General Debate 12 November 2022

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Warren

Week in Politics: A poll A reappointment and a interesting By- Election.
Who else finds it interesting that Jacinda Ardern our Prime Minister says she is not “poll driven” and here for all New Zealander’s, but also interesting that she then tells the public that the polls are very close and to hard to tell who is in the box seat according to Labours internal polling.
Instead of looking ahead to the Hamilton West By- Election Jacinda Ardern and Grant Robertson are taking dirty shots at Chris Luxon instead of concentrating on there own ability to curb inflation which has now reached disastrous levels and will not be helped by the re- appointment of Adrian Orr as New Zealand Reserve Bank Governor.
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November 12, 2022 8:05am
- pdm
  
  Jacinda – `here for all New Zealanders.
  
  She sure as hell as no interest in mrspdm or I.
  She sure as hell has no interest in businesses.
  She sure as hell has no interest in agriculture.
  
  On and on the listgoes.
  
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  November 12, 2022 8:46am
  - Loddenthinks
    
    Sorry pdm but I must disagree:
    
    – She’s very interested in you and mrspdm; she wants to control what you say, think and do. Yip, yip – that’s what it is
    – She’s very interested in business; she wants to tax, legislate and tie up business in red tape, they are the rich pricks after all
    – She’s very interested in agriculture; she wants to destroy the dairy industry, build houses on arable land for crops, and make us eat trees.
    
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    November 12, 2022 10:29am
    - redqueen
      
      As far as I can tell, they don’t want to build any houses. They certainly haven’t managed it.
      
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      November 12, 2022 10:34am
  - NZer In Exile
    
    Perhaps she should have announced pre-election that her goal is to run NZ according to UN ideology.
    
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    November 12, 2022 2:11pm
- Dougal10
  
  They tend to take pot shots at Luxon when they know polling companies are polling. It has become quite obvious.
  
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  November 12, 2022 8:48am
  - Sir Cullen's Sidekick
    
    Dougal10 bro – I don’t know why Robbo and Cindy bother with Luxon. He is sliding down in preferred PM stakes in every single poll. He will be replaced by Nice Nicola in the new year.
    
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    November 12, 2022 11:07am
    - Mrs_Right
      
      By that logic Cindy will be replaced sooner than he is.
      
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      November 12, 2022 11:41am
      - yobi
        
        Interestingly Mr Luxon is currently very safe as the leader of National. But only while Cindy is the leader of labour. If she resigns before the election, there is a high chance Luxon will get rolled and it will be swift and clean. As for labour, whilst it is touted to be the fat controller, I believe that there are a few others who quite fancy the roll.
        
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        November 12, 2022 1:39pm
- krazykiwi
  
  She might not be “poll driven”, but my mind does like to imagine her being cartoonishly “pile driven” 🙂
  
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  November 12, 2022 9:07am
Cinematic

Russian armed forces are looking mighty unimpressive. Now trying to hide behind a river.
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November 12, 2022 8:05am
- Bob
  
  sounds awfully like the tactics of our PM when the POLLS are bad!
  
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  November 12, 2022 11:20am
  - Paulus
    
    Off she goes on a trip to Bangkok for shopping thence to Vietnam – anywhere that she cannot be shouted at.
    And anywhere but New Zealand where she can be seen to have stuffed it.
    
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    November 12, 2022 2:17pm
    - Scooter
      
      Hey that could be her new slogan, Anywhere but NZ, the others haven’t done too well.
      
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      November 12, 2022 4:48pm
Maggy Wassilieff

Professor Greg Newbold considers NZ’s literacy problem:

A recent study found that 40 percent of students who get NCEA level 2 are not functionally literate (or numerate). This was a problem I faced constantly at the University of Canterbury, where even 2nd and 3rd year students did not understand the basics of English grammar and could not even put proper sentences together.
.
.

New Zealand’s education system is certainly in a state of crisis and we face chronic shortages in essential skills areas, but mandating the teaching of Maori in schools will do nothing to solve the problem.

https://www.bassettbrashandhide.com/post/greg-newbold-english-literacy-essential
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November 12, 2022 8:08am
- krazykiwi
  
  Education was once intellectual stimulation for the benefit of the individual.
  
  It is now more social indoctrination for the benefit of the state.
  
  This is why truancy is not seen as a problem. Those kids have ‘successfully’ graduated to a life of state dependence.
  
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  November 12, 2022 8:22am
  - Bob
    
    benefit of the state….
    benefit of the Marxists activists!
    FIXED IT
    
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    November 12, 2022 11:21am
  - Ian Boag
    
    Education was once intellectual stimulation for the benefit of the individual.
    
    Only in the classics-focussed obsession the Brits had for so long. I would have said it is more to do with life skills. I would put functional English well above high school Te Reo. I did French for 3 years at high school – top of the class and 90% in School C. I can still survive in a French environment, but I never got remotely close to have-a-chat fluency or the ability to listen to
    
    I don’t see much point in educating people to that level of Te Reo at the expense of more directly useful stuff.
    
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    November 12, 2022 11:52am
  - Jack5
    
    Is the tighter integration of teachers’ colleges into universities part of the problem?
    
    Education as an academic discipline is a soft “science” itself.
    
    Has the integration of the teacher training colleges with universities put primary-school teacher education closer to university soft science departments like sociology, and worse, closer to Maori culture and language departments dominated by activists.
    
    Is this why emphasis in teaching has moved away from language and arithmetic and towards climate change and Maori language and ceremony?
    
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    November 12, 2022 12:30pm
    - artemisia
      
      Heh, could get some of the academic researchers to investigate and report on activism in the edu facilities. It’s good enough for the Reserve Bank.
      
      Could include the Min of Ed as well.
      
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      November 12, 2022 4:08pm
- Thought Criminal
  
  But are they politically indoctrinated correctly? That’s the main thing. Anyway large numbers of people who can’t read of write will be poor and therefore more likely to vote Labour.
  
  It’s the perfect plan for the left. Get them when they are young. Either brain wash them or guarantee them a lifetime of poverty. Or both.
  
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  November 12, 2022 8:26am
  - Bob
    
    seems to be working!
    
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    November 12, 2022 11:22am
Maggy Wassilieff

Thanks Jacinda and Grant

The Food Price Index released by Statistics New Zealand today shows that food prices have increased by 10.1 per cent in the past 12 months, with grocery prices contributing the most to this increase.

https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA2211/S00100/crisis-at-the-checkout.htm
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November 12, 2022 8:11am
- Thought Criminal
  
  Well according to Labour it’s definitely not printing 53 billion dollars, high levels of new government spending, new taxes or the government competing with regular people for things like house purchases.
  
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  November 12, 2022 8:20am
  - Warren
    
    Megan Wood has been told months ago to stop borrowing as it will take future generations 60 years to pay back , so Grant Robertson our Finance Minister borrows over 2 billion with creative accounting for Kainga Ora to pour more into housing for the unfortunate.
    
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    November 12, 2022 8:43am
    - GJM
      
      The push by KO to buy houses is all about entrenching Labour socialism. Every state house is filled with Labour voters, as who would vote against a cheap rent for life and no matter how feral, you will never be evicted. They know that national don’t have the spine to sell them off or fix anything so the ratchet leftward continues.
      The fact the productive are paying for it is a bonus.
      
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      November 12, 2022 8:57am
- pdm
  
  10% plus inflation is coming to New Zealand – as quickly as Grant and Jacinda can make it happen.
  
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  November 12, 2022 8:23am
  - JohnRidd
    
    and even higher interest rates.
    
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    November 12, 2022 2:04pm
- Biscuit
  
  Jacinda and Grant are onto things, Maggy.
  
  They have increased attacks on Christopher Luxon by the self-same perecentage, 10.1%.
  
  What a stellar team, eh?
  
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  November 12, 2022 8:28am
- Southern Raider
  
  I noticed fresh fruit and veges was at 17%. That’s mainly domestic so how much of the 17% is from labour policies on restricting visas for pickers, minimum wage increases, cancelling key inputs like oil and gas, extra farm regulations
  
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  November 12, 2022 8:31am
  - GJM
    
    A major local vege grower has land along the road frommus. The other day they were rotary hoping in the cabbages, since I assume they couldn’t get anyone to pick them.
    A waste of fertilizer, time, diesel and machine hours planting, weeding then just to destroy them.
    
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    November 12, 2022 8:59am
    - Ghost
      
      Crop could have been weather damaged?
      
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      November 12, 2022 9:03am
      - dubya
        
        “Climate damaged”, keep up!
        
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        November 12, 2022 9:25am
- Opie
  
  He seems to still be able to access enough
  
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  November 12, 2022 9:15am
- Loddenthinks
  
  Biggest increase in 14 years, I believe.
  
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  November 12, 2022 10:32am
  - nathie
    
    Heard that too, so that’ll be 2008 when Labour (Helen Clark) were last in power!
    
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    November 12, 2022 2:59pm
- Sir Cullen's Sidekick
  
  Maggy – That is all due to climate change. Suckers of this land believe that and ready to pay more taxes to combat climate change.
  
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  November 12, 2022 11:08am
kevn

Currently the maori component is running at 20% of the curriculum I gather. So what gives? The 3 ‘R’S?
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November 12, 2022 8:12am
- Nickc2
  
  Is this a Hipkins initiative?
  What’s the other 80%? Marxism for beginners?
  
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  November 12, 2022 8:23am
- Loddenthinks
  
  Maori wonderfulness – 20%
  Climate change – 20%
  Decolonisation – 20%
  CRT – 20%
  Protesting for beginners – placard-making, face-gluing, soup-throwing – 10%
  Teacher-only days, Matariki holidays, truancy – 5%
  3Rs – 5%
  
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  November 12, 2022 10:35am
  - Pineapple Lumps
    
    On top of the 3 rs is a subject called ‘inquiry”. This is meant to be on a topic of special interest and the children get quite a lot of freedom of how the approach it. Great to look at the planets, ecosystems, different cultures etc they get 3 hours per week on this and do a different topic each term.
    
    This year it has included 1 term of learning around the new school values – all in maori. This is a school with a majority of Asian students and 1% maori/Pacifica. They are now doing sexuality and relationships for a term – with a heavy component of finding out what there gender is. A bit disturbing hearing 11 year olds discussing if they are sexually attracted to boys, girls, both, and concepts like polyamory. So half the years subject matter has been ideological indoctrination.
    
    On another note, while many parents work and aren’t available to assist in classrooms, we have found Schools no longer welcome parental help when offered. There are some more mature teachers who like the help but the young ones don’t. This has been accelerated by Covid with our schools weekly news encouraging parents to leave kids at the gate and restrictions placed on engagement with teachers.
    
    The move to promote more ECE by labour is to further enable the state to surplant the parents role in raising their children. How can an ECE worker on $22 an hour looking after multiple children provide anywhere as much love and input as the child’s parent? Look no further than 15 years ago with the introduction of paid parental leave, and anti-smacking legislation to explain the fruit we are harvesting today. Ram raids, truancy, disintegrating education outcomes.
    
    We need to revalue the role of parenting and support families to be strong. These are the building blocks of a strong society. This means diminishing the power of the state, putting aside our greed, and investing fully in our next generation.
    
    The left has marched into our institutions. They are indoctrinating our society. They control the media, the universities, public institutions and schools. But this is because we have become a shallow empty people with vacant houses for any false ideology to inhabit. This is not going to be fixed by political solutions, it is only going to change through grassroots actions aimed at strengthening families.
    
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    November 12, 2022 1:30pm
    - Nickc2
      
      Someone once said, “the march of a thousand miles begins with the first step.” I don’t recall who it was but it’s very appropriate in this instance. If parents don’t take back responsibility for their own offspring but leave it in the hands of radical racist School Teachers, they get what they deserve.
      Let’s face it, it has been our apathy that has allowed such radicals to infest our Education, Government, Legal and Social systems to the current point whereby even the Govt, Opposition, Judges and Police are not interested in holding these radicals accountable for their actions, let along taking action to correct the situation we find ourselves in.
      
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      November 12, 2022 1:50pm
      - Don Beckett
        
        It was Confucius. But Mao claimed it. 😆
        
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        November 12, 2022 5:20pm
    - NZer In Exile
      
      “On top of the 3 rs is a subject called ‘inquiry”.”
      
      OK so as with the mass murdering lunatics in charge of the past and present Marxism based regimes, language is turned on it’s head. Classes pushing the unhinged radical ideology of minority political zealots are labelled “inquiry” classes.
      
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      November 12, 2022 2:17pm
    - Dodger
      
      Which school is this?
      I find it unbelievable re the sexuality rubbish at that or any school age children.
      
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      November 12, 2022 2:53pm
- Bob
  
  The 3 ‘R’s are like science; not essential learning in Primary and Secondary school …Chris Hipkins a few weeks ago!
  
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  November 12, 2022 11:25am
tedbear

Labour continues its race-based agenda by giving away $55 million to a Maori consortium that are building up to 1100 homes in Rotorua for Maori at $500,000 a pop.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/478572/government-signs-55m-partnership-with-ngati-whakaue-lands-trust-to-build-rotorua-houses
http://ngatiwhakaue.iwi.nz/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Affordable-Home-Information-Booklet-Application-Form1.pdf

Only if they can’t find enough rich Maori will they be released for sale to the general public.
But I imagine HNZ will snap them up instead of that happening.
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November 12, 2022 8:12am
- Thought Criminal
  
  I think they have just completed the 7 yearly process for who can and can’t bid for government contracts. I believed there is now a Maori component to this now, guaranteeing that Maori businesses thrive in the next 7 years.
  
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  November 12, 2022 8:30am
  - Nickc2
    
    That’s something else a Nat/Act Govt must commit to repealing – Maori preference in the awarding of Govt Contracts.
    How the eff did we arrive at this situation?
    
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    November 12, 2022 8:40am
    - Opie
      
      It’s working well in South Africa….
      
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      November 12, 2022 9:17am
      - Nickc2
        
        Nuff said!
        
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        November 12, 2022 9:26am
    - Loddenthinks
      
      ACT has already said it will repeal that nonsense.
      
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      November 12, 2022 10:36am
    - Phronesis
      
      All the “Maori Business” does is subcontract the work back to the outfit that should have got the job in the first place. They made a few million on the recent Onslow pumped hydro project scoping. Although given that the entire project is just a way to waste money the Govt no doubt considered the extra wastage as a benefit.
      
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      November 12, 2022 11:24am
      - david
        
        It all adds to GDP which is as far from a measure of real production as you can get…
        
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        November 12, 2022 12:29pm
  - GJM
    
    Yes, it is a waiting in the application. If you are not a “Maori business” then you are at a disadvantage from day one.
    
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    November 12, 2022 9:01am
- Stellaboxer
  
  tedbear Maori are the general public. Let’s not join in with the separatism.
  
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  November 12, 2022 11:01am
Surely Knott

So a parliamentary protestor won in court and has their case dismissed. The police didn’t give proper notice that it was a trespass.

How many of the govts actions during the pandemic were actually legal?

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/130446185/police-error-sinks-parliament-protesters-trespass-charge-exposing-loophole
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November 12, 2022 8:15am
- Cinematic
  
  Yeah that pesky thing called the law is beneath Labour. Time after time they’ve demonstrated their contempt for such.
  
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  November 12, 2022 8:29am
artemisia

Public / social housing waiting lists and associated burgeoning debt are becoming an intractable problem.

A reset is surely needed. Suggest a first step from a different government is to cancel the current income related rent policy and reinstate the Accommodation Supplement housing support that applies to everyone else who meets the criteria. Not just tenants.

The AS did originally apply to all housing regardless of the provider. Labour changed that and made rent a whole lot lower for tenants with the right landlord.

A reversal could be grandparented, apply only to new public / social tenancies. What’s not to like?
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November 12, 2022 8:15am
- Ian Boag
  
  The great thing about this sort of subsidy is that it ends up in the hands of the landlord or lender. and as a bonus it is capitalised into the property value.
  
  What’s not to like about that?
  
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  November 12, 2022 9:00am
Thought Criminal

Check out the NZ media political views chart on page 6. Something like 90 percent of them lean left.

https://www.farmersweekly.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Worlds-of-Journalism-Study-2.0.-Journalists-in-Aotearoa-New-Zealand.pdf
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November 12, 2022 8:16am
- emmess
  
  And I guess that is self-reporting
  So, it is skewed even further to the left, because of the echo chamber that they exist in.
  
  The chart above that is very funny though
  
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  November 12, 2022 8:31am
- Tomtoddy
  
  Well noted, TC. It is horrifying that most journalists saw their chief role as “educating” us as opposed to informing us. Arrogant twits!!!
  
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  November 12, 2022 8:40am
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  But as only 29.9% of the Journalists who were sent this survey bothered to reply, I have my doubts as to whether this survey tells us much at all about Journalists in NZ …..apart from the fact that 70.1% of NZ Journalists are so busy and hard-working they didn’t have the time to respond to the survey.
  
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  November 12, 2022 9:17am
Southern Raider

Most transparent Govt ever drops major select committee report on 3 Waters on a a Friday afternoon and completely silent on co governance aspects.

In reality co governance scope is recommended to be expanded to include geothermal and coastal outflow.
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November 12, 2022 8:20am
- Drone
  
  The quote I found the funniest in the select report was the statement:
  “We have listened to local government concerns about the role of entities in the local planning system. Our response is clear: entities will be ‘plan-takers’ not ‘plan-makers’.”
  I struggle to understand how this will work..
  
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  November 12, 2022 11:45am
Southern Raider

Hipkins claimed two days ago rise in criminal offending is carried out by a “brazen minority”

I’m sure the cop in critical condition feels much better now after hearing this from his Minister

Also know of a retail worker seriously assaulted by a known and recidivist offender. But Govt just plays this down
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November 12, 2022 8:24am
- Phronesis
  
  Odd thing for Hipkins to say because if true then the problem is very easily fixed, so why haven’t they?
  
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  November 12, 2022 1:24pm
- Ghost
  
  Was the cop hit by a reality star?
  
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  November 12, 2022 1:33pm
Tricati

The Finance & Expenditure select committee release their report after considering 88,000 public submissions, and yet the 3 waters programme is to continue with only ‘minor’ tweaks to board meetings and rural input. No change to the co-governance aspects of this separatist programme.
Why won’t the Labour majority on the select committee release a breakdown on the submissions, and why did Mahuta conveniently side-step the co-governance issue when interviewed by using the usual deflection of avoiding another 38,000 people getting sick from bad water and this will lower people’s rates. There is no doubt some councils need help in addressing their water issues, not all, and none need Māori intervention in controlling those assets.
Convenient timing releasing the select committee outcomes on a Friday, and when Ardern is off on another junket overseas.
ACT and National have stated they will repeal this act if it goes through, but please come out stronger. Time to stop trying to appease radical minorities and get harder on your rhetoric over the anti-democratic separatist path Ardern is taking the country.
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November 12, 2022 8:25am
- pdm
  
  What a bloody awful performance by Andrew Dickens (standing in for HDPA) on NewstalkZB yesterdya afternoon.
  
  Firstly a sycophantic interview with Mahuta and then when challenged by textors a tacit endorsement of Co-Governance.
  
  Dickens should transfer to `Red Radio’.
  
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  November 12, 2022 8:55am
  - Nickc2
    
    There’s a sizeable Cabal of people like Dickens at TalkBack ZB who are Chardonnay Socialists for the sake of earning a Dollar. I seriously doubt they believe in everything they say but it does fill in time between Commercials and that’s what they’re there for.
    
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    November 12, 2022 9:23am
  - greybeard
    
    Not the first time he has done that: a couple of months ago he did something similar,so I texted him to complain and to remind him that he had an obligation to uphold HDPA’s views as it was her program and her audience.
    His reply was to the effect that he thought he had quite right-wing views on most things and I was wrong.
    If he had his own full-time program then fair enough, but as a fill-in I think there should be some continuity of view/opinion/political leaning etc.
    
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    November 12, 2022 11:13am
    - Tricati
      
      Well said – He pissed me off with his interview of Mahuta, and I actually wondered if she would have agreed to an interview by Heather, as she wouldn’t have got the free ride see did.
      
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      November 12, 2022 12:03pm
  - Observer of Life
    
    PDM: Dickens isn’t any good on ‘Gold’ in the morning either. He needs to retire forthwith. Dreadful man …
    
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    November 12, 2022 3:21pm
  - Sacha
    
    Don’t listen.
    I switched off the minute I heard that he was on.
    Silence is golden.
    
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    November 12, 2022 4:30pm
Southern Raider

This week we have seen MPs, Greenpeace and activists high fiving over NZ hitting 99% renewal generation on one day

Any one else notice the irony that if the Green Party was around in 70’s and 80’s we wouldn’t have built our hydro dams and how many recent new hydro dam consents have been declined by our green conservation minister and activists?
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November 12, 2022 8:27am
Ghost

Another bloody home detention for a teenager

Sitting in church and watching people congratulating Alessandro Milgate-Vassalini for leading the day’s worship was too much for one teenage girl.

Instead of joining in and lavishing praise on the prominent Curate Church member the girl, who had been keeping a secret, walked outside and broke down in tears.

Within the week, she finally opened up to her parents – describing how she had spiralled into a life of depression, anxiety and self-harm as a result of Milgate-Vassalini’s actions nearly two years ago.

That courage to speak up led to an emotional court hearing on Thursday, where the now 19-year-old was sentenced to 12 months’ home detention after having two underage girls perform oral sex on him.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/curate-church-youth-leader-alessandro-milgate-vassalini-convicted-on-sexual-offending-against-minors/V6VG6BJ3Z5UUJJX6WJDQKOADWE/
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November 12, 2022 8:28am
- dubya
  
  Maybe they were worried a good looking boy like Mr Vassalini might need some of his namesake in jail?
  
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  November 12, 2022 9:53am
  - Opie
    
    You win. That’s brilliant
    
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    November 12, 2022 1:52pm
tknorriss

The whole Kherson region has now been recaptured by Ukraine.

Here is a CNN reporter in the region. Heartwarming, and sad that the people had to go through all this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFUUSXkpDEg&t=529s
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November 12, 2022 8:46am
- Jack5
  
  The problem for Ukraine is that it depends on Western support for ammunition and arms.
  
  Will the West’s resolve weaken over the northern winter?
  
  However, the Biden administration has just announced, as the Washington Post reports:
  
  “… it would send Ukraine more security assistance valued at up to $US400 million, a package that contains four mobile short-range systems known as Avengers and the Stinger missiles they fire, plus missiles for use in medium-range HAWK air defense systems.
  
  “The fresh infusion of arms also includes ammunition for the HIMARS long-range artillery systems that Ukrainian forces have used to destroy Russian command nodes, tens of thousands of howitzer artillery rounds and a staggering 20 million small-arms rounds.”
  
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  November 12, 2022 9:31am
  - Nickc2
    
    That all depends on who controls the purse strings in the US post-Mid-Terms.
    The Republicans won’t want to do too much, given Ukraine’s payments to Hunter and Joe Biden unless someone in authority from Ukraine comes forth and testifies at the investigation into the Bidens.
    I’m hoping whoever comes forth from Ukraine to give evidence also drops some Treason/Corruption activities of other US Luminaries in the corrupt dealings with the Bidens.
    These Luminaries all gave evidence in initial investigations into Joe’s Corruption in Ukraine when he was VPOTUS under Obama and he’s been dining out on the findings of this corruption hearing ever since.
    
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    November 12, 2022 10:16am
    - tknorriss
      
      “That all depends on who controls the purse strings in the US post-Mid-Terms.”
      
      That was more the Trump wing of the Republicans with that point of view. Given the Trump wing has done quite badly, I don’t think continued support for Ukraine will be a problem
      
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      November 12, 2022 11:46am
  - Jack5
    
    Why does the Washington Post think the US supply of 20 million small-arms rounds is staggering?
    
    There are 700,000 people in the Ukraine Army and that works out at less than 29 rounds each, and many or most of them have AK rifles that fire fully automatic as well as semi-automatic.
    
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    November 12, 2022 10:49am
  - tknorriss
    
    I think victories like this help keep the faith alive in the west. They can see if they maintain the help Ukraine can win.
    
    Plus, there are other more strategic reasons to keep up the support. Firstly, many believe that Russia is not only interested in Ukraine, but also in restoring the former Soviet Union, which would mean war in Europe for some time to come. So, it is better and cheaper to finish this in Ukraine.
    
    Secondly, China is watching. If they see the west eventually lose resolve over Ukraine then they will be more motivated to have a crack at Taiwan.
    
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    November 12, 2022 11:44am
Opie

Here’s one for the covid screechers…

Remember how Sweden did everything “wrong” by not locking down and they were all going to die? How they were belittled in the media and it was much better to crush societies and economies and put a teddy bear in the window?

How those of us that opposed lockdowns were cruel right wing extremists and conspiracy theorists?

Sweden now show the lowest cumulative excess deaths from 2020 to 2022 IN THE WORLD – 6.7%. Norway and Denmark (the closest neighbour’s of course) who were much more sensible in the way they took citizens freedom off them and interfered with children’s learning show 6.9 and 12.9% respectively.

NZ has 15.5% excess deaths with some of the strictest measures worldwide. An outcome 2.5 times worse than Sweden!

And you know the Swedes won’t be fudging the numbers, it’s not their style (they are very logical and analytical, hence why they have gone the way they did)

Will anyone ask the tyrant how she feels about these numbers? As if.

Why use excess deaths as the measurement? Given there is no standard for reporting a covid death, eg some dude shot in his driveway in Auckland was counted as a covid death (yes it actually was) therefore excess deaths is the only true measure to calculate the best responses around the world. After all, we did all this to save grandma right?

What does it tell us? Firstly, lockdowns and other restrictions, mandates and mask wearing have achieved nothing apart from the destruction of society. Have they contributed to excess deaths? 100% they have. Anyone supporting lockdowns supports more people dying of all causes than you are supposedly protecting them from. The evidence is there now and this is no longer arguable. I’ll say it again. Lockdowns have killed more people than they saved. Congratulations.

The other thing I take out of this, mainly with some hope is that Sweden has the lowest excess death rate with a reasonably high “vaccination” rate. I’d like to think that means the excess deaths are more due to missed surgeries, other care, late diagnoses, lack of fresh air and sunlight and losing the will to fight (I could go on here but wont) than health issues caused by an untested concoction being rammed into peoples arms, but we simply don’t know the answer to that yet.

Stay home, create high excess deaths.
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November 12, 2022 8:50am
- mandk
  
  It’s now looking like, allowing for:
  a) the average age and presence of co-morbidities amongst those who died with COVID
  b) adverse events associated with the vaxx
  c) deaths caused by cancelled or delayed medical and surgical interventions,
  NZ’s approach has been harmful, overall.
  
  And that’s before the social and economic costs of the lock downs are factored in.
  
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  November 12, 2022 9:25am
- Tom Hunter
  
  I was plotting Sweden’s stats from early in 2020 in a series of posts at No Minister, so had this one pegged in early 2021, following the no-vaccine year in Sweden (at least not until the very end of the year).
  
  You can see the all-causes deaths, and that of the previous decade here at Swedish Death 2020 – and Lockdowns, with the key point being:
  
  The annual death rate for 2020 was 0.94%, compared to the average of 0.92% for the previous decade. Moreover the death toll is lower than it was in 2010-2012 and the same as 2013. I don’t recall any great wave of hysteria about those years.
  
  And even then you could look at the previous year of 2019 with its exceptionally low rate of 0.86% and conclude that there had been a mild winter (or mild flu season) resulting in a lot of people who lived longer than they normally would – but would then get caught up in whatever 2020 presented. In the world of excess deaths you see that all the time.
  
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  November 12, 2022 9:49am
- Benedict Yu
  
  Thanks. I see that the largest category of excess deaths is cardiac. There is now a giant wait for heart surgery in the UK. Probably in New Zealand too. Certainly the government here does not want to talk about it.
  
  Six years ago I developed symptoms of heart valve failure. Once the symptoms appear, the clock is ticking. Each day that passes brings you closer to heart failure. I had my surgery within 3 weeks of diagnosis. I can’t imagine what it would be like to wait months, knowing that you could die any day.
  
  It is horrifying that Jacinda boasts of “saving” thousands of people from death. When the truth is revealed I predict that it will be determined that her policies killed thousands of people. Nobody knows when the mortality rates will return to normal. 6 months? 6 years.
  
  As for the media, they are a disgrace. How hard would it be to ask at the post Cabinet press conference “Is the Prime Minister concerned about the current levels of excess deaths in New Zealand?”
  
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  November 12, 2022 10:13am
  - Benedict Yu
    
    EDIT “I see that the largest category of excess deaths is cardiac.”
    
    I should have added “in the UK”.
    
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    November 12, 2022 10:15am
Thought Criminal

“Socialists have always punished the poor in their desperate quest to punish the rich.”
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November 12, 2022 8:56am
- In Vino Veritas
  
  Correct Thought. Every single time Labour get into power in NZ, those in lower socio-economic groups end up worse off. And those groups keep voting to keep getting worse off. From a personal perspective, I and my family have become significantly more wealthy under Labour Governments since Lange, than under National Governments.
  Labour always whine about the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. Under National Governments the first is probably true, but the second is false. Under Labour Governments the first is true and the second is true.
  
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  November 12, 2022 11:02am
Maggy Wassilieff

Is “Stuff” trying to disassociate itself from being a cheerleader for the excesses of Jacinda’s Covid controls?

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/explained/130376420/covid19-nz-how-to-control-a-pandemic-without-a-lockdown
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November 12, 2022 8:59am
- Tom Hunter
  
  Being good little Twitter addicts I’m sure the Stuff jornos and editors have seen the recent Atlantic article, Let’s Declare a Pandemic Amnesty and similarly figured that the subject can be broached now in NZ as well.
  
  To which I say, NO! I want justice, apologies – and a measure of revenge
  
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  November 12, 2022 9:52am
  - alloytoo
    
    Amnesty should be contingent on repentance.
    
    A genuine mistake can and should be forgiven.
    
    However…many of the covid actions taken by this government were late, and things like mandates were implemented after significant data in Israel and Europe became available which demonstrated the ineffectiveness of the vaccine in preventing infection and transmission.
    
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    November 12, 2022 10:27am
    - Tom Hunter
      
      Haha, “alloytoo”, you’ve read my latest post on this, What does repentance look like?
      
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      November 12, 2022 10:35am
      - alloytoo
        
        Yes, we’ve had similar opinions on this issue for a while now.
        
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        November 12, 2022 1:24pm
Yvette

Three Waters: Government agrees to significant changes after Select Committee recommendations
As for co-governance, Mahuta said opposition to it was a “rallying call for other types of sentiment”.
Joint decision-making enabled conversations that put people, communities, safe drinking water, better environmental outcomes and greater local voice at the centre.
“I think that’s a good thing for all New Zealanders no matter where they live.”
[…]
Asked if he was surprised the statement on the changes did not mention co-governance, [National Party local government spokesperson Simon Watts] said he was.
“That’s because when you travel around the country there is significant concern and opposition in regards to the governance model that has been proposed.”
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/three-waters-government-agrees-to-significant-changes-after-select-committee-recommendations

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern confirms public consultation on Māori co-governance will happen in 2022
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2022/03/prime-minister-jacinda-ardern-confirms-public-consultation-on-m-ori-co-governance-will-happen-in-2022.html

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has confirmed that public consultation on co-governance with Māori will begin later in 2022.
Did we just have that already?
Bugger – no wonder Mahuta says it’s a “rallying call for other types of sentiment”
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November 12, 2022 9:00am
- Nickc2
  
  Tell me, how the fuck can we have co-governance when one side doesn’t want a bar if it and the other side sees it as a means of making money and being in control.
  Instead of calling it “Co-Governance, why not call it what it is, “Maori Control & Ownership?
  
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  November 12, 2022 9:10am
  - Yvette
    
    Or, Nickc2, ask why anyone would discuss “co-governance” at “3 Waters” Four Regional Entity level when –
    Ms Pip Mahuta (Nania’s sister) chairs a Maori Advisory Council to preside over Water Regulator (Taumata Arowai) which will preside over the Four Regional Entities, and that is not “co-governance” but rather “total governance”, particularly through a device called Te Mana o Wait statements, to be available to Maori only.
    
    Now I may be a mere deluded mortal, but check it out – fact check me!
    Anyone, please
    
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    November 12, 2022 9:34am
    - Maggy Wassilieff
      
      device called Te Mana o Wait statements
      
      Happy to ~~fact~~ spell check you…
      
      They are the Te Mana o Wai statements…..
      
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      November 12, 2022 12:49pm
Kiwi_in_Paris

I actually was one of the early ones trying to post concerning statistics on the Covid jabs, a couple of years back. My posts were deleted, and I was called a crazy anti-vaxxer (by the Mods). Just saying. Meanwhile DPF was posting about the importance of New Zealand getting the boosters as fast as possible.
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November 12, 2022 9:00am
- Inandout
  
  Kiwi, in Latin ‘numquam obliviscar’.
  
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  November 12, 2022 9:17am
- Opie
  
  And make sure you jam it into your kids. Grandma’s 4th booster only works if little Johnny has had 3 shots as well.
  
  The shit these muppets used to justify it was incredible.
  
  Anyone that injected kids too young to understand what they were receiving should face criminal charges.
  
  Both the person that took them there and the one administering it.
  
  I wonder if little Neve got hers?
  
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  November 12, 2022 9:24am
  - Tom Hunter
    
    The good news is that the vaccination program for kids appears to have been a bust in the West, and even here in NZ with very low vax % for youngsters
    – despite the relentless propaganda and advertising.
    
    Looks like even vaxxed parents had their doubts, which gives me some hope for the future.
    
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    November 12, 2022 9:57am
    - Benedict Yu
      
      Actually, the COVID vaccination rate for eligible children in New Zealand is much higher than I had thought. It has been increasing slowly but steadily for several months. 52 percent of eligible children have received one shot. 28 percent have received two shots.
      
      https://www.health.govt.nz/covid-19-novel-coronavirus/covid-19-data-and-statistics/covid-19-vaccine-data#uptake
      
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      November 12, 2022 10:27am
      - Tom Hunter
        
        Ick. Last I had looked it was in the low teens, but that was a couple of months ago and I figured the release of all the mandates would have resulted in it not going higher.
        
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        November 12, 2022 10:37am
      - Benedict Yu
        
        Yes I have not looked at the data for a few months. The last time I looked 25 percent of kids had received one dose. That has now doubled to more than 50 percent.
        
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        November 12, 2022 10:42am
  - Benedict Yu
    
    Neve is not eligible because the vaccine for infants has not yet been approved for use in New Zealand.
    
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    November 12, 2022 10:19am
    - An Old Kiwi
      
      She’ll be 5 yo on 21 June, 2023.
      
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      November 12, 2022 8:29pm
Surely Knott

Simon Wilson article enlightens us as to why Efeso has lost the election by such a large majority when the four predecessors have all been Labour.

I’m not a subscriber…..so i’m gonna have to guess here…but is it because we are all racists?
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November 12, 2022 9:13am
- Colville
  
  I think the truth is that the public saw Efeso as a bell end … they didnt care that its a brown bell end!
  
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  November 12, 2022 9:26am
  - surfing
    
    He seems like a nice guy with no clues.
    
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    November 12, 2022 10:33am
- Pineapple Lumps
  
  I skimmed the paper this morning. Apparently his undoing wasn’t so much about race nor poor voter turnout. Apparently he was endorsed by Labour but they didn’t get their big machine wound up to support him. According to Simon if they weren’t prepared to support him fully it would have been better if Labour hadn’t endorsed him and he had run as a complete independent.
  
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  November 12, 2022 1:38pm
mandk

Hi K i P

I had the same experience.

A number of my comments were deleted by the mods (or perhaps a particular mod), even though they were based on reputable sources.

It seemed at the time that the comments policy was not being followed:
https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2019/03/kiwiblog_content_and_comments.html

C’est la vie.
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November 12, 2022 9:15am
kevn

@Kiwi…. Good on you for raising this.
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November 12, 2022 9:16am
MiddleclassTrash

Just looking at 3 waters from a different angle:
One of the first things new world Brit settler societies do is eliminate the influence of aristocratic classes. There are no lords & ladies in Oz, US, NZ (apart from the Governor General admittedly, but not in everyday & civic life).
Vigorous meritocracies are promoted.
I think the reason for this is because a lot of nobs are pompous, unintelligent dicks, who seem to actively hold back their various societies.
A good example of this affecting a worthy NZer is the experiences of Keith Park, the man of who it was said “If any one man won the Battle of Britain, he did… ” (Lord Tedder, Head of the RAF, 1947).
He was continually back stabbed by RAF cliches, who promoted inferior, unsuccessful tactics.
Among perceived his crimes was marrying one of the London lower classes.
His poor treatment was noted by many at the time.
From as far back as I can remember, there always seemed to be some plummy historian defending the discredited tactics of his critics.
It took a campaign involving a Brit financier & broadcaster for a statue of Keith Park to be erected in London.
In my personal experience, there are people in the UK who believe NZers to be their serfs.
Just remember, they are not the reason there was a Brit empire, they stayed at home.
Do not accept or promote a “born to rule” class in NZ. It is an abandoned failed model, and against NZ settler culture.
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November 12, 2022 9:24am
- Tom Hunter
  
  Yep!:
  
  Two words Mr Finlayson.
  
  Fuck
  
  You.
  
  My Scottish and Irish ancestors lived for hundreds of years tugging their forelocks to Irish landowners and Scottish Lairds, escaped that, and neither I nor my kids are going to repeat that process with the likes of Prince Willie Jackson and Princess Nanaia Mahuta.
  
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  November 12, 2022 10:01am
  - kevn
    
    @Tom… The vermin, deer and opossums will just chow down and thin/spoil the bush in a generation.
    
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    November 12, 2022 10:36am
  - Benedict Yu
    
    The guy who gave away a National Park, which is now not maintained and the huts are being demolished.
    
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    November 12, 2022 10:46am
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  And when hard-times arrive:
  .. sheep to the Scottish Highlands; Potato blight to Ireland (& west coast Scotland),
  tribal leaders/chiefs will abandon their serfs and look after their own interests only.
  
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  November 12, 2022 10:04am
Tasman devil

Great to see Labour won’t relent on co-governance, it’s anti farmer emissions tax, and wasteful spending on talentless public servants.

All these things will ensure they lose today in a year’s time.
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November 12, 2022 9:39am
- Yvette
  
  Never interrupt your enemy when she is making a mistake. – Napoleon Bonaparte
  
  The key to this is probably realising when your enemy is making mistake, and not telling them, or not doing much so they can figure it out themself
  
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  November 12, 2022 10:24am
Surely Knott

The Guardian Reports: Just stop oil’s protests in the UK is being funded hundreds of thousands by an Los Angeles charity / philantropists. “LA-based based Climate Emergency Fund donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to activists”

Interesting. Were our road stopping activists funded by overseas interests? What about our school climate activists? What about our scientist activist spokespeople the media relies on?

Because entities like disinformation project which are not charities or societies it’s difficult to see how they are funded or by whom.

When overseas interests are funding political activism in our country is that taxed? Should there be some disclosure of international political influencers? Is it akin to funding a political party or is it ok if you are just funding the activists who highlight the issues they will run on.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/apr/29/just-stop-oils-protests-funded-by-us-philanthropists
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November 12, 2022 9:50am
- alloytoo
  
  I’m inclined to think that organisations (foreign or domestic) which promote illegal activity which disrupt NZ citizens or businesses and damage property should be designated terrorist organisations and our police and intelligence services should act according.
  
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  November 12, 2022 10:20am
  - MCōs
    
    Careful what you wish for
    
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    November 12, 2022 1:13pm
- Jack5
  
  Middleclass Trash’s …. There are no lords & ladies in Oz, US, NZ…
  
  But there are social classes.
  
  One of the aims of the Woke is to replace social class divisions with race divisions.
  
  Perhaps the difference between the UK and North America and Australasia is that the newer countries have greater mobility between classes.
  
  Within NZ, social class varies, but has been influenced by which secondary school people attended. This was notable in Christchurch, and may still be.
  
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  November 12, 2022 10:59am
  - kevn
    
    @Jack5… Yes, the incumbents we currently have, are the worst of middle class.
    
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    November 12, 2022 12:06pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

Mike Rowe.
https://rumble.com/v1qn3vd-mike-rowe-this-is-what-work-looks-like.html?
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November 12, 2022 10:06am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  I am/was one of those workers.
  
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  November 12, 2022 10:09am
cmm

Do people really “deserve” their various entitlements just because they live in New Zealand?

Only half the people in Africa (and less than that outside of South Africa) have running water or electricity – let alone double glazing.
They live on a few $ a day – so much so that the R350 per month (NZ$30 per month) handout is considered a game changer.

But here in NZ, people expect the taxpayer to give them a double glazed house and a few thousand $ worth of other goodies each month.

Why? Just because you had the good fortune to live in NZ?
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November 12, 2022 10:17am
- Jack5
  
  A British High Commissioner to NZ pointed out a characteristic of our country: Kiwis want Swedish-scale welfare but only with American-scale taxation.
  
  On a good wage, a Swede likely pays more than 50 per cent in tax, and 60 per cent of the price of a bottle of spirits goes to the State, which also limits alcohol sales to the State-owned monopoly, Systembolaget Aktiebolag.
  
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  November 12, 2022 11:09am
  - Pineapple Lumps
    
    Not all kiwis want more welfare – lots of us would like to see a society where more are interested in contributing to the greater good, not taking as much as they can.
    
    I had a worker, not born in NZ, who chose not to come to work for two days because he couldn’t be bothered. Not concerned by the financial impact of 2 days lost earnings. I can only conclude working for families or criminal activity tops up the difference.
    
    Time to put limits on our generosity. We are creating a society of takers and losers.
    
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    November 12, 2022 3:49pm
Maggie Pie

TRENDING

Makes a bit of a mockery of Twitter’s blue ‘check-verified’ mark.

He even looks a bit pissed to me….

https://twitter.com/jesus

Still, if HE wants to pay 8 bucks 😀
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November 12, 2022 10:36am
- Inandout
  
  Maggie, I wonder would an account named mohamed be acceptable?
  
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  November 12, 2022 12:26pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

Veterans Dat/Rememberance Day/Armistice Day in the US.
Veterans and PTSD. It is not all roses and sunshine.
https://thepoliticalinsider.com/exclusive-sky-high-inflation-crushing-veterans-says-code-of-vets-founder-gretchen-smith/?
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November 12, 2022 10:42am
alloytoo

Has public transport become a religion?

I’ve seen an increasing number of reports of people complaining that their “Savings” on heavily subsidised public transport are being used on Uber because of the high number of bus cancellations.

To me it appears that the market has provided an alternative to inefficient centralized public, the issue is now only one of price.

Time to remove the subsidy on public transport and let the market determine which is preferred and where.

We may still choose to subsidise some members of society based on circumstances and need, but that subsidy can be applied to any commercial service.

One we determine the true demand, then we adjust our investment in PT accordingly and perhaps release some resources.
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November 12, 2022 10:45am
- Benedict Yu
  
  Yes agree. The current approach is to provide PT to save the climate. In Christchurch this means very large and expensive buses driving around with a handful of passengers.
  
  Here is a a good example. Went to the agricultural show in Christchurch on Thursday. Decided it was a bad idea to take the car. Turns out there are free buses. But we have to get to the bus interchange. And they go every hour. 🙄 So we need to time the connecting service. Can’t be bothered.
  
  So we get an Uber. $9
  
  “FREE” public transport is only free if you value your time at zero. Taking an hour to get somewhere instead of 15 minutes is not free. 🤡
  
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  November 12, 2022 10:56am
- Benedict Yu
  
  BTW I would call public transport and cycleways a “cult” or subsidiaries of the climate change “cult”. You can’t adopt rational climate change policies if you approach it as a cult. You end up with policies like EV subsidies with marginal abatement costs hundreds of times that of the carbon price. Small countries cannot do that. I agree with Eric Campton. We will go broke.
  
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  November 12, 2022 11:01am
  - alloytoo
    
    And in going broke will find it much harder to adapt when it become inevitable.
    
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    November 12, 2022 11:30am
    - Benedict Yu
      
      Exactly. Rich countries have options.
      
      And why this does not cause riots is beyond me. New Zealand can’t wait to get on the band wagon of “climate reparations”.
      
      “New Zealand joined Belgium and Austria, committing NZ$20 million (almost US$12 million) to loss and damage globally.
      
      “Dedicated funding for loss and damage places Aotearoa New Zealand at the leading edge of wealthy countries supporting action to address loss and damage from climate change. It strongly signals our support for Pacific priorities,” said Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta. “Comparatively wealthy countries like Aotearoa New Zealand have a duty to support countries most at-risk from climate change.””
      
      https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/loss-and-damage-announcements-cop27/#:~:text=New%20Zealand%20joined%20Belgium%20and,and%20damage%20from%20climate%20change.
      
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      November 12, 2022 11:37am
      - Jack5
        
        Is NZ still a rich country?
        
        In real (inflation adjusted) GDP per capita in 2020:
        
        – Austria $US51,900.
        – Belgium $US48,200.
        – New Zealand $US42,400.
        
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        November 12, 2022 12:12pm
  - MCōs
    
    Back in the 60s I went to school in Christchurch/Timaru.
    All the kids had a bike.
    There are few wet days down.
    Furthermore
    A lot of other people got round on bikes too.
    When I finished school I went to work in Wellington and took my bike with me.
    It was about the only one in the city. Some people had never seen a bike before.
    Sounds like your sort of town!
    
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    November 12, 2022 1:36pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

Veteran returns to Normandy 7 decades after D-Day.
https://thepoliticalinsider.com/veteran-returns-to-normandy-honor-fallen-brothers/?
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November 12, 2022 10:49am
Maggy Wassilieff

Just how busy is Nanaia Mahuta’s sister?

*Chair of the Maori Health Authority Board

*Member of Health New Zealand Board

*Chair of the five-member Maori Advisory Board which has two members on the seven-member board of Taumata Arowai, the new Water Services Regulator.

*A Waikato Regional Councillor, elected unopposed for one of the two Waikato Regional Māori constituencies.

*Co-chair (appointed by Waikato-Tainui) to the Waikato River Authority.

https://pointofordernz.wordpress.com/2022/11/11/new-appointees-will-get-to-sit-around-the-table-with-tipa-mahuta-no-matter-which-health-authority-board-they-are-joining/
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November 12, 2022 11:44am
- Gravelroad
  
  Probably getting paid $1m pa.
  Hope she is worth it – lots and lots of papers to read there.
  It’s not just a matter of sitting round a meeting table and waiting for the afternoon tea before going back to your top hotel accommodation for a nice lie down.
  
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  November 12, 2022 12:43pm
- artemisia
  
  Board chairs and members are accountable for the organisations they oversee. Public or private. Not sure they will all be happy when called to account for non delivery of outcomes.
  
  I see Wayne Brown is to set up a razor gang for a line by line dive into council spending, and assume that will include bangs for bucks.
  
  Think we can also assume a different government will do the same at national level. And it would be astonishing if the Opposition is not already doing this. As far as they can with incomplete information.
  
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  November 12, 2022 2:54pm
Benedict Yu

“School principals around the country warn new literacy and numeracy standards could “provoke a crisis” and “undermine the credibility” of the NCEA assessment system.”

“During the pilot principals spoke out about their concerns the tests would leave behind Māori and Pasifika students, worsening “institutional racism” in the education sector.”

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/130446897/principals-warn-literacy-and-numeracy-changes-could-provoke-a-crisis

So we have a public education system, governed by the Ministry of Education, that has resulted in only a minority of children being able to read, write, and do arithmetic.

The solution of the principals is not to fix the system but to make the tests easier.

These are the guardians of a system that has produced this disaster. Why would we trust them to fix it?
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November 12, 2022 11:49am
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  The chickens are coming home to roost.
  
  NZ secondary school teachers have known for years that a large cohort is arriving at their school gates with literacy and numeracy levels well below that required for success at Secondary education.
  
  NZ Educators have known for at least 1 generation that many children from low socio-economic areas are getting a second-rate education.
  
  What a cop-out to explain away teaching failure as somehow being the fault of lower decile families.
  
  Could it be that our Educators have neglected to enforce high standards of teaching and curriculum delivery throughout the entire school system?
  
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  November 12, 2022 12:30pm
emmess

There was actually a red wave, the problem at a minimum was the way the vote was distributed

Republicans lead by 6.1%, which is better than their average in “generic congressional ballot” polls, in which the party led by 2.5% in the final RealClearPolitics

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/11/10/republicans-have-won-6-million-more-votes-than-democrats-in-house-races-but-relatively-few-seats/

That was similar to previous red waves in 1994,2010 & 2014
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November 12, 2022 11:53am
Jack5

A digital age entrepreneur’s $NZ26 billion fortune has been wiped out with the collapse of the American cryptocurrency trading exchange FTX and its trading arm, Alameda Research.

The Telegraph reports that the fortune of FTX’s founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, is thought to have been reduced to zero.

Bankman-Fried was the second-largest individual donor to Democratic causes in 2021–2022 election cycle, giving about $NZ65 million. The biggest donor was George Soros.

The Wall Street Journal said FTX attracted nearly $NZ3.275 billion in investments, including from venture-capital firms, hedge funds and even the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan.

FTX, Alameda, and other affiliates estimate in their bankruptcy filings that they have more than 100,000 creditors.
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November 12, 2022 12:00pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

The United Spot.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCfsHuD4c_o
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November 12, 2022 12:12pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

Stop Co-Governance. Julian Batchelor.
https://www.stopcogovernance.kiwi/uncategorized/its-out-a-vote-for-national-is-a-vote-for-continuation-of-co-governance/?
Erica Stanford on Immigration. 7 minutes in.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CV_IHhkfh5w
National’s stance is a political disaster,
https://www.stopcogovernance.kiwi/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/National-If-For-Co-Governance.pdf
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November 12, 2022 12:42pm
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  From the last link:
  An iwi leaders group meeting in Taupo last week gave a rare glimpse into the identity and nature of the ‘tribal elite’ – that ‘shadowy’ group who are being given control of key New Zealand resources and services by Jacinda Ardern’s Government.
  Really? Where was the NZ media on this?
  
  Watch out NZ, we are being played. There is a shitload of stuff we are not told about.
  
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  November 12, 2022 12:46pm
NZer In Exile

Mods, (and er mod-trolls 🙂 ):

Can we please see who is down-voting? IMHO that would enable all to see which users are habitually just mindlessly crapping on people’s posts without offering their thoughts.
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November 12, 2022 1:40pm
- Ghost
  
  Do people even take notice of them? I never see them
  
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  November 12, 2022 1:52pm
- Benedict Yu
  
  Don’t worry about it.
  
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  November 12, 2022 2:18pm
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  I only worry about the downticks when my posts consistently fail to attract any.
  
  I’d hate to think that my bon mots are being overlooked by folks with little else to do in their day but downtick comments on Kiwiblog.
  
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  November 12, 2022 3:21pm
- Colville
  
  ticks either way just mean you have engaged with peoples minds.
  They may not agree with you however….
  
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  November 12, 2022 8:49pm
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  If you must look and count them, wear it as a badge of honour.
  You have pissed someone off – play the game/
  
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  November 13, 2022 9:36am
wilderbeast

Just talking to a friend who works for a government funded teacher placement agency. Any immigrant teacher showing interest in teaching here is disuaded from Christchurch – “it’s a racist city”. Gee I hope there aren’t any teacher shortages there…..
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November 12, 2022 1:43pm
Maggie Pie

Lorde cancels New Plymouth show due to low ticket sales.

$tuff reports her as saying….”I’m bummed”

https://twitter.com/RitaRed13/status/1590874042734907392

Wonder if she went a Catholic Boarding School like I did? 😀
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November 12, 2022 2:53pm
- Inandout
  
  Maggie, stuff closed comments after the 4th so must have been bad. Last time I saw her (years ago) I thought she was parodying nerve damage sufferers.
  
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  November 12, 2022 3:10pm
- Ghost
  
  So because of a pandemic tickets didn’t sell? Hmmm, last I heard the rugby has sold out, maybe it’s not because of a pandemic Lorde.
  
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  November 12, 2022 3:18pm
- wilderbeast
  
  She could always try Israel?
  
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  November 12, 2022 5:38pm
kevn

@Maggie… She is her own biggest fan.
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November 12, 2022 3:07pm
kevn

bakers wet dream come true. A cruise ship with covid/flu.
That will make a crap cruise finale for passengers.
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November 12, 2022 3:45pm
CommanderC

Great victory by the Ukrainian Army for Ukraine and on behalf of Western values on Remembrance Day!

Was so delighted to see the true, honest, happy reactions of Kherson residents to being liberated.

Keen viewers will have noticed New Zealand soldier Jordan O’Brien in a couple of the more famous Kherson liberation videos doing the rounds. There’s even a closeup with the black & white Kiwi / New Zealand badge patch noticeably present.

DPF — get yourself over to Odesa (Odessa), and go interview him and the other Kiwi Shannon Dillon

(before Tova does and brings some electioneering “gift for the boys” from St Jacinda)!!!

Meanwhile the Russian nazis (and their fifth columnist traitors to humanity, spread thinly around the world) can go pack their bags with their stolen toilet seats and head back to Omsk and Tomsk.
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November 12, 2022 4:23pm
- Ghost
  
  Well if you feel so strongly about this person why don’t you go over there and interview him and then write an article for the blog.
  
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  November 12, 2022 5:10pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

In the east it is still 11th Nov. Armistice/ Remembrance/Veteran’s Day.
Toby Keith.
https://rumble.com/v1tmxzk-toby-keith-american-soldier.html?
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November 12, 2022 4:30pm
Maggie Pie

TWITTER TRENDING

No wonder even Jesus was able to get ‘blue-tick-verified’

Have a look at this AVI of Helen 😀 😀 😀

https://twitter.com/HelenClarkNZ
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November 12, 2022 4:44pm
- greybeard
  
  That photo of Clark reminds me of a similar deceptive one for Kapiti Coast District Council mayoral candidate Jenny Rowan, back in 2004 or 2005.
  The pictures portrayed a youthful , attractive woman: the actuality was VERY much different.
  
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  November 12, 2022 5:39pm
Jack5

Joel Maxwell is even fuller of hype than usual in Stuff today.

In what could have been an informative story about Maori learning forgotten long-distance canoe travel from other Polynesians, Maxwell writes:

If you’re a Maori or Pasifika person stuck in a car, or toiling at work – if life is getting you down –remember, you descend from the world’s greatest explorers.

Maxwell can be justly proud of the ancient voyaging prowess of one side of his family, but how can Polynesians, or anyone-else on Earth, boast of explorers greater than the American astronauts who walked on the Moon?

The six Apollo teams that landed on Earth’s satellite set the new standard.
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November 12, 2022 4:45pm
- greybeard
  
  You still believe the Americans landed on the moon in 1969? And got back? With one engine? And perfect photos? And all the rest ?
  Jesus: they couldn’t even build a decent car in 1969!
  
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  November 12, 2022 6:30pm
  - Jack5
    
    Which of the conspiracy theories do you believe in, Greybeard?
    
    That advanced aliens drew a virtual line and told us Earthlings not to cross it?
    
    That the US Government recruited Kubrick to make false video of the landings?
    
    That the “C” like mark on a Moon rock photo shows it was a prop?
    
    The link below says, tongue in cheek, that perhaps best evidence of the Moon landings came in 2002:
    
    … when then 72-year-old Buzz Aldrin – the second man to walk on the Moon – showed he was willing to risk jail in support of the truth. Aldrin was confronted by a conspiracy theorist who called him a “coward, and a liar and a thief”. Aldrin socked him in the jaw.
    
    https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/world/2019/07/moon-landing-the-proof-it-really-happened.html
    
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    November 12, 2022 8:41pm
  - Biscuit
    
    Erm, Greybeard, don’t you think that the folk with most to gain from the Americans’ success being doubted might have had somnething to say about it all?
    
    But, instead, Russia was – and remains – silent on the matter…
    
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    November 12, 2022 10:06pm
- rouppe
  
  In order to navigate accurately in an East/West direction, you need:
  1) a clock, to ensure you take measurements of the celestial body at the same time every day
  2) a compass, to measure the deflection change over time of that celestial body.
  3) a written record of all those measurements so that the navigation can be repeated.
  
  Which of those did those Maori explorers have in 1300AD?
  
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  November 12, 2022 11:22pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

Not wanting to AOC?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0ivYQE9R48
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November 12, 2022 5:07pm
Ghost

I can’t help thinking looking at the picture, the sky might have worms

The latest documentary based on the bizarre ‘Night of the UFOs’ features a chilling audio clip of a

Brazilian fighter pilot who encountered one of the many UFOs that appeared over Brazil in May 1986.

On May 19, 1986, a long-lasting event occurred in Brazil involving the sighting of a whopping 21 UFOs by numerous civilian and military witnesses in four states: Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais, and Goiás.

https://eurasiantimes.com/hypersonic-ufo-stuns-fighter-pilots-new-documentary-audio/
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November 12, 2022 5:12pm
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Those pilots have a combination of drugs and mental health
  
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  November 13, 2022 10:09am
Biscuit

Great game of Rugby tonight – and such passion fron the Black Ferns.

What a way for a few legends – including Honorary Females Wayne Smith and Graham Henry – to bow out…
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November 12, 2022 10:08pm
- rouppe
  
  One wonders what the result would have been if England had 15 players for more of the game.
  
  A deserved red card, let’s be clear.
  
  Just like last week the Black Ferns looked to have lost, only for a miracle, this time a line out steal, one of only two (I think) in the game…
  
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  November 12, 2022 10:52pm
- Piticus
  
  And what a victory for rugby which is worth watching as opposed to the boring, rolling mails and total forward play by England. Thank goodness we beat this style of game – quite frankly it was awful.
  
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  November 12, 2022 11:11pm
Sir Cullen's Sidekick

Bros 0f the South Pacific – if only our Governments (both Labour and National) showed the grit and determination of Black Ferns……
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November 12, 2022 10:40pm