General Debate 09 April 2024

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Anthony Melchett

I’m so glad we dropped the standard of immigrants allowed to come here.

Now you can get looked at with disdain and not even spoken to at the mitre 10 checkout by an angry middle aged Indian woman. Nice to see some branching out from working at subway or pizza hut.

To be fair, that’s probably the exact service level most mitre 10 owners are looking for.

Surely we should be emptying the “jobseeker” list before filling basic customer service roles with immigrants? What do they add to the country apart from pressure on infrastructure?
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April 9, 2024 8:03am
- Taieri
  
  What do they add to the country apart from pressure on infrastructure?
  ————
  
  What do they add? Plenty. For example an outstanding moral code and kindness:
  
  https://www.odt.co.nz/rural-life/dairy/dairy-farmer-may-appeal-exploitation-fine
  
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  April 9, 2024 8:30am
- sirknz
  
  Oh, but the food they bring with them is great.
  
  – Average Lefty Liberal
  
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  April 9, 2024 8:39am
  - KH
    
    Well no. India has great food. But they did not bring it with them. (well maybe at home)
    The standard Indian food you can buy is rubbish. And standardised so it can be provided by fake students working for permanent residency.
    
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    April 9, 2024 3:52pm
- pdm
  
  Mmmmm Mrspdm and I find most Indian shop assistants very well presented and very polite.
  
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  April 9, 2024 8:39am
  - G the giant from Dunedin
    
    We have had Indian truck drivers coming in recently, they can not communicate
    
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    April 9, 2024 10:31am
    - OlderChas
      
      So – they can’t read road signs – even if they’re in Maori?
      
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      April 9, 2024 11:12am
      - G the giant from Dunedin
        
        It’s more they can’t communicate
        
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        April 9, 2024 12:04pm
  - Nigel Kearney
    
    Yeah the rude ones have probably lived here a long time and become assimilated into our culture.
    
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    April 9, 2024 11:37am
  - Anthony Melchett
    
    Would that be the ones working in pizza hut with track pants?
    
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    April 10, 2024 7:31am
- Jack5
  
  A hundred million refugees in the world, according to the UN, and hundreds of millions of Third Worlders keen to move to the Developed World.
  
  NZ runs a very poor immigration policy in this environment.
  
  Did anyone notice publicity yesterday alleging migrants were being recruited to hold stop signs on road works? Surely I mis-heard that.
  
  Our education system is a shambles. We have climate-change zealots who can’t teach arithmetic in front of our children.
  
  India, a home of mathematics for millennia, has a surfeit of graduates in maths who can’t get jobs. Many might make great teachers.
  
  The Wall Street Journal reports that 40 per cent of Indian “college graduates” under the age of 25 are unemployed.
  
  It gives an example:
  
  Verma, one of the protesters at India’s parliament, aspired to be a teacher, her family said. She has degrees in art and philosophy but was earning about $[US]3.60 a day as a farm laborer, helping to grow rice and wheat in her village, Ghaso Khurd, in the northern state of Haryana.”
  
  The first point is that would young Indian students realistically come to NZ for tertiary education rather than just to get a path to citizenship? Why bring them in when we could get already skilled people trained at the expense of India?
  
  The second point is that among India’s vast pool of graduates must be many potentially fine maths teachers who could help save NZ’s schools.
  
  Young Indian graduates usually have English as one of their languages. Not that this is the premier skill needed to teach maths.
  
  The best maths lecturer I encountered long ago was Chinese, with English so bad he had to write everything he said on the board so we students could follow him. But he was an excellent teacher.
  
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  April 9, 2024 8:58am
  - JackRabbit
    
    She has degrees in art and philosophy but was earning about $[US]3.60 a day as a farm laborer…
    
    Why didn’t she just go back to job she had before / while at university, that paid for her to go to university and get her so called degrees.
    
    Either she got her degrees out of a lucky dip Or,
    
    She got her degree from one of those online fake degree printing websites Or,
    
    She got a woke govt handout (unlikely in India) OR,
    
    Rich daddy paid for her to get through university, and then stopped the cheques upon graduation after he realised she had been radicalised and that her degrees were worth nothing in the real world.
    
    None of it adds up. As you say “college graduate”.
    
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    April 9, 2024 9:47am
    - Jack5
      
      JR’s … none of it adds up …
      
      Yes it does …
      
      Official reports, including that more than a third of Bombay IT graduates out of work. (Yep I noted the outfit’s still called “Bombay”).
      
      This report’s from from last week:
      
      https://www.indiatoday.in/education-today/news/story/concerns-mount-as-iit-bombay-left-with-36-graduates-without-job-offers-2522872-2024-04-03
      
      And an older BBC report:
      
      https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-59870297
      
      https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-59870297
      
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      April 9, 2024 11:31am
  - cjn
    
    We allow them in because their fees prop up our education institutions. If you lived in a retirement village or had an aged parent you would bless the day an Indian or a Philippino came to handle the shower.
    
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    April 9, 2024 5:01pm
Grunter

Luxon telling Hosking this morning that he read the latest research on methane over the weekend. And his source……???

The BBC!!

FFS – why is he such a dick over this Global Boiling BS?
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April 9, 2024 8:03am
- kowtow
  
  Front page of Whoreald today a case in point.
  
  They’ve dragged out a dad who’s son was murdered at Columbine and his advise is don’t become like America .
  
  This of course is not “news” but te media advocacy whose intent is an attack on the Coalition agreement .
  
  Why does te media pardy talk of the USA when a rugby team bus in Hawkes bay is shot up ( most likely by an illegally held shotgun , not semi auto rifle ), while law and order collapses due to organised crime gangs.
  
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  April 9, 2024 8:42am
  - kowtow
    
    Oops that was a reply to gravelroad at 818 and nuffink to do with Hosking , the Al beeb or Lux.
    
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    April 9, 2024 9:13am
- cmm
  
  One wonders why we waste our time with a whole lot of government scientists when Luxon could just tune in to the Beeb every night.
  
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  April 9, 2024 9:06am
- G the giant from Dunedin
  
  The fact is Lsbours methane policy forced on farmers is utterly reprehensible, they are looking at getting a farmer lead group to work this out, why rubbish him, they have shafted the very policy that labour forced on farmers and that was essential
  
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  April 9, 2024 10:34am
  - Dougal10
    
    It is so flawed getting some farmer led group to sort it out will probably just tinker around the edges when it just needs thrown out.
    
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    April 9, 2024 10:57am
    - G the giant from Dunedin
      
      They are not sorting it out, they will be on the team looking at this, remembering of course the new government are going to let farmers use grasses that drop methane by 30%, something the previous regime refused to do
      
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      April 9, 2024 12:08pm
  - Grunter
    
    G the giant….
    I think we both agree Labour’s policies (bar none) were all rubbish. My point was about holding Luxon to account for his Global Boiling views and the fact he was getting an update on methane science from the BBC (clearly left-wing biased).
    
    I think the drivers to NZ reviewing the realities of methane are coming from the Farmer MPs (ACT/NZF & Nats) who have all sourced the proper science papers on the topic.
    
    Why doesn’t Luxon just come out and say –
    
    “The science clearly isn’t settled, we will now review the entire topic of climate change using real data, not pseudo-science models along with fully costed mitigation programs not slogans with magical thinking.”
    
    He is pragmatic on many things but has this massive and obvious blind spot on climate change.
    
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    April 9, 2024 11:37am
    - G the giant from Dunedin
      
      Look, he waffles on about dropping emissions I know, but at least he will do it with science and not simply hammer the shit on farmers who in turn help employ 10s of 1000s of people including me.
      
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      April 9, 2024 12:09pm
      - Chris Nisbet
        
        Let’s hope he doesn’t get all his ‘science’ from the BBC. He may as well get it from Stuff.
        
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        April 9, 2024 1:04pm
Tomtoddy

The media are taking us for fools. They spend countless columns criticizing everything they can find about Luxon, they run a heap of cartoons mocking him and they find any halfwit commentator who will oppose his every move then roll out a headline saying he isn’t as popular as Key. Well, knock me over with a feather. What do you expect?

The strange thing is Luxon may yet outrun them. He is determined and has leant quickly. Despite the MSM pulling every nasty trick on him he may yet rise above it and win public support – at least respect if not liking.

I am not a Nat fan but the vitriol of the media toward Luxon and the Coalition has no parallel and is an utter disgrace. It belittles the responsibility of fourth estate displaying irresponsibility and warped judgement.
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April 9, 2024 8:05am
- Simon
  
  National are finding out that in the main govt departments run NZ without reference to democracy. National can only really tinker around the edges. (though suspect most of Nat already knew this)
  
  MSM are part of the lie that National / Luxon are in control when they run hit pieces all the tine.
  
  The question is like Labo lying about kiwibuild & they knew it couldnt work. Are National lying for eg when they claim crime will get under control?
  
  Its not really in govt wider interests to control crime as its used as a method of control & fear against the general population.
  
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  April 9, 2024 8:14am
  - Benedict Yu
    
    “National can only really tinker around the edges.”
    
    That is false. The government can make any changes to government policies and programmes.
    
    Yes for the most part they are going to tinker around the edges. However that is a choice.
    
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    April 9, 2024 8:42am
    - Paulus
      
      Should the Government wish to make changes does not act in accord with the Public Service who will continue to do whatever they want.
      
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      April 9, 2024 9:56am
      - Benedict Yu
        
        No. That is not correct. The public service cannot do what they want. Not the core public service. Ministers have immense powers to direct them. I don’t know where you got this idea from.
        
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        April 9, 2024 1:53pm
- Gravelroad
  
  Couldn’t agree more.
  The msm generally and the opinion “influencers “ in particular are like a bunch of spoilt kids whose in-group party has been called off.
  They have lost their place and are out of step with the views and ambitions of ordinary people.
  
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  April 9, 2024 8:18am
  - Debsta
    
    The msm is a malignant tumour on robust society, the sooner the surgery the better.
    
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    April 9, 2024 8:24am
  - Burtland
    
    What we’re witnessing is a widening generation gap – msm is the iceberg tip you can see – the rest is well hidden
    
    Our education system has created a generation of kids who have a completely different set of values to what most NZers over 50 were brought up with.
    
    White protestant work ethic is dead – colonialism was bad.
    
    In 10yrs these kids will completely rule the country – they are not going to go away. Ardern was the just the beginning …
    
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    April 9, 2024 9:54am
  - Paulus
    
    But they are influencing the Opinion Polls especially re Luxon, which is what they want, as they did not win the election as hard as they tried, but continue to be better next time.
    
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    April 9, 2024 9:58am
- bjools
  
  Yes
  https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/350239102/john-key-era-policies-are-back-prime-minister-chris-luxons-no-key-when-it-comes
  This actually had me cheering.
  As, for me, it is a failed attack piece.
  She thinks it’s the person that matters, but it just reinforces my thoughts that Govt. and PM is a JOB to do, not an act of creative theatre.
  We had
  Helen Clark….Liar extraordinaire
  John Key…..PM with a purpose and a job.
  Jacinda Ardern…. An actress from the start, but her version of being PM always felt (to me) like a little girl trying on mummies clothes.
  Christopher Luxon… Back to someone who treats it like a job to do.
  
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  April 9, 2024 8:21am
  - pdm
    
    Bj – usual vitriol for Tova and Stuff.
    
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    April 9, 2024 8:43am
- Vinicius
  
  I watched all the post cabinet presser yesterday live and thought that Luxon was better at answering the questions and has developed his own way of being more assertive when asked stupid questions.
  
  One journo asked Luxon why the media aren’t liked by a majority of NZer’s! I can only assume they’re too dumb to figure it out post the Horizon Poll results. I was one of the participants in that one.
  
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  April 9, 2024 8:29am
  - Lance
    
    How come they don’t ask Winston why the media aren’t like? //
    
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    April 9, 2024 9:16am
  - Chris Nisbet
    
    Why is that journo asking Luxon and not hitting the streets and asking the question? It appears they won’t have to walk too far to get educated about what they’ve done wrong.
    
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    April 9, 2024 1:07pm
- Prince
  
  Compare and contract with the adoration shown to Ardern.
  Then tell me the Media is not biased !
  
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  April 9, 2024 9:53am
- G the giant from Dunedin
  
  They wonder why trust in media has gone.
  He seems to have ideas about getting the country moving, note they attack him as being a ceo not a pm, this is the problem with left ring ideology, they think a country does not need to balance books, in fact they can’t understand it when people suggest it. I think we may just see Luxon out to anything Key offered in the end, not sure why his support is down, he s doing what the coalition promised, I am wondering if polls are being slanted in some questions
  
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  April 9, 2024 10:52am
Simon

Trump cares more about beauty pageants than man made climate change. This makes him the best prez.
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April 9, 2024 8:05am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  One is a scam, but which one?
  
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  April 9, 2024 8:38am
Steve Otto(North Shore)

MAGA under attack.
What is it with the violent left?

https://www.thepoliticalglobe.com/tragic-assault-on-new-jersey-trump-supporter-sparks-outrage-and-concern-04-08-2024/?
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April 9, 2024 8:10am
- Grunter
  
  Just wait – when he wins in Nov the crazy Leftards will completely lose their siht.
  
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  April 9, 2024 8:18am
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    Trump will need the National Guard. Riots and fire are all the losers know.
    
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    April 9, 2024 8:40am
    - RoboRob
      
      Surely you jest Steve. There wont be riots if Trump wins because its only dangerous right wing extremists that resort to violence. Besides the left believe in democracy, they wont be calling Trump an illegitimate president and claiming election interference. Thats only something the right do.
      
      Oh wait… Hang on all that already happened last time Trump won.
      
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      April 9, 2024 8:58am
      - Steve Otto(North Shore)
        
        It will be much much worse than in 2016.
        If the left don’t get what they want, they try to destroy it for others.
        
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        April 9, 2024 10:33am
graham

Good to read a story on the Herald this morning about a student from Kaitaia College winning the Most Outstanding Performer award at a Shakespeare Festival last Thursday at Whangārei Boys’ High School.

Keira Brassett only recently started drama classes, and within two weeks was taking on a main role in time for the festival giving her just a few days to prepare and remember her lines. Good to see her spending her time doing something worthwhile instead of “striking” to march in some protest.

Her award includes entry to the National Shakespeare Schools Production in Dunedin in September, and she hopes the win will be her golden ticket to Shakespeare’s Globe in London. Of the students who attend the Dunedin production, 24 will be selected to travel to the famed stage. Very nice.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/northern-advocate/news/tai-tokerau-sheilah-winn-shakespeare-festival-award-recipient-vying-for-international-stage/LSZBUUZNA5BWZKFB3774ZEHYIA/

Oh yeah, there’s some other dross on the Herald this morning about job cuts at TVNZ and Newshub, but I only had time to read the important stories.
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April 9, 2024 8:10am
- Benedict Yu
  
  A couple of years ago the Arts Council tried to cancel funding for the Shakespeare festival. Because it promoted imperialism and colonisation. IIRC they backed down but it tells you a lot about the mentality of some of these folk.
  
  https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/oct/14/new-zealand-pulls-funding-for-school-sheilah-winn-shakespeare-festival-citing-canon-of-imperialism
  
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  April 9, 2024 8:47am
  - cas
    
    They also pulled much of the funding for Arts on Tour which sent performers out once a month to small towns who pulled in large crowds at the venues. This was at the same time that they gave Carmel Sepuloni’s husband $75,000 for a touring exhibition of the dreadlocks he cut off.
    
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    April 9, 2024 9:12am
  - graham
    
    Benedict, the fact that the story I linked to is about students in Northland – Tai Tokerau if you wish – and that the Sheliah Winn Shakespeare Regional Festival is an annual event that involves more than half the secondary schools in the country should tell the Arts Council that they got it badly wrong.
    
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    April 9, 2024 9:39am
peterwn

So Chris Luxon is allegedly in a pickle over the Renumeration Authority issuing a review of MPs’ pay. Chris has indicated that he is not interfering in the process at this stage. I do not think he is in a ‘pickle’ it is just a matter of logistical and political decision making.
There are two ‘extreme’ options:
1. Do nothing – which means the Renumeration Authority’s recommendations will take effect and MPs from PM downwards will bet a pay increase that will annoy the heck out of child poverty groups etc and Chris and National will receive a clobbering from these groups, MSM media and some opposition MP’s.
2. Chris Luxon makes a conscious decision that there will be a nil increase (by whatever mechanisms are available at his disposal). He would take that to his Caucus and support party leaders first – I think his Caucus and ACT would accept it, not so sure about NZF. Most of these MP’s would have ‘made it’ financially so probably could not care less. However a significant portion of opposition MP’s would be heavily dependent on their Parliamentary pay to live on and for their retirement nestegg. They would be upset at a ‘nil’ pay increase.
So the opposition MP’s are more likely to be in a ‘pickle’ over this than Chris Luxon wad would probably be speaking in forked tongues on this.
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April 9, 2024 8:17am
- Wayne Mapp
  
  I am pretty sure that under Ardern there were no pay increases either, at least not after 2020 and covid. Not sure how long that lasted, but it seems to me that there has been no significant MP pay increases since about 2019.
  Just going on memory, which may be unreliable.
  
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  April 9, 2024 8:46am
  - Wayne Mapp
    
    On checking there was a pay freeze for three years from December 2020, and there was a freeze in 2019.
    
    MP’s also took a 20% cut in pay in for 6 or 9 months in 2020 as a result of covid.
    
    So it appears the last increase in MP pay was in 2018.
    
    Not everything should be viewed through a Left/Right lens. Quite a lot of things in Parliament are done on a bipartisan (or multipartisan) basis.
    
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    April 9, 2024 8:55am
    - pdm
      
      Wm – my recollection is that some MP’s took a payout, David Seymour being one who did.
      
      My guess is most Labour and Green MP’s did not
      
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      April 9, 2024 9:02am
      - Wayne Mapp
        
        My understanding is that the 2020 3 year freeze was done by legislation.
        The 20% cut for 6 months at the height of covid was voluntary, though most MPs abided by it.
        
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        April 9, 2024 9:13am
    - Taieri
      
      Quite a lot of things in Parliament are done on a bipartisan (or multipartisan) basis.
      ————
      
      Such as increasing MPs salaries and perks?
      
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      April 9, 2024 9:16am
  - MCōs
    
    If that’s the case there’s bound to be an elastic rebound and listening to Nichola Willis on First Up the government has no intention of interfering with it’s decisions
    Public pressure is another matter
    
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    April 9, 2024 9:01am
  - Observer of Life
    
    Wayne:
    “ I am pretty sure that under Ardern there were no pay increases either, at least not after 2020 and covid…. So it appears the last increase in MP pay was in 2018.“
    Then hello MP’s, welcome to the bloody real world!!
    
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    April 9, 2024 3:01pm
- pdm
  
  pw – Greens will need a pay increase to ensure tithing to the party increases
  
  After all it is the parties main secure funding source.
  
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  April 9, 2024 8:55am
  - PeterB
    
    They will need an increase so they can keep shopping at Scotties.
    
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    April 9, 2024 9:18am
    - Groggy
      
      Don’t need a pay increase when you have a five finger discount
      
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      April 9, 2024 10:58am
    - pdm
      
      PB – I thought Scotties was a takeaway for the Greens
      
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      April 9, 2024 11:15am
- Kiwiguy
  
  *Remuneration.
  
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  April 9, 2024 9:01am
- RoboRob
  
  An alternative might be to allow pay rises for ministers but no other politicians. Or somehing similar. This would
  A) Reward people for work
  B) Encourage back bench MPs to work for ministerial roles
  C) Not increase the earniings of useless List / opposition MPs
  
  The only issue is that when labour next gets back in there would be the same # of ministers as Labour MPs. Every labour MP would become a minister.
  
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  April 9, 2024 9:09am
- G the giant from Dunedin
  
  That article is pathetic, so sll PMs have yo deal with this, I hope he states something like I will refuse a rise, others can have a rise, bd css as lol out the whingers in the greens and Labour and TPM and say stand with me and don’t accept a pay rise, they stuffs those leftie hypothetic assholes in their tracks
  
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  April 9, 2024 11:05am
kowtow

Trust in te media has nose dived since 2020 .

And yet the Herald editorial today on ths subject concludes with ;

‘As a society ,Aotearoa must come together to protect itself from the harm of disinformation”.

Oh dear.
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April 9, 2024 8:18am
- bjools
  
  and the Citizens of New Zealand?
  
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  April 9, 2024 8:35am
- Tomtoddy
  
  Who suddenly decided we had to be protected from misinformation and disinformation??? Its been around forever and we got on OK without elitists and marxist manipulators interfering.
  
  Wasn’t Eve a casualty?? Or if you like the guy who declared standing up will lead to trouble??
  
  Blogging is one of the few bastions of free speech and truth – we must support them and keep the control freaks at bay.
  
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  April 9, 2024 8:42am
- Suze Wainwright
  
  I remember Dita De Boni from when she was an apparent rising media darling. I guess that makes her a bit long in the tooth now, but I can’t believe her tweet that this country’s media simply isn’t biased.
  
  Such complete lack of awareness of how her very own industry is performing. At least Mike Hosking gets and sees how the media has become biased…
  
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  April 9, 2024 9:01am
- Paulus
  
  It is quite apparent that the words New Zealand have now been abolished from all aspects of the media.
  
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  April 9, 2024 10:03am
- Chris Nisbet
  
  We have come together and stopped consuming the disinformation they produce.
  
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  April 9, 2024 1:13pm
Maggie Pie

DPF is such a big teaser!
Absolutely loved the ‘Rainbow-Story-Time’ post last night.
What a wind-up. Talk about people coming in like the tide. LOL!!

Never sucked me in. I was onto it immediately 😀
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April 9, 2024 8:19am
- Benedict Yu
  
  It had occurred to me that it was a wind up, but only briefly. He does not have a history of such posts except on April Fools Day. I did not comment on the post, but I do disagree with his expressed view.
  
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  April 9, 2024 8:51am
  - Maggie Pie
    
    Well Bene….yu know what they say about ‘great-minds’ 😀
    
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    April 9, 2024 8:56am
- thirteenstars
  
  This would be the same DPF who after SCOTUS overturned Roe v Wade advocated an amendment be added to the US Constitution enumerating a right to abortion.
  
  He wasn’t joking then and he wasn’t last night.
  
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  April 9, 2024 9:15am
herb1

Just think how WW2 would have gone if the current media and UN were in place. We’d have daily reports from the Nazis on the high casualties of innocent Germans ( the ones who voted for and fought for Hitler) . Constant attacks on the war crimes committed by the Allies and the genocide against ethnic Germans.
The UN would hold regular calls on the Allies for a cease fire and hosting delegations fro despotic regimes instigating legal action against the Allies for war crimes.
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April 9, 2024 8:20am
- Debsta
  
  So bloody true herb, we sure do live in a clown world these days!
  
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  April 9, 2024 8:30am
  - kowtow
    
    Yeah well Peters is leading this govt’s response at the UN .
    Looks like it’s all Israel’s fault ……..
    
    Talking of WW2, as the great Air Marshal Arthur Harris put it, to slightly paraphrase, Iran and Hamas sowed the wind , now they reap the whirlwind .
    
    This is all on them , not the IDF or Israel.
    
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    April 9, 2024 9:21am
    - G the giant from Dunedin
      
      His very first words were to blame the Hammas regime
      
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      April 9, 2024 11:19am
    - fightingtemeraire
      
      As Admiral Andrew Browne Cunningham said:
      
      Hit First, Hit Hard and Keep on Hitting.
      
      And
      
      Sink, Burn, Destroy, let nothing pass.
      
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      April 9, 2024 11:35am
- kiwikidsnz
  
  I’m currently reading “the Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare” which is being released as a Guy Ritchie movie this year.
  
  We don’t know how lucky we are Trev…
  
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  April 9, 2024 9:50am
- Grumpy Silver Top
  
  Not in my publication. That word beginning with A only ever appears if a corporate name includes it or on a graphic.
  
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  April 9, 2024 10:55am
- Grunter
  
  herb1 – I gave you a downtick, so I thought I’d try and explain why. I do share your scathing of the UN and MSM, but I do not think Israel should continue the “mowing the lawn” strategy in Gaza.
  
  Yes, the Allies carpet-bombed German civilians, just one example was the massive fire-balling of Hamburg, so yes, in war the “rules” can quickly be thrown out to achieve bigger objectives. Not nice, but understandable as the Germans were doing the same to cities in Europe and Britain.
  
  The big difference, IMO, is that the Allies had a clear-cut end-game objective that was achievable (but by no means guaranteed at the time). They also had an enemy that had declared ‘world domination at all costs’ – so a clear-cut existential threat to the Allies.
  
  Hamas does not pose an existential threat to Israel. Clearly, they are complete nut jobs and have inflicted serious pain on the Israeli people. Hamas deserves punishment, but that is very different from the collective punishment of a few million civilians that is currently being applied by Netanyahu and his cronies.
  
  And logically, what is Israel’s end game? Where does this latest conflict end up? How does Israel become a safer place by doing what they are doing? I just see a wider group of nutcase Muslims being created by the hatred of “mowing the lawn”. Hamas will have a large bunch of military-aged Palestinians now ready to join up that otherwise wouldn’t have.
  
  So, to me, it just does not make sense.
  
  (And no, I am not a “Jew Hater”, “Pro-Hamas” or any other label that often gets fired about….) But happy to hear counter arguments.
  
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  April 9, 2024 12:19pm
artemisia

From the Prime Minister yesterday …

Luxon said the targets were “deliberately ambitious”. “They will be challenging and require the public sector to think differently, dig deeply into root causes, learn from other places, and be innovative and disciplined in directing resources to where they will have the greatest impact on outcomes.”

Excellent to see the reference to root causes. They should be the basis of every policy decision. If root causes are not identified how do decision makers know if they are addressing the right problems? Too easy to stop well short of rigorous analysis and say to each other – hey looks like there’s maybe a gap or something over there so someone should do something.

My short Y/N checklist for decision makers –

Root cause?
Faster boat?
Scope creep?
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April 9, 2024 8:22am
- Taieri
  
  I would add one more target. The Local Government. Is anyone even thinking of sorting out the cesspit that it seems to have become?
  
  Just a couple of examples from the last two days:
  
  https://www.odt.co.nz/opinion/warnings-are-there-be-heeded
  
  https://www.odt.co.nz/regions/west-coast/west-coast-ratepayers-must-decide-27-rates-hike-or-44
  
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  April 9, 2024 8:37am
- Benedict Yu
  
  There is nothing “ambitious” about what the government is doing to reduce the size of the state sector. It is tinkering. They are going about it entirely the wrong way.
  
  Just wait until 2026. I guarantee that Ministers will be lobbying for new spending and the public service will start growing again.
  
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  April 9, 2024 8:55am
  - RoboRob
    
    I hope that this years 6.5% accross the baord is simply the start. An emergency process to cut costs with the knowledge that almost all agencies have at least that much ‘fat’.
    
    Next year I hope that the government will freeze staff growth and budgets and start the process of
    1) Closing agencies that add nothing to society
    2) Restructuring incompetent agencies (e.g. Ministry of Education)
    3) Cutting feature creep and duplication. I.e. NIWA and Metservice
    
    The above are important BUT cant be done quickly enough to solve our financial hole this year.
    
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    April 9, 2024 9:15am
    - Benedict Yu
      
      The “across the board” approach is stupid.
      
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      April 9, 2024 9:37am
      - RoboRob
        
        Strongly disagree, which is unusual for me with your posts.
        
        We are in a financial hole and need to cut costs immediately. ALL govt departments have that fat so all can take the cut so that we can reduce our costs this year.
        
        If we looked at agencies one at a time that would be too slow AND every department can give examples of why they shouldn’t be cut and people would side with the departments.
        
        Education, you cant cut us, the students. Health, you cant cut us, already understaffed. MBIE, you cant cut us who is going to process immigrants and check food safety. Veterans affairs, you cant cut us the veterans served us well and who would look after their health issues.
        
        Pretty much every department could, and would, make good arguements as to why they should be left alone. By doing it accross the board you can make the arguement that everyone has to do their bit and no one dept is being singled out. Also as I said, we can make the savings this coming financial year. Any other approach would mean at least a years delay.
        
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        April 9, 2024 10:06am
      - artemisia
        
        I don’t think the % approach is stupid if it is seen by the bosses as a first step. I think it is. It’s giving those bosses a heads up that the world has changed and they have a chance to get ahead of the game. If they choose to accept it.
        
        Mission Possible?
        
        I see an occasional poster here who was heavily involved in the massive public service restructure towards the end of the 20th century. IIRC 30,000 people impacted, probably not many crying on the front page.
        
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        April 9, 2024 10:53am
      - PeeJay
        
        Couldn’t agree more. The CE and exec teams are part of the problem – why would anyone think that allowing them to decide on where the axe falls, as long as it’s 6.5%, would solve the issue. It is tinkering at best and achieves nothing.
        
        Every single minister and associate minister should have been given 3 months to review their departments and come up with a significant savings plan and restructure – this should have seen massive cuts back to 2017 levels, possibly with some allowance for population growth. As part of this 3 month review, they should have been open to considering whether the department was beyond saving and needed a complete ‘do over’ or, and I think Seymour was right about this, simply cut whole departments, like the ethnic and womans departments, that actually achieve nothing. What should not have been considered is allowing the very same CE’s and exec teams who went on a hiring rampage to somehow solve the problem!
        
        This would have resulted in a total meltdown from the media and the left. But, if the state of the books are as bad as some folks with inside knowledge are now saying they are, this complete reset of the public sector would be a once in a generation opportunity – most voters recognised how bad things had become under the previous government. A bold, brave move, early in the term would probably be forgiven by the electorate in 2026. By tinkering and tweaking, I fear this opportunity for root and branch reform has gone and we’re now left with the tinkering approach. The worst part is that a lot of the ministers and associate ministers will become ‘captured’ by their departments over the next few years – it happens regardless of the party. We’re probably not going to have this ‘reset’ chance, under a centre-right government for a long time. And when the left get back in, which they will and it could be far sooner than most on this blog think it will, without significant reform, the numbers will just grow and grow.
        
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        April 9, 2024 11:21am
      - Pope Punctilious II
        
        Strongly agree, 6.5 % across the board is pretty headless. Defence should be boosted, and we probably need to spend more on health – for example, to give us proper 1st world-level ICU capacity. On the other hand I agree with Seymour about axing the demographic ministries, but there are too many liberals in the Nats for that to happen. The other day on The Standard I challenged readers to explain what essential services were provided by the Ministry for Women. Didn’t take long for the moderator to brand me a sexist and a “half-wit”.
        
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        April 9, 2024 5:12pm
      - Pineapple Lumps
        
        I agree Ben, when top 10 departments have grown by 64% minimum they (Luxon and co) should be driving a two tiered cuts regime. An immediate 6.5% across the board and a plan for the top 10 to reduce a further 80% of their increased amount, unless they can show a demonstrated quantifiable improvement in service deliverables.
        
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        April 9, 2024 6:40pm
  - kiwikidsnz
    
    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/planned-cuts-to-the-public-service-so-far-wont-even-wind-back-the-last-six-months-of-expansion-public-purse/GF76Y66ZN5EXXGXFLZEOZZISGA/
    
    (Paywalled however the title says it all)
    
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    April 9, 2024 9:53am
  - Bobba Fret
    
    I love the way the media say “X number of jobs are to be axed from this ministry”. Then say “Y number of positions are currently not filled”
    
    So surely, the only reduction of staff is X – Y? A lower number.
    
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    April 9, 2024 2:29pm
- Paulus
  
  Require the Public Service to think differently – all they care about is their jobs and pay packets.
  p.s. I have three family there, two each for over 30 years and they change little or nothing –
  Disappointing, but can never discuss.
  
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  April 9, 2024 10:09am
- Grumpy Silver Top
  
  The rule known as Chesterton’s fence, after G. K. Chesterton, the British writer who proposed it in an essay in 1929 applies here.
  “TRY TO ABIDE by the rule that when you advocate changing something, you should make sure you understand why it is the way it is in the first place.”
  Some of the “root causes” won’t bear scrutiny.
  
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  April 9, 2024 10:10am
- G the giant from Dunedin
  
  Notice Hipkins once again did not front on this, they had the new min of finance and she was woeful, king of suggesting that won’t work
  
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  April 9, 2024 11:22am
- KH
  
  Brilliant from artemisia
  “………My short Y/N checklist for decision makers –
  Root cause?
  Faster boat?
  Scope creep?…..”
  
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  April 9, 2024 4:01pm
Yvette

July 2022 Newshub reported (an Ardernity ago, I know) but –
Māori are well known for using the stars and the moon to navigate across the ocean in their waka.
Not so well known to non-Māori is their tradition of using the moon and stars to help treat mental health issues.
It’s called maramataka and will be incorporated into treatment by the new Māori Health Authority.

Māori have the highest suicide rates of all ethnic groups in New Zealand. Mental distress among Māori is almost 50 percent higher than non-Māori and 30 percent are more likely to be left undiagnosed.
In 2018, Solomon and Makiha correlated a decade of coronial suicide data with a Māori lunar calendar and found that many suicides occurred on the new moon and the full moon – 35 percent on the new moon and 16 percent on the full moon.

The new Māori Health Authority has a budget of half a billion dollars and CEO Riana Manuel has allocated $100 million of that to support centuries-old treatments.
“Connecting people back to those spaces and places that have been long forgotten is certainly something that will be investing in,” Manuel said.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2022/07/how-maori-use-maramataka-to-care-for-mental-health-issues-and-how-the-practice-will-be-incorporated-into-treatment-by-maori-health-authority.html

What has happened to $100 million – portion already spent, amount still being spent, or sum returned – or the rest of the half billion dollars, for that matter?
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April 9, 2024 8:25am
- Scott
  
  It’s so funny to me that having abandoned Christianity our liberal elite is ready to embrace old pagan Maori spirituality! Like as if this is a source of ancient wisdom and that ancient Maori people had some wisdom that we all need to share about healing?
  
  So let’s look at the facts. In 1769 when Cook discovered NZ the life expectancy of a Maori person was about 30. He met some very old Maori men who were in fact about 40.
  The Maori people struggled with health and the ancient remedies didn’t seem to work. Indeed there was a widespread belief that the Maori people would die out.
  
  The old Maori remedies were so harmful that in 1907 James Carroll introduced the Tohunga suppression act. This act to prevent harmful health practices and encourage the use of modern western health practices was supported by all the Maori MPs including Sir Apirana Ngata.
  
  Don’t go back to the old ways.
  
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  April 9, 2024 8:40am
  - Yvette
    
    Another question, Scott, is to ask Why do Maori compare life expectancy to “pakeha” when East Asians in New Zealand do live on average quite a bit longer?
    Is it part of the historic narrow narrative to compare themselves to “pakeha” only?
    
    Maori are from East Asia origin, especially Taiwan.
    So, when Maori “whakapapa” traces their movements out into the Pacific to “Hawaiiki” and back south west to New Zealand, what in their own progress regressed their general health to lessen their life expectancy compared to a Taiwanese who may get off a flight at Auckland Airport this morning.
    That is something that could do with some understanding.
    
    The advent of diseases hitherto unexperienced which decimated Polynesians on “Western” world contact is one issue, but where does that explain that Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders were among the worst hit by covid in Los Angeles?
    
    And, the abandonment of Christianity is a choice
    The adoption of te Ao o Maori (the Maori worldview) should also be a choice.
    
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    April 9, 2024 9:42am
    - Jack5
      
      Yvette, the Polynesians’ ancestors left Taiwan about 3,000 years ago, about the time the people of the Russian steppes began moving across Europe, leaving traces in today’s European male Y chromosomes.
      
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      April 9, 2024 11:22am
      - Pope Punctilious II
        
        The Austronesian migration out of Taiwan began closer to 3,000 BC. And they mixed with Melanesians on their circuitous route to this archipelago.
        
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        April 9, 2024 5:15pm
    - Maggy Wassilieff
      
      The indigenous people of Taiwan (only 2.3% of the population) have a depressed life expectancy when compared to the other peoples of Taiwan.
      
      The premier said such efforts have narrowed the life expectancy gap between indigenous peoples and all other groups from 10 years to 8.7 years,
      
      https://english.ey.gov.tw/Page/61BF20C3E89B856/df6535bb-1044-4c13-bc54-703a4ed21e87
      
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      April 9, 2024 11:28am
      - Yvette
        
        Thank you, Maggy. I stand corrected.
        I’d still ask
        1 – why do Maori compare health outcomes to ‘middle’ non-Maori age groups rather than those with the greatest longevity, and
        2 – what happened to the $100 million?
        
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        April 9, 2024 12:31pm
- Cassandra
  
  What a load of rapihi. Are these age-old moon treatments peer reviewed? Is Kingi Tuheita going to cure scrofula as well? If they’re using European ie mine, money then they can use European methods.
  
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  April 9, 2024 9:12am
  - G the giant from Dunedin
    
    Kaka , the word is kaka
    
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    April 9, 2024 11:23am
- Inandout
  
  Yvette, all government spending by previous governments is traceable but in Labours case there will be twists and turns. Money lodged in one account and then some transferred to a ‘Trust’, other spent on ‘administration’ etc. To follow the money down to the recipients will take a team of accountants serious amounts of time. Then we reach the funds donated to Maori causes and because there is little book keeping in cultural circles some money has bought real estate for some lucky people. A billion dollars buys seriously expensive items.
  
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  April 9, 2024 9:22am
  - Paulus
    
    Have seen list of Maori Trusts – tens of thousands of them, with unpronounceable names, but believe they do not make Annual Returns under the Laws, which they were set up.
    
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    April 9, 2024 10:13am
  - G the giant from Dunedin
    
    Now you know why they wanted rid of Uffindell
    
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    April 9, 2024 11:24am
    - Jethrod
      
      What has Ufindell done then?
      
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      April 9, 2024 1:30pm
      - G the giant from Dunedin
        
        He worked for Westpac as a forensic expert in banking fraud
        
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        April 9, 2024 8:16pm
- Phronesis
  
  The best part is that when the outcomes for maori are not as good as western medicine it will be western medicines fault for being racist!
  
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  April 9, 2024 9:46am
thetiedarch

Do the media not give a hoot? The day after results are posted showing trust in media has declined yet again, they post this:
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/parnell-lodge-fire-duo-who-own-backpackers-accommodation-own-several-other-motels/7TDHRBYAYJDTZKPXLKWKHIXPE4/

Headline on main page is: “Parnell lodge fire: Owners obtained $22m in emergency housing grants across 6 years”

Shouldn’t the main story be about the vagrants receiving taxpayer funded accommodation, fighting and causing a fire to said building. And how now the owners and the insurers have to deal with the loss. How all our insurance levies will probably go up?

But no. Let’s pick on the victim and point out they received $22m in legally acquired funds from the government. Which by the way, over 6 years equates to almost exactly $10,000 a day. If you have 5 motels with 20 units in each and you charge a measly $100 a night, $10k isn’t unreasonable.

As far as we know, the owners haven’t done anything illegal.

And why these people? There was silence from the media about the international motel chains that received even larger sums in government funding to operate as MIQ facilities.

Our media are utter trash.
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April 9, 2024 8:26am
- Debsta
  
  It’s all part of the perception management programme that keeps approx 30-40% of the western population plugged in to the matrix. It sickens me.
  
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  April 9, 2024 8:38am
- sirknz
  
  They are synonymous with landlords and are currently the source of everything bad in the lefty world, along with the far-right™ and farmers.
  
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  April 9, 2024 8:52am
- Scooter
  
  Wrong shade of brown, now if it was a Maori or Iwi group owning the motels probably a different story.
  
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  April 9, 2024 11:57am
Maggie Pie

Indian couple, who received more than $22,000,000 (twenty-two million) in
‘Emergency-Housing-Grants’, believed to still be devastated after Labour’s election loss.

https://tinyurl.com/325wvnrh
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April 9, 2024 8:30am
- MCōs
  
  $22mil over five years for up to nine motels (now eight).
  https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/motel-money-the-companies-which-earned-the-most-from-the-emergency-housing-boom/WCKDR37O4UWZONC3NHTQY2RZ6E/
  
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  April 9, 2024 9:18am
  - Maggie Pie
    
    Horrid tweets pic of duo in happier days…..
    
    https://twitter.com/nzherald/status/1777412512859734122
    
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    April 9, 2024 9:36am
Chuck Bird

I see Peters is pushing a two-state solution. I wonder whose idea that is – Peters or Luxon?

Do they think the Jews are stupid? There is no way they would agree to that.
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April 9, 2024 8:42am
- Benedict Yu
  
  Where are the borders of this new state to be? Israel gave the two state solution a trial run in 2007 when it forcibly removed all Jewish settlers from Gaza. The Palestinians then elected Hamas to run the show and the rest is history.
  
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  April 9, 2024 8:59am
  - Chuck Bird
    
    There will be no borders as far as Israel is concerned and rightfully so. Imagine if Gaza was a separate state. They could get any weapons they wanted flown in. As I said the Jews are not stupid and would never agree to that.
    
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    April 9, 2024 9:32am
    - Phronesis
      
      There was a time not so long ago that Israel would have backed a two state solution. Since the Hamas attack, and continued holding of hostages, that is clearly no longer an option. If Hamas’ objective was to improve the lot of Palestinians then they miscalculated badly. But then there is absolutely no reason to believe that they care at all for the people of Gaza.
      
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      April 9, 2024 9:52am
      - Pineapple Lumps
        
        IMHO:
        
        Hamas are not interested in improving the lot for Gazan’s in this lifetime – believe in improvement for eternal life maybe?
        
        Hamas want to eradicate Israel/the Jewish people. They are happy to sacrifice Gazan’s to get others on side to achieve this goal.
        
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        April 9, 2024 6:49pm
- Cassandra
  
  A two-state solution is the only solution. Netanyahu will not agree but his successor (General Benny Gantz?) will. Boundaries already drafted; just need to sort out the Palestinian government which will not be Hamas or PLO and will be guaranteed by a multi-national force led by an American general. It is the only long-term solution.
  
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  April 9, 2024 9:17am
- thirteenstars
  
  The two-state solution is the go-to line for all diplomats who don’t have a clue.
  
  Perhaps they could be more honest and propose a four-state solution. Gaza, so Hamas can fire rockets into southern Israel. The West Bank so Fatah can fire rockets into central Israel, and a client state in southern Lebanon so ~~Iran~~ Hezbollah can fire rockets into northern Israel.
  
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  April 9, 2024 9:25am
  - Grunter
    
    I agree thirteenstars – 4-states is the honest/realistic outcome. Of course in no way is that a “solution”.
    
    None of those 4 states is going anywhere soon. And all 4 are already firing rockets/bullets/bombs.
    
    Then add in Iran itself (not just its proxies). Any day now they will retaliate in some way.
    
    And I read that the Turks are once again getting all wound up. President Erdogan is a real ‘Jew Hater’ so add that wild card into the mix (he has NATO’s 2nd largest armed forces). It wouldn’t take much of a red flag event to give him an excuse to make a name for himself.
    
    That’s probably enough for Sleepy Joe to have another nap…..!
    
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    April 9, 2024 3:18pm
- G the giant from Dunedin
  
  I have heard Luxon state before that Peters has the full reins of foreign affairs, he stated his work has been brilliant, another day, another person blaming Luxon for everything
  
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  April 9, 2024 11:27am
- MCōs
  
  Small point
  It’s Israel who are not exclusively Jewish
  Furthermore
  Peters represents NZ, which is more than just Mr Luxon
  
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  April 9, 2024 2:00pm
john1234

TVNZ News reached peak stupid last night with Thomas “gotcha” Manch story about police tasering dogs. Apparently it is appalling that a dog gets tasered about once a month and, gasp, there is no policy to take the dog to the vet after to make sure the thing is OK.
And this *leads* the news in a long, long story. I can’t find words to express how pathetic this is.
There was no mention anywhere as to whether any of said aggressive, dangerous dogs suffered any subsequent ill effects. Or whether their owners checked on the dog’s welfare. Or if ownerless, the dogs were taken by animal control officers and checked on.
Just a hit piece on the cops.
TVNZ News, Newshub and Stuff can’t die soon enough.
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April 9, 2024 8:51am
- Lance
  
  The same vicious dogs that rip toddlers faces off and kill people. Yea… bad cops.
  This on the day when it is published that the NZ public don’t trust the media.
  It was like an Onion parody; except I think it was lost on them.
  
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  April 9, 2024 9:23am
  - wsk12345
    
    You know what? My big male dog would definitely go for the police if they turned up at our house and we weren’t there. That’s his job. But I’d happily leave him in a room with my year old grandson as there is nothing that dog won’t tolerate for people he knows. The kid could pull his ears or stick something up his ass and he would just get up and wander away. And yes he is very intimidating to look at.
    You clearly have no clue about dogs.
    
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    April 9, 2024 12:26pm
    - Jennycraigsfailure
      
      As an owner of atleast 50 to 60 dogs, over a perir of ue as rs,Hunterways and pig dogs, I think you are dicing with your grandchildren wellbeing .
      No dog, ever should be trusted to that degree.
      Owners say the dog is harmless, I can say with certainty that ever dog has the capacity to injure.
      But you can’t tell some people. “Not our dog”.
      
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      April 9, 2024 2:01pm
- rockape
  
  My wife deals sometimes with taser victims,sarc,! The police bring them in, she pulls out the barbs, sticks a plaster on it and sends them away with the police. Takes a minute or so and no she doesn’t offer counselling.
  
  14 0
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  April 9, 2024 10:13am
- Bobba Fret
  
  Yes I can’t imagine too many labradors, terriers or Chihuahuas have been tasered.
  
  4 0
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  April 9, 2024 2:37pm
Maggie Pie

RANDOM IMPERTINENT QUESTION

Could online publisher ‘STUFFED’ turn out to be the new owners of TV3?

Both Warner Bros CEO Laura Maxwell and Shinead Boucher remain mum.
10 1
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April 9, 2024 9:07am
- Jack5
  
  Maggie, are you suggesting another “have if for a dollar” deal?
  
  Keeping the company entity would prevent a liquidation with losses etc, not that the American owners need care about publicity in NZ.
  
  Maggie, is Sinead building an NZ media Titanic, or are you having Irish coffee with breakfast? 😜
  
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  April 9, 2024 9:20am
  - Prince
    
    Asset stripping ?
    
    4 0
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    April 9, 2024 10:07am
- RoboRob
  
  I wouldn’t think so. Didn’t the staff buy Stuff from the previous owners for $1 and assume all debt? I imagine that said debt hasn’t been paid down and that Stuff isnt rolling in dosh. I suspect Stuff will be long gone before TV3.
  
  I have previously posted I expect Stuff to fail within the next year or so. Without Labours extreme media subsidies and government departments being encouraged to spend heartily on advertising, Stuff has probably lost at least 25% of their revenue. We know this as its the same amount Newshub said revenue had dropped since the election last year.
  
  I expect Stuff is holding on to see if Newshubs demise means some more advertising for them.
  
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  April 9, 2024 9:22am
  - MCōs
    
    I think you’ll find Newshub has been assisted with taxpayer money far more than Stuff over the years
    
    2 1
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    April 9, 2024 1:55pm
    - RoboRob
      
      No idea. If you think NewHub got more money from Labour since covid (as a % of their pre covid revenue) I cant see why.
      
      Anyway, it doesn’t matter and doesn’t change my point. Stuff has no money and wont be buying TV3. Stuff is likely struggling due to a loss in general revenue and a loss of govt subsidies and govt department spending.
      
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      April 9, 2024 3:04pm
bjools

Not plugging for a gift or anything.
BUT, anything fast and red that you can park out front, will be fine.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCTunqv1Xt4

NB This information is just to distract from the usual politics of the day.
8 1
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April 9, 2024 9:08am
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  Oh No….only 364 days before you’re an OAP.
  
  Better register for your Super now, you know how things get delayed these days.
  
  5 0
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  April 9, 2024 10:54am
  - bjools
    
    But, I have deen an OAP for years.
    Overtly
    Awsome
    Person.
    Unless you went to school with Jonah Lomu, the you an OOP.
    
    2 1
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    April 9, 2024 11:25am
    - Chris Nisbet
      
      David Tua.
      
      3 0
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      April 9, 2024 1:25pm
      - bjools
        
        I stand corrected, thank you.
        and apologize to Jonah.
        
        2 0
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        April 9, 2024 3:16pm
imalwaysright

Good exposure for NZ new immigration policy.
Features Stanford and Winston.

https://youtu.be/GdMTaKIok3E?si=_9F2pocaMJWC5Kxa

Warning : contains traces of nuts.
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April 9, 2024 9:36am
greybeard

https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/350239085/science-environment-and-commerce-commission-public-service-chopping-block
The Commerce Commission has 400 staff !
What the hell do they do all day ?
I assume they have a database of all NZ-registered businesses ( thanks to IRD ) and all they have to do is match complaints against this known database. Is there really enough work for 400 ?
14 1
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April 9, 2024 9:53am
- Prince
  
  And despite their staffing, they still couldn’t work out the return on assets for our Banks and Supermarkets. Just a meaningless ‘they make huge profits’ statement.
  
  11 0
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  April 9, 2024 10:10am
  - Bobba Fret
    
    “Excessive” profits.
    Can anyone define what an excessive profit is?
    I guess from a lefties point of view, any business that makes more than a dollar after paying all expenses!//
    
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    April 9, 2024 2:41pm
- wsk12345
  
  They actually have quite a wide mandate – fair trading, competition and market studies plus all the Part 4 stuff – regulation of 28 electricity lines businesses, Transpower, gas businesses, telcos.
  
  I know a few people there – the best of our public servants I’d say. Many imported from places where proper economics is studied and valued.
  
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  April 9, 2024 12:31pm
  - greybeard
    
    Do you honestly believe they need 400 staff to monitor the day-to-day activities of businesses which service the needs of only 5m people ?
    I would have thought that they would be concerned with the exceptions, rather than than the entire commercial landscape.
    
    4 0
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    April 9, 2024 4:07pm
Chuck Bird

StraightTalk Live Stream for 8th April 2024

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAjbAMKTQ94&t=549s
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April 9, 2024 10:08am
Jack5

In General Debate yesterday, we touched on Australian panic about “more than a million” phones allegedly being blocked from emergency calls.

This relates to the phasing out of 3G networks in Australia, which will also occur in New Zealand later this year, and mainly to text-and-talk only phones, sometimes known as “burners”, but typically marketed as “feature phones”.

“Detox phone” is a name among Americans breaking smart-phone addiction.

Typical users are tradies who want something small and expendable; school kids who mum and dad want to have emergency communication; older folk who can get models with big letters and numbers, speaker phone, and even emergency link.

The name “burner” comes from the crooks in crime fiction who use these cheap phones for untraceable messaging.

Real-life users also include married folk who don’t want spouses picking up texts from lovers on their normal phones.

A poster said such phones, but already for the 4G networks, sell in NZ for about $50. I tried one for about that price. It didn’t work on 4G. If you buy one, check it on 4G before you leave the store.

An online browse today showed the range for other “feature phones” typically starts about $100, and runs up to $350 to $450 for model aimed at old folk with a speaker phone, big buttons and screen letters, characters, a still camera, and an emergency button.

“Out of stock” was the message when I checked at my usual retailer for a trully rugged tradie-type 4G feature phone.

For those interested in the Australian change, I repeat the link I put up yesterday:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-04-08/million-iphone-android-devices-caught-out-3g-shutdown/103673864
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April 9, 2024 11:11am
Chuck Bird

Integration has FAILED! If You Want Shariah Law, Leave Britain!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gKB4-15wiA
4 1
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April 9, 2024 11:33am
Handyman

According to business reengineering theory (Hammer, 1990) and my own experience, cutting costs by 5% is a waste of time. The usual suspects are coffee and tea plus existing vacancies (what are the odds that the vacancies are exactly the roles to go?). Senior managers get together, rate themselves indispensable and each offer a sacrificial lamb. They often find a way to render their KPI’s (bonus) unenforceable.
The minimum target should be 20%.
This forces a serious examination of function and purpose. In the civil service the most likely areas on which to focus are information flow up and down the organisation. To get raw information to the CEO involves many layers of committees which are designed to massage the message and makes no one accountable.
For example, truancy reporting. How hard can it be to deploy an existing app updated by teachers, feeding directly into the public web results. Reasons can be entered later once staff contact the truant.

Finally, the other insight from the corporate world is not to allow senior managers to manage the process. This is why corporate managers hate and fear takeovers; the new owners will shine a light on senior management poor performance.

Sadly, I don’t see a way to arrange a “takeover” of a government department (but I would love to have a go!)
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April 9, 2024 11:41am
Maggy Wassilieff

90 Jobs to go at NIWA……

but that will have no effect on its core work.

The PSA says up to 90 jobs are to go at the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA).
It says 30 are currently vacant.

It says NIWA maintains this will have no impact on its core work.

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/513779/live-politics-follow-updates-for-the-latest-on-government-targets

So what the heck were these employees doing?
21 1
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April 9, 2024 11:44am
- Blog-aholic
  
  Not any real research anyway. Ian Wishart caught them in the act.
  
  12 0
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  April 9, 2024 11:53am
- artemisia
  
  Those NIWA employees were doing something, anything, that the taxpayer funded.
  
  10 0
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  April 9, 2024 11:58am
- imalwaysright
  
  “So what the heck were these employees doing?”
  
  Same as the rest of them aren’t doing. Group onanism at its finest.
  Try the Windy app. Much better and you don’t get preached at.
  
  6 0
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  April 9, 2024 1:57pm
- Ehlana
  
  Non-core work. Possibly taking the MetService forecasts, tweaking them a bit and putting them out as NIWA forecasts?
  
  Or coming up with brilliant communications like the one I just got from a health care provider. Two A4 pages of English, with just one two-word Maori phrase thrown in. Turned out it meant “pregnant women”.
  
  I can’t decide if they’re so stupid they don’t realise medical information should be entirely in a language the patient speaks, or just trying to avoid the hassle they would get for saying pregnant women instead whatever the approved term is now. Or both.
  
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  April 9, 2024 2:10pm
Maggie Pie

“I would be very uncomfortable if we were to get a pay rise”

– Nicola Willis. 1ZB

Just imagine the talk in the ‘MENS’ between Greens MP for Tijuana & the Rag-n-Bone man. LOL!!
7 3
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April 9, 2024 12:31pm
- fightingtemeraire
  
  The first may have the XY chromosome but he isn’t a MAN.
  
  The second is an anorexic no hoper.
  
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  April 9, 2024 2:16pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

Stop Co-Governance. Julian Batchelor.

TOW Comic analysed. Part 41.
Maori say in 2024 they have been ignored – far from it!

https://stopcogovernance.kiwi/blog/analysis-treaty-of-waitangi-comic-for-high-school-students-has-been-quietly-brainwashing-away-since-2018-part-41/?
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April 9, 2024 1:07pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

The eclipse from a plane.

https://rumble.com/v4oa989-watch-this-is-what-a-total-eclipse-looks-like-from-an-airplane.html?
2 1
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April 9, 2024 1:47pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

Trump will pay the bond in nickels.

https://babylonbee.com/news/trump-announces-he-will-pay-entire-bond-using-rolls-of-nickels
6 1
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April 9, 2024 2:04pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

Trump gagged.

https://babylonbee.com/news/judge-orders-trump-to-stop-noticing-that-the-people-trying-to-put-him-in-jail-are-democrats
6 1
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April 9, 2024 2:31pm
Maggie Pie

TRENDING

NZ Herald to immediately address scathing report which showed Kiwi’s
whopping “loss of trust” in news media….

https://tinyurl.com/yuz8b34x
8 1
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April 9, 2024 3:06pm
- Blog-aholic
  
  Very surprised that it has not become Te Aotearoa Kaikawe Korero…….still there is time I guess……
  
  9 0
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  April 9, 2024 3:41pm
- kowtow
  
  aka how to polish a turd.
  
  6 0
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  April 9, 2024 3:43pm
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  Oh Whew…
  
  That’ll stem the slide to oblivion
  
  https://thestewardshipcoach.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Fiddlingwhileromeburns.jpg
  
  8 0
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  April 9, 2024 4:03pm
- julesnzuk
  
  New Zealanders’ (not kiwi’s). The MSM’s constant use of dumbed down language does nothing to inspire trust in them either.
  
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  April 9, 2024 11:54pm
greybeard

If I were to ask the next 100 adults I meet in the street “would you vote Greens next time” I bet there would not be 14 people who said “yes”.
Where on earth do the pollsters ( Curia etc ) go to ask these questions ?
Downtown Auckland and Wellington at 3pm when the students are at large ?
7 1
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April 9, 2024 4:39pm
- Benedict Yu
  
  You live in the wrong kind of street. There are many streets in Wellington. There is nothing wrong with the polling. It is what New Zealand has become.
  
  9 2
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  April 9, 2024 4:58pm
- Maggie Pie
  
  A wag on ‘X’ put it down to the large number of’ ‘Chloe supporters’ wandering around with stolen Smart Phones.
  
  LOL!!
  
  7 1
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  April 9, 2024 5:06pm
Benedict Yu

The Greens are on 14.6 percent in latest poll. Labour on 25.7 percent.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/350237521/nz-politics-live-poll-sees-slight-dip-national-act

With MMP it would not take much for these lunatics to get back in.

Meanwhile, Mr Hipkins criticises the Government’s school attendance targets as “unambitious”. It is like encountering a parallel universe. 🙁
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April 9, 2024 4:54pm
- MCōs
  
  A couple of weeks ago there was an article in the New York Times about the truancy problem in America
  Unfortunately I didn’t read it, but the headline would indicate they have similar school attendance to NZ
  BTW
  Why are all school absences treated as ‘truancy’, which I would have thought refers to absent with no just cause as opposed to illness?
  
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  April 9, 2024 5:53pm
  - Benedict Yu
    
    “Why are all school absences treated as ‘truancy’ [?]”
    
    They are not. The data is broken down into “justified” and “unjustified” absences.
    
    https://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/statistics/attendance
    
    4 0
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    April 9, 2024 5:59pm
Benedict Yu

“Labour has called on the Government to support a “viable fourth estate”. The media minister says help is on the way, but has remained coy on potential solutions.”

https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/350239818/live-tvnz-officially-cancels-fair-go-midday-and-tonight

I told you so 🙁 Why is “help on the way”?
8 0
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April 9, 2024 4:56pm
- Keith White
  
  The Little River Band are getting back together?
  
  4 0
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  April 9, 2024 4:58pm
MCōs

It’s been a slow day on Kiwiblog and I’ve spent some time reading ’The Crewe Murders’, which came out last year.
If you don’t know about the Crewe murders I don’t know where you’ve been!
The case remains unsolved and that’s the way it’s likely to stay, which is why it’s so fascinating I suppose although all sorts of people reckon they know who dunnit.
Here’s some Kiwiblog conjecture from a few years ago when the police had another go at Arthur Thomas with some long passed rape charge which eventually fell through
https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2019/12/arthur_allan_thomas_charged_with_rape.html#google_vignette
1 1
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April 9, 2024 5:00pm
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  So who dunnit?
  Try looking at the opposite of what the book says.
  No MCos, I have not read the book. I may one day.
  
  1 1
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  April 9, 2024 5:47pm
  - MCōs
    
    I’m getting near the end of the book and it’s clear the authors don’t consider a viable case has made against anyone
    Far from it
    
    2 0
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    April 9, 2024 6:43pm
Hugh Jarse

So Rāhui’s are now extended to the mountains, a three day one has been placed on the Tongariro Crossing as a result of a death. Clearly superstition is more important than the people who are travelling to do it or have paid for a guided tour. So how long before we have rāhui’s on roads, other walkways, cycleways. Makes about as much sense as putting sanitary products into the men’s toilets at IRD.
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April 9, 2024 5:56pm
- NZer In Exile
  
  “Makes about as much sense as putting sanitary products into the men’s toilets at IRD.”
  
  How you can tell when a civilisation has gone completely mad.
  
  0 0
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  April 10, 2024 6:16pm
freemark

Response to my complaint about Greenpeace “charity”
“ Kia ora
Thank you for your email.
Charities Services notes your concern that Greenpeace’s activities around the proposed ‘Treaty Principles Bill’ are promoting political views not connected to its charitable purpose, and therefore that it no longer meets the criteria for charitable status.
We have reviewed your concerns. Based on the information we have, we are satisfied Greenpeace continues to qualify for registration as the activity is ancillary (secondary) to its charitable purpose. Charities Services considers that the Greenpeace’s activity of encouraging people to complete a survey around the proposed Treaty Principles Bill is ancillary to its main charitable purpose of protection of the environment.
However, we have reminded Greenpeace of its obligations and the requirements to remain qualified as a registered charity.
Background information on charitable purposes and advocacy
To be charitable, an organisation must advance a charitable purpose or purposes, and any non-charitable purposes must be ancillary to the main charitable purpose.
Organisations can carry out activities such as organising petitions, commissioning research, publishing reports, making submissions to Government, organising lawful protests and publishing information online as a way to achieve their purpose.
The Courts have held that advocacy is charitable where it is connected to a charitable purpose. An organisation’s advocacy can be charitable even if other charities, organisations, or people have competing views or interests.
An organisation may still be able to be registered as a charity, even if some of its advocacy isn’t charitable. In these cases, an organisation’s non-charitable advocacy must be ancillary. Further information, please refer to our webpage on Advocacy.
Thank you again for bringing your concerns to us.
Ngā mihi,
Kaitirotiro | Investigations Team
Ngā Ratonga Kaupapa Atawhai | Charities Services
Te Tari Taiwhenua | The Department of Internal Affairs
http://www.charities.govt.nz | http://www.dia.govt.nz | Follow us on Facebook”

Will our Coalition Govt have the balls to clean out the infestation of woke lefty liberalism in NZ? Or to even try?
Not looking good so far, sadly.
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April 9, 2024 6:11pm
- PurplePen
  
  Thanks for making the complaint .. had it on my to do list and it fell off.
  
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  April 9, 2024 8:59pm
greybeard

https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/350240423/justin-marshall-wants-scott-robertson-make-tj-perenara-all-blacks-staple
If Roigard had not been injured then he would have been No.1 and Christie No.2.
Perenara is the world’s luckiest rugby halfback.
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April 9, 2024 6:39pm
- MCōs
  
  The harder he works the luckier he gets
  
  2 0
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  April 9, 2024 7:02pm
DimChappie

Woman stole goods worth $8278 – but how does Countdown know the exact value she stole? They never stopped her to tally the amount. Or do these thieves go to the trouble of scanning all the goods they don’t intend paying for?

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/nelson-woman-stole-8278-worth-of-supermarket-goods-to-share-with-others/6GGAU7OLWZGD7ENFACCGZCRUU4/
5 0
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April 9, 2024 6:55pm
- Pineapple Lumps
  
  Theft is a tax on the honest. The supermarket is like a casino, they never lose. So is this just another way of taxing wealth and redistribution of wealth by soft on crime labour? Like the majority of good tenants in housing NZ estates are the ones that suffer the most at the hands of the bad tenants not kicked to the kerb. The ones punished the greatest by shoplifting are the honest poor.
  
  Kindness bullshit rhetoric Jacinda & your fellow Marxist scum!
  
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  April 9, 2024 7:30pm
- artemisia
  
  Maybe $8278 was what could be proved, not what was stolen.
  
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  April 10, 2024 7:54am

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