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January 21, 2026 8:00am by Kokila Patel

General Debate 21 January 2026

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General Debate

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Cassandra

In May Trump and Rubio endorsed the Chagos deal. Yesterday Trump stated that it was stupid. Trump is finally right.

The UK owns it now. It plans to pay Mauritius $50 billion to lease an Island, Diego Garcia, from a country which is a thousand miles away and has never owned it. How dopey is that?
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January 21, 2026 8:05am
- imalwaysright
  
  “It plans to pay Mauritius $50 billion …”
  
  Paying Mauritius, or paying people representing Mauritius?
  Sounds like a scam.
  
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  January 21, 2026 8:18am
  - Cassandra
    
    The government of Mauritius. It’s a kosher deal, but not yet approved by the House of Lords.
    
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    January 21, 2026 8:28am
  - Christopher Thomson
    
    Kosher my arse.
    
    It was negotiated in some court by a close mate of Starmer and Starmer has agreed to take 30 billion of UK taxpayers money and give it to an ally of China.
    
    The Chagosian government-in-exile has pleaded with Trump to stop it.
    
    If the US wants to send the marines in anywhere I would want them to go there.
    
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    January 21, 2026 2:09pm
  - Beach Haven expat
    
    Funny you should mention that. The now Attorney General of the UK who has pushed this through remarkably represented some of the parties in this whole saga previously.
    Yes, it really does stink that much.
    
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    January 22, 2026 2:00am
- Philview
  
  Mauritius apparently has a close relationship with China. Trump was probably happy that the UK is paying for the American base. A good deal for the US taxpayer.
  
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  January 21, 2026 8:20am
  - Cassandra
    
    Why pay anything?
    
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    January 21, 2026 8:29am
    - imalwaysright
      
      Correct.
      “Sovereignty over the Chagos Islands is set to transfer from the United Kingdom to Mauritius, under a treaty signed on 22 May 2025.”- Internet
      
      Britain already had sovereignty.
      This ‘deal’ is analogous to giving Avis your car and then leasing it back.
      
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      January 21, 2026 8:48am
- Yvette
  
  Cassandra, on Trump
  
  “Dear Jonas [Prime Minister, Norway]:
  Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace, although it will always be predominant, but can now think about what is good and proper for Russia. … The World is not secure unless we have Complete and Total Control of Ukraine. Thank you! President Vladimir Putin
  
  See? –
  All presidents come into office with something to prove, it’s just rarely is it their sanity – Comedian Frankie Boyle, but he confirmed who he was talking about by also saying: “Donald Trump: a man so obnoxious that karma may see him reincarnated as himself”
  
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  January 21, 2026 8:45am
- Jack5
  
  Britain’s Leftists have made a colossal stuff-up over the Chagos Islands, including the base of Diego Garcia.
  
  But in Syria, the West — that is the US — has betrayed an ally, the Kurds, who always seem to get a poor deal.
  
  The Kurdish-dominated SDF forces have withdrawn from much of north-east Syria, the area they dominated.
  
  The Telegraph reports:
  
  “Local power is in the hands of men under orders from Damascus, working with tribes and armed groups, some of whom were displaced by the SDF in the course of Syria’s civil war.
  
  There was violence in places and some significant resistance on the part of the SDF …”
  
  The newspaper adds that during the Syrian civil war, the United States used the SDF as its primary proxy against Islamic State. The SDF gained much of Syria – including Raqqa, the former IS Syrian capital.
  
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  January 21, 2026 8:49am
  - Tauhei Notts
    
    Wherever I look the Kurds seem to get a hard time.
    If somebody with knowledge on that matter could comment it would be appreciated.
    
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    January 21, 2026 10:11am
    - Don Beckett
      
      The Crown Prince of Iran has stated that when the mullahs get kicked out, the Kurds will be welcome in Iran. They have been persecuted for centuries by the Turks, the Iraqis plus Iran under the mullahs.
      
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      January 21, 2026 11:17am
- cmm
  
  Like all deals, the deal is more than just the headline number of $.
  
  What is far more important are the other conditions of the lease.
  
  Is this a lease with an expiry date (easy in the present, expensive later on – refer Hong Kong)?
  
  Are others (eg. China) going to be allowed to use the place too?
  
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  January 21, 2026 9:01am
  - Cassandra
    
    99 years.
    
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    January 21, 2026 10:22am
- Paulus
  
  A very important Military Base has been there for many years , used by many leading nations, like the UK and USA currently.
  
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  January 21, 2026 9:30am
- virtualmark
  
  Interestingly, the UK wanted to walk (sail?) away from Diego Garcia back in the 1960s because they no longer used it.
  
  But it became part of the agreements with the US around the Polaris missiles … basically part of the consideration was that the UK would retain Diego Garcia and allow the US to use it.
  
  Since then there’s basically no UK presence there … just a few Royal Navy personnel who are basically the administrators of the island. All the other personnel there are American.
  
  So the UK lease-back from Mauritius is purely to help the US, not for UK purposes. It’s part of the “special relationship” between the UK and US. The UK taxpayer has signed up to a 99 year lease at their own cost as a subsidy to the US.
  
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  January 21, 2026 9:40am
- Kevin
  
  The Russian Tsar sold Alaska to the U.S. in 1867 to slow down the British, who were running rampant and had also formed Canada that year in the British North America Act.
  Starmer is the Tsar, the U.S. now is Britain then. Simple.
  The Uniparty in Britain always hedge their bets and besides, Fabians don’t like liberty.
  
  Britain would sell NZ if it had the power. They would sell their grandmothers.
  
  The man with orange hair is a big distraction from the Left ( hand). Watch out for that.
  
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  January 21, 2026 10:06am
- Handyman
  
  Mauritius plans to lease the island next to the American base to China for a signal surveillance military base.
  This is as dumb as it gets.
  Also note how the uk is happy to buy and sell captured territories. Hypocrits.
  
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  January 21, 2026 10:15am
- MCōs
  
  The U.K. never “owned” it either. It was colonized by France and ceded to Britain in 1814 and the original inhabitants were deported to Mauritius and elsewhere between 1967 and 1973 to allow the United States to build Naval Support Facility Diego Garcia.
  
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  January 21, 2026 10:37am
NeverMindTheBollocks

A random question: why, in the age of cycleways and e-bikes do we still have green painted boxes at the front of each lane at the traffic lights? Surely there is no need for cyclists to push their way to the front of the queue anymore?
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January 21, 2026 8:05am
- Mike
  
  You may not have noticed that traffic lights are typically at intersections. Cyclists turning right at an intersection need to be able to get safely into the turning lane. These seems obvious, but perhaps someone will write a fuller explanation for you.
  
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  January 21, 2026 8:18am
  - NeverMindTheBollocks
    
    Not at multi lane intersections, Mike. Some lanes go straight on and/ or turn left. No need for cyclist priority there.
    
    Cyclists could just queue up in the order of their arrival at the intersection, like everyone else.
    
    Or do you think that cyclists are somehow more important than other road users?
    
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    January 21, 2026 8:23am
    - R
      
      N.M.T.B ….you are on to it. The ideological intention is to frustrate motorists.
      
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      January 21, 2026 9:05am
    - In Vino Veritas
      
      Cyclists shouldn’t be on the road at all NMTB. They are called Road Lice for a reason.
      
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      January 21, 2026 9:45am
  - NZer In Exile
    
    And, do you have one of those cyclist trailers for shopping Mike? Bike lanes are for pissing off car drivers and endangering cyclists lives (not to mention endangering their children’s lives when they are dumb enough to ride on the road with a child onboard (especially in congested car traffic areas) . Oh and as an imaginary control knob for the world’s average temperature. Because naive idealism.
    
    Better to install tracks or paths that are off road. Very expensive though when you have low population density.
    
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    January 21, 2026 3:02pm
  - zulumonster
    
    Hook turn bays are the answer – it does require cyclists to be patient and potentially wait two sets of lights before they can make their turn safely – but it is the safest approach for everyone’s safety. There are good examples of this in Newtown Wellington near the hospital.
    
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    January 21, 2026 3:30pm
- R
  
  There was never a traffic safety reason for the green boxs. They were an ideological construct, designed to inconvenience the productive element of the community going about their daily activities. The Greenies lived the idea
  
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  January 21, 2026 8:22am
  - pdm
    
    `The Greenies lived the idea’
    
    Especially the Green colouring which they probably saw as free advertising for their Party.
    
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    January 21, 2026 9:09am
- peterwn
  
  And they do not seem to relocate the vehicle detectors so you have to enter the green box to make the lights change
  
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  January 21, 2026 8:27am
- Parnell Gun Club
  
  I always stick my SUV right in the middle of the green box. It’s a point of principle.
  
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  January 21, 2026 8:39am
  - NZer In Exile
    
    I thought SUV/double-cab ute driving ethos was that you should always stop ahead of the line (to prove your dominance and disregard for the rules that only plebs should obey, or something).
    
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    January 21, 2026 3:06pm
- Paulus
  
  But, But, they are the most important people on the Roads.
  
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  January 21, 2026 9:32am
Cassandra

You could have fooled me. It was cold last night in the paradise of Tauranga and today you’ll need Noah’s Ark in Northland. Yet the climate is changing and the natural signs are of a slight warming eg more sharks for longer off Sydney and nettles growing in the far north of England. But the climate is always changing.
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January 21, 2026 8:26am
- kowtow
  
  And lifeguards here have had less to do .
  
  Whodda thunk a shit summer would have fewer folk frequenting the beach.
  
  As to British climate change . Romans grew grapes there .Climate is always changing and it’s not caused by 4WD utes .
  
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  January 21, 2026 8:50am
- Yvette
  
  Cassandra – natural signs are of a slight warming eg more sharks for longer off Sydney
  
  Scientists say the attacks in Sydney were most likely the work of bull sharks — a species that is considered among the most dangerous.
  Weather conditions in the past week have been conducive to an increased shark presence off Sydney’s shores, Leonardo Guida, a shark scientist with the Australian Marine Conservation Society said. Ocean temperatures have been warmer-than-average and runoff from heavy rainfall has brought prey into the ocean water for sharks to feast on, he said.
  Unlike other sharks, bull sharks have the ability to swim in fresh and salt water, allowing them to hunt in a range of marine environments.
  https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/20/world/australia/australia-sydney-shark-attacks.html? (subscription)
  
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  January 21, 2026 8:59am
  - Colville
    
    Bullsharks breed in brackish water but also in storms when waves push salt water up the canals they travel up looking for food. Nasty f*ckers!
    
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    January 21, 2026 10:09am
    - Don Beckett
      
      Actually, many/most sharks will go into fresh water, but they don’t stay there long.
      
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      January 21, 2026 11:46am
    - Master Mariner
      
      Reported over 1000km ? up the Zambezi. Called Zambezian Sharks but are actually Bull Sharks.
      Most attacks are Bull Sharks and in very shallow water.
      Queensland Canals are full of them.
      
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      January 21, 2026 5:35pm
  - NZer In Exile
    
    Always be very sceptical when you see the headline “Scientists say” especially when in a far left rag.
    
    There may well have been a bit of warm water sloshing about for a while but they write “Ocean temperatures have been warmer-than-average” without any qualification. Looks a lot like climate scam “nudge” propaganda.
    
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    January 21, 2026 3:11pm
- cmm
  
  More sharks in Sydney are quite likely more to do with the amount of fresh water entering the system and attracting bull sharks closer inshore in murky water.
  
  In South Africa, bull sharks are called Zambezi sharks because they are found far up the Zambezi river. One of my father’s lawyer colleagues lost a leg to one many miles up a river. They are commonly caught in quite a few navigable rivers there. In S. America they have been found thousands of km inland on the Amazon and in Lake Nicaragua.
  
  Perhaps a lot of the extra shark attacks in Australia are due to many shark species being protected and their populations rebounding faster than their food supply?
  
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  January 21, 2026 9:11am
  - G the giant from Dunedin
    
    Sharks use fresh water to kill barnacles that end up covering parts of their bodies, the Brisbane river has seen sharks in the river further up the river almost as far as the Castlemaine brewery, well passed the Bridge in down town Brisbane.
    That trip is about 80 ks away from the sea
    
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    January 21, 2026 9:40am
- Handyman
  
  The weather is bad because either
  1. Increase in immoral activity in Tauranga.
  2. You haven’t paid enough carbon tax.
  Or.. it is weather. Half the time temperatures will be above average and half the time they will be below average.
  
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  January 21, 2026 10:22am
  - Yvette
    
    To defend Cassandra’s morality, is it raining as much in Tauranga and environs, as it is in the Coromandel and in Whangārei and, probably, where Brian Tamaki lives (may he make Straight the ways in the Wilderness) ?
    
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    January 21, 2026 1:56pm
  - NZer In Exile
    
    Imagine if there was a way of accurately measuring the temperature all over the planet.
    
    There is.
    
    Here are the results:
    https://www.drroyspencer.com/wp-content/uploads/UAH_LT_1979_thru_December_2025_v6.1_20x9-scaled.jpg
    
    Note the trend of the last couple of years (when you hear “increasing heat”, hottest year EVA! etc etc).
    
    Note also that this is the only accurate global-wide temp measurement and it’s only 45 years worth. Prior to that measurement stations (ground thermometers) were generally very sparse across the globe and stations came and went over time. Many were also placed in urban heat islands (lots of concrete, asphalt and machines artificially pushing up local temps).
    
    But also note after ice ages(lasting about 100,000 years) there are interglacial periods (lasting about 10,000 years). We are in an interglacial period. In interglacial periods temps rise up until glaciation phase starts again. So temps steadily rising like now, is absolutely normal. In an interglacial it’s normal for one year or decade to be hotter than the previous. None of this is “unprecedented”. Neither is the rate of temp increase (see ice core and other temp proxies for past glacial and interglacial temp reconstructions).
    
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    January 21, 2026 3:29pm
- Ra Henare
  
  Yet, here in the Kingdom of Wonder. NOBODY talks about climate change/The weather will be constantish until the rainy season starts in April May.
  
  Then the talk occassional will reference storms. As in I see a storm is due next wednesday 🙂
  
  Shopkeepers are great at sensing when it will start to rain (in the very near future) as they put goods under cover or cover same with tarpualins.
  
  To be honest I dont miss the evening schedule of being glued to Gloom and doom hour(TV News) to see what the Metservice is guessing for the next 24 hours(usually wrong, based on events).
  
  Do miss Tauranga Surises and sunsets tho.
  
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  January 21, 2026 5:16pm
rouppe

The French Navy has boarded a “fishing boat” in the South Pacific, allegedly heading for Australia, and confiscated nearly 5 tonnes of cocaine.

I wonder whether we’ll hear the UN, the Democrats, the Greens and the other usual suspects calling this an illegal confiscation.
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January 21, 2026 8:27am
- Lance
  
  They …. boarded it, didn’t just blow it up from afar and later kill any survivors.
  There is a difference.
  
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  January 21, 2026 8:44am
  - kowtow
    
    There are mass casualties in countries subject to the drug traffickers.
    
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    January 21, 2026 8:52am
    - Ra Henare
      
      The mass casulties are caused by consumers, not importers.
      
      Sort of Like blaming road deaths on car importers.
      
      But hey, emotionally it sounds good.!!!
      
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      January 21, 2026 5:18pm
  - rouppe
    
    The USA also …boarded… several oil tankers. An action criticised as (potentially) illegal by those I’ve mentioned above.
    
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    January 21, 2026 11:27am
  - Don Beckett
    
    It was a SHIP – not a drug running speedboat like by the Venezuelan drug runners.
    
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    January 21, 2026 11:55am
artemisia

Ivo the next Xero? Focused on AI examination of contracts and aims to reduce time by 75%. Some big customers signed up. Started here, pity it’s now based in the US.

Ex-Bell Gully solicitor raises US$55m at US$355m valuation for his AI legal tech start-up Herald today, paywalled.
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January 21, 2026 8:44am
- artemisia
  
  The Ivo CTO looks about 16!
  
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  January 21, 2026 8:50am
- cmm
  
  Such measures are fine if they are extra checks in addition to humans. But we’re well stuffed if lawyers, doctors, accountants and other professional opinions are replaced by AI.
  
  Unfortunately human nature is towards comfort and laziness. If an AI does the work well 70% of the time, chances are people will just not fill in for the rest.
  
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  January 21, 2026 9:14am
  - artemisia
    
    Business acceptance testing, same as for any new system. Or should be. I’d expect a few experts on the customer side to be watching very carefully for some time esp if the new process identifies anomalies. Sure there will be errors, same as any process, automated or manual.
    
    But realistically the opportunity for a customer to reduce specialist staff (and all their associated costs) by half or more has to be highly attractive. Human nature? It will always be with us, AI or not. Job of the managers.
    
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    January 21, 2026 9:37am
  - imalwaysright
    
    If someone uses AI to solve a problem, does the problem and the solution then become ‘community property’ ?
    
    I’m wondering about the longevity and the value of any business which is based on a data base and program that is publicly accessible.
    
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    January 21, 2026 2:03pm
- RoboRob
  
  Ive been saying for some time, the lawyers are going to be one of the first effected by AI. So much of the bread and butter money comes from things like wills, letters and property transfers. All this stuff is very template and easily done by AI. Verifying contracts is another good example.
  
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  January 21, 2026 10:52am
  - Ra Henare
    
    For some years. Experiments in theh US have showen AI to perform better than nearly ALL 1st and 2nd year lawyers in accurate Legal advice.
    
    A 2011 study cited in The New York Times found that predictive coding software identified 77% of relevant documents, compared to 60% accuracy by human lawyers.
    (15 yeqars ago and AI has moved on significantly)
    
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    January 21, 2026 5:23pm
lastmanstanding

Watching dozens of private jets land at the small airport near Davos I didnt know whether to laugh or cry. The jets passengers then helicoptered to the Davos venue while the jets took off and went to a larger airport to wait until they returned for their VVIP passengers. These VVIP arseholes are the same VVIP arseholes who are telling the rest of us how to live our lives and to lower our carbon footprints because of CLIMATE CHANGE.
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January 21, 2026 8:48am
- Jack5
  
  Zurich Airport expects 1,000 more private jet take-offs and landings this week than normal. — The Telegraph.
  
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  January 21, 2026 9:00am
- cmm
  
  Last year they were parking as far away as Tunisia and Spain (1000+km away).
  
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  January 21, 2026 9:17am
  - Colville
    
    That is a long uber ride back to the plane!
    
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    January 21, 2026 10:11am
    - Paulus
      
      Depends who is paying for the aircratft and crew (and champagne).
      
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      January 21, 2026 3:08pm
- Ra Henare
  
  As previously mention I spent more than a week at Engadin AIrport helping run an International Gliding Competition. Its 5km from St Moritz.
  
  Every day at least one business jet would lob in and out. The 2 most memorable was a very large Private jet lobbed in at 10am, only 2 passengers, elderly lady and younger lady companion. (even tho a Rolls Royce and a baggage train arrived to service said aircraft.) Left around 3pm.
  The story. (I was resident in the tower most days).
  The elderly lady had come to sign some papers re her apartment in St Moritz and have lunch.
  It was one of two business jets owned by the family. They had come from London!
  
  The second. A family of 5 arrived and duly left in a limo. After a few minutes. The jet left. A couple of hours later it arrived back with an attendant and a dog. Seems they had fogotten the family pet who was still at home in Nice, France.
  
  It amuses me that everyone blathers on about corporate Jets/CO2 etc. The Jets passengers are way more concentrating on time saving and convenience.(and personal security)
  They probably sink very large amounts of dosh in to CO2 saving schemes/projects etc.
  
  Yeh yeh, it could be seen as hypocritacle but thats the way the world works.
  
  I
  
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  January 21, 2026 5:41pm
- Kevin
  
  Because this is General Debate, and because this particular thread has gone from bull sharks, to Switzerland, to climate change jet travel inconsistency, will you permit a little bit of Nabokovian style fun? Which, although a prev reference to Nabokov in Switzerland in a prev Gen Debate did not please some.
  Having seen a bit of the world, it is not rude just accurate to say that by far the most part of it is an ugly mess. And NZ is a tiny exception ( there may be other tiny exceptions, like the top floor of a Swiss hotel in the 1960s for V Nabokov and his family) in this mess.
  Enjoy it now, love it now- if you live long enough you won’t. Modern day bull sharks with jets going to Switzerland to find something that’s gone forever- an amusing thought long dead Nabokov might have thought laughed about and wrote better
  
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  January 22, 2026 6:58am
greybeard

https://www.stuff.co.nz/home-property/360926905/man-ordered-pay-11m-and-counting-after-pulling-out-house-purchase

This week’s example of just how differently some cultures see the world.
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January 21, 2026 8:50am
- imalwaysright
  
  Why would his breach of the contract be because of his culture?
  
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  January 21, 2026 9:02am
  - Albie
    
    Have you ever dealt with Indians in businesses? I have, and many of them, not all, do not have the same sense of obligation, ethics and morality that we do.
    
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    January 21, 2026 9:20am
    - imalwaysright
      
      So, do ‘we’ not breach contracts?
      
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      January 21, 2026 10:23am
      - RoboRob
        
        It’s not the ‘we’ dont breach contracts, its that other cultures have significantly different views on the importance of things that we take for granted. Much of business is bassed around trust. For example, we send a client a bill for work done (hours charged), the client trusts that we are accurately accounting the time involved and we trust they will pay us somewhat promptly.
        
        A great example is the Chinese and Intellectual property. They have no problem with taking other people IP whereas we have a significant culture against copying (even at school). Let alone industrial espianage.
        
        * I dont know enough about Indian culture to comment on this specific case.
        
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        January 21, 2026 10:56am
    - MCōs
      
      What do you mean “we”, Kemosabe?
      
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      January 21, 2026 10:42am
- wairarapapaul
  
  1.1 million according to Stuff headline.
  
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  January 21, 2026 9:51am
- MCōs
  
  Nothing to do with the bloke being Indian and all to do with him being a liar and a cheat.
  
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  January 21, 2026 10:02am
  - Swifty
    
    Except that lying and cheating others is very much a part of Indian culture.
    
    It certainly isn’t genetic but it is very much cultural.
    
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    January 21, 2026 5:41pm
Ian

Probably the claimants won’t get their money – just like the Small Claims court or the Tenancy Tribunal. But what a huge dive in property values from 2021 to 2022…
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January 21, 2026 9:07am
Albie

I suppose we had better get used to it, free trade deal and all that will bring, whether we like it or not.
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January 21, 2026 9:17am
G the giant from Dunedin

Man the desperation and bullshit by Hipkins this morning, oh Luxon is throwing Bishop under the bus, he said the government need to tell the people of their plan even though it’s coming today. He was then asked where he would find the 13 billion for the unworkable pay equity policy, oh that’s different, he e we I’ll tell the people before the election, what a shyster, telling Nats to tell the people even though it’s happening today, and he says it’s fine for him to keep silent on something as important as 13 billion wasted dollars
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January 21, 2026 9:44am
- RoboRob
  
  Lefties don’t expect facts and figures from their politicians. The promise is enough.
  
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  January 21, 2026 11:00am
NK

Overnight, the Polish central bank approved a plan to buy 150 tons of gold.

Has our Reserve Bank bought any yet? Why are its reserves, “nil”? Shouldn’t the minister of finance be asking questions?
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January 21, 2026 9:48am
- Jack5
  
  How much gold do you think NZ could afford?
  
  A ton of gold is worth more than a quarter of a billion NZ dollars at the current price, actually it would be about $NZ262 million at the “spot” price.
  
  The Poles must be going to outlay about $NZ40 billion.
  
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  January 21, 2026 10:00am
- pdm
  
  NK I don’t think The Reserve Bank should be buying Gold at its peak price.
  
  That should have been done progressively from about 2015 to date to smooth the price.
  
  Having missed that bus we should be waiting for the price adjustments that will come from profit takers.
  
  BTW I do accept Gold should be a core Reserve Bank holding – the questions now are when do we buy in and how much should we hold?
  
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  January 21, 2026 10:12am
  - RoboRob
    
    Why should gold be a core RB holding? What purpose would it serve?
    
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    January 21, 2026 11:03am
    - Swifty
      
      And what public services or tax breaks would we have to do without because we bought gold with our money instead?
      
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      January 21, 2026 5:47pm
- RoboRob
  
  NK You keep posting that the RBNZ needs to buy gold. Please explain what the purpose of our RB buying Gold is? What do you expect it to be used for?
  
  Happy to discuss this, but you never explain why we should do it, apart from some other banks may have.
  
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  January 21, 2026 11:02am
- kowtow
  
  It’s a cunning plan.
  
  To enrich the Russians .
  
  Now that Donnie’s shafted NATO, the Ivans will be moving west, again.
  
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  January 21, 2026 12:16pm
- Master Mariner
  
  Interesting, Maybe a bob each way if they are forced to Join BRIC’s . I believe the Eastern Block Countries are all doing the Same ?
  
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  January 21, 2026 5:49pm
Paulus

Have just read a NZME so called reporter and his comments about Luxon’s speech and he concludes that much of the election results in people having a job at the end of the year.
And why should that be so – we have something like 5% unemployed or could much of that be unemployable – meaning they do not want a job because Winz see them right at taxpayers expense.
Why cannot they get a job – how many cannot even write their own name, count past ten, and get up after their possible drugged night.. and for turning up on time – well why cannot they get a job if they want one. But on their terms abd conditions.
Some 35 year ago we admired and respected the Teaching profession which has changed so much that we appear to believe that Teachers are just well paid Union led people for whom no other job would be available.
Could this have continued to develop over the years to where we are now and are we getting any better ?
Helen Clark would be please that what she did has suceeded.
This Government will try but it is almost like a Woman’s Education Department telling mostly Women what to do.
At the begining of this elected Government it was said that now retired Head of the Education Department said to her seniors “What does she know that we don’t”.
Her Deputy has taken over, so are we any further forward ?
I double that 5% will change so the repeater will continue to bitch to be right.
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January 21, 2026 9:50am
imalwaysright

Presumably the Labour Party ,unions, Public Service, and media, have formulated their election year plan to disrupt the country.
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January 21, 2026 9:57am
rjay

Word on the street is that Razor Robertson has joined the Australian breakdancing squad as coach. Watch them achieve even higher heights in international competition.
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January 21, 2026 10:04am
- greybeard
  
  I thought that Ray Gun had that sewn up ?
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rachael_Gunn
  
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  January 21, 2026 10:18am
sungsamning

Being de-banked. Having software on your devices to edit messages for ‘unacceptable content’ and having election results overturned. Is the EC turning into The PRC?

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/22208/european-union-woke-stasi

The European Union’s ‘Woke Stasi Commissars’: Europeans Turned into ‘Second Class’ Citizens.
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January 21, 2026 10:48am
sungsamning

Independence for Alberta could be a thing soon. People are lining up in sub zero temperatures to sign the referendum petition. Saskatchewan may not be far behind.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKtLHPeuGDg

Mark Carney Panics as Canada Breaks Apart!
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January 21, 2026 10:48am
- imalwaysright
  
  Here’s Trudeau in Davos being his usual sickening self. He gets asked about Alberta.
  He’s accompanied by his ‘astronaut’ girlfriend.
  
  https://youtu.be/loB-zAxY8ec?si=qp__Xs1KqEDRHMxC
  
  4 minutes.
  
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  January 21, 2026 1:44pm
- virtualmark
  
  Polling consistently says only about 20% of Albertans support separation from Canada.
  
  That’s enough people to sign a petition, but not enough to carry a referendum.
  
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  January 21, 2026 2:32pm
mandk

Has Stuff abandoned its analysis of the results of the “Mood of the Workforce” (NZCTU aka Labour Party) survey?

On Monday it promised to analyse the results over the “next few days”, but nothing today.

Several comments, including my own, on yesterday’s story were published and then deleted, and then the comments were shut down completely.

The comments deleted were those that pointed out how ridiculous it was to run a survey with a self-selecting sample. For reference, the response was 68.9% female (cf 48% in the NZ workforce) and 68.8% unionised (cf 14.5% of the workforce).
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January 21, 2026 10:59am
Yvette

Racist threats made to Asian communities accused of stripping Whangaparāoa rockpools
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/584560/racist-threats-made-to-asian-communities-accused-of-stripping-whangaparaoa-rockpools

In the photograph accompanying the article, AI counts “comfortably just over a hundred — give or take a dozen, depending on who’s bending down, who’s knee-deep, and who’s momentarily lost against the water’s sheen”.

While “The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) said Whangaparāoa has a recreational fishing compliance rate of 93 percent between November 1, 2025, and January 5, with 14 non-compliance incidents across 189 inspections conducted in the period – four involved excessive taking of shellfish (cockles), seven were for undersized snapper, two involved illegal netsetting, and none involved tour buses”

Is the number in the photo typical of any particular time or day, so does that indicate a “by word of mouth” or comparable influence which could account for any community being more predominantly represented in seafood collection, and therefore requiring education on ecological impact.

But is, indeed, an ecological impact not solely the realm of the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) [fisheries] as “fisheries minister Shane Jones” when interviewed on the topic, “said he’s seeking urgent advice from fisheries on the issues” and should have stopped there without adding his remark regarding what he called “unfettered immigration” which is likely as divisive as the “term ‘bucket people’, widely used on social media to refer to those accused of over-harvesting”

Also could someone check if the Race Relations Commissioner has passed away un-noticed?
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January 21, 2026 11:35am
- MCōs
  
  Shane Jones has been part of two recent administrations over the last eight years that according to him have allowed unfettered immigration.
  His NZF colleague, the hapless Casey Costello, is the current Associate Minister of Immigration
  
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  January 21, 2026 3:49pm
Christopher Thomson

Would any of the usual suspects who deplore the ICE operations in Minnesota care to comment on the ‘mostly peaceful protesters’ that invaded a church to terrorise the men, women, and children who had the temerity to be peacefully attending a christian worship?

Do attempt to justify it.

Before you start on about 1st amendment rights, be aware that religious worship is specifically protected.
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January 21, 2026 2:17pm
- RichardX
  
  Tell us what aspect of religious worship you believe is specifically protected by the 1st amendment and how that overrides the freedom of speech guaranteed by the 1st amendment.
  
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  January 21, 2026 5:01pm
  - rouppe
    
    The Special Litigation Section also enforces the civil provisions of the FACE act which “prohibits the use or threat of force and physical obstruction that injures, intimidates, or interferes with a person seeking to obtain or provide reproductive health services or to exercise the First Amendment right of religious freedom at a place of religious worship.“
    
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    January 21, 2026 5:32pm
    - RichardX
      
      Thanks R,
      
      I agree that the Face Act is not the 1st amendment.
      
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      January 21, 2026 6:13pm
    - RichardX
      
      So it looks like I misread CT’s claim.
      
      I thought he was saying it was the 1st amendment that was protecting the religious worship.
      
      My mistake and I apologise
      
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      January 21, 2026 6:31pm
  - NothingLeft
    
    There have been abortion protestors jailed by democrat politicians and prosecutors for similar disruptive tactics. Clearly there are legal limits to ‘waving your arms around’ type protests invading private property and intimidating people, and we can expect prosecutions in this case.
    
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    January 21, 2026 5:44pm
    - RichardX
      
      I agree with what you are saying but it is not an answer to my question.
      
      Christopher Thomson made a claim about the specific protections for religion in the 1st amendment. I believe he was incorrect in his claim and was looking for clarification.
      
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      January 21, 2026 6:05pm
      - rouppe
        
        [Mod – deleted]
        
        The First Amendment states:
        Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
        
        It seems you are focusing on “congress make no law abridging the freedom of speech”.
        
        But also “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof”.
        
        That mob forced their way into a church to accuse someone of being associated with ICE.
        
        You say that’s freedom of speech. Another person might say they were “prohibiting the free exercise of religion”.
        
        And the mob certainly did NOT peaceably assemble.
        
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        January 21, 2026 6:29pm
- rouppe
  
  Here, a mob decided a bunch of software engineers having lunch in a restaurant were ICE agents, based on how they looked.
  
  During the 1930’s mobs of Nazi Party members roamed the streets targeting people they thought were Jews, based on how they looked.
  
  I’ve said it before: the people acting most like fascists are the Democrat, illegal immigrant loving, violent, Left.
  
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  January 21, 2026 5:28pm
- Christopher Thomson
  
  It protects freedom of religion and also allows peaceable assembly.
  
  Neither were in evidence.
  
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  January 21, 2026 7:02pm
  - RichardX
    
    You know the 1st amendment only restricts the actions of the goverment, don’t you?
    
    https://legalclarity.org/what-rights-does-the-first-amendment-protect/
    
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    January 22, 2026 1:31am
virtualmark

Worth watching Mark Carney’s speech overnight at Davos. Countries like Canada and New Zealand have to accept that the world has changed and that, for our own protection and advancement, we need to take a different course.

There’s a transcript of his speech at https://globalnews.ca/news/11620877/carney-davos-wef-speech-transcript/ and you can watch it at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CrL_l8JQtQ

I’d like to think Luxon is listening and is thinking along similar lines but I’m not convinced Luxon does much far-sighted strategic thinking like this.
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January 21, 2026 2:31pm
marcw

Well, this comment from GD yesterday didn’t age well:

The headline is that Northland faces a “deluge”.

…. No there is nothing like this forecast. Yes there may be localised flooding, but this is nonsense journalism.

https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2026/01/general_debate_20_january_2026.html#comment-3804754
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January 21, 2026 4:43pm
surfing

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/comedian-and-radio-host-leigh-hart-pays-tribute-to-nz-nurses-after-week-in-hospital-less-impressed-with-racist-patients/BH252NO3ZZDKPDRUXY6YIGP66I/

Patients and their families are frequently racist to staff. Foreign Nurses end up in tears because some ‘locals’ want local nurses.

A certain group of kiwis who cry racism all the time, are quite happy to dish out terrible racism to others.

What should be done with patient visitors who make racist comments to staff? I tell my partner they should call security and boot them out. Apparently can’t do it though.
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January 21, 2026 4:58pm

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