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October 27, 2024 8:00am by Kokila Patel

General Debate 27 October 2024

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Scott

My wife went to the ballet this weekend and so I decided to go to the rugby, NPC final, Wellington vs Bay of Plenty at the stadium.

What a magnificent game of rugby. Two teams going at it for 80 minutes and then 20 minutes of extra time! I’ve been watching rugby for 50 years and I’ve never seen extra time!

The crowd of 10 to 12 thousand roared on their home side of Wellington. In extra time the Bay turned down a penalty kick that would have drawn the game. But if the sides were still drawn at the end of extra time then Wellington would get the win on count back of tries, three tries to two. So a draw was no good to the Bay.

In the end the difference was former All Black Julian Savea who was unstoppable on the wing and crashed over for two tries.

For many in these teams who won’t go on to Super rugby or the All Blacks, this game was the pinnacle of their rugby career. And man did they play like it.

Old school provincial rugby at its very best. 😊
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October 27, 2024 8:02am
- Mike
  
  Couldn’t get there yesterday, much to my regret. A top-class game, which was a fitting finale to a very even competition.
  
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  October 27, 2024 9:14am
- surfing
  
  It was a good game, Du’Plessis Kirifi and Brad Shields were great for Wellington .
  
  Crowd size was disappointing. Whats wrong with Wellingtonians? Bunch of pansies?
  
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  October 27, 2024 1:02pm
  - AitchW
    
    Too much rugby perhaps? It starts in January for gods sake and rolls on till November.
    
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    October 27, 2024 4:52pm
- zulumonster
  
  Was certainly a great atmosphere at the game – even with such a disappointingly small crowd – although the awful weather didn’t help!
  I think Wellington just deserved the win, but as they (never) say … it was a game of 4 halves.
  
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  October 27, 2024 3:36pm
hmmokrightitis

Black Caps, sensational. Now please make it a clean sweep.
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October 27, 2024 8:03am
- Benedict Yu
  
  India is then heading to Australia for a 5 test series. Not the confidence boost they needed.
  
  Arguably, the Test was won by Santner who took 13 wickets in the match. 7 in the first innings and 6 in the second. He had never taken even 5 wickets in an innings previously in a Test match. Previous best was 3.
  
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  October 27, 2024 8:45am
  - NeverMindTheBollocks
    
    Just as well. Ajaz was very disappointing.
    
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    October 27, 2024 9:10am
    - pdm
      
      The problem for Ajaz is he plays so little international cricket he is not test match hardened when they need him.
      
      Watch for a good performance from him in Mumbai because has the ability.
      
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      October 27, 2024 10:55am
  - Mike
    
    He had never taken 10 wickets in a FC match before, and I think 5 wickets in a FC innings only once.
    What a time to shine.
    
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    October 27, 2024 9:18am
- alex Masterley
  
  One of the best results in a long time. Almost as good as NZ beating Australia at Lancaster Park, when if i recall correctly Ken Wadsworth hit the winning runs.
  I have long had doubts about Mitchell Santner. I was wrong.
  
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  October 27, 2024 9:38am
  - Pope Punctilious II
    
    I’ve never rated Santner either, but I guess the selectors saw in him something we didn’t.
    
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    October 27, 2024 9:48am
  - gravedodger
    
    Alex he got the start when Matt Henry pulled up lame, good fortune methinks.
    He is tall, has variations aplenty and that pitch was made for him . Oh and for Washington Sundar, Ravindra Ashwin, and Jadeja LoL
    Ajaz Patel and Glen Phillips are not there but Pune will be another spinners dream
    
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    October 27, 2024 10:25am
  - pdm
    
    Turner a ton in both innings I think Alex.
    
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    October 27, 2024 10:57am
Steve Otto(North Shore)

Trump and JD Vance’s Bold Plan to Tackle the Climate Hoax.
Why can’t NZ do this? Get the Govt out of our lives. Open up oil and gas. Start mining coal. We have the reserves. Climate change my left tit. Dam you for fucking NZ over Jacinda Ardern.

https://rightsideoffers.com/thepoliticalmovement/trump-and-jd-vances-bold-plan-to-tackle-the-climate-hoax-putting-americans-first/?
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October 27, 2024 8:07am
- Benedict Yu
  
  I am not expert in the Green New Deal or indeed USA climate policies more generally.
  
  However I was surprised to learn that in the last four years USA oil production has grown steadily so that the USA is now producing more oil than ever, by a big margin. It is producing more oil than Saudi Arabia.
  
  https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=61545
  
  Of course I am not crediting Joe Biden for this success. 🙂 The Green New Deal is vastly wasteful.
  
  As for your question about New Zealand, yes Jacinda unilaterally destroyed the gas industry, most likely irrevocably. However, despite the rhetoric, the current government’s climate change policies are, in the important features, no different to those of the last government.
  
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  October 27, 2024 8:21am
  - Philview
    
    In New Zealand’s case investors can see that a more extreme government is coming given the opposition parties we have. Oil and Gas will not be back and given the illiberal raced based policies that will be coming our way in future it is sensible to not risk your money in New Zealand. An example as floated at the last election was a proposal to give Iwi first right of refusal on all land sales. I can easily imagine an arbitration process on how those land sales will be priced.
    
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    October 27, 2024 8:36am
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    US was selling crude and refined fuel under Trump.
    In Alaska the crude comes from the North Slope and is piped to Valdez. It goes to a refinery somewhere in Kenai. Comes back to Alaska at Seward as diesel, petrol and other fuels. From the train at Fairbanks I have never seen so many rail tankers full of fuel for the North Slope. From there the fuel goes by road back to the North. Interesting setup. Even without the industry Alaska needs the fuel to stay alive in the winter (minus 74F)
    Here in NZ the current Govt is just Labour Lite. Completely useless ant getting things done. Climate Change policies get votes, even for National. That is why National are Labour Lite.
    
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    October 27, 2024 8:47am
    - sherp
      
      Wish we could have a party in NZ that demonstrates that you’re better working with companies if you want them to be more sustainable… eg create a tax incentive for companies to stop using plastic bottles… if such a policy was implemented it would reduced plastic waste ten fold more than any straw or bag ban.
      
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      October 27, 2024 8:57am
      - Inandout
        
        sherp, so take away plastic and you are left with Tetrapak and glass. I remember milk being delivered to our home when glass bottles were in use and often the milkman would leave the crates on his truck in full sunlight. I do realise many plastic bottles of milk are not light proof and are in danger of being UV polluted so the double skinned ones are my favourite. I think all plastic bottles are recyclable, anyway this is some blurb from Auckland (if you can wade through the Maori).
        
        https://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/rubbish-recycling/bin-requests/Pages/what-put-your-recycling.aspx
        
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        October 27, 2024 10:31am
      - NothingLeft
        
        many soft plastics also contain pthalates (to make them soft), which are oestrogenic, not a good thing for boys or men and may be a substantial contributor to plummeting sperm counts etc.
        
        Foods sold in glass containers and not storing or heating foods in plastics is recommended.
        
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        October 27, 2024 11:26am
    - Michael Sommerville
      
      Correct. We don’t have a political leader who can stand up and give some facts:
      1. Sea level rise is not increasing.
      2. Temperatures are not skyrocketing.
      3. CO2 is essential for life on earth.
      4. More people die from extreme cold than extreme heat by a factor of 10.
      5. India, China, Russia etc are producing more CO2 than we will ever save. China is building a coal power station every week and India is close behind.
      
      If we had a politician that was sufficiently knowledgeable who could stand up to these extremists we would be a lot better off. Start by educating the teachers. Sadly the Minister of Education is a climate believer so that won’t go far.
      
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      October 27, 2024 10:01am
      - Observant Octagenarian
        
        Point 5 is the killer! But why doesn’t the population of NZ know this? If they did, they might understand why the carbon trading scheme is bonkers!
        
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        October 27, 2024 10:40am
      - Colville
        
        We have leaders that agree on the facts.
        The facts are that our trading partners have certain views on climate change and we have agreed to support them.
        Very simple facts.
        
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        October 27, 2024 10:44am
      - Benedict Yu
        
        I don’t think that any of those 5 factors will matter for people.
        
        The only thing that could sink the current policies is the cost. The government effectively keeps this hidden by refusing to raise it. Ask yourself. How many folk are aware that the Government has already made a down payment of $1.3 billion to south east Asian countries for Paris Accord credits, with perhaps another $10 billion to follow soon?
        
        Why does this get zero coverage, but the costs of school lunches, or Dunedin Hospital get massive coverage?
        
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        October 27, 2024 11:17am
      - kowtow
        
        BY
        
        The Media should be all over this , but of course are not ,as they are cultural marxists and have declared their activist position.
        
        Compare and contrast as you say the costs they like to highlight ( Luxon’s house profits) as opposed to the societal costs that this carbon nonsense is bringing , not just in handouts to thrd world , but also in taxes , duties , power prices and bigly de industrialisation.
        
        There have been a couple of stories recently which again have been given very little attention .
        
        The so called BRICS met and have said climate is a threat to them . From the countries who’re actually increasing emissions . While the west , whose leaders obsess about same( CHOGM etc) have reduced emissions US and EU .
        
        But reduced emissions are not something to celebrate ; it represents de industrialisation and impoverishment.While our enemies weaponise climate politics against us .
        
        Our leaders are nuts or treacherous , or both.
        
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        October 27, 2024 3:02pm
      - NZer In Exile
        
        Colville that is the path to economic destruction. If something is an absurdity don’t do it just because other (foolish) leaders think it’s a great idea to also just go along. Better to align with nations who are not mindlessly following a destructive narrative “because everyone else is”. A lot of nations are now waking up to the “green new deal” type destructive delusions.
        
        In NZ’s case more hydro and geothermal would appear to be appropriate (firmed up by gas or, shock horror, the latest very clean burning coal plants).
        
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        October 27, 2024 8:40pm
    - Jack5
      
      Philview’s … Oil and Gas will not be back …
      
      The United States is the world’s biggest oil producer, and 59 per cent of its output comes from fracking (hydraulic fracturing), which also accounts for about two-thirds of natural gas produced within the US.
      
      NZ has untapped, frackable gas resources in its large coal reserves.
      
      I know of only two serious investigations into “fracking” this gas.
      
      The first was Solid Energy investigating gas in coalfields under or near its Mercer thermal station, which is currently fuelled from the million tonnes of Indonesian coal NZ imports each year. Solid Energy, which was also exporting West Coast coal, was swept away after world coal prices collapsed in a bad couple of years.
      
      The second was the investigation by an international mining entrepreneur into Southland coalfield gas. One of the country’s largest trucking and fuel-distribution companies was looking at distribution.
      
      This project failed to attract sufficient investor interest in NZ, which at the time was, as it frequently is, fixated on property companies.
      
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      October 27, 2024 10:51am
  - rouppe
    
    Yes private exploration and extraction is likely not coming back.
    
    Perhaps the government needs to establish an exploration entity, with the sole purpose of discovering commercially viable reserves of oil and gas, and then establish a sovereign production facility.
    
    There are likely to be shortages of essential fuels in the future. Better to have our own source. Doesn’t need to be completely self sufficient, but being able to cut the top off the peaks is a powerful option to have.
    
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    October 27, 2024 9:25am
- Pongo
  
  There is a looming gas surplus globally and if Trump wins and sorts Russia/Ukraine the price will of gas will plummet further.
  We should be building a gas terminal and storage facility.
  No one is going to explore here with Labour Greens potentially back in power and getting out the ban hammer again.
  
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  October 27, 2024 10:34am
  - Colville
    
    Unless Iran tees off against the Saudis…if that happens there will be a massive energy shortage everywhere except USA.
    
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    October 27, 2024 10:45am
    - kowtow
      
      Currently SA and Iran are holding joint naval exercises . Some buddying up going on.
      
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      October 27, 2024 3:05pm
      - Don Beckett
        
        Haven’t heard much about Israel’s response to Iran’s attack on them a few weeks ago. Must check out how it went.
        
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        October 27, 2024 4:58pm
  - AitchW
    
    Pongo, I heard a report on the radio that there is a company proposing to use Marsden Point to set up a LNG terminal.
    Lots of jobs for the region, and a good use of the exisiting infrastructure.
    We can only hope that the inevitable taniwha, nimbys, and koha don’t kill the proposal.
    
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    October 27, 2024 10:50am
    - ISeeRed
      
      Hopeful thinking.
      
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      October 27, 2024 11:50am
      - AitchW
        
        If it is going to happen it’ll be under the current government, certainly not mob of wreckers and wasters who will inevitably take over, hopefully in about 9 years.
        It helps that Peters lives just up the coast from Marsden Point and he will be keen on the jobs and money the development would bring.
        
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        October 27, 2024 1:41pm
    - NZer In Exile
      
      All good but what’s stopping the considerable swathes of woke airheads eventually getting angry with nasty economic growth and voting in a far left watermelon coalition again?
      
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      October 27, 2024 8:46pm
  - NothingLeft
    
    dropping oil prices to bankrupt Russia is safest way to end Ukrainian war.
    
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    October 27, 2024 11:28am
- David Garrett
  
  Steve O: as I have said here a dozen times the oil and gas exploration industry in NZ is as dead as a dodo…what company executives in their right mind would risk spending USD300 million – and that’s just identifying a drilling target – with the very real possibility of a future government, or some silly girl leading it – suddenly changing the rules without warning?
  
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  October 27, 2024 5:15pm
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    Yes DG. I agree. The damage she did will last for decades, and she just walked away.
    Should be in jail.
    
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    October 27, 2024 5:27pm
kiwikidsnz

The demonisation of Tom Phillips continues apace

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/watch-marokopa-manhunt-the-pursuit-of-fugitive-tom-phillips-and-his-kids/QKJ43XO54RG3LJY2HI4HEOMRHU/
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October 27, 2024 8:10am
- Benedict Yu
  
  Hasn’t he abducted his children? and is he not wanted on charges of robbery? What do you expect?
  
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  October 27, 2024 8:24am
  - Ghost
    
    Yeah, but sadly he has some fanboys. These kids are going to need some serious help when they are rescued
    
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    October 27, 2024 8:28am
  - imalwaysright
    
    Does anyone know why he has done this?
    Is it because of the mother or the court system or both?
    Another question is how can the state have the power to accuse a parent of abducting their own children?
    
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    October 27, 2024 8:59am
    - Flossie
      
      If the court has not awarded custody to that parent then they (the court) does have that power. In this case my understanding is that Oranga Tamariki is the legal custodian of the children.
      Of course morally it may well be a whole other story.
      
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      October 27, 2024 10:39am
      - imalwaysright
        
        Thankyou Flossie, yes I was questioning the moral authority.
        
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        October 27, 2024 11:03am
      - An Old Kiwi
        
        As I understand it, Tom had full custody at the beginning of this saga. Then he took the kids on a bit of a field trip into the bush (as having full custody, he was quite entitled to do).
        
        Then the Mum [Mod – deleted]went nuts, told the police etc that the kids were “missing.” Police & volunteers believed her & spent re$ources trying to find them.
        Instead of blaming the Mum for misleading them, ppl/the courts blame Tom & it looks like the kids will be taken away from their one [Mod – deleted]
        
        So Tom (a caring Dad) does the one thing he can do to protect his kids, he takes them back into the bush.
        
        YMMV
        
        [Mod – enough of the unsubstantiated rumours]
        
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        October 27, 2024 12:52pm
      - Ghost
        
        A caring parent doesn’t involve their child in crimes. A caring parent does not steal and assault people.
        
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        October 27, 2024 1:00pm
    - NothingLeft
      
      Oranga Tamariki; the racist woodchipper at the bottom of the cliff when it comes to saving children.
      
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      October 27, 2024 11:30am
    - An Old Kiwi
      
      He had custody at the start, before the Mum went nuts & misled everybody by claiming the kids were “missing” (& so they needed a full Search & Rescue op). They were simply on an adventure with their Dad.
      
      It was after that SHTF (caused by the Mum), that custody was taken away from the Dad.
      
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      October 27, 2024 12:55pm
- Mike
  
  Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
  The guy is a violent criminal who has kidnapped three children and is denying them a childhood. No surprise then that he has fans on Kiwiblog, of the type that worry about the ‘feminization’ of society.
  
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  October 27, 2024 8:25am
  - Pope Punctilious II
    
    I worry about the feminization of society AND I worry about the harm Phillips is doing to his children. But I guess some people prefer a more black-and-white worldview.
    
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    October 27, 2024 9:52am
    - Colville
      
      I suspect that those kids will be having a very unique time and come out of it quite interesting characters.
      Hard, resourceful and self sufficient.
      
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      October 27, 2024 10:50am
      - Flossie
        
        I imagine they will be interesting characters. Totally disdainful of the law, unsocialised, and under the impression that their father is the only figure they are answerable to. I know it’s said the father is home schooling them but do we imagine they have access to computers etc? Like it or not that is part and parcel of education these days.
        
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        October 27, 2024 12:08pm
      - AitchW
        
        Not to mention uneducated, totally conditioned to hate police or any other authority and socially naive.
        I don’t accept the romantic notion that this is all some jolly romp for the kids. They’ll be often cold and exhausted, and god knows what their nutrition is like.
        I think Phillips had the best of intentions initially, but when the situation became much more serious he should have had the gumption to front up.
        Now he’s in the situation that he will, in the short term at least, lose his kids to the god awful mess that is OT and quite possibly be looking at jail time.
        Those people who are helping him need to look at themselves and ask if what they are doing is now in the best interests of the kids, I say it isn’t.
        
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        October 27, 2024 1:48pm
      - wsk12345
        
        I would guess they are living in an old, unused cottage out back of a farm somewhere and friends provide groceries.
        
        If they were my kids and the choice was to abscond with them or hand them over to OT, I know which I’d choose. We don’t know that any crimes have been committed by them, that’s only what te Media has been told to tell us.
        
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        October 27, 2024 2:48pm
      - NothingLeft
        
        A large fraction of all high achieving adults went through most of their education without using computers significantly.
        
        Most of primary school is little more than basic socialisation and learning basic literacy – but an attentive parent can replace that in a few hours a week.
        
        By they time they get to 11 or 12 they need a higher standard of pedagogy, but depending upon the dad and his skills and focus he may be able to homeschool them fine.
        
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        October 27, 2024 2:57pm
  - Jack5
    
    Outlaws who have become heroes: Robin Hood, Jesse James, William Tell, Rob Roy …
    
    I’ve even heard some folk joke semi-admirably about NZ’s Stan Graham, who killed seven people. An example:
    
    Hitler message to Stan Graham: “Hold the South Island, Stan, I’ll send another man to take the North Island.”
    
    For Mike/Milky …
    
    Notorious female outlaws: Pearl Hart, stagecoach robber; Laura Bullion a “native American” who was part of the Wild Bunch; the pirates Mary Read and Anne Bonney.
    
    Truancy officers may be incomparably better than renegade parents for kids’ future, but they don’t become folk heroes.
    
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    October 27, 2024 11:20am
- redeye
  
  Saunders revealed Phillips no longer has custody of the children. Custody now sits with Oranga Tamariki and they have made arrangements for when the children are located as to where they will go.
  
  The main argument I have read is the mum was a meth addict so he’s keeping them away from her. But this say’s neither will have them when found.
  Those poor bloody kids.
  
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  October 27, 2024 8:36am
  - Ghost
    
    You’ve read a rumour, nothing more. That’s the problem with this case, people spreading rumours
    
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    October 27, 2024 10:22am
    - bennerg
      
      Ghost, the article says further …
      
      “Police confirmed they spoke to members of Phillips’ family about joining a public appeal for information, but they chose not to speak out.”
      
      .. so the Phillips family do not support the Police (or OT I presume) – and as it appears, a good part of the local community.
      
      We know for decades that the social services (whatever name they are called then and now) have been biased against fathers, and dare I say it, there is here a white side to the family and a brown side – so who knows what influence is going on there? Hey I’m not being racist, just recognising the s*** that has been going on in that regard for some time at OT. And none of this is being released by Police or OT. Yet they are more than happy to claim, without a court judgement, that he is a criminal. And all the while portraying the absent ‘mother’ as an angel of compassion and concern in a widespread media campaign.
      
      As others have stated – this is a demonisation in the media. But many have also pointed out Tom’s capability to support his kids under attack, is a positive example, far better than the device infected society many young kids are growing up in today.
      
      If I were to place a bet, it would be that sympathetic persons have now got involved, and Tom and the kids are now well away from Maracopa, living in a secure location far from the amateurs claiming they can track him in days, and the keystone gang.
      
      Now this is opinion going to blow the minds of those who simply see he is a bad guy from the outset. But to those of you on that side of the fence, just take a moment to consider, maybe he is just a country boy, not sophisticated, dealing with a dysfunctional ex who blew her mind out on drugs, and for whatever reason had to deal with city folk in the form of OT, who didn’t like his family’s Christian ideals, and told him they were going to take his kids away from them (note OT announced they had already a place for the kids to go and it obviously wasn’t Tom’s family!!).
      
      Note that the Police have stated:
      
      “When Tom went missing, he had lawful custody of the children.”
      
      In that context I have no doubt there would be others who would do the same thing as Tom.
      
      How to resolve this:
      
      1. Appoint an independent person or persons, preferably JP, lawyer, or similar person from the local community (not Auckland or Wellington) to review the actions of OT and the Police, and
      
      2. Review the circumstances leading up to the incident(s) that caused Tom to want to just keep his kids, and
      
      3. Help structure a plan to wipe the slate clean, and allow the Phillips family to stay together (Grand parents down).
      
      There’s perhaps been wrongs on both sides, and if the Police and OT attempt to pretend they have the moral high ground, there will not be a happy solution.
      
      If people really want the best for the kids, then they need to be consistent with other OT policies where the priority is to keep kids with their family or whanau!! (Except where you are Pakeha maybe …)
      
      It’s Sunday, so prayers go to Tom and his kids.
      
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      October 27, 2024 1:55pm
      - Ghost
        
        Cool story, shame you don’t care about the victims of his crimes, the assault, the robbery, the armed robbery. The involving his child in a crime. Hopefully this criminal and any of you protecting him get caught soon.
        
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        October 27, 2024 2:31pm
      - bennerg
        
        Ghost, first of all “alleged crimes”, and secondly put it in context – a large authoritarian organisation(s) up against a man defending his family.
        
        Have some compassion.
        
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        October 27, 2024 3:14pm
      - Ghost
        
        Good news, when your criminal is caught he will be spending a lot of time behind bars, while you fanboys keep pretending he is innocent. You don’t give a damn about the victims of his crimes, you don’t give a damn about the damage he is doing to the kids. You”ve created a delusional fantasy and made him into a hero, then some of you go around spreading rumours to try and discredit his wife.
        
        I have compassion for the victims of his crimes, I have compassion for the damage he is doing to his children, I don’t have delusions like some
        
        Shot at a supermarket worker. Armed robbery of a bank. assault . Theft. But the fanboys continue to support this criminal
        
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        October 27, 2024 3:25pm
      - balanceplease
        
        Thanks bennerg for that moment of sanity. Your proposed plan has every chance of working. But firstly there must be recognition of the intensely political mother vs fathers custody issues that play out in virtually every child custody situation. All of society knows, even if it cant be publicly admitted by government and the main stream media, that the mother virtually always gets custody and the government payouts. The various government agencies (OT, Police) and the main stream media are playing their political games here, contributing to the angst and making three children suffer. The father is probably reacting to the politics more than anything else. Lets see a intelligent negotiations undertaken, politics put aside, this thing solved and the kids seeing both mother and father. NZ could recently negotiate the release of that pilot who was held by fighters in PNG, lets see the same common sense here, please.
        
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        October 28, 2024 11:59am
- Flossie
  
  He’s in the wrong and deserves all the criticism sent his way.
  
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  October 27, 2024 8:39am
  - AitchW
    
    Well said. He’d be a delight at a dinner party///
    
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    October 27, 2024 9:49am
    - AitchW
      
      [Mod – debate without making it personal]
      
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      October 27, 2024 10:31am
  - imalwaysright
    
    He may have good reasons why he is doing this.
    If we had a competent trustworthy media I would suggest an interview to get his and the kids’ side of the story, but we don’t have anyone capable of the logistics.
    
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    October 27, 2024 1:26pm
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Modern day George Wilder. Why the Police can’t catch him is beyond me.
  Tom Phillips is doing this for a reason. I think the wife is a dropkick druggie. Not much info available.
  Yes the kids are missing an education and what we would call a normal life. Be interesting what Oranga Tamariki will do when they are found.
  
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  October 27, 2024 9:07am
  - Mike
    
    Of course he is doing it for a reason. He is putting his sense of entitlement ahead of anything else and is deluding himself (and some deranged supporters) that his offending is for his kids, rather than against them.
    
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    October 27, 2024 9:22am
    - NZer In Exile
      
      Mike: “He is putting his sense of entitlement ahead of anything else”.
      
      Oh really. You interviewed him?
      
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      October 27, 2024 8:52pm
  - Burtland
    
    the kids are screwed
    – drop kick parents, oranga tamariki, army hunting dad
    the welfare state gone wrong
    
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    October 27, 2024 11:25am
    - lifesgood
      
      The daughter will be at, or close to, puberty. That has issues for a girl. Poor kid.
      
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      October 27, 2024 4:48pm
  - Ghost
    
    You think the wife ….. so back it up with evidence
    
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    October 27, 2024 5:36pm
NeverMindTheBollocks

ANOTHER Article on the Treaty?

Why do I feel a tugging in my hip pocket?

http://www.rnz.co.nz/news/thehouse/532013/treaty-of-waitangi-addition-petitioned-at-parliament
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October 27, 2024 8:13am
- Taieri
  
  ANOTHER Article on the Treaty?
  ———–
  
  It is a Living Document so there are several still to come. Also a number of secret protocols, which have been passed on verbally to the descendants of the original signatories and which will be revealed in due course.
  
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  October 27, 2024 8:32am
  - Keith White
    
    “The Protocols of the Olders of Zealandom?”
    
    That worked out so well with the previous overseas version. Not…
    
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    October 27, 2024 10:09am
NZpatriot

Good news in Queensland. The three term Labor Government has been given the boot with the centre right Liberal National Party achieving a slim single party majority.

In even better news, the totally insane Green Party has lost both its seats in the state parliament, with one going to Labor and one going to the LNP.
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October 27, 2024 8:16am
- Flossie
  
  And what a totally graceless speech by Miles! Even good old Labor stalwart Richo said it was a “boofhead” speech.
  
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  October 27, 2024 8:33am
  - O C Smith
    
    Similar to Mike Moore’s “concession” speech.
    
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    October 27, 2024 11:38am
- Benedict Yu
  
  The LNP was quite clever. From what I read this morning, it distributed its preferences to Labor rather than the Greens, effectively gifting the seat that it knew that it could not win to Labor.
  
  To explain, the rules on polling places in Australia are quite different to those of New Zealand. On election day, voters approaching the polling booths are bombarded by party activists on the footpaths outside handing out “how to vote cards”. They can’t approach you once inside the polling place but until you are inside the door it is all on. 😅
  
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How-to-vote_card?wprov=sfla1
  
  Of course that would be unlawful in New Zealand. 😂
  
  So the LNP how to vote cards instructed supporters to rank LNP first, Labor second, Greens last.
  
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  October 27, 2024 8:34am
  - lifesgood
    
    Unlawful in NZ but what about at the marae polling booth?
    
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    October 27, 2024 8:49am
    - sirknz
      
      Those are usually found in Aotearoa so are subject to different rules and laws…
      
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      October 27, 2024 10:25am
      - imalwaysright
        
        I would question the legitimacy of the election of all of the maori party MPs.
        No voter ID and election booths run by mates makes it irresistible to corrupt the vote.
        
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        October 27, 2024 1:35pm
    - AitchW
      
      Good post. We need to keep reminding the world about the electoral subterfuge executed by the Manurewa marae, TPM and John Tamahere’s family business. It’s taken much longer than expected for the inquiry to report back, I suspect it’s found the rot and corruption is far deeper and widespread than originally suspected.
      I wonder if the SFO has been asked to investigate?
      
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      October 27, 2024 10:35am
      - imalwaysright
        
        In this country corruption is buried.
        Just look at the solicitor general involved in withholding evidence from the police about accused child abusers. https://newsroom.co.nz/2024/10/23/survivors-call-for-removal-of-solicitor-general/
        She will be back at work Tuesday…. welcome to NZ. Unbelievable .
        
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        October 27, 2024 1:45pm
  - PeeJay
    
    Very interesting link – thanks Benedict. I knew they had preferential voting but I had no idea that in most contests, they actually need to number every box on the voting slip for their vote to be counted.
    
    I like some aspects of the Australian elections – actually agree that voting should be mandatory as long as you have the right to spoil your vote or do some other ‘none of the above’ vote – but the need to number every preference could be tiresome. It would also be so easy for this to result in something akin to Council elections in NZ where the voter is confronted with numerous candidates and very little actual information on which to judge the merits of each candidate.
    
    I suspect with a crowded field, these how to vote cards and preferential voting is why their senate in particular ends up with some interesting / unusual characters elected.
    
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    October 27, 2024 8:51am
    - Debsta
      
      Mandatory voting is dumb. Those that would vote ONLY by compulsion are always going to be low information voters that distort the will of the people. It simply speeds democracy towards inevitable failure.
      
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      October 27, 2024 10:18am
      - AitchW
        
        I’ve always thought that the right to vote also confers upon voters the right not to vote.
        The only real beneficiaries of compulsory voting are likely to be the likes of Arnold A Aardvark, ie the candidates at the top of the paper.
        
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        October 27, 2024 1:52pm
      - kowtow
        
        AicthW .
        
        The Arnold A Arsehole thing applies here too ,without the compulsion .
        Appears to be why the local elections folk now scramble the candidate lists so AA doesn’t always top the list and therefore the ticks !
        
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        October 27, 2024 3:18pm
  - ChristopherW2
    
    I handed out How To Vote cards at one election back in the early noughties. You needed them with Preferential Voting, because the House of Reps ballot didn’t contain the name of the candidate’s party, and you have to number every box to cast a valid vote. We were hardly party activists though, just volunteers willing to put up with a bit of verbal abuse to perform a menial but necessary task.
    
    The number of Senate candidates in a typical election, even a state election, is so large that it’s impractical to number every box ‘below the line’, so the preferencing deals made by the parties affect who gets elected; but in my many years there, they didn’t put the party’s preferencing choice on the How To Vote card, which is a piece of information the voters should have before ticking a box ‘above the line’ — which was a shame, because once or twice I might have voted for an independent if I knew they would direct their preferences to the major party I preferred.
    
    Preferential Voting is still a great system though, as good as MMP, maybe better (no thresholds or overhangs; everyone has a genuine local MP); the big flaw in the Aussie system is compulsory voting — for my first two elections back in NZ (until ‘s**t got real’ as Joe Rogan might say), it was a minor thrill to exercise my right not to vote 😀
    
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    October 27, 2024 9:45am
    - Flossie
      
      Queensland is the only state in Australia not to have a senate or any kind of upper house. I do agree that where there is one, such as federal parliament, the huge list of candidates is definitely daunting!
      
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      October 27, 2024 10:04am
      - ChristopherW2
        
        I didn’t know that! Surprising. I shall look up Wikipedia now – I’m interested to know more about the QLD political system 🙂
        
        The State Senate in Victoria did some good things. An upper house elected by pure PR would serve no purpose under MMP, but it makes sense in Aus.
        
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        October 27, 2024 10:38am
      - Quail
        
        Actually Iwi do have now the right of first refusal on any Government owned land it up for disposal.
        This has been the case for decades!
        
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        October 27, 2024 2:03pm
      - Paulus
        
        Doesn’t Australia have something like 750 elected Parliamentary people ?
        State and Federal.
        
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        October 27, 2024 2:04pm
      - Jack5
        
        Australia’s population of 27.5 million. NZ’s population is 5.23 million. Ratio: Australia has 5.24 many times as many people as NZ.
        
        Paulus’s estimate of Australian elected politicians, federal and state:750. NZ’s Parliament at present has 123 members. Ratio of Aussie politicians to NZ politicians: 6.1 times as many in Australia.
        
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        October 27, 2024 11:28pm
    - Benedict Yu
      
      “Preferential Voting is still a great system though…”
      
      So why did not new Zealand adopt it instead of the MMP monstrosity!
      
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      October 27, 2024 11:41am
      - Flossie
        
        Why not indeed!! Such a pity it we didn’t adopt it.
        
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        October 27, 2024 12:13pm
      - ChristopherW2
        
        I liked Preferential voting when I lived in Aus, although I think MMP works too (it would work better with a much lower threshold); but just to be a Devil’s advocate:
        
        Preferential voting is complicated and a little bit counterintuitive, particularly when calculating winners — it can shock people when front-runners in first preferences subsequently lose. Aus has had 100 years to get used to it and still many people don’t fully understand it.
        
        Preferential Voting gives an advantage to major parties (although it’s argued that preference dealing allows minor parties an influence over the majors). MMP with stable coalitions is working well here. I like National, but I support and vote for ACT, who would be on the margins in a Preferential system.
        
        To counter the major-party advantage (in which, absent the opposition of the Senate, nearly every government would have the power of Ms Adern’s second government), it might be best to have an Upper House, elected by PR with no threshold. However, there have been some fairly unworkable Senates in Australian history. I’m not a fan of drastic change when the other side do it, but when my team are faced with the need to undertake much needed significant reform, the Senate slows things down considerably.
        
        Now that we have MMP, and we’re used to it, I think we should keep it — although dropping the threshold to 3% would be a useful bit of tinkering.
        
        One of the fringe benefits of Preferential Voting is that election night is a statistics enthusiasts dream — the star of the night in Aus was Anthony Green (ABC News election statistician) and his amazing prediction software.
        
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        October 27, 2024 12:33pm
      - AitchW
        
        BY after 30 odd years of MMP there is still a large number of voters who don’t understand the system.
        I agree that STV is a far superior system, however I fear that no amount of public education campaigns would lead to a substantial proportion of voters understanding how it works.
        
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        October 27, 2024 1:55pm
      - Jack5
        
        To Benedict’s question: … why did not new Zealand adopt it instead of the MMP monstrosity …
        
        The Greens were the shock troops for introducing MMP in 1992 referendums/referenda. After MMP was selected from possible new systems, the Greens pushed hard for MMP. It was carried 54% to 46%.
        
        Only 55 per cent of registered voters took part in the first vote on whether to drop the existing system of first-past-the post.
        
        The referendum on choice of a new system was held in conjunction with a national election, and 70 per cent favoured MMP, based on the German electoral system.
        
        The change to MMP was helped by having the campaign for the existing first-past-the-post system led by a wealthy business leader. The Labour-Green Left in effect screamed “Big Business and the Rich” wanted to keep the existing FPP system.
        
        https://nzhistory.govt.nz/politics/fpp-to-mmp/putting-it-to-the-vote
        
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        October 27, 2024 11:45pm
  - NZer In Exile
    
    Yes the whole preference system doesn’t look great to me. They have these people known as “preference whisperers” who advise politicians on how to game the system in favour of certain parties. Like many things in Australian politics there is the whiff of skulduggery lurking. I don’t think most voters are across the complexity of all this and so many just throw up their hands and do “donkey votes” (deliberate rubbish that will disqualify their vote) so they don’t get fined for not voting, or they inadvertently give their “preferences” to parties they hate. Voting for the senate in full is an absurdly time consuming and complicated process.
    
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    October 27, 2024 9:03pm
    - Ian Boag
      
      Preferential voting is not proportional. Might as well have stuck with FPP.
      
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      October 28, 2024 7:03am
Steve Otto(North Shore)

Hitler phones Kamala Harris.

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

Poor Hitler. She had him bamboozled.
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October 27, 2024 8:17am
- Mike
  
  Hitler was in better form when he wanted to tour Lancashire:
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiYiMuK_RhI
  
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  October 27, 2024 8:30am
- Quail
  
  Cristopher W2
  MMP is a disaster.
  The last three elections with a possible exception of the present Government.all created undesirable anomalies and disenfranchised voters.
  Any system where 50% of parliamentarians are appointed gives far too much power to the parties and the bureaucrats.
  An outstanding example was Minister Sage ( GP) who achieved approximately 10% of the vote in her own electorate but sailed in on the list as a Minister.
  A disgraceful outcome!
  Robertson s economy was yet another example.
  If NZ is going to focus on productivity we need a properly focused Government encouraging entrepreneurs with skin in the game.Not a government mostly focused on retaining the own soft seats!
  
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  October 27, 2024 2:29pm
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    “Not a government mostly focused on retaining Maori seats!”
    FIFY.
    
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    October 27, 2024 5:33pm
NeverMindTheBollocks

This one’s a bit tricky. Of course, blind people need to get around, just like everyone else. But, no one really wants to smell dog in a taxi, and jump out to find dog hairs on their clothes.

http://www.1news.co.nz/2024/10/26/taxis-rideshares-discriminate-against-blind-people-with-guide-dogs-advocate/
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October 27, 2024 8:19am
- peterwn
  
  Some taxis are dog friendly (depends on owner-driver).
  The Blue Bubble group (Cooperative, Combined, etc) web site says “Our taxi drivers will accept into their car a Disability Assist dog. Some drivers will take other animals in their car, but please check in advance of the ride.”
  It would pay to check with the dispatcher/ call centre when booking the ride to avoid the taxi turning up and then the driver refusing the ride.
  The Human Rights Commission states that – “Disability assist dogs are entitled to travel on all forms of public transport, including in taxis.”
  
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  October 27, 2024 8:51am
  - NeverMindTheBollocks
    
    I bet the HRC doesn’t pop around to spritz the upholstery after each dog ride.
    
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    October 27, 2024 9:12am
- In Vino Veritas
  
  Put the dog in the boot?
  
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  October 27, 2024 8:54am
- lifesgood
  
  If a taxi smelt of dog I would get right out. Nope, smelly dog taxi is not for me.
  
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  October 27, 2024 4:51pm
Yvette

Anne Salmond: Iwi, Kiwi and Te Tiriti
Comment: ‘Some of the most forceful critics of Te Tiriti and tikanga are invincibly ignorant of these matters’, writes Dame Anne Salmond.
– who questions the validity of arguments made by ex-Prime Minister Don Brash.
Christopher Luxon, present Prime Minister, says the Government holds sovereignty
while Chris Hipkins, Prime Minister last year, says sovereignty was not ceded.
I doubt any of this polarisation, attempting to examine what was in minds or the meaning of conflicting versions of the Treaty, will be resolved by masses merging yet again on Parliament Grounds.
– if last time was an example

But then all this preamble, especially if it turns to violence – if last time was an example, but of course now needing to exceed last time – may then become the raison d’être for ACT’s proposed legislation – without mentioning the meaningless Treaty (no longer “akin to a partnership”) apart from its discord necessitating legislation that reaffirms the Government governs, legal property is protected and all New Zealanders have equal responsibilities and rights.

I also advocate of course, adding that “the New Zealand Government is secular”, to root out all references to te Ao Maori (the Maori religious worldview) being compulsorily pubicly thrust into whatever non-Maori individuals consider to be their private worlds.
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October 27, 2024 8:22am
- Flossie
  
  Don Brash was never PM of this country.
  
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  October 27, 2024 8:36am
  - Yvette
    
    Yes, you are right. Don Brash was Opposition Leader for a while.
    
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    October 27, 2024 9:12am
    - G the giant from Dunedin
      
      Yes, he was a whisker away from whipping Clark out 3 years earlier in 2005
      
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      October 27, 2024 10:49am
      - Flossie
        
        I was on a plane returning to NZ that night, and as we neared the airport the pilot announced that “National and Don Brash has won”. The passengers cheered. Then picking up the car and driving down the motorway an hour or so later news on the radio announced “Labour and Helen Clark has won”. Boooo!
        
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        October 27, 2024 12:16pm
- Mike
  
  Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
  Are your comments about masses on parliament grounds and possible violence references to the violent ferals who terrorized central Wellington in 2022?
  
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  October 27, 2024 9:28am
  - Keith White
    
    Do show us the victims of these terrifyingly violent ferals, Mikey.
    
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    October 27, 2024 10:11am
    - Mike
      
      Amusingly, among that smelly rabble were plenty of the Māori activists and gang members of whom Yvette is so terrified.
      
      4 16
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      October 27, 2024 10:44am
      - Yvette
        
        Mike, read carefully what my fickle fingers wrote – “that Government should be secular”!
        So, of less than the “rivers of filth”, from mountain to the sea, would I be terrified, than of Destiny Church, certain Auckland Islamic gentlemen, Gloriavale Christian Community and perhaps Ian Brackenbury Channell, or that 0.0787062304312 percent of New Zealanders who ticked “Māori religions, beliefs and philosophies (not further defined)” in the last Census – although census figures can not be relied on, especially when they dip below a whole person.
        
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        October 27, 2024 12:12pm
    - Pope Punctilious II
      
      Oh come on, you expect milky to back up his claims with substantive evidence? He doesn’t need to do that when he’s “on the right side of history”.
      
      8 3
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      October 27, 2024 11:07am
    - Ghost
      
      My cousin was abused and spat at going in into work.
      
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      October 27, 2024 11:15am
      - Benedict Yu
        
        Yes well I am sorry for your cousin’s experience. In a group that size of course there were some dick heads.
        
        The protest was the culmination of criminally stupid vaccine mandate policies, the vaccine passes, and locking citizens out of the country. I know that most commenters here disagree with my comments on the evidence for vaccine efficacy. (I have decided that I am done with that topic. 😅) However, that is immaterial to my view that Jacinda and her accolites were criminal in destroying the lives of people who decided that they did not want the vaccine, which was their right.
        
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        October 27, 2024 11:51am
      - NZer In Exile
        
        Rellies of mine attended and would never dream of doing anything like that. I’m pretty sure the ferals looking to harass and assault were weeded out pretty early on in the piece.
        
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        October 27, 2024 8:30pm
    - peterwn
      
      Plenty. Bus users, Molesworth Street businesses (eg the Backbencher), students, etc, etc.
      
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      October 27, 2024 1:35pm
- Pope Punctilious II
  
  Ah, where would we be without the Grand Old Dame to enlighten us deplorables?
  
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  October 27, 2024 10:09am
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  Is invincibly ignorant just another way of admitting that your opponents are correct in their thinking and there are no valid counter arguments?
  
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  October 27, 2024 10:11am
  - gravedodger
    
    Absolutely Maggy I regard such outbursts by suggested Elites as the Flak over the target scenario
    
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    October 27, 2024 10:33am
greenfinger

It grates that Tory Whanau and so many other champagne socialists on the Wellington City Council are still hanging around sponging off our rates pretending they have done a great job!! Shame on these people. It is astounding that they can’t see their own trail of destruction and mess they have left for others to fix. It all started with Celia Wade Brown. She is now in Parliament. If this is the caliber of people the Green Party puts into Parliament, you better pray they and Labour Party never get back into power. All of NZ will then become like Wellington, if the country isn’t already broken enough. Thanks to Ardern, Robertson and Hipkins. Where are all these people now? Ardern is on her global speaking tour, allegedly charging up to $300k per speech, Robertson on an even fatter pay check than his last job courtesy of his mates at Otago University and Hipkins still being paid almost five times what the average kiwi battler earns, doing bugger all for the country.
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October 27, 2024 8:30am
- John Loveridge
  
  Audrey Young has got at least one thing right this year (have a look at the Herald website): Tory’s Council is indeed a laughing stock.
  
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  October 27, 2024 9:10am
  - AitchW
    
    Yes it, but we should take no comfort from that fact. Of all our cities our capital above all should be immaculately run.
    Whanau and her fellow councillors are a national disgrace.
    
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    October 27, 2024 10:39am
    - artemisia
      
      We should remember that dissension and upset on the Wellington CC is thanks to a minority of councillors who refused to play in some ideological sandpits. And were responsible for the Ombudsman smacking the CEO for refusing to release relevant info to councillors.
      
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      October 27, 2024 11:55am
    - Paulus
      
      It is entirely the responsibility of the Wellington Voters – nobody else.
      
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      October 27, 2024 2:09pm
- imalwaysright
  
  And, in the great kiwi tradition, the ratepayers, business owners and citizens sit back and watch the trainwreck and bitch and moan. They will still be bitching and moaning next week, and the week after that.
  They won’t protest, they won’t withhold rates payments, they won’t engage in peaceful civil disobedience.
  None of that, they will just bitch and moan…
  
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  October 27, 2024 9:13am
  - Burtland
    
    what like the “rivers of filth” did ?
    – look what happened to them
    
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    October 27, 2024 11:45am
    - imalwaysright
      
      And look what happened to the government.
      
      6 2
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      October 27, 2024 12:54pm
  - peterwn
    
    Withholding rates is futile if you have a mortgage. The Council simply taps the lender on the shoulder to pay the rates which the lender will do, adding the rates it pays to the loan balance along with an admin fee. Penny Bright only got away with it for as long as she did because the property in question had no mortgage.
    
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    October 27, 2024 1:41pm
- G the giant from Dunedin
  
  Why does Labour have so many student union politicians. We have heard about Robertson and Hipkins, and now I find out that Verral was also student union head in Dunedin as well, funnily enough they showed her smoking a tampon, I wonder if this will be used to kick Verral in the slats over her hatred of tobacco
  
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  October 27, 2024 10:55am
  - Benedict Yu
    
    “Why does Labour have so many student union politicians.[?]”
    
    Easy. Because any person with the views and temperament to become a student politician will be perfectly suited to the Labour Party.
    
    Here is one.
    
    https://youtu.be/T2Ld37W544k?si=GoD4ECz6y5Nrit2D
    
    I guarantee that she will be a Labour or Green staffer by 2026 and an MP by 2032. 😃
    
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    October 27, 2024 11:56am
  - kowtow
    
    Labour smoke tampons and the Greens the Sacred Herb but they don’t want the rest of us to smoke tobacco .
    
    Typical .
    
    6 0
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    October 27, 2024 3:28pm
Matt Long

I wonder if Starmer will use the Ardern Trudeau play book on these freedom protesters?
https://x.com/PeterSweden7/status/1850161044418592774
13 1
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October 27, 2024 8:40am
- Inandout
  
  ML, Starmer is extremely unpopular and this is perhaps the start of the people pushing back. I looked closely and found an almost total absence of Arab faces and no bloody tea towels.
  
  11 1
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  October 27, 2024 10:41am
- kevn
  
  Matt… Or even the arden chosen solution.
  
  5 0
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  October 27, 2024 2:23pm
Matt Long

How fortunate it is RNZ were able to find a totally disinterested Whangarei ED doctor, to rant about how terrible the last twelve months have been compared with the wondrous previous six years.
I can’t see any reason why they should disclose his activist background.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/531940/northland-ed-doctor-gary-payinda-speaks-out-on-dire-state-of-whangarei-hospital
https://x.com/GaryPayinda/status/1848991388974584318
29 3
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October 27, 2024 8:55am
- G152
  
  Maybe his preferred party should have done something when they had the power
  
  23 0
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  October 27, 2024 9:04am
- Philip Hart
  
  Must be feeding Northland lots of koha. Similar hit jobs in the last few days from Northland on school lunches and history curriculum.
  
  22 0
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  October 27, 2024 9:05am
- MCōs
  
  Is he wrong about the situation at the Whangerai hospital?
  
  3 22
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  October 27, 2024 9:20am
  - sirknz
    
    He is often wrong about many things if his X posts were anything to go by, at least before he blocked me for pointing out where he was often incorrect or deliberately misleading.
    
    20 1
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    October 27, 2024 9:32am
  - Prince
    
    Yes, he is wrong.
    
    17 0
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    October 27, 2024 9:35am
  - Flossie
    
    Possibly not. I think the point is that the situation has not just popped up in the past twelve months and a great deal of it should be attributed to the previous (Labour) government.
    
    20 1
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    October 27, 2024 9:39am
  - rjay
    
    That hospital has been in dire need for at least 5 years. It was up for renewal as soon as Dunedin was finished.
    
    11 0
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    October 27, 2024 10:46am
redeye

Liam Heir re Stuff;
https://x.com/PronouncedHare/status/1849930328057774558

When a CEO acquires a company for the nominal price of $1, it raises questions about underlying liabilities and any obligations that come with the sale.
…
But basic transparency around funding arrangements and ongoing financial commitments would seem like something that other outlets would have an interest in – especially those who self-perceive as great tribunes of the press.
But there has been no interest. Zero. None.

There were very loud demands to know where the funding for The Project was coming from. Yet crickets around the financial backing for Stuff. With Stuff’s takeover of channel 3 news they arguably now have more influence in NZ than any other single news organisation. Surely we should be able to know their backers.
That said, my normal morning news reading always includes my local, the Nelson Mail. Part of the Stuff stable. Their front page hasn’t changed a dot in the last four days so maybe the funds are drying up.
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October 27, 2024 9:00am
- rouppe
  
  When a CEO acquires a company for the nominal price of $1, it raises questions about underlying liabilities and any obligations that come with the sale.
  
  I have similar concerns about the sale of Turoa for $1, and the likely upcoming sale of Whakapapa for the same.
  
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  October 27, 2024 10:09am
  - Jack5
    
    Sinead Boucher’s $1 buy didn’t entail printing plants or office buildings, so Stuff must be feather-light in the tangible assets a bank would require to back working capital funding.
    
    If there’s no third-party backing, support or guarantee, Sinead is a brilliant financier.
    
    Regardless of this or of the long-term fate of Stuff, she’s got a good book to write.
    
    5 0
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    October 27, 2024 12:25pm
    - Paulus
      
      Who is backing her ?
      
      4 0
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      October 27, 2024 2:11pm
NeverMindTheBollocks

Incoming Commonwealth Secretary General Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey of Ghana supports reparations for the slave trade.

Let her show leadership by pressing Ghana to be first to make payments.

https://mobile.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/history/slave-trade.php
19 2
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October 27, 2024 9:01am
- Benedict Yu
  
  The Commonwealth long ago past its use by date.
  
  4 7
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  October 27, 2024 1:00pm
  - NZer In Exile
    
    And the UN hasn’t????
    
    3 0
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    October 27, 2024 8:26pm
peterwn

Newsroom and other media are proclaming:
“BlueFloat Energy cited uncertainties around seabed allocation as one reason for its exit from New Zealand, after the Government proposed fast-tracking a seabed mining project in Taranaki”. Of course Greenpeace etc. are all over this.
BlueFloat Energy are in the business of off-shore floating wind farms. BlueFloat has not explained why such wind farms would be incompatible with seabed mining in the same general area. BlueFloat does not have any floating wind farms operating or under construction. Its projects seem to be just vapour projects (as in vapourware software products which a major IT player is infamous for).
It seems BlueFloat was wanting a cop-out to pull out of the NZ project and seabed mining was a convenient scapegoat. Possibly BlueFloat was unsuccessful in raising sufficient $$$ interest from the NZ Government and others.
19 0
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October 27, 2024 9:13am
- artemisia
  
  The Taranaki seabed mining project may not go ahead, of course. Even if given a green light could easily be fast-track conditions attached the company will choose not to meet.
  
  However the massive lawfare will be gone. If the project proceeds local unemployed iwi members may be quietly considered risky for the lucrative jobs.
  
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  October 27, 2024 9:33am
- rouppe
  
  While conceding that I am no expert in this area…
  
  No offshore wind farm platform can float, as in remain in place unsecured.
  
  Shallower installations use jacket piles driven into the seabed. Variations of that as you go deeper.
  
  But these guys are talking about “floating platforms”, which means installations in 100m of water or more. Those fixed installation methods don’t work and are to expensive.
  
  It would need to be tethered, using chains. Those chains couldn’t go straight down, they’d have to splay out at an angle. The floor area encompassed by those chains would preclude access by any other vessel.
  
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  October 27, 2024 9:48am
  - artemisia
    
    BlueFloat was also looking at a Waikato site, not just the relatively small Taranaki stretch. New Zealand has a huge EEZ, and the Taranaki seabed mining site has been known for years. Just maybe BlueFloat could have looked elsewhere. Wonder why they persisted with the Taranaki site.
    
    7 0
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    October 27, 2024 10:27am
- Mod88
  
  We do not want any off-shore Wind Farms in New Zealand waters at all. This is from Michael Shellenberger and concerns the Wind Farms off the US East Coast and covers the Green-washing they have done via funds to Media. Any Environmentalist/Party should be up in arms.
  Thrown To The Wind
  https://x.com/shellenberger/status/1850039477638660244
  
  12 1
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  October 27, 2024 11:34am
  - Don Beckett
    
    Totally agree. Even on land they are a bloody eye sore, and NEVER produce the electricity they are supposed to. Is it 14% ? or something like that of their design output.
    Also, the cost in dollars, mining, manufacturing & the land they occupy is never paid back – they simply do not produce enough saleable product. An d their life span is 17 – 20 years. They’re a waste of money & space – and they kill birds. The enviromental impact is horrific.
    
    16 2
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    October 27, 2024 12:19pm
    - Handyman
      
      Quite right Don.
      There is an energy (and CO2) investment in windmills that is repaid over 20 years. In some cases it will never be repaid. EROI – Energy Return On Investment is well understood.
      
      Similarly, when you buy an EV, you are “investing” ten years’ worth of energy consumption and CO2 which is “repaid” over the next ten years of use.
      This is a great plan if your intention is to turbocharge the emissions of CO2 into the atmosphere all at once. Not such a great plan if your intention is to reduce CO2 emissions.
      
      7 1
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      October 27, 2024 2:39pm
    - MCōs
      
      As of 3.30pm 13.4% of power generation was by wind.
      56.5% hydro. It could theoretically be 100% hydro except that’s not viable
      0% coal
      About 1% solar, but that doesn’t take into account domestic panels people bung on their roof.
      All power generators have some sort of used by date, not just wind turbines.
      
      2 1
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      October 27, 2024 4:49pm
      - MCōs
        
        The Waitaki Dam was opened on this day 90yrs ago.
        It was upgraded 10yrs ago at and further work is required
        
        4 1
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        October 27, 2024 4:59pm
- CJames
  
  All the overseas offshore windfarms have needed massive subsidies to get them installed and for ongoing operations. They weren’t going to be available from this government. Without them, the windfarms aren’t viable. The ironsands was just a excuse to allow them to bail.
  
  5 1
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  October 27, 2024 2:23pm
  - kevn
    
    CJ… Renewables plus incompetence.
    https://dailysceptic.org/2024/10/26/the-country-where-taxpayers-are-charged-billions-when-the-sun-shines/
    
    3 1
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    October 27, 2024 2:26pm
    - Quail
      
      Tide energy as used in Korea ticks a lot of boxes.
      But there is no interest in NZ despite having a huge and suitable coastline.
      
      3 0
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      October 27, 2024 4:25pm
      - CJames
        
        No we don’t have a suitable coastline – not enough tidal range. IIRC there is only one significant tidal station in the world – the Rhone. Ever wonder why the French or anyone else in Europe didn’t build another one?
        
        4 1
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        October 27, 2024 4:43pm
      - NeverMindTheBollocks
        
        CJames – really? How about French Pass? Or Cook Strait generally? I would have thought the tidal race would make the prop spin.
        
        2 0
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        October 27, 2024 6:14pm
      - CJames
        
        Never Mind
        Do the maths – 1 cubic metre of water weighs about a tonne. Over the very peaky peak, the velocity is about 4m/s. The propeller would half the speed at most efficient operating point. Put those numbers into the kinetic energy equation. About 2kW per square metre of swept area Make blades about 10m long. Swept area about 300 square metres, so 600kW for something as big as a six story building. And only get that for a couple of hours a day.
        
        1 1
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        October 27, 2024 7:48pm
      - CJames
        
        Here is an article about Sihwa Lake giving capital costs. https://tethys.pnnl.gov/project-sites/sihwa-tidal-power-plant and more info here
        https://www.hydropower.org/blog/technology-case-study-sihwa-lake-tidal-power-station
        Convert costs in terms of construction inflation and NZ dollars and it’s about four times cost of geothermal, which does 95% load factor not the 25% the tidal plant does, often at times power is not needed. Tidal range there averages 5.6m. Where do we get that in NZ?
        
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        October 27, 2024 9:34pm
ChristopherW2

I don’t usually watch long podcasts, but I very much enjoyed hearing Mr Trump on the Joe Rogan Experience. Mr Trump is an entertaining speaker, often wandering off topic into interesting digressions about his life prior to politics. He’s also knowledgeable about a lot of things, and humble about the things he doesn’t know. The many laugh-out-loud insults he made were hilarious too.

The funniest bit was his impersonation of General Milley.
15 4
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October 27, 2024 9:55am
- Mike
  
  I thought the funniest bit was his inability to describe how the 2020 election was ‘stolen’.
  
  7 11
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  October 27, 2024 3:41pm
- fernglas
  
  It’s funny, ChristpherW2, how those aspects of Trump’s personality that you found so enjoyable are so often used as weapons against him. His interesting digressions are seen as an inability to stick to the topic, his areas of knowledge are criticised because they are so limited, and the things he doesn’t know are put down to the fact that he doesn’t read, won’t listen to advice and isn’t interested in anything that doesn’t involve himself. His self deprecating sense of humour is so often criticised as being boorish and unfunny. So it’s good to see that there is another way of viewing him and one which is followed by a large number of ordinary Americans who in many cases share precisely those characteristics.
  
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  October 27, 2024 6:35pm
- NZer In Exile
  
  Best interview with Trump IMHO.
  
  5 0
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  October 27, 2024 8:01pm
kevn

Chris… Here is the Rogan/Trump link.
https://www.youtube.com/watch
and this…
https://chriswaldburger.substack.com/p/a-strange-sense-of-destiny-hovers
7 1
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October 27, 2024 10:28am
Steve Otto(North Shore)

Elon Musk on notice.

https://www.msn.com/en-nz/news/other/elon-musk-you-re-on-notice-opinion/ar-AA1sZepu?
5 4
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October 27, 2024 10:32am
- rjay
  
  It’s almost as if Elon didn’t have any lawyers.
  
  6 1
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  October 27, 2024 10:51am
  - Don Beckett
    
    Elon just doesn’t care. 🙂
    
    6 2
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    October 27, 2024 12:20pm
    - Steve Otto(North Shore)
      
      Yep. “DILLIGAF?” Elon…..
      
      4 2
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      October 27, 2024 5:35pm
- imalwaysright
  
  A few days ago a comedian interviewer asked Trump if Musk is his favourite African American !!
  
  6 2
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  October 27, 2024 1:57pm
Bridgenag

What was done to us by our government during the COVIDcrisis was deeply, morally wrong. It was more than wrong, it was evil. It violated virtually every previously established principle of medical ethics. It sought to weaponize a falsely inflated risk of an infectious disease to promote fear of death, and then exploit that fear to shape behavior, reprogram our minds, and advance a series of financial, political and organizational objectives.

https://open.substack.com/pub/rwmalonemd/p/you-paid-1b-for-this-covid-psywar?r=1aj1bv&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
20 3
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October 27, 2024 1:02pm
- AitchW
  
  Bridgenag, it felt to me a lot like a boarding school punishment. “Anyone who is caught in town without the correct uniform will lose all town leave privileges.”
  Exactly the sort of response you’d expect from student politicians with no real world experience which perfectly describes the Labour Green government.
  Then, after they had imposed the sanctions the rest of the world smiled upon them ( especially Trudeau and Macron) which made them feel special and emboldened them to harden the sanctions.
  
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  October 27, 2024 4:06pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

Sound problems at Trump rally.
Don’t pay the bill! “If the sound goes out again I’ll sue the ass off that company!”

This is what the nasty left have been reduced to.

https://www.msn.com/en-nz/news/other/don-t-pay-the-bill-trump-lashes-out-at-lousy-sound-engineers-during-his-rally/ar-AA1sZjxM?
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October 27, 2024 2:35pm
- Mike
  
  Trump has played lawfare instead of paying bills all his miserable life.
  
  4 17
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  October 27, 2024 3:39pm
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    [Mod – you can stop all your snarky posts now]
    
    2 1
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    October 27, 2024 5:38pm
Ghost

Looks like a possibility this wasn’t a random attack

https://www.1news.co.nz/2024/10/27/bus-stabbing-victim-may-have-known-man-charged-with-her-murder/
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October 27, 2024 3:01pm
- Sparrow
  
  I am curious as to whom started the random attack story which has resulted in panic with commuters and politicians. As far as I have seen the police have played a straight bat. Investigations are ongoing.
  
  4 1
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  October 27, 2024 3:48pm
  - Ghost
    
    Possibly started with the police
    
    Acting Detective Inspector Alisse Robertson said police have now launched a homicide investigation. She said police received the report about 2.31pm.
    
    It appears the victim was unknown to the man, and police were working to find out why this happened to this person, Robertson said.
    
    Article
    
    4 0
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    October 27, 2024 4:10pm
surfing

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/new-world-paknsave-remove-ability-for-shoppers-to-sort-items-by-price/TXVZAPU6JNGKNCUWJ7QZ7ZYAYI/

This kind of thing is really disappointing from the supermarkets.

As part of the government supermarket price review, I was hoping one recommendation would be to make prices transparent across all the major supermarkets — ie, one app/website that displays all prices for all products and couplied with a super smart search algorithm. And linked to click&collect/delivery.

Transparency encourages competition, but the supermarkets are going the opposite direction.
4 1
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October 27, 2024 3:20pm
Chuck Bird

I just heard Tim Beverage of NewstalkZB take calls at 3:30 on the political hour about Israel bombing Iran. I called myself. However, it is sad the number of Jew haters who called. Did anyone else hear at this time.
5 4
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October 27, 2024 4:18pm
- AitchW
  
  I’m horrified at the level of antisemitism in New Zealand.
  What’s worse is that the likes of the Green Party actively engage in supporting Hamas and Hezbollah.
  Swarbrick screeching “from the river to the sea” on multiple occasions is unacceptable given its connection to Hamas and its stated aim of obliterating Israel.
  The wilfully naive “Queers for Palestine” are equally despicable.
  Sometimes I despair for this country.
  
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  October 27, 2024 4:50pm
Benedict Yu

I see that Candace Owens has been banned from entering Australia. I strongly disagree with some of her views, but so what? She is so dangerous that she needs to be banned from the country.?
13 0
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October 27, 2024 6:14pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

This is where the Dem swamp is at.
Elon:

https://rumble.com/v5huizt-elon-musk-stuns-reveals-why-billionaires-are-terrified-of-trump-winning-ele.html?
3 3
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October 27, 2024 6:28pm
Pope Punctilious II

Activist teachers hate the government’s plan for a more balanced history curriculum:
https://www.teaonews.co.nz/2024/10/27/teachers-worried-restoring-balance-to-history-curriculum-may-send-aotearoa-backwards/
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October 27, 2024 7:21pm
Swifty

Ginny Andersen distinguishes herself once again:

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/labour-mp-ginny-andersen-reshares-king-charles-christopher-luxon-quip-on-instagram/JJODWEBI6RABFF65SXSTU3GZLE/

What a role model she is. What an example to us all.

Gosh I wish I could be more like her….
13 0
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October 27, 2024 7:40pm
NZer In Exile

Trump has promised to get McDonalds icecream machines fixed.

https://x.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1850326584537858393
4 0
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October 27, 2024 8:04pm
- peterwn
  
  Is that like Benito’s promise to get the trains running on time? I just assume that Ligurian Coast afternoon trains will be late.
  
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  October 27, 2024 8:42pm
Ghost

Are we about to find out we aren’t alone?

A NASA filmmaker has claimed that telescopes on Earth have discovered evidence of intelligent alien life, and the announcement may come within the next month.

Science filmmaker Simon Holland, who has worked on projects with the BBC, Nat Geo, and NASA, told The Mirror last week that two groups of astronomers are vying to publish the first confirmed evidence of a possible extraterrestrial civilization.

Article
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October 27, 2024 9:21pm

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