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December 12, 2025 8:00am by Kokila Patel

General Debate 12 December 2025

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General Debate

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Cassandra

Lots of this was aired in David’s Nicola post yesterday and in its responses but there’s one issue worth another look.

I can understand why National has been timid in some respects. Many on my side of the political spectrum would like a more aggressive approach to lots of things, such as the maorification of almost everything. “Nga mihi” irritates me and the expensive consultations with tribal groups is an outrageous rort. Et cetera.

I guess National is trying to avoid multiple protests, thinking it’s a bad look. I say bring it on. A quick squirt with a water canon would be an even better look. (Perhaps not, on reflection).

But I do not understand why National has not taken a bulldozer to the bloated public service. Labour deliberately inflated government staff numbers, knowing that it was shoring up its voting base. More staff = more PSA members = more votes for Labour plus more money for the union and therefore the Labour Party.

Reducing it to the 2017 + inflation level is a no-brainer. Good politics and good financial management. And axing most of the commissioners would be a great start. I thought the Children’s one was a woman in an office. It’s actually 37 women in multiple offices costing $11 million a year! That’s $300,000 per person. Probably half on salaries and the rest offices and travel. To what effect? And then there’s Language (inventing new words for NZ’s form of Esperanto), Race Relations and the whole Human Rights caboodle. The only one I’d keep is the Ombudsman. Perhaps one more – happy to give Simon Upton an office and a telephone but that’s it.
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December 12, 2025 8:01am
- Isobar
  
  The simple answer is that National likes power for powers sake. They actually do very little meaningful stuff with that power.
  Same under key and now luxon.
  
  Luxon is even worse because at least Key could get by with his Charisma and popularity. Luxon has none of it.
  
  As long as they can get a few small wins for their funders and get all the titles, they are happy.
  
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  December 12, 2025 8:24am
  - keepcalmcarryon
    
    It’s been a long time since a political party governed in the interests of all citizens instead of its own members.
    For the Nats we have : Banks, real estate industry, corporate dairy, trucking , iwi
    Labour: the public service, iwi, cyclists
    Greens: young, mentally unstable, non binary, iwi
    NZ First: commercial fishing, Winston Peters, commercial fishing, horse racing , commercial fishing
    Maori: radicals, iwi
    ACT: corporate farming, big capital.
    
    So it is mean to pick on the Nats like we do, they are only as venal and self serving as everyone else.
    So much of NZ and so many of our interests are not being addressed with the current parties, often our interests are actually sacrificed.
    
    Who is representing the interests of working people, small businesses, non Maori?
    
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    December 12, 2025 10:35am
    - Ra Henare
      
      Is it right?
      From 1st April next year the minimum wage will be $49,000 a year????
      
      National pumping minimum wage up 2% instead of removing the whole concept 🙂
      
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      December 12, 2025 2:36pm
    - Quail
      
      KCC ,
      Try ACT , and push individual responsibility,!
      Don’t agree that ACT have particular interest in corporate farming etc,
      That is Nationals portfolio.
      Corporates including Maori have been nurtured by National for many many years!
      
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      December 12, 2025 7:06pm
      - keepcalmcarryon
        
        ACT are for selling off land corp farms which can only go to iwi, overseas buyers or corporate farmers with what they are worth.
        The general public lose more of their country.
        ACT has just recently backed Shane Jones latest fisheries travesty of allowing commercial and customary take while locking out recreation fishers, from supposed marine reserves, and an opening of marlin and other protected fisheries to commercial take.
        ACT has failed majorly at the gun reforms it promised its voters.
        Hunters and fishers are numerous and core right wing voters. ACT is following NZ First and selling them out.
        This coalition is asking to be a one term government.
        
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        December 12, 2025 9:59pm
  - Pope Punctilious II
    
    I disagree that Luxon is “even worse” than Key. Let’s not confuse charisma with policy. Yes Luxon is sorely lacking in charisma, but what did Key do with his charisma? He got into bed with the racist Maori Party, signed us up to UNDRIP, and did nothing to stem the metastasis of wokeism through our institutions. Key was not a good prime minister. Luxon has at least appointed a very competent and determined minister of education, and negotiated productive coalition agreements with ACT and NZF, enabling those parties to champion some pushback against wokeism.
    
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    December 12, 2025 10:56am
  - G the giant from Dunedin
    
    This government have moved the fuel hugely, think fast track, think RMA reform and wiped most of that shit away, think impending rates caps, think regulation laws, those 4 things alone are huge in 2 years, you might say it’s not, but can you show me the last time hose 4 major policy platforms have been brought in in such a short time? They are trying to re-establish oil and gas, they are over hauling the school curriculum, there are a huge amount of things that are being rubbished by the left and media, yet you say they have done nothing, unbelievable, no e we infer they are a good shot of being a one term government.
    
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    December 12, 2025 11:06am
  - KKNZ2025
    
    This 30 year old legal protection racket “… intent of the law, aimed at protecting New Zealand coastal shipping for local commercial interest” should be scrapped instead of endorsed by National. Prepare for building, construction & road maintenance cost increases
    
    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/581604/associate-transport-minister-bars-holcim-from-using-foreign-flagged-ship-for-transport
    
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    December 12, 2025 11:19am
    - SoloView
      
      @ KKNZ2025
      
      Cabotage in NZ was removed in 1994.
      
      Interesting to note that the USA does not allow it by sea or road.
      
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      December 12, 2025 1:22pm
    - Taieri
      
      Prepare for building, construction & road maintenance cost increases
      ————-
      
      Not if workforce in building, construction and road maintenance was to be replaced by the cheap foreign labour. Just as proposed by Holcim in case of Buffalo.
      BTW, how would you feel if your job was also replaced?
      
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      December 12, 2025 1:23pm
    - Jack5
      
      Transport of goods or passengers between two places within the same country by a ship or carrier registered in a different country is called cabotage.
      
      More than a hundred countries have laws on cabotage.
      
      In the United States, the Jones act (the Merchant Marine Act of 1920) requires all goods transported between domestic ports to be carried on vessels that are built, owned, and crewed by American citizens.
      
      Australia requires foreign ships to be get temporary licences for cabotage, and an owner must top-up crew wages to Australian standards after two coastal voyages within 12 months.
      
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      December 12, 2025 2:01pm
  - peterwn
    
    If National was really power drunk they would be making life as miserable as possible for their political enemies just like former international far left and far right despotic leaders have done (and the far left converges into the far right).
    
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    December 12, 2025 12:26pm
- cmm
  
  I really do not know why you are complaining. National have not misrepresented themselves.
  
  Before the election, Willis clearly stated she was “Blue Green” (or maybe that was Green Blue). Despite some unconvincing tub-thumping, Luxon was clearly a fence sitter then and now.
  
  Do you really feel you were sold a pig in a poke?
  
  Yes, I too would like to see some healthy cuts and some of that “austerity” but it is not going to happen when Luxon is shouting “growth, growth, growth” and has extremely few levers to pull to make anything happen.
  
  If short term growth really is a goal then do not expect any significant public service cuts as those would impede short-term growth (but would probably improve longer term growth that actually matters).
  
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  December 12, 2025 8:27am
  - Philview
    
    Anecdotally I get the impression that the Government asked for cutbacks and took little interest after that. As a consequence I know of people who have lost jobs that probably had more important roles than some of the areas that remain. For example cut back IT support but leave Rainbow support in place.
    
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    December 12, 2025 8:38am
    - Spam
      
      Remember – if you are a woke public service middle-manager, the best way to “prove” that you know best and the Government is wrong, is to disestablish the important roles and keep the pointless ones. Then, when things start to crumble, you can play the victim and claim it was all the cruel government’s fault.
      
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      December 12, 2025 9:41am
      - Pope Punctilious II
        
        Yes Spam, I can imagine that some public services managers hostile to the present government would take such an approach.
        
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        December 12, 2025 10:58am
    - pdm
      
      pv – only ACT was committed to cutbacks and there is the problem.
      
      ACT needs at least 15MP’s in next years Coalition if the current lot win through.
      
      Plus it is essential they comprehensively out poll NZFirst.
      
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      December 12, 2025 10:00am
  - artemisia
    
    Cheaper to pay the dole than pay public sector employees to do either busy work or work not in line with current government priorities. And in any case many won’t qualify for Jobseeker anyway. Win win.
    
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    December 12, 2025 8:38am
    - cmm
      
      Yes it is certainly cheaper to just cut numbers and put them on the dole, but they don’t like the optics of increased dole numbers. So rather hide the people in the public service.
      
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      December 12, 2025 8:51am
      - kowtow
        
        I think this lot are also very fearful of the media and the usual reaction of them being accused of throwing widows and orphans onto the streets in the snow with no food etc……..
        
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        December 12, 2025 9:08am
      - G152
        
        The dole is the cheaper option
        
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        December 12, 2025 9:18am
      - kowtow
        
        Another thought .
        
        How much of the huge growth in the public service was driven by Labour maorifying everything.
        
        To sack the thousands of jobsworths might upset the left wing of the Nats who are so very into all things “partnership”.
        
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        December 12, 2025 12:09pm
    - imalwaysright
      
      The Public Service, the media, the unions and the judiciary are all defacto Labour entities.
      Labour doesn’t have to be in Government in order to exert their influence, in fact they are probably better off in Opposition where they can operate without oversight.
      Some would call it a coup against democracy.
      
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      December 12, 2025 9:27am
      - R
        
        A coup ? The more enlightened of us recognize the above mentioned behaviour as subtle TREASON, for that is what it is. A bit like the intransigence of the NZEI stance at the moment =
        .. …BLACKMAIL
        
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        December 12, 2025 10:01am
      - Foxfour
        
        Complete fabrication.
        
        Most unions arent connected to the Labour Party at all
        
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        December 12, 2025 10:15am
      - SoloView
        
        @ imalwaysright
        
        The PSA and NZCTU are not affiliated to the Labour and do not make donations.
        
        Which part of the judiciary are a defacto Labour entity?
        
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        December 12, 2025 12:21pm
      - imalwaysright
        
        Defacto:
        
        being such in effect though not formally recognized
        
        exercising power as if legally constituted
        
        resulting from economic or social factors rather than from laws or actions of the state
        
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        December 12, 2025 1:06pm
      - Taieri
        
        In 2023 there were 11 affiliated unions, which paid a levy to the party based on the size of their own memberships.
        
        https://teara.govt.nz/en/labour-party/print
        
        E tū, one of the largest unions, with memberships of about 48000 is formally affiliated to Labour.
        
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        December 12, 2025 1:30pm
  - Albie
    
    That is why if it goes ahead, the Willis- Richardson debate could be so interesting. Fiscal responsibility which means doing what is right vs policies designed to get elected and stay elected.
    
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    December 12, 2025 8:39am
    - G the giant from Dunedin
      
      TPU will wish they never did this, watching posts and comments then they are on the losing side, most saying the fudge is pathetic, and they are supporting Nicola, most have also forgotten how good Nicola is at debate, she will have her facts bang on, the old buddy will not know many of the facts.
      
      I hear this morning that banks are saying the GDP next Thursday will be at least 1% and the previous quarter is going to have a steep up grade, looks like the -.9 % may well have been a huge miscalculation , Willis will already know this, she also knows the stats in the HIFU which the old buddy will not.
      
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      December 12, 2025 11:13am
    - Paulus
      
      This smells of the media wanting to see two intelligent political financial ladies get unto a woman’s squabble so the media can wallow in seeing both agree to contradict or vary their views and accuse each other of damaging New Zealand.
      It is pure media loved scam and should not take place.
      
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      December 12, 2025 2:30pm
  - Cassandra
    
    How do inflated staff numbers contribute to “growth, growth, growth”?
    
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    December 12, 2025 8:40am
    - cmm
      
      More people employed (whether they are productive or not is immaterial), more money sloshing about, more retail, more coffee shops in Wellington,…
      
      Ditto with all the NGO slush funds etc.
      Ditto with other government spending such as school lunches etc.
      
      Of course it doesn’t build a long term sustainable productive economy, but that’s clearly not the goal.
      
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      December 12, 2025 8:47am
      - Cassandra
        
        But that suggests that these people would not find employment elsewhere upon their departure from public employment. Plenty of jobs for good expletive. Navy crying out! Under your system the Polish shipyard would have been an asset.
        
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        December 12, 2025 8:51am
      - cmm
        
        “But that suggests that these people would not find employment elsewhere”
        
        Far too few public servants are employable on the open market. That’s why they grabbed those plum public service jobs.
        
        Those waiata skills do not translate into real-world value.
        
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        December 12, 2025 8:54am
    - sirknz
      
      To put itno the politicians mindset:
      
      “Look GDP number go up, look GDP graph arrow go up, no look average per capita GDP, that number go down. Bring in more immigrant, GDP go more up, me do good with economy, vote me again so GDP number, GDP graph arrow, and immigrant number all go up, no look average per capita GDP though.”
      
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      December 12, 2025 9:48am
      - G the giant from Dunedin
        
        Immigration numbers you say, last year of Labour 250000 this last 12 months 70000 and 30000 were returning NZers from Aussie, yeah rapid imagination now you say
        
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        December 12, 2025 11:21am
      - cmm
        
        GDP is a crock measure as it does not distinguish between productive economic activity or consumption.
        
        Unfortunately it is the only measure in use and is the international benchmark.
        
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        December 12, 2025 12:02pm
      - Ian Boag
        
        @cmm
        
        GDP is a crock measure
        
        You can point us at a non-crock one?
        
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        December 12, 2025 3:18pm
- artemisia
  
  Still remember the late national treasure Sir Bob having to consult 11 different Maori groups to change a window in a building he owned.
  
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  December 12, 2025 8:32am
  - Mike
    
    Probably a lie, as was his habit.
    
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    December 12, 2025 8:42am
    - Swifty
      
      Citation required.
      
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      December 12, 2025 9:30am
      - Colville
        
        Swifty.
        
        The only thing wrong with Mikes comment was the word “probably” . Remove that and capitalise the A and it would be perfect.
        
        When dealing with council on iwi matters you are required to get comment from the Post Settlement group IF its culturally sensitive. Possible you could talk to the Hapu concerned on a land matter if say a urupa or miden was present.
        Replacing a window (like for like) isnt even a consenting issue. Its as of right.
        
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        December 12, 2025 9:44am
    - cmm
      
      Quite possibly an embellishment – which is not really a lie.
      
      If it was “only” 9 Maori groups, then is saying it 11 really a lie?
      
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      December 12, 2025 9:41am
      - NZer In Exile
        
        No it wouldn’t be a lie. It would be a figure of speech. And people with more than a couple of brain cells to rub together would be able to grasp that.
        
        From Britannica:
        
        “What is a figure of speech?
        
        A figure of speech is an intentional deviation from the literal or common usage of language to emphasize, clarify, or embellish written and spoken communication. They are integral to language, appearing in oral literature, refined prose and poetry, and everyday conversation such as advertising slogans and newspaper headlines.”
        
        And note I wasn’t a huge fan of B Jones.
        
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        December 12, 2025 8:40pm
    - graham
      
      The NZ Herald reported on this in 2014 (paywalled).
      
      https://www.nzherald.co.nz/kahu/bob-jones-joins-fight-over-iwis-tick-for-works/LI7EZ6PDAULVQVFR46CB4YWDNA/
      
      The article’s first two paragraphs:
      
      Property magnate Sir Bob Jones will be at a public meeting next month seeking abolition of an Auckland Council rule requiring building owners to seek iwi approval for work on their land.
      
      Sir Bob vented his frustration at the rule in a weekly Herald column this month after his company had to contact 13 iwi before it could remove an 11m concrete block wall and a window and replace it with a glass frontage for a ground-floor restaurant.
      
      The Herald does not report that Sir Bob allegedly had to contact 13 iwi, or claimed that his company had to contact 13 iwi. They seem to have been sufficiently confident of the reliability of Sir Bob’s claim to report it as fact.
      
      Also, further on in the article, Ngai Tai Ki Tamaki representative Dave Beamish is reported as saying that “Sir Bob’s column was unbalanced”. He did not refute the claim, nor did he state that Sir Bob had lied.
      
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      December 12, 2025 10:04am
      - Michael Sommerville
        
        The absurd part of this story is that Ngai Tai Ki Tamaki are based at Clevedon but whose marae is at Umapouia / Duders Beach which is east of Maraetai. WHY the hell would they need to be consulted about something happening in the city.
        
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        December 12, 2025 2:42pm
    - Foxfour
      
      https://www.hobsonspledge.nz/businessman_requires_approval_from_13_iwi_to_replace_window
      ‘For we were then told that under the new Draft Unitary Plan, not yet enacted, our building being within 50 metres of a designated Maori heritage site, we needed RMA approval (for a new shop window, for God’s sake), this instantly forthcoming at a cost of $4500 plus the approval of 13 iwi.
      
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      December 12, 2025 10:16am
    - Ra Henare
      
      If you knew Sir Bob you would know he had a tendency (when talking to media) to shall we say, upscale anything.
      Hence, maybe 11 iwi sounded better to him than 2 🙂 Hint 1+1
      
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      December 12, 2025 2:42pm
    - NZer In Exile
      
      “Probably a lie, as was his habit.”
      
      Grubby. Very grubby. Do better.
      
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      December 12, 2025 7:54pm
  - Ghost
    
    13, not 11
    
    For we were then told that under the new Draft Unitary Plan, not yet enacted, our building being within 50 metres of a designated Maori heritage site, we needed RMA approval (for a new shop window, for God’s sake), this instantly forthcoming at a cost of $4500 plus the approval of 13 iwi.
    
    The council refused to advise the addresses of these iwi outfits, yet added that without their consent, we can’t put back the window.
    
    So the planner located then wrote to the 13 iwi, ranging from Taranaki to Whangarei.
    
    Article
    
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    December 12, 2025 9:56am
    - artemisia
      
      Thank you Ghost. My memory was (very) slightly faulty.
      
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      December 12, 2025 10:35am
      - Jake Dee
        
        It’s not so much the particular details of this faulty recollection that’s important but rather how the process works.
        One parties’ report of the event becomes an accurate record of the event.
        “Dave Beamish is reported as saying that “Sir Bob’s column was unbalanced”
        Did Dave Beamish have anything else to say?, it seems likely that he said more than 1 short sentence on the matter.
        The difference between the active and the passive becomes confused or eliminated.
        “We contacted 13 Iwi before we proceeded” becomes,
        “We HAD to consult with 13 different Iwi before we could proceed”.
        Small details become exaggerated or diminished based on a name or close synonym.
        “remove an 11m concrete block wall and a window and replace it with a glass frontage”
        becomes,
        “change a window”.
        This isn’t small fry stuff, these are the methods by which, consciously or unconsciously misinformation spreads.
        It’s essential to guard yourself against this at all times.
        It’s a serious problem, and the answer to it is NOT to just decide who you prefer between Bob Jones or The Maori.
        
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        December 12, 2025 2:54pm
      - Don Beckett
        
        And of course, concrete block walls were a “taonga” to the Iwi consulted. //.
        
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        December 12, 2025 5:37pm
- lastmanstanding
  
  I agree with you Cassandra. The Nats should have taken 2017 Public Service numbers ( not Police Nurses etc) as a base adjusted for inflation and growth as appropriate and said that is the number. CEO’s should have been told they had 6 months to get down to that number. As I have posted in the past if I was in charge CEO’s would sign an undated letter of resignation on appointment to be signed by the Minister at their pleasure. At present Ministers have the handwringing Roche to deal with. This is the guy that praised Coster and between the lines offered him a job at some point in the future before Coster unloaded. So much for Roches reading the guy. The Nats have been a total dissapointment to me.
  BTW Willis will lose hands down to Richardson. It will be a slaughter. Willis is not in the same league as Richardson. Any debate will show this. A debate was a dumb idea. Explaining is losing.
  
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  December 12, 2025 9:28am
  - cmm
    
    “CEO’s should have been told they had 6 months to get down to that number.”
    
    The problem with that is that the wokeness goes all the way to the top.
    
    Far too many CEOs would have kept their woke programmes and rather cut the useful services.
    
    To some extent I saw this in hospital last time I was there.
    
    There was a shortage of portable heart monitors that cost around $3000 each, but there was no shortage of Maori signage and posters which nobody can read (and certainly inform nobody).
    
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    December 12, 2025 9:45am
  - cmm
    
    I am massively opposed to the idea of debates because they serve little practical value.
    
    A good debater will convince you that smoking is a net positive for society.
    
    “Winning” a debate is more dependent on performance and showmanship than it is on the merits of the information being discussed.
    
    I would rather have people focus on communicating useful information in a clear fashion than on combative theatrics.
    
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    December 12, 2025 9:49am
    - Jake Dee
      
      Strongly disagree.
      it is the single speaker who owns and controls the stage without opposition that’s most likely to trick and deceive you, they’re the showmen.
      Adversarial cross examination is a crucial part of the common law trial. Opposition counsel are experts who can careful examine the other side’s case for flaws and weaknesses and then expose them.
      More people in the market competing for customers produces a better marketplace.
      It’s the same thing.
      
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      December 12, 2025 3:04pm
- newview
  
  Wellington has lost around 6000 psa jobs from what I can see. A big number for that city I would have thought. Maybe that’s why National put the brakes on.
  
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  December 12, 2025 10:04am
  - Paulus
    
    Eh ! where do you get this as an accurate figure and not just the cancellation of vacancies already factored in.
    
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    December 12, 2025 2:33pm
    - newview
      
      https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/536622/statsnz-amending-data-after-overstating-wellington-job-losses
      The point is Wellington has lost 19500 jobs 11% of its work force, many of which will be PSA jobs. That has a knock on effect through the whole of the regions economy. The government wouldn’t want to make that any worse imo.
      
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      December 12, 2025 3:27pm
  - artemisia
    
    Public Service FTEs. Just the Public Service not the Public Sector.
    
    64,222 September 2023
    62,820 September 2024
    63,162 September 2025
    
    6,000 jobs lost in Wellington, newview? These are the official numbers from the Public Service Commission. Maybe the PSA is using some other data, if so what? Maybe they are including contractors for some reason?
    
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    December 12, 2025 3:03pm
- R
  
  The entitlement mindset of a significant percentage of THE NZ POPULATION, had the coalition taken an axe to the ideological excesses of the Ardern/Hipkins government, would have created an uproar from activists, unions and opposition parties all gleefully reported by MSM; the volume of which would have made the noise from the recent METILLICA concert, sound like a quiet nursery
  
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  December 12, 2025 10:20am
Chuck Bird

The title explains it all.

John Raine: Drive Climate Change Policy with Evidence not Alarmism

https://breakingviewsnz.blogspot.com/2025/12/john-raine-drive-climate-change-policy.html#more
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December 12, 2025 8:04am
- Raphael
  
  The problem with that is the evidence doesn’t match the Narrative, while the Alarmism does match the Narrative
  
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  December 12, 2025 9:05am
- H. Upmann
  
  Another interesting take on the same subject —
  
  https://www.thefp.com/p/revenge-of-the-climate-realists?r=iy19a
  
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  December 12, 2025 10:19am
Yvette

• The Trump administration said on Friday that Europe was facing the “stark prospect of civilizational erasure” and pledged that the United States would support like-minded “patriotic” parties across the continent to prevent a future in which “certain NATO members will become majority non-European.”

• Europe is on a path to becoming “unrecognizable” because of mass immigration, the Trump administration says. Its elites are censoring free speech and oppressing the political opposition. In an interview yesterday, President Trump said that Europe was weak and that its nations were “decaying.”
(both quotes NYT, subscription)

”We were born from our lands and our own culture was molded by these same lands.The protection and preservation of these lands is of the same importance as the protection and preservation of our own ideals and beliefs.”

Google says – This sentiment is deeply rooted in Indigenous worldviews, particularly in the Māori concept of whakapapa, which describes the spiritual and familial connections to the land (Papatūānuku), and the role of kaitiaki (guardians) in protecting these natural resources and treasures (taonga) for future generations. Indeed the land, its features and implications are identity.

However, rather than an indigenous party, the Greens, or New Zealand First statement or Trump, the indented quote above is from – the Buffalo shooter’s rambling 180-page message to the world (much of it plagiarized from previous mass-shooter “manifestos”). The mass shooting in Buffalo, New York on May 14, 2022, claimed the lives of ten persons and injured three others was all the more horrific because of the white supremacist ideological motivation that fueled it and the shooter’s meticulous planning.

But what perspective does that leave on Trump’s attitude.
And is Putin of the same attitude – preserve the Soviet Union as he knew it and felt safe in?
Is that what about 100,000 lives paid for?
And has Putin actually scored an own goal? – has a three day operation of his Military Might run on now for excess of three years in his aim in “the protection and preservation of these [buffer] lands”?
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December 12, 2025 8:15am
- NothingLeft
  
  It’s become clear that the most prosperous and safest countries to live in in the near future will be the ones that have had the least immigration from islamic and low average IQ countries.
  
  Everywhere else will be awash in welfare dependency (more than 50% of recent wave of 3rd world immigrants in west are on welfare), sectarian violence and criminality, with destroyed economies and high-cost-of-security/low-trust that wrecks standard of living. Their govts, pandering to dominant voting block of welfare dependents and govt workers will then inevitably regress to despotic repressive autocracy.
  
  Really just Australasia, East Asia and some parts of USA + Eastern Europe will be left. Plan accordingly.
  
  That is unless there is a cataclysmic revolution and forced remigration on an enormous scale (which seems extremely unlikely). The frog will boil and the western experiment with freedom and democracy in high-trust societies will be for all intents and purposes done and gone.. Europe will cease being a holiday destination for the most part.
  
  Mostly thanks to the political influence of AWFLs (Affluent White Female Liberals) in their various democracies over the last 20-30 years, with misdirected empathy and lack of awareness of destructive death spiral danger of Nanny state big govt.
  
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  December 12, 2025 12:41pm
artemisia

Four French nationals charged with stealing $11 million in luxury items from Canberra home

There’s a master mind somewhere …. and probably not their first rodeo.

Two questions.
A $NZ5.7m watch. Who knew?
Dining at KFC? Really?

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/581614/four-french-nationals-charged-with-stealing-11-million-in-luxury-items-from-canberra-home
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December 12, 2025 8:30am
- Inandout
  
  I thought only those on the taxpayer tit, or consultants, lived in Canberra.
  
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  December 12, 2025 8:46am
  - peterwn
    
    Canberra would have its equivalent of K Street (lobbyist alley).
    
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    December 12, 2025 12:36pm
- MCōs
  
  I went to a watch expo in Bangkok that had some ridiculously expensive pieces well over a million dollars, but not that much. The thing that stayed with me was the Rolex watches looked like an afterthought.
  
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  December 12, 2025 9:27am
- peterwn
  
  I never thought that the watches advertised on the back cover of the ‘Economist’ (and other magazines) cost that much!
  
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  December 12, 2025 12:33pm
Yvette

Quote of the year: Luxon’s ‘go make a marmite sandwich’ in running for annual contest
“If you are unhappy with it, for God’s sake, go make a Marmite sandwich and put an apple in a bag just like you and I had,” Luxon said in response to media coverage of the school lunches programme.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/life/culture/quote-of-the-year-luxon-s-go-make-a-marmite-sandwich-in-running-for-annual-contest

“A marmite sandwich and put an apple in a bag” should be healthier and tastier than a Haeata Community Campus mince meal.

________________

Still it seems, no one has suggested that, if the less than healthy Haeata Community Campus lunches had hung around the campus and been re-served with fresh lunches, as appears now to be the official line, without Campus facilities to store or heat lunches, the offending meals would have been cold as well as moldy – apologies to those still eating breakfast.

So are some children that ravenous they will tackle not only food that is off, but food that should be the same as last Thursday’s hot servings? And are those adults handling lunches in handing them out oblivious to that too?
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December 12, 2025 8:40am
- Ehlana
  
  I believe the school has kitchen facilities. So perhaps the lunches were reheated?
  
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  December 12, 2025 9:33am
  - artemisia
    
    Any bets on whether we-the-people will ever see the Haeata internal review report? What, no bets?
    
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    December 12, 2025 9:40am
  - Spam
    
    If they have kitchen facilities, then they should order 50 loaves of bread, some butter and some marmite, along with a couple of bags of apples. Have the ~~kids tamariki~~ akonga come and make their own lunches. Great learning opportunity.
    
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    December 12, 2025 9:44am
    - Burtland
      
      why isnt sandwich making part of the curriculum – everything else is
      
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      December 12, 2025 5:14pm
- Raphael
  
  The school has commercial-grade kitchen facilities that can reportedly cater for up to 400 people.
  The Principal, who was claiming that they have no way to store or heat anything, was, a few months ago, on a rant against the current provider, claiming that they could make their own meals if the government paid them to.
  
  She has a crusade against the current provider and has been telling porkies.
  
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  December 12, 2025 9:47am
  - RoboRob
    
    When she and her leadership team weren’t in Queenstown doing professional development at various bars and restaurants.
    
    The MOE and Stanford may be right in blaming Hipkins for handing out dollars for professional development with no guidelines BUT it really points to the character of the principals that took advantage and wasted tax payer money.
    
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    December 12, 2025 10:15am
- peterwn
  
  Apples are (or were) given out with school lunches. The dog loved eating whole or ‘one bite out’ apples discarded by school kids on the way home.
  
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  December 12, 2025 12:39pm
  - Spam
    
    And pig farmers allegedly benefit from the school lunch program, too.
    
    I, personally, am thrilled that my tax dollars are being spent to provide those poor teachers with lunches, too.
    
    //
    
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    December 12, 2025 2:29pm
- Right of way is Way of Right
  
  Well, so far it’s been tumbleweeds from Haeata Community Campus regarding the results of their internal investigation that we were promised today.
  
  Are they having another teacher only day??
  
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  December 12, 2025 3:49pm
imalwaysright

Hopefully the debate between Willis and Richardson goes ahead.

Mainly because we don’t have anyone in the media capable of conducting an unbiased and informed interview of the Minister, and hearing Richardson’s views might help show if Willis is on the right track or not.
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December 12, 2025 8:54am
- RoboRob
  
  Agree, I would like to know what Willis’ plan of attack is and her logic for only going for light cuts. However she could actually get that information out without debating someone.
  
  I think the whole debate is a terrible idea for Willis / National. At best she beats up on someone who was minister of finance 30 years ago. If she does so, the media coverage will be minimal. If she loses or even struggles the coverage will be huge and very damaging for National. Either way Richardson will point out a number on inconvenient truths with Nationals performance that they would rather not have highlighted.
  
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  December 12, 2025 10:38am
  - peterwn
    
    Nicola is a skilled debater and no doubt Ruth was in her day. But it is like rugby, you play the ball (ie the topic), not the person. So it would be lively but fun and they would both have a drink together afterwards.
    
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    December 12, 2025 12:44pm
    - rouppe
      
      That’s assuming everybody is going to play by the same rules.
      
      Nicola Willis’ idea of how the debate is going to operate could be completely different to Ruth Richardson’s.
      
      And that doesn’t include how the moderator Toby Manhire acts: as an arbiter of rules, or a provocateur for clicks.
      
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      December 12, 2025 2:51pm
      - imalwaysright
        
        Hopefully it won’t be a restrictive format.
        
        Maybe divide it up into subsections and they take turns at stating their policy, followed by a freeform discussion/argument.
        
        Neither are of the Chloe or Megan Woods ilk so it should be civilised, factual, and to the point.
        
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        December 12, 2025 3:14pm
- Paulus
  
  It would only be used by the media to do all it can to media publically condemn the elected Government – irrespective of the views duiscussed which would not be understood by the masses anyway – nothing else.
  
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  December 12, 2025 2:39pm
- Paulus
  
  I don’t because it would be wrongly used by the anti National in all it’s frames, by the so called media.
  
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  December 12, 2025 2:40pm
Maggy Wassilieff

What’s the use of tikanga when you’re the aggrieved party?

Despite all the righteous and terribly fashionable chest-thumping rhetoric about indigenous justice systems and decolonizing the law, when the music stops and someone’s actual rights are on the line there is suddenly a line-march to the kauri-pannelled boardrooms and their KC inhabitants to pursue discovery, natural justice, the rules of evidence, and a judge with the power to issue binding orders.

https://www.lawfuel.com/the-kapa-kingi-kapa-haka-haki/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
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December 12, 2025 9:02am
- cmm
  
  It must have been easier back in the day before the white mofo interfered.
  The bloke with the biggest mere won!
  
  I would expect them to abide by, and use, the rules when these are in their favour. Then go off pop when the rules get in their way.
  
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  December 12, 2025 9:06am
  - I remember when
    
    Was/is Tikanga simply the introduction of debate, allowing the heat to be removed from arguments, resulting in less violent incidents.
    The longer the debate the better the outcome.
    Tikanga never seemed to prevent killing those offered ‘safe’ passage.
    
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    December 12, 2025 9:55am
  - pdm
    
    So cmm what you are saying is that Hakas are only Mere flashing contests.
    
    With or without grass or flax skirts?
    
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    December 12, 2025 10:07am
    - Paulus
      
      And painting first to frighten the opposition as to who is the ugliest and fattest as they would cook best for the feed in the pot.
      
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      December 12, 2025 2:43pm
- pb
  
  Got me a chance to bring up Sir Thomas:
  
  Sir Thomas More: “Oh? And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned ’round on you, where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat? This country is planted thick with laws, from coast to coast, Man’s laws, not God’s! And if you cut them down, and you’re just the man to do it, do you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then? Yes, I’d give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety’s sake!”
  
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  December 12, 2025 12:34pm
sungsamning

https://redstate.com/john-bercow/2025/12/11/the-world-must-stop-ignoring-what-iranians-already-know-the-regime-is-on-the-brink-n2197013
The World Must Stop Ignoring What Iranians Already Know: The Regime Is on the Brink.
Ernest Hemingway famously wrote when describing bankruptcy: It happens “gradually, then suddenly.” The same is true of dictatorships. They project an illusion of permanence—until the moment the façade shatters and decades of repression give way to rapid collapse. Nowhere is this dynamic more evident than in the Islamic Republic of Iran, a theocracy that has ruled for 46 years through corruption, brutality, and systemic mismanagement.

In recent weeks, a severe water crisis has pushed Iran into international headlines. President Masoud Pezeshkian himself warned that it is very feasible that water rationing in Tehran may follow. Several of Tehran’s life-sustaining reservoirs are already below ten percent capacity.
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December 12, 2025 9:21am
- pb
  
  Persia has suffered foolish leadership, for thousands of years, and survived. America just told Israel that it will attack it if it bombs Qatar again, if you missed it.
  
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  December 12, 2025 12:37pm
sungsamning

https://amgreatness.com/2025/12/11/new-report-exposes-microsofts-disturbing-ties-to-china/
New Report Exposes Microsoft’s Disturbing Ties To China.
One of America’s major national security threats is the cozy relationship between many American corporations and the Chinese government. Microsoft is one of the worst offenders in this regard, as proven by a new report released last week. It adds to the growing evidence that the tech giant is far too close with America’s chief geopolitical foe to be trusted with handling critical infrastructure.

The report, compiled by Nathan Picarsic of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and Horizon Advisory, reveals a disturbing picture about the tech giant. “Over three decades, the company has built a vast commercial, research, and engineering presence in China, one that now intersects directly with the PRC’s intelligence, surveillance, and military-industrial ecosystem,” the study notes.
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December 12, 2025 9:21am
I remember when

All is well.
I see that Metitiria Turei has sorted out Tikanga for the legal profession. (Waatea News)
“Every iwi is sovereign, every hapu is sovereign.”
“Every iwi and hapu is going to have their own approach to how they apply tikanga, Maori law.”

There – so now you understand how it works.
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December 12, 2025 10:04am
- Colville
  
  Fair enough too. (that is sarcasm!!)
  When some missionary (I cant quote who) wrote one of the first books about Māori he stated there were approx 420 separate Māori nations all at war with each other and all had slightly different language and traditions.
  
  When you are driving around you will see “pou whenua” the carved (or sometimes arty steel ones) poles that signify a tribal boundary, typically on one side of a river. All paid for with our taxes 🙂
  
  Basically saying “come onto our turf and we will f*ck you up!”
  
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  December 12, 2025 10:29am
  - Ghost
    
    William Yate
    
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    December 12, 2025 10:36am
    - Colville
      
      Cheers.
      
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      December 12, 2025 11:28am
    - Colville
      
      Went down a bit of a rabbit hole looking for something related and found this..
      
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boyd_massacre
      
      “…killed and ate between 66 and 70 European passengers and crew members…” !!!
      
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      December 12, 2025 11:48am
  - NothingLeft
    
    Basically saying ~~“come onto our turf and we will f*ck you up!”~~ welcome back to the paleolithic when our tribe really knew how to ‘serve humans’
    
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    December 12, 2025 12:21pm
    - Jake Dee
      
      Neolithic not paleolithic.
      Big difference.
      
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      December 12, 2025 3:13pm
    - NZer In Exile
      
      Willy Jackson’s “changed democracy” in action?
      
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      December 12, 2025 8:48pm
- cmm
  
  Big pile of excrement.
  
  There is no Maori Law.
  
  Law implies the existence of a systematic process whereby laws are developed then imposed by some sort of judicial process.
  
  “Maori Law” has never been like that. It was just rule by terror. The guy with the biggest mere got his way and everyone else didn’t.
  
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  December 12, 2025 12:10pm
  - imalwaysright
    
    Correct, there was no law.
    The closest they would have come would have been the expectation of consequence of displeasing the chief.
    
    The consequence would have depended on ones usefulness to the chief, or even the current state of the chiefs appetite.
    
    That’s not law, that’s fear.
    
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    December 12, 2025 1:26pm
  - kowtow
    
    And in other revisionism, today we have whole regions given over by the Crown to the alleged descendants of certain tribes when in fact the ‘chiefly” types of said tribes barely controlled the kumara pit immediately outside the entrance to his own hut.
    
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    December 12, 2025 2:25pm
  - Mike
    
    Where did you get that definition of law?
    
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    December 12, 2025 3:09pm
- mandk
  
  Excellent!
  
  Next time someone starts talking about Tikanga Maori, we can shut them down by saying: “There’s no such thing. Metiria Turei said so.”
  
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  December 12, 2025 1:22pm
- Paulus
  
  Why was she never prosecuted for Theft ?
  Could it be because she was Maori ?
  
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  December 12, 2025 2:46pm
Vidar

I wish we had a Prime Minister who spoke like this. A PM who spoke to voters like they were adults.

“Tax reduction thus sets off a process that can bring gains for everyone, gains won by
marshalling resources that would otherwise stand idle—workers without jobs and farm and
factory capacity without markets. Yet many taxpayers seem prepared to deny the nation the
fruits of tax reduction because they question the financial soundness of reducing taxes when the
federal budget is already in deficit. Let me make clear why, in today’s economy, fiscal prudence
and responsibility call for tax reduction even if it temporarily enlarges the federal deficit—why
reducing taxes is the best way open to us to increase revenues.”
– John F. Kennedy, 1963 Economic Report of the President
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December 12, 2025 10:43am
- kowtow
  
  Good ole JFK , secretly ramped up the war in Vietnam to the extent poor old LBJ couldn’t get out. Ultimately wrecked the US economy and society .
  
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  December 12, 2025 2:21pm
  - Mike
    
    The worst Vietnam-related political disaster was the US deciding to support the French instead of the Viet Minh. Second worst was Nixon traitorously colluding with the South Vietnamese dictatorship to scuttle the 1968 peace talks.
    Next you’ll claiming the Ulster Unionists brought peace to Northern Ireland
    
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    December 12, 2025 3:04pm
    - imalwaysright
      
      As an aside, saw an interview with an Australian elite soldier who served in Vietnam.
      
      He said the number of soldiers accidentally killed by their own side was truly horrific.
      
      He said it soon became protocol that if something moved you killed it, because otherwise it was going to kill you.
      
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      December 12, 2025 3:23pm
I remember when

Breaking News has an article by Kerre Woodham, “The Supreme Court ruling on disabled carers makes sense.”
“Two parents who care for their severely disabled adult children have been recognised as homeworkers and are now entitled to the minimum wage, along with other associated employment conditions,…”.

Most of us would agree that this seems reasonable, but at the same time wonder just where such a ruling draws the line.
I have been made aware of two eight year olds who have been expelled from school.
Would home-schoolers be entitled to teaching award rates?
The list of possiblities seems almost endless, with many already receiving some recompense from government.
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December 12, 2025 10:45am
- Ghost
  
  Article
  
  I don’t think there are other areas this will apply.
  
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  December 12, 2025 11:09am
  - I remember when
    
    Could it apply to any area where a child requires full time parental supervision?
    Where present allowances are not a the same level as the minimum wage, could this be appealed?
    In the area of autism, as an example, the demands can be considerable.
    
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    December 12, 2025 12:13pm
    - Ghost
      
      No. The court ruling is based on the employment-like control and obligations in the disability funding they get
      
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      December 12, 2025 12:27pm
- Colville
  
  The cost to the state of paying a couple of parents to look after a disabled child would (IMHO) be a tiny fraction of what it would cost to have said child in 24hr care in a facility.
  
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  December 12, 2025 11:46am
  - Paulus
    
    Would that be at 24/7 Minumum wage ?
    
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    December 12, 2025 2:47pm
- cmm
  
  The flip side to entitlement is who has the burden for providing it. No doubt this all ends up coming out of the taxpayer’s pockets.
  
  If someone is due payment for looking after their disabled adult offspring, then do they claim it from the disabled offspring? Nope, of course not!
  
  If there is a state option for care and these people choose not to use it then they should not be entitled to payment.
  
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  December 12, 2025 12:15pm
- Don Beckett
  
  I can understand parents of disabled children getting support, but giving them the minimum wage as if they are employees ?
  Seems a bit over the top to me. My younger brother had a seriously disabled daughter & the supported her throughout her early life till she was about 30 – with help from IHC.
  
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  December 12, 2025 12:18pm
G the giant from Dunedin

Ghez, that Willie Jackson has a cheek, he has come out today raving about the debate, sooner or later someone will say what about your crimes buster.
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December 12, 2025 11:24am
Skippytony

Now this is going to be fascinating to watch

https://legalinsurrection.com/2025/12/iran-egypt-furious-about-having-to-play-in-seattles-pride-match-in-world-cup/
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December 12, 2025 11:39am
cmm

Minimum wage going up.

“Van Velden said the new rate, which would affect about 122,500 New Zealand workers”

Ummm, that’s not how it works sweetie!

Minimum wage hikes do not just impact on people earning the minimum wage. If you’re earning $5 above minimum wage you would still want at least $5 above minimum wage. Therefore it isn’t just minimum wages that get bumped up.

It would seem we have approx 5% of workers on minimum wage. That’s not very good.

The last minimum wage hike in Australia was 3.5% so there will be much wailing that 2% is not enough.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/minimum-wage-to-increase-from-april-next-year-govt-commits-to-bigger-rise-than-last-year/JMX5I5G6CBA5TITWZXHPIKXOBI/
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December 12, 2025 12:27pm
- MCōs
  
  The Ministry for Workplace Relations and Safety was established by the Key administration and the first four Ministers were male. Did you refer to them by the derogatory title sweetie too?
  
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  December 12, 2025 9:12pm
kowtow

New Zealand is a very unsafe country for women , particularly, but another man was also beaten senseless by this thug , who should never have been free to kill.

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/578745/how-a-violent-possessive-stalker-became-a-killer-the-story-of-nathan-boulter
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December 12, 2025 12:35pm
Don Beckett

Failure of our Judiciary & the Dudges. They should be reigned in by immediately reducing their sentencing options. Say no more.
The country will remain unsafe – not just for women – until something is done about sentencing.
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December 12, 2025 1:17pm
- imalwaysright
  
  Apparently 90% crime is committed by 5% of recidivist criminals, (or some such ratio).
  
  Shouldn’t the judges therefore be extremely harsh with anyone who has committed more than one crime?
  
  If we managed to jail all of the recidivists then crime would very quickly become a rare thing.
  
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  December 12, 2025 1:35pm
- Hugh Jarse
  
  There are people out there who are predators, they can never be released from prison because they will continue to kill or rape or rape and kill. Until our system can accept that keep them inside for ever there will continue to be victims like this woman. There used to be a sentence of preventative detection which allow for true life imprisonment, not sure what’s happened to it now.
  
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  December 12, 2025 1:50pm
Handyman

I was talking to some young middle class people a while ago.
They said the purpose of government is to give out money. They were adamant that the government has plenty of money and if they need more they can just print some. Taxing the rich was not about raising money; it was about social justice, and it was fair to claw back the money that the rich got by ripping off the customer.
Since the initial discussion, I have taken to asking people what is the purpose of government and the above is a common answer – to give out money.

These people vote.
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December 12, 2025 1:44pm
Surely Knott

If Governments are banning social media what content specifically are they banning and why? And what should be included.

The Herald published this article today advertised as “If it feels good do it. ” “Straight Brows, Social Media &; Skincare: In Conversation With Content Creator Riley Hemson”

I mean why would Riley’s looks based content aimed at young women be ok to view in the viva part of the newspaper but not on instagram.

The social media ban also stops young people reading or sharing their opinion on twitter or facebook. But should they also be banned from listening to or calling talk back radio which is also a public opinion platform.

Should they be allowed to read or send letters to the editor for publication.

Here is Kerre Woodham who is a talkback host publishing her opinion on Newstalk zb website. Is that ok? Why can someone read her opinion but not Elon Musks. Talk back is no different to social media. It’s sort of like when governments tried to ban the printing press.

“The Ottoman Empire banned the printing press for centuries to protect scribes and preserve religious authority,”

Is protecting scribes (eg mainstream media part of the goal here) . Is it to maintain government authority? What was the outcome of banning the printing press?

“Banning the printing press in the Ottoman Empire slowed the spread of knowledge, hampered standardization of education, and limited industrial progress. Without printed materials, communication and design processes were significantly delayed”

“What drove countries to restrict printing technology?
Historically, nations restricted printing presses to control information, suppress dissent, and maintain political or religious authority. In contrast, contemporary digital printer manufacturers promote transparency, efficiency, and creativity.”

History repeats. But its for your safety of course.

https://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/opinion/kerre-woodham-the-supreme-court-ruling-on-disabled-carers-makes-sense/
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December 12, 2025 1:51pm
Jack5

Can you get caught by the imminent shutdown of 3G phone transmissions even if you have a 4G or 5G phone?

An acquaintance with a 5G phone received ever stronger, puzzling text warnings about the imminent 3G shut down.

This seems to have been triggered by transferring a SIM card from an old phone long ago until now it sits in a 5G phone. It was an easy way to transfer and keep a phone number. That’s the only possible cause the phone owner can think of. Is it a feasible cause?

Regardless, the problem was fixed by code work supplied in conversation between the provider and the phone owner. The provider now recognises the phone as 5G.
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December 12, 2025 2:14pm
- jonno1
  
  I suspect this is some combination of phone and SIM card. My wife’s phone is no older than mine and we have the same provider, yet only she needed a new SIM card. Problem was, we are on prepay, and all her accumulated data and minutes disappeared. Coincidentally her monthly renewal date was the next day so that much data and minutes did appear, however two days later she was travelling overseas, so panic stations! Oddly, the provider reckoned they held no record of accumulated credits, and we hadn’t checked the precise quantity. However, the nice man at the store simply loaded what we agreed was probably about right. All good in the end, but still an unneeded hassle.
  
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  December 12, 2025 4:01pm
- Quail
  
  What other skullduggery is happening with those phones?
  Have had messages from the account providers saying my phone is closed down December, took it One NZ who said : not true carry on.
  So waiting to see what happens is the only option!
  
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  December 12, 2025 7:45pm
- cmm
  
  Yes, not all 4G capable phones can handle all 4G modes.
  
  For example, I have a 4G capable phone that does not have VoLTE (Voice over Long Term Evolution) capability.
  
  I need a new phone if I want to make voice calls.
  
  I can still use it for Data or WhatsApp etc.
  
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  December 12, 2025 9:02pm
Ra Henare

Media at it again….
Scaremongering, misinformation etc etc

Ryan Bridge
https://breakingviewsnz.blogspot.com/2025/12/perspective-with-ryan-bridge-what-will_12.html

Says
In order to gain entry, you will have to hand over five years of your social media activity. It’s mandatory.

The Facts.
a PROPOSED rule by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), published in the Federal Register on December 10, 2025. Goes to public consultation for 60 days.

The relevant part.
…..
Applicants will be required to disclose all social media usernames, handles, or identifiers used on any platform over the last 5 years.
…..
And telephone numbers and emails used in last 10 years.
…..
To be run against security databases.

NOT DISCLOSE CONTENT!!!

So be prepared for the US Civil liberties groups to be on the case during the 60 days period to limit such impact on Civil rights.
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December 12, 2025 3:12pm
- MCōs
  
  Well
  That’s a relief
  
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  December 12, 2025 5:55pm
  - Ra Henare
    
    Facts matter to me!
    
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    December 12, 2025 6:16pm
- NZer In Exile
  
  “Applicants will be required to disclose all social media usernames, handles, or identifiers used on any platform over the last 5 years.
  …..
  And telephone numbers and emails used in last 10 years.
  
  To be run against security databases.”
  
  As in run against databases built from three letter agencies drag-netting pretty much everything submitted to the internet, for many years (probably decades).
  
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  December 12, 2025 9:13pm

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