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January 30, 2023 8:00am by Kokila Patel

General Debate 30 January 2023

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General Debate

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NeverMindTheBollocks

Let’s cancel Waitangi this weekend. Too wet for a barbie.
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January 30, 2023 8:01am
- Nickc2
  
  Let’s cancel it for all time. It’s been bastardised by self-interest groups for personal gain.
  
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  January 30, 2023 8:39am
- kowtow
  
  And the gas causes floods in Auckland.
  
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  January 30, 2023 9:17am
- Rusty
  
  @Never..
  
  Lets call it New Zealand day again.
  
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  January 30, 2023 9:26am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Army will be there, C/- Net Taxpayer.
  
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  January 30, 2023 9:47am
  - Ian Boag
    
    Army would have been somewhere anyway ….
    
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    January 30, 2023 10:12am
    - Steve Otto(North Shore)
      
      With the same amount of BBQ food?
      
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      January 30, 2023 11:36am
  - Mike
    
    Waitangi is mainly a navy thing, isn’t it?
    
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    January 30, 2023 1:32pm
peterwn

Prominent Kiwi entertainer responded to advertisement inviting investments in an alleged AMP Capital high yield global fund. Despite ANZ bank on two occasions warning him to take care he paid $100,000 into what looked like a AMP custodial account at St George Bank in Sydney (St George Bank is a regional Australian bank owner by Westpac but seems to operate fairly independently of Westpac). ANZ and NZ Police have been unsuccessful in tracing or recovering the money. He wants ANZ to refund half the money but ANZ has refused. He was indeed taken for a ride in a sophisticated scam and he deserves sympathy. Seems ANZ has acted quite properly including warning him and I cannot see how ANZ can be held responsible. The problem for the entertainer and the friend he took advice from is they never did an independent check as to whether the ‘AMP Capital’ he was dealing with was genuine. He either did not get an investment statement or prospectus or if he did they were sophisticated ‘forgeries’. Nor did they do an independent check such as phoning ‘AMP capital’ on the number in the phone book especially as ANZ raised a red flag.
The focus should go on St George Bank in Sydney since it seems they were plain careless at the very least in allowing an account to be opened which was obviously a conduit for money laundering. Seems those who opened the account and had operating authority were not properly identified by the bank or had their addresses checked. But then Australian casinos (including Sky City with respect to its Australian operations) and at least two Australian major banks (including Westpac who owns St George) seem to fall far short in upholding the requirements of Australia’s anti money laundering laws. St George is possibly more lax than its parent Westpac which is probably why the fraudsters chose it.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/prominent-kiwi-entertainer-loses-100k-in-sophisticated-investment-scam/PJ4D56EVURB4NGPUDPA36NXLNY/
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January 30, 2023 8:01am
- surfing
  
  “Seems those who opened the account and had operating authority were not properly identified by the bank or had their addresses checked”
  
  How do you know this?
  
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  January 30, 2023 8:38am
  - Matt Long
    
    What, are you saying the Anti Money Laundering laws are to capture details on law abiding people and are ineffective at preventing fraud?
    That they only waste time and cost productivity? Sounds like conspiracy theory stuff to me.
    
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    January 30, 2023 9:57am
    - slijmbal
      
      Required to do AML training and checking for some of my customers plus suffered various AML processes as we have commercial properties.
      
      Decided to investigate. All figures are estimates so need to be treated with caution, but the magnitude of the numbers does tell a story even if there are inaccuracies. Something like $US 2 trillion is laundered each year and its estimated AML laws recover well less than 1%. The majority of recoveries are fines on financial institutes.
      
      This is not conspiracy theory territory rather a recognition that is one of the most ineffective policies brought in that had the, possibly intended, side effect of restricting, controlling and monitoring $ movement for legal purposes and, in particular, that of people who are not rich.
      
      It is also, frankly, quite painful to have to see a Justice of the Peace every time I want a different commercial real estate person to lease out one of my properties. One of a number of useless and ineffective processes that result because of stupid, useless AML laws.
      
      AML has not worked by any measure.
      
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      January 30, 2023 4:25pm
  - peterwn
    
    Elementary, my dear Watson. If those involved had been properly identified when opening the account, they could have been called to account for authorising the payment of the $100K to goodness knows where. In my opinion if St George Bank refunds the money to the entertainer’s ANZ account now it may reduce regulator’s potential fines by more than the $100K involved. Seems the Australian regulators are only just waking up that there are systemic compliance issues among banks, casinos etc.
    A friend had a cheque stolen from his mail box years ago. The thief opened an account in my friend’s name, paid the cheque into it, then withdrew the proceeds. The bank had to pay up because it had done nothing to check that the thief was not opening an account under a false name.
    
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    January 30, 2023 10:55am
- JackRabbit
  
  The focus should go on St George Bank in Sydney since it seems they were plain careless at the very least in allowing an account to be opened which was obviously a conduit for money laundering.
  
  I disagree. Fraudsters are so clever these days, they can misrepresent themselves to banks as well.
  
  A recent “man in the middle” in which hackers swiped a similar amount by intercepting invoices and altering the bank account details, was paid into a well known prestigious UK Bank.
  
  These hackers are not some 13 year old snotty nose kid playing on the family computer. They are sophisticated.
  
  You only have to look at the daily crypto thefts amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars per day, and sensible people still keep buying crypto.
  
  People were sucked into the “open source code makes it safe” lie. Would you put money in a bank that published all the source code for their banking systems on github? I think not.
  
  https://duckduckgo.com/?q=recent bitcoin hack&t=newext&atb=v148-1&ia=web
  
  The focus has to go on personal responsibility. If the bank said caution, only an idiot would walk where angels fear to tread.
  
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  January 30, 2023 9:13am
  - kowtow
    
    Across the west govt and legal authorities have no interest in investigating or prosecuting these criminals .
    
    Meanwhile they’ll turn out for hurty feelings.
    
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    January 30, 2023 9:19am
  - Rusty
    
    @JackRabbit
    
    I wouldn’t be surprised if many of these lowlife scammers are ex-bank employees who know the system inside out.
    
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    January 30, 2023 9:29am
    - JackRabbit
      
      Or state actors.
      
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      January 30, 2023 9:52am
  - peterwn
    
    Banks and casinos need to be more clever or they will keep paying megabucks in penalties into Government coffers.
    
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    January 30, 2023 12:21pm
- Stuart
  
  AML laws are a joke.
  
  First they provide endless opportunity for identify theft as you now have to give a large amount of information to so many different companies, it is easy for someone to take advantage of this.
  
  Second they don’t even prevent activities like the above, most details are not checked, and are not hard to fake. They are a box ticking exercise that the criminals happily tick.
  
  Third they prevent genuine people from participating in society, particularly those in lower socio-economic areas who cannot open an account, or transact with a company as they can’t sufficiently prove they exist, adding one more hurdle to getting ahead in life (or onto the straight and narrow).
  
  Lastly they seem only designed to drive lawyers and accountants insane. If this was their purpose, they are working.
  
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  January 30, 2023 10:00am
  - RoboRob
    
    I was on a school board and we needed to change the treasurer. The process was incredibly complex. We discoverred that Westpac didn’t know the procedures properly, we simply called each branch and asked the procedure and then chose the branch the gave us the simplist answer!
    
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    January 30, 2023 11:18am
  - mawm
    
    Stuart – in addition they don’t seem to catch those that are actually laundering money ie drug king-pins, US Senators, etc.
    
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    January 30, 2023 11:38am
- Jimbob
  
  AMP has dead in the water for decades, anyone who deals with these people deserve what’s coming.
  
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  January 30, 2023 1:01pm
- Graeme Hall
  
  Prominent Kiwi Entertainer (Musician) wants 50% refund of lost money after ignoring a warning not to invest? Only question then: Why didn’t ANZ dob him in?
  
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  January 30, 2023 1:37pm
wisteria

The level of interviewing style by the AM and TV3 staff was appalling this morning. Their lack of research is evident and their wit in asking well thought questions is severely lacking.
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January 30, 2023 8:03am
- Nickc2
  
  But you must admit they are very successful in maintaining a very very low standard.
  Piss em all off and start again. That includes all production staff and crew.
  
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  January 30, 2023 8:46am
  - igm
    
    Too involved putting pidgin English into reports instead of basic journalistic research!
    
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    January 30, 2023 11:50am
- bartybart
  
  if you stop watching TV news in NZ it is no longer an issue
  
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  January 30, 2023 8:53am
  - Jimbob
    
    The climate narrative has long shown how hollow it is, every day it gets even more amusing.
    
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    January 30, 2023 1:02pm
- Handyman
  
  The TV3 “climate reporter” last night managed to get every fact wrong in her piece from Stonefields.
  She described Stonefields as an urban sponge and pointed to a floodable park. Actually the “park” it is the site of a medium density intensive housing development. The 3m by 5m billboard, with pictures, is just behind the “reporter”.
  The secret to Stonefield’s excellent water management is it has suitable underground pipes to carry the water away. Someone did a calculation in the design stage and permitting stage to right size the stormwater pipes. No great mystery there; the only mystery is why that calculation is not done elsewhere.
  
  Also, houses have a small underground (1500 litre) surge tank to absorb the impact of any sudden downpours.
  
  Auckland flooding is the inevitable result of Len Brown/Goff/Green’s obsession with intensification while diverting funding for consequential infrastructure to ego projects like the tram to (flooded) airport.
  
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  January 30, 2023 9:41am
  - Nickc2
    
    No doubt Len Brown/Goff will have some infrastructure named after them.
    
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    January 30, 2023 11:27am
    - JeffW
      
      Should have sewer lines named for them
      
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      January 30, 2023 1:40pm
      - Nickc2
        
        Hey, I intimated that yesterday about a certain Maori Princess and my comment disappeared into thin air (flushed down the Mod’s InSinkErator).
        
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        January 30, 2023 4:05pm
  - lemuzz
    
    TV1 had a clip showing open stormwater drains with bushes in the channel and also a clip of firstly the intake of an under road culvert which had water backing up and then the outflow of the same culvert showing the pipe only had about 1/4 of its capacity flowing. Stormwater maintenance is lacking and is partly, but not all, the reason for much of the flooding.
    
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    January 30, 2023 12:58pm
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  You could try play school TV1 Breakfast for comparison.
  
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  January 30, 2023 9:55am
  - RoboRob
    
    TV3 is infinately better
    
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    January 30, 2023 11:19am
    - Steve Otto(North Shore)
      
      Here, the speaker of the house insists on Breakfast.
      
      Keep the queen bee happy and the whole hive is happy.
      
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      January 30, 2023 11:38am
hmmokrightitis

Now that the risk/benefit analysis in the UK confirms taking the booster is actually much higher risk than any derived benefit…

Will the pink haired bio-luminescence expert tell us that?
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January 30, 2023 8:05am
- ClanMcleod
  
  Will any of the NZ “experts” tell us that? We seemed to have plenty of voicing their opinions a year ago.
  Not so many now it seems…….
  
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  January 30, 2023 9:07am
  - hmmokrightitis
    
    Weve moved on to the next crisis.
    
    Will said bio-luminescence expert also front up and talk about excess deaths, which are causing huge concern globally in high-vax countries? Or is that crisis different?
    
    And why is the NZ media silent on our excess deaths increase? Stubbornly high and not heading down. Is that not newsworthy?
    
    And good on India – yet again – for sticking two fingers up at Pfizer. Looked good then, looking even better now and into the future.
    
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    January 30, 2023 9:27am
    - GJM
      
      Apparently those excess deaths and other long term non fatal health issues are “long covid” not from the vax. Get with the program, stop spreading misinfomation and stoop with the home baking and braiding your children’s hair.
      
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      January 30, 2023 12:18pm
- sirknz
  
  Now she is shilling a ‘WEF initiative’ that was shouted down when other people proposed improving indoor ventilation 12-18 months ago as a way of stopping transmission indoors.
  
  Archive link because I don’t want to give $tuff or her opinion pieces any more ad revenue or clicks than is necessary:
  https://archive.fo/TMjNy
  
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  January 30, 2023 9:35am
  - JackRabbit
    
    Actually sirknz, if she had told people to go to the beach or the local park instead of locking down at home, the results would have been fer better.
    
    Any virus dilutes rapidly outside, and being in nature has always had an anti-virus effect.
    
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    January 30, 2023 12:06pm
  - JackRabbit
    
    The need for air purifiers and ventilation including pointing out the the poor ventilation in MIQ Hotels, happened 3 years ago, as multiple medical professionals tried to tell the govt and medical hierarchy.
    
    Someone from a DHB imported a number of air purifiers early on in the pandemic to be used in the ICU wards, and they were promptly diverted to a large storage area, where they sat in their boxes, unopened and uninstalled.
    
    Futhermore, ventilation technology to extract viruses, including electrostatic air purifiers, is 50 year old technology. For Wiles to be rabbiting on about this now as something new, shows how really out of touch she really is.
    
    She should have been stamping her feet and pounding the desk 3 years ago about this, and the ineptitude of medical establishment.
    
    Everyone can be clever in hindsight. In today’s media controlled narrative, anyone with foresight is called a conspiracy theorist.
    
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    January 30, 2023 12:27pm
Mike

A day to remember two faith figures: Charles I, King and Martyr for the Anglicans, and Mahatma Gandhi for Hindus.
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January 30, 2023 8:05am
Toes on the nose

Other than the obligatory “misogyny blah blah” comment, Mathew Tukaki has gone silent lately. Which is a blessing.
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January 30, 2023 8:09am
- bartybart
  
  he’s got his million dollars he transfers shortly before he was sacked which is the end game for these self appointed maori leaders
  
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  January 30, 2023 8:54am
Paulus

Mike Hoskins back tomorrow thank goodness.
His replacement has been terrible and this morning he showed why he should never have been employed in that job.
He was of course talking and criticising well elected Mayor Brown like all the media, and he had the Deputy Mayor on and started grilling her critically.
But he met his match – she spoke carefully and had all the up to date information and emergency phone number, which she slowly enunciated.
The idiot called Tim tried to cut her off on more thn one occasion but she correctly just ignored him and gave the answer to that which was asked – but she was prepared.
I see that there is a petition to try and get Brown out, because the Labour Party supported candidate did not get the required votes and the Herald cartoon sums up what we can expct this year from their media total bias.
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January 30, 2023 8:10am
- Captain Mainwaring
  
  The man’s name is HOSKING.
  
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  January 30, 2023 8:31am
  - fernglas
    
    It’s surprising how frequently people on here misspell the names of their heroes. I’m thinking, amongst others, of Luxton, Wynston and Arden.
    
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    January 30, 2023 10:02am
    - Ghost
      
      Spell check changes the names
      
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      January 30, 2023 10:08am
      - Captain Mainwaring
        
        Proofreading gives you the ability to fix it.
        
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        January 30, 2023 10:13am
    - septic skeptic
      
      Those 3 are often misspelled more radically than that!
      
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      January 30, 2023 10:32am
  - Jim
    
    No1 fan Captain? Especially considering he’s been on holiday for nearly two months.
    
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    January 30, 2023 6:10pm
- info@cruzpro.com
  
  Phil Goff was the Aucland mayor responsible for organizing emergency services during his last term.
  
  Trying to blame Wayne Brown, who has only been mayor for a few weeks, for the lack of timely emergency response shows Stuff’s and the Herald’s left leaning bias.
  
  I give the average Kiwi enough credit to see this.
  
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  January 30, 2023 8:39am
  - ecco
    
    Yes continuing their beat up job on Brown. Almost online orchestrated trolling by the Ferald. You can tell it’s come from Labour’s PR team because you’ve got exactly the same headlines on $$tuffed.
    The ‘leader’ Dave Letele should stand for mayor next time and see how he goes.
    
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    January 30, 2023 12:31pm
  - kingerstinger
    
    Wayne Brown would not be getting anywhere near the flak he is getting, if he had just stood up, communicated properly, and not been an arrogant twat!
    
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    January 30, 2023 3:27pm
    - Mark Hanley
      
      Wayne Brown’s past success allows him the self assurance to follow due process and make good decisions without unnecessary funfare and self promotion.
      
      The Prime Minister held various ministries in government, each one a failure. He enjoys talking to the press and gets in front of the cameras as often as possible. Self promotion is his sole focus.
      
      I know which leader will produce the best results.
      
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      January 30, 2023 4:00pm
- nathie
  
  Tim Dower is a good sort, although he wanted to interject he allowed the Deputy Mayor to finish so that’s something (and unlike Morning Report who pull down the faders so you cannot hear the interviewee).
  
  Lucky you didn’t make the mistake I made and flicked over to Boring FM just after 8am for a couple of minutes, there Tova was at her pratty and petty best interviewing Chippie, talking all over him and kept trying to trip him up about Mayor Brown and the AC response … at least Chippie was diplomatic and didn’t succumb to her appalling line of questioning (which Tova would never ever submit her BFF Jacinda to, so I guess, following MSM convention she is a misandrist)!
  
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  January 30, 2023 9:06am
  - Paulus
    
    Is Tova still in a job ? – assuming the she has not been asked to call our new Prime Minister “call me Chris” as I understand some others have, not Chippie.
    After all he is one of us now !
    
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    January 30, 2023 10:35am
- Chris R
  
  Tim Dower is a great media personality. I did not hear a single criticism of Mayor Brown from him. Tim has undertaken the Summer presentations for many years and does so with panache, humour and gentility. I am usually a bit sad when Mike Hosking returns largely because with him, comes his idiotic spouse for the 5am gig.
  
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  January 30, 2023 9:24am
- sirknz
  
  Has anyone in the media actually stated what steps are required before a state of emergency can be declared?
  
  I would assume that a mayor can’t just decide on their own that because it is raining today that they should declare one. Surely they need to be advised by one or more of the appropriate emergency services before this happens.
  
  Now as a result of Friday, every time there is a slightly heavier rainfall, we’re going to get an emergency warning text Just like when someone sneezes in Hobsonville Point they close the Harbour Bridge now.
  
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  January 30, 2023 9:49am
  - Paulus
    
    Isn’t our Civil Defence Department the ultimate decision maker with Auckland Council various emergency divisions to follow.
    We all know that the Mayor caused all the rain, so he will have to go I understand by local Labourites who did not vote enough for their person.
    
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    January 30, 2023 10:39am
Sir Cullen's Sidekick

Folks – any reason Luxon should be worried about Hipkins? MSM are projecting Hipkins as Jesus Christ v2.0….
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January 30, 2023 8:11am
- slightlyrighty
  
  The media couldn’t promote our new PM any more openly unless they started calling him Hopekins…
  
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  January 30, 2023 8:38am
  - Paulus
    
    Nah, nah, call me Chris, I am one of you.
    
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    January 30, 2023 10:39am
- Tricati
  
  Its like a re-run of when Ardern was selected leader. MSM fawning over Hipkins’ like he’s the 2nd coming. Conveniently overlooking issues like the Barnaby Joyce saga, the Charlotte Bellis defamation, and the maligning of the 2 woman and blaming them for Northlands lockdown. He is like the smarmy schoolboy bully, and once the heat goes on, expect him to revert to type and get nasty.
  
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  January 30, 2023 8:39am
- kingerstinger
  
  No. He’s treading water – but Luxon will destroy him come debate time. I am surprised you don’t have an opinion on this however SCS!
  
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  January 30, 2023 3:28pm
Surely Knott

Nzherald runs its most audacious hit job ever, during the middle of an emergency!

Anonymous staffer says “we’re doing a terrible job”. No detail given why. It then just says a lot of communications coming from different agencies. So….it’s a multi faceted issue.

And then some individual calls for Brown to resign. With no reasons given. Herald playing politics in the middle of an emergency.

Watercare and other emergency services Are working their guts out. Communications on local issues are coming straight from watercare to the community Facebook pages.

Why did the Twitter long term trending #resignjacinda not make the news but a single call from this numpty does.
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January 30, 2023 8:15am
- Chris Nisbet
  
  Anonymous staffer admits to doing a terrible job. Is he incapable of doing a decent job? Has it occurred to him that nobody would complain if he chose to do a better job? Did Wayne Brown prevent him from doing a decent job? Did Wayne Brown take office and toss all the procedures that have likely been developed over the decades to deal with nasty weather into the bin?
  
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  January 30, 2023 8:37am
  - jon
    
    The comment shouldnt be reported unless the staffer’s name is revealled. So easy to make a claim, how are we to know if indeed the remark was actually made at all and it was not just an invention by our suspect MSM?
    
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    January 30, 2023 1:10pm
- Jack5
  
  Labour pays, the Herald sings …
  
  The Herald’s owner NZME, in its last published financial report — for the first half of 2022 – reported Government grants of $2.095 million for the six months.
  
  Its reported after-tax profit for the six months was $6.178 million.
  
  The Herald is diverting from its readers’ problems, pain, and financial hurt to focus on hammering Brown.
  
  How many Aucklanders’ views does the Herald reflect these days?
  
  In the brief “analysis” blurb at the NZ Stock Exchange, NZME says the company reached 100,000 paid digital only subscriptions in June, with publishing subscriptions across digital and print increasing to 206,000.
  
  That suggests print subscriptions of 106,000.
  
  As well as the Herald, NZME owns the Bay of Plenty Times, Rotorua Post, Hawke’s Bay Today, the Whanganui Chronicle and sundry smaller publications.
  
  Even if “print subscriptions” refers only to those of the NZ Herald, the figures show the newspaper’s subscriber numbers have fallen steeply since its heyday.
  
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  January 30, 2023 8:44am
  - sirknz
    
    But the Herald is right wing journalism and only caters to a right wing demographic…
    
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    January 30, 2023 9:51am
  - Paulus
    
    $2,095,000 for 6 months and there was me thinking that they got a share of $55,000,000.
    Creative Accounting I suspect.
    
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    January 30, 2023 10:42am
    - Stuart
      
      Advertising from Govt agencies at ‘commercial’ rates
      
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      January 30, 2023 4:07pm
  - rangitoto
    
    I cancelled the horrid about fifteen years ago when they went hard left.
    
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    January 30, 2023 1:32pm
- In Vino Veritas
  
  Surely, the staff member is anonymous because they do not exist. Stuff haven’t been a reputable news outlet since forever. It is similar to and about as reliable as the Sunday Sport in the UK. Sans the topless pictures. How long will it be before Stuff leads with a headline like “Woman has fish for baby” or “Aliens turned my son into a fish finger”? Hmmm, I wonder whether Dave Sullivan has an interest in Stuff?
  
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  January 30, 2023 9:00am
- ClanMcleod
  
  Why has the Project Veritas/Pfizer scandal not made the news? It is a global and existential story. Silence. It is beyond concerning.
  
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  January 30, 2023 9:09am
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    It is beyond them. Comprehension level is not very high.
    
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    January 30, 2023 10:17am
  - Phronesis
    
    You gotta admit the Pfizer exec did a great job of appearing to be a complete lunatic when confronted with the evidence. It does make him kind of hard to take seriously. There also isn’t much new info there really. Pfizer will be interested in how the virus evolves and will be doing experiments. They are a large multinational driven by making profit and poorly regulated by complicit regulators.
    I’m most surprised by how retarded the executive was but then he’s an effeminate gay black so what are the odds he wasn’t hired on merit.
    
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    January 30, 2023 12:22pm
    - Master Mariner
      
      I think you will find he was insinuating far more serious allegations than what you suggested.
      Hence Pfeziers press release which in itself raises more questions than answers due to its lack of detail.
      
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      January 30, 2023 1:14pm
    - ClanMcleod
      
      Phronesis – I don’t think you are comprehending what is happening here.
      
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      January 30, 2023 10:22pm
  - Master Mariner
    
    Yes indeed. Pfzier have issued a statement.
    Dr John Cambell has a piece on it.
    In addition there is a follow up attempted interview with the culprit.
    
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    January 30, 2023 1:02pm
  - Mike
    
    Because O’Keefe has a very long history of scams and misleading videos?
    
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    January 30, 2023 1:36pm
    - NZer In Exile
      
      One of Milky’s various logins: “Because O’Keefe has a very long history of scams and misleading videos?”
      
      A long history you say?
      
      Okie Dokie, give it your best shot.
      
      Link to three of his “misleading/scammy videos” please.
      
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      January 30, 2023 6:51pm
      - ClanMcleod
        
        Trolls don’t do evidence based posts.
        
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        January 30, 2023 10:24pm
- JerJer
  
  Auckland infrastructure has been rubbish for years. There are unfinished roading jobs involving drainage everywhere that just don’t ever get finished.
  
  I am waiting for everything to be blamed on climate change, when it is actually incompetence on the part of the administration ove the last ten years to fix this problem.
  
  They focused on building cycle lanes and gender neutral toilets, painting rainbows on things, and other pet projects rather than doing their actual job, which is to make sure their is drainage, sewerage treatment and that the garbage gets taken away.
  
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  January 30, 2023 9:34am
Gravelroad

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/131096210/auckland-mayor-wayne-browns-own-staff-were-doing-a-terrible-job
If by “we” this person means the staff are doing ‘a terrible job” why would that be?
Surely a council of the size of Auckland has in place competent employees and plans to handle emergency management no matter who is elected Mayor?
I don’t live in Auckland and had never heard of Wayne Brown until he was elected so I have no spin about whether he is suitable for the job or not.
He has only been in the job a few weeks.
Is it his fault that expectations, comms and assistance were apparently not met by staff?
Perhaps the CEO of the Auckland Council might need to front up.
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January 30, 2023 8:19am
- Chris R
  
  During the weekend the media have done everything within their febrile grip to blame Mr Brown for the floods/alleged response delays etc. The media are apparently still sore that their chosen one Efeso Collins didn’t succeed in the last elections. The media are truly a corrosive bunch.
  
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  January 30, 2023 8:24am
  - kowtow
    
    Today’s Whoreald cartoonist Guy Body a case in point.
    
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    January 30, 2023 8:41am
  - Tony Stuart
    
    Tova O’Brien is in full flight this morning, demanding that Brown resign, and trying to hang the blame for the delay in declaring a state of emergency wholly on the Mayor..
    
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    January 30, 2023 8:44am
    - Yabster
      
      no one listens to toxic- look at the ratings- she won’t change her spots. Still wearing black as currently mourning her best buds departure..
      
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      January 30, 2023 8:54am
    - Nickc2
      
      That’s Tova, where’s Jessica and . . . . . . Oh, that was the last PM eh?
      We don’t need more ‘rigged’ media interviews.
      
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      January 30, 2023 8:58am
      - Gravelroad
        
        And “not you, Barry”.
        
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        January 30, 2023 12:19pm
    - Rich Prick
      
      The media seem to believe that a declaration would have held the rain back. They really are that stupid.
      
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      January 30, 2023 9:03am
      - JackRabbit
        
        By now, Ardern would have had a petition signed by 65,000 kindy kids to ban the rain.
        
        She made lots of promises to Canterbury with the floods but nothing ever eventuated.
        
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        January 30, 2023 9:20am
      - Nickc2
        
        I see TVNZ1 sent out to one of their pet Pollies this morning (Chloe Swarbrick). I’m not sure what she was rabbiting on about because I always mute the sound when any of her tribe appear but you can no doubt bet your life, she was blaming Climate Change on Akld’s flooding and bagging the Mayor for not doing more to combat Climate Change.
        Any advances on Climate Change?
        
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        January 30, 2023 11:34am
      - JackRabbit
        
        @Nick
        
        If they spent money on storm water viaducts instead of cycle lanes, Auckland would have been safe.
        
        If they spent all of the money collected through road tax on roads, including flooding contingencies, instead of spending it on other “nice to haves”, state highway SH25A may not have collapsed.
        
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        January 30, 2023 12:18pm
    - Widogast Corwin
      
      Three things…
      
      Firstly, what would have been the practical difference in the response if the state of emergency had been declared at 6 PM rather than 10 PM? I have not seen any of these critics spell this out.
      
      Secondly, surely major cities in New Zealand have detailed plans to deal with catastrophic floods, fires, volcanoes etc? I just do not believe that all of the response agencies wait for the rain and ask the Mayor what he wants to do.
      
      Finally, what do these activists want the Council to do – right now – that it is not doing?
      
      This is typical socialist behaviour. If that clown Mayoral candidate, endorsed by Jacinda, had now been mayor, would the response to the floods have been different? Honestly, that guy did not strike me as being top 5 percent leadership material.
      
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      January 30, 2023 9:11am
      - Bob
        
        not strike me as being top 5 percent leadership material……
        or top 5% anything else!
        
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        January 30, 2023 12:02pm
    - Brian McDonald
      
      Wrong argument Tony, not keeping the public informed during the worst of the crisis was his/our problem. That said he did give his political enemies free ammunition. Aucklanders should have been given instructions by around 3pm to stay off the roads in particular areas which goes right back to Waka Kotahi. When it came to a well-oiled machine kicking in they didn’t have one despite having extensive camera coverage of the motorway system. News clips shown on TV at 6 showed there was a civil emergency as citizens helped other citizens to safety without help and with the fire brigade already stretched passed breaking point. I’m keen to find out what happened at the airport as well, and why when it was clearly a disaster passenger weren’t assisted en masse. It would be because there wasn’t a plan for that or someone capable of taking the initiative.
      
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      January 30, 2023 9:46am
      - JackRabbit
        
        I’m pretty sure that if Wayne had told people to stay off the roads, and not go to the Elton John concert, and the rain stopped at 7pm, they would still be asking him to resign.
        
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        January 30, 2023 9:55am
      - Maggy Wassilieff
        
        I’m keen to find out what happened at the airport as well,
        
        Clearly the Airport personnel weren’t prepared for the deluge.
        
        If any group of folk were aware of impending foul weather you’d expect it to have been those connected with the Aviation industry.
        
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        January 30, 2023 10:11am
      - Brian McDonald
        
        I think the flooding at the airport may be unprecedented Maggie there’s speculation that something has gone wrong in one of the many refits or overall drainage plan or maintenance. That said, surely the airport authority could have undertaken to do something for the displaced passengers.
        
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        January 30, 2023 11:28am
      - maggiemay
        
        Collegue received a notification from Ticketec around midday Friday saying the EJ concert would be going ahead rain or shine.
        Add the messaging from AT to get there early and to walk or drive and really I’m surprised more people were not hurt.
        Nothing to do with Wayne Brown. If EJ didnt think it was bad enough to cancel until around 7pm then people in general were not thinking it was that serious.
        Had young couple heading up from Tauranga on the Friday for the Saturday concert. They didn’t want to think about getting off the road at Cambridge until they heard the Friday concert was canned.
        I wonder if there was an insurance issue as to where any cancellation insurance claim fell as to why such a delayed EJ response. EJ took off pretty quick. So much for our adoration.
        
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        January 30, 2023 3:30pm
      - NZer In Exile
        
        Could it be that the non-woke mayor has to network with woke infested institutions who would be happy to frustrate things for him so their woke buddies in the media could then pull a feeding frenzy on him?
        
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        January 30, 2023 6:57pm
    - In Vino Veritas
      
      I guess Tony, that Tova has forgotten about everything that her bosom buddy Jacinda was supposed to do. And never got beyond committees and consultants. But never mind that. Why let good old fashioned open (and proud of it) political bias get in the way of anything? After all, you get promotions in media jobs because of it.
      
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      January 30, 2023 6:12pm
  - Alan Wilkinson
    
    Most of the criticism of Brown amounts to the purveyors of banal crap complaining that Brown doesn’t issue enough banal crap.
    
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    January 30, 2023 3:03pm
    - Nickc2
      
      They don’t give up!!! I just heard that idiot Andrew Dickens on Talkback ZB lampooning Mayor Brown for declining an invitation to appear on the Heather du Plessis-Allan Show today. You can hardly blame the Mayor. Appearing on that show is a sure pathway to character assassination whether it’s required or not.
      
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      January 30, 2023 3:19pm
    - kingerstinger
      
      Alan, communicating with residents of a city in a SOE is not ‘banal crap’, it is strong and expected leadership. See: Bob Parker during the Christchurch earthquakes.
      
      I am as right-wing as anyone on KB, but you people really need to take the blinkers off and look at this properly.
      
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      January 30, 2023 3:29pm
      - Mark Hanley
        
        Bob Parker elected because people saw him on the TV.
        
        Wayne Brown elected because people saw his CV.
        
        I know which one I’d rather have running the city.
        
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        January 30, 2023 4:09pm
      - Alan Wilkinson
        
        What do you expect to be communicated by a Mayor while hundreds of rescue events are being conducted around the city of a million people?
        
        What needs to be happening is communication at local level by the range of service providers – police, fire, ambulance, civil defence, community facilities. All the Mayor can offer is political emoting.
        
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        January 30, 2023 4:28pm
- Morry45
  
  This appears to be a hit job from the left. They have no shame… never waste a decent crisis and here they are using this one in Auckland to put the boot in!
  
  Simon Wilson in the background perhaps?
  
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  January 30, 2023 8:24am
  - H. Upmann
    
    Wilson is not shy in delivering hit-jobs on W Brown and Luxon, therefore definitely in the foreground as HoD (Head of Disinformation).
    
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    January 30, 2023 10:20am
- Pavel
  
  I read this article too and was appalled. Stuff are keeping their source anonymous. Considering the bias in the media I feel that this is all made up and nobody said such a thing. It’s just a hitjob on a major we know they don’t like. And then stuff sits around wondering why no body takes them seriously.
  
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  January 30, 2023 8:30am
  - sirknz
    
    They’ve followed up about 2/3 of the way through with the still unnamed employee saying that their quote might have been taken out of context.
    
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    January 30, 2023 12:29pm
- Hollyfield
  
  Also note the media spin – it’s not an “Auckland Council staffer” but a “Wayne Brown staffer”.
  
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  January 30, 2023 8:33am
  - Gravelroad
    
    The CEO employs, manages and monitors the staff.
    
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    January 30, 2023 8:57am
    - ClanMcleod
      
      Exactly. Brown inherited this utterly dysfunctional mob of useless parasites. He needs a bit of time to drain the swamp. No pun intended.
      
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      January 30, 2023 9:11am
      - Mark Hanley
        
        Don’t worry. The people of Auckland are waking up to the despicable NZ media – responsible for so much wasted time and money on media driven social issues and on a media driven under-qualified PM.
        
        Wayne Brown’s Council governance success will be very evident in 3 years and he will romp back in if he has the motivation to serve another term.
        
        Personally I’d like to see him in Government tackling education. He has the backbone to take on the teacher’s unions and our children and our country would reap huge benefits!
        
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        January 30, 2023 4:16pm
- Swifty
  
  12 years of neglect.
  
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  January 30, 2023 8:48am
- backster
  
  Don’t forget it was the Friday before holiday weekend traditional knockoff 3pm and get out of town.
  
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  January 30, 2023 9:01am
- Mike H S
  
  I was on a local Emergency Response committee in my local area which is part of greater Auckland. We tried to get some help from the Auckland Council Emergency Response office. We had a visit from two women who, in essence, said “You are on your own. We don’t supply anything from Council and rely on local communities to get themselves organised but you are doing well having organised yourselves.” The local Fire Chief had the authority and we were his support.
  
  So, it is no surprise to me that there have been failures within Auckland Council. This was all set up under former Mayors Len Brown and Goff. I find it a bit rich that those who have been in the hot seat in council are now blaming the new Mayor when any Emergency Response organisation should have been set up under their guidance years ago.
  
  The process was probably working well under the Fire and Emergency Auckland commander who was supported by the Mayor.
  
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  January 30, 2023 9:09am
  - Brian McDonald
    
    Good points Mike H S. But there’s no doubt Brown was playing the fiddle when the public needed to be briefed on what was happening instead of unsuspecting were driving into floods. We got briefings on what was happening in Coromandel but silence re Auckland.
    
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    January 30, 2023 11:54am
    - sirknz
      
      We like getting out of Auckland every chance we can. We looked at the weather forecast on Thursday and Friday then decided against going because we know what the roads are like on a good day and we know what the average numpty drives like on those same good days.
      
      Why should any mayor be responsible for people not checking the weather before they leave?
      
      Slips on the Brynderwens when it rains is not unheard of, neither is flooding in the Coromandel, or on the flood plains of the Waikato.
      
      We even have a puff piece about some guy who went kayaking in flood waters and got sucked into a storm water pipe ‘being remembered as a nice guy’ and not as some idiot who tied up resources in an emergency while they searched for his body.
      
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      January 30, 2023 12:39pm
      - Ghost
        
        I read one guy that died had been filming himself rescuing people and posting it online…..
        
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        January 30, 2023 12:42pm
- I remember when
  
  Gravelroad:
  Surely, after all the times that Stuff have reported and investigated co-governance, they understand the difference between management and governance.
  The Mayor has no control over the work done by Council staff, that is the CEOs job.
  Who/what are Wayne Brown’s own staff?
  What work/responsibility would Wayne Brown’s own staff have in such a situation?
  
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  January 30, 2023 9:12am
  - Brian McDonald
    
    I remember when: updating the public.
    
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    January 30, 2023 11:55am
- Paulus
  
  Does not the Auckland Council employ some 11,000 people, plus sub contractors ex Council staff who took redundencies and got the roles they were doing when employed.
  Remember all Council Employees are employed by one person – not the Mayor or Councillors, but the CEO only.
  
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  January 30, 2023 10:45am
- Bob
  
  expectations, comms and assistance were apparently not met by staff?……
  staff who were in the majority employed during the reign of Goff/the other Brown etc.
  Wayne hasn’t been in office long enough to have identified all the incompetents he inherited. A major task ahead of him! .. this one.
  
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  January 30, 2023 12:00pm
- Ra Henare
  
  Of course in todays media environment. The comment we are doing a terrible job could have been invented, as they are not publishing the staffers name(they could have printed his position).
  
  All sounds like clickbait trash to me
  
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  January 30, 2023 1:17pm
Zapper

Isn’t it amazing that the media appear to have awoken from their slumber just in time to attack a centre right mayor? Do they actually think their massive bias is not obvious for all to see?

Note: I might listen to them if they’d criticised the hundreds of disastrous decisions made by Ardern and her party in the last 5 years.
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January 30, 2023 8:20am
- JackRabbit
  
  3 years in and no mention of the homes and businesses swept away by lockdowns, of lives ruined, families split.
  
  No addressing the flood of people dying or being injured by the vaccines.
  
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  January 30, 2023 9:25am
  - Pineapple Lumps
    
    Gaslighting:
    
    – they blame people searching for alternative/real sources of news as purveyors of mis/dis information. The level of hubris in the media has got out of control.
    
    – they blame frustrated disgruntled kiwis who lash out in words at the countries leadership as being abusive. The reality is we are the victims and they are the enablers of the bullies.
    
    A political party that promises to clean up the media, introduce new standards and an independent review body for enforcing standards of media, would certainly get my interest.
    
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    January 30, 2023 3:30pm
  - NZer In Exile
    
    No Nigel Latta type investigations on the many dire social problems festering under the current clown show? It’s almost like the loony left really don’t give a shit about “inequity” or anything they claim to care about. Maybe it’s all about spite and control?
    
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    January 30, 2023 7:06pm
Simon

Has World War 3 already started?

But is unclear who are the real aggressors.
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January 30, 2023 8:21am
- Jack5
  
  If WW3 has started in Ukraine, Simon, it’s a slow beginning compared with the earlier Eastern Front war.
  
  The blitz of on 22 June 1941 opened Hitler’s Operation Barbarossa against the Soviet Union with 3.5 million German troops and more than half a million German allies, mainly Romanians and Hungarians.
  
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  January 30, 2023 8:52am
  - the deity formerly known as nigel6888
    
    But a fairly similar ramp up to August/Sept 1914…
    
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    January 30, 2023 12:47pm
    - Mike
      
      No, not at all the same.
      
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      January 30, 2023 1:39pm
- NoCash
  
  https://www.theamericanconservative.com/viktor-orban-we-are-in-a-war-with-russia/
  
  Good read, Orban seems to be the only sane leader in EU.
  
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  January 30, 2023 9:00am
  - NoCash
    
    Btw, the URL wording is misleading, Orban is against starting a war with Russia.
    
    Anyways, it’s a very good read.
    
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    January 30, 2023 10:06am
    - Mike
      
      Perhaps he will ask his voters whether they would prefer to leave NATO and return to a new version of the Warsaw Pact, aka Russian occupation.
      
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      January 30, 2023 1:42pm
      - NoCash
        
        Have you actually read the article?
        
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        January 30, 2023 2:09pm
      - Mike
        
        It not so much an article as a fanzine.
        
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        January 30, 2023 4:39pm
    - NZer In Exile
      
      That would be a no.
      
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      January 30, 2023 7:10pm
- ClanMcleod
  
  It’s clear. The German Foreign Minister just let her inside voice come out.
  
  https://www.newsweek.com/germany-says-quiet-part-out-loud-about-ukraine-war-1776593
  
  This whole shit show can be traced back 2o14 and the US funded coup in Ukraine. Yes Russia invaded. But all actions have consequences and these were clearly predicted.
  
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  January 30, 2023 9:14am
  - Brian McDonald
    
    [Mod – use a person’s current username]
    You must have put up the wrong link because it doesn’t shift the blame to the Americans comrade.
    
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    January 30, 2023 12:06pm
  - Ra Henare
    
    It actually can be traced back to 1991 when the USA told then USSR now Russia that they would not extend NATO Eastward.
    
    That fact is recorded in US archive and was a main contributor to Gorbachov agreeing to the deal.
    
    Then Madeline Albright decided to invite more members of the eastern Block to join NATO and pored billions in to Ukrainian military support
    
    But hey, that’s not the current US propaganda narrative. So dont expect to read anything other than Putin is evil and Russia wants to invade all of Europe type BS.
    
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1EwmYbK7QA
    
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    January 30, 2023 1:24pm
    - Master Mariner
      
      Totally agree Ra.
      
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      January 30, 2023 3:00pm
    - NZer In Exile
      
      Quite a bit has happened in the Russia arena since 1991.
      
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      January 30, 2023 7:13pm
  - Master Mariner
    
    Yep and definately not aided by Merkyls statement finally coming out that the Minsk agreement was all about buying time for Ukraine to re arm and prepare for war.
    That in itself destroyed any trust the Russians had left.
    
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    January 30, 2023 1:24pm
Cassandra

If there’s a problem then it’s not Brown’s fault. Goff was Mayor for ages and it’s the CEO’s job to have the services in place. Brown’s job is to supervise the CEO and to front the Council. It might have helped if he’d left his desk and got wet – a PR exercise and a distraction but feelz are important.
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January 30, 2023 8:26am
- Swifty
  
  Pants Down Brown – 6 years
  
  Phil Goff – 6 years
  
  Wayne Brown – 4 months (less 1 for the hols)
  
  Yep, any lack of capability in Council is all Wayne’s fault!
  
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  January 30, 2023 8:52am
  - slightlyrighty
    
    3 Months actually. Brown wasn’t sworn in until Late October.
    
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    January 30, 2023 10:24am
- Brian McDonald
  
  Cassandra:
  No, it’s not Brown’s fault. He isn’t in charge. Happy with that?
  
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  January 30, 2023 12:04pm
  - Ra Henare
    
    Brian, you really do need to educate yourself about the roles of Mayors and CEOs in this brave new world of NZ Local Government.
    
    The reason that the then recently elected Mayor of Tauranga threw a hissy fit and resigned is that he thought he was teh General in Charge of the Tauranga City Council.
    
    When he found out that he was in fact just another vote around the Council Table. Those making policy decisions.
    
    He threw in the towel.
    
    Think back to Covid. The PM(Think Mayor) did not make arbitrary decisions(we hope) she took advice from operational expert staff (Bloomfield and others) (CEO/Council staff)then passed it by Cabinet(Councillors/Deputy Mayor) then made the final decision.
    
    You dont see the Chairman of AirNZ fronting up to the media about operational stuff ups, that is the job of the CEO.
    
    Unfortunately Politicians seem to want the limelight when big decisions are made….instead of getting out of the way.
    
    Didnt see Jacinda rushing in to override the Police decisions at White Island.!!
    
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    January 30, 2023 6:00pm
kowtow

Amazing how a resignation by a pm and a rain storm have changed the media narrative completely away from the ongoing ‘pandemic’ .

It’s as if it never happened , here that is.

Meanwhile some media in the UK at least are questioning what happened .

Excess mortality off the scales , health service in crisis and the latest is the govt used the military to spy on its critics .

Wouldn’t it be nice if our media weren’t the paid regime lap dogs they are .
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January 30, 2023 8:32am
- stiff cheese
  
  Just a week ago, the BBC were reporting the average wait time for an ambulance in Britain, is 90 minutes. It should be 18 minutes, they said.
  
  In the same report, Royal Bolton Hospital had overflowing wards, with excess patients lining the corridors in beds.
  
  Officials were blaming the Flu and COVID. That’s their story, anyway.
  
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  January 30, 2023 12:32pm
  - Opie
    
    90 minutes for an ambulance? Sounds like utopia.
    
    Try 3-4 hours in Wokeington. Then they take you to ED and you are there for 10 hours. Then they send you home when you aren’t mobile and can’t get in and out of the taxi they call for you because there arent any beds.
    
    But but the health system has got a Maori name now, must be better.
    
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    January 30, 2023 4:21pm
    - NZer In Exile
      
      Those wait times will literally be a death sentence for many people. Where are the Nigel Latta’s of this world to do an expose?
      
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      January 30, 2023 9:54pm
Maggie's partner

Wayne Brown to don wetsuit and hug homeless….

“Our greatest ever Mayor”, says media
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January 30, 2023 8:34am
- NZer In Exile
  
  ““Our greatest ever Mayor”, says media”
  
  I think he’d need to transition as well before they’d say that!
  
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  January 30, 2023 7:17pm
Muttonbird

Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
Anyone seen the images of Desley Simpson leading Brown Wayne away from reporters on Saturday?

Looks like an aged care worker helping a dementia patient. 🙂
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January 30, 2023 8:37am
- Swifty
  
  Gee Mutton, after all the pile on about supposed misogyny driving your dream girl from office, here you are hurling ageist abuse towards a politician.
  
  And not for the first time either, noting your other recent efforts on here since the flooding.
  
  Does that make you a nasty hypocrite Mutton? Does this mean you hold not a shred of self-awareness? Does this mean you have no objections whatsoever if others hurl personal abuse at your team?
  
  Please enlighten us.
  
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  January 30, 2023 9:42am
- Salacious Crumb
  
  How’s life at the Standard with the other 3 commenters? You guys got over your messiah realising how crap she is and bailing. So sad how she’s left your party and it’s faithful in the lurch but then, thats the price you pay for worshiping a narcissist.
  
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  January 30, 2023 9:48am
  - ClanMcleod
    
    Salacious Crumb – I genuinely believe Ardern is getting out before the pandemic narrative truly implodes. It is happening more rapidly every day, in fact the tipping point has passed.
    Never forget. Her and her “experts” and her poodle media.
    Hipkkns w covid minister, now he’s PM. Harder for him to run away.
    
    I hope Saint Ash has kept the box his gong came in. And doom merchant and WHO shill Michael Baker.
    
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    January 30, 2023 10:24am
    - Brian McDonald
      
      [Mod – use a person’s current username]
      There will be no implosion, 82% of the population made their own decisions and you have yet to prove them wrong let alone expect them to blame anyone for it.
      
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      December 30, 2022 12:24pm
      - sirknz
        
        My ‘choice’ was get the mRNA injection or get a new job. This is despite my role not having any contact with the public, being able to do it 100% remotely, requiring minimal interaction with other staff at the office when required to go in.
        
        I had no real choice if we were to keep our house, and support our daughter with her trying times. My wife had no choice if she wanted to keep working in a career she loves.
        
        I had no desire to get this mRNA injection as I wanted to see a lot more evidence of its effectiveness, see what side effects there were, and the fact that I had been following stats (and headlines) and noticed the overnight global change from ‘death rate’ to ‘infection rate’ in the media and by governments because the deaths wasn’t a big enough number.
        
        There aren’t too many things that would make me want to wish physical harm on another person, the ignorance in your comment is one of those things.
        
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        January 30, 2023 12:55pm
      - Joely Doe
        
        Bite me.
        My ‘choice’ was either take an unproven, experimental medication (not a vaccine) – not once, twice, but three times; or be forced to stop working even while there was zero Sars Cov-19 in the community.
        
        My ‘vaccinator’ asked me to provide verbal consent to the injection – I told him to ‘Fuck off’ – the sanctimonious, condescending, little prick.
        
        The hysteria that surrounded Cov-19 is unprecedented in my lifetime and the abject wailing from the media, and the fearful, was overwhelming for our weak-minded politicians.
        
        In Healthcare it was coerced, we had no choice, despite the actions of a government that would never have passed an Ethics Committee.
        Criminal? Probably.
        
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        January 30, 2023 1:26pm
      - ClanMcleod
        
        Brian – no they didn’t. I don’t know the exact numbers and nor do you, but not remotely close to 80% did it willingly.
        
        No, I don’t need to prove anybody wrong. What’s done is done and it will be what it will be. Good luck.
        
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        January 30, 2023 10:36pm
    - Vory v zakone
      
      I can’t remember but was this from you Clan?
      
      ‘Can We Look at the Science Now?
      
      There is a possibility Jacinda Ardern’s hasty departure from politics has more to do with her policies around the Covid pandemic than any other factor. Did someone whisper in her ear “The mRNA vaccine is not safe and effective; it kills people, it makes them sick, they catch Covid repeatedly and they die?”
      
      In New Zealand Ardern and Covid are synonymous.
      
      We were told myocarditis was rare, in fact, the MoH website still carries that ‘truth’ but a Thai study of adolescent boys showed effects on the heart in 29.24% of mRNA vaccine recipients, which can hardly be considered rare.
      
      The Covid vaccination programme was the largest medical experiment known to man. Large numbers of exosomes containing spike protein and mRNA were injected into bodies with unknown consequences but the curtain has now been pulled back on how the experts used propaganda instead of science, to drive public opinion.
      
      Ardern stole three good years from us with her destructive Covid policies. We must demand our politicians do not do the same by turning a blind eye to possible inconvenient truths.
      
      The madness continues in the country formerly known as Jacindastan.
      There must be some fearful conversations being held in high and low places right around the beltway and in government buildings. Rightly so.
      
      Will the new leader walk this back? Will he be stupid enough to carry this collapsing narrative forward?
      Or will he continue to sing “lalalalalala” really loudly while sticking a finger in each year and hope it somehow mysteriously vanishes?
      
      Pro tip. It won’t. Deal with it. The tipping point is not far away.’
      
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      January 30, 2023 5:13pm
      - ClanMcleod
        
        Vory v zakone – yes, that was me.
        
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        January 30, 2023 10:30pm
- NZer In Exile
  
  You’d rather see a bunch of hollow juvenile posers?
  
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  January 30, 2023 9:55pm
Simon

As the narrative goes the heavy rain in Auckland is due to climate change.

Why are they so thick or fake? If it was climate change the frequency of heavy rain would be much greater. In line with the increase in carbon emissions. The previous record rain fall was in 1985. These “extreme climate events” should be increasing. There is no trend in a once off record.

The other point its apparently a “record rain fall in all of history” There wasnt anyone keeping records back in 1700 or 1000. There probably wasnt even someone keeping records in 1900s. To claim its the worst rain fall in Auckland history is just fake.
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January 30, 2023 8:38am
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  ‘All of history’ means whenever that ‘reporter’ got woke, probably about age 13. So, since Helen Clark was in power.
  
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  January 30, 2023 8:49am
- Stellaboxer
  
  Sorry Simon down ticked in error
  
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  January 30, 2023 9:03am
- nathie
  
  Well I heard the Green’s Marama Davidson being interviewed on ZB yesterday afternoon (sounded like she was visiting a Marae that was providing assistance to people displaced i.e hanging out for hugs, not rolling up her sleeves and actually doing something practical out in the suburbs?).
  
  Inevitably she brought up ‘climate change’ and the solutions to prevent such flooding and of course her answers were confined to the likes of less emissions, people using public transport, more bicycle lanes (you couldn’t make this up – oh wait) and so on.
  
  I wondered then, would she blow her stack if she was ever asked by the MSM “so if Aucklanders reduce their emissions would that help (as in do local efforts somehow mitigate CC locally), or if NZ’ers reduce their emissions would that help (as in it needs to be a nationwide thing), or even if NZ’ers reduce their emissions to total net zero (and kill off industry and farming as society breaks down) would that still not stop CC and flooding because China and India etc just built another few dozen coal fired powerstations … so we killed our economy and enabled civil war for nothing”???
  
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  January 30, 2023 9:19am
  - kowtow
    
    The science of that storm is there , the Herald reported it . Niwa’s Ben Noll detailed the causes .
    
    Nor easters , convection, thunderstorms, a northerly low, a blocking high , a fast flowing unusually low lying jet feature ,a 3 year marine heat wave and
    La Nina.
    
    Time for te media pardy to follow their own articles and the science and ask the pollies how not eating a steak or filling one’s car will prevent La Nina or any number of other weather features .
    
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    January 30, 2023 9:45am
    - Don Beckett
      
      Anything about the Tongan eruption last year as a cause? Thought not. That video posted yesterday by someone of that Aussie geologist/climatologist was very good and made sense – not so much Dopey Chloe claiming ‘because climate change’.
      
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      January 30, 2023 10:39am
      - kowtow
        
        No mention of volcano.
        
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        January 30, 2023 10:55am
      - All_on_Red
        
        Here you go
        This was researched after the November Floods in Australia
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAf9llte0WE&list=LL&index=4&t=264s
        ‘The southern areas of Australia have been hit with some of the worst flooding in recent history, with many cities becoming inundated by flood waters that rose much higher, and much faster then any other flood that has been experienced since records began. In this two part documentary, we cover the 3 predominant climate drivers in Australia, the SAM, El Nino / La Nina cycle, and the Indian Ocean Dipole. We document the effects that the Tongan volcanic eruption has had on Australia’s recently climatic events and it’s connected to it in a very indirect way that most people wouldn’t even think was possible. ‘
        
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        January 30, 2023 11:08am
      - Jack5
        
        The Greens love a downpour.
        
        Chance for their political rain dance.
        
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        January 30, 2023 11:49am
      - jon
        
        One of those inconvenient truths for the Left, Don.
        
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        January 30, 2023 2:32pm
      - NZer In Exile
        
        The ABC in Aus (an even larger pile of troughing loony left extrement than RNZ) are running a crockumentary on the 2019 Aus bush fires trying to link them to human Co2 output. Most of it was long winded misery porn on how nasty the fires were (yes they ARE very nasty and you want to avoid living in a fire prone forest), as if that was supposed to confirm that it MUST be those nasty cockroach humans causing it with their Co2 output. There’s plenty of geological/sediment evidence that these fires were not at all unprecedented and have been happening with equal or worse ferocity for millions of years.
        
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        January 30, 2023 10:02pm
    - Bob
      
      kowtow, …
      your para two, very accurate explanation of what happened; is far too intellectual for the average reader, and well beyond the comprehension of nz journalist reporters.
      
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      January 30, 2023 12:11pm
    - Master Mariner
      
      Not a huge fan of Ben and NIWA in general.
      Everything is cut and pasted from US Weather site always with climate change narative.
      Ok,
      Ive always said, this will end a disaster as NZ ers rely on accurate weather forcasts.
      There is absolutely no reason why this was not accurately forcasted with satlite data and rain radars.
      Basically asleep at the wheel.
      Very piss poor which has resulted in lives lost.
      Get back to weather reporting and forecasting too inform NZ.
      It really was totally missed and should never of been.
      
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      January 30, 2023 2:32pm
  - NothingLeft
    
    The greatest cost to NZ from the (relatively minor) flooding in a few locations in Auckland will be the increased costs imposed by the Safety uber alles Karenocracy over the next 100 years through increased stringency of mitigation regulations.
    
    Cost/benefits never factor into the behaviour of emotion-driven bureaucrats.
    
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    January 30, 2023 2:17pm
    - Jack5
      
      Anyone know how electric cars are faring in the Auckland floods?
      
      Here’s an example of EVs bursting into fire after being swamped in a Florida hurricane:
      
      https://www.eenews.net/articles/why-6-flooded-evs-burst-into-flames-after-hurricane-ian/
      
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      January 30, 2023 5:48pm
      - Master Mariner
        
        My thoughts as well.
        I guess the insurers will have a better idea.
        Lucky no electric buses, or are there some?
        
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        January 30, 2023 6:39pm
- I remember when
  
  While the rainfall was certainly a contributing factor, the problems resulted from the failure of existing infrastructure to handle the volume.
  Has infrastructure resulted in excess runoff, are culverts too small to handle extreme events, did the age of existing structures contribute to the flooding?
  The trouble is that the research will take time – the media wants instant answers!
  
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  January 30, 2023 9:23am
  - Ehlana
    
    Is it actually reasonable to expect that our infrastructure could handle this event? The stormwater engineer on the AM show this morning said it was about 40% larger (IIRC) than what the infrastructure is meant to hold.
    
    It costs money to build infrastructure. Bigger pipes cost more to build, transport, install and maintain. This is the worst rainfall on record to date in Auckland. Would anyone in the past have actually considered the cost justified, if 40% larger pipes had been proposed? Remember, that cost will be passed on to home buyers by developers.
    
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    January 30, 2023 10:18am
    - Ghost
      
      You will always have storms that are heavier than what the infrastructure can handle.
      
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      January 30, 2023 10:21am
      - Colville
        
        Large state home area in Napier, built in the 60,s, the stormwater system is only sized for a 2 year event so every couple of years it’s flooded.
        
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        January 30, 2023 1:48pm
    - Bob
      
      costs money to build…..
      doesn’t cost very much money to maintain drains,creeks, streams and rivers such that they can do their job as assigned by nature.
      Catchment Boards once attended to such administration.
      BUT there is no glory in being the manager of stormwater.
      
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      January 30, 2023 12:13pm
      - NeverMindTheBollocks
        
        Catchment Boards! Now, there’s a name from the past.
        
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        January 30, 2023 6:23pm
- JackRabbit
  
  To claim its the worst rain fall in Auckland history is just fake.
  
  So right. Nature is in charge of these events, not man.
  
  Every decade has a disaster somewhere in NZ. Floods, earthquakes, snow, storms. On the principle of chance, Auckland was going to have something sooner or later.
  
  Maybe it did not matter to those north of the black stump when there were floods in the mid north Island, Dunedin, Mid Canterbury, South Canterbury, or high winds, snow etc.
  
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  January 30, 2023 9:31am
- kowtow
  
  In the Sunday Herald an article by Jamie Morton , headlined ‘What caused the city’s wettest day ‘ is very interesting in that it quotes extensively from Niwa guy Ben Noll who was “tracking the storm closely” when a raft of elements converged to create the cliched “perfect storm” .
  
  Not climate change .
  
  The problem with the article is it was book ended with quotes from Prof Renwick who was blithering on about “climate change ” and emissions .
  
  So the construction of the story is deliberate as is the implication that it’s all our fault and that long term we can control these events ( which is utterly crazy) .
  
  The devil is in the detail , but no one’s really interested , it’s all fear and emotion.
  
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  January 30, 2023 9:37am
  - Paulus
    
    And here was me thinking it was Global Warming !
    
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    January 30, 2023 10:48am
  - NeverMindTheBollocks
    
    If Ben Nill was tracking the storm closely, why was there not an earlier warning?
    
    Is the disaster all NIWA’s fault?
    
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    January 30, 2023 6:25pm
newview

TVNZ was missing in action. We all know they go on holiday and one bulletin at night is all you get, well that continues in the weekends and there were no live TV updates on Saturday and then Saturday night with their normal news they were all mover it. That’s OK though we can listen to the wireless for news updates like the 1940’s.. Pathetic.
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January 30, 2023 8:40am
- Stellaboxer
  
  New view. You’d likely be better informed listening to radio broadcasts from the 1940s today then watching TVNZ news on todays television.
  
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  January 30, 2023 9:06am
- stiff cheese
  
  Their staff are the first to go on holiday, and the last to return to work.
  
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  January 30, 2023 12:58pm
Taieri

If there’s a problem then it’s not Brown’s fault
—————-

Actually, it is. All he needed to do was to prevent the rain from falling. It can be done easily as shown a few years ago by another NZ politician who stopped a volcano from erupting.
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January 30, 2023 8:42am
Tony Stuart

A Twitter friend has an apartment on the boundary of the Auckland Domain, right where there was an accumulation of water at the weekend.

He quipped that his apartment could now be advertised as both parkside and lakeside, and wondered in the value had gone up with the water views!
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January 30, 2023 8:46am
- Pineapple Lumps
  
  A lot of parks and reserves in Auckland are overland flood zones.
  
  I have photos of a lake in the Domain from 25 years ago — not many of those apartments were built then.
  
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  January 30, 2023 9:47am
  - Pineapple Lumps
    
    *werent
    
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    January 30, 2023 9:58am
Steve Otto(North Shore)

Feel like a laugh? How could such a dumb person get to be VPOTUS?
https://rumble.com/vtkvco-must-see-kamala-tries-to-plug-in-an-electric-car….html?mref=lzerp&mc=3ifeq
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January 30, 2023 8:50am
Gulag1917

The price of lowered police entry standards.
https://www.dailywire.com/news/cops-charged-with-murder-of-tyre-nichols-hired-after-job-requirements-lowered-report
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January 30, 2023 8:57am
- kowtow
  
  UK too.
  
  ‘Mr Parr said setting ambitious targets for both police recruit numbers and diversity is understandable but increases the risk of lowering standards and hiring people who are unsuitable for the job.’
  
  https://ukdaily.news/met-police-are-recruiting-functionally-illiterate-english-to-improve-diversity-316768.html
  
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  January 30, 2023 9:48am
  - Joely Doe
    
    You should see how that works in Medicine…
    
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    January 30, 2023 1:31pm
    - NZer In Exile
      
      I won’t be flying any airline that does diversity hire pilots (yes that’s happening).
      
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      January 30, 2023 9:52pm
Ruahine

Novak Djokovic is the man.
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January 30, 2023 8:59am
Maggy Wassilieff

Perhaps folks in Auckland lacked Civil Defence practice.

The first thing that appears on the Government’s advisory about Home emergencies is this:

When an emergency happens, you need to be able to look after yourself and those in your care for at least 3 days.

https://www.govt.nz/browse/housing-and-property/home-emergency-checklist/?source=rss

It is a fact of life that here in NZ we cannot expect someone to be at our beck & call the moment an emergency happens.

The emergency services are really the clean-up crew after the event.
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January 30, 2023 9:01am
- Ghost
  
  I’m reminded of the second Christchurch earthquake and how many weren’t prepared for that.
  
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  January 30, 2023 9:21am
  - Paulus
    
    AMI were not prepared for any Christchurch EQ especially after the first one.
    But don’t worry the Taxpayer will look after all those without insurance or enough cover again.
    Christchurch created a precedent.
    
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    January 30, 2023 10:51am
- slightlyrighty
  
  True, but if your home is flooded out and your emergency kit is now some kilometres downstream, then Civil Defence needs to step in.
  
  The Council needs to address emergency failures in infrastructure. The Emergency response needs to come from Civil Defence NZ, working with councils and local and national assets.
  
  However, it may be of some note to know that the Department of Civil Defence no longer exists, having been re-structured into the National Emergency Management Office, by this government, in Dec 2019.
  
  I guess this emergency started out as “Finding NEMO”
  
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  January 30, 2023 10:33am
  - Ghost
    
    Which is why you have more than one emergency kit, has no one in this country learned anything from the Christchurch earthquake.
    
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    January 30, 2023 10:56am
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    It’s NEMA.
    
    The Emergency Management system at the local (regional) level is carried out by the Local Authority Civil Defence Groups.
    
    https://www.civildefence.govt.nz/find-your-civil-defence-group/
    
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    January 30, 2023 11:14am
- Dougal10
  
  Perhaps McNulty needs to do an Andrew Little and do some flood awareness on shortland street .
  
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  January 30, 2023 10:36am
- Master Mariner
  
  Total lack of following procedures.
  Or very worst not understanding them.
  Totally dysfunctional and no leadership.
  Nothing more , Nothing less.
  
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  January 30, 2023 3:20pm
ClanMcleod

The Pfizer “gain of function” story revealed in the sting involving one of their executives by Project Veritas is going next level.
The company has responded and are not denying carrying out gain of function research, though they are calling it something else.

Pfizer said, in its work developing a treatment for COVID-19, it has “engineered” the COVID-19 virus “to enable the assessment of antiviral activity in cells.”

“In addition, in vitro resistance selection experiments are undertaken in cells incubated with SARS-CoV-2 and nirmatrelvir in our secure Biosafety level 3 (BSL3) laboratory to assess whether the main protease can mutate to yield resistant strains of the virus,” Pfizer said. “It is important to note that these studies are required by U.S. and global regulators for all antiviral products and are carried out by many companies and academic institutions in the U.S. and around the world.”

We know now that Fauci lied when he said they never funded gain of function research in the Wuhan lab via the NIH, that’s beyond dispute, though Fauci is still free and still lying through his teeth.
What concerns me more, is that the most corrupt company in the history of business on this planet, is doing this work and that they stand to benefit to the tune of many billions of dollars in the process.

Of huge concern is that not one single mainstream media outlet is even mentioning this. It is one of the biggest stories in decades. You would think they would at least try and “fact check” it. I’m guessing they aren’t touching it because they can’t.

More importantly, the danger to all of us in the event of a “mistake” in this process is existential.
If this is not only legal, but “required by regulators” as Pfizer claims, then our planet is in a very dark place.
These for profit parasites should never be allowed anywhere near this sort of work, and those responsible should be facing serious criminal charges. Very serious criminal charges. It is malfeasance on a colossal scale.

It is clear to any rational thinking person, this is the biggest disaster in medical history and the outcomes we are now seeing are not “hindsight” as some would claim.

There are people who trusted their government and their “experts”, they were duped. Some are realising that and acknowledging it, many are refusing to see what is in front of their face. They are wanting everyone to shut up and wishing this will go away. It won’t. These people need to understand the magnitude of what has occurred over the last 3 years.

As for the video. Youtube have taken it down without reason and Google are putting warnings up whenever people search for it.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/pfizer-responds-after-director-says-company-is-developing-ways-to-mutate-covid-19_5017297.html

Here’s the executive losing his shit. Still available on Rumble.

https://rumble.com/v27ccgk-pfizer-liar-erupts-watch-exposed-official-attack-projet-veritas-destroys-ip.html

We are living in 1984. Suppression of free speech and human rights is rife. Anyone standing up to this is deplatformed, smeared, vilified and isolated.
We have our very own “minitrue”, in NZ it is called the mainstream medial and it has a government funded headquarters aptly called “The Disinformation Project.”
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January 30, 2023 9:05am
- I remember when
  
  Another misleading statement?
  ‘This is not only legal, it is ‘required by regulators.’
  Except that there are two functions involved – the manipulating of the virus and the research developing ways to treat the virus.
  The research into the treatment may well be required and legal, is the development of new virus strains?
  
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  January 30, 2023 9:39am
- Grunter
  
  The Project Veritas story just shows once again how corrupt the MSM and big social media sites are. There is obviously something going on with Pfizer virus research, and with excess deaths continuing in all the highly vaccinated countries (including NZ). But all we get is silence, media blocking, and obvious propaganda. Why would you do that?
  (The answer is so obvious……)
  
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  January 30, 2023 10:03am
Albie

Busy media week coming up. Mike Hosking back at 6, Sean Plunket on the Platform at 7, back to HDPA at 4 on ZB.
Honeymoon over for the new PM!
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January 30, 2023 9:06am
- Pineapple Lumps
  
  Rest of the media propaganda department are going to divert attention for Chippy onto Brown this week.
  
  Can just see the communications plan on the wall of the office. Got to ensure we give the left the best run into the election we can:
  
  Week 30 from election: Jacinda farewells
  Week 29 from election: New PM sworn in
  Week 28 from election: Waitangi week lead up – strike that out – Campaign to cancel Wayne Brown
  Week 27 from election: Nice stories on all the kids going back to school, free lunches etc
  ….
  
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  January 30, 2023 10:08am
SmokerGuy

I know this will get down ticks but Brown does deserve some of the criticism over this communication fiasco. Why not take a cautious approach over declaring a state of emergency? No one is going to criticise you for being too cautious. But the bigger issue is wtf does he think he is achieving by declaring war on the media the way he has? I dislike the media just as much as most people on this site but it’s your job to deal with them. Whether he likes it or not they are a part of his role, he shouldn’t have taken on the mayoralty if he’s not up to it. I was excited to have someone come in and shake up Auckland but I’ve lost faith in him.
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January 30, 2023 9:10am
- Ghost
  
  We had I think 3 state of emergencies down here last year one was declared because some houses near the flood bank refused to evacuate. But I was looking at photos last night, a child swimming in flooded park, morons at the Elton concert standing in a few inches of water with their drinks. Looks like people didn’t take metservuce warnings serious or take any notice of what was happening
  
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  January 30, 2023 9:17am
  - JackRabbit
    
    And who would’ve thought that being in a swimming pool shaped stadium during a torrential downpour would result in water rise.
    
    Looks like people didn’t take metservuce warnings serious or take any notice of what was happening.
    
    Those silly metservuce warnings are only for farmers who listen to weather reports and who continually check online as to what the weather will be. ////
    
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    January 30, 2023 9:44am
  - Master Mariner
    
    A little insure whether Auckland Council have declared a Climate Emergency or not, But a host of other coumcils have.
    Maybe that is the reason of toal dusfunction, Not declaring a Climate emergency//
    However on a more serious note. No wonder no one takes notice of emergency this and emergency that.
    Herein lies the root cause.
    
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    January 30, 2023 3:28pm
- nathie
  
  Has he actually “declared war” on the MSM?
  
  I thought he was just ignoring them and getting on with things?
  
  Perhaps more like the other way around – that it is actually the MSM that has “declared war” on Brown!
  
  And not just the MSM, far-left Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau was slagging him yesterday in the MSM …
  
  How unprofessional I thought (she wasn’t there at the time – and how about sticking to your own city rather then meddling in others)? She wouldn’t like it if other Mayors put the boot into her lack of leadership over infrastructure issues (clearly she is “Just Another Hugger” so gets off scot-free)!
  
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  January 30, 2023 9:32am
  - Dougal10
    
    If auckland city pipes leaked as much as wellingtons the water may have not flooded the streets , perhaps the wellington mayor is onto a winning argument //.
    
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    January 30, 2023 10:41am
  - SmokerGuy
    
    He has effectively declared war on them by completely ignoring them. I despise our msm but you simply cannot do that role without some interaction with them, he is the mayor of our biggest city.
    
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    January 30, 2023 10:42am
  - Pineapple Lumps
    
    MSM declared war on anyone but Collins. I was sceptical about 3 non-Labour candidates standing against Collins. But with the benefit of hindsight it was like a Lancaster bomber run on the Rhine river dams — Leo Molloy did a good job of absorbing most of the flak allowing Brown to get over the target.
    
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    January 30, 2023 3:12pm
- Pineapple Lumps
  
  The media has been anti-brown since day 1. I think his Trumpian approach to them is honest. They are never going to give him a fair go so why pretend otherwise.
  
  More of our right of centre political leaders need to call out the biased media. Luxon/Seymour – should be pointing this out and calling for media standards to include a balance of bias. That is you can have left leaning opinions presented but there needs to be a corresponding right leaning opinion as well. That would be a huge win for NZers and plays to our inherent sense of fair play.
  
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  January 30, 2023 10:16am
  - SmokerGuy
    
    I know the media don’t like Brown (no surprise) but like it or not, a lot of people get their information from that source. He doesn’t need to be their best friends but nor should be just pretend he can be effective in his job by having no interaction with them at all. We all have shit things we have to do in our job, he needs to suck it up and accept they are a necessary evil.
    
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    January 30, 2023 10:40am
- Gravelroad
  
  @smoker-
  So you’ve lost faith in the mayor after he has had four months in the job.
  How long has the Council CEO been responsible for managing the emergency response policies?
  Do you still have faith in him/ her?
  
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  January 30, 2023 10:40am
  - SmokerGuy
    
    No I don’t have faith is many people at that useless council. Of course the responsibility doesn’t fall solely on Brown but it’s communication 101, basic shit he just cannot seem to do. He is the mayor, the figurehead of Auckland. Being so defensive and absent in the media is not a good way to operate
    
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    January 30, 2023 11:18am
  - Taieri
    
    So you’ve lost faith in the mayor after he has had four months in the job.
    ————-
    
    What is the role of the Mayor of Auckland?
    
    “What the mayor does
    
    The mayor leads our Governing Body.
    
    The mayor’s responsibilities include:
    
    promoting a vision for Auckland
    
    providing leadership to achieve the vision
    
    leading the development of council plans, policies and budgets
    
    ensuring effective engagement between Auckland Council and Aucklanders.
    
    The mayor also appoints the deputy mayor, establishes the committees of the Governing Body and appoints the committee chairs.”
    
    https://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/mayor-of-auckland/Pages/mayors-responsibilities.aspx
    
    Does the Mayor manage the City?
    
    “The governing body has delegated operational responsibilities to staff. It does this by delegating in
    the first instance to the chief executive who then subdelegates to appropriate staff”
    
    https://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/about-auckland-council/how-auckland-council-works/Documents/local-governance-statement.pdf
    
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    January 30, 2023 11:18am
    - Mike
      
      providing leadership
      ensuring effective engagement between Auckland Council and Aucklanders
      
      Two points conspicuously absent in this situation.
      
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      January 30, 2023 1:51pm
- Sparrow
  
  I will get tons of downticks as well. I agree with you. Unfortunately if you take on tough and high profile roles like the Mayor of Auckland you have to be able to handle the media that is todays reality. To fight them you are on a beating to nothing. Yes its all bullshit but the media can cut and paste to make you look and sound terrible. The mayor needs to eat some humble pie and get some media training even at this stage otherwise the media will have a field day and divert attention away from this incompetent government.
  
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  January 30, 2023 11:48am
  - Don Beckett
    
    Trump had a pretty good way of beating the fake news media – give Brown time.
    
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    January 30, 2023 1:11pm
    - Mike
      
      Do you think that if Brown is more like Trump he will be as successful in getting re-elected?
      
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      January 30, 2023 1:52pm
  - Pineapple Lumps
    
    SmokerGuy and Sparrow – you are both right he should get some media training. Probably needs to employ a couple of PR folks too – as Jacinda has shown it’s essential for brand management.
    
    Also, most of the media could do with some media training too!!!
    
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    January 30, 2023 3:09pm
  - NothingLeft
    
    Sargon of Akkad’s reponse to journalistic smears when he ran for office sets the comic standard: https://youtu.be/yrn1Y32F_bY?t=278
    
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    January 30, 2023 3:58pm
Maggy Wassilieff

The Met Office had issued warnings days before Ex-tropical Cyclone Hale hit NZ on 10th January.

That meant I spent all Tuesday here at home waiting for the deluge, ensuring that our drains and gutters were free and everything outside was secure.

I didn’t see any big Media publicity indicating that Friday’s rain was going to be at an unprecedented volume for Auckland and folks should remain alert for flooding.

The media carried stories all Friday about taking your car to Elton John.
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January 30, 2023 9:23am
- Ghost
  
  Stuff had live coverage of the storm from 7.40m on Friday, Including metservice warnings. 7.11am metservice had an extreme weather warning watch
  
  https://embed.scribblelive.com/Embed/v7.aspx?Id=3023395&Page=16&overlay=false
  
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  January 30, 2023 9:36am
  - NeverMindTheBollocks
    
    Trouble is, the media has been shilling extreme weather watch warnings for several years; it’s a classic ‘boy cries wolf’ scenario.
    
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    January 30, 2023 6:33pm
- Hollyfield
  
  Weather predictions are notoriously fickle.
  
  Since Friday we have been told:
  * heavy rain all day Saturday – actually only a few showers (some heavy) which stopped around 9am-10am, and several hours of sun in the afternoon
  * thunderstorms between 7pm and 10pm Saturday – didn’t happen
  * heavy rain all day Sunday – one shower around 2pm
  * thunderstorms Sunday – one clap of thunder only around 6pm
  * orange alert rain warning Sunday night until 7am Monday – no heavy rain yet, currently drizzling
  
  I understand that the rain-logged ground impedes further rain from draining away, and land may continue to slip, so there is still an emergency situation of further dangers. Let alone ongoing difficulties for people whose houses have flooded. However none of the warnings since Friday night have eventuated in anything more than an occasional heavy shower and intermittent drizzling.
  
  (I’m in a central Auckland suburb, and these are my experiences here.)
  
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  January 30, 2023 9:46am
- 70andstilllearning
  
  You wouldn’t see anything Maggy because metservice were still persisting late morning/early afternoon with their “Warning” that the heavy rain was for Northland, particularly the north and east, despite the fact that their own rain radar was showing very heavy falls in the southeast ( Brynderwyn’s/Mangawhai), heading southwest. Metservice dropped the ball and I suspect (unintentionally) mislead EM and some of the decision making. At this point there seems to be very little comment about this point!
  
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  January 30, 2023 10:02am
  - Ghost
    
    10.11am Friday
    
    https://twitter.com/MetService/status/1618718380659470336
    
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    January 30, 2023 10:06am
    - 70andstilllearning
      
      Thanks Ghost – twitter links normally grey out and tell me to “join” Could be more useful in the future. 🙂
      
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      January 30, 2023 10:57am
    - Dougal10
      
      Twitter 😂🤣😂🤣😂😂🤣
      
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      January 30, 2023 1:07pm
      - Ghost
        
        It’s an update from their website they push out through Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and their phone app.
        
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        January 30, 2023 1:12pm
- Pineapple Lumps
  
  I can’t recall any occasion where we have made the decision not to continue work and schooling in Auckland because of a severe weather warning. The only variation to this is when wind picks up and the Bridge gets closed – but this has only happened after a truck blew over and damaged the bridge – during Goffs time as Mayor but little said about that.
  
  I think there needs to be some more critical thinking around surface flooding. Basically it occurs when the infrastructure to remove surface water is not able to deal with the volume of rain. It would be impossible to predict with accuracy where these points of failure will occur – rainfall doesn’t land evenly across the city – the condition of the infrastructure can also be variable. Even if you predict that how do you then stop the excess surface water runoff moving through places you don’t want it to go? It would not be possible to build stop banks or sandbags for all of these areas like you would do for a traditional watercourse. And even if you had a department setup to deploy these measures, it would be impossible to get them setup across all the potential problem spots at short notice.
  
  Essentially overland flood paths have to be factored into city planning and consents processes. And even then there will be events outside the design limits that cause problems. Nature is a powerful and destructive force that we do not have the ability to control.
  
  The media looking to lay the blame at the feet of the Mayor are really stopping to a new low in NZ politics. It would have been like blaming Jacinda for the Mosque shooting the day after it happened due to inadequate police resources or the White Island eruption because of a lack of clarity around which Government agency has control of when people can visit volcanic zones. Despicable, rabid, hateful behaviour.
  
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  January 30, 2023 10:36am
- Pineapple Lumps
  
  You are right Maggy – all I heard on the ride to work was the stupidity of AT for shutting down trains (not related to weather) when there was an Elton John concert at Mt Smart. Don’t recall hearing any concerns about the weather.
  
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  January 30, 2023 3:04pm
TT500

When questioned on ZB this morning about his up coming cabinet announcement, Chris Hipkins, referred to ‘the abundance’ of talent amongst his back bench MP’s.
I’m keen to see what portfolio’s Anahila Kanongata’a-Suisuiki and Tamati Coffey get
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January 30, 2023 9:31am
- I remember when
  
  Minister and Associate Minister for the asking of ‘patsy’ questions at “Question Time” in the house.
  
  Or will they be replaced by members the party think have better electoral changes.
  
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  January 30, 2023 9:44am
- kowtow
  
  It’s funny how the media and others blather on about the new deputy pm being a great day/achievement for paaa seeee feee kah .
  
  Other than her immediate family how will this appointment materially improve the lives of any New Zealander.
  
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  January 30, 2023 9:52am
- Opie
  
  “I’m keen to see what portfolio’s Anahila Kanongata’a-Suisuiki and Tamati Coffey get”
  
  You are clearly racist, misogynistic and homophobic.
  
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  January 30, 2023 12:22pm
Maggy Wassilieff

If the heavy rain in Auckland was due to climate change, then why hadn’t the previous Mayors – Len Brown, Phil Goff, Dick Hubbard, John Banks, etc, and their administrations ensured that the drainage system of the city and suburbs would cope with a heavy rainfall?

It’s not as if we haven’t known about climate change for the last 4 decades.
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January 30, 2023 9:32am
- nathie
  
  Excellent suggestion! Oh but it seems the solution (from the Greens and Labour’s far-left) is to build more cycleways and get people out of cars to reduce emissions which then somehow prevents these heavy rain/climate change events!
  
  I wish I could say I’m making this up for laughs, but alas that’s exactly what Marama Davidson was telling Roman Travers on ZB yesterday afternoon!
  
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  January 30, 2023 9:40am
  - MCōs
    
    The money spent on cycleways is a drop in the bucket compared with that required to upgrade the storm water, sewerage & water.
    As it happens the $1.2bil Central Interceptor wastewater tunnel is being built as we speak, plus other upgrades.
    
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    January 30, 2023 12:32pm
    - NeverMindTheBollocks
      
      A drop in the bucket – I see what you did there
      
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      January 30, 2023 6:36pm
- Alan Wilkinson
  
  Exactly. Money spent on overseas junkets to climate talkfests for idiots should have been spent on engineering. Instead we got cycleways and kayaks disappearing down culverts.
  
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  January 30, 2023 9:47am
Suze Wainwright

Has there been a serious study done on the intellectual capacity of msm journos to understand complex issues?

I know DPF blogged not so long ago about msm journos’ natural left leanings, but what about their basic intelligence and processing skills?
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January 30, 2023 9:37am
- sirknz
  
  The MSM overwhelmingly vote left, that should be enough to highlight their [lack of] basic intelligence and [lack of] processing skills.
  
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  January 30, 2023 10:19am
- Alan Wilkinson
  
  Most are innumerate communications and arts grads.
  
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  January 30, 2023 2:25pm
  - NothingLeft
    
    And they have chosen to get into the chronically shrinking and underpaid journalism careers because they are (mostly) from wealthy families (insulated from long term concerns about money) and want to change the world to fit their far-left political views. They are elitists who are toxic to democracy.
    
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    January 30, 2023 4:04pm
    - ISeeRed
      
      That goes for most Western media and NGOs in general.
      
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      January 30, 2023 9:42pm
Rusty

Without being insensitive to people who have lost their homes and even lives through this weather event in Auckland — I do wonder about houses being built on cliff edges or at the bottom of gullies etc,

It only takes one big weather event to cause total destruction to peoples homes.

Yet most of the talk in recent times has been about properties next to water edges and the threat of climate change destroying them.

Maybe a big rethink is on the way on where houses are built in Auckland.
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January 30, 2023 9:38am
- JackRabbit
  
  I do wonder about houses being built on cliff edges or at the bottom of gullies etc
  
  They didn’t learn from the flooding in the South Island over the last 100 years, and didn’t learn from the Chch earthquake.
  
  To many in Auckland, the earthquake in Chch was all over in a few weeks or months. They do not realise that our infrastructure is still not fully fixed and original insurance claims, claims on faulty repair work, and claims for newly discovered damage due to ground settling are still ongoing.
  
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  January 30, 2023 9:50am
- Ehlana
  
  Rusty, I remember years ago seeing news reports every year about floods on US rivers like the Mississippi. States of emergency were declared, federal money was promised for re-building.
  
  Only after mulitple rinse and repeats did it occur to people that rebuilding “as was” in a flood zone only ensured future loss of life and property. Eventually, the rules were changed so taxpayers weren’t on the hook for other peoples bad choices.
  
  If you look at coverage from the US these days, you often see seaside homes elevated one or more stories off the ground – to allow for the storm surge which is now expected to occur.
  
  Quite simply, any rebuilding in areas that flooded this time needs to be on the basis that this could happen again and you need to protect yourself. Or move elsewhere.
  
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  January 30, 2023 10:45am
  - Jack5
    
    The US Army Corp of Engineers has led work to try control Mississippi flooding for at least a century.
    
    Spending continues by the billion, but it seems impossible to make the river safe for people nearby and for navigation.
    
    It’s harder still to control lesser but more unpredictable floods in temperate islands like NZ, where the water comes from the sky rather than from upstream.
    
    On cost to householders, the Government announced two years ago of the Earthquake Commission:
    
    “EQC will cover the first $300,000 of damage caused by earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, hydrothermal activity and natural landslips. Private insurers cover damage above the EQC cap, which is currently set at $150,000.”
    
    That was Labour Minister David Clark on 30 September 2021 (link below).
    
    He didn’t mention water damage, as opposed to landslip damage.
    
    https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/new-eqc-cap-make-natural-disaster-insurance-more-affordable
    
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    January 30, 2023 11:26am
    - Mike
      
      In parts of the US there is an insistence on continuing to develop cities in extremely vulnerable river valley and shorelines. “It won’t happen to me” is a common psychological response.
      
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      January 30, 2023 1:56pm
- 70andstilllearning
  
  An interesting point was made to me last night by an ex building inspector. The residential building codes are apparently based on a 100 yr event probability, not say a 1000 yr event. The logic being that the structure will survive long enough for occupants to get out, not necessarily for the building elements to survive. Commercial codes have a more stringent code hence floating foundations etc. Some of the rainfall yesterday set local (measured that is) records – 100 yr or 1000 yr event? – only the future will tell. He wasn’t surprised that some structures parted company from their foundations.
  
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  January 30, 2023 12:12pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

Stop Co-Governance. Julian Batchelor.
https://www.stopcogovernance.kiwi/blog/martin-doutre-video-on-how-the-treaty-came-about-this-is-worth-watching/

https://rumble.com/vkgsf3-episode-19-part-1-the-true-meaning-of-the-treaty-of-waitangi.html?mref=lzerp&mrefc=3
1.31.20
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January 30, 2023 9:42am
- Mike
  
  Martin Doutre is well known for pseudohistory, Steve. Fantasies about Celts settling in NZ before Polynesians.
  It’s a shame that people with reservations about co-governance feel compelled to resort to these kinds of racist bullshitters to provide arguments.
  
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  January 30, 2023 2:01pm
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    Mike, you could go to the site and email Julian Batchelor.
    I am sure he would return your email.
    
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    January 30, 2023 5:07pm
nathie

Question: Is the wall of wailing from the MSM on whether Mayor Brown “waited far too long” to sign off on a state of emergency …. because the MSM become dependent on the likes of (ex) PM Ardern “holding their hands” by providing “reassuring” information and updates from the Podium of Truth etc?

In other words, now that things have returned back to normality (eg no more Facebook Live events from the ex-PM), the MSM cannot cope as they are still wanting to know things “instantly”?
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January 30, 2023 9:57am
- peterwn
  
  One would have thought that the CEO would initiate a state of emergency and the Mayor would sign it off. But the issue remains that the Mayor (noting he is a highly paid Executive Mayor) seemed to be for whatever reason ‘missing in action’. Even though the CEO and team would be left to get on with it he should really have been the main ‘face’ of Auckland Council. If Jacinda was Mayor she would be right as the forefront offering sympathy, empathy and assuring people that things were being done.
  Similarly with the Queen Consort during WW2 (better known to us all as the late Queen Mother). After terrible bombing raids she was out on the streets of London offering hope and reassurance to people even though the decision making and needed actions were left to others. But her contributions in this way were very important for maintaining the morale of the people.
  
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  January 30, 2023 10:18am
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    Where was the MP for Mt Albert during this weekend?
    
    Was she on deck, giving support to her electorate?
    
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    January 30, 2023 10:29am
    - Ghost
      
      I saw a post last night someone thanking her for taking food to their mother
      
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      January 30, 2023 10:32am
    - MCōs
      
      One could ask that question of a number of our local MPs & councilors.
      It’s a bit much to ask of civil leader of Mayor Brown’s age to be out there packing food parcels all day, but it’s must be reassuring for those who have fallen on hard times to know their local leaders are putting in the grunt work.
      
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      January 30, 2023 12:20pm
Swifty

Our Australian correspondent sends in an update on events from just outside Bendigo:

https://www.facebook.com/reel/897114715049983?fs=e&s=TIeQ9V&mibextid=0NULKw

Caution – extensive use of local vernacular.
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January 30, 2023 9:58am
103PapPap

In an article in Newsroom, https://www.newsroom.co.nz/the-auckland-floods-are-a-sign-of-things-to-come?utm_source=Newsroom&utm_campaign=f063e4fa0f-Daily_Briefing+30.01.23&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_71de5c4b35-f063e4fa0f-97914567 , prominent climate scientist James Renwick stated “I am confident climate change contributed significantly to the incredible volume of rain that fell so quickly in Auckland this time.”
Note that he made this comment after the event.
I, based on my 98% pass in School Certificate Geography in 1959, are going to predict that within three months, leaves on half the trees in New Zealand will turn orange then red, then fall to the ground where they will clog waterways, cause old people to slip and fall and make the trees look desolate.
All because cows fart!
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January 30, 2023 10:01am
- JackRabbit
  
  James Renwick: “I am confident climate change contributed significantly to the incredible volume of rain that fell so quickly in Auckland this time.”
  
  If man made climate change is to blame, what does he cite as the main contributory cause for the massive flooding in the South Island in 1878?
  https://nzhistory.govt.nz/page/great-flood-hits-south-island
  
  Time Traveling Aliens?
  
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  January 30, 2023 10:22am
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    Then James Renwick must have some empirical evidence to show that this Auckland event differs significantly from previous events in NZ where large volumes of rain fell from the skies in a limited time period.
    
    He needs to produce his evidence that attributes this Auckland event to (man-made) Climate Change/Greenhouse Warming…and Not to a natural weather phenomenon.
    
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    January 30, 2023 10:38am
    - kowtow
      
      Emotion trumps evidence.
      
      Follow the science ? Not so much. More like follow the funding.
      
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      January 30, 2023 10:50am
      - Don Beckett
        
        As previously mentioned, anything about the Tongan eruption putting millions of tons of moisture into the atmosphere & affecting weather oscilation patterns? Thought not.
        
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        January 30, 2023 10:59am
      - Wayne Mapp
        
        Don,
        
        You keep on repeating this. The Tongan eruption effect on global climate is primarily due to particulants (ash), not additional H2O.
        
        Yes, it put in millions of tons, but this is a trivial amount compared to the global evaporation. Any hurricane will put much more H2O into the atmosphere, and there are many dozens of hurricanes per year.
        
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        January 30, 2023 2:27pm
      - All_on_Red
        
        You’re wrong Wayne
        ‘More than eight months after the underwater volcano near Tonga erupted on Jan. 14, scientists are still analyzing the impacts of the violent blast, and they’re discovering that it could warm the planet.
        Recently, researchers calculated that the eruption of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apa spewed a staggering 50 million tons (45 million metric tons) of water vapor into Earth’s atmosphere, in addition to enormous quantities of ash and volcanic gases. This massive vapor injection increased the amount of moisture in the global stratosphere by about 5%, and could trigger a cycle of stratospheric cooling and surface heating — and these effects may persist for months to come, according to a new study.
        Tonga’s eruption, which began on Jan. 13 and peaked two days later, was the most powerful witnessed on Earth in decades(opens in new tab). The blast extended for 162 miles (260 kilometers) and sent pillars of ash, steam and gas soaring more than 12 miles (20 km) into the air, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).’
        https://www.space.com/tonga-eruption-water-vapor-warm-earth
        
        Heres NASA
        https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/tonga-eruption-blasted-unprecedented-amount-of-water-into-stratosphere
        
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        January 30, 2023 2:42pm
    - JackRabbit
      
      Rather than climate change contributed significantly to the incredible volume of rain, Renwick should put a percentage on it, e.g 27.2%, and then back it up with evidence, and be prepared to have it examined.
      
      Same with Hendy and the 80,000 may die. In Hendy’s case, the TAB could have allowed bets against Hendy. In which case his $1.5m for a couple minutes copying the 80,000 deaths figure off “V for Vendetta” could have gone to those people who called it for what it was, “bullshit”.
      
      Anyone can spout forth anal utterings on a compliant media. It is another thing again to provide evidence, and as you point out, empirical evidence, based on measurements and observations, not some model or theory based on govt grants that are conditional upon sticking to a predefined narrative.
      
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      January 30, 2023 11:00am
    - Taieri
      
      He needs to produce his evidence
      ———–
      
      He won’t. Because none exists. But the motormouths from the media will know better…
      
      14 2
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      January 30, 2023 11:38am
    - Bullion
      
      One thing to put a value to, something like 1 degree of warming allows the atmosphere to hold about 7% more water – so the 1.1 degree of warming will result in more water in the atmosphere and higher volumes of rainfall, when it does rain.
      
      2 1
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      January 30, 2023 11:53am
      - Taieri
        
        the 1.1 degree of warming will result in more water in the atmosphere and higher volumes of rainfall, when it does rain
        ————–
        
        When it rains where?
        
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        January 30, 2023 12:41pm
  - HalfFull
    
    Time Traveling Aliens?
    
    Yes
    
    7 0
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    January 30, 2023 10:43am
  - fightingtemeraire
    
    Or the major flooding in SE UK and the Low Countries in 1952
    
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    January 30, 2023 12:15pm
Surely Knott

One of NZ’s leading interior design store is selling mohair and merino blanket throws ($1300 and $500 respectively) imported fromCopenhagen??!?!? As our own wool industry collapses we are importing merino blankets from Europe? And what’s the carbon footprint on that compared to a Queenstown sheep.
25 1
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January 30, 2023 10:20am
Steve Otto(North Shore)

Clever girl from a few years back.
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1239805796128955&ref=sharing
10 3
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January 30, 2023 10:52am
- Pineapple Lumps
  
  Thanks for sharing- she is a smart cookie alright.
  
  3 0
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  January 30, 2023 3:15pm
Maggy Wassilieff

Have Aucklanders forgotten how some of their suburbs flooded last year in March 2022 ?

https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2022/03/weather-prime-minister-jacinda-ardern-s-street-flooded-by-auckland-storm.html

Is there a problem with drainage that Aucklanders are failing to address?
23 2
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January 30, 2023 11:02am
- JimBobJoe
  
  Its called infill housing. Less ground to soak up water as roof coverage increases couple with no pipe upgrades?to cope with more water is a contributing factor
  
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  January 30, 2023 11:34am
  - NeverMindTheBollocks
    
    Aren’t Developer Contributions supposed to cover upgrades to infrastructure for infill housing?
    
    I’d be asking for my money back.
    
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    January 30, 2023 6:42pm
kevn

@Maggy…. Must be water run-off from all the concrete cycleways?
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January 30, 2023 11:03am
Ghost

I must have missed this bit on who was advising the mayor

Brown insisted he formally declared a state of emergency immediately after he was advised to do so on Friday night and was at his desk from 4pm, getting updates from Emergency Management Minister Kieran McAnulty and the city’s emergency management leadership.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/131096210/auckland-mayor-wayne-browns-own-staff-were-doing-a-terrible-job
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January 30, 2023 11:13am
- JimBobJoe
  
  Stitched up…. And Left media jump on him….
  
  15 2
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  January 30, 2023 11:35am
Steve Otto(North Shore)

The Incredible Shrinking Man.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gl1wrR7fREU
4 2
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January 30, 2023 12:00pm
DeepBlue

Golly gosh, whomever is advising Hipkins needs to focus on the donut and not the hole.

Hipkins is becoming fixated on Wayne Brown and is losing any freshness he needs to make important announcements in the next three weeks. People will soon tune out of Hipkins as he isn’t saying anything for the people.

Brown may have made mistakes, but this relentless hounding for quotes by the media will not sway people to the left one little bit. It is not Brown’s fault that Auckland flooded, it is 22+ years of neglect by his predecessors.
20 2
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January 30, 2023 12:15pm
- Brian McDonald
  
  DeepBlue:
  Who’s blaming Brown for the flooding? I think you are dreaming on that point, he’s being criticised for either doing nothing or not updating the public why not. Try to keep up.
  
  3 22
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  January 30, 2023 12:30pm
- JackRabbit
  
  …whomever is advising Hipkins needs to focus on the donut and not the hole.
  
  Good analogy.
  
  By observation Socialists can’t create wealth and positive outcomes, they can only destroy them. So the focus has to be on the hole, as they are incapable of making a donut.
  
  12 3
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  January 30, 2023 12:36pm
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Someone has not told Chippie that HE is running the Country now.
  Take a while to settle in I guess.
  
  4 0
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  January 30, 2023 6:15pm
Doc Holliday

The rainfall in Auckland on Friday, 71mm in 1 hour totalling 249mm in 24 hours – near enough 10 inches – was caused by poor drainage.

Water is essential for life and CO2 is plant food.

Any more knobs of goat shit masquerading as pearls of wisdom?
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January 30, 2023 12:23pm
- cmm
  
  Yup, plenty of places in the world will see 150mm in an hour on a routine basis. It’s fine so long as you understand that water flows downhill and build accordingly.
  
  When I lived in Johannesburg in the 1980s, up to 100mm in an hour (including hail) was a once a year or so experience. It all worked ok. Now their drainage systems are choked with plastic bags and squatters have built shacks in the river beds. Now people drown in weather events half as bad.
  
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  January 30, 2023 12:33pm
  - Nickc2
    
    Another dictatorship’s working well then?
    
    5 0
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    January 30, 2023 3:40pm
  - Master Mariner
    
    Ive stayed in Rosebank?, the highest point in Jo,berg.
    Time your clock to 5pm down pour rolling in.
    Not too mention lightening strikes.
    
    5 0
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    January 30, 2023 3:45pm
  - 70andstilllearning
    
    “….. as you understand that water flows downhill and build accordingly.”
    @cmm -Milford Sound obviously got the idea –
    
    ” Milford Sound is the wettest inhabited place in New Zealand, and one of the wettest places in the world!
    The mean annual rainfall in Milford Sound is 6,813mm, and it rains there on average 182 days a year. Over the course of 24 hours, 250mm of rain can fall in the area.”
    https://www.milford-sound.co.nz/about/milford-sound-weather/#:~:text=Milford%20Sound%20is%20the%20wettest,average%20182%20days%20a%20year.
    
    5 0
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    January 30, 2023 4:24pm
    - Pineapple Lumps
      
      Not many houses on the sides of those Fiords.
      
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      January 30, 2023 5:12pm
NeverMindTheBollocks

The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission last week approved the design of the first small modular reactor, which means that those wanting to build one (in the US) can apply for a licence to do so without fear that the design will be challenged in court.

I’m looking forward to the reaction of the Greens to this. The on-call media go-tos of Golly G & the MP for Tijuana will surely welcome this step in securing CO2-free electricity generation, to keep Auckland safe from more climate change caused cyclones.
11 1
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January 30, 2023 12:40pm
- Paulus
  
  Understand already building small modern nuclear reactors in the UK – Rolls Royce Engineering are scheduled to do 27 and have started.
  
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  January 30, 2023 1:31pm
Jack5

… what if Jacinda Ardern hadn’t retired …

Wading through flood water, in fluoro-orange lifejacket and sou’wester rain hat, pushing a dinghy packed with Polynesian kids… in time for 6pm TV bulletins …
17 2
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January 30, 2023 12:45pm
- kowtow
  
  No siree .
  
  She’d a been walking on water .
  
  ‘Touch her gown”
  
  17 2
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  January 30, 2023 1:15pm
  - Jack5
    
    Holy shit! Ardern is out and about visiting landslide victims.
    
    Apparently called in by Albert Eden Puketapapa ward councillor Julie Fairey, who has been an Alliance Party candidate in general elections and at one time was involved with teacher unions.
    
    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/jacinda-ardern-a-chopper-and-a-digger-owairaka-landtree-slide-call-gets-big-response/YCQWSVAWFVABVNZ7G3Y4YONHLQ/
    
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    January 30, 2023 5:34pm
    - Hollyfield
      
      Julie Fairey is also partner to Michael Wood.
      
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      January 30, 2023 6:59pm
DeepBlue

RNZ just interviewed a South Auckland Māori rep. They are focusing on elders as first point of contact as they ‘don’t even know what a State of Emergency means’.

My take is declaring a SOM 5 hours earlier would not have made any difference to these people.
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January 30, 2023 12:51pm
cmm

Herald is talking about burglars in flooded areas.

C’mon, call the criminal scum what they are: looters.

Looting has always been considered a worse crime than burglary – for good reason.
19 1
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January 30, 2023 12:55pm
- David Garrett
  
  cmm: Quite so…and the punishment for looting in many jurisdictions is shooting on sight…Never going to happen in Outer Roa of course.
  
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  January 30, 2023 2:15pm
  - Mike
    
    Perhaps you could enlighten us with a short explanation of the crime of looting as it has been treated in NZ’s common and statute law.
    
    1 10
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    January 30, 2023 2:38pm
    - cmm
      
      It appears you have confused the comment section with a search engine.
      
      If you want a history lesson on looting or the laws regarding looting in various countries, Google is there to do your searching.
      
      12 2
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      January 30, 2023 3:08pm
    - Maggy Wassilieff
      
      In NZ the crime of looting is restricted to members of the Armed Forces.
      
      https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1971/0053/latest/DLM402701.html
      
      2 0
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      January 30, 2023 3:19pm
Maggie Pie

I see for the first time ever, this years CENSUS will be collecting information on your…. ‘Gender’ & ‘Sexual Identity’.

Make sure to keep your gates locked and drapes pulled.
17 3
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January 30, 2023 12:57pm
- Ghost
  
  It’s OK, if you’re unsure just remember this quote from kindergarten cop. Boys have a penis, girls have a vagina.
  
  11 1
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  January 30, 2023 1:03pm
  - Taieri
    
    Boys have a penis, girls have a vagina
    ————
    
    Not anymore it seems…
    
    6 1
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    January 30, 2023 3:57pm
- Rusty
  
  @Maggie Pie.
  
  Hasn’t previous census’s figured out if the person was a male or female filling it out — Mr, Mrs, Miss etc, ?
  
  I don’t know what sexual identity means but its no ones business.
  
  This census sounds like a dossier on peoples lifestyles.
  
  7 2
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  January 30, 2023 1:26pm
  - Maggie Pie
    
    Unfortunately not any longer Russ, you’re overlooking the latest ‘Personal-Gender-Pronouns’ (PGP’s) as published by…..The LGBTQI+ Resource Centre.
    
    4 2
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    January 30, 2023 1:48pm
    - David Garrett
      
      Maggie: You have missed out one…There now has to be an A after the I for Asexual….funnily enough that one may be justified: I have known a few men in my life who are either asexual as in totally uninterested in sex, or repressed homosexuals who never came out.
      
      11 2
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      January 30, 2023 2:10pm
      - Maggie Pie
        
        Yes, there’s one that makes snarky comments here on a regular basis.
        Although most of his posts get down-ticked to oblivion.
        😀 😀 😀
        
        8 2
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        January 30, 2023 2:32pm
- Joely Doe
  
  Please, please please!
  I hope they have an option to write in what you identify as…
  So far I think I am the only Self-Driving Unicorn in the country.
  I would love to know I am not alone.
  
  8 2
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  January 30, 2023 1:39pm
Maggie Pie

And this from the respected…. ‘FRANCE DAILY’

something we’ve long suspected 😛

https://twitter.com/metags3/status/1619232990634323968
6 2
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January 30, 2023 1:10pm
- Inandout
  
  Maggie, can you recall Joan Rivers at some stage mentioning Mrs Macron?
  
  7 2
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  January 30, 2023 1:21pm
  - Maggie Pie
    
    Goodness, did she?
    
    I recall her saying Barrack Obama was gay and Michelle was transgender 😀
    
    Joan died suddenly not long after that I think?
    
    7 2
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    January 30, 2023 1:33pm
    - Inandout
      
      Maggie, maybe I was thinking of the Kenyan. Yes poor soul died under the knife during a simple cosmetic procedure.
      
      5 2
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      January 30, 2023 3:20pm
      - Maggie Pie
        
        Yes, Joan was my partner’s mum’s absolute Idol.
        
        3 2
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        January 30, 2023 3:55pm
- Ghost
  
  Well since I can’t read French I will guess Harry is a transsexual who had it done the old fashion way with frostbite ?
  
  5 1
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  January 30, 2023 1:43pm
- Libertarians are right
  
  Honestly, she’s a groomer. That’s enough.
  
  5 2
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  January 30, 2023 2:25pm
kevn

@Maggie… Further down the page. Good to see the waiters are wearing masks. That might help with the overpowering stench of rotten corruption.
6 1
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January 30, 2023 1:19pm
mogg

If you want to understand what is going on with inflation in NZ read this man;
https://www.interest.co.nz/index.php/users/roger-j-kerr.
4 1
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January 30, 2023 2:10pm
- Jack5
  
  Roger Kerr strays from Friedman’s monetarism.
  
  “Jawboning” the NZ dollar higher to keep import costs lower?
  
  If this is feasible, the theory that a floating exchange rate automatically adjusts an economy internationally is a con.
  
  And if a free floating currency is a con, why not follow successful international economies like those of post-war Germany, Japan, and China, which have manipulated their exchange rates lower, rather than manipulate NZ’s exchange rate higher?
  
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  January 30, 2023 3:46pm
  - mogg
    
    Non tradeable inflation is NZ biggest problem right now, and it is something which govt policy can help to control. The ‘inflation responsibility bill’ would be a great idea, as in making local authorities responsible for their ever increasing wage bill.
    
    6 2
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    January 30, 2023 4:14pm
    - Jack5
      
      MOGG, please watch one of the Friedman videos on inflation linked to below.
      
      You need to pick a side on inflation: Friedmanite OR Guardian-reading, Lefty Keynesian.
      
      Friedman videos:
      
      https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Friedman on inflation
      
      3 1
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      January 30, 2023 4:43pm
      - Jack5
        
        My apologies, MOGG, I mucked up that link.
        
        A full Friedman lecture (57min) in the first link, and, second a short talk (about 14min)
        
        https://youtu.be/THAaIZmxfNA
        
        AND
        
        https://youtu.be/GJ4TTNeSUdQ
        
        2 1
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        January 30, 2023 4:54pm
    - Alan Wilkinson
      
      Except as Kerr notes central government keeps inflicting ever more regulatory duties on local government. Including the nonsense givimg rise to 3/5 Waters.
      
      3 1
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      January 30, 2023 5:14pm
TT500

Does anyone know what traffic light we are
under at the moment ?
6 1
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January 30, 2023 2:29pm
- Ghost
  
  None, it was scrapped
  
  7 0
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  January 30, 2023 2:31pm
Pineapple Lumps

Great to see Novak Djokovic win the Australian Open. Especially after the fiasco last year when the Australians let him in and then kicked him out because he was showing up their Covid Mandates.

Seeing him win is a punch on the nose to the anti-freedoms people.
13 2
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January 30, 2023 2:39pm
Maggy Wassilieff

And did our MSM miss the fact that Our Government appointed CEOs for three of the 3-Waters mega-bodies on the very day that Auckland was under water?

https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA2301/S00073/three-waters-appoints-ceos.htm
11 1
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January 30, 2023 2:39pm
- nathie
  
  And not one advocate or supporter for 3 Waters (including the Iwi Tribal Elites & Labour/Greens/Maori Party) are putting their hand up to say:
  
  “Support 3 Waters and we will fix Auckland’s (or Coromandel’s or [insert town here]) storm water systems to prevent future flooding events like those last Friday” …
  
  Telling, isn’t it, that despite having the perfect platform to say so ….. hmmm 3/4/5 Waters doesn’t really seem to be about fixing things?!!
  
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  January 30, 2023 3:20pm
  - Taieri
    
    With all this rain it should be 6 Waters now…
    
    4 0
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    January 30, 2023 6:32pm
- Gravelroad
  
  @MW-
  Did you read the article by Gordon Campbell below the one about 3/5 Waters CEOs?
  Pretending to report on what the much better “Mayor Efeso” was doing during the flooding on Friday night.
  Pathetic and desperate.
  When did these reporters get so full of themselves?
  Could it be when the Labour Party started paying them?
  
  8 1
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  January 30, 2023 4:08pm
CAKE FACE1

The socialists have one big disadvantage. Their system doesn’t work.

The socialists more than make up for this pesky disadvantage, by their one big advantage. The socialists are far more committed than the freedom advocates.

As David George said in a post, the socialists adopt an approach like the Russian defenders in Stalingrad, during WW2.

They are prepared to send wave after wave of shock troops into the fray, and don’t care about casualties.

Meanwhile, supporters of freedom tie themselves in knots, trying to outdo each other in being “fair” to the socialists. They fight one at a time, and are easily picked off by an avalanche of socialists.

National need to start taking the socialist hordes in the lickspittle Team of $55 million seriously. The supporters of freedom are being overrun.

What is the National strategy to fight this barbarian horde?

I hope they have something up their sleeve, because so far I’ve seen nothing…
14 1
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January 30, 2023 2:39pm
BeaB

It was great to see Hipkins dressed up as Action Man telling us it was raining. We really needed to hear that. True leadership.
We need someone out in front to sob and hug and emote because that’s how stupid we have all become and how puerile our media are.
Remember the days when Civil Defence meant individuals and communities being prepared for emergencies? Now we want someone to state the blinking obvious and give us all a big cuddle. Pathetic.
24 1
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January 30, 2023 2:55pm
BeaB

This debacle is what 10 l0ng years of Labour mayors condemn us to.
Just as well Phil Goff is emulating the J Hunt the Minister of wine and cheese in the HighCommission in London.
Like Ardern, Goff should hang his head in shame.
Billions squandered and people’s homes and lives devastated.
Anyone who votes Labour needs their head examined.
23 2
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January 30, 2023 2:59pm
70andstilllearning

Mayoral words can be perhaps be reassuring ….
In the Northern Advocate today.

Far North Kahika (Mayor) Moko Tepania said the council was working with Civil Defence Northland to keep residents updated and ensure the region was prepared should anyone need assistance.

“Civil Defence Northland is active right now and is on standby monitoring the situation should they need to kick into action,” Tepania said.

So “active right now” followed by “should they need to kick into action” – aren’t they already in action? I s’pose the mayor’s words are somehow reassuring …..
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January 30, 2023 3:52pm
- Alan Wilkinson
  
  Exactly. This is the banal nonsense Brown is accused of depriving Aucklanders of.
  
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  January 30, 2023 5:17pm
  - greybeard
    
    This is the banal nonsense of which Brown is accused of depriving Aucklanders.
    
    3 0
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    January 30, 2023 5:56pm
    - Alan Wilkinson
      
      I thought about that option and decided it sounded too affected.
      
      4 0
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      January 30, 2023 6:13pm
      - Alan Wilkinson
        
        https://www.grammarly.com/blog/end-sentence-preposition/
        
        2 0
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        January 30, 2023 6:41pm
    - Alan Wilkinson
      
      I could also have said “Brown is accused of depriving Aucklanders of this banal nonsense” but it lacks the same punch.
      
      3 0
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      January 30, 2023 6:55pm
Nickc2

I don’t know if anyone else noticed yesterday when one of the Black Ferns Rugby 7s players was being interviewed on camera, she was asked what their success was attributed to? Her response was: “It’s our kultcha and you whities betta watch out.”
Charming eh? I’m pleased that at this stage she’s only being paid for her Rugby Playing prowess.
13 3
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January 30, 2023 4:14pm
Steve Todd

HdPA has just laid down the gauntlet to Stand Down Brown! And rightly so, too.
2 13
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January 30, 2023 4:16pm
- Steve Todd
  
  Stand Down Brown, duly chastened, will be on the Heather Show at 5:10PM.
  
  1 7
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  January 30, 2023 4:28pm
  - Maggie Pie
    
    Just heard WB on with HDPA.
    
    Thank the Lord we’ve got him in charge!!
    
    Imagine if it was Espresso…he’d be telling us how the council is looking at raising the rates in the more affluent suburbs of Auckland, to take care of the drainage infrastructure out West.
    
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    January 30, 2023 5:20pm
- Nickc2
  
  Are you guys in Fraser House still working today Steve? Oh, that’s right, it’s only a public holiday in Akld today.
  PS: Who in the PM’s media team has been replaced or promoted today? You must know them, they occupy every office on the 9th floor of the Beehive with the exception of the PM’s toilet I’m told and they breed among themselves.
  
  11 1
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  January 30, 2023 4:30pm
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    Auckland has a holiday, but Wellywood is hard at work saving New Zealand.
    Probably trying to save R. T. Rower, wherever the fuck that is.
    
    6 3
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    January 30, 2023 5:10pm
  - Steve Todd
    
    Oh, Nick, you truly are a silly, sad, old man.
    
    I am not, nor have I ever been, a member of the Labour Party; certainly not after the Fourth Labour Government betrayed the People.
    
    (Also, see my response to Tall Man here: https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2019/01/general_debate_20_january_2019.html#comment-2405865 – and his floundering response.)
    
    2 5
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    January 30, 2023 5:12pm
    - Mike
      
      I can’t guess Nick2’s age from the unfocused diatribes. Seems to me to be an angry, ill-informed and immature person of indeterminate age and gender.
      
      0 9
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      January 30, 2023 5:21pm
      - Steve Todd
        
        Mike: I’ve had previous exchanges with Nick. Be assured, he is a mid-70s man – I venture no further comment, beyond what I said at 5:12PM.
        
        1 3
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        January 30, 2023 5:44pm
    - Alan Wilkinson
      
      I didn’t know the Socialist Workers Party was still a thing?
      
      5 1
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      January 30, 2023 5:26pm
      - Steve Todd
        
        Alan, that’s quite beneath you. After posting here for more than nine years, do you seriously think my comments would suggest I’m of the far Left? Really?
        
        3 4
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        January 30, 2023 5:33pm
      - Alan Wilkinson
        
        Reading merely the above shows you are well left of the Labour Party..
        
        6 2
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        January 30, 2023 5:36pm
      - Steve Todd
        
        Oh, for goodness sake, Alan. I indicate I’m not a fan of Stand Down Brown, and that means I’m “well left of the Labour Party”? What nonsense!
        
        2 6
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        January 30, 2023 5:56pm
      - Alan Wilkinson
        
        Rather your comment about boycotting Labour since the Lange govt.
        
        5 1
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        January 30, 2023 6:41pm
      - Steve Todd
        
        Oh, give me strength.
        
        Perhaps the Kirk government disappointed me. Even under FPP, there were alternatives to Labour, such as National, Social Credit, New Zealand (Bob Jones) Party, an independent candidate I particularly wanted to support. With the advent of MMP, I have had a feast of parties at my disposal.
        
        I’m sorry, Alan, but you made an assumption about me based on your own prejudice. You automatically assumed that if someone who voted Labour in 1972 (as a 21-year-old), but not since, must have “lurched to the Left” thereafter.
        
        As Hilary would say, “I’m not angry [with you]; I’m just disappointed.”
        
        2 5
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        January 30, 2023 7:15pm
      - Alan Wilkinson
        
        No, you clown, I didn’t. You wailed that the Lange Government betrayed the People. The Socialist Workers Party would have been proud to have you with that call.
        
        2 0
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        January 30, 2023 9:37pm
      - Steve Todd
        
        @Alan Wilkinson @ 9:37PM
        
        Oh, here we go.
        
        I’m extremely disappointed that you have joined a growing list of right-wing commenters who cannot tolerate being disagreed with, challenged, told they might be wrong, and who then respond by resorting to personal abuse.
        
        I won’t bother with you again.
        
        0 2
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        January 30, 2023 10:05pm
    - Nickc2
      
      Playing the man eh? The ball’s over there you fool!
      Sin Bin.
      
      2 1
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      January 30, 2023 9:26pm
      - Steve Todd
        
        Re-read your 4:30PM comment. Wasn’t that a classic case of you playing the man, you silly old duffer?
        
        0 3
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        January 30, 2023 9:43pm
Inthe09

The behaviour of our MSM and their fixation on Mayor Brown the last 48 hours gives us a good insight to their expected behaviour should National/Act win the Election.

The hyperbole is tiresome already – resign, really?

Fortunately it’s so blatantly partisan that only the people who agree would read past the headline.
16 1
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January 30, 2023 4:30pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

Description is in the URL.
https://redrightdaily.com/musk-is-about-to-release-the-motherload-watch/
2 1
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January 30, 2023 5:12pm
- Mike
  
  Should that be a mother lode rather than mother load?
  
  2 7
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  January 30, 2023 5:23pm
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    Email Musk, or whoever wrote that item. Play the ball, not the person.
    
    0 0
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    January 31, 2023 9:11am
Steve Otto(North Shore)

https://redrightdaily.com/donald-trump-demanding-kari-lake-is-made-governor/
The whole World knows it was rigged. Now who from the media s going to put his to Katie Hobbs? She has gone quiet – why?
3 1
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January 30, 2023 5:16pm
- Mike
  
  Who will win the fight between Trump and De Santis?
  
  1 7
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  January 30, 2023 5:24pm
  - Alan Wilkinson
    
    DeSantis will win if it gets to the public vote.
    
    3 2
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    January 30, 2023 5:52pm
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    De Santis has said to his official fundraisers that he will not run if Trump runs.
    The google machine will tell you this. Oh Mike, try duckduckgo.
    We all know you won’t LOL!
    
    1 2
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    January 30, 2023 6:25pm
    - Mike
      
      Trump doesn’t appear to know that, judging by his attacks on De Santis.
      
      0 3
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      January 30, 2023 7:22pm
NothingLeft

Useless govt in pocket of teachers union closes all Auckland schools for week because 20 (out of 500 ) of them have suffered some flood damage. Labour fucking productivity in NZ and wrecking children’s education since forever.
14 1
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January 30, 2023 5:18pm
- Ghost
  
  Some schools need drying out and repairs.
  
  4 0
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  January 30, 2023 5:21pm
  - Alan Wilkinson
    
    That’s not a reason to close them all. However with bad weather still to come and a lot of damage to homes, businesses and transport it is more understandable.
    
    8 0
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    January 30, 2023 5:29pm
greybeard

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/300795396/waka-kotahi-apologises-after-staff-clocked-off-for-the-weekend-during-disaster
Give it a maori name, give it a maori ethos.
11 2
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January 30, 2023 6:00pm
- Alan Wilkinson
  
  That’s most unfair to a lot of Maori I know. But they are neither the posturing elite nor the ferals, just hardworking Kiwis.
  
  4 1
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  January 30, 2023 6:47pm
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  That’s a bit harsh, GB. This is a public sector agency we’re talking about. Do you not remember Glide Time?
  
  4 1
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  January 30, 2023 7:06pm
- Nickc2
  
  Why hasn’t this fact surpassed the negative media hype surrounding Akld Mayor Wayne Brown?
  Oh, that’s right, it’s got a Maori name approved by Labour and senior positions within occupied by Labour Govt appointees.
  Oh, and there’s still PJIF funding available.
  
  6 0
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  January 30, 2023 7:50pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

All this flooding must be “climate change”
In Auckland for many years on the Shore, and there has been flooding.
Wairau creek in the 70s was a mess at Wairau/Hillside intersection. Now flood backwaters to Link Drive did not help. This was a lot of water.
Lucky me built on the side of an incline – not hill. No flooding except a duck pond on the back. Partner put a duck decoy in and took pics LOL.
4 0
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January 30, 2023 6:43pm
Maggie Pie

TRENDING…

Can’t see it being Aaron Smith….
although what other All Black would have sex in a toilet cubicle?

https://twitter.com/andrewmacfnz/status/1619932036256645125
2 1
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January 30, 2023 6:58pm
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  Not so well known
  
  3 0
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  January 30, 2023 7:07pm
dad4justice

Just watched Seven Sharp and I thought Murry Mexted was the first gay All Black?
3 0
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January 30, 2023 7:27pm
- Maggie Pie
  
  Wasn’t he married to one of the old Miss New Zealands?
  
  3 0
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  January 30, 2023 7:38pm
  - dad4justice
    
    Yes she came home to find the number 8 in bed with the Wellington number 9 .
    
    2 1
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    January 30, 2023 7:44pm
    - Jack5
      
      Dad4justice! Where have you been the last few years? Did you get what you sought from the Justice system?
      
      3 0
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      January 30, 2023 8:12pm
DeepBlue

Are Auckland children going to get any solid, consistent education? At this rate Chippy could close all Auckland schools permanently, put in place home schooling and repurpose the grounds for public housing.
4 0
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January 30, 2023 7:33pm
Jack5

The once renown London School of Economics has joined Woke hysteria.

Until now, the calendar at the university, founded in 1895, has included the Michaelmas term, the Christmas break, Lent term, Easter break, summer term and finally the summer holidays.

The Telegraph says this largely mirrors other top UK universities such as Cambridge, Oxford and Durham, as well as private schools such as Eton.

But from next year the LSE will rename Michaelmas, “autumn term”; the Christmas break, “winter break”; the Lent term, “winter term”; and the Easter break, “spring break”.

The LSE says the new names “use more accessible and widely recognised terminology, and better reflect the international nature of our community and our broader global engagement”.
2 0
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January 30, 2023 8:01pm
- Alan Wilkinson
  
  LSE veered hard left long ago didn’t it?
  
  0 0
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  January 30, 2023 9:40pm
Ghost

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has changed the end date for a key study on post-vaccination heart inflammation without notifying the public.

https://www.zerohedge.com/medical/fda-quietly-changes-end-date-study-heart-inflammation-after-pfizer-covid-vaccination
1 0
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January 30, 2023 10:17pm

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