poison us in a years time , or throw a game now n keep the circus going .
  Razor all day !
  
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  August 14, 2022 8:38am
  - G the giant from Dunedin
    
    If the coaches change now it won’t be Robinson, I suggest after Smit filled in for Foster in the first Irish test it will be Smit till the world cup
    
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    August 14, 2022 11:40am
    - Nickc2
      
      Going by the Aust vs Argentina game, Dave Renie may be available.
      Watching the Aussies play anyone is bad enough but when the game is commentated by Aust Rugby personalities, it’s really painful.
      
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      August 14, 2022 12:19pm
- MCōs
  
  Just goes to show what happens when the high balls are caught, passes aren’t dropped, and the forwards aren’t intimidated.
  Also after the red card last week their blokes didn’t take out our guys in the air.
  
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  August 14, 2022 9:10am
- Tauhei Notts
  
  My heartiest congratulations to Ian Foster and his team this morning. They had a slight chance if the Second Test was at Durban, Port Elizabeth, Cape Town or even Loftus Versveld; but at the heights of the Witwatersrand I gave them no show.
  I rate this as one of the All Black’s greatest victories.
  
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  August 14, 2022 9:26am
  - mawm
    
    Many SA players also have a problem with the altitude – those that live and play in CT, Durban, PE, etc. How many in that Bok team live and play in JHB?
    
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    August 14, 2022 1:34pm
- Loddenthinks
  
  One good game – albeit with a scoreline that flattered the All Blacks – doesn’t change the fact that his record is by far the worst in the professional era, and close to the worst of all time against the major nations – four of whom now sit above us on the world rankings.
  
  One swallow, and all that…
  
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  August 14, 2022 10:43am
  - G the giant from Dunedin
    
    The score hardly flattered the Box did it?
    
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    August 14, 2022 11:42am
  - NeverMindTheBollocks
    
    I thought it was an enjoyable game, unlike many of recent memory. Our attack flowed, players played as a team & not as individuals, we looked like the All Blacks instead of a bunch of talented players lacking a game plan & therefore trying something, anything off their own bat & then coughing up the pill. Even if we had lost, the quality on display was much better.
    
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    August 14, 2022 3:53pm
Yvette

Sharma
On Friday the Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, said the party whips and parliamentary services have “done their job appropriately”.
“My primary concern at the moment is Gaurav’s wellbeing. I’ve reached out to ensure him that we will provide him with the support he feels he needs,” she said.
Political commentator, Josie Pagani, told 1News the Prime Minister’s statements yesterday were the wrong approach.
“The Prime Minister’s press conference was full of soothing, reassuring words, concern about Doctor Sharma, which in retrospect looks a bit like being bullied by a wellness coach,” she said.
https://www.1news.co.nz/2022/08/13/mp-sharma-bullying-claims-need-independent-inquiry-commentator/

“I’ve reached out to ensure him …” but for what reason do you tell the whole nation you have done that?

“I’ve got to be honest with you, this came out of the blue. You think you know your colleagues very well, but you don’t always know everything that’s going on for what are personal, sensitive, perhaps embarrassing issues.”
– someone else, about yet someone else, who the Police finally located sitting in his car on the railroad tracks, waiting for the train to arrive.

– The ironic process theory or Daniel Wegner White Bear Syndrome
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August 14, 2022 8:22am
- Cassandra
  
  The problem is Sharma, not Labour. Tui billboard. National should take steps to ensure that the media does its job. I’d set up a re-education facility. I have a place in mind – empty barracks in Waiouru. Happy to come out of retirement to run it. I enjoyed my years there, I’ll make sure the journalists have happy memories. Well, memories anyway.
  
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  August 14, 2022 8:51am
- Tony Stuart
  
  As Suze noted above, Dr Sharma looked very well adjusted on 1News last night.
  
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  August 14, 2022 8:51am
  - Brian McDonald
    
    Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
    1 sound bite does not a summer make Tony.
    
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    August 14, 2022 9:01am
    - Loddenthinks
      
      One test win does not a good All Blacks coach make Brian. Your hypocrisy is hilarious, like your twisted and selective logic
      
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      August 14, 2022 10:46am
  - rouppe
    
    Yes, but Sharma himself was the one who said he was contemplating suicide
    
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    August 14, 2022 9:32am
    - Steve Otto(North Shore)
      
      Sometimes mentioning suicide is a last attempt at gaining attention. Sharma was being ignored by almost everyone.
      
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      August 14, 2022 10:26am
      - Hollyfield
        
        Plus the hardest times are often those while you’re waiting for action from someone who shows no signs of doing anything. Once you take some control back over your life and take action yourself you feel much more empowered.
        
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        August 14, 2022 11:51am
    - Maggy Wassilieff
      
      And as he wrote… suicide ideation only developed after he was subject to bullying in Parliament.
      
      Slowly I fell into a cycle of stress, depression and lack of hope as I found myself stuck.
      
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      August 14, 2022 10:43am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  “I’ve got to be honest with you, this came out of the blue. You think you know your colleagues very well, but you don’t always know everything that’s going on for what are personal, sensitive, perhaps embarrassing issues.”
  Anyone who believes that should contact me, I have a bridge for sale.
  
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  August 14, 2022 10:22am
  - Loddenthinks
    
    One of the incontrovertible laws of human nature is that when somebody prefaces their statement with “I’ve got to be honest with you” or “To be completely honest” the next words out of their mouth will be lies.
    
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    August 14, 2022 10:47am
    - NeverMindTheBollocks
      
      Everything before ‘but’ is bullshit
      
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      August 14, 2022 3:54pm
    - zulumonster
      
      To be completely honest with you Lodden I don’t know if that’s true …
      
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      August 14, 2022 4:38pm
Scooter

Watching the cluster that is enveloping Labour, why is it Jacinda is so good in natural disasters, yet she can’t manage her own caucus, something that at least Helen Clark and John Key had some expertise for. I think her easy ride over the past few years is over.
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August 14, 2022 8:31am
- fernglas
  
  I think it’s because turning up and looking sad at natural disasters and mass shootings actually isn’t all that hard. Most of us could do it without even trying. Managing a bunch of narcissistic bullies requires a different skill set. Most of us couldn’t do it either. But at least most of us aren’t pretending to lead the country.
  
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  August 14, 2022 8:47am
  - gravedodger
    
    All done almost daily at last rites and funerals,
    I have a predilection for people watching at such events and often wondering what in the hell had them here today guilt or self promotion, then here is the aftermatch food?
    
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    August 14, 2022 10:31am
    - G the giant from Dunedin
      
      She put the same act on at Andertons funeral, she would be lucky to have even met him
      
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      August 14, 2022 11:46am
      - KKKKatee
        
        She’s currently a better actor than Mark Lundy when it comes to funerals.
        
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        August 14, 2022 6:33pm
- igm
  
  What natural disasters do you mean?
  She donned muslim garb and ran off to Chch with the shooting and ruined NZ’s economy and social structure with Covid.
  Both at the behest of WHO/UN/WEF . . . she is useless.
  
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  August 14, 2022 9:29am
  - kevn
    
    @igm… She did an amazing job shutting down White Island.
    
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    August 14, 2022 9:50am
    - igm
      
      Wow!
      
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      August 14, 2022 10:09am
    - Steve Otto(North Shore)
      
      You forgot the sarc tab.
      She did a good job of shutting down the rescues. Can’t tell me that she did not know of the boats and helicopters being grounded.
      
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      August 14, 2022 10:30am
    - G the giant from Dunedin
      
      What by hugging the St Johns woman? That woman had a look of Fred on her face, and she went a bit red
      
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      August 14, 2022 11:47am
- Philview
  
  I think seeking political gain from the mass murder of 51 people is about as low as it goes for a politician and her media friends.
  
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  August 14, 2022 11:03am
Maggy Wassilieff

It looks as if the MSM has gone to ground on the Sharma story.

Herald seems to have filled their website up with pics of Sam Uffindell.

Alison Mau writes a puff-piece about whistle-blowers on “Stuff”, making damn sure that she repeats the “lack of evidence” meme for his claims.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/opinion/300661038/accountability-is-key-what-political-bullying-scandals-say-about-speaking-out

RNZ has 5 stories about Uffindel on its web page, but nothing on Sharma.
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August 14, 2022 8:37am
- EssenX
  
  It’s unbelievable. The media is now gaslighting Dr Sharma. I hope he’s got a strong support network around him.
  
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  August 14, 2022 8:42am
  - Loddenthinks
    
    Everyone in his own party has been gaslighting him for 18 months; I think he’s used to it and is clearly a good man of strong character. I can’t imagine why he ended up with Labour and not one of the parties that values such attributes rather than throw him under the bus.
    
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    August 14, 2022 10:49am
- Stellaboxer
  
  Maggy it’s lucky very few people use the MSM anymore otherwise their pathetic bias would be quite a serious problem. They are funded directly by government or indirectly through government advertising so they don’t want to upset them. A clever move by the regime to become the a major advertiser with all the influence that brings but alas all wasted as so few people use the legacy media now. Proof is in the polls.
  
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  August 14, 2022 8:49am
- fernglas
  
  I have to chuckle at the “without evidence” thing. Most reporters will happily repeat any sort of gossip without trying to ascertain whether it is true, as long as they agree with it. When they pull the “without evidence” card, it is because they either don’t believe it, or don’t want to believe it. I have seen next to nothing, for example, to provide an evidential basis for what the PM is spouting about Sharma and his supposed failings, but nobody seems to have mentioned that
  
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  August 14, 2022 8:52am
Captain Mainwaring

Another hit job on Luxon by the nasty Sharon Murdoch. Has she been kept away from all Labour’s misdeeds of the past week or is this the $$$$ talking again?
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August 14, 2022 8:37am
- Matt Long
  
  Cap, it isn’t that the left wing media is covering up for Labour, it’s that it’s simply impossible for the regressives to have done anything wrong, you might just as well spout such nonsense as the sun rises in the east, or Labour’s zero covid strategy wasn’t the best in the world.
  
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  August 14, 2022 9:29am
- igm
  
  Do not overlook the vile opinion column of Janet Wilson . . . Luxon is obviously worrying the lefty leeeches.
  
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  August 14, 2022 11:23am
  - Tony Stuart
    
    The irony there igm is that Janet Wilson and her husband Bill Ralston have been paid well to provide media training to the National Party leadership in the past. Perhaps no one from National is calling any more…
    
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    August 14, 2022 2:02pm
- Tony Stuart
  
  I wonder if Sharon Murdoch regards herself as a person of faith. I’m always sceptical when atheist lefties quote scripture at me, as Murdoch has done in that cartoon. Maybe in fact it’s Jacinda Ardern who has a log in her eye…
  
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  August 14, 2022 2:01pm
Prince

My coment last evening sat in review for a few hours so I am repeating it here. Usually I wouldn’t care but Ardern’s manipulative duplicity really has me riled now.

What a disgraceful performance from Ardern at Michael Cullen’s Memorial today.
Tearing up as she pretended to be a close confidant of Cullen’s.
When he was appointed to lead the Tax Review, Cullen recommended a Capital Gains Tax, which by the way would have gone a long way to avoid the catastrophic house price increases following the Govt cash spray in 2000/1.
Ardern and Robertson cut him loose over the policy, leaving him to defend it alone.
I know Cullen was furious with the weakness of those two. In effect they reduced the Review to a meaningless exercise costing close to $30M.
Is there no-one she will not use to deflect the problems she is causing through her weak, ineffectual leadership ?
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August 14, 2022 8:39am
- R
  
  Ardern entered Parliament as a backbench MP in late-2008, and soon after Cullen resigned as deputy leader and left Parliament in April 2009. She would have had very little to do with him. She is a wonderful actress.
  
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  August 14, 2022 9:00am
  - Nickc2
    
    She’s a Pinocchio puppet with the Maori Caucus and Trade Unions pulling her local strings. The WEF, UN, and Socialist Internationalle control her Modus Operandi.
    She is incapable of original thought and relies on a massive heard of Media Consultants to write her scripts.
    She’s a very dangerous phoney.
    
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    August 14, 2022 9:45am
  - David Garrett
    
    R: Quite correct…she was the “class of 2008” as I was…Cullen left within months of the 2008 election. Parliament has an excellent induction class for new MP’s…funnily enough I have zero memories of Ardern in that group…she was just another Labour cipher who eventually proved she could read a speech quite well
    
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    August 14, 2022 10:03am
    - igm
      
      The only way she could win a seat was by waiting for Clark’s safe one.
      Did she not get the arse card from Auck Central twice, as did Little in New Plymouth?
      
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      August 14, 2022 4:09pm
  - Cassandra
    
    How about “She’s a hypocritical imposter”?
    
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    August 14, 2022 10:44am
  - I remember when
    
    A performance worthy of many whiwhia.
    
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    August 14, 2022 11:42am
  - G the giant from Dunedin
    
    Same with Anderton, she put the same act on at his funeral, Anderton retired in 2005 I think, and was nothing to do with the Labour Party for more than 30 years
    
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    August 14, 2022 11:51am
- Ghost
  
  I never watch memorials or funerals, but I always believe they should just be avoided commenting on. I’d never want to judge anyone at such an event.
  
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  August 14, 2022 9:36am
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    You don’t watch them, but you are not a lying Prime Minister who is getting very desperate for publicity.
    She is getting dangerous, thermonuclear meltdown soon, but not in front of media and cameras.
    
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    August 14, 2022 10:42am
    - Ghost
      
      Yeah and we can pull her down on so much more than how she acted at a memorial.
      
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      August 14, 2022 10:48am
    - Nickc2
      
      Was she wearing Muslim attire, and did the cameras pan to the assembled and show all the left-wing media entities and luminaries showing false grief as they did at Bill Anderson’s (Communist Unionist) Funeral?
      
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      August 14, 2022 11:41am
    - Paulus
      
      I am told that she is flying off again to tonight in her VIP airforce plane but can find no confirmation except from Whenuapa base?
      Hope it does not continue to breakdown !
      
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      August 14, 2022 1:32pm
    - KKKKatee
      
      Is she at the stage of curling up in the foetal position on the floor? That’s when she’s hit the wall.
      
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      August 14, 2022 6:38pm
- All_on_Red
  
  A CGT has never anywhere in the World had any effect on either decreasing or stabilising House prices.
  You’d think people would know this by now.
  CGT is just another Tax.
  
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  August 14, 2022 9:40am
- DenisPurdy
  
  Just tried to down tick this and somehow managed to up tick it instead. It turns out you can’t reverse a mistaken uptick. The Cullen CGT was evil stupid garbage that wouldn’t have even deducted inflation from the supposed ‘capital gains’. There is ample evidence worldwide that CGTs do not contain house price inflation. And if it had been applied would everybody now be getting tax money back as their property prices fall?
  
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  August 14, 2022 11:43am
blue collar

Defund the media !
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August 14, 2022 8:39am
slightlyrighty

The actions of the Labour Party machine that seems to be swinging into action against Dr. Sharma is the very definition of Bullying!

He certainly has, in naming names, set the cat among the pigeons, and highlighted the hypocrisy of the MSM.

If the stories that are circulating about a certain Wairarapa MP, and the circumstances about the end of his marriage have any credence, then he really is a nasty peice of work. Given that his ex at the time worked for a media organisation, one wonders how much the media is complicit in keeping these rumours quiet.

A lot of people will know the circumstances, and I would think more will come out of this one.
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August 14, 2022 8:40am
- pdm
  
  Lets not forget the `airhead and bully’ Anna Lorck.
  
  The Labour backbenchers are revolting.
  
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  August 14, 2022 10:41am
- Paulus
  
  Understand his Ex is back in Ireland.
  
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  August 14, 2022 1:33pm
- KKKKatee
  
  McAnulry has the hots for her. I can smell the testosterone off him in the middle of the Waikato.
  
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  August 14, 2022 6:41pm
oldfella

Cactus Kate takes us back to 1984, and revisits Bob Jones’ New Zealand Party. As Kate says..
What stunned me is that we appear to be at the same point in history YET again.
That being of a major political party needing to be chucked out firmly on their backsides for what they are doing with unbridled power and a manic leadership.
https://asianinvasion2019.blogspot.com/2022/08/when-will-modern-day-nats-learn-from.html
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August 14, 2022 8:41am
Toes on the nose

Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
Uffindel…I blame his parents. When he got kicked out of King$ they shifted brat to $t Paul$, down here in the provinces every May june some little lord fucklaroy will turn up at bog standard local school cos they did an Uffinfel. 9 times outta 10 they turn out okay cos they realize 2 things. No one gives a feck about their name or money and they realize they are actually mediocre up against the random kid whose dad is a tradie and the kid is good at sports brainy in class and works part time. Goodbye iffendel
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August 14, 2022 8:44am
- All_on_Red
  
  Cool chip on your shoulder Bro
  
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  August 14, 2022 9:42am
  - David Garrett
    
    Chip? He’s got half a log on his shoulder!!
    
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    August 14, 2022 10:05am
  - Manu-Rau
    
    More a block of wood between his shoulders.
    
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    August 14, 2022 11:26am
  - igm
    
    No, just another Labor/Green failure who has spent a lifetime achieving nothing.
    
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    August 14, 2022 11:56am
- cmm
  
  This is all a massive beat up.
  
  17 years ago how many blokes were tacking panties to the wall? Many.
  
  If rumours are to be believed, at that age (inaudible) was wearing out the knees on her tights on a regular basis and not doubt (inaudible) was doing more than just fishing.
  
  As for punching someone during there teens, that was common 20 years ago. Nothing to write home about.
  
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  August 14, 2022 11:21am
  - KKKKatee
    
    The underwear hanging on the coat hooks in Uffindell’s flat were put there for the worst flat competition which, incidentally, is still a ‘thing’ 22 years later.
    
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    August 14, 2022 6:52pm
- G the giant from Dunedin
  
  He can’t be sacked for the utter trumped up bullshit at Uni, there is absolutely nothing in that, he played rugby at Dunedin RFC his coach in the colts says he was a quiet likeable guy, he said he never raised his voice even on the paddock, his coach is a Cindy maniac, but he has called this a hit job, he said he won’t vote labour if they succeed with the shafting
  
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  August 14, 2022 11:56am
  - nathie
    
    Ouch! Interesting, can you let us know the article please?
    
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    August 14, 2022 12:59pm
Warren

Is Jacinda Ardern our Prime Minister on life support when comes to her job and has the team of 5 Million given up on the Labour Party Leader.
Well it seems the overseas media are prepared to ask more questions than the New Zealand Media and they think she’s on her way out.
https://unherd.com/thepost/new-zealand-falls-out-of-love-with-jacinda-ardern/
Can our Prime Minister stop her descent in the polls, I doubt it and after the display of tears at Cullen s Memorial yesterday I think that was for her adoring supporters can she stoop any lower.
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August 14, 2022 8:44am
- ClanMcleod
  
  She is so transparently fake. I want to throw up every time she speaks. I’ve never witnessed a politician so plastic, so obviously a fraud. She is becoming an embarrassment and I think many of her own supporters are starting to realise it.
  
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  August 14, 2022 9:40am
  - cmm
    
    “She is becoming an embarrassment”
    
    Late to the party mate. She has been an embarrassment since becoming Labour party leader (before that you could ignore her and pretend she was a Labour backbencher).
    
    As for wanting to throw up, I don’t think I have ever managed to listen to a whole sentence.
    
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    August 14, 2022 11:24am
- kipper
  
  And another one from The Telegraph on “The fall of Saint Jacinda…”
  
  https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/08/13/fall-saint-jacinda-cautionary-tale-woke-world-leaders/
  
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  August 14, 2022 10:35am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  She can stoop much lower. “Hold my Fanta”
  
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  August 14, 2022 10:51am
- mogg
  
  Jacinda Ardern the world’s oldest teenager.
  
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  August 14, 2022 11:43am
- Paulus
  
  But are there not now 1 million New Zealander living overseas – so Cindy get it right 4 million of which only a handful still love you.
  And you still think that with your media party you can buy the next election !
  
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  August 14, 2022 1:37pm
Cassandra

Bizarre that National and Uffindell continue to dominate the media – a teenager, 17 years ago – yet the big issue, Labour, Sharma, Lorck – the current government and sitting MPs not even mentioned. Stuff and the Herald should be prosecuted for false pretences. No more newspapers than Pravda.
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August 14, 2022 8:45am
- Ghost
  
  Stuff, herald, newshubs have all run stories on it, but I guess there is no new information coming out yet for them to keep it up. Some of the opinion pieces on Sam yesterday and today would of been written before the weekend.
  
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  August 14, 2022 9:38am
- gravedodger
  
  @ Cassandra
  Not forgetting the growing legend around The Wairarapa MP and his really interesting personal relationship gig with his ex missus having allegedly been fleeced, abandoned, replaced and now re-exported back to her home country Ireland?
  Perhaps a certain graduate of the Nosy Parker relationship bureau, methinks.
  
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  August 14, 2022 10:41am
  - Tony Stuart
    
    I had heard the sad story of the former Mrs McAnulty a number of times over the last few years, from a variety of sources, albeit without the financial details.
    
    I daresay it could be verified with a phone call to Ireland.
    
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    August 14, 2022 2:05pm
Maggy Wassilieff

There’s a developing trend that only Maori can speak on matters involving indigenous culture or history and must be represented if scientific work is conducted on indigenous plants or animals.

I find it interesting that pakeha who have been strong advocates for bringing and mentoring Maori in the academic realm now face deplatforming.

One of the tweets posted in August by a junior Māori academic that were influential in Dame Anne’s decision to not speak at the conference warned “Pakeha academics” not to stray into matters of Māori expertise.

https://theplatform.kiwi/opinions/will-maori-have-the-whip-hand-for-key-three-waters-jobs
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August 14, 2022 9:20am
- nathie
  
  This sort of development is rather “disrespectful” to Pakeha, particularly as they went out of their way to be “inclusive”.
  
  The problem is then exacerbated by for example the likes of Dame Anne acquiescing to these ridiculous demands (probably to not “cause offence” … um hello, perhaps she needs to think of the irony here).
  
  The other problem is so few people stand-up to this nonsense.
  
  But the elephant in the room (as far as Dame Anne or the acquiescent MSM is concerned) is that Maori do not speak with a unified voice. They are just as “diverse” in their thinking as anyone else in society.
  
  So for every junior Māori academic that wants to “cancel” Pakeha viewpoints, there are other Māori that disagree with that nonsense.
  
  However the “noisy” Māori “radicals” get the coverage (and MSM sympathy) but the reasonable Māori are not listened to (just like reasonable Pakeha are not listened to).
  
  And this is where the MSM (and Labour) are going wrong – they are listening to the “radical” voices and are acquiescing to their absurd demands, presumably for fear of being called “racist”. (Or in Labour’s case, they are foolishly trying to use them for controlling purposes).
  
  It’s an easy fix though (eg present both points of view, or tone down the radical voices, as they don’t have an issue toning down the mainstream voices) and perhaps one day, for the sake of a harmonious society (and encouraging all people to get along), we may just get back to such civility?
  
  But these sorts of issues also highlight why the (Pakeha) Left have it wrong with issues like co-governance – they are assuming that the radicals and Maori “elite” represent all Maori voices – they don’t! Rather the issue is one of control.
  
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  August 14, 2022 9:36am
- I remember when
  
  Remember when it was considered racist in the US to mention the word ‘black’ unless you were black.
  
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  August 14, 2022 11:51am
cas

I see Meteria Turei is a recent appointment to the NZ Conservation Authority. Funny I didn’t think her expertise was in conservation – but then I suppose she belongs to the Green party so those are her credentials
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August 14, 2022 9:25am
- Nickc2
  
  Did she ever pay back the taxpayer money she claimed under false pretenses?
  
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  August 14, 2022 10:21am
  - KKKKatee
    
    Don’t think so.
    
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    August 14, 2022 7:20pm
- pdm
  
  Has Meteria Turei paid WINZ back?
  
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  August 14, 2022 10:44am
  - MCōs
    
    Whatever she owes/owed WINZ would has been a drop in the bucket compared to the money owed by the various companies who inappropriately took money from the taxpayers via the COVID schemes to support employees
    
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    August 14, 2022 9:18pm
- UrbanNeocolonialist
  
  I am really tired of seeing my tax being used to support destructive far left nutjobs. They are actively working against best interests of nz. Let them insread support themselves off of contributions of similarly inclined idiots (if they can find any willing to pony up with their own money).
  
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  August 14, 2022 10:50am
- mikenmildagain
  
  Skills in a relevant area are not necessarily any barrier to appointment to a government board. Since the ill-fated ‘quango hunt’ of the 1980s, the number of ‘crown entities’ has mushroomed. Most of these organisations don’t need boards at all, but cabinet ministers are addicted to appointing people to sinecures.
  
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  August 14, 2022 11:07am
ClanMcleod

“Professor Sucharit Bhakdi describes completely what has happened, why it threatens the future of free humanity & what is demanded of the medical profession.

STOP INJECTING PEOPLE WITH FOREIGN GENES.”

A 2 minute video. Worth watching. Professor Bhakdi was one of the earliest to predict the negative outcomes of the policies forced on us almost 3 years ago. I would take his words very seriously. He knows far more about this subject than all of Ardern’s “experts” combines.

https://t.me/CoronvirusPlushie/4225
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August 14, 2022 9:30am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Those are pretty powerful words. I wonder if pricks like Baker will see it? I wonder if Jaspinda will take any notice?
  
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  August 14, 2022 11:01am
- MCōs
  
  That fool believe COVID-19 is a hoax.
  
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  August 14, 2022 9:12pm
ClanMcleod

And a new study out of Thailand showing the risks are far greater than is being admitted.

https://twitter.com/hugh_mankind/status/1557719127636283392?s=20&t=0qVqVWBXtu7NPOHkLh-f8g
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August 14, 2022 9:45am
Hugh Jarse

The media bias on which party gets the negative coverage around bullying is an example of what the Nats are going to face from here on until the election as the media try and influence voters. Very concerning and a good example of how the media role can be used to promote only one way of thinking. I hope if the Nats get in next year they defund state media, the media needs to stand alone. Otherwise it’s just state funded propaganda and that can be from either side.
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August 14, 2022 9:52am
- Ghost
  
  The media have been running the story, not only have they been running the Gaurav story and updating it as new bits come out, stuff have also run the Lorck story. The difference is the Sam story broke earlier and their writers have had more time. Guarantee has had a lot of media attention to tell his story.
  
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  August 14, 2022 10:34am
  - cmm
    
    ” The difference is the Sam story broke earlier and their writers have had more time”
    
    Naah, they already has press releases ready to go from the PMO comms team.
    
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    August 14, 2022 11:14am
  - Hugh Jarse
    
    Thanks for that explanation Ghost, we can now rest assured the media will have full coverage of the labour bullying allegations this week as they will have more time to prepare. What were the details of the media funding Key gave to the media post the GFC, how much was it and what were the commitments they had to make to receive their funding ?. I wouldn’t have been taking much interest back in those days for various reasons, so genuinely interested in doing the comparison with current funding arrangements.
    
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    August 14, 2022 12:18pm
- Benedict Yu
  
  Here is my suggestion for the media.
  
  Sell TVNZ.
  
  Sell RNZ.
  
  Abolish the public interest journalism fund.
  
  Provide about 50 million dollars annually to small Web based start ups with New Zealand news and public policy content. Contestable fund with funding limited to three years.
  
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  August 14, 2022 10:49am
  - Benedict Yu
    
    And BTW the funding would be conditional on performance and audience reach targets. There would be no “promotes the Treaty” rubbish.
    
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    August 14, 2022 10:52am
  - H. Upmann
    
    BY:
    1 – Yes
    2 – Yes
    3 – Yes
    4 – NO.
    Never ever should a NZ government be legally allowed to have any influence in media. We know first hand of the blatant corruption this leads and results in. Just look at the news today (as in Sunday 14th August) and see the bias and corruption.
    
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    August 14, 2022 11:16am
    - curry4me
      
      Yes, I agree. Benedict’s ideas were good. Except the one about the governmnent giving money to news organizations. They’d be perceived as poodles. And perception is everything.
      
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      August 14, 2022 1:53pm
  - Alex
    
    Even if MSM keep stum on Jacinda’s defects The Telegraph UK has not with another article up yesterday by Camilla Tominey titled “Saint Jacinda a cautionary tale for woke leaders.”
    This is also happening to her doppelgänger Trudeau.
    Goodbye another WEF puppet.
    
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    August 14, 2022 11:53am
  - UrbanNeocolonialist
    
    You need to do funding in a way that left cant cancel corrupt or coopt into propagandising. It needs to be outside their control. Need an endowed trust with control that is guaranteed forever to be not left wing (how is the question)
    
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    August 14, 2022 11:56am
    - Benedict Yu
      
      “Need an endowed trust with control that is guaranteed forever to be not left wing ”
      
      Easy – you write a constitution and appoint the right people.
      
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      August 14, 2022 5:04pm
  - mandk
    
    Agree 100%.
    
    There is absolutely no case nowadays for having state-owned media.
    
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    August 14, 2022 12:17pm
- RockyJ
  
  My theory is that three months before the election the msm will turn on Labour like a pack of hungry dogs.
  A lot of them will be sick from having to swallow so many rats in relation to the $55million bribe. Even though they have to refund the grants if they tell the truth (this is a condition of the Public Interest Journalism Fund) they will reckon it’s three months out so too late for the government to get their money back.
  They will also be sensing that under National/ Act their halcyon days are over.
  It will be the final bullet for Labour. He Puapua and everything will be laid out in detail
  
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  August 14, 2022 12:39pm
  - curry4me
    
    That might be the case if they were the sort of people who think logically. These guys have more in common with a certain propaganda minister and his wife who accompanied a well known Austrian to a bunker under th streets of 1945 Berlin.
    
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    August 14, 2022 1:56pm
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    My theory is that three months before the election the msm will turn on Labour like a pack of hungry dogs.
    
    I don’t think so.
    
    I was well entrenched in the Wellington bureaucracy during Helen Clark’s regime… while it was obvious to me that she was going to lose the 2008 election, countless folks down there seemed oblivious to the fact that a new regime was on its way.
    
    But Helen clearly knew she was going to lose. She had plan B all organised….and was off to the UN in 2009.
    
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    August 14, 2022 4:17pm
    - nathie
      
      Full agree, the MSM still seemed to be acquiescent towards Labour right to the very end.
      
      It wasn’t until Helen Clark tripped over rushing to shake the hand of someone during the election campaign (which TV news featured that night) that there was a realisation that HC was literally “fallible” and then the MSM mood slowly seemed to change!
      
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      August 14, 2022 4:50pm
- Paulus
  
  When National win the election the Media Party will c0ntinue more heavily against National – and it will continue to get more vicious.
  
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  August 14, 2022 1:40pm
  - nathie
    
    One aspect of proof is the MSM cartoonists – they have used the last 5 years as practice to lampoon both National and ACT & they’ll have it perfected for when there next is a change of government!
    
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    August 14, 2022 4:55pm
kevn

@Hugh… All the Nats have to do is double the media payment/bribe. Just put it out as a rumour.
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August 14, 2022 10:44am
- pdm
  
  kev – no way.
  
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  August 14, 2022 10:45am
- Ghost
  
  Didn’t work when the Key government gave the media financial help under the gfc
  
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  August 14, 2022 10:47am
- Cassandra
  
  Yes, double the funds and rewrite the rules. And no advertisement funding for transgressors. What goes round comes round.
  
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  August 14, 2022 10:47am
Steve Otto(North Shore)

Just a friendly reminder that the FBI hasn’t raided the home of a single person on Jeffrey Epstein’s list.
I wonder who they actually mean?
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August 14, 2022 11:08am
- MCōs
  
  Speaking of the execution of a search warrant on the home of Mr Trump. (Technically a raid occurs when the front door is smashed down in the middle of the night and people are likely to get shot. That sort of thing)
  You do know why the government wanted their ultra top secret stuff back and they knew that despite assurances from the Trump holiday camp it hadn’t been returned previously?
  Broaden your reading. Don’t rely on that wild eyed, mercenary, Trump as Rambo stuff you hang your hat on.
  
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  August 14, 2022 1:07pm
  - mawm
    
    Really! So 30 FBI agents armed with
    “weapons of war”, bullying his lawyer by not allowing her to read the warrant herself, not allowing her to accompany them during the search, requesting the security cameras get turned off and being given essentially carte balance in Trump’s home is not a raid? Or do you prefer the WaPo narrative of the FBI searching for nuclear secrets or the one about him being a spy?
    
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    August 14, 2022 2:05pm
cmm

The IRD is a mess, and not at all surprising – they are completely overworked!

On top of the normal processing of the IRD, there have:
* Been a lot of sickness in their staff – reducing numbers.
* Been a lot of sickness in their “clients”, meaning more requests for deferrals, waiver on being late etc etc. This must have increased their traffic by a factor of at least 2.
* Been more complex “client” loads due people losing jobs etc.
* Then they’ve had all the extra CV19 payout management thrown on their plates.
* And now the management of the $350 bribe.

So it is no wonder that it is sometimes taking weeks to hear back from them.

For a core revenue gathering “service”, they’re being extremely poorly managed.
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August 14, 2022 11:12am
CAKE FACE1

Cindy had told me her opinion – that Dr Sharma was in need of care, because he is a lunatic – he’s gone completely nuts.

Last night, I watched the start of State television’s One Nitwit News for once.

Dr Sharma was interviewed. Imagine my surprise when he came across as normal and nice!

The genius of the gaslighting episode is that it exposures Cindy’s self-styled claims of being kind for what they are.

Cindy is a fraud, a phoney and fake. More people are beginning to see this…
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August 14, 2022 11:13am
- MCōs
  
  I don’t think the PM said Dr Sharma was a lunatic. You said that she said that.
  
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  August 14, 2022 12:46pm
Jack5

Iran and the attack on Rushdie

Has the Woke BBC been broadcasting lies about the fatwa that led to the knifing of Salman Rushdie?

The Telegraph reports the BBC on Friday stated that the Iranian government had “distanced itself” from the fatwa.

Stephen Pollard writes that was a “grotesque distortion”. Ali Khamenei, who succeeded Khomeini as supreme leader in 1989, repeatedly reaffirmed the fatwa.

In 2017, for example, he was asked, writs Pollard, “Is the fatwa on the apostasy of the cursed liar Salman Rushdie still in effect?” His response was: “The decree is as Imam Khomeini issued.” In 2012, the “15 Khordad Foundation” – in effect a religious branch of the Iranian state – increased its reward for Sir Salman’s death to $US3.3 million. That reward remains in place.
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August 14, 2022 11:30am
- Inandout
  
  Jack, Bill Maher discusses Islam and the reluctance of the media to mention the bad side.
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcWl7_G754c
  
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  August 14, 2022 1:39pm
I remember when

Stuff it:
Who would ever have considered three years ago, that being a ‘bully’ at a boarding school would result in greater media output than the rights of personal freedoms during a pandemic.
There is, of course, little evidence that being a ‘bully’ affects your ability to be a productive politician.
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August 14, 2022 12:03pm
I remember when

Te Hau Ora o Ngapuhi in Kaikohe was one of the three Maori Health providers that signed an official partnership at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds.
Te Hau Ora o Ngapuhi has 115 Kaimahi in total and is now one of the biggest employers in Kaikohe, with 90% of its recruits in employment for the first time.
During its evaluation period the initiative saw $6.2m injected into the Far North region.

Sounds great but it is hard to ignore the possibility of unfortunate outcomes, bad publicity and mismanagement.
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August 14, 2022 12:13pm
- greybeard
  
  And misappropriation.
  
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  August 14, 2022 4:03pm
curry4me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDky8ganqsM
Victor Davis Hanson Goes SCORCHED EARTH on the FBI!!!

The Deep State will go after anyone who threatens them. The MSM are more than willing to help.[13:15]
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August 14, 2022 1:18pm
curry4me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6GipnnygVY

5 Chinese State Companies to Delist from NYSE; Torrential Rain, Flash Floods Strike North China.

Five major state-owned Chinese companies are about to delist from the New York Stock Exchange. China’s regulator says it’s by choice, but an ongoing U.S.-China debate may suggest otherwise. Some officials say investment company BlackRock is putting climate issues at the top of its agenda—even above making a profit for U.S. pension funds. Beijing has stopped talking about its economic goals for the year, hinting at a worsening Chinese economy. And the problem is spilling over into the job market.
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August 14, 2022 1:18pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

All Documents de-classified.
https://libertyonenews.com/donald-trump-said-all-documents-seized-by-fbi-during-the-raid-of-his-mar-a-lago-home-were-declassified/?

I have more to come.
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August 14, 2022 3:36pm
- kevn
  
  @SteveO… The batty one will be waiting with bated breath. To refute whatever you discover.
  
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  August 14, 2022 3:46pm
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    I know that. ‘Steve goes to extreme right wing sites’ and all that shit.
    Anything to the right of CNN is “extreme right wing”
    I expect nothing less from Batman.
    
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    August 14, 2022 4:07pm
    - RichardX
      
      I think it is more of a case that “Steve believes what Trump says without any form of independent verification”
      All you are doing is repeating a report that repeats what Trump said.
      Why is that not a surprise?
      
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      August 14, 2022 4:58pm
- RichardX
  
  “Donald Trump said”
  
  How did you verify what Trumps said is correct?
  Have you reviewed the process by which a President can declassify documents?
  
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  August 14, 2022 3:57pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

Garland. Another prick that hates America, and Donald Trump. Paid by the Taxpayer to pursue his own witch hunt.
https://libertyonenews.com/yikes-garland-says-hes-willing-to-tear-the-country-apart-to-get-trump/?
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August 14, 2022 3:39pm
- RichardX
  
  I love that the “tear the country apart” quote is actually from Holt, the interviewer, not Garland.
  
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  August 14, 2022 4:00pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

More from Garland, trying to explain about the search Warrant.
In my opinion he instigated it.
https://redrightdaily.com/merrick-garland-said-he-will-not-stand-by-silently-watch/
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August 14, 2022 4:12pm
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  OH noooeess, it is Red Right Daily 🙂 🙂
  
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  August 14, 2022 4:13pm
  - MCōs
    
    I had a look at that publication. It has an article
    “Liberals Are Furious That Trump Supporters Get This Trump Wrist Watch For Free!”
    I had a look and was told by my trusty iPad security software that it was an unsafe site!
    Of course it is! Probably empties my bank acct before my eyes.
    
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    August 14, 2022 5:00pm
    - mikenmildagain
      
      I have advised Steve several times that those webshites will rot his brain. I hadn’t thought about them rotting his bank balance as well, except for the junky Trumpy merchandise he probably buys.
      Sad.
      
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      August 14, 2022 5:31pm
      - Steve Otto(North Shore)
        
        Uptick sonny. The product is free -just pay shipping.
        Trump stuff is now only available in the 48. No shipping to Hawaii, or Alaska.
        Rest of the World can not even buy – USA 48 only.
        Such is the demand.
        
        5 2
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        August 14, 2022 5:54pm
    - Steve Otto(North Shore)
      
      The ads are spam that my adblocker does not stop.
      Although I have a nice collection of Trump coins and gold American notes 🙂
      
      4 3
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      August 14, 2022 5:50pm
    - Steve Otto(North Shore)
      
      Only ‘unsafe’ for lefties!
      They are watching you MCos!
      
      4 3
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      August 14, 2022 5:56pm
lemuzz

A question someone may be able to answer. When covid first arrived and the vaccine approved and administered, 26 older people died. After about 3 months a new variant, Delta arrived and MOH recommended a second dose of vaccine. A further 4 months later, variant Omicron hit and a booster was advised. Since then we have had about 1750 deaths. In the past 12 months we have had no further variant arrive. Does this mean the covid virus is now unable to further modify itself?
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August 15, 2022 1:03pm

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