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January 19, 2025 8:00am by Kokila Patel

General Debate 19 January 2025

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sungsamning

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2025/01/migrant_family_separation_cutting_through_the_anti_trump_agitprop.html
Soon, open border advocates will step up their agitprop against the new Trump Administration for alleged migrant family separation at the U.S. border. A number of broader points about the family separation phenomenon are worth remembering.

The overwhelming majority of migrant family separation decisions are not made at the U.S. border by DHS. They are made by parents or others — including cartel criminals — in home countries.
Daily, thousands of border violators abandon some or all of their children in their home countries to make the trek into the U.S. illegally to find work. Thousands of others send their children to the U.S. alone or with cartel coyotes, and follow them later.
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January 19, 2025 8:11am
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  Any of these families are welcome to reunite any time they like, in their home countries.
  
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  January 19, 2025 12:19pm
  - sungsamning
    
    Works for me.
    
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    January 19, 2025 11:02pm
Cassandra

Is there really a political centre or a centre voter? Or do people have different views on many issues and only some are important enough to influence their vote? For example, can you be in the centre on sovereignty or the ToW being a partnership? The only partnership Queen Victoria ever entered into was with Prince Albert. I’m a hawk on defence (but a realistic one, 2% but no strike wing – we need three frigates) but a liberal on gay issues (some people are different). I care for animals and the environment but think electric cars are ineffective. Am I right or left? On some issues centrist politicians must take a stand. They’ve got to have principles and make an effort to get voters towards their pov, not the other way round. James Carville: “All of this—the endless pontificating about pronouns or gender-neutral bathrooms or whatever— is risible and infuriating. Democrats have this thing where they always think they’re the next new thing,” he said. “It turns out there’s never anything new.” As always, “It’s the economy, stupid”—as Carville famously put it while advising Clinton’s 1992 campaign. The Curia poll showed that but it listed only what was most important to those polled. That doesn’t mean to say that the rest of the list isn’t vital too, just not number 1 at that time. Let’s do both.
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January 19, 2025 8:11am
- Hollyfield
  
  I think the poll question “what is the most important issue” is meaningless. Most people are capable of having more than one very important issue.
  To me, the economy is always the most important, because without that you can’t fund anything else. Although economy is my most important issue, that’s not the reason I voted Act.
  
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  January 19, 2025 8:26am
  - imalwaysright
    
    H,
    Yes the economy is the most important. Unfortunately every three or six years we hand control of it over to people who win a popularity contest.
    Maybe we need an Economy Principles Bill.
    We need protection and certainty for the producers who fund the economy and for investors who want to participate.
    
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    January 19, 2025 9:53am
- Philview
  
  It differs between Countries. Some so called centrist view points in New Zealand would be considered extremism in many countries. An example being changing your sex on your birth certificate. How many countries in the world allow that?
  
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  January 19, 2025 9:07am
  - Skippytony
    
    Ha ha. In Australia I was considered a moderate conservative. One of John Howard’s small l liberals.
    
    Here, having exactly the same values (small low intervention government, strong defense and civic order, pursuit of individual excellence) makes me an extreme right winger.
    
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    January 19, 2025 1:03pm
- 7kiwi11
  
  I put people who think the British Empire entered a partnership with a stone age people in the same basket as Flat Earthers. It’s ludicrous to believe and there is no arguing with them.
  
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  January 19, 2025 9:10am
  - Hugh Jarse
    
    Were Maori the only people of a British protectorate in the empire who entered into a partnership with the British ?, if they were in a partnership presumably they weren’t colonised ?
    
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    January 19, 2025 11:07am
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  It’s characteristic of our soft times that people are soft. All of the DEI types seize on the next issue surfacing on the web while ignoring the fundamentals of what makes us and them rich enough to afford the luxury of pursuing ludicrous ideas.
  
  Compare and contrast with, say, the pre war years. People then were focused on food, shelter and the hope of a better life. In the 80s, income was guaranteed by the State, which means taxpayers. Now, Creative NZ pays people to publicise racist ideas (the Biennale painting) or events (in Chch).
  
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  January 19, 2025 9:26am
- Ghost
  
  You typically rank the issues in polls. Not just pick one issue
  
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  January 19, 2025 9:31am
  - G the giant from Dunedin
    
    Correct
    
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    January 19, 2025 10:24am
- Quail
  
  The political centre is fed by a bureaucracy that apparently is twice the size of communist China’s.
  Add in MMP where if a career politician does not get enough votes they simply remain as influencers either via the list or with appointed positions in the bureaucracy .
  Meaningful change driven by voter influence is nigh on impossible.
  Unrestrained growth in the NZ Bureaucracy has regulated and choked the private sector into submission This is reflected in NZ ‘s abysmal productivity
  The result is ,as happens in local government.voters will just stop voting!
  
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  January 19, 2025 9:54am
  - AitchW
    
    How did Labour so massively increase the public service? (An oxymoron if ever there was one)
    Was there a corresponding increase in outcomes?
    Why do left wing governments not understand that the larger the public service the more cumbersome and unresponsive it becomes?
    
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    January 19, 2025 12:44pm
    - leoj
      
      Because leftists are dumb.
      
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      January 19, 2025 4:47pm
- Damocles11
  
  Centreist voters are probably not that interested in politics and are more likely to be influenced by the MSM’s messaging and their perceptions of how the economy is going and how well off they feel. They are more likely to blame the government of the day if they feel that the country and economy is not going well. A Centreist could be a life-long National or Labour voter if their standard of living is insulated from the fluctuating tides of the wider economy, as they may generally perceive one party to represent their personal philosophy and may be an inter-generational tribal voter. But they will very likely be a swing voter if the wider economy is making them personally feel economic pain as they will most likely hold the government of the day responsible. A Centrist probably doesn’t hold any strong political convictions beyond a desire to see the country ‘governed well’ as they believe that will strongly influence their personal prosperity.
  
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  January 19, 2025 9:59am
- Morgan H
  
  Exactly, the centre is such an abstract concept. It reduces issues and people down to stereotypes. That’s why I’m a big supporter of MMP, it allows diversity of opinion and actual representation of views. Unlike FPP which forces decisions into a basic binary.
  
  I suppose I’m also considered a “liberal on gay issues”. I grew up with mates who are gay and the more camp ones were obviously bullied a lot. But surprisingly, a lot of those bullies ended up coming out later in life. My view on sex is as long as you’re consenting adults the government can’t tell you what to do.
  
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  January 19, 2025 10:40am
  - leoj
    
    New Zealand was far more stable under FPP than it has been under MMP.
    
    It was bad idea that failed and still is.
    
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    January 19, 2025 4:49pm
- thirteenstars
  
  The centre voter used to exist because there was broad consensus about values and what was best to achieve those values. It was a middle class expression when the middle class was wide, deep and mostly independent of the state.
  
  That’s long gone. The centre voter is now the swing voter, desperately alternating between whichever option is going to do them the least damage or increasingly, the one that will provide the largest bribe.
  
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  January 19, 2025 10:43am
- Grumpy Silver Top
  
  I’m with you Cassandra, and generally agree with your positions. Our government leaders are led by their pollsters and comms ‘experts’ who seem unable to recognise the nuances of individuals’ viewpoints. Add to that the bias that is evident in many opinion poll questions and we truly, truly, don’t get a valid response from a poll. A statistical margin of error of 3% is not unusual but is never properly recognised in the media reports.
  
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  January 19, 2025 11:26am
  - Handyman
    
    Imagine how boring to report polls correctly.
    The headline “National to lose government on 29.6% to be replaced by Labour on 30.4 %. Gasp!
    …becomes…
    Support for both National and Labour is somewhere between 27% and 33%.
    We publish a poll each month but once a year the real figure will be outside this range for at least one of these parties.
    
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    January 19, 2025 2:18pm
- sungsamning
  
  Yes, its not easy to pigeonhole people. They’re not that predictable. Don’t tell Marx and Engels though.
  
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  January 19, 2025 11:04pm
sungsamning

https://nypost.com/2025/01/17/us-news/la-mayor-karen-bass-office-hit-with-accusations-of-legalized-corruption/
LA Mayor Karen Bass’ office hit with scandals over hush money, bribes and accusations of ‘legalized corruption’.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass got into office promoting diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and promising to tackle homelessness and pollution — but she never promised to drain the swamp.

Now she stands accused of adding to it, through “legalized corruption” and a number of eye opening scandals which have come to light after renewed scrutiny in the last two weeks following the revelation Bass and her cronies defunded the Los Angeles Fire Department by $17 million, contributing to them being underprepared to tackle the wildfires currently destroying the city. [So, just another day with y in it for a Dem city administration.]
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January 19, 2025 8:11am
- Notsofast
  
  Victor Davis Hanson describes it brilliantly and concisely, arguably the greatest and most versatile American orator of our epoch.
  17 minutes:
  
  https://youtu.be/ow7CPJNEM-o?si=ukTZ5dd42cPJvTgX
  
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  January 19, 2025 10:50am
  - sungsamning
    
    Yes, I admire his work greatly.
    
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    January 19, 2025 11:05pm
Damocles11

Luxon tipped to do a big reshuffle today. Dr Reti is tipped to lose Health with Simeon Brown picking up that portfolio. Meanwhile Nicola Willis is supposedly getting ‘economic growth’ added to her responsibilities: would think she has enough on her plate already facilitating all the borrowing & spending the government is doing.
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January 19, 2025 8:12am
- Graham Sharpe
  
  Titanic? Deckchairs anyone?
  
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  January 19, 2025 9:38am
- Benedict Yu
  
  I thought that achieving economic growth was already the responsibility of the Minister of Finance. Perhaps she can start by explaining the impact on growth of the Zero Carbon Act. I’ll be waiting. 😕
  
  Also why take Simeon Brown off roads? It is just about the only thing they have got right.
  
  This Government’s policies and delivery are better than those of the last government. But that must be the lowest bar in political history. Also Chris Luxon makes more sense than Jacinda. He is more competent than Hipkins. Again two of the lowest bars in history.
  
  However, as a leader of the country he is a total disappointment.
  
  Is he really going to take transport off Simeon Brown? The guy is just getting started.
  
  How about the Cabinet, led by Luxon, does what is required to keep New Zealand a first world country?
  
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  January 19, 2025 9:59am
  - Morgan H
    
    This was a strategy of the John Key government. You keep reshuffling to make it look like you are doing more in that portfolio than you actually are. It also makes certain MPs CV look a little bit longer.
    
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    January 19, 2025 10:04am
  - Damocles11
    
    Luxon is very sensitive to MSM criticism. When Lee was copping heat in Broadcasting he immediately sent in the bland Goldsmith to quieten the noise and pacify the MSM. Now that Reti is a target for MSM criticism, Brown is being sent in as a fire-fighter to manage the messaging. What does this mean for Dr Reti? Is he now a political dead duck?
    Luxon seems to think that if he can ‘manage the messaging’ until there is a noticeable uptick in the economy, then he will be vindicated in the eyes of the public.
    On Health, I’d personally like to see Maggie Apa jettisoned, and believe it should have happened a long time ago.
    
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    January 19, 2025 10:06am
    - pdm
      
      How has Margie Apa remained so long.
      
      Bonus issues there are Iona Holstead and Mrs Hipkins snr in Education in the same category.
      
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      January 19, 2025 11:24am
      - rockape
        
        Her job is up in a month or so. She can reapply but she would be a fool to bet her house on being reappointed. Source NZNO.
        
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        January 19, 2025 12:52pm
    - mogg
      
      We now have price stability, lower inflation, falling interest rates, cheaper $NZ which will give exporters a big boost. Economic growth will soon follow along with real jobs (as opposed to Jacinda jobs in Wgtn).
      Luxon knows all this yet he still has to operate under a constant barrage of negativity and criticism from the Marxist Media who seem intent on revolution.
      
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      January 19, 2025 12:21pm
  - G the giant from Dunedin
    
    Just about the only thing g they have got right? So you think police is bad? You think getting rid of separatist services is bad, you think handing back stolen taxes is bad, you think getting inflation down is bad, you think lower interested is bad,m.
    
    I don’t know ow why we do t put labour back in, and give greens high profile portfolios and TPM high in cabinet, it’s only fair if this lot have failed so badly
    
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    January 19, 2025 10:30am
    - Benedict Yu
      
      You might do better by carefully considering the merits of arguments rather than to reflexively come to the defence of the National Party whenever it is criticised.
      
      Much of your retort makes no sense. For example, the Reserve controls inflation via monetary policy.
      
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      January 19, 2025 11:39am
      - Mark Hanley
        
        Benedict you prove Gs point nicely… anyone who thinks:
        1. Adrien Orr doesn’t run with the hounds and hunt with the foxes is at best naive.
        2. The national party changing the reserve Bank mandate by removing full employment had no effect on Inflation,
        3. The glarng fact a change in government coincided with infation coming down is all because the governor suddenly remembered the multi year high inflation he caused with low interest and money printing is a bad thing.
        
        is glossing over facts to persue a misguided political objective
        
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        January 19, 2025 3:53pm
      - Mark Hanley
        
        Ps. There is a No 4 but I’m much too polite to write it down.
        
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        January 19, 2025 4:26pm
  - Steve Otto N Shore
    
    Comparing this Govt with the last is rubbish imo.
    Ardern did such a good job of wrecking NZ that the current Govt only has to do anything bare minimum for it to be a huge improvement.
    Not apples with apples. The gap is way too wide.
    
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    January 19, 2025 10:32am
    - Benedict Yu
      
      You are just agreeing with me. The bare minimum is not enough. What we have now is is an end to the madness. However New Zealand is still declining relative to other developed nations. There are many serious problems not being addressed.
      
      On its current trajectory, the government will be remembered for slowing the decline and managing it more efficiently. And maybe giving is better roads. The country will have a worsening flight of the best people, a persistent under class, a failing education system, and a country divided by a bitter dispute about the Treaty. If the government was ever going to address those things it would have done so by now.
      
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      January 19, 2025 10:43am
      - Jack5
        
        We’re unlikely to get a decisive government again soon under MMP.
        
        When Ardern’s Labour won 65 seats, enough for a majority government, it was able to inflict heavy damage on the country.
        
        MMP worked for West Germany after the shock of WW2 defeat and the tremendous challenge of rebuilding that part of Germany from the wreckage.
        
        A huge shock might give NZ’s Centre-Right a majority MMP government able to take drastic action. That result’s a long, long shot in a gusty wind.
        
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        January 19, 2025 1:10pm
      - Steve Otto N Shore
        
        I know the bare minimum is not enough, but the gap between Ardern’s accomplishments and today’s Govt is way apart.
        Both Ardern and Luxon are giving Maori whatever they demand – for votes. It is NOT going to work.
        So yes Benedict, I do agree with most of what you say in all of your posts.
        
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        January 19, 2025 4:13pm
      - Mark Hanley
        
        What a load of rubbish Steve….. Here is an excerpt from the coalition Agreement:
        
        o Remove co-governance from the delivery of public services.
        
        o As a matter of urgency, issue a Cabinet Office circular to all central government organisations that it is the Government’s expectation that public services should be
        prioritised on the basis of need, not race.
        
        o Restore the right to local referendum on the establishment or ongoing use of Maori wards, including requiring a referendum on any wards established without referendum at the next Local Body elections.
        
        o Stop all work on He Puapua
        
        o Confirm that the Coalition Government does not recognise the United nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) as having any binding legal effect on NewZealand.
        
        o Amend section 58 of the Marine and Coastal Area Act to make clear Parliament’s original intent, in light of the judgment of the Court of Appeal in Whakatohea Kotahitanga Waka kEdwards) & Ors v Te Kahui and Whakatohea Maori Trust Board & Ors [2023] NZCA 504.
        
        o Amend the Waitangi Tribunal legislation to refocus the scope, purpose, and nature of its inquiries back to the original intent of that legislation.
        
        o Conduct a comprehensive review of all legislation (except when it is related to, or substantive to, existing full and final Treaty settlements) that includes ‘The Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi” and replace all such references with specific words relating to the relevance and application of the Treaty, or repeal the references.
        
        *** It is lucky for us all the Chris Luxon thinks a little deeper than over enthusiastic ACT supporters.
        
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        January 19, 2025 4:38pm
  - PurplePen
    
    “Dr Reti is tipped to lose Health with Simeon Brown picking up that portfolio”.
    
    Doesn’t say he’s dropping transport. Just that he’s picking up health is how I read this. Agree it wouldn’t make sense to take transport away from Brown.
    
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    January 19, 2025 10:33am
  - pdm
    
    `Is he really going to take transport off Simeon Brown? The guy is just getting started.’
    
    Local Government would be my guess to go to Bishop.
    
    Energy – to Simon Watts? (Pure speculation by me)
    
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    January 19, 2025 11:22am
- imalwaysright
  
  Dam,
  Sounds like a hospital pass for Simeon.
  Maybe he is outshining Luxon and is being given the job that will bury him.
  
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  January 19, 2025 10:09am
  - rjay
    
    Of course it is a hospital pass. It is the Health Portfolio after all.
    
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    January 19, 2025 10:55am
    - imalwaysright
      
      Well spotted rj
      
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      January 19, 2025 1:47pm
- G the giant from Dunedin
  
  Who has economic development now? That is who will get health, if it’s. Tone, then there is who will get health, I thought Reti was going fine, the media and vulgar left have made his job awful, and from my experience in Dunedin hospital a week ago, then it is utter bullshit what is being said
  
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  January 19, 2025 10:26am
  - imalwaysright
    
    What?
    
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    January 19, 2025 1:51pm
- Scooter
  
  Is Simeon Brown the Hipkins aka Mr Fixit of National, more capable for sure. Maybe Luxon is getting scared, maybe something to do with the polls? Not a good look to get rid of Reti though, it will look bad for Luxon.
  
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  January 19, 2025 10:51am
  - pdm
    
    Something that is overlooked – Luxon tol Mike Hosking this late Nov/early Dec.
    
    He (Luxon) has been helping (meddling in) Reti with Health.
    
    Right there may be Reti’s problem.
    
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    January 19, 2025 11:28am
    - Ghost
      
      Actually what he said was he was attending the briefings. I hope he continues to with who ever is minister. Health is truly one hell of a mess, it needs a pm to stay in touch with what is going on with it
      
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      January 19, 2025 12:47pm
  - G the giant from Dunedin
    
    Hipkins Mr fixit? He was more Mr F….it Joyce was the one and only Mr Fixit
    
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    January 19, 2025 11:32am
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  Why the hell would Luxon remove Shane Reti from Health?
  
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  January 19, 2025 12:22pm
  - Matt Long
    
    Well now, if I were getting rumblings that I was a less than stellar leader and reading calls for my replacement, one strategy I might use to knobble a possible centrist coup would be to remove a former deputy leader and current health minister from his portfolio before positive metrics started to flow through, then put in his place someone without a health background. Especially if that person was doing a stellar job in transport, and local government and had charisma.
    
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    January 19, 2025 4:13pm
Hollyfield

I read a bit of magazine type piece in Stuff this morning, about a NZ man now living in Czech Republic where the cost of living is half of NZ.

It wan nice light read, but I found this paragraph especially interesting “I was outside NZ when the Covid lockdowns hit, and we were barred from entering. After that, I didn’t feel like NZ was home, so I’m trying to recreate home here.” He’s not complaining or criticising, just stating a fact of the consequences.
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January 19, 2025 8:32am
- Flossie
  
  That’s interesting. Can anybody simply decide to go and live (and work?) there? Or has this person qualifications such as being a descendant etc. Most countries I am aware of, including New Zealand, have stringent rules over who may stay and/or work in their country. My British d.i.l. had many hoops to jump through in order to be here as other than a tourist.
  
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  January 19, 2025 10:00am
  - Benedict Yu
    
    The Czech Republic is a member of the EU. Moving there to live would be very difficult. This sets out the hurdles.
    
    https://mzv.gov.cz/pretoria/en/visa_and_consular_information/permanent_residency_in_the_czech/index.html#:~:text=An%20immigration%20visa%20is%20a,three%20days%20at%20the%20most.
    
    New Zealand is one of the easiest developed countries to move to. We have a low and falling birth rate and we are bleeding all the best people to Australia. Without migrants we would dissappear. Literally.
    
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    January 19, 2025 10:13am
    - kowtow
      
      ‘Literally.’
      
      We wouldn’t literally disappear.
      But we are literally changing as a society and nation.
      
      Where it will end , who knows.
      
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      January 19, 2025 10:51am
    - Interested Party
      
      It irks me when I hear “All the best” are leaving NZ, is the implication that all those remaining are second rate. It’s a shallow comment. People have different motivations or situations for staying or leaving. I agree that if you are motivated to move, you probably have a give it ago mentality – but it doesn’t mean you are the best. I myself spent 10 years living in Oz and the UK, now I’m living in NZ, supposedly I’m no longer the best
      
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      January 19, 2025 11:08am
    - NeverMindTheBollocks
      
      You missed the word “legally”. Plenty of people move to the Czech Republic simply by turning up & not leaving.
      
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      January 19, 2025 12:24pm
    - Jack5
      
      Another challenge in moving to Czechia — the language.
      
      The alphabet’s got 42 letters. Like Polish, it uses a form of the Roman alphabet.
      
      Some find Slavic languages that use traditional Cyrillic alphabets – such as Russian and Ukrainian – are easier to get a handle on than Slavic languages that use a modified Roman alphabet. These include Polish and Czech.
      
      I’ve heard it said that most Poles are sympathetic with foreigners trying to use Polish, but in Czechia, older locals, being less used to foreigners trying to get their tongues around Czech, tend to be less patient.
      
      However, young Czechs increasingly speak English as a secondary language. They would be a migrating Kiwi’s best bet.
      
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      January 19, 2025 8:38pm
  - Hollyfield
    
    @Flossie No idea what kind of Czech visa/residency/citizenship he has, but the article says he met a Czech woman at a dance event in Christchurch, and later married her and they have a child. He also says he’s paid in US$, so I don’t know if he’s working for a multi-national and that helped with his visa.
    
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    January 19, 2025 11:09am
  - NeverMindTheBollocks
    
    He’s married to a Czech he met in NZ while she was doing her OE.
    
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    January 19, 2025 12:23pm
- Ra Henare
  
  Same
  “I was outside NZ when the Covid lockdowns hit, and we were barred from entering.”
  
  In my case Cambodia. Now living here full time. Can live the good life, yep, way cheaper than cost of NZ (See link below)
  Retirement Visa easily available to anyone over 55 with a pension or equivalent.
  
  AND WARM and sunny year round.
  
  https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_cities.jsp?country1=New+Zealand&country2=Cambodia&city1=Tauranga&city2=Siem+Reap&tracking=getDispatchComparison
  
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  January 19, 2025 1:22pm
septic skeptic

I think rating economic issues more important than TOW/constitutional issues is very short sighted. There is no way to fix the economy if some jobs require duplication (or more) of effort to incorporate te ao Maori, and we have an extra layer of compliance costs to get iwi approvals sorted. You can’t build a solid home on a dodgy foundation.
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January 19, 2025 8:48am
- artemisia
  
  Remember Sir Bob Jones and his window? IIRC he wanted to change a window in one of his buildings, needed a resource consent and OK from 13 iwi.
  
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  January 19, 2025 10:22am
- kowtow
  
  Or if power companies have to pay multi million dollar bribes to tribes in order to keep the lights on.
  
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  January 19, 2025 12:14pm
redeye

If you were wondering why most people can’t be bothered to vote in local government elections then read Stuffs headline story.
A double truck trailer, complete with Wharehouse advertising had been abandoned in front of houses for 8 months. The council had done nothing so the Mayor, out of desperation, borrowed a truck and moved it.
If the Mayor cannot get his own council to action a complaint what is the point?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/360552656/christchurch-mayor-moves-bloody-ugly-abandoned-trailer-blocking-views-after-city-council-inaction
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January 19, 2025 8:54am
- David Garrett
  
  redeye: My take on that story was quite different: it was “what a guy” that mayor is. The last sentence of the story said it all: the city’s “parking compliance team” said that “the matter was quite complex”. No, it wasn’t. It just took a mayor with a bit of common sense and the ability to drive a large prime mover, and the problem was solved.
  
  A generation or so ago such an action would not have been at all unusual. Sixty odd years ago a woman whose luggage had been lost by the railways called up Keith Holyoake – whose phone number was in the book – (No ridiculous paranoia about “doxing” in 1965) , and asked for his help.
  
  Holyoake reportedly showed up down at the railway station shortly after – still in his pyjamas – to help look for the lost luggage. History doesn’t record whether it was found as a result of his intervention.
  
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  January 19, 2025 10:04am
  - Benedict Yu
    
    Yes but it was a different time. You don’t need to worry about doxing because you are already a known public figure with known views.
    
    A couple of days ago you commended me for my views. Thanks for that. You also commended me for commenting here under my real name. Ah no. That would be career suicude.
    
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    January 19, 2025 10:17am
    - imalwaysright
      
      [MYOB please. Read the blog rules. Ironic considering your nickname. mod.]
      
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      January 19, 2025 1:57pm
    - Lummox
      
      BY. I seem to remember that some time ago you wrote a piece about a holiday trip around the Far North. I remember your comments about the poor state of houses that needed painting, among other things.
      Now that you have been in the area for a bit longer, I would be interested to hear your general thoughts about the area – if you’ve got the time and inclination. Cheers – and thanks for your regular thoughtful contribution to this site.
      
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      January 19, 2025 3:09pm
      - Benedict Yu
        
        Thanks. I will not be doing that.
        
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        January 19, 2025 8:22pm
  - redeye
    
    Agree David. Good on the.Mayor. both our takes are valid.
    
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    January 19, 2025 10:20am
  - Morgan H
    
    David: Holyoake reportedly showed up down at the railway station shortly after – still in his pyjamas – to help look for the lost luggage. History doesn’t record whether it was found as a result of his intervention.
    
    Nowadays the media would crucify him for daring to wear his pyjamas in public. Like that time John Key was walking from the hotel pool to his room in his budgy smugglers and robe. He was too fast for the media to get a photo.
    
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    January 19, 2025 10:23am
    - pdm
      
      Yes morgy – pj’s are only supposed to be worn to the Supermarket these days.
      
      Well in Hastings anyway.
      
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      January 19, 2025 12:01pm
      - David Garrett
        
        pdm: …and in Helensville, sadly. My ex lady friend loves it, but it’s the most low-life town I have ever had the misfortune to to live near.
        
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        January 19, 2025 12:18pm
      - lifesgood
        
        Try Glen Innes. I’ve never seen such a bunch of losers. I guess they just never get dressed, roll out of bed, watch telly all day, go to the supermarket when hungry. Rinse and repeat.
        
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        January 19, 2025 1:15pm
      - Countrygirl
        
        Same in Tauranga. And they are not even pyjama fashion conscious!
        
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        January 19, 2025 8:10pm
- sirknz
  
  Parking compliance teams are only interested if they can issue a fine.
  
  I remember calling Auckland Council about an abandoned car in a less affluent suburb I was living in. It took the best part of 8 months for them to actually remove it.
  
  Their excuses were “We need to follow a process, we need to try and contact the owner, we need to see if someone will pick it up”.
  My favourite excuse was “We have no record of any complaints about the vehicle in question” to which the response was “If this was Remuera, it would have been gone by the end of the day I originally complained about it!”
  
  It did miraculously disappear a couple of days after that statement…
  
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  January 19, 2025 10:39am
lastmanstanding

That Labour are ahead of the Nats in the latest polls proves my dear old late Dad was correct. He said before a citizen voted they should have to pass an IQ test to prove they werent dumb and a political knowledge test to prove they werent ignorant.
We have citizens who voted for the Nats to get rid of Labour now supporting Labour to get rid of the Nats. They clearly dont connect the dots as to why the economy is in the bad shape it is or they are suffering from Stockholm Syndrome.
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January 19, 2025 9:16am
- Chuck Bird
  
  An IQ test for candidates would be a good idea.
  
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  January 19, 2025 9:23am
  - MCōs
    
    You mean better vetting by the parties?
    There’s more to being a good MP besides being super intelligent otherwise you might end up with 120 multiple PHDs who are useless leaders
    
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    January 19, 2025 9:54am
    - PurplePen
      
      Yes. Consider the Green Party which is full of people loaded up with degrees, and even Labour. With respect to real world experience and non-degree work, they lack diversity.
      
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      January 19, 2025 10:40am
    - imalwaysright
      
      “useless leaders”
      Since when did MPs become leaders?
      I can lead myself.
      They are functionaries who are paid to administer the basic functions of government.
      I couldn’t care less about their opinions.
      
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      January 19, 2025 11:18am
    - Ra Henare
      
      Just an observation.
      Having a PHd does not mean you are intelligent in the general sense of the word.
      
      It means you have successfully studied a very specific subject for many years and passed the test (interrogation).
      
      In my time have met PHds who are thick as pigshit in the real world.
      
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      January 19, 2025 1:30pm
      - Steve Otto N Shore
        
        I have worked with them in steel fabrication.
        Drill a hole here>. Come back at 10am and nothing
        Having a degree or qualification means shit. Drill a hole here>. means drill a hole, not think about it for 2 hours!! Having a degree does not mean you are smart. Experience will win.
        
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        January 19, 2025 4:49pm
    - leoj
      
      Vetting by the parties has been undermined by MMP.
      
      Under FPP every MP, EVERY MP, was subject to a vote.
      
      MMP gives the parties control instead of the voter.
      
      It was bad idea, promoted by wanker Bolger, and should have been dismissed. The country was far more stable under FPP.
      
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      January 19, 2025 4:57pm
  - JackRabbit
    
    And as I keep saying, regular spontaneous drug tests. Both tests would eliminate TPM and Greens, and a substantial part of the Labour party.
    
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    January 19, 2025 10:55am
- Colville
  
  Yip.
  Your average person is pretty damm dumb and half of all people are dumber than that!!
  
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  January 19, 2025 9:23am
  - Ra Henare
    
    Thanks for my morning smile.
    Wonder if that applies to KB members?
    “”dumber than that””
    
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    January 19, 2025 1:32pm
    - All_on_Red
      
      Your lack of self awareness is really funny
      
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      January 19, 2025 6:56pm
  - imalwaysright
    
    “Your average person is pretty damm dumb and half of all people are dumber than that”
    
    Yip
    
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    January 19, 2025 2:10pm
- coge
  
  Luxon should find a reason to step down. Then NZ will have a chance to move ahead. But of course that wouldn’t look good on his CV. It will become clear in 2025, that this is the most obvious solution.
  
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  January 19, 2025 9:42am
  - imalwaysright
    
    “Luxon should find a reason to step down.”
    
    He should tell us the reason he is PM.
    
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    January 19, 2025 11:23am
    - Steve Otto N Shore
      
      He does not know. He thinks he is a leader, when all he is, is a manager.
      
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      January 19, 2025 5:09pm
- MCōs
  
  The world is full of countries controlling by authoritarian governments who think they know what is best and everyone else is stupid
  Then one day the roles are reversed.
  As soon as one group is excluded because they’re “inferior” there’s trouble in the offing.
  
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  January 19, 2025 9:44am
- Damocles11
  
  Perhaps National voters are giving the pollsters other answers than National to the question ‘who would you vote for?’ because they are desperate to send the woke corporate National leadership a message that the current status quo is unacceptable. If you told the pollsters you intend to vote NZF then you are counted as supporting one of the Coalition parties, but also transmitting a warning to the National grandees that they must alter course – because NZF has gone with Labour in the past and could do so again in the future.
  
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  January 19, 2025 9:48am
- greybeard
  
  MY dear old late Dad was also correct: he always said “Never believe any poll results”.
  
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  January 19, 2025 10:12am
  - Steve Otto N Shore
    
    Example is the US. Twice now – 2026 and 2024.
    2020 could be counted as a foul.
    
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    January 19, 2025 5:11pm
- kowtow
  
  Front page of today’s herald , yet another attack on Luxon.
  On the nationally important shatteringly crucial issue of ……..the crown cars .
  
  The media are doing a very good job , daily delegitimising the coalition.
  
  They urgently need to quietly do some common sense money saving stuff.
  
  Here’s a tip . Cut the advertising revenue going to the legacy media . To the barest minimum.
  
  Etc
  
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  January 19, 2025 10:57am
- mogg
  
  No the voters really do prefer Labour’s 12% food inflation rather than the current rate of 2% under Coalition govt.
  
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  January 19, 2025 12:28pm
Bridgenag

saturday overton musings
speaking about speech

“this change is not just the end of institutionalized federal censorship regimes and the shift of the zuckerbot 9000 onside to team “free speech” in all its saccharine glory (for could there be any doubt that had kamala won he’d be doubling down on fact checking?”

https://open.substack.com/pub/boriquagato/p/saturday-overton-musings?r=1aj1bv&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
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January 19, 2025 9:24am
Chuck Bird

Releasing 30 terrorists – many are murderers – for a dead hostage does not seem like a good deal.
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January 19, 2025 9:25am
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  Let’s hope those terrorists have had a tracking chip implanted.
  
  Once upon a time, that would have been fantasy. Not now, after the exploding cellphone episode.
  
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  January 19, 2025 9:32am
  - artemisia
    
    Facial and gait recognition are well advanced and the Israelis will be watching.
    
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    January 19, 2025 11:31am
  - mogg
    
    No they are being given a free pager as a going away present.
    
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    January 19, 2025 12:30pm
- Michael Sommerville
  
  The exchange will be very unbalanced, but that is negotiation and it all depends on what each side wants to achieve. The Israelis want all their people returned. They have to pay a high price to achieve that, but they will do it.
  
  I see that Netanyahu has said that Israel will be back into Gaza in a flash if any of the terms of the agreement are broken. It is a very fragile situation that might explode very easily. There is no trust between the two sides.
  
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  January 19, 2025 9:35am
  - artemisia
    
    Perhaps Hamas will look upon Israeli works, despair and vow never to put their citizens through that destruction again.
    
    Me neither…
    
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    January 19, 2025 11:34am
- David Garrett
  
  It’s a terrible deal Chuck – but then Netanyahu is under huge pressure to get the hostages back. That pressure may not be so great when they discover how many of them are dead.
  
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  January 19, 2025 10:07am
  - James
    
    I fear most are, and what mental and physical health the survivors have could be terrible
    
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    January 19, 2025 10:37am
    - kowtow
      
      There are going to be an awful lot of very harrowing accounts .
      
      We could all see what the Oct 7 animals were capable of .
      
      Yet , “progvressives” in the west proudly wear the symbol of all that is evil , that Arab scarf .And chant genocidally .
      
      Scarf wearers ;All Green MP’s , Maori Party and more than a few Labour ones . Webb to the fore and O’Connor is another major one on the anti Israel front.
      
      Not to mention the Saturday marchers and the media who’re firmly supportive.
      
      They should all be deeply ashamed of the evil they support .
      
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      January 19, 2025 11:03am
- All_on_Red
  
  Look on the bright side Chuck
  They are being released to another form of Prison but one where the chances are pretty good they will be killed if they arm themselves and try to attack Israel again…
  
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  January 19, 2025 10:23am
- artemisia
  
  The released prisoners were said to be women and çhildren. Not the named Hamas soldiers that were requested. Assume children are teenagers. Or maybe born in prison. Anyone’s guess, first casualty and all that.
  
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  January 19, 2025 10:27am
  - David Garrett
    
    art: The first few prisoners realeased were women and children…but the deal requires the Israelis to release literally hundreds of prisoners – many of them convicted of murder – in order to get less than a hundred hostages back, many of whom will be dead.
    
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    January 19, 2025 11:25am
    - All_on_Red
      
      ‘the vast majority of the prisoners scheduled for possible release—287— are males aged 18 and under, detained for rioting and rock-throwing in the West Bank or East Jerusalem. The other 13 prisoners are adult women, who were mostly convicted of attempted stabbings.’
      https://www.newsweek.com/palestinian-prisoners-released-full-list-israel-1845986
      
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      January 19, 2025 11:34am
      - All_on_Red
        
        Just to add, there seems to be a pattern amongst the Jew haters that teenagers throwing rocks (and they use Slingshots to do so as well) is somehow not deadly.
        It is.
        Then there is the deliberate inference that the women were not dangerous. As I say above 13 women attacked people (and Soldiers) randomly and started stabbing them. Its amazing many more weren’t killed. But again the Jew Haters try to minimise how dangerous and deadly those types of assault are.
        What a disgrace those apologists are.
        
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        January 19, 2025 4:29pm
- Ra Henare
  
  The Palestinians being released (read the reports) include those throwing stones at IDF troops.
  
  But dont believe me.
  How about Jerusalem Post?
  
  Most of the prisoners on the list are women, and only one prisoner on the list under the age of 18 at the time of their arrest was convicted of murder, according to Ynet.
  
  https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-838028
  
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  January 19, 2025 1:40pm
TripeWryter

Apparently Dr Shane is losing Health.
What a pity because he comes across as a decent human being.
The surgeon who operated on me last year praised Dr Reti for the changes he was making to the system.
‘He’s on the right track and he has a lot of support from us.’
The surgeon was scathing of the layers of management – ‘management’s crap’ – that successive governments had allowed to build up.
Simeon Brown gets a lot of praise. He comes across to me more like one of those little lapper-yapper dogs.
He talks a lot. Loudly.
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January 19, 2025 9:31am
- imalwaysright
  
  Maybe Shane asked James Shaw for some info on climate change…
  
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  January 19, 2025 11:27am
- Damocles11
  
  Another minister goes under the bus, with the shove coming from the ‘leader’ Luxon. It’s not leadership at all, it’s an appalling failure to support your own people.
  
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  January 19, 2025 12:07pm
Tauhei Notts

I see the United Kingdom is making moves to tax residents on their world wide income. I imagine there will be a credit for tax paid on that income in foreign countries.
It has taken them 40 years to copy what was brought into N.Z. in 1985.
If a colony can bring in proper tax laws it is a bit embarrassing to copy those administrators in a far away country.
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January 19, 2025 9:35am
kevn

“I didn’t do that”…
https://x.com/CollinRugg/status/1880602719754293249
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January 19, 2025 9:59am
MCōs

Mr Trump has made a big thing of deporting illegal immigrants of which there are eleven million, I believe.
It’s not a simple thing; both for the immigrants and the businesses that rely on their labour in areas we don’t pay much attention to
https://www.npr.org/2025/01/17/g-s1-42134/immigration-trump-mass-deportation-nebraska-economy-workers
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January 19, 2025 10:43am
- artemisia
  
  I doubt ‘mass deportations’ will initially include those with stable jobs and an otherwise clean record.
  
  Those who failed to turn up to their scheduled ICE immigration court hearing likely to be on an early removal list.
  
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  January 19, 2025 11:08am
  - MCōs
    
    Here’s another another article on the subject. There’s plenty to choose from
    https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/17/texas-mass-deportations-trump/
    
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    January 19, 2025 12:39pm
- kowtow
  
  Here’s a thought.
  
  If businesses can continue to rely on illegal immigrants ( and all that implies) then they have no incentive to modernise or pay decent wages to attract lawful workers.
  
  20 million illegals will have a definite effect on the wage levels for legal folk.
  
  Apart from all the other downsides of the huge issues around illegal migration.( people trafficking , sexual assault,overcrowding, crime etc)
  
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  January 19, 2025 11:19am
- Hollyfield
  
  This set of on-the-street interviews of illegal migrants is interesting. They don’t seem concerned about having to leave the United States – lots say they’ll just go back home, or go to another country in Central or South America.
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkoBEJi7ok0&t=91s
  
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  January 19, 2025 11:20am
- Handyman
  
  Again, with the Democrats.
  “O my, but who will pick the cotton?”
  
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  January 19, 2025 2:03pm
Damocles11

Have heard talk that Andrew Coster is being courted by National for a high placing on the party list in 2026. He very highly thought of by Willis and Luxon so it makes sense.
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January 19, 2025 10:57am
- Ghost
  
  Have heard, aka, making shit up.
  
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  January 19, 2025 12:49pm
  - Damocles11
    
    Potaka was parachuted into his seat, hand-picked by Luxon. National voters are now very defensive and are lashing out.
    
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    January 19, 2025 1:35pm
Benedict Yu

How can one person possibly manage being the Minister of Health and the Minister of Transport plus whatever else he does? There are not enough hours in the week. No matter how hard you work.
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January 19, 2025 11:35am
- Morgan H
  
  Luxon wants to keep potential challengers to his leadership busy.
  
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  January 19, 2025 11:43am
  - Benedict Yu
    
    Someone commented that Simeon Brown could be an effective Minister of Health and Transport by delegating. I can’t seem to find the comment now.
    
    It is not an unreasonable conclusion.
    
    However the relationship between a Minister and public servants is not like a chain of command. It is not like a chain of command from a General to a corporal. That is because there are many things that the Minister cannot delegate. He needs to take papers to cabinet and be across all the details. He needs to get legislation through the House. He cannot delegate. He needs to take hundreds of decisions.
    
    Public servants are “advisors and implementers”. They cannot take any policy decisions, no matter how minor.
    
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    January 19, 2025 2:13pm
- david
  
  The “work” should be getting done by the workforce employed to do it, not by the individual at the top of the food chain. Was Eisenhower able to strategise and command armies, navies and airforces from multiple countries to fight on multiple fronts simultaneously by doing the “work” by himself? What he did was to create an effective command structure and provide the clear direction and clear objectives. Woe betide anyone who did not perform or pull their weight.
  Not exactly rocket science until you have to factor in personalities and politics at which point it becomes much more complex and difficult.
  Brown possibly has roads starting to hum and it may only need a light touch to keep NZTA focussed so his main attention can pivot to health.
  All power to his arm.
  
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  January 19, 2025 12:04pm
- MCōs
  
  Not only that he would have to prioritize advocating in cabinet between spending on ‘roads of national significance’ and hospitals of regional significance.
  Both of those portfolios have big ticket projects competing for the same scarce funds
  
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  January 19, 2025 12:23pm
  - Benedict Yu
    
    The reality is that in no developed country would a health minister also have another major portfolio. There are reasons for that.
    
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    January 19, 2025 2:16pm
    - MCōs
      
      Years ago Rob Muldoon was PM, Minister of Finance and Leader of the House concurrently
      Basically he did what he liked because he intimidated everyone until Lange came along and got the better of him in the House
      
      “Ah, Lange,” Muldoon called out across the benches. “Your belly is bigger than mine.”
      “That may be so, but mine is further from the ground,”
      
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      January 19, 2025 4:02pm
- Ghost
  
  Has the prime minister made an announcement or is it still media speculation?
  
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  January 19, 2025 12:29pm
  - MCōs
    
    I think broad hints may have been uttered in strict confidence!
    From Stuff
    “It’s said Luxon wasn’t exactly quiet about his intentions with those outside the Wellington bubble in the lead up to the end of last year.”
    
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    January 19, 2025 2:34pm
- MCōs
  
  Turns out Chris Bishop is going to be Minister of Transport and Simeon Brown will be the seventh Minister of Health in the last ten years,
  
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  January 19, 2025 3:14pm
Hugh Jarse

The article states he is going to lose some of his portfolios to focus on Health and Transport.
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January 19, 2025 12:01pm
pdm

A prediction for this afternoon.

If Dr Shane Reti gets dumped off the front bench.

Then Te Aute College ex Head Prefect will be `Ple Voted’ to about No5 in te pecking order.
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January 19, 2025 12:32pm
- pdm
  
  ‘Pole vaulted’.
  
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  January 19, 2025 12:44pm
Steve Otto N Shore

There are some seriously screwed up people in the US – and the therapists love it!
Look at this shit:

https://www.msn.com/en-nz/news/other/stressed-about-trump-s-return-you-re-not-alone-therapists-are-inundated-with-people-worried-about-trump-2-0/ar-AA1xr9gX?

They just can’t not watch or listen to the corrupt MSM. They must believe anything the media says ffs. These are adults acting like spoilt 6 year old children.
“Elizabeth Hinkle is a therapist licensed in Kansas, Virginia and Washington State.”
Look at her. Young and would not know shit from dirty rice pudding! Sometimes I wonder who the ones are who are fucked in the head.
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January 19, 2025 1:55pm
- imalwaysright
  
  Its called infantilism.
  Watch any American tv program from the last five or ten years and see how adults behave.
  Generally they are weak minded types who undermine strength, ethics and morals for a quick laugh. No heroes anymore, just minorities who live to point out the faults of others. Self defined victims have become the new heroes. The new “role models”.
  
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  January 19, 2025 2:22pm
Chuck Bird

Tim Beverage will be on ZB at 3 pm talking politics and probably taking calls. I wonder if he will be talking local politics or the ME.
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January 19, 2025 2:40pm
- marleybob
  
  Listened to Beverage for a couple minutes, He is terrible and does not hide his left bias. Good tho that he has TDS, that must eat him from the inside.
  
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  January 19, 2025 3:39pm
  - lifesgood
    
    He is so full of himself. Excruciating to listen to and a committed lefty.
    
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    January 19, 2025 7:46pm
  - Chuck Bird
    
    Tim was on holiday. The fill was someone called Roman. You are right about him.
    
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    January 19, 2025 10:54pm
- Countrygirl
  
  I quite like Tim B. It seems to me that he leans to the right a bit, despite what other commenters here say. Crikey there are others like RoMan Travers who are very much more left than Tim.
  
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  January 19, 2025 8:35pm
Steve Otto N Shore

NZCPR. Dr Muriel Newman.
State of the Nation 2025. This is very interesting. It is sending a subtle message to Luxon if you read between the lines.

https://www.nzcpr.com/state-of-the-nation-2025/#more-40364
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January 19, 2025 3:05pm
- MCōs
  
  Half of NZ has been sending subtle messages to the PM
  
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  January 19, 2025 3:23pm
  - Steve Otto N Shore
    
    Yes MCos. Luxon has to go – half of National know this
    National MPs have no balls to stand up to the “fence sitter.”
    
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    January 19, 2025 5:40pm
Swifty

I despair.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/wellington-family-forced-to-close-beloved-store-after-owner-spends-more-than-a-year-in-hospital-after-brutal-assault/7FAYZS3IHJACTB5VYM5VID2XAY/
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January 19, 2025 3:51pm
- Ghost
  
  15 year old refered to youth service, so yeah, I’d get banned if I contine
  
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  January 19, 2025 4:03pm
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  Read the original story…
  
  https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/shock-as-lovely-porirua-shop-owner-fights-for-life-after-assault/44XKTCA2QZGMVFQFKDXF3VELQE/
  
  Three people were involved… but only a 15-year old takes the rap.
  
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  January 19, 2025 5:32pm
  - Countrygirl
    
    Maybe he was the only “man” and the two others were naughty kids, probably with terrible childhoods.
    
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    January 19, 2025 8:44pm
- cmm
  
  What does “adult punishment” even entail?
  
  If you are a criminal then worst case is a short stint in prison. If you are well connected then it could be just hanging out with your mates for a while.
  
  It’s probably a bit more miserable if you are not well connected and don’t have gang protection.
  
  Still, the chances of ending up in prison are remarkably low.
  
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  January 19, 2025 7:19pm
Chuck Bird

Adult crime should mean adult time.

Wellington family forced to close beloved store after owner spends more than a year in hospital after brutal assault

A 15-year-old boy was referred to Youth Services in relation to the assault.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/wellington-family-forced-to-close-beloved-store-after-owner-spends-more-than-a-year-in-hospital-after-brutal-assault/7FAYZS3IHJACTB5VYM5VID2XAY/
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January 19, 2025 3:53pm
MCōs

About ten or more years ago after a coup in Thailand opponents were using Facebook to organize street protests in opposition to the junta
The junta shut down Facebook, but at that time FB was extremely popular for family and friends just sharing messages and selfies.
There was such an uproar that within 40mins it was back up again and it was fobed off as a technical hitch
The owners of TikTok are not stupid and have said the program will stop working on Sunday
Suddenly they’ve been given a 90 day reprieve and the owner is Trump’s new bestie
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January 19, 2025 4:31pm
- MCōs
  
  Apparently it has been shut down in the USA
  Not here though
  https://vt.tiktok.com/ZS6VEYHLs/
  
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  January 19, 2025 5:35pm
Dougal10

I have found this summers cricket enjoyable to watch , but don’t feel like watching today with having to get past all the visual pollution to enjoy the game.
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January 19, 2025 5:05pm
cmm

Upper Hutt dairy owner chases armed robber from store with a stick used as a weapon.

I wonder whether he will be in for the high jump for keeping a weapon behind the counter?

Personally, I think the best weapon for a shopkeeper is a sjambok. These are short whips traditionally made out of rhino hide or hippo hide, but now made from plastic.

A sjambok blow causes debilitating pain and will cause bad bruising, but it would be almost impossible to kill someone. In rare cases they have broken minor bones or put an eye out. They are an excellent less-than-lethal option.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/upper-hutt-dairy-owner-shares-footage-of-awful-attempted-robbery/PANHSD5SHVAABBCAQKPIDIDKBA/
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January 19, 2025 7:16pm

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