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May 12, 2025 8:00am by Kokila Patel

General Debate 12 May 2025

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General Debate

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David Garrett

Good morning from the Kingdom…cooling down quite nicely up here…

Just had a look at Stuffed…not a single “story” I could be bothered looking at…Lorde might do a concert here after all; a guy who could afford overseas treatment for cancer is in remission; why a family moved back here from Oz…
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May 12, 2025 8:07am
- cmm
  
  C’mon DG stop fibbing. We know you’re scrambling to get those Lorde tickets.
  
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  May 12, 2025 8:15am
  - David Garrett
    
    cmm: LOL…I think I’ll live if I miss out mate…
    
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    May 12, 2025 8:27am
    - lifesgood
      
      She looked gaunt and extremely sad at the Met Ball.
      
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      May 12, 2025 9:34am
      - John Loveridge
        
        She’s been babbling on about expanding her gender horizon, or something. She might be about to come out as fashionably non-binary.
        
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        May 12, 2025 4:24pm
    - Suze Wainwright
      
      Did I read your original comment correctly DG – is Lorde thinking of doing a concert in Tonga? If you’re lucky, Jacinda might intro for her…
      
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      May 12, 2025 10:07am
      - imalwaysright
        
        Yes, Lorde with special guest Judas.
        
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        May 12, 2025 2:57pm
- burt
  
  a guy who could afford overseas treatment for cancer is in remission
  
  Isn’t it great we all pay heavily into our state funded health system so that we don’t have a two tier system where some people can afford treatment and others can’t.
  
  Every MP currently in Parliament that has private health insurance should be named and shamed forcing this broken system on us that they don’t tolerate for themselves.
  
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  May 12, 2025 8:40am
  - cmm
    
    “we all pay heavily into our state funded health system”
    
    No “we all” don’t.
    
    Only a very small number of people in NZ are net taxpayers. The vast majority of NZers are tax consumers who just want more hand outs.
    
    Is the NZ health system really supposed to be equitable and give equal outcomes for everyone? I don’t think to. The NZ health system provides a certain level of healthcare. If you want more then you need to pay for it (eg. going private).
    
    If you really want a broken system then get one where everyone can get whatever care they want without paying a cent. That would end up costing us much, much more.
    
    And by “us”, I mean the very small number of net tax payers such as myself. Most NZers would not be paying the extra costs because they aren’t even paying the current costs. They’d just be getting more stuff “for free”.
    
    Unless you’re declaring at least $150k (probably more like $180k) of income then you’re a tax consumer – not a net tax payer.
    
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    May 12, 2025 8:51am
    - Mike
      
      Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
      The concept of ‘net taxpayer’ has no practical implications. It’s just a snarl term.
      
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      May 12, 2025 9:11am
      - David Garrett
        
        That would be one of your more asinine comments…perhaps you don’t understand the concept of receiving more benefits (in monetary terms) than the amount one pays in taxes?
        
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        May 12, 2025 9:32am
      - john1234
        
        Rubbish. You are taking more in services from the government than you are contributing in tax. Therefore you are being subsidised by people who paid attention in school and work harder and smarter than you.
        In other words, productive members of society can’t have nice things because they are being taxed heavily to support people who are unlucky or disadvantaged or stupid or lazy.
        
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        May 12, 2025 9:35am
      - Ian Boag
        
        John …
        
        unlucky or disadvantaged or stupid or lazy
        
        or just plain old …..
        
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        May 12, 2025 9:40am
      - Mike
        
        Can anyone name one policy change that could be practically applied on the basis of whether individuals were net taxpayers or not?
        
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        May 12, 2025 10:49am
      - rouppe
        
        I showed you Treasury figures the other day that showed otherwise.
        
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        May 12, 2025 12:01pm
      - Mike
        
        No practical implications
        
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        May 12, 2025 1:30pm
    - Taieri
      
      then you’re a tax consumer – not a net tax payer.
      ————
      
      Not necessarily as it depends on the individual circumstances. For example, on the basis of income alone, a person without dependents, earning under 74K/year is a net taxpayer, even when receiving an Independent Earner Tax Credit. As for the “stuff for free”, how do we define the “stuff” bit? Anyway, again, not everyone, even on a relatively low income gets any “stuff for free”.
      For example my own income in the last few years was well below median, as I have been working only occasionally (by choice), yet I can’t recall receiving “stuff for free” in any form. I have been paying tax all that time, yet haven’t been to a doctor, haven’t partaken in an education, haven’t received any financial state assistance and haven’t received any tax credits. Does it make me a net tax payer or a net tax consumer?
      
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      May 12, 2025 9:17am
      - David Garrett
        
        Taieri: Every time you drive down a public road – or even right now, commenting here – you are “receiving stuff for free”…
        
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        May 12, 2025 9:35am
      - Taieri
        
        Every time you drive down a public road
        ————–
        
        The RUC are supposed to cover that on state highways and rates everywhere else. I’m paying both.
        
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        May 12, 2025 9:41am
    - Ian Boag
      
      you’re declaring at least $150k
      
      Just curious about where that number comes from
      
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      May 12, 2025 10:11am
    - Fender
      
      Interesting why you claim that figure
      I can understand for example you don’t take the bus so possibly you don’t need to contribute to its subsidy but delineating must be quite hard
      If you shop at a supermarket say and their staff do take the bus are you somehow in some small way not beneficial of those bus subsidies
      Im not disagreeing with you but suspect its not quite so black and white
      
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      May 12, 2025 11:20am
    - cmm
      
      Ian Boag asks how I calculate $150k and, I admit it is a rather hand-wavey calculation.
      
      One way to do so might be to calculate all your taxpayer funded costs through life and how much tax you pay.
      
      You can do that for some of the high ticket items:
      * Schooling: Costs the taxpayer around $4000 per child per year. 12 years. $48000
      * Healthcare through your life: $6000 per person year average (health budget/n people) * 82 years = $492000
      * Super: $26000/year * 17 years (65 to 82) = $442000
      
      Add just those things up and we’re at $982,000 per person per lifetime and we have not even looked at university, transport (other than roads which more or less pay for themselves through RUC), defence, justice, parliament, subsidies for the movie industries,… Let’s just round that up to $1.2M for a number to work with, but it is probably a low-ball number.
      
      Let’s say you have a working life of 40 years (assuming you went to university and maybe did an OE or such). That means that anyone paying less than an AVERAGE of $30k in tax (a low-ball number) through their working lives is a net tax consumer and anyone paying more is a net tax contributor.
      
      $30k is the tax on approximately $120k. OK, so I was off by $30k.
      But, again, I was probably low-balling it.
      
      Remember though that very few people are going to earn an average of $120k in today’s money through their lives.
      
      According to https://figure.nz/chart/UnE8CtjDJuqPUk9U there are around 300,000 people earning the low-ball number of $120k.
      
      That is not many.
      
      If we work with a slightly higher number of $40k per year tax which is probably more accurate then we hit $150k and there are less than 200,000 net taxpayers.
      
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      May 12, 2025 12:39pm
      - Ian Boag
        
        Breakdown of Tax Revenue
        Income Tax (Individuals and Corporate): NZD $77.5 billion (67% of total tax revenue)
        Individuals: NZD $58.9 billion
        Corporate Tax: NZD $18.7 billion
        Goods and Services Tax (GST): NZD $29.2 billion (25% of total tax revenue)
        
        Maybe this affects your calculation?
        
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        May 12, 2025 1:33pm
      - cmm
        
        OK, Ian, let’s roll with that then.
        
        Individual income tax is $58.9 billion. This is not enough to sustain the economy as we are borrowing.
        
        There are around 2.9 million people in the workforce. The average personal income tax is therefore $26700, Anyone paying less than $20300 is, on average, pulling out more than they are making.
        
        Note that the same people are also paying GST. (ie. high earners spend more and are thus paying more GST). They also own more shares so pay more company tax (all company tax really comes out of the pockets of individuals).
        
        So, swings and roundabout. It probably doesn’t move things much.
        
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        May 12, 2025 3:41pm
    - Liberty
      
      john1234
      
      In the context of this thread.
      Is “disadvantaged” The same as leftist with a chip on his/her shoulder?
      
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      May 12, 2025 12:41pm
  - Cassandra
    
    Burt: are you saying we should all have health insurance, subsidised, or are you saying there should be no health insurance? Why can’t I have the treatment I’m willing to pay for?
    
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    May 12, 2025 8:56am
    - burt
      
      Of course you can – but if you are a big advocate of public health systems as most of our MPs are – then why don’t you eat your own dog food?
      
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      May 12, 2025 9:58am
      - Cassandra
        
        I see where you’re coming from. But National and Act MPs are not being hypocritical, in that they support free enterprise and are realists re nsatiable health demand. Labour MPs somewhat less a.
        
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        May 12, 2025 12:31pm
      - Paulus
        
        How many of our MPs have Health Insurance (on the quiet) ?
        
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        May 12, 2025 2:14pm
    - sirknz
      
      If you are an elected representative living off the public purse, your kids should be in a public school and your healthcare should be in the public system. That way you and your family are personally affected by the policies you are pushing.
      
      If you are a private citizen, pay for whatever you want.
      
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      May 12, 2025 12:06pm
      - Michael Sommerville
        
        Not so. If you are a right wing MP, why should you have to put up with the dreadful public education system that won’t change because of the power of the education unions.
        
        If you are Labour, Green or TPM you most certainly should have your children in the public system because that is what you advocate.
        
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        May 12, 2025 3:47pm
  - peterwn
    
    Not sure that any mainstream private health insurer in NZ would pay for overseas treatment (there could be a few exceptions).
    Unfortunately the state health system has never been able to provide all the treatments that people wish for and there has always been specialists who provide treatment outside the public system.
    Back in the 1960’s senior trade unionists would do a pilgrimage to Russia (many were Russian aligned communists) and the Russians would quite happily provide them with any elective surgery that was reasonably needed.
    While trying to shame politicians with health insurance seems to be a noble thing, public disclosure of whether any person has health insurance is a breach of privacy.
    
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    May 12, 2025 8:59am
    - imalwaysright
      
      I think the MPs get health insurance as part of their package. Apparently it extends to stomach stapling and laser sight correction.
      
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      May 12, 2025 9:06am
      - David Garrett
        
        Imalways: I very much doubt that is the case…it certainly wasn’t during my time
        
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        May 12, 2025 9:12am
      - john1234
        
        Laser vision correction is long gone from private medical insurance cover in NZ.
        
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        May 12, 2025 9:36am
      - imalwaysright
        
        DG
        Looks like I’m wrong.
        That’s a blow to the nom de plume…
        
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        May 12, 2025 9:48am
      - peterwn
        
        Doubt it. Anyway employers must pay FBT on employer provided health insurance which could be at a.higher rate than the employee’s marginal tax rate.
        
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        May 12, 2025 10:43am
      - rangitoto
        
        Employers get a group discount from Health Insurance providers. I assume the deal depends on the number of employees. I know I would be paying a lot more for Health Insurance if I was in an individual scheme.
        
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        May 12, 2025 1:04pm
    - Inandout
      
      peter, the MP perks and such are outlined here.
      https://www.remauthority.govt.nz/members-of-parliament/members-of-parliament-remuneration
      
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      May 12, 2025 10:28am
  - rockape
    
    Your quite at liberty to pay extra for private health insurance as others do.
    
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    May 12, 2025 9:07am
    - Ian Boag
      
      When we finally signed off a couple of years ago it was costing us $1200/month for a pretty standard sort of policy as I recall.
      
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      May 12, 2025 9:24am
      - Ian Boag
        
        And before we get to make keen noises about private care …. I had a fall and trashed my left shoulder about 6 weeks ago. Rotator cuff damage. Maybe a surgery job if I’m not too old and decrepit.
        
        The earliest orthopod date(for a consult) was offered was September, although that has since been upgraded to July. I didn’t bother with the public system or asking ACC. Based on prior experience ACC will decline it on the basis that the damage is supposedly degenerative.
        
        I would guess – if surgery is what happens – it would be another month or three after the consult based on my experience of 15 years ago when I trashed the same shoulder the same way.
        
        All private ….
        
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        May 12, 2025 9:51am
  - Paulus
    
    We should get tax deductible for the premiums we pay for Medical Insurance , as othe countries do, as it would help take some off the pressure off the National Health service.
    
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    May 12, 2025 11:57am
    - judith8409121
      
      and – if anyone wants to think about places where gst is abhorrent its the addition of gst on life saving or health correcting surgery – having to pay 15% on top of a surgical procedure that relieves injury/pain/degeneration or any other form of degradation is abhorrent . i’ve paid for 2 surgeries this year to improve my standard of life and to have the government clip the gst ticket on these is appalling. and i don’t have any insurance – but the savings i made on not having insurance is greater than this cost. on the positive side – given i was paying out of my own pocket i got these surgeries scheduled in short order.
      
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      May 12, 2025 12:32pm
- Simon
  
  Just wait until mid late morning for NZ herald to drop a few feral crime stories which say nothing and are quickly forgotten about.
  
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  May 12, 2025 10:07am
- rouppe
  
  Currently in the 30’s here in Bangkok. Going up to Kanchanaburi today to have a look at the River Kwai bridge.
  
  Afternoon gets very hot and heavy rain so going in the morning. Stay overnight and come back tomorrow.
  
  Looking forward to a Muay Thai event on Wednesday.
  
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  May 12, 2025 11:55am
  - Ra Henare
    
    Just back from a visit to Thailand.
    Old friends in Phuket, Koh Samui, Jomtein
    Marijuana smoke everywhere that tourists visit.
    Don’t regret for one minute my decision to leave Thailand all those years ago.
    
    Couldnt wait to get back to Cambodia.
    Yes, its the wet season in SE Asia.
    Personally very happy with the wet season, daily downpour clears the air and washes dust off the roads.
    
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    May 12, 2025 3:53pm
    - Ra Henare
      
      PS. Cost of living in Siem Reap is lower than the 3 places I visited in Thailand(Plus Bangkok).
      
      Check out
      https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/
      
      That doesnt include the Visa costs and convenience.!!!! Cambodia beats Thailand by a country mile on this issue.
      
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      May 12, 2025 5:00pm
    - rouppe
      
      Yes I’d heard about the drug reform. Not seen it particularly but I’m not frequenting the go-go bars either.
      
      Later this week going to Hua Hin for 2 months to see whether I like it as a plan b for when the Greens and TPM are next in Parliament, whenever that might be.
      
      I could reconnoiter Cambodia at another time…
      
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      May 12, 2025 5:13pm
- Ra Henare
  
  Seems Kiwiblog is turning into an international weather station. …Smiles…
  
  ie reports of weather in Tonga and Thailand.
  
  So in the spirit. Siem Reap, Cambodia.
  This morning, 11am local, 27c. High forecast 31.
  
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  May 12, 2025 3:58pm
G the giant from Dunedin

Ghez, I wonder what vulgarities the media and Labour have for us this week?
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May 12, 2025 8:08am
- Simon
  
  It’s just a MSM game for the plebs to think National & Labo are not joined at hip 98% of the time.
  
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  May 12, 2025 10:08am
Maggy Wassilieff

Professor Rob MacCulloch reads Kiwiblog:

https://www.downtoearth.kiwi/post/downtoearth-kiwi-labelled-bitter-twisted-leftists-thereby-achieving-our-non-partisan-reporting
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May 12, 2025 8:26am
- David Garrett
  
  Maggy: I have no idea who this bloke is (and can’t be bothered trying to navigate Google on my phone to find out) but he seems to be a tad oversensitive…attributing ONE comment he didn’t like to “Kiwiblog readers”.
  
  But in the bigger picture, unless things have changed markedly since my time both the major parties monitor KB closely
  
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  May 12, 2025 8:35am
  - Cassandra
    
    DG: he’s an economics prof at U of A and a prominent critic of government inaction. Adviser to Roger Douglas. A tad strident but he’s in a hurry.
    
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    May 12, 2025 8:59am
    - artemisia
      
      Yep, in a hurry. The coalition government is not helped by the burgeoning lawfare and biased media when they do make or propose quite sweeping changes, (and sometimes by being a coalition).
      
      Just do it. And don’t overlook ridicule as a weapon of war.
      
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      May 12, 2025 10:20am
  - G the giant from Dunedin
    
    I hope that Twerp Hipkins is not checking into kiwiblog, I come here to get away from his petulance.
    
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    May 12, 2025 9:17am
    - [email protected]
      
      Unless Hipkins is a masochist he won’t be checking KiwiBlog very often.
      
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      May 12, 2025 1:32pm
  - Ghost
    
    He’s a fruitcake that makes shit up to get views from the gullible who believe him. One example is claiming that Orr could file a wrongful dismissal for his resignation. He’s also claimed no nz personal were cleaning up the navy’s mess in Samoa when they were. Claimed the clean up was stopped when the king was there, the guy likes to make up shit for the gullible readers who believe him. Doesn’t matter who he used to be or is, he’s not worth reading because of his inability to be factual. It also appears from his latest he is a bitter old man because national won’t appoint him to anything, Bassett, Brash & Hide’s won’t publish his crap.
    
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    May 12, 2025 9:20am
    - Paulus
      
      Bet Orr in cancelling his contract 4 years early got one hell of a Payout, as arranged in his new contract with Robertson, he received before the election.
      
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      May 12, 2025 2:18pm
    - Ghost
      
      Looks like he’s delusional and making up more shit. Now claiming threats from national, labour and big business are causing him to close down, bullshit, you got caught lying too many times.
      
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      May 12, 2025 8:22pm
  - David Garrett
    
    I have just had the extraordinary experience of hearing a robot recite a comment I made here earlier…I have no idea how that happened…does anyone know how that works?
    
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    May 12, 2025 9:39am
    - imalwaysright
      
      Ask the robot…
      
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      May 12, 2025 11:38am
  - lifesgood
    
    Where he went wrong was making his comments very personal naming Mike Hosking among others as people who should not receive benefits like the same fees at Uni for his children. He failed to mention that most rich people pay lots more taxes than others. Kerre Woodham said on this morning’s programme she was dumb founded by what he said and was left gulping and unable to respond. I’m sorry if he feels unfairly maligned but I’m sure so would the people he mentioned.
    
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    May 12, 2025 11:52am
  - slijmbal
    
    @DavidG
    The irony of McCulloch whingeing about being accused of whingeing is not lost.
    
    He doesn’t appear to be partisan so that criticism is unfair and he has put the boot in to Labour on many occasions. He is doing similar to the coalition.
    
    In this case I think he is wrong. NZ’s bank capital requirements are seen as very conservative on a global basis. Conservative capital requirements translate to cost and reduced competition. In this Willis is correct. McCulloch is falling in to the conspiracy theory trap of reverse engineering a bunch of activities into nefarious actions and motives when a much more simple explanation is likely. We have too high a capital requirement and that is an issue. Hanlen’s and Occam’s razors apply here.
    
    I’ve no doubt the Ozzie banks lobby but that doesn’t change the facts of our overly conservative capital requirements limiting the ability of smaller banks to compete. If I were an Ozzie bank I actually wouldn’t lobby to reduce capital requirements as they make excess profits in NZ anyway and they limit the local competition. Regulation often favours the larger incumbent.
    
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    May 12, 2025 12:44pm
- Ruahine
  
  It is interesting that the only “part Maori” that the taxpayer “media” are allowed to criticise are Winston Peters and David Seymour.
  
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  May 12, 2025 9:05am
  - pdm
    
    Ruahine you can add Casey Costello and Nicole McKee to that list.
    
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    May 12, 2025 9:33am
    - G the giant from Dunedin
      
      Yes, and the filthy bullying of the ministry for naughty kids of naughty parents
      
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      May 12, 2025 10:56am
- Simon
  
  My god he is so boring. Nothing insight.
  
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  May 12, 2025 10:10am
- RdM
  
  Professor Rob MacCulloch reads Kiwiblog:
  
  And bows out …
  
  https://www.downtoearth.kiwi/post/downtoearth-kiwi-closing-today-due-to-threats-from-the-national-labour-parties-big-business-nz-i
  
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  May 12, 2025 9:27pm
cmm

As expected, the South African government is not considering those leaving South Africa to go to America as valid refugees.

What constitutes valid refugee status – other than a propensity for shoplifting?

Every South African family can rattle off ten or more violent acts and race-based acts that have happened to them and their families in the last few years.

Here in NZ, you’ve probably read or heard of someone that has been robbed at gunpoint. It is extremely unlikely that you have had that happen within your family and even less likely it has happened numerous times.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/white-south-africans-due-for-us-resettlement-set-to-leave/NZEW5YVEE5GTRJYVXW47CQZU5Q/
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May 12, 2025 8:27am
- Tauhei Notts
  
  CMM, your comments are almost always welcomed, but your second paragraph (above) is priceless.
  
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  May 12, 2025 9:02am
  - cmm
    
    I just couldn’t avoid the dig.
    
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    May 12, 2025 9:05am
  - peterwn
    
    Doubt it. Anyway employers must pay FBT on employer provided health insurance which could be at a.higher rate than the employee’s marginal tax rate.
    
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    May 12, 2025 10:45am
    - peterwn
      
      Sorry, this got here by accident Mods please delete.
      
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      May 12, 2025 11:20am
- Dudley Quaffquaff
  
  This is what the US requires, it seems to be pretty typical:
  
  a genuine reason to fear being persecuted in your home country due to one of the five grounds: race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion
  
  You’ve demonstrated that South Africans have good reasons to fear crime, but that’s not the same thing as persecution, and I doubt that rich white South Africans are more, certainly not most, likely to be crime victims compared to other groups there.
  
  But anyway, why does it matter what the government of South Africa says about whether or not somebody who’s leaving, does so as a refugee? Claiming refugee status doesn’t oblige a country to allow its own citizens to leave. The opinion of the government of the country that would-be refugees are fleeing from has no bearing on the rights and obligations of the country they want to flee to. If the US wishes to amend its criteria for accepting immigration, whether by changing its definition of “refugee status” or otherwise, that’s up to them, provided the laws are adopted, implemented and enforced in accordance with their Constitution.
  
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  May 12, 2025 9:26am
Maggy Wassilieff

Green-washing, virtue-signalling food waste…

https://centrist.nz/the-1440-per-tonne-climate-illusion-aucklands-food-scrap-bins-dont-add-up/
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May 12, 2025 8:35am
- cmm
  
  But, but, but, it feelz right.
  
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  May 12, 2025 8:39am
- sirknz
  
  You just need to drive down any street on rubbish day to see how few of these bins are actually put out. They are an absolute waste of ratepayer money and it is just a cash cow for Waste (mis)Management.
  
  Their next hairbrained scheme is to reduce the rubbish c0llection to fortnightly but you can guarantee that there will be no reduction in the rates bill when that happens.
  
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  May 12, 2025 12:11pm
imalwaysright

S

The Under 16 social media ban is actually a bill that requires everyone who is OVER 16 to prove their identity.

Basically it is the government granting some of us permission to use the internet.

Dangerous.
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May 12, 2025 8:44am
- cmm
  
  I thought they hadn’t figured out the details. Likely they don’t want to because it is just feelz-good tub-thumping.
  
  Whatever they come up with won’t work – even if it uses a national id. Parents will feel pressured into logging kids in.
  
  There is a social media attached to almost every game and numerous kids get bullied while playing Xbox etc.
  
  Good luck trying to take that away from kids. A very large number of parents encourage their kids to play games to get the kids out of their hair. Good luck taking it away from parents.
  
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  May 12, 2025 9:10am
  - imalwaysright
    
    “I thought they hadn’t figured out the details.”
    
    How else could they determine the only criterion?
    Everyone over 16 must have to prove that they are over 16.
    Kids under 16 won’t be filling in an application to prove that they don’t comply, that would be futile.
    
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    May 12, 2025 9:23am
  - Paulus
    
    We all have a National ID with our number for the Health Service.
    I have my WW2 ID card too.
    
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    May 12, 2025 12:00pm
- G the giant from Dunedin
  
  So how does it work now with the ban on under 13’s
  
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  May 12, 2025 9:19am
  - pdm
    
    G I doubt it does.
    
    13 year olds are technologically smart and get round such bans quickly and easily.
    
    Actually 10 year olds will too in all probability.
    
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    May 12, 2025 9:36am
    - G the giant from Dunedin
      
      You doubt it does? but everyone knows this wont work?
      
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      May 12, 2025 10:57am
    - Anthony Melchett
      
      Why would you let your 10 year old near a device with access to social media?
      
      Bat, ball, trampoline and books.
      
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      May 12, 2025 11:26am
      - imalwaysright
        
        A M
        
        “Why would you let your 10 year old near a device with access to social media?”
        
        Summed up nicely-its the parents responsibility. And no business of the government.
        
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        May 12, 2025 3:08pm
imalwaysright

There are two things missing from the pay parity debate:

The actual man and the actual woman who are paid different rates for the same job.
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May 12, 2025 8:45am
- mandk
  
  I think you are wrong in this instance.
  
  The current furore is about what people in entirely different jobs (e.g. classroom assistants cf corrections officers) are paid.
  
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  May 12, 2025 9:10am
  - G the giant from Dunedin
    
    One comparison I heard this week was cleaners at the UNI with professors ffs, how is that in anyway comparative?
    
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    May 12, 2025 9:20am
    - Jethrod
      
      Well if you didn’t have cleaners the professors would be in the poo, and wouldn’t know what to do.
      
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      May 12, 2025 9:41am
    - Mike
      
      Citation required. Presumably your comparison was from someone who believes all occupations should be equally remunerated.
      
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      May 12, 2025 10:52am
  - imalwaysright
    
    Mandk
    
    Yes, of course I am wrong, but only because the basic premise of equality has been morphed into a litany of ridiculous comparisons.
    Just making the point.
    
    This is another episode in the reality show.
    Previous episodes include:
    Pedo in Parliament?
    Where’s My School Lunch?
    Jerry’s Parliament Antics
    Your Missus is a Man
    ….
    
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    May 12, 2025 9:40am
- cmm
  
  It gets even more interesting when you add Maori/non-Maori into the mix.
  Most of these stats are generated by just looking at average earnings – not by doing a 1:1 apples-to-apples comparison.
  
  The average Maori is very different from the average non-Maori. There is of course all the school-wagging etc which reduces outcomes for Maori.
  
  Then there’s the fact that the average Maori is 11 years younger than the average non-Maori. That is 11 years less experience in the workplace. Of course that translates into less pay.
  
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  May 12, 2025 9:18am
  - G the giant from Dunedin
    
    Thats the argument, pay equity is the same career comparing women to men, anything else to do with low pay is wage bargaining that usually happens annually.
    
    The howls and lies from Labour last week suggesting that women teachers at 63% now do not get the same as men. really? teachers are on a scale with experience, pretty sure men and women teachers are treated the same, don’t the vulgar unions not like merit base salary settings?
    
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    May 12, 2025 9:24am
    - cmm
      
      If they are not getting the same then they should have the pitchforks out to the Union loving Ardern government.
      
      If you just glob together all teachers then yes, men will likely get more pay than women and this is most likely because the ratio of men in higher paying roles is higher.
      
      Senior school teachers are paid more than primary school teachers who are in turn paid more than ECE “teachers”.
      
      Senior school teachers are 39% male, but primary are 14% male and in ECE only 3% are male.
      
      A male teacher is also more likely to be a head of school or head of department.
      
      Therefore males are skewed heavily towards teaching in senior schools and to more senior roles which are higher paid.
      
      So… no wonder male teachers earn more on average than female teachers.
      
      To make the discussion vaguely valid, comparisons need to be done at an apples to apples level.
      
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      May 12, 2025 1:54pm
- Simon
  
  Raise the pay for female centric jobs and men will from dangerous outside jobs move into these roles. Night road crews in all weather for eg seem to be men.
  
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  May 12, 2025 10:13am
- Colville
  
  imalways….
  
  Unlike equal pay which compares men and women doing the same job, pay equity is about recognising and correcting for the fact that some female-dominated workforces have been historically underpaid and undervalued due to sex-based discrimination. Our Government supports that principle.
  
  From Nicola Willis…
  
  https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360685338/pay-equity-enough-slurs-now-some-facts
  
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  May 12, 2025 10:26am
- G the giant from Dunedin
  
  If you go to Chris Bishops FB page, he has put up an article written by Nicola Willis calling out the lies by Media and unions, apparently her and her other woman misters have been called the C word by rotten media, and utter disgrace, but she explains the facts perfectly, and some women commenting are now relieved they have seen the article and understand it better now the media filth is put to one side
  
  [Mod – link to article and post added]
  
  Pay equity: Enough with the slurs, now for some facts
  
  https://www.facebook.com/ChrisBishopMP/
  
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  May 12, 2025 11:00am
peterwn

Boy Racers – the promise to crush cars Judith Collins style is back on the table but with the usual dilemma – why crush perfectly good cars? So the only cars that would be potentially be crushed are end of life cars that are not worth scrapping for parts. So hopefully for Chris Bishop some suitable candidates come along so they can be crushed with big fanfare. The vast majority of confiscated cars would probably quietly turn up at Turners (if suitable for resale) or would be scrapped for useful parts (generally doors etc for panelbeaters).
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May 12, 2025 8:47am
- Mike
  
  It’s an announcement for show.
  
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  May 12, 2025 9:14am
  - G the giant from Dunedin
    
    Why ffs, Collins got tough and crushed one car and boy racing slowed and was not heard of for a while, it’s the labour way to announce shit and do absolutely nothing about it, like the 2.9 billion for mental health yet no one knows where the money went.
    
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    May 12, 2025 9:28am
- G the giant from Dunedin
  
  Problem with organised boy racers is if they see the car sold latter they will simply take back their asset, and even if they have destroyed it, they are destroying their vehicle, a big worry for the new owner.
  
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  May 12, 2025 9:26am
  - cmm
    
    “Problem with organised boy racers is if they see the car sold latter they will simply take back their asset”
    
    You mean steal it? It isn’t “their asset” any more.
    Theft of a motor vehicle is still a crime, even if the cops don’t seem to care.
    
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    May 12, 2025 2:01pm
- MCōs
  
  I have looked up Judith Collins’ autobiography to see what she had to say on the matter and on page 137
  ‘I said at the time that the proof of success would be how few would need to be crushed’
  and
  ‘’It is clear that illegal street racing has been seriously curtailed”
  No mention of not wanting to destroy perfectly good cars, but there’s a problem with the involvement of finance companies, which is most of them.
  She also said
  ‘The secret to the law change was to require a ‘three strikes and you’re out’ approach’
  All adds up to few car being crushed in the last 16yrs
  
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  May 12, 2025 9:36am
  - peterwn
    
    So in most cases the car will just be surrendered to the finance company who will arrange a sale with surplus if any going to the Crown.
    
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    May 12, 2025 11:31am
    - MCōs
      
      The daughter of a friend of ours down in Paraparaumu had her car stolen. It was found by the police a day or two later abandoned on the side of the road in pitiful condition.
      It was only ever worth just a few thousand dollars, but now it wasn’t worth a bag of beans due to horrendous mistreatment by boy racers or similar
      
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      May 12, 2025 12:06pm
- Ian
  
  It’s not necessarily so that all cars will be destroyed – “Drivers who participate in street races will have their vehicles destroyed or forfeited in the majority of cases under new legislation announced by the Government today.”
  
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  May 12, 2025 10:43am
- Bobba Fret
  
  I think Judith Collins only crushed about one car? That may well be enough to send a message. I guess if the cars are good for spare parts etc. the boy racers should lose them but they are given to panel beaters / mechanics for parts.
  
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  May 12, 2025 11:17am
- imalwaysright
  
  I wonder if they can use the same legal mechanism to pre sentence baby bashers and baby killers.
  
  I also wonder if they can use the same mechanical mechanism to execute the sentence.
  
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  May 12, 2025 11:46am
RoboRob

Good on ACT for standing up to National over gun rules review. It appears National just wanted to tidy the Labour system and the review is going to be a whitewash. Not really my area but refreshing to see a more principled approach.
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May 12, 2025 8:51am
- pdm
  
  RR – National prove once again they are Labour Lite and a party willing to endorse mediocrity.
  
  They will not tackle the hard stuff that needs attention.
  
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  May 12, 2025 9:38am
  - G the giant from Dunedin
    
    Oh FFS, labour lite? all that is happening is the police minister disagrees about scrapping the registry, does this really matter? I am so sick of this crap, why is it so bad to have the registry?
    
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    May 12, 2025 9:54am
    - Keith White
      
      Because the registry is a shopping list for thieves and a home invasion address list for gangs as soon as it is leaked – and it will be – by one of the Blue Patched Gang (see for example, the case of Vili Mahe Taukolo broke his police oath by selling information from the police database to criminals – Stuff, Dec 2019).
      
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      May 12, 2025 8:19pm
    - kiwimike
      
      G
      Clearly you are not a Lawful gun owner !
      how about talk to a few Like I have.
      They are decent Kiwis and make sense.
      The NZ Police have no trust in that community for a reason….
      
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      May 13, 2025 4:39am
RoboRob

Previously I commented that if National really wanted the social media ban for kids they wouldn’t have put it in as a members bill. I implied that this was just virtue signalling. I would like to take that back, as it appears the issue is ACT refusing to support the bill. National probably could have got it in with support from Labour but clearly didn’t want to go down that track.
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May 12, 2025 8:53am
- G the giant from Dunedin
  
  Nats have already stated they will get support from the left, it was always a member’s bill, and Seymour said let’s see what happens in Aussie with the same bill, well this bill may never be pulled from the biscuit tin, and if it does, they will have seen what happens in Aussie.
  
  How do they have the cheek to ban under 13’s now?
  
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  May 12, 2025 9:31am
Maggy Wassilieff

Duncan Garner introduces us to the very limited, but expletive-laden vocabulary of TPM-co-leader, Debbie Ngarewa Packer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mErMSXAG3I
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May 12, 2025 9:03am
- David Garrett
  
  Mags: Yes, lovely isn’t she? A right flower of wahine-hood
  
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  May 12, 2025 9:16am
  - pdm
    
    Maggy and DG.
    
    It must be the Irish 75% (or more) expressing itself. lol.
    
    27 1
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    May 12, 2025 9:41am
    - mandk
      
      Agreed.
      
      Colleen’s girl should wash out her mouth with soap.
      
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      May 12, 2025 9:59am
    - kowtow
      
      Oi !
      
      For a ‘I’m all things indigeous’ , there’s an awful lotta Anglo Saxon going on there , and not much , if any ‘as gaeilge’.
      
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      May 12, 2025 3:47pm
  - AitchW
    
    What a disgrace she is. Doesn’t want her mother to hear it.
    When will the Maori Party grow up?
    Foul mouthed and barely coherent tirades like that impress no-one except a small group of activist supporters.
    
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    May 12, 2025 11:22am
- PurplePen
  
  OK, I watched. You know, not a single word of Maori except for whanau. Odd. Even the swear-words weren’t Maori, they were the usual anglo-saxon.
  
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  May 12, 2025 11:21am
- Rich Prick
  
  I’m none the wiser as to what has upset that charming woman. Effective communicator, no.
  
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  May 12, 2025 12:25pm
I remember when

Nick Hanne: Keep calm and carry on sapeaking: Breaking Views.
“But how do we do this in the online world, where respectful discourse often takes a back seat to the spiteful vitriol of the anonymous trolls?
Understandably, many women feel vulnerable in this hostile environment…”

This type of behaviour is totally unacceptable, but highlighting it often means dismisssing the other online problematic behaviour to which women appear to be enthusiastic contributors.
The piling into those who express opinions with which they disagree, often having the potential to permanently restrict contrary arguments and have serious consequences for those targeted.

Which problem most often has a damaging outcome?
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May 12, 2025 9:07am
sungsamning

https://redstate.com/jenvanlaar/2025/05/11/breaking-white-house-announces-trade-deal-with-china-n2188943
BREAKING: White House Announces Trade Deal With China.
It turns out that Secretary Treasury Scott Bessent was more than hinting at being close to striking a deal with China during trade talks in Switzerland, as my colleague Bob Hoge reported. The White House sent out a press release Sunday afternoon announcing a “China Trade Deal in Geneva.”
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May 12, 2025 9:46am
sungsamning

https://spectator.org/mark-carney-is-incredibly-dangerous/
Mark Carney Is Incredibly Dangerous.
Justin Trudeau will be remembered as the most unserious man ever to hold serious power in Canada. He governed by press release, ruled by emotion, and floated through crisis after crisis with nothing but slogans and an empty smile. He invoked the Emergencies Act against working-class protesters, locked down the country for years, and divided citizens by class, jab status, and belief. But Mark Carney represents something far more dangerous.

The 60-year-old didn’t rise through politics. He was not elected. He was installed — by the very institutions that profit most from technocratic control and public obedience. Goldman Sachs. The Bank of Canada. The Bank of England. The Financial Stability Board. The World Economic Forum. Bilderberg. The Trilateral Commission. The Council for Inclusive Capitalism. This is a man who has spent his entire adult life inside the machinery of global finance and elite governance. Now, he’s running a country. Carney is no fool. He speaks in the hushed tones of central bankers. He uses the sterile vocabulary of “sustainability,” “transition,” and “inclusive growth.” But behind the euphemisms is a blueprint for absolute control.
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May 12, 2025 9:46am
- Lance
  
  Your daily shilling for MAGA has reached new levels of unhinged.
  Pure conspiracy theory drivel… wicked Canada, the enemy to the North… must be resisted with force (or some such crap to follow)
  
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  May 12, 2025 2:56pm
  - All_on_Red
    
    No where in that post was Maga mentioned
    Trump is living rent free in your head
    
    And Samsung is right about Carney being a WEF stooge. Do some research- for once.
    
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    May 12, 2025 4:56pm
    - sungsamning
      
      Nailed it. Thanks.
      
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      May 12, 2025 6:41pm
  - sungsamning
    
    No, just pointing out the ‘managed decline’ routine being adhered to in the UK, Oz, and Canada.
    
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    May 12, 2025 6:40pm
artemisia

Spinoff today – Nationwide protests and a wave of critical commentary have followed the government’s sudden overhaul of pay equity legislation, writes Catherine McGregor

Doesn’t take a big look to see that the unions are mobilising to protect their raison d’être. And subs.

The nationwide protests and critical commentary are mostly from those who think they have skin in the game, or can manufacture said skin. Some seem to think the whole initiative is goneburger.

Do any of them actually take a step back, have a decent look at the plan and its costs, then consider why the now surpassed scheme was at times so ridiculous.

(I asked a few outraged people on the Treaty hikoi if they had read the Bill. Zero had.)
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May 12, 2025 9:53am
- G the giant from Dunedin
  
  You only need to look at the protest that appeared at the end of last week, and the health protest for doctors the week before, the same potty faces, the same no hoper old bats, it was extremely telling in the doctor’s case, not one appeared to be doctors
  
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  May 12, 2025 9:58am
- imalwaysright
  
  As to your treaty bill comment, I’ve noticed that the activists never refer to the treaty, instead they give their interpretation of the treaty.
  Its a clearly written document, you would think that most people would have no trouble reading what it says and all having the same conclusion.
  (That begs the question- how many people have actually read it?)
  
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  May 12, 2025 10:43am
- peterwn
  
  Nicola called it a ‘Trojan Horse’. It might look OK but in reality gives the unions the upper hand in pay setting. Factoring in this into the Budget was going to give Nicola a A grade headache. A *real* finance minister would never have allowed it. But then Robbo had no clue what a real finance minister was all about.
  
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  May 12, 2025 11:39am
  - cmm
    
    Nicola Willis tells everyone she can that she’s a Blue Green (or was that a Green Blue?).
    So why the hell are you surprised? She hasn’t pulled a bait and switch. Se’s doing exactly what it says on the packet.
    
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    May 12, 2025 12:50pm
- slijmbal
  
  “Nationwide protests”?
  
  I saw two people with badly constructed placards that couldn’t be read, being ignored by passers by.
  
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  May 12, 2025 1:19pm
mogg

According to UK DT, a trade deal has been reached between US and China after weekend negotiations in
Switzerland. Also Qatar has gifted Trump a $400 million jet in place of Air Force One.
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May 12, 2025 10:16am
Chuck Bird

This is about taxpayers’ money spent to save the planet.

John McLean: FREE SH*T JUNKIES

New Zealand is blighted by elite levels of shameless, fruitless sponging from our public purse

https://www.bassettbrashandhide.com/post/john-mclean-free-sh-t-junkies
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May 12, 2025 10:49am
- Don Beckett
  
  See Luxon’s beaming face in that last photo. I wonder how much he has personally invested in the rip-off ? Oh, that’s right, nothing – he just uses tax payer funds.
  As long as long as this sort of crap continues, the fewer tax payers will remain in NZ. Luxon will be out next election at this rate.
  
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  May 12, 2025 12:29pm
  - Chuck Bird
    
    Luxon needs to support our farmers, but polling and focus groups indicate there are more votes in climate change alarmism.
    
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    May 12, 2025 1:47pm
- cmm
  
  “investing” always sounds so much wiser than “spending”.
  
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  May 12, 2025 12:48pm
Jack5

Ve vill vipe out every last one of dese pests!

On Red Radio this morning, we heard a suggestion that carbon credits could finance possum killing. The argument: possums eat tree leaves. If the leaves aren’t eaten trees grow more wood. This soaks up more carbon.

Credits would help pay the $30 million a year spent to eradicate rats, possums, stoats, wild cats etc from New Zealand by 2050. More money will be needed.

Estimates are as high as $8 billion to achieve the 2050 goal.

Carbon credits for possum killing was discussed today by a spokesman for Predator Free 2050 Ltd, one of the Government-owned Predator Free companies.

It would be up to the Government to engineer how credit could be obtained from savers of carbon.

In South Westland, pest killers notice greater growth in trees after reduction in possum numbers.

The goal of the Predator Free New Zealand Trust, set up in 2013 by Gareth Morgan, Rob Fenwick and others:

To connect and energise all New Zealanders towards a predator-free Aotearoa New Zealand to enable our native species to thrive.

John Key, as Prime Minister, picked up the campaign in 2016, with a $28 million investment in Predator Free New Zealand Ltd, saying:

“Our ambition is that by 2050 every single part of New Zealand will be completely free of rats, stoats and possums.

“This is the most ambitious conservation project attempted anywhere in the world, but we believe if we all work together as a country we can achieve it.”

Key said the Government was already spending $60m to $80m a year on pest control, and that it would look at putting in $1 for every $2 local councils and the private sector put in.

Supporters of the 2050 crusade often cite the increase in native birds in Wellington, and now Auckland.

The bourgeoisie back the total-elimination crusade.

The (25 min) talk with Katherine Ryan:

https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2018986744/predator-free-2050

John Key kicks off Government help:

https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/new-zealand-be-predator-free-2050
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May 12, 2025 10:52am
- artemisia
  
  New York has been trialling contraceptive bait for rats. Anything similar happening here? Seems an economical solution. esp if we can piggyback on NYC.
  
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  May 12, 2025 1:36pm
  - cmm
    
    I’ve never understood the idea of contraception on pests.
    If they’re dead they won’t reproduce either.
    
    6 2
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    May 12, 2025 2:07pm
    - NeverMindTheBollocks
      
      Rats aren’t going to practice safe sex. And just think of the rubber pollution problem.
      
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      May 12, 2025 8:35pm
  - Jack5
    
    If it were possible to exterminate every rat in the country, new pioneers would arrive by ship.
    
    Cruise ship port visits alone are running about 1100 a year, and then there are cargo ships, tankers, fishing boats, naval vessels.
    
    Intensive rat control is practised in the Canadian prairie province of Alberta. The frozen lands to the north and mountains to the west mean control concentrates on two borders. You’re not allowed to own even a pet rat.
    
    The fight to control rats can never end.
    
    https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/75-years-of-alberta-s-mission-to-keep-rats-at-bay-1.7531268
    
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    May 12, 2025 2:16pm
PurplePen

Chris Abercrombie president PPTA writes in the Herald about what teachers need from the budget. I’m surprised he doesn’t use the Maori for budget as he does for just about any other noun related to his field – Aotearoa, kaiako, tamariki, rangatahi, taonga – which is what the students are – ka Ora ka Ora, whanau, alpha, akonga…

The education of children seems to border on apocalypse … there’s the ever-changing world, the rise of AI, a wave of increasing student needs, worsening student behaviour, intense workloads, mental health, the need for school nurses, social workers, counsellors, young people facing unrelenting levels of stress and trauma, skyrocketed altered education waiting lists.

A precis for Abercrombie is we’re f…ked!!!

Except in all the families I know none of the extreme issues above are visible. The kids are mostly well-rounded, seem to enjoy life including school. My assessment would be, that if Abercrombie’s view is somehow real, the source of the issues is parenting.
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May 12, 2025 10:58am
NothingLeft

Trump looking to pass an executive order tomorrow to stop US consumers paying any more for medicines than lowest price charged in any other country around the world.

Big Pharma won’t be pleased, nor will all the senators and congressmen receiving angry calls from lobbyists who had paid them off to ensure they were protected.
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May 12, 2025 10:59am
- Mike
  
  Price controls will eliminate higher costs to consumers from tariffs!
  
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  May 12, 2025 1:33pm
Swifty

A very good and welcome piece from Willis regarding the pay equity debate:

https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360685338/pay-equity-enough-slurs-now-some-facts

I liked her reference to the union’s Trojan horse.
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May 12, 2025 11:20am
Poppax8

On a different note, so pleased for Ryan Fox! https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/360685305/ryan-fox-wins-myrtle-beach-classic-pga-tour-after-chip-birdie-first-playoff-hole
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May 12, 2025 12:07pm
Swifty

Why would Luxon et al consult with the Labour Party policy unit otherwise known as the Ministry for Women – we all know damn well what they will say and what position they will side with:

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/560677/christopher-luxon-won-t-say-if-ministry-for-women-consulted-on-pay-equity-changes-rushed-into-law

Quite why this extreme-left ministry wasn’t abolished in the first 100 days is beyond me.
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May 12, 2025 12:29pm
- PurplePen
  
  It’s been in existence for nigh on 40 years and achieved little. The private sector has done more for the advancement of women in different areas of employment than the ministry. Abolish it.
  
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  May 12, 2025 5:17pm
AitchW

The prospect of a Labour/Green/Maori government is too dreadful to contemplate.
Rampant inflation, skyrocketing national debt, welfarism up the wazoo and a two tier admininistration before the end of their first term.
The damage will make Ardern/Roberston/Hipkins look decidedly astute.
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May 12, 2025 12:46pm
- Paulus
  
  But whom am I going to Vote for at the next Election ?
  
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  May 12, 2025 2:31pm
Gravelroad

https://www.thepost.co.nz/politics/360685338/pay-equity-enough-slurs-now-some-facts?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR5Fv0rcTLA90OqgXw8EzF1-EkPFFUFVu2HOziEIrbXUiT8gahy4h1VXDaFFBg_aem_fwDVlbWf4lo7V0qehAVu9Q
I know it’s politics and so on, and on, but really, these sexist slurs from the msm are childish and ignorant.
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May 12, 2025 12:50pm
cmm

You throw around “free” loans for “small businesses” and they fail to hand it back? Wow who would have thunked that?

5 years on and less than half the loans are fully repaid.

I wonder how many of those “small businesses” were really fraudulent and have since gone out of “business”?

https://www.stuff.co.nz/money/360685560/inland-revenue-still-chasing-853m-small-business-cashflow-scheme
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May 12, 2025 12:55pm
- Colville
  
  I am amazed anyone was bothering to keep track..!
  
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  May 12, 2025 1:28pm
MCōs

I’ve seen comments on X by Indians and Pakistanis about the current conflict and they’re invariably full of chest beating vitriol
For a change here’s a young guy who remains clear headed in the face of provocation from an Indian reporter
https://x.com/ilmfeed/status/1920249323628957720?s=61
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May 12, 2025 1:30pm
- kowtow
  
  What’s needed is increased doses of tumeric on all sides ……….
  
  ……..induces calmness.
  
  ……failing that , good, hot , spicy chili pepper curries ……that’ll keep ’em all on the khazi away from their guns and bombs!
  
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  May 12, 2025 2:27pm
- Paulus
  
  Kashmir occurs as a war zone and every now and then, Pakistan and India throw bricks at each other to show they are not alseep.
  China has a share of Kashmir too !
  
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  May 12, 2025 2:34pm
- Jack5
  
  Cossie’s … a young guy who remains clear headed in the face of provocation from an Indian reporter …
  
  The “young guy” is one of India’s 200 million Muslims.
  
  They will be feeling vulnerable, just as India’s 23 million Christians were at Christmas time.
  
  https://ewtn.co.uk/article-leaders-urge-indias-modi-to-curb-spiraling-violence-against-christians/
  
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  May 12, 2025 4:37pm
Ghost

Hmmmm, winder when we will find out just what he did…..

RNZ understands that police deputy commissioner Jevon McSkimming has resigned.

McSkimming has been on leave for four months after he was suspended pending a criminal investigation.

Article
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May 12, 2025 2:09pm
cmm

Oh dearie, dear.

Ift seems that “corrections” doesn’t correct if you’re a former real estate agent.

When he was imprisoned in 2022 he ended up getting his face cut during an altercation in prison. Which cause him “something akin to PTSD”.

Instead of learning, he kept on offending and is now due a second stint. But he doesn’t want to go and wants home D instead.

Dude. Stop offending and you won’t go back inside. Pretty bloody basic.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/360685876/i-have-nightmares-former-real-estate-high-flier-pleads-prison-sentence-cut-after-savage-assault
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May 12, 2025 2:34pm
Keith White

“I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe.
Police cars on fire on the shoulder of State Highway Ardern.
I’ve watched raised meres glitter in the dark near the Remuera offramp.
All those moments will be lost in time, like years spent training.
Time to migrate.
‘Bye.”
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May 12, 2025 3:17pm
- Damocles11
  
  “Quite an experience to live in fear, isn’t it? That’s what it is to be a slave.”
  
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  May 12, 2025 3:51pm
Ghost

Sentenced to 7 years in 2023, already out. Weird math. 2023 + 7 years =2025. Hmmmm. Time sure is going quickly now……

After being declared bankrupt on 4 August, 2022, prominent doctor Ian Dallison stormed into the Lyttleton home of Alberto Ceccarelli and attempted to shoot him while he was eating dinner with his wife, Antje Schmidt.

Dallison was jailed for almost seven years in 2023.

A Parole Board spokesperson confirmed Dallison appeared before the board on Monday and was granted release.

Article
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May 12, 2025 3:26pm
- Mike
  
  Presumably arrested at the time of the crime and held on remand, which would be counted as part of the sentence to be served. So sentenced to seven years (84 months) and released after about 33 months, which is longer than the one-third usually required for parole eligibility.
  
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  May 12, 2025 3:49pm
- cmm
  
  Clearly the parole board fucked up badly letting him out.
  
  There really are people who should serve their full term and he is one of them.
  
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  May 12, 2025 4:27pm
- Jack5
  
  Another eye surgeon in the headlines.
  
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  May 12, 2025 4:40pm
cmm

NZ to spend $60M a year to try to address underachievement in maths.

“The new full-time maths intervention teachers would provide targeted support to those children in years 0-6 who were not achieving at curriculum level, Stanford said.
…
Another $40 million would fund small-group maths tutoring for up to 34,000 year 7–8 students annually from next year, building on the current pilot. ”

Yes! Catch them while they are young and fix the problems as early as possible. Waiting until they are in secondary is far too late.
Education needs to build on a strong foundation. If kids don’t get the basics right then they will end up trying to build their future learning on shaky foundations.

“The initiatives would also be offered in te reo Māori. ”

Oh please! You had me going for a while – then you have to bloody ruin it! Trying to teach maths in Maori is not going to help kids struggling to understand the basics. Now they will end up trying to learn two different terminologies for the same concepts. This is bloody awful!

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/david-seymour-denies-act-shifting-position-on-social-media-policy-as-christopher-luxon-claims/PVMTIPHJGJB6ZKM4DZPV2KSX2U/

[Scroll to the 4.01 post. mod.]
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May 12, 2025 4:25pm
Swifty

Islam must enter every house in the whole world.

https://x.com/Shariakill/status/1921594288770515166/mediaViewer?currentTweet=1921594288770515166&currentTweetUser=Shariakill

Well, there you have it. We might as well give up now.

[page not found. mod.]
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May 12, 2025 4:47pm
rouppe

Just read the first section on maths reform in schools.

Questions I have:

“From next year, every child will have their maths ability checked in their first two years of schooling,” she said, saying that part would cost $4m.

“The check will identify students who would benefit from additional support, early on in their schooling journey. Professional development and specialist support will be available to teachers to ensure the checks are used effectively.”

Teachers need professional development to teach maths to 5 and 6 years old? Good grief.

The funding would also cover $56m over four years for 143 new full-time maths intervention teachers “to provide targeted support to children in years 0-6 who are not achieving at curriculum level”.

Again, if teachers cannot teach maths to kids up to 11 years old, that is a monumental failure of ability.
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May 12, 2025 5:20pm
Jack5

The United States and China have agreed to lower tariff levels and to a 90-day pause on further moves.

After talks with Chinese officials in Geneva, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the two sides agreed on a 90-day pause on measures and that tariffs would come down by over 100 percentage points to 10 per cent.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/us-china-reach-deal-slash-071924582.html
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May 12, 2025 8:20pm
- Ghost
  
  I think that was always going to happen once the public pressure went on because of product shortages.
  
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  May 12, 2025 8:29pm

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