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November 26, 2025 8:00am by Kokila Patel

General Debate 26 November 2025

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General Debate

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NeverMindTheBollocks

Lloyd Burr is correct; Chris Bishop’s removal of the ocean-going tug contract forgets the lessons of the Wahine disaster. Chris focusses on the (un)likelihood of a disaster event while disregarding the (enormous) consequences of said disaster event.

Having said that, the cost of having an ocean-going tug on standby seems to be outrageous. Surely the middle ground is for the Government to go into partnership with CentrePort, to ensure (i.e. top up funding for) the next harbour tug purchase to also be of an ocean-going spec.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360898690/why-long-wait-new-cook-strait-tug-continues
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November 26, 2025 8:01am
- Taieri
  
  the next harbour tug purchase to also be of an ocean-going spec
  ————
  
  While the current daily cost of MMA Vision availability seems to be at $25K/day on somewhat high-ish side, the cost of purchase and overall long term operation of alternative vessel may not necessarily be lower. An ocean going salvage tug is a very different beast from a harbour tug. Technically and operationally. A dedicated salvage vessel doesn’t need to be funded by the taxpayer though; it could be funded by a small surcharge on Cook Strait ferry passenger tickets and cargo units.
  
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  November 26, 2025 9:41am
  - Paulus
    
    We are still part of the International Laws of the Sea and could not descriminate on any Maritime Accident in or near New Zealand waters.
    
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    November 26, 2025 1:22pm
- In Vino Veritas
  
  If the Government didn’t own ferries, they wouldn’t need a tug in the event of a disaster.
  
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  November 26, 2025 10:13am
- peterwn
  
  Are you or Lloyd Burr prepared to put your money where your mouth is? Are you prepared to start a givealittle page to help raise funds for a tug which may not work out in some circumstances? Personally I am quite prepared to take the risk when crossing Cook Strait rather than pay a tax to fund such a tug.
  
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  November 26, 2025 10:29am
  - Albie
    
    Cruise and merchant ships don’t have ocean tugs scattered around the globe on standby at all times. Why are the Cook Strait ferries any different?
    
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    November 26, 2025 11:00am
    - Taieri
      
      Cruise and merchant ships don’t have ocean tugs scattered around the globe on standby at all times
      ———-
      
      Very common in the offshore industry world wide. They used to also be utilized in the NZ waters.
      
      There’s still a standby towing vessel deployed at Great Barrier Reef. 5 dedicated emergency towing vessels are available in France, 3 on the Atlantic coast and 2 in the Medi.
      Dedicated stand by emergency towing vessels are also used in Canada, Norway, Germany, Netherlands and some US states.
      
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      November 26, 2025 11:53am
    - David Garrett
      
      Albie: Well actually as I understand it, they do (have tugs scattered round the world)…remember we are literally at the arse end of the world, 1500 ks from even Australia, and much further from other major ports.
      
      Generally when a salvage tug is required down here, the nearest available is Singapore, which is on the major sea lanes, and also services the oil rigs in the South China Sea. I imagine there are ocean going tugs in Hawaii, and – if we were lucky – in Sydney or Melbourne. Once again it is the tyranny of distance working against us.
      
      Having an ocean going tug in New Zealand makes perfect sense. Others have suggested how it could be funded – someone could do the maths on how long it would take to raise the funds with a $5 or $10 surcharge on ferry tickets. Not long I suspect. An ocean going tug is a serious big of kit, but it’s not an oil tanker.
      
      As an aside, when the Rena went aground on the Astrolabe Reef some years ago, I believe the tug(s) came from Singapore? I stand to be corrected.
      
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      November 26, 2025 12:08pm
      - Paulus
        
        But having one would be in the Control of he Maritime and Seamans Unions, at all times.
        
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        November 26, 2025 1:25pm
      - peterwn
        
        I would rather spend the surcharge on Lotto.
        
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        November 26, 2025 1:53pm
      - Albie
        
        DG, thanks for the correction on my somewhat flippant comment!
        
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        November 26, 2025 3:15pm
  - fightingtemeraire
    
    When HMS Nottingham hit the reef off Lord Howe the Pacific Attawhai stationed at the Maui Platform was sent up to help.
    
    The simple answer is the Govt to subsidise working tugs in Picton/Wellington that could operate in Cook Strait in bad weather. Would cost about 25 million initial cost on building and say 5 million pa subsidy.
    
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    November 26, 2025 4:18pm
- Dudley Quaffquaff
  
  Bishop’s quite right. Rational response to risk requires considering both the hazard – how bad would it be if it happened – and the probability – how likely is it to happen. Risk = hazard * probability.
  
  Thus, a risk which has a 20% probability of happening and would cost $200m if it did, is greater than a risk which has a 1% probability of happening and would cost $3b if it did. And if the risk turns out to be the same, eg if the second risk is 2% * $2b, then the one that is less costly to address is a better use of the money.
  
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  November 26, 2025 11:33am
  - Taieri
    
    hazard – how bad would it be if it happened
    ————
    
    Hazard is a potential source of harm, not “how bad would it be if it happened”.
    Risk is the product of the probability of an event arising from an exposure to a hazard and the consequences of such an event.
    
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    November 26, 2025 12:02pm
- crackle
  
  Hes gor a pretty short memory the tugs that rushed out to the Kaitaki when it lost power couldnt hold it in place against the wind and tide. If it hadnt regained power and the weather a little worse it could have been a real disaster. The cost of a disaster and clean up on the wellington south coast would be massive not to mention the cost of the susbsqent commisions of enquiry.
  
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  November 26, 2025 11:59am
- Handyman
  
  The last time we needed and ocean going tug was when a rusty old merchant ship got into trouble near Cook Strait. It was unseaworthy and banned from some ports.
  Luckily there was the big tug servicing the oil rigs off Taranaki that came to the rescue. It could have been a good solution but due to “you know who”, there is no more oil and gas exploration.
  
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  November 26, 2025 1:02pm
- Ipanema69
  
  Well the Navy could order and operate a couple of Navajo class tugs. These are the new US navy dedicated ocean going towing and rescue vessels.
  
  The US Navy has ordered ten and the last 2 are currently under construction.
  
  They cost about $130MUSD each. However given that the ship yard is at the end of the acquisition cycle they would probably be willing to talk deals.
  
  These things would give the Navy a significant recovery and rescue capability in the Southern Ocean.
  
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  November 26, 2025 3:15pm
  - Taieri
    
    They cost about $130MUSD each
    ———–
    
    All that’s needed is a towing vessel similar to MMA Vision. Plenty of AHTS vessels for sale around the world. In 2022 the whole Swire Pacific Offshore fleet of over 50 AHTS and PS vessels was bought by Tidewater for about USD200 million. Most of that fleet was in excellent condition, and very well maintained.
    
    And definitely NOT to be operated by the Navy.
    
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    November 26, 2025 5:38pm
NeverMindTheBollocks

The Chathams are an interesting case study in terms of intermittent renewables vs security of supply & the cost thereof.

Hitherto, the Chathams were entirely dependent on diesel for electricity generation. They now also have three wind turbines plus a battery and associated gubbins. This is trumpeted as dropping prices by 40 per KWh (existing prices are 4x mainland NZ).

You & I paid $10.5m for said wind turbine infrastructure. It’s left unasked whether this subsidy underpins some or all of the price drop.

Now, the Chathams are a windy place, which means that the turbines will likely be busy. However, wind fluctuates; presumably the battery provides the steady frequency required for grid stability. What’s unclear is whether the diesel generator will need to be kept ticking over, ready to kick in if the wind drops suddenly and for a sustained period. Certainly, it illustrates that the Chathams now has two sets of infrastructure to maintain, for no increase in output.

http://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/579994/chatham-island-wind-farm-to-slash-power-prices-cut-carbon-emissions
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November 26, 2025 8:03am
- rouppe
  
  A diesel generator would not need to “be kept ticking over”.
  
  The battery provides constant supply as the wind turbine output fluctuates. It’s pretty well established technology to have a generator kick in if it’s protected supply fails.
  
  In this example if the battery drops to for example less than 5% of capacity the generator can automatically start.
  
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  November 26, 2025 9:30am
  - peterwn
    
    The diesel generator is already there, so there is no capital cost to provide one in conjunction with a wind farm.
    As an example Vector has installed a battery at Kawakawa Bay (on the Hauraki Gulf on the Clevedon to Orere Point Road), and it is able to feed the local area even if the connection to the Vector network is lost (particularly to keep the wastewater plant operating). Thanks to modern electronics there is no need for rotating plant (historically an idling generator or a ‘synchronous condenser’ was required when AC was produced from a DC source).
    So the Chatham Islands battery can keep the power on without the generator. It is a simple matter for the generator to start up automatically when the battery is nearly ’empty’.
    
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    November 26, 2025 10:44am
    - David Garrett
      
      peterwn: I think you are correct. I have a cellphone tower in the grounds of my flat up here in the Kingdom. When we get a power cut – which still happens relatively frequently – the diesel powered generator immediately – i.e. within seconds – kicks in. It’s a bloody nuisance in the middle of the night when I am asleep – but gotta keep those screens working!
      
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      November 26, 2025 11:13am
    - rouppe
      
      Is that not what I said?
      
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      November 26, 2025 12:40pm
  - rangitoto
    
    Generators do need to be maintained and frequently tested. They are not free of operational cost even when not in actual use.
    
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    November 26, 2025 12:42pm
    - Taieri
      
      Generators do need to be maintained and frequently tested.
      ———–
      
      Usual practice in the maritime industry is weekly run for about 30 minutes. Maintenance is negligible, for example, service (oil change etc) is done every 250 hrs depending on oil test results and injector checks are done every 1500 hrs.
      
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      November 26, 2025 1:11pm
      - peterwn
        
        And set up properly. There was a generator in the basement of a police station in USA to ensure the 911 service kept going (911 response is not as centralised as NZ 111 response). Power went off but generator did not start. The problem was the fuel pump worked off mains supply which of course was off when the generator was needed. Who thought of that?
        
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        November 26, 2025 1:59pm
      - Taieri
        
        And set up properly.
        ————
        
        Marine emergency generators must automatically start up within 45 seconds of main power loss and be capable of running for 18 hours on cargo ships and 36 hours on passenger ships.
        Invariably, they have their own dedicated fuel tank, which is not used for anything else.
        
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        November 26, 2025 5:42pm
  - Paulus
    
    Should start but we have heard in recent times where Hospital Generators have failed to cut in where required.
    
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    November 26, 2025 1:27pm
    - peterwn
      
      Hospital generators do need a standard of reliability not needed elsewhere.
      
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      November 26, 2025 2:06pm
- Ra Henare
  
  The diesel generator can automatically start and electricity would be online in a matter of seconds in case of an outage.
  
  What do you think happens to airways control towers/radar and hospitals when there is an outage???
  
  They certainly dont have generators ticking over.
  
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  November 26, 2025 6:09pm
Scott

Is Palmerston North the wokest city?
I went off to do some Christmas shopping in Palmerston and I found:

– I can’t get into the mall because of a fire drill. Booming voices over the loudspeakers and loud sirens. No one can get in and shop at 9.30am. Is excessive concern for safety procedures a feature of woke? I think it is.

– Then into the book store. The shop assistant is wearing a mask. “Are you OK, you’re wearing a mask?” I enquire but she assures me she is very well. She’s just wearing a mask, for the rest of her life? Now if that’s not woke, it is a little sad?

– Walk out of the store and straight across a rainbow crossing. Now that’s woke!

– Then into a favourite cafe. Cafe worker has blue hair, multiple piercings and multiple tattoos.

– It’s graduation time and a banner for Massey University graduates is displayed high across the street. But instead of “Massey University”, the graduation is for students of “Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa Massey University”.

So rainbow crossings, masks, abundance of caution, multiple piercings, multiple tattoos, blue hair and signs in Te Reo. Are they missing anything? 🤔

PS – yes they are missing greenstone necklaces! Fortunately at time of writing two women arrived at the cafe both wearing the required “pounamu”. 😁
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November 26, 2025 8:07am
- David Garrett
  
  Scott: We rarely agree, but that one is spot on Sir! Why don’t you expand it into a guest post? Our host has a very liberal publishing policy.
  
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  November 26, 2025 9:23am
- lifesgood
  
  Thanks for the heads up. Will avoid at all costs.
  
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  November 26, 2025 9:25am
- sirknz
  
  The firedrill is a legal requirement for many commercial and corporate properties. They happen roughly once a year, unless they fail the drill in which case another one has to be done in so many weeks.
  
  Had to endure a few in a corporate tower where we were on the 22nd floor. Turning left in the stair well got really tired after going down 5 floors, and the wait to get back into the building via the lifts afterwards resulted in thousands of people wasting up to 2 hours of the day.
  
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  November 26, 2025 9:40am
  - peterwn
    
    The Government’s State Services Commission (since slightly renamed) worked up a proposal where if a fire alarm went off in a Government building, the alarm would only sound on the affected floor and one floor above and below. The aim was to minimise disruptions for false alarms or minor fires and minimise risk of injury when a whole building has to evacuate. The proposal would not have found much support and was quietly dropped. At that time the SSC was chaired by a gloomy and tight beancounter.
    
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    November 26, 2025 11:10am
- pdm
  
  I feel for you Scott re the mall.
  
  I could not get into the cash machines at Westpac Hastings this morning despite swiping 3 different westpac cards the doors would not open at 9.30am.
  
  Main doors were also closed so I could not access a staff member to help me – despite the branch supposedly opening at 9.30am.
  
  Service in banks is but, a distant memory.
  
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  November 26, 2025 10:03am
  - peterwn
    
    In the new Lambton Quay Westpac setup, you need to both swipe a card and press a button to open the door. When I realised it I got in with a Kiwibank ATM card OK (I like Westpac ATM’s because you can choose to have some $20 notes dispensed). That might be your problem.
    
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    November 26, 2025 2:11pm
    - Quail
      
      FYI
      Have to be careful not to dally going thru the process withATM’s
      Found out the hard way some ATM machines will eat cards if not processed promptly.
      
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      November 26, 2025 7:52pm
- BananaLlama
  
  Does anyone remember all the crazy Labour Party voters wearing masks while driving their cars along the Motorway?
  LMAO.
  
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  November 26, 2025 10:06am
  - G the giant from Dunedin
    
    You still see it sometimes
    
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    November 26, 2025 12:27pm
  - peterwn
    
    They might have been stopped by the Police and did not want the cop’s germs in their faces when being lectured about the evils of speeding etc.
    
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    November 26, 2025 6:33pm
    - Mike
      
      There is nothing inherently wrong with wearing a face mask. Unless you are opposedto personal liberty, in which case face masks might be your most trivial issue.
      
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      November 26, 2025 7:14pm
    - G the giant from Dunedin
      
      No, they still think they are going to die
      
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      November 26, 2025 8:11pm
- peterwn
  
  Well, there is no point in holding a fire drill in the middle of the night when only the night watchman is around. The mall must have an evacuation plan which has to be regularly tested in the presence of firefighters. No one wants another Ballantynes type disaster.
  
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  November 26, 2025 10:50am
- Wandering Star
  
  We don’t need to speculate as to when the long-postulated dystopia will manifest – it already has. All we need is a greater degree of the already striking demographic replacement, the digital ID and digital currency, and the transition will be complete.
  
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  November 26, 2025 10:53am
- Nikola Donatello
  
  To be honest, I think that the battle over te reo as a prominent language in New Zealand is settled. Under this government the use of te reo has become entrenched. Certainly within the state sector, it is impossible to function effectively without Maori language expertise. I am finding that out first hand. I attend professional meetings and struggle to participate because I have limited te reo. The message to me is get with the programme or leave.
  
  My advice to a young person would be, either become fluent in te reo, or leave New Zealand. For those who are intelligent, skilled, and ambitious, I would recommend the second choice. Which is tragic really.
  
  I recognise that this conclusion may dismay some commenters here. However this is reality. The current government will not stop the march to a bilingual nation. The next government will accelerate it.
  
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  November 26, 2025 11:02am
  - Taieri
    
    The current government will not stop the march to a bilingual nation.
    —————
    
    It will not be a bilingual nation. It will be a nation speaking Manglish.
    
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    November 26, 2025 11:28am
    - G the giant from Dunedin
      
      They have stopped the compulsory Te Reo march, that’s all I care about, Ghez at primary school
      In the late 60’s they taught some Maori words.
      
      Ghez I’m of work crook today, I think I better go lie down and have a moi before I rupture something
      
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      November 26, 2025 12:30pm
      - leoj
        
        How has National stopped the te reo march?
        
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        November 26, 2025 7:03pm
    - Phronesis
      
      Give it 50 years and maori will be a language spoken solely by the civil service. Civil service jobs will essentially become hereditary as no one else will have any interest in learning a dead language with no other known use.
      
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      November 26, 2025 12:59pm
  - leoj
    
    The maori takeover is very possibly the main reason that so many are leaving the country.
    
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    November 26, 2025 11:57am
  - Jake Dee
    
    I do not see the government moving to a bilingual nation.
    They’re creating a new high status ritualistic dialect by sprinkling in a few Maori words and phrases into English.
    Lawyers working exclusively in Maori land matters maybe an exception, but what proportion are they of the legal profession? Are a large number of other lawyers preparing briefs and oral arguments exclusively in Maori or are they just sprinkling in a few choice terms for status points?
    Are accountants drawing up balance sheets, issuing invoices and receipts in Maori? Is the auditor calculating your tax liability and issuing a report in Maori?
    Lawyers, accountants etc. are key government bureaucrats, they’re not immune to seeking higher status but they have a lot of substantial work to do that has to be read, understood and picked apart by a lot of other people, they have zero incentive to massively increase their workload to translate everything into a minor language.
    And those are the professions that are dealing with abstractions, words and numbers, there’s plenty of opportunity to inject a lot of guff into it.
    What about all those jobs, including the high status professions that have to deal with the physical real world?
    Doctors, such as physicians, pharmacists psychiatrists, Scientists such as chemists, geologists biologists etc. What incentive to they have to do the massive amount of work require to re-do their huge body of work into Maori?
    Do you know how many unique terms there are for chemical compounds alone? Millions of very clever people have spent hundreds of years creating a vocabulary for them and to re-do it in something like Maori would be an insane project.
    Trades, mechanics, drivers, sailors, builders and it’s the same story.
    There would be a huge amount of work to become bilingual, it would not increase and would probably decrease the effectiveness of your work.
    The only advantage would be a small bump in status which would only work in New Zealand.
    A Maori-English bi-lingual New Zealand is not going to happen as it’s too much work for too little result.
    A substantially Chinese-English New Zealand might occur in a hundred years, but that’s another story.
    What we are developing is a high status semi-Maori dialect and that’s not bilingualism, that’s class/cast stratification.
    The status seeking element of the Te Reo crowd is hardly ever mentioned, but it’s very real and it’s important to point it out.
    People who are seeking higher status get very snotty and defensive when it’s pointed out to them See Lucy Rogers’ (a Wellington Lawyer) articles on this subject in this blog. They don’t like it being shown and become defensive because it shows that they’re low status and they resent it.
    
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    November 26, 2025 4:27pm
  - Sir Henry Morgan
    
    I’m still dubious that it’s genuine Maori language expertise. Seems more like English speakers are expected to use a whole load of insider jargon derived from Maori (where Maori itself will often have borrowed the word from English – lol).
    
    Are meetings actually being conducted entirely in Maori? Or is it English peppered with Maori jargon?
    
    It’s not like English isn’t already peppered with unnecessary jargon that shifts in and out of fashion over the decades.
    
    I agree with the general sentiment though. White New Zealanders who live in New Zealand despite its increasingly racist and corrupt system are complete idiots. It’s a bizarre type of racism too, with the racial categories being somewhat a matter of choice.
    
    Can’t help thinking of Malaysia with its bumiputra policies. Basically means ‘indigenous’ people (primarily Malays, but includes other aboriginal groups) get special rights denied to the non-indigenous Chinese, Indians and others. Besides the usual stuff, this even includes higher rates of interest on their savings accounts. Anyway, over in Sabah, Chinese businessmen find it advantageous to marry into the Kadazan aboriginal group, who happen to look basically Chinese. Then they too can access government contracts and all the other good stuff.
    
    This type of corrupt bullshit is coming to New Zealand big time. It’s basically already embedded, just with the full wallop of negative effects yet to be felt.
    
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    November 26, 2025 9:24pm
- mogg
  
  In the UK their big stores like M&S, Christmas is all about ‘blended families, evergreen trees, and the best one yet “Happy Thismas”.
  No that is not predictive text or a spelling mistake.
  
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  November 26, 2025 11:26am
- Paulus
  
  Possily that they were not even Maori now as to wear a Tiki is part if the uniform, as long as others see it,.
  
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  November 26, 2025 1:30pm
Cassandra

Good news from Ukraine. Peace in our time? The revised plan looks a lot better. I’d trust Putin as far as I could kick him, however.
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November 26, 2025 8:26am
- David Garrett
  
  Cass: I think quoting “peace in our time” (to be pedantic, the correct quote is actually peace FOR our time; came originally from the Bible as I understand it) is apt; Putin has no more interest in ending the war than a certain Austrian had with ending his territorial demands with the Sudeten Land. in 1938.
  
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  November 26, 2025 9:15am
  - Cassandra
    
    Quite right, DG. And “for” makes more sense. Churchill’s is even apter*: “England has been offered a choice between war and shame. She has chosen shame, and will get war.”
    * new word.
    
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    November 26, 2025 9:23am
    - David Garrett
      
      Cass: Yes…For a man who was dyslexic, was an indifferent student at best, and whose tertiary education was Sandhurst, wasn’t WSC just the best phraseologist (there’s another new word!) in the English language?
      
      (WS will be along soon to remind us that HE was really responsible for WW II, and the Austrian Corporal was much misunderstood).
      
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      November 26, 2025 9:37am
      - Cassandra
        
        Sandhurst is a very good tertiary education. But not in Churchill’s time. The Royal Military College Sandhurst was amalgamated with the RMAcademy Woolwich to become RMA Sandhurst in 1947. Prewar Sandhurst was for cavalry and infantry, Woolwich for Engineers and Artillery. And the answer to your question is yes, 1960-61. 28th out of 250.
        
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        November 26, 2025 9:46am
      - Biscuit
        
        DG, my biggest chuckle thus far this year was watching Jimmy Carr on that excellent panel show
        ‘QI’ telling us that Adi was harshly judged by history.
        
        Consideration had to be given, Jimmy opined, for the Austrian corporal’s career highpoint of killing Hitler…
        
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        November 26, 2025 10:10am
      - peterwn
        
        Winston spent three years doing fourth form English at Harrow such was his academic limitations and was very glad he was taught English well and had high praise for his English teacher.
        Although military officer colleges like Sandhurst do not formally award degrees, their graduates would be considered equivalent to university graduates by many employers (especially as many military people have a second career after leaving the military).
        
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        November 26, 2025 10:58am
      - Wandering Star
        
        [Mod – just debate the topic]
        
        We are told we won the war and defeated a civilisational threat, but look around you – that “5% Muslim population” you harp on about is on the horizon, for example, which would never have been the case if European Man wasn’t defeated by globalism in 1945.
        
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        November 26, 2025 11:05am
      - MCōs
        
        Prior to email the general standard of handwriting, composition, syntax, grammar, maybe not spelling, but letter writing in general was of a different standard to that which prevails nowadays.
        When I was abroad in the UK I corresponded with long letters with family and friends and kept a daily dairy for years. Phone calls were kept to short messages at Christmas and had to be booked ahead.
        
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        November 26, 2025 11:07am
      - Christopher Thomson
        
        So says AI;
        
        Winston Churchill was widely considered a poor or below-average student during his time at formal schooling, but this was due to his lack of interest in the classical curriculum, not a lack of ability. He excelled in subjects that interested him, such as English and history, and later in life undertook an extensive self-education program that rivaled a university education.
        
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        November 26, 2025 1:25pm
    - Christopher Thomson
      
      This is what the Harrow records show; “he performed well in English”.
      
      AI says; Winston Churchill developed a strong love for the English language and history at Harrow School, where he was particularly talented in English
      
      and:
      
      Winston Churchill did have academic difficulties at Harrow, but the situation regarding English was the opposite of repeating it:
      English and History were the only subjects he excelled in
      
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      November 26, 2025 1:31pm
- MCōs
  
  I’m not sure what constitutes good news over there.
  Wartime leaders see peace as their downfall, so keep conflicts trundling on, Putin, Netanyahu, who’s ever running Iran, Bishop Brian, Trump.
  
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  November 26, 2025 10:09am
  - MCōs
    
    If there isn’t conflict bishop Brian will invent a few and see what sticks
    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/kahu/stop-the-traffic-brian-tamaki-lodges-application-for-new-auckland-harbour-bridge-protest/NTLGW3F4HNFQBOT6BZFT77VW74/?lid=rjkn8a3mlguy&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=nzh_email&utm_campaign=20261126_Morning_Brief_(Daily_H)&uuid=90705a8f0e6842e4beba131bd7a7ce29
    
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    November 26, 2025 11:38am
- Ra Henare
  
  Remember this is all Trump PR1!
  
  Wait for the 3 way signing ceremony before any celebration (Trump will be their if any signing, claiming it was all his work)
  
  Think the Hamas/Israel pace plan….Hows that going with Israel no longer supporting it.
  
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  November 26, 2025 6:14pm
AitchW

Cassandra the problem is that you’ve got a narcissist negotiating with a megalomaniac!
Each is unstable with an ambitious agenda.
The only thing we know for sure is that one of them only has 3 more years….
Having said that they’re both getting old, either of them could suffer a major health event any time. God knows what happens then….
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November 26, 2025 8:31am
- Christopher Thomson
  
  Putin is all for replacing himself with harvested body parts to extend his lifespan aong with his bestie, Xi.
  
  What I have not seen is any discussion about what will happen and who will replace him when he does die.
  
  Can anyone point me to sites that cover this please.
  
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  November 26, 2025 9:27am
  - MCōs
    
    I don’t think any of these people have anyone that could in any way be considered a bestie. (Unless it’s a dog)
    In fact I would suggest they all detest each other
    
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    November 26, 2025 10:46am
  - NeverMindTheBollocks
    
    I reckon any potential Putin replacements are keeping their heads well & truly down, least they suffer a defenestration.
    
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    November 26, 2025 1:48pm
- Ra Henare
  
  What would you prefer?
  The know (current situation)
  or
  The Unknown?
  JD Vance hardliner, a Russiian hardliner.
  
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  November 26, 2025 6:16pm
TripeWryter

Michael Hosking had a bit of a rant at 7.20am today about the media’s coverage of the results of children making up ground in maths because of Erica Stanford’s changes to the curriculum.
They weren’t much interested; more that they were ruminating about whether Christopher Luxon will be rolled as prime minister by another Christopher, Bishop.
I have an idea what Hosking was on about.
Yesterday afternoon I was listening to Heather du Plessis-Allan and her live cross with Thomas Coughlan.
For Coughlan the Big Story was how the prime minister answered a question from a female hackette about whether he was concerned whether some of his MPs would lose their seats, which, on current polling they would do.
Christopher Luxon: ‘No …’
That became the story: that the prime minister didn’t care about his MPs.
That became the guts of the live cross between Coughlan and du Plessis-Allan.
The ‘no’ could be interpreted another way. ‘No, I’m not concerned because the election is still another year away and so the question doesn’t arise.’
Our media, our Press Gallery in particular …
All I thought was: ‘Heather, get Barry back quickly …’
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November 26, 2025 8:38am
- lifesgood
  
  Heather has gone all screechy left, hasn’t she. Pushing hard for Luxon to be rolled for starters.
  
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  November 26, 2025 9:27am
  - G the giant from Dunedin
    
    Yes, and she ran to the Nat hating clown that shafted Bridges
    
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    November 26, 2025 10:14am
  - RoboRob
    
    Heather did a later interview with Bishop to discuss the council changes. She pointed out the shame that the focus was on Luxon rather then these important changes. Hardly screechy or a lefty.
    
    It is a fact that there is disquiet over Luxons polling. That is actual news that should be covered. One of the major issues with a (politically) weak leader is that they distract away from anything else the party says or does. Its much more ‘fun’ to discuss leadership rolls.
    
    Recall the pre Jacinda era where over a year was spend focusing on Labours leadership issues rather then their (useless) policy. We ended up with Jacinda and policy that had never seriously been looked at.
    
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    November 26, 2025 11:26am
    - G the giant from Dunedin
      
      Little has a cheek today discussing Luxon and polling and him falling on his sword. Little was polling for labour at 25% or below, yet Luxon has Nats polling between 30-34 depending on which pollster you look at.
      
      I keep pointing out there has been 3 polls the last 2 weeks and 2 polls had the coalition well in front, the third which had Labour at 38% which is not accurate had the opposition winning by 1 seat and only if TPM kept their 3 seats.
      
      The hysteria over polling by the media is weird, because they know that the coalition was well back in front on the other 2 polls which they were not before.
      
      As this economy improves which it clearly is getting back to the feel there was at the beginning If the year then what will the left whinge about? I think this hit job is a last resort, because if the GDP figure comes out at 1% which is predicted then the left will fall away
      
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      November 26, 2025 12:39pm
  - Paulus
    
    Heather’s Hormones possibly !
    
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    November 26, 2025 1:33pm
- AitchW
  
  I heard that and thought exactly the same thing. If ever there was a perfect example of media spin this is it.
  That fellow Coughlin sounded like a smug, superior little [deleted]
  
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  November 26, 2025 9:37am
- G the giant from Dunedin
  
  HDA hates Luxon, she always calls him by his last name, but loves saying Chippie which is sickening, she calls Peters Winston, she calls Seymour David Seymour.
  
  After the bullshit by media Luxon stated he was talking about in a hypothetical situation, so yes he was suggesting with his answer that the election is not today
  
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  November 26, 2025 10:10am
- Steve Todd
  
  female hackette
  
  I’m surprised David Garrett has missed this one. I think it is what he would call a pleonasm – “using unnecessary words to describe something that is already implied instead of using a single word that would have been enough.”
  
  A “hack” is a male reporter, whether he be mature or young. A “hackess” (surely a redundant term, if it was ever in use, which I don’t recall being the case) would be a mature woman reporter, and a “hackette” is a young woman reporter.
  
  Therefore, the word “female” is superfluous.
  
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  November 26, 2025 10:18am
  - TripeWryter
    
    Steve Todd:
    You are correct. ‘Female’ is superfluous.
    I have been flogging myself and chanting incantations to all sub-editors past begging forgiveness since I saw my ‘sin’.
    
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    November 26, 2025 10:28am
    - Steve Todd
      
      Oh, come on TripeWryter, it was just a bit of fun.
      
      (For the record, given that I made David Garrett (who is knowledgeable when it comes to the English language) the subject of my comment, I thought I had better make sure I was correct.)
      
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      November 26, 2025 11:42am
  - David Garrett
    
    Steve: Well actually No – pleonasm is a new one for me. I would have said “female hackette” is just plain old tautology, such as “female lioness”??
    
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    November 26, 2025 10:30am
    - Steve Todd
      
      As you might imagine, David, I did my research before bursting into print. After seeing that a tautology is “the saying of the same thing twice over in different words, generally considered to be a fault of style (e.g. they arrived one after the other in succession)”, and that a pleonasm is as defined in my above comment, I decided that “pleonasm” was correct.
      
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      November 26, 2025 10:48am
      - David Garrett
        
        Steve: Oh, I don’t doubt you are right…I am just glad you have added to my vocabulary…I will immodestly say that doesn’t happen often! My good friend David Round, who is much more erudite than me, also wasn’t sure of pleonasm although he remembered hearing it sometime in the past.
        
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        November 26, 2025 12:39pm
      - Christopher Thomson
        
        Pleonasm is more to be taking 50 words to say what 5 would do. (Politican-speak fits the bill).
        
        Most of my uni essays that needed more than 150 words were great exampels of pleonasm.
        
        Repeating the same thing such as female hackette is tautological.
        
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        November 26, 2025 1:37pm
- kowtow
  
  The joke is HDPA who herself has been running this coup talk against Luxon on behalf of NZME literally apologised to “Bish” ( another stupid affectation she has) for all the distracting coup talk , as if she has nothing to do with it.
  
  FFS!
  
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  November 26, 2025 12:18pm
  - G the giant from Dunedin
    
    It’s her that started it
    
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    November 26, 2025 8:14pm
Simon

“I’d trust Putin as far as I could kick him, however.”

Quite right of course. However why would you trust anyone from the Wellington Clown Show? Because democracy? You think those across the board bozos are acting in your best interests?

I dont trust Putin but I trust Ardern or Luxon?!? My goodness.
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November 26, 2025 8:38am
- Cassandra
  
  A long and irrelevant bow, Simon.
  
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  November 26, 2025 9:25am
  - imalwaysright
    
    Maybe long, but he’s right.
    
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    November 26, 2025 9:55am
artemisia

Imam at CUNY Reportedly Calls for the Fingertips of the “Filthy Rich” to be Cut Off Under Sharia Law

City College of New York. Not a Taliban run country under Sharia law.

Article tags – Academia, Bizarre, Religion. True, but still.

https://jonathanturley.org/2025/11/25/imam-at-cuny-calls-for-the-tips-of-fingers-of-the-filthy-rich-to-be-cut-off-under-sharia-law/
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November 26, 2025 8:42am
Ross Bayer

Cassandra, much of what the MSM spews our each day, month, year is nothing more than Kabuki.
I knew nothing about the Ukraine/Russia situation when all this kicked off but looked for genuine sources of information that gave a balanced view of what has transpired.
I can in no way support one of the most corrupt countries in the world where it has recently been “discovered” that the leader and his friends have been skimming HUNDREDS of millions from the money sent from the west in support of democracy.
That would be the same democracy that the west has supported in Libya, Syria, Iraq, Sudan, Lebanon.
If you are unable to see what is going on please get out and try to see the real world where Weakening Russia is a folly that has already bankrupted the west.
The Boomerang sanctions have hit the people of Europe hard and sending more money to an Illegitimate leader is a folly only the misinformed (I am thinking those who gorge on MSM) would support.
Here is a simple question for you, maybe an intelligence test.
Who is the most popular world leader supported by the majority of the population and whose country is unified not only behind their leader but also as a population against the aggression from the west over the last 50 years.
Sadly this is the opposite of any of the “western” countries whose population have little support for their leaders and are fighting each other as they see their standard of living sliding down a big hole
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November 26, 2025 8:52am
- Cassandra
  
  Modi? In that Pakistan is west of India. How’s my IQ?
  
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  November 26, 2025 9:27am
- Christopher Thomson
  
  Please explain why Zelenksi is an illegitimate leader?
  
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  November 26, 2025 9:32am
  - Mike
    
    Something, something, coup, something, NATO puppet, Putin good guy, mumble, Russian self-defense, something Nazis, you see?
    
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    November 26, 2025 11:28am
    - Christopher Thomson
      
      Mike, you have me confused; are you saying that’s why he is illegitimate or that will be the usual lines of BS trotted out to say he is legitimate?
      
      I need to know so I can fill in a few minutes of hiding inside from the heat by offering facts in rebuttal.
      
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      November 26, 2025 1:41pm
      - Mike
        
        Usual lines of BS.
        
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        November 26, 2025 2:10pm
  - Jake Dee
    
    His presidential term has expired and his presidential campaign was a massive psy-op, abusing all reasonable concepts of a democratic election.
    Every half-intelligent person in New Zealand would be doing spastic conniptions and back flips if an actor playing the role of the prime minister in a multi-million dollar 5 year TV show was then allowed to run for parliament when the show was still running, under a party with the exact same name as the TV show.
    Clever? Yes. Legal? Possibly. Legitimate democracy? No, absolutely not.
    The rules about what is a legitimate president and what counts as a legitimate presidential campaign were twisted far beyond breaking point.
    It wasn’t incidental that Zylensky is an actor, it was absolutely essential.
    And what happened to the producers and financial backers of that show? They got promoted into senior government positions.
    Disgusting.
    The once quite reasonable rules of Liberal Democracy and the Rules Based International Order have been gamed and abused for so long and with such utter fakery that the whole system is collapsing in on itself.
    Chickens, meet roost.
    
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    November 26, 2025 5:30pm
- rouppe
  
  Hamas.
  
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  November 26, 2025 12:51pm
Hugh Jarse

Jack is not my favourite journalist and I watched this with trepidation but it was pretty positive. Various business people and commentators commenting on the current NZ economic situation.

https://www.tvnz.co.nz/shows/1news-special-you-me-the-economy
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November 26, 2025 9:06am
Ghost

A good interview with Sir Bill

Despite dropping in the polls and failing to resonate with voters on a range of issues, Sir Bill English is confident Christopher Luxon is the right person to lead National to victory at next year’s election.

Speaking to 30 with Guyon Espiner, the former Finance Minister said the government has done a “remarkably good job”, adding that Prime Minister Luxon, Winston Peters and David Seymour all deserve credit for what they have achieved.

Article
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November 26, 2025 9:33am
- RoboRob
  
  I must say, the local body changes and removal of district councils is welcome news. I am certainly feeling a lot more positive towards National. Great to see some much needed major changes coming through.
  
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  November 26, 2025 9:55am
  - G the giant from Dunedin
    
    They did signal this was coming, and they are suggesting rates caps are coming also
    
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    November 26, 2025 12:42pm
    - RoboRob
      
      They signalled something was coming. Hard to get excited when you dont know the detail!
      
      Not so keen or rate caps but I will wait and see the policy before making judgement.
      
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      November 26, 2025 1:09pm
      - G the giant from Dunedin
        
        It has been made pretty clear it would be regional councils to go, and they have virtually said if rates go up too much next time then rates will be capped
        
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        November 26, 2025 8:16pm
- David Garrett
  
  Ghost: I think Luxon is gone-burger; what is happening are classic indications of a coup: Luxon declaring all is well; various persons present and past assuring us he is right – the most recent being English. All that is missing is Bishop unequivocally declaring he is not a candidate – all we have seen so far are lukewarm denials and expressions of support from him.
  
  All of that said, I am NOT a supporter of replacing Luxon as this time. I saw some commenter saying the other day that since WW II, no governing party which replaced its leader in the 12 months leading up to it has survived an election. I suspect there is a big enough chance of the Nats losing power anyway – no need to increase the odds.
  
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  November 26, 2025 10:21am
  - Philview
    
    I think it would be an insane mistake. Chris Trotter was talking yesterday of NZ First not entering a Coalition next year which will make for an interesting Government if he has heard that correctly. That would suggest a Labour led Government but if the Centre Right block has the most seats they could vote down Labour on any policies NZ First doesn’t like.
    
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    November 26, 2025 11:16am
    - Mike
      
      We need a minority government or a National/Labour coalition.
      
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      November 26, 2025 11:32am
      - NZer In Exile
        
        A Lab/ACT/NZF/Nat coalition might actually work to slog it out and create some sane policy for the long term that the vast majority of New Zealanders could live with?
        
        I’m just “spit-balling” here so don’t spit the dummy.
        
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        November 26, 2025 9:14pm
  - RoboRob
    
    Yup. As all here will know I am no fan of Luxon and have been pushing for his removal. However I agree, it is far too late to roll him now. At the start of this year, maybe, but National have left it too late.
    
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    November 26, 2025 11:29am
    - Paulus
      
      As has been said again recently it is the women voters who will decide once again the Government off New Zealand.
      It is they who disliked Luxon from day one and continue to do so, assisted of course by the media women friends daily.
      
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      November 26, 2025 1:42pm
      - Mike
        
        Perhaps governments should pursue policies more appealing to women.
        
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        November 26, 2025 3:43pm
  - G the giant from Dunedin
    
    Bishop virtually ruled out rolling him.
    
    I think Luxon may well do the right thing if polls do not turn around, he may very well do a little who now appears to be the lefts hero.
    
    Surely if Nats drop further he knows he’s wasting his time, there may well be an arranged hand over mid next year, let’s not forget the voter still know how utterly hopeless Hipkins was.
    
    And I will repeat, 3 polls of late, 2 had the coalition 6 seats ahead by Morgan after being level the poll before, and Curia which had the coalition 4 in front I think it was, again the previous poll had the coalition trailing, the only poll that had the opposition winning was the one that had Labour at 38% that poll had the opposition in front by 1 seat only if TPM won all its seats
    
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    November 26, 2025 12:48pm
    - RoboRob
      
      Lol, you and I are swapping positions here. I think Luxon dropping out next year would be a disaster. All National can do is work on their policy, communications and hope the economy recovers sooner rather then later.
      
      I think the right will get back in but it wont be Luxon dragging them over the line, he is currently a dead weight on their polling (he polls worse then his party and Hipkins). Hopefully he will do the right thing and resign as leader AFTER the next election.
      
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      November 26, 2025 1:36pm
sirknz

Whew. I was worried that they might actually learn something useful for a change…

https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360898938/school-kapa-haka-group-issues-treaty-challenge-erica-stanford
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November 26, 2025 9:42am
rouppe

Seems like people’s private property can be locked up by iwi claims of “significant site” and by councils and heritage slapping a heritage value on your house.

Unless the owner is iwi, it seems.
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November 26, 2025 9:43am
- imalwaysright
  
  Its surprising that this seems to have gone under the radar.
  
  It seems that a self defined, unelected entity or individual can insert themselves into the decisions regarding private property.
  
  Private property rights are a foundation of our country, and the protection of them are a main purpose of the Government, yet we have people declaring cultural interests which can affect the value and the useage of the property.
  
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  November 26, 2025 10:10am
- KKNZ2025
  
  “Heritage” people will spend any amount of other people’s money on other people’s property to validate their personal opinions
  
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  November 26, 2025 10:41am
Tom Hunter

Oxford epidemiologist Professor Sunetra Gupta trashes both the British Covid inquiry and the concept of lockdowns.

Hardly a surprise since epidemiologists had never supported such a strategy, which is why no such thing was in the official pandemic plans of places like Britain, NZ or even the WHO.

Thirty minutes, well worth your time.
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November 26, 2025 9:44am
- MCōs
  
  She doesn’t speak for all epidemiologists by a long way.
  She had a point of view on how the Covid-19 pandemic should be handled that was at odds with the majority and the politicians decided which way to go
  
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  November 26, 2025 10:34am
  - Conservatarian
    
    So in other words her “point of view” was 100% correct.
    
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    November 26, 2025 3:03pm
Surely Knott

Media Bias: 3% change reported 2 different ways.

Article: RNZ Headline: “Frustration , sadness as suicide remains high”

Suicide rates drop from 630 to 617 but RNZ headlines is lonely negative. The article says , “That amounts to 11 deaths from suicide per 100,000 people, down just over 3 percent from the average over the last 16 years.”

NZ Herald today “Govt’s parent – income welfare gateway for 18 to 19 year olds blasted by officials”

PM Luxon says ” People under the age of 25 on Jobseeker support risk spending an average of 18 years on a benefit over a lifetime..”

Article reports “This 18 year figure is included in the RIA, but the context is that their average time on welfare is actually falling from 18.9 years in 2022 to 18.2 years in 2023”.

So all of a sudden a 3% change matters.

The article by Derek Chang and the RIA also fails to mention that parental means testing is consistent with means tested Student Allowance for the young. The RIA reckons the kids need training for drivers ed and vocational. Agree but there parents are wealthy enough to pay .
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November 26, 2025 10:12am
OlderChas

I have held back on this for some time, but it goes on EVERY NIGHT. Hundreds of drones bombing civilian housing blocks without warning in Ukraine. How is that not terrorism, and who is going to call it out and convict Putin in some world court?
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November 26, 2025 10:38am
- Mike
  
  Putin can only travel to rogue states which don’t recognize the international criminal court. The US, for example.
  
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  November 26, 2025 11:38am
  - Conservatarian
    
    International Criminal Court
    Democratic Peoples Republic
    Hockey Stick Theory
    Safe and Effective
    Biden Presidency
    Global Boiling
    
    The above are examples of word arrangements which appear to mean something but in practice mean less than nothing.
    
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    November 26, 2025 3:15pm
    - Nikola Donatello
      
      The only word arrangement that meets your criterion is “Democratic Peoples Republic”. Because it means the opposite in practice.
      
      All the other phrases seem fit for purpose. Maybe I misunderstood you.
      
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      November 26, 2025 5:47pm
      - Mike
        
        He could have put more effort into it.
        
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        November 26, 2025 6:27pm
- Christopher Thomson
  
  The ICC have warrants out for Putin.
  
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  November 26, 2025 1:49pm
- Jake Dee
  
  Quite apart from the fact that Putin is too strong to be arrested, there is no body that will draw up laws, no court that will try the case and show evidence that wouldn’t be indicting themselves as well.
  Have you been asleep during the last 50 years of world history?
  It is essential that the West must always be permitted to do that which the East is never permitted to do.
  
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  November 26, 2025 5:35pm
cmm

Does anyone understand why they would want to upgrade Devonport Naval Base?

I get that it is a bit long of tooth and is maybe no longer fit for service, but why upgrade the current location?

Surely Devonport sits on prime real estate and is also a bit of a horror to access. Rather sell the land off and build a new fit-for-purpose naval base unconstrained by the current site.
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November 26, 2025 10:43am
- imalwaysright
  
  Where would the Brass go for lunch…
  
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  November 26, 2025 11:00am
- NoFax
  
  The problem is that requires imagination. Something governments are always in short supply. Let’s just do what we are doing, but better, and this time it will all work out.
  
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  November 26, 2025 11:10am
- Cassandra
  
  Where? It’d cost a fortune to build a new base and unless it was close to Auckland nobody would join the navy. Devonport would simply go to the local sub-tribe.
  
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  November 26, 2025 11:18am
  - imalwaysright
    
    “…and unless it was close to Auckland nobody would join the navy.”
    
    What? Are they all homebodies?
    
    ‘Join the NZ Navy and be home every night in time to watch The Chase ..’
    
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    November 26, 2025 11:32am
    - septic skeptic
      
      You might have to knock off early to beat the traffic.
      
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      November 26, 2025 12:31pm
    - kowtow
      
      Might be cheaper if they did stay at home.Look what happened when they went to Samoa.
      
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      November 26, 2025 12:39pm
      - imalwaysright
        
        I’ve got that sinking feeling again …
        
        0 1
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        November 26, 2025 5:26pm
- Mike
  
  Shane Jones wants to move it to Whangarei. It’d be cheaper to build a whole new Navy and base it in Sydney and Brisbane
  
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  November 26, 2025 11:43am
  - greybeard
    
    Shane Jones will say anything if it gets him support from his base constituency – Northland maori. ( many are rellies )
    
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    November 26, 2025 4:35pm
- Nobby2
  
  cmm. ” Rather sell the land off and build a new fit – for – purpose naval base unconstrained by the current site ” Making inane comments such as yours need to be backed up with your proposed answer to the perceived problem.
  So give us your answer as to where your new Naval Base will be situated, how long it will take to build and what it will cost to build.
  
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  November 26, 2025 12:10pm
  - cmm
    
    I would think there are many places suited to building a naval base that is a bit bigger than Devonport and more fit for purpose.
    
    If it was built elsewhere then that Devonport land would be available for redevelopment and that would bring in a bundle and offset the purchase of any new land.
    
    A couple of potential sites:
    1) Out East past Howick (basically undeveloped farmland) – would be far cheaper than the current land.
    2) North – various options up to Marsden Point.
    
    Building a naval base practically in the middle of a large city would seem a poor use of land.
    
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    November 26, 2025 2:02pm
    - Cantabrian
      
      Remember that moving the Naval Base does not just mean finding a new place to tie up the ships. It also means building new Dockyard facilities and ensuring there is availability of technical trades, etc. in the commercial sector. Also, the dockyard makes a fairly substantial call on trade services in the Auckland area that may not be available in Whangarei.
      Also, would there be employment for partners of the sailors and civilian staff? Would partners be willing to move if employment opportunities were limited?
      I’m sure there has been a recent study that quashed the notion of moving to Whangarei. The current idea is, I understand, to develop new training facilities in the area and a secondary ‘port’ for berthing ships (not a dockyard with repair facilities).
      
      CMM – I think there might be issues with the depth of water in the areas of the Firth you are thinking of.
      
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      November 26, 2025 3:58pm
      - Cantabrian
        
        Further to my comment above, here is a media report following the last (2023) study. https://newsroom.co.nz/2023/04/05/military-moves-towards-extra-base-in-whangarei/
        
        1 1
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        November 26, 2025 4:31pm
      - imalwaysright
        
        The cumulative effect of the current setup is that boats are sunk by DEI hires.
        
        It doesn’t really matter where they depart from, it matters more to warn friendly countries within their range that they may get hit by one of our boats…
        
        1 2
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        November 26, 2025 6:24pm
      - Mike
        
        It’s almost as if years of effort has already gone into considering alternatives.
        
        0 4
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        November 26, 2025 6:39pm
      - Quail
        
        Cantabrian , Shakespeare bay Picton was once mentioned as a possible site for a Navy drydock to replace the inefficient smaller one in Auckland.
        Perhaps an option?
        
        0 2
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        November 26, 2025 8:08pm
    - MCōs
      
      Marsden Point, whilst nominally in Whangarei is separated from the city by the Whangarei Passage and is more realistically part of Ruakākā.
      It’s a half hour drive from Marsden Pt to Whangarei CBD
      
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      November 26, 2025 8:15pm
      - G the giant from Dunedin
        
        Correct, it is quite some distance, there is a port frontage in Whangerei, but that is not Marsden point
        
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        November 26, 2025 8:21pm
Dudley Quaffquaff

Did you see this post on BBH? Looks like a clear and cogent analysis of TPM’s recent experience in Parliament and how it reflects on the tensions between Maori-style and Westminster-style governance. It’s an interesting and thought-provoking piece, but the kicker is at the end where Rodney says that the whole thing was written by AI at his instruction.

Be honest, did you spot that it wasn’t a person writing? I didn’t, and I’ve always thought myself to be quite a discerning reader.

Is this a good or a bad thing?

https://www.bassettbrashandhide.com/post/the-inevitable-implosion-how-te-p%C4%81ti-m%C4%81ori-s-rejection-of-westminster-democracy-made-the-2025-chaos
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November 26, 2025 11:24am
- Yvette
  
  The Inevitable Implosion: How Te Pāti Māori’s Rejection of Westminster Democracy Made the 2025 Chaos Predictable
  Rodney Hide:
  “I did not write this. Grok did. On November 24, 2025. I gave the following prompt:
  
  Write me a blog post explaining the recent ructions in Te pati Maori are perfectly understandable because the party itself rejects democracy and Westminster parliamentary tradition in favour of Tikanga.
  The blog was written in seconds.
  
  Who needs the MSM? AI will write our news and analysis for us. On demand. Curated to our likes and wants. We are each going to have our own news.”
  
  Out of interest I tried the same prompt with ChatGPT, asking for 800 words close to Grok’s output.
  But after a little negotiation ChatGPT summarised itself –
  
  Yes, personality is a huge part of what’s going on. This feels less like a debate over high constitutional theory and more like a power struggle among key figures.
  But to reduce it only to ego would be too simplistic [shades of Luxon]. The dispute is also tangled up in deeper questions about how Te Pāti Māori should govern itself — whether tikanga gives some people more informal authority, and when that authority becomes “unaccountable” to parts of the membership.
  The very fact that individuals are invoking tikanga in their arguments (on both sides) suggests this isn’t simply a takeover attempt — it’s also a contest over “who gets to claim tikanga legitimacy.”
  
  That last sentence is why I do hope there is a little more consideration to introducing tikanga rather adopting it randomly into Law – Ellis v R was not a very good case for the Supreme Court to pick.
  And if all that te Pati Maori is doing at the moment with “individuals invoking tikanga in their arguments on both sides” it means one side (or both) may have it wrong, and as it is claimed TPM is a tikanga body in a Westminster context, transferring that to the Courts may not be easy.
  
  There may be a little more imploding to go under the bridge yet.
  ___________
  And an aside: Ellis v R did appear to benefit to some degree from tikanga, the consideration of restoring mana or reputation to a man stripped of mana by a miscarriage of justice – a seeming shortcoming of law, threatening to stop because the appellant died – but “The late Tāmaki Makaurau MP Takutai Tarsh Kemp was subjected to “the most despicable behaviour” by Te Pāti Māori leadership, expelled Te Tai Tonga MP Tākuta Ferris claims” may still teach us more about tikanga in respect of death.
  
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  November 26, 2025 12:05pm
  - Paulus
    
    By AI writings you might get the truth !
    
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    November 26, 2025 1:45pm
    - Yvette
      
      Paulus, as I understand it, AI – like Google – only offers choices.
      
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      November 26, 2025 2:48pm
- Yvette
  
  And, Dudley Quaffquaff, further “Is this a good or a bad thing?”
  An expression that accompanied the general availability of computers was “garbage in, garbage out”
  That expression with regard to AI prompts applie perhaps even more so now.
  There are of course books available (probably written using AI) about how to write prompts for AI.
  
  Also the attitude (curt, brief, conversational, friendly) of AI which I use constantly attempts to flatter me with prefixing answers by saying “what a precise and perceptive question”, “how astute you inquiry is” and so on, crafted to heighten the chance I will engage with it further (and purchase a pay-plan) but as annoying this style is, I do not correct it so that attitude constantly reminds me what it is that I am using – a very much more elaborate system of Google.
  
  Is this a good or a bad thing? It is what it is – and relates exactly to how you use it.
  
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  November 26, 2025 12:25pm
- David Garrett
  
  Dudley: I find that very scary. Someone in the comments has said it “didn’t look like Rodney-speak”. For me – someone who has worked closely with him, and both heard and read what he said on various matters – it could and would have fooled me.
  
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  November 26, 2025 12:49pm
Jack5

Stuff continues its Maorification crusade.

Two mountaineers die. Stuff reports this as Aoraki deaths. Not Aoraki-Mt Cook, and definitely not Mt Cook.

Thank you Media Minister Goldsmith for your help in keeping State-supported print media on their Woke path.

The Woke especially hate the great explorer, James Cook.
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November 26, 2025 11:26am
- Ghost
  
  Stuff
  
  Summit Explorers co-owner Thomas Vialletet, a father-of-two, and a US man he was guiding died on Monday night on Aoraki/Mt Cook.
  
  Vialletet and the US man fell while attempting to climb to the summit from Empress Hut via a ridge on the western side Aoraki/Mt Cook.
  
  Two weeks ago, on what would be Vialletet’s last Instagram post, he was enthusiastic about the start of the climbing season having guided clients up the East Ridge of Aoraki/Mount Cook, some 25 hours from Plateau Hut
  
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  November 26, 2025 11:42am
  - Jack5
    
    Headline Stuff:
    
    Aoraki tragedy: French-raised guide and American climber dead
    
    Nadine Roberts
    November 26, 2025 • 9:05am
    
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    November 26, 2025 7:29pm
    - Ghost
      
      People need to read articles, not just headlines. Limited space for headlines
      
      1 2
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      November 26, 2025 8:44pm
      - Jack5
        
        Ghost’s … Limited space for headlines …
        
        Especially on newsprint tabloids, but on the internet there’s more space and flexibility.
        
        0 0
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        November 26, 2025 11:58pm
- Mike
  
  Cook, like most historical personalities, needs to be judged by the standards of his time. He us neither flawless hero nor super villain. He functions as a symbol today – and symbols can have multiple meanings.
  
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  November 26, 2025 1:36pm
  - NothingLeft
    
    Be interesting to see all the kiddie mutilating trans activists be judged by “the standards of their times” in a decade or two when the life destroying damage they’ve wrought on impressionable innocents with their unhinged zealotry becomes more clear.
    
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    November 26, 2025 5:33pm
    - Mike
      
      I don’t know, but sincerely doubt that you know either.
      
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      November 26, 2025 9:06pm
I remember when

I see that David agrees with a Capital Gains Tax as longs as it is Revenue Neutral – there are income tax cuts to compensate.
If we have to have income tax cuts to compensate the first thing a CGT needs to do is replace that tax amount.
Surely, that defeats some of the reason for having a CGT.
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November 26, 2025 12:28pm
- Mike
  
  Compensating rax cuts would surely be done better by lowering the GST rate.
  
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  November 26, 2025 1:37pm
- cmm
  
  Quite.
  
  The whole point is an envy tax to make the Rich Pricks pay “their fair share” and bring in more money to give away to the people who like to vote for Free Stuff (TM).
  
  If it is going to be undone by income tax cuts then that’s hardly a winner.
  
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  November 26, 2025 1:49pm
- [email protected]
  
  See no problem with CGT. You earn a dollar, pay your tax. But also agree that any extra tax income to the government should reduce the total tax take to be revenue neutral. Of course this would mean that the government would no longer be interested in creating a CGT.
  
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  November 26, 2025 7:45pm
Swifty

NZEI flogging Treaty merch.

https://x.com/bobble05132522/status/1993411514393674006?s=46

Not sure if I’d do it if I was them. I’d be wanting us to stick to our knitting – and, being a highly political issue, I’d also be mindful of the NZEI members who oppose the extent to which the Treaty has entered our classrooms, assuming there are some.

But that’s just me.
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November 26, 2025 12:35pm
- Mike
  
  Perhaps you should join NZEI to further your preferences as to which merchandise they supply to presumably willing members.
  
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  November 26, 2025 2:20pm
  - Swifty
    
    No thanks.
    
    I’d rather just sit back on my easy chair, Camel in hand, and reflect on how the NZEI has deteriorated to becoming a nakedly politically partisan rotten shell of its former self, and bask in the knowledge that NZers will now see it to be no more than the extremist Labour Party astroturf outfit that it has become.
    
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    November 26, 2025 4:06pm
    - Mike
      
      Extremist? You sure primary schoolteachers aren’t terrorists?
      
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      November 26, 2025 5:30pm
      - Swifty
        
        They are at least as extreme as National and ACT supporters are ‘far-right’.
        
        3 1
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        November 26, 2025 9:26pm
      - Swifty
        
        😄
        
        4 0
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        November 26, 2025 9:27pm
      - Mike
        
        Luckily that’s untrue as well.
        
        0 2
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        November 26, 2025 10:05pm
- cmm
  
  What’s the difference between the t-shirts for men and wimminz?
  
  0 4
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  November 26, 2025 2:21pm
  - Steve Todd
    
    If you’re going to play silly buggers over the spelling of the word “women”, then you should know the ‘z’ was superfluous. You would have done better to spell it as “whimmen”, which is how the word “women” is pronounced.
    
    Oh, and to answer your question, the cut?
    
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    November 26, 2025 5:15pm
rouppe

Mandami setting up

more than 17 transition advisory committees made up of more than 400 people to help advise his incoming administration, including the Committee on Economic Development & Workforce Development, which [Darrick] Hamilton will help lead

And this guy is really out there.

Hamilton, who went to Oberlin College and later the University of Carolina at Chapel Hill, is the founding director of the Institute on Race, Power and Political Economy at the progressive The New School university in New York City. Hamilton’s academic biography at The New School calls him a “pioneer” in the field of “stratification economics,” which is aimed at looking at how race and ethnicity are embedded into “inequality” in education, economic and health outcomes.

I reckon Rawiri and Debbie will load up the taxpayer credit card to go have a chat with him for ideas.

“Since our nation’s inception, the immoral devaluation of Black lives has been ingrained in America’s political economy, and (has) manifested in a persistent, unjust, and enormous racial wealth gap,” Hamilton told Congress in 2021. “Our unjust racial wealth gap is itself an implicit measure of our racist past that is rooted in a history in which whites have been privileged by (a) government complicit (in) political and economic intervention(s) that have afforded them access to resources and iterative and intergenerational accumulation.”

Wow, that’s a lot of words that say bugger all… Now, here’s the kicker.

Hamilton also sits on the New York State Community Commission on Reparations Remedies, where he advises members of the New York State legislature on policy recommendations for “reparative justice,” as it relates to “the historical and present-day consequences of slavery and discrimination.”

Ah. So he wants a never ending stream of money to flow in one direction only, just for being black. I’m sure it won’t even matter if you’re a recent immigrant, legal or otherwise.
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November 26, 2025 2:13pm
- Mike
  
  I’m sure the idea of doing anything to redress the effects of centuries of racism is unpalatable to most inheritors of centuries of relative privilege
  
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  November 26, 2025 6:47pm
- Gravelroad
  
  “more than 17 transition advisory committees made up of more than 400 people to help advise his incoming administration “.
  AKA : working groups.
  Perhaps Ms Ardern is on the Mandami payroll as an advisor on the super success of working groups here and how to waste money.
  
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  November 26, 2025 7:12pm
  - Mike
    
    The most amusing thing about the hysteria over his election is the outrage felt by Trumpistas at the love fest in the Oval Office.
    
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    November 26, 2025 7:19pm
cmm

These panicked OCR cuts always remind me of them pulling out a defibrillator machine in ED.

Everyone stand back, we’ll give it a whack and see what happens.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/money/360899603/live-last-ocr-decision-year-and-new-reserve-bank-governor-begins
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November 26, 2025 2:23pm
Quail

CMM,
“ panicked OCR cuts”.
The inflation picture is much clearer if the NZD value against the TWI ( trade weighted index) is looked at.That graph is horrific.The NZD is at its lowest level in the last 5 years.
This is a cost on all savers.Encouraging savings can only work if investors they get a REAL return from their efforts.
The Reserve Bank job is to ensure currency stability.
They have failed miserably.
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November 26, 2025 8:28pm

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