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January 25, 2026 8:00am by Kokila Patel

General Debate 25 January 2026

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Cassandra

A lefty blog called the Democracy Project blames the Mount Maunganui disaster on Government inaction over carbon emissions. The bodies haven’t even been found and Vic academic and advocate for left wing politics (taxpayers pay his salary) Bryce Edwards is calling out Luxon, as he calls the PM.

The geology prof at U of Auckland says that there have been many slips on The Mount over the years. One commentator pointed out that on acquiring ownership of the hill the first thing the Maori owners did was to cut down all the trees which were not native. Duh! The already unstable Mount became even less stable. Nga mihi. //

Read “Reality Is Killing Climate Action. What Then?” by Steven Koonin at the Hoover Institution.

For example: “A realistic view of climate science has always been available to anyone willing to examine the underlying data and research literature. Yet public perception has been shaped largely by UN and government assessment summaries, abetted by media and politicians, which have tended to emphasize worst-case interpretations.

A more balanced reading of the evidence would note that the present climate is hardly “broken”: long-term trends have not shown detectable increases in most categories of extreme weather.”

But read the whole thing for a thoughtful demolition of Al Gore type hysteria. The planet ain’t boiling, Chloë.

The article ends as follows: “Climate action has not ended; it has matured. The world is moving toward a strategy informed by an accurate perception of climate risk and grounded in economic realism, technological pragmatism, and political feasibility.”

“Adaptation will rise in prominence. And climate policy will increasingly reflect the world as it is—complex, energy‑hungry, and constrained—rather than the world imagined by early‑2000s climate activism.”

Precisely. Ruining NZ’s economy and standards of living by making electricity unaffordable (Thanks, Jacinda) will change the climate by not one iota.
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January 25, 2026 8:02am
- Chuck Bird
  
  Good post. I will let Bryce Edwards know and ask him if he is prepared to debate his alarmist position.
  
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  January 25, 2026 8:10am
  - Cassandra
    
    To be fair, if the mosque massacre and White Island were Ardern’s fault then The Mount must be Luxon’s. But of course none of them had anything to do with the PM of the day. Doctor Edward’s writes a lot of nonsense which appeals to the luvvies. To think we pay for it. And as for NZ’s CO2 emissions being the problem, words fail me. Almost.
    
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    January 25, 2026 8:19am
    - Chuck Bird
      
      Have you read this?
      
      Ian Bradford: Bits and Pieces
      
      https://breakingviewsnz.blogspot.com/2026/01/ian-bradford-bits-and-pieces.html#more
      
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      January 25, 2026 8:24am
      - Positan
        
        Ian, I suspect that the far more realistic answer to these events is that there has become a more pronounced angle in the orbiting tilt of the global axis.
        
        That would readily explain the concurrence of excessive warmth in our hemisphere with the excessive cold – as reported yet again this morning – in the other hemisphere.
        
        Nothing whatsoever to do with “man-made global warming” or the idiot perception of some Bay of Plenty Maori that Mt Maunganui is getting “tired” of people walking on it and “needs a break.”
        
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        January 25, 2026 9:35am
    - Southern Raider
      
      I dispute the point about the Mosque attacks not being Jacinda’s fault. She actually led the changes to Police vetting of gun licence holders.
      
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      January 25, 2026 10:13am
    - G the giant from Dunedin
      
      Who the hell ever blamed Ardern for the shooting, or White Island? Although I do remember in court the government departments being found guilty of negligence after the alert levels had lifted.
      
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      January 25, 2026 11:08am
      - Cassandra
        
        It was irony, G. Read it again.
        
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        January 25, 2026 12:16pm
- Mike
  
  Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
  But you don’t think blaming the local Māori is also ‘hysteria’ when ‘the bodies haven’t even been found’?
  
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  January 25, 2026 8:17am
  - Cassandra
    
    No. Removing the trees was daft. But then so is having a campground below an already stable hill. By all means offer us your opinion.
    
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    January 25, 2026 9:36am
    - Cassandra
      
      That should read unstable hill where ch is what I typed!
      
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      January 25, 2026 10:47am
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  Bryce Edwards seems to be unaware of NZ’s history of landslides – including tragic ones.
  
  Our largest recorded landslide causing deaths occurred in 1846 – killing 60 people……and back when world CO2 levels were only 285ppm.
  
  New Zealand’s highest death toll from a landslide remains the 1846 Waihī disaster, which claimed 60 lives on the shores of Lake Taupō. After heavy rains a landslide blocked a stream, creating a dam behind it. Three days later the dam collapsed sending a mudflow down the valley that overwhelmed the Māori village of Te Rapa, killing chief Mananui Te Heuheu and many others.
  
  https://teara.govt.nz/en/landslides
  
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  January 25, 2026 8:22am
  - Boy Geoff
    
    Then clearly colonization was to blame.
    
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    January 25, 2026 8:26am
  - Mike
    
    Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
    Why didn’t you read the article?
    
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    January 25, 2026 8:37am
    - Maggy Wassilieff
      
      I read Bryce Edward’s opinion piece on the Mt Maunganui landslides yesterday evening when he posted it to my email.
      
      It is a well-written, but very slanted piece.
      
      As our population increases in NZ , there will be more instances of landslides and humans/infrastructure coming into collision.
      
      The great problem in NZ is that so few people recognise the ground-based signs of slope instability.
      Too many councils neglect/forget the past history of ground instability in their region.
      
      Too many councils and people forget that much of our country is and has always been subject to high-intensity rainfall events .
      
      Years ago, the Min of Works put out a popular bimonthly/quarterly magazine titled “Soil and Water” which regularly documented the floods and landslides that had occurred over the previous few months.
      
      It’s as if there’s been a collective amnesia that’s swept over NZ in the 21st Century.
      
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      January 25, 2026 9:41am
      - Mike
        
        Your previous comment said Edwards seemed to be ‘unaware of NZ’s history of landslides’. Yet his article is replete with references to that history.
        
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        January 25, 2026 10:19am
      - Cassandra
        
        Bryce is clearly having memory problems.
        
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        January 25, 2026 10:49am
      - Don Beckett
        
        It is a good report, until he starts blaming climate change & the government. Certainly there have been failings by the Tauranga City Council, and a lack of urgency when reports came in that a major slip was about to happen.
        Another point that hasn’t been covered. On the TV shot early after the slip happened, it showed 2 men pulling off the roof, who said they heard people below them. As soon as the police arrived, they were ordered off the roof, despite the fact that they had not finished removing it.
        These 2 guys were tradesmen, who had rushed to their vans to get the tool required to remove the roof. It appears that nothing was done by the ‘officials’ who ordered them off, despite the job not being finished, nor a response about the people the tradesmen had heard, and weren’t allowed to continue to get the people out.
        There has been no word about whether or not people were rescued alive. The tradesmen were not allowed to get back up on the roof, and everything was halted for an hour till there was a “safety assessment.”
        H & S gone crazy again. Tradesmen are accustomed to handling hazards – they should have been allowed to at least remove the roof- but no.
        Cotton Wool Society wins again. Sheer stupidity.
        
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        January 25, 2026 11:05am
      - Maggy Wassilieff
        
        Yet his article is replete with references to that history.
        
        Well, it’s not really…. just a mention of the 1977 slip at the same site of the Current tragedy and a repeat of Tom Robinson’s statement that landslips have been NZ’s most deadly hazard since records began.
        
        But Edwards fails to apply any logic to his reasoning and jumps to the conclusion that current politicians and modern-day climate change are responsible for natural disasters.
        
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        January 25, 2026 12:02pm
  - G the giant from Dunedin
    
    Bola was 1987 and there was no mention of bloody global warming back then
    
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    January 25, 2026 11:13am
- Northshoredoc
  
  I don’t usually like Bryce Edwards ‘ writing, however, I thought this post was quite good and raised many talking points.
  
  https://www.democracyproject.org.nz/p/democracy-briefing-shock-turns-to
  
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  January 25, 2026 8:22am
  - kowtow
    
    I read it and thought it was another climate catastrophist , anti Luxon diatribe.
    
    Together with getting in the race stuff , calling the Mount by its new woke name.
    
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    January 25, 2026 10:37am
  - Jigsaw
    
    And yet Edwards draws a straight line between emissions targets not met and funerals – that is clearly wrong and blatantly stupid and unscientific.
    
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    January 25, 2026 10:47am
    - Nikola Donatello
      
      It is beyond stupid. Does this guy think that New Zealand emissions affect New Zealand weather? I would not rule it out. I once read a Chistchurch city councillor arguing for more electric buses in Christchurch to protect Christchurch from severe weather events.
      
      Of course even if New Zealand weather events are becoming more pronounced because of increased greenhouse emissions, and that is debatable, it would be GLOBAL emissions that are doing that. Blame China and India for the landslide. Not Chris Luxon.
      
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      January 25, 2026 11:16am
- MCōs
  
  Here’s Bryce Edwards’ article
  https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/shock-turns-anger-mount-maunganui-bryce-edwards-22hee
  
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  January 25, 2026 8:28am
  - Mike
    
    I’m shocked to note that the article is much more wide-ranging than Cassandra’s hot take.
    
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    January 25, 2026 8:35am
    - Cassandra
      
      You’re supposed to do some reading yourself, Mike. As the champion sniper from the sidelines your comment is the zenith of hypocrisy. 😇
      
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      January 25, 2026 9:38am
    - Notsofast
      
      But not shocked it does not mention ideological removal of trees may have been the direct cause of the tragedy?
      That it does not mention tree removal at all and by whose instruction?
      
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      January 25, 2026 11:51am
      - crikey
        
        Notsofast: And no mention of the reports on removal of the base of the slope to increase available area for the Camping ground (most likely increasing the instability of the slope.
        
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        January 25, 2026 12:18pm
- Nikola Donatello
  
  New Zealand deaths from weather events have dramatically declined over the past 100 years. This is an example of flash flood in 1838. There are many others.
  
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kopuawhara_flash_flood_of_1938?utm_source=perplexity
  
  New Zealand needs to go for growth. Maximise the wealth of the country so that we are best placed for adaptation efforts. The net zero act is a grotesque joke.
  
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  January 25, 2026 8:33am
  - kowtow
    
    “Adaption”.
    
    To what ?
    
    The problem with these words is it presupposes an issue that doesn’t exist ; climate catastrophism.( as a political construct used to change society and impoverish us)
    
    Today’s herald editorial treats us to a lot of it . Politicisation of tragedy .
    
    A house surrounded by slash and mud . Clearly there’s nothing to adapt to there . The house has been built in the wrong place on a water course , that has done what water courses do , flood . And no doubt made worse by poor forestry practices.
    There’s no adapting to that , the place should never have been consented in that location.
    The editor , apart from filling the screed with a pile of pointless Maori words , then has a go at “leadership” saying they turn up , shake hands with firemen but deny them the equipment and support they are ‘crying out” for.
    
    Similarly others in the paper can’t help themselves but to call the Mount , Mauao , racialising the tragedy.
    
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    January 25, 2026 10:02am
    - Nikola Donatello
      
      It is “adaptation”.
      
      Of course we can do a great deal.
      
      Adaptation covers a wide range of activities. Stop building houses in flood prone areas. Don’t let folk cut down trees on unstable slopes.
      
      Even investing in better weather forecasting is adaptation. Modern weather forecasts are invaluable in saving lives from extreme weather events.
      
      Of course it is rich countries that can adapt. The UK built the Thames Barrier to protect London from storm surges. In Bangladesh hundreds of folk drown from similar storm surges.
      
      That is why all policies should be assessed for their impact on potential GDP per capita. The path we choose now will determine whether we are at least in the middle of the OECD wealth league in 2050, which would be difficult, but possible, or right down the bottom.
      
      Quite literally, the policies of the Green Party will impoverish New Zealand and so lead to more deaths from climate events by mid century.
      
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      January 25, 2026 12:47pm
      - kowtow
        
        ‘Stop building houses in flood prone areas. Don’t let folk cut down trees on unstable slopes.’
        
        That’s not adaption.
        
        That’s simple common sense .
        
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        January 25, 2026 1:15pm
      - CJames
        
        Nikola – The Thames Barrier is decades old. Since then, the councils there have stopped dredging riverbeds or clearing vegetation from banksides. Those rivers now flood, but it is climate change, not council stupidity.
        Same with rivers here. Driving down the Esk Valley before the flood there, lots of log jams tangled up in the willows in the river bed. Same with other rivers in the Hawkes Bay. Drainage Boards used to remove the trees and remove accumulated shingle from the bed. Now Regional Councils do neither.
        
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        January 25, 2026 2:14pm
      - Colville
        
        James.
        Hawke’s Bay Regional Council will tell you there is no accumulated aggregate in the rivers so it’s not a problem.
        A mate who rowed at Clive 50 years ago said they could jump off the bridge and be unable to get to the bottom.
        Now you would break your legs it’s that shallow. After breaking your legs you would die of something nasty because it’s that polluted.
        
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        January 25, 2026 2:38pm
      - JackRabbit
        
        @Cjames
        
        All rivers around the world where they stopped dredging eventually flooded.
        
        They stopped dredging the River Thames in the UK in the late 1990’s to “save the snails” on the river bed. Then several years later, 2003 I think, London was flooded big time.
        
        Eventually the mayor openly and unreservedly publicly apologised to the city of London admitted the councils and EPA had been hijacked by climate activists.
        
        Around that time the news about the apology and the hijacking of councils by radical activists was everywhere on the internet, including the normie news sites.
        
        If you do a search now, Google’s AI says it doesn’t exist and says that the mayor never made such comments.
        
        AI is programmed with green agendas.
        
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        January 25, 2026 3:27pm
    - Paulus
      
      Well it was gifted to the local Iwi a few years ago and one early job was to remove all non native trees thereby helping to destabilise the land.
      
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      January 25, 2026 2:10pm
  - Nikola Donatello
    
    Typo 1938
    
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    January 25, 2026 11:08am
- Philview
  
  The ODT editorial yesterday was also heavily critical of Chris Luxon. The basic thrust was that New Zealand is being ravaged by climate change and Luxon is doing nothing about it. I suggest there is nothing Chris Luxon can do about climate change and making this about him is purely political bias from the editor.
  
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  January 25, 2026 8:46am
  - kowtow
    
    See above . Herald editorial today too. Not L specifically , but “leadership” . Of course though we know exactly who they mean.
    
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    January 25, 2026 10:04am
  - Hugh Jarse
    
    The New Zealand media never letting facts get in the way of a good story. Never expect anything other than a negative slant on this coalition government and you won’t be disappointed. The never ending negative stories just lose their impact over time.
    
    It’s actually very boring and while it might play well to the citizens of Kaitangata and Milton I think most other New Zealanders just see this stuff as white noise.
    
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    January 25, 2026 10:10am
    - kowtow
      
      HJ
      
      What’s the beef with the denizens and good burghers of South Otago .
      
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      January 25, 2026 12:01pm
      - Hugh Jarse
        
        Just two smaller settlements that came to mind 👍
        
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        January 25, 2026 1:53pm
      - Jack5
        
        The Otago Daily Times circulation is about 25,000 according to Wikipedia, but it claims to have more than a quarter of a million in its digital audience. Presumably the bulk of the latter are non-subscribers and get limited access.
        
        Dunedin as a whole is a largely Leftist enclave.
        
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        January 25, 2026 2:15pm
      - kowtow
        
        HJ
        Ah so.
        
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        January 25, 2026 5:51pm
  - Wandering Star
    
    “I suggest there is nothing Chris Luxon can do about climate change…”
    
    Of course. If we accept the claims that it is happening, there’s nothing any of us can do about it, including a government.
    
    I wonder, however, if Luxon has the balls to retort with this statement of fact, or if he’d prefer to pretend otherwise to avoid the backlash.
    
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    January 25, 2026 12:06pm
    - Nikola Donatello
      
      He will pretend otherwise. He will chant “Net Zero” until he has departed while not having a clue how to achieve such a thing. Be thankful that the current government has quietly given up achieving net zero. The scary thing is that next government might take it seriously.
      
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      January 25, 2026 12:50pm
  - Dougal10
    
    I don’t understand why media aren’t focused on the fact that 111 was called before 7am , the police apparently fobbed the call off and told them to call the council. Is 111 only for the police and ambos now have I missed fire and”emergency” NZ getting removed from this number . This tragedy is solely at the feet of those who did the fobbing off and maybe local council civil defence who probably only turned up to work at 9am that morning which made them late to the party.
    
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    January 25, 2026 12:42pm
- Yvette
  
  Cassandra – One commentator pointed out that on acquiring ownership of the hill the first thing the Maori owners did was to cut down all the trees which were not native.
  
  Concerns are mounting over whether the removal of large exotic trees, including English and Holm oaks, from Mount Maunganui may have contributed to the landslip that struck Adams Avenue in January 2026 following days of intense rainfall.
  https://nzissues.com/Community/threads/mt-maunganui-slip-likely-caused-by-tauranga-council-and-their-cultural-advisors.77015/#post-3069519
  item #10 – numbered top right corner of each comment
  
  The removal of the massive macrocarpa tree is exactly where that slip begun …
  https://www.reddit.com/r/Tauranga/comments/1qjaymu/more_slips_video/?
  
  The removals were executed in alignment with the 2018 Mauao Historic Reserve Management Plan, a policy mandating the progressive removal of exotic species from the maunga (mountain) to restore its ecological status. The Tupuna Maunga Authority (TMA) prioritized cultural restoration, aiming to return the maunga to its original native forest composition, viewing exotic trees like oaks as culturally inappropriate.
  https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10236451581702457&set=p.10236451581702457&type=3
  
  I assume the above comments are now widespread enough that they will have to be addressed in any inquiry.
  
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  January 25, 2026 8:49am
  - slightlyrighty
    
    https://www.tauranga.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/parks/mauao
    
    From the council’s own website…
    
    Ecological restoration and archaeological preservation
    
    In conjunction with Te Mahere Whakamahinga o Mauao, there has been a focus on the ecological restoration and archaeological preservation on Mauao. More than 12,000 native plants have progressively been added to the maunga. Restoration work has also seen the removal of numerous exotic trees, some which were damaging significant archaeological terraces. This focus aligns with the 2018 Mauao Historic Reserve Management Plan which highlights the importance of protecting and enhancing the character of Mauao and acknowledges the protection of the historical values including the special cultural and spiritual relationship that tangata whenua have with Mauao.
    
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    January 25, 2026 9:38am
    - Southern Raider
      
      This is a classic left wing approach. It’s kind of akin to Jacinda’s captains call banning oil and gas before any substitutes were viable and mass scale.
      
      By all means plant natives but the existing trees shouldn’t have been removed for probably 50 years until the slow growing natives had started to take hold.
      
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      January 25, 2026 10:18am
      - AitchW
        
        Surely that’s ecology 101.
        But I suspect that the clamour to remove the coloniser’s trees was loud, incessant and obtrusive. However in order to be culturally safe the council removed the trees anyway.
        
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        January 25, 2026 2:53pm
    - R
      
      So this tragedy on Mt Maunganui is the result of implementing ideological drivel policies. What a surprise, who ‘d a thought that highly paid legislators could be so wrong.
      
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      January 25, 2026 11:40am
    - Nikola Donatello
      
      “Restoration work has also seen the removal of numerous exotic trees, some which were damaging significant archaeological terraces.”
      
      And there you have it. Was the risk of extreme weather induced land slides included in this analysis?
      
      Here is a fun idea. Appoint a Royal Commission to investigate the causes of the landslide. Make the person who permitted the destruction of the trees appear before the commission.
      
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      January 25, 2026 12:54pm
      - Ghost
        
        8 trees were removed by the council in 2023, either damaged or fallen by the cyclone
        
        https://www.tauranga.govt.nz/news-and-events/notifications/artmid/25934/articleid/9010
        
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        January 25, 2026 1:35pm
      - Don Beckett
        
        Were other native trees planted in the area that the exotic trees were removed ?
        Couldn’t see any sign of them.
        
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        January 25, 2026 2:08pm
      - Don Beckett
        
        Just read Ghost’s link.
        It appears that no new trees were planted but due to the cultural sensitivity of the site, two stone carvings were installed there.
        Bloody hell !!!!
        
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        January 25, 2026 2:12pm
      - CJames
        
        Ghost
        None of those 2023 trees removed seem to be on the slopes above the campground.
        
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        January 25, 2026 2:18pm
      - AitchW
        
        Except that Hipkins, Ardern, and Robertson, have created a precedent whereby appearance at Royal Commissions of Enquiry is voluntary.
        
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        January 25, 2026 4:18pm
  - Cassandra
    
    Hope,so. And I hope Mike is able to find the time to read this too. Informed debate requires information and a bit of effort.
    
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    January 25, 2026 9:41am
  - NeverMindTheBollocks
    
    How can a tree be culturally inappropriate? The idea is an absurdity.
    
    Apart from anything else, Maoris don’t culturally “own” endemic trees. By definition, such trees had been here for eons when the first Maoris turned up, just 800 years ago.
    
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    January 25, 2026 9:49am
    - G the giant from Dunedin
      
      They are not, but it was 2018 when lunacy took flight, Thanks Peters
      
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      January 25, 2026 11:24am
    - Paulus
      
      To Maori trees are people remember.
      Remember the song
      “I talk to the trees so they put me away” !
      
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      January 25, 2026 2:15pm
  - RockyJ
    
    If this was the USA the relatives of the victims could probably sue the Maori authorities who removed the trees. Unfortunately with ACC personal injury claims for negligence are not possible. However, the owner of the camping ground could sue for damage to property and to the camp’s reputation.
    
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    January 25, 2026 12:05pm
    - Paulus
      
      The owners od the Camp Sites and the Hot Pools are now totally bankrupt as a starting 12 month ban by Maori, the land owners have been put in.
      
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      January 25, 2026 2:17pm
      - AitchW
        
        To be fair the owners should be insured for both damage and business interruption. And does closing the mountain include the pools?
        I’d be more concerned about getting resource consent to rebuild the pools. Objections on cultural grounds anyone?
        
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        January 25, 2026 4:21pm
- MCōs
  
  Everyone has an excuse not to do something inconvenient
  
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  January 25, 2026 9:25am
  - R
    
    If only NZ could find an international SALE for Excuses, we would be the wealthiest country in the world.
    
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    January 25, 2026 2:24pm
- Im Right
  
  “the first thing the Maori owners did was to cut down all the trees which were not native.”
  Hmmm, aaaaand, this is not mentioned anywhere Cassandra, I’ve never heard of this…not pointed out by MSM, wonder why?
  (If it’s indeed true, I have no reason to disbelieve you as it’s a common thing maori do, get rid of non native plants/trees)
  
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  January 25, 2026 9:38am
  - pdm
    
    Will the removal of those trees be included in the investigation Tauranga Mayor Mahe Drysdale says he will initiate?
    
    Time will tell.
    
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    January 25, 2026 10:17am
    - Notsofast
      
      Considering there is a suggestion I have seen a few places that the slip started at the location the huge macrocarpas were removed, it could be reported and require new policy immediately.
      However, this won’t happen because it casts cunning part maori in a non scientific and ideological light.
      
      (The phrase “cunning part-Māori” was first used publicly (in the sense now discussed in historiography and Māori writing) by then New Zealand Prime Minister Sir Robert Muldoon in reference to Tipene O’Regan, a prominent Ngāi Tahu leader, during debates over the Ngāi Tahu claims against the Crown in the early 1980s.)
      
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      January 25, 2026 10:48am
      - pdm
        
        Notsofast – re `cunning part Maori’.
        
        Seems a variation of the old saying when I was a teenager:
        
        `Never trust a Maori with a briefcase’.
        
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        January 25, 2026 12:03pm
      - Paulus
        
        Well he was called Steve O’regan at that time, but saw a future with a Maori name of which he is only a very small part, but arn’t they all.
        
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        January 25, 2026 2:20pm
    - AitchW
      
      Is it just me or does Drysdale look completely out of his depth. He needs good advice, fast!
      
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      January 25, 2026 4:22pm
      - R
        
        Wasn’t Drysdales expertise in oceanic rowing; hardly a good foundational experience for CEO of a Council. But that can be questionable for the majority of Councilors. Only qualification seems to be ticking the DEI box
        
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        January 25, 2026 8:13pm
- imalwaysright
  
  It doesn’t help when NIWA censor data on extreme weather events prior to industrialization in NZ.
  
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  January 25, 2026 10:01am
- Southern Raider
  
  Came to say the same thing
  
  The left bangs on about we all need to “follow the science” related to climate change.
  
  But when an Iwi wants to go against all logic and geological engineering advice by cutting down “colonial” trees the left screams racist if you support the science and not some spiritual nonsense.
  
  The left is even showing pictures of cliff tops slips with trees to try and suggest trees don’t help. When a seaside vertical cliff with constant erosion isn’t going to be held up by anything.
  
  Watch as the removal of the trees disappears from the “independent” review. No Council in NZ has the balls to put blame at the feet of Iwi spiritualism.
  
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  January 25, 2026 10:11am
  - kowtow
    
    ‘No Council in NZ has the balls to put blame at the feet of Iwi spiritualism.’
    
    Thing is they are happy to go along with the mumbo jumbo .
    
    Ultimately it is council officials and councillors who approve this stuff . Indeed in many instances have undemocratically put Maori appointees on committees etc .
    National level politics too .
    
    No challenge from the 4th estate who’re very happy to go along with the mumbo jumbo too.
    
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    January 25, 2026 12:06pm
- artemisia
  
  Were the locals paid to remove the trees and cut them up for a few years free firewood?
  
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  January 25, 2026 10:31am
  - pdm
    
    arty – dry Macrocarpa is very good firewood but, you do have to watch out for sparks from an open fire.
    
    Then again we are not allowed `open fires’ these days are we,
    
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    January 25, 2026 12:05pm
- Gary Benner
  
  An excellent appraisal by former Geotech engineer Rod Kane:
  
  https://www.facebook.com/rod.kane.5
  
  Tauranga’s avoidable disaster.
  Before the trolls start I’m going to put my credentials up here. Apart from a lifetime interest in geology and landforms, and having an NZCE in civil engineering, neither of which counts for much, what does count in my opinion is the fact that I owned and operated a geotech contracting company specialising in slip remedial work for nearly 20 years. I have worked on and under more dangerous slips than I care to remember. More than once I had to make a run for it.
  We have a human tragedy, that is horrific and the terrible drama will play out in the fullness of time. We all feel for the people involved. But something needs to be said right now to avoid all this in the future.
  Our politicians are obsessed with the politics of climate change and the control over the population that they want.
  The planet is billions of years old and ever since the first drop of rain fell on it, it has been eroding and shaped by it. That is why we have mountains and valleys, rivers and lakes. Erosion is why we have silted up harbours, and why the topographical features of the planet are continually evolving and indeed abrading into the oceans. It’s what it does. Nothing new there.
  Mountains, rivers and lakes are not people in spite of what you are led to believe, as majestic as they are, they don’t have personalities, human rights or traits. They are landforms, roadside berms and railway embankments are made of the same stuff. So is the stuff your house is sitting on. Rain, rivers and slips go downhill, they don’t come back up to argue. That’s gravity.
  There are a lot of reasons for slips, but whenever you have permeable silts on a fragile slope and you feed water into it from the surface or the substrata, whether it sits on an inclined slip plane or not, it can turn to thick soup and you can get a slip.
  Deep rooted vegetation is a very good way to mitigate the risk and our mounts that remain standing, owe a lot to vegetation, perhaps everything.
  It is now fairly evident that the Tauranga council, at the insistence of Iwi, using rate-payers money, removed big trees in the area of this slip simply because they were colonial.
  This is where superstition, stupidity and cultural arrogance hits the brick wall. There is a massive lesson to be learned here.
  As it happens the very people that insisted on the removal of the trees, are the same ones that are now talking about the ‘maunga recovering’, ‘time off for healing’, no doubt some sort of ‘spiritual controlling rahui’ and other spiritual claptrap when in fact it is nothing more than soil engineering and landslip mitigation, all of which they know nothing about and should be left to the geotech engineers.
  Having said that, where were the council engineers when they were removing the trees..? Asleep?
  There are some excellent overhead views of this slip and there is no doubt in my mind at least, as to what happened. There is going to be an enquiry for sure, but the question is, are they going to investigate the massive elephant in the room here…or are we going to be listening to the lunatic green fringe and be paying a lot more in taxes to mitigate ‘climate change’..?
  People of Tauranga and indeed people of New Zealand, you have to take a kick up the backside too for voting these fringe lunatics into your councils and government. You whinge about taxes and rates and then allow these woke fools to put in place policies that waste it…and now worse…!!
  Yes this disaster is raw in everyone’s mind right now, but now is a great time to wake up and take an interest in what is happening to your country at a national and local government level.
  You are losing control to the fake tribalists who insist on 12th century spiritual nonsense for the eventual benefit and current control, power and riches of the gravy train, aided by ridiculously stupid governments and councils….and the media.
  What we have just witnessed is a civil engineering failure thanks to Iwi and council incompetence, not climate change, not spirits.
  let’s do something about it before it happens again, and it will.
  
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  January 25, 2026 10:34am
  - Cassandra
    
    Brilliant! Nailed it.
    
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    January 25, 2026 11:01am
    - Don Beckett
      
      Excellent report – I hope it is filed with the council.
      When I was building in Australia in the 1980’s I specialised in pole frame construction, & built 18 pole houses along the Illawarra escarpment in Wollongong. I had a lot to do with geotechnical engineers because every house needed an assessment. I learnt a huge amount from these guys.
      BTW, the year I arrived there, there was a major slip by the Bulli Pass which wiped out about 10 or 12 houses (can’t recall re loss of life) – so slips are a pretty common thing, not just in NZ
      
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      January 25, 2026 11:23am
    - Jack5
      
      Great post, Gary Benner, thank you! 👍
      
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      January 25, 2026 2:20pm
    - greybeard
      
      Yes: this article should be published ASAP in a form which will reach the widest possible NZ audience.
      
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      January 25, 2026 3:14pm
      - R
        
        ‘widest possible’. Well, don’t expect the NZ MSM, in any shape or form, to assist with such an information project
        
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        January 25, 2026 8:16pm
  - Ghost
    
    Here is the announcement, trees were removed for two reasons
    
    1) the fell during the cyclone
    2) damaging the archaeological terraces
    
    Notice
    
    During Cyclone Gabrielle, several trees fell over, pulling up their root plates and damaging the surrounding land. A number of trees – which are visible from Te Ara Tūtanga (the base track) – are showing significant signs of deterioration and, if left unattended, could further damage the culturally and historically significant site they are sitting on.
    
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    January 25, 2026 11:33am
    - Don Beckett
      
      So how many of trees fell in the cyclone? there were quite a number of trees there, as I recall.
      
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      January 25, 2026 11:39am
      - Ghost
        
        According to the notice 8 trees removed either because they fell or were deteriorating
        
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        January 25, 2026 12:02pm
    - Ghost
      
      Wow, some many Downticks from people that don’t want the facts on why the council removed the 8 trees.
      
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      January 25, 2026 1:37pm
    - Gary Benner
      
      What an unusual situation where only the “exotic” trees were removed. Trees are trees, soil is soil, it is men that are bigoted.
      
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      January 25, 2026 2:26pm
      - Ghost
        
        All I’m doing is posting what the council stated when they removed the trees, that’s called facts. I know, a very rare word and often not known on this blog of experts, who latter end up being wrong in what they have claimed
        
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        January 25, 2026 3:13pm
      - Gary Benner
        
        Ghost,
        
        “All I’m doing is posting what the council stated when they removed the trees, that’s called facts”
        
        If you believe what Council “posts”, without any critical oversight, have I got a bridge to sell you.
        
        Facts are what are established after critical appraisal from independent oversight, and input from all concerned. Press Releases from a Council or any political party can never be treated as “facts”. Even “Reports” commissioned by them are suspect, as the commissioning process involves setting limits to what can be considered. Learn from Sir Humphrey.
        
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        January 25, 2026 7:03pm
    - CJames
      
      If the photos on Google Earth are correctly dated, the trees were removed between 2017 and 2019. Gabrielle was more recent.
      
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      January 25, 2026 2:26pm
  - R
    
    Gary if it hasn’t happened yet, I would expect that you will soon be getting a call from the SOCIAL ENGINEERS, to attend a education seminar about CORRECT latest ideological SCIENCE relating to all engineering matters.
    
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    January 25, 2026 11:49am
  - RockyJ
    
    Excellent summary.
    If this was the USA the relatives of the victims could probably sue the Maori authorities who removed the trees. Unfortunately with ACC personal injury claims for negligence are not possible. However, the owner of the camping ground could sue for damage to property and reputation
    
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    January 25, 2026 12:08pm
  - Paulus
    
    Maori in Tauranga Maunga control the Council anyway, and have done so for a long time.
    They continue to do whatever they want as we see all the time – they cannot be wrong.
    New top of the range Kura (ex Primary School) until, (Kura can mean red, school, tank, headland, and more), the day it was finished, the the signs went up as Maori Named Kura, in Otumoetai recently, built at top of the range,enormous costs havc a problem being overcome currently.
    There are not enough car parks for all the so called teachers, and kura social hangers on attached.
    So extend the current car parks – just doing it – thanks.
    
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    January 25, 2026 2:47pm
- R
  
  The Milankovitch theory, readily available on line, provides the most credible explanation for worldwide climate change. Requires a bit of a scientific mind to understand the concept.
  
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  January 25, 2026 10:52am
  - Bullion
    
    Milankovitch cycles are very well known and understood, we know exactly where we are in the different cycles so we know how much impact it has on our current temperature. If the milankovitch cycles were the only forcings on the current temperature we would be slowly cooling not warming.
    
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    January 26, 2026 9:56am
- G the giant from Dunedin
  
  Screeching lefties are saying the buck stops with the top over a camping ground not being emptied out in the middle of the night. They expect the government to have been there telling people to move, if anything it was council work to do that. Even when the police were rung they said it’s for council and they would let the council know. To blame everything on the government will back fire. There are some absolutely disgusting comments made on articles about this.
  
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  January 25, 2026 11:05am
  - Don Beckett
    
    It wasn’t the middle of the night – the main slip happened at about 9.30 on Thursday morning. I do think there was a failure from the council, but not central government.
    
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    January 25, 2026 11:41am
    - G the giant from Dunedin
      
      I would call 5 AM the middle of the night for campers
      
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      January 25, 2026 11:46am
    - Paulus
      
      Cannot be so, as must be Luxon’s fault.
      
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      January 25, 2026 2:49pm
- keepcalmcarryon
  
  Edwards spiel even ridiculously calculated what percent of the rainfall was due to climate change – a sure sign the author doesn’t understand the limitations to current climate models let alone climate change. He’s reciting mantra not science or even balanced opinion.
  
  Metservice can’t predict rainfall accurately within a few days but the climate believers know how much is due to climate change? Bullshit.
  
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  January 25, 2026 11:58am
  - MCōs
    
    What’s a climate believer?
    
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    January 25, 2026 12:45pm
    - keepcalmcarryon
      
      Someone who doesn’t understand science, or the scientific method but claims to “follow the science” as a form of religious belief in only certain findings.
      Questioning these findings is “denying” notice the religious witch smeller language they use.
      Climate doomers exhibit religious belief not scientific understanding.
      
      See the same people also re belief in gender woo vs biological reality. Belief, not scientific understanding.
      See also critical race theory.
      
      Don’t pretend you didn’t know.
      
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      January 25, 2026 2:55pm
    - Albie
      
      A climate believer is another term for a nut job who thinks human activity is responsible for any heavy rain, hurricanes, forest fires.., you get the drift. I think you knew that but you’re just feigning ignorance for the sake of it.
      
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      January 25, 2026 3:11pm
- the deity formerly known as nigel6888
  
  Funny how few in the MSM are asking why all the trees stabilising the Mount were removed, particularly when the volcanic soils have a propensity to slip when sodden and not supported by tree roots…
  
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  January 25, 2026 3:25pm
Cassandra

Published on Friday, the Pentagon’s new National Defense Strategy places the homeland as the department’s number one priority above the Indo-Pacific, calling the Western Hemisphere a “neglected” region by past efforts.

The 2026 NDS lists priorities in the following ways:
1. Defend the U.S. Homeland
2. Deter China in the Indo-Pacific Through Strength, Not Confrontation
3. Increase Burden-Sharing with U.S. Allies and Partners
4. Supercharge the U.S. Defense Industrial Base

There’s a message there for Europe and NATO. And Russia? And NZ too for that matter, when the upper echelons of the Administration realise that we are still on 1% of GDP on defence. There might be a bit of pressure applied.
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January 25, 2026 8:15am
- septic skeptic
  
  While I think that we should spend more on defence, the notion that the US would help us if we spent say 4% but not if we spent 1% is risible. The US will do whatever is in their own interests regardless.
  
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  January 25, 2026 8:47am
  - Cassandra
    
    National interest is paramount but successive US governments have made it clear that allies will have to contribute if they want US help. Trump has made that absolutely clear! Being onside manifests itself in many ways, great and small. In my day we used to get ammunition at US rates, for example. It’s not simply a matter of 4% v 1% (although that would be terrific) but being able to build a relationship. Make no mistake – if we want our lines of communication kept open when the shove comes then we’ll need to have that relationship. And that means making a reasonable contribution. The P8s are a start but we’ll now need to provide a navy.
    
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    January 25, 2026 10:17am
    - Dudley Quaffquaff
      
      It’s been made very clear over the past couple of days that allies have contributed, in very real ways, when called upon by the US. The US, meanwhile, is being very handsomely paid by its allies for its “help” to Ukraine.
      
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      January 25, 2026 10:50am
    - Taieri
      
      that allies will have to contribute if they want US help.
      ————
      
      NATO funding – members contributions (%):
      
      Albania 0.0882
      Belgium 2.0447
      Bulgaria 0.3552
      Canada 6.684
      Croatia 0.291
      Czechia 1.0259
      Denmark 1.2744
      Estonia 0.1213
      Finland 0.9057
      France 10.194
      Germany 15.8813
      Greece 1.0273
      Hungary 0.738
      Iceland 0.0624
      Italy 8.5324
      Latvia 0.155
      Lithuania 0.2493
      Luxembourg 0.1645
      Montenegro 0.0283
      Netherlands 3.3528
      North Macedonia 0.0756
      Norway 1.7267
      Poland 2.9015
      Portugal 1.0194
      Romania 1.1931
      Slovakia 0.5014
      Slovenia 0.2212
      Spain 5.8211
      Sweden 1.9277
      Türkiye 4.5927
      United Kingdom 10.9626
      United States 15.8813
      
      Total NATO 100
      
      Total non-US funding contributions 84.12%
      
      https://www.nato.int/en/what-we-do/introduction-to-nato/funding-nato
      
      But, being a doyen of the KB military expertise, you’ll undoubtedly be aware of the above figures.
      
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      January 25, 2026 10:51am
      - Cassandra
        
        Of course. Know them by heart.
        
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        January 25, 2026 12:23pm
      - [email protected]
        
        Germany 15.8813, USA 15.8813 but population of Germany is only 84 million compared to USA population of 340 million.
        
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        January 25, 2026 1:09pm
      - Don Beckett
        
        But it’s German soil – not USA land that is being protected. So they should provide as much as the US. If the other countries did, there would not be a problem now.
        
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        January 25, 2026 2:15pm
      - Christopher Thomson
        
        Cunning use of statistics to tell a lie while appearing to tell a truth.
        
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        January 25, 2026 11:53pm
- MCōs
  
  I’m surprised the homeland wasn’t already the #1 priority of the defense (war) department.
  
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  January 25, 2026 8:58am
  - Mike
    
    Why isn’t it a National War Strategy?
    
    5 13
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    January 25, 2026 9:23am
    - MCōs
      
      I don’t understand why a supposed peacenik president changed the name of their Defense Department to War Department
      During Korean and Vietnam Wars the USA didn’t have a War Department
      Now when they have nothing other than skirmishes they do.
      
      9 11
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      January 25, 2026 9:50am
      - alwyn.a
        
        I think he did so because, after he didn’t get his own Nobel Prize, he decided he didn’t need to think about peace any more.
        At least that is what I think his rambling meant that.
        He isn’t easy to understand even at the best of times though.
        
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        January 25, 2026 1:37pm
      - rouppe
        
        The Department of War was established on August 7, 1789.
        
        So it’s been renamed back to the Department of War. It’s not a new name
        
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        January 25, 2026 1:40pm
NeverMindTheBollocks

Yawn! Radio NZ tries to spark outrage by suggesting that some victims of crime are less likely to receive support from Victim Support, based on the usual criteria.

I can tell both Radio NZ and the Justice Sector that the only support that victims want is a swift trial and real punishment to be meted out. Judges – take note.

http://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/584894/victims-get-uneven-access-to-funding-due-to-appearance-report-suggests
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January 25, 2026 8:31am
- MCōs
  
  That’s a big call on your part.
  You’re saying once the perpetrator is dealt with the victim is on their own?
  
  Have I got that right?
  
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  January 25, 2026 9:56am
- Bullion
  
  Why don’t you commission your own study to refute the point.
  
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  January 26, 2026 10:02am
NeverMindTheBollocks

Spare a thought for the Radio NZ crew. Having been off since 19 December, they have to go back to work tomorrow. Poor sods!
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January 25, 2026 8:38am
- MCōs
  
  Same as a lot of other people outside Auckland
  Except road crews who increasingly have a lot of repair work to do this time of year
  
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  January 25, 2026 10:03am
- Paulus
  
  But how many of them will not make it
  – schools not back.
  
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  January 25, 2026 2:51pm
NeverMindTheBollocks

Donald Trump walks back from his comments about the frontline contribution of non US soldiers in Afghanistan, but he does not apologise.

I think he’s incapable of doing so.

http://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3edwx37pd9o
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January 25, 2026 8:48am
- G152
  
  Probably those bone spurs that prevented him from service.
  Insulting our servicemen and women who served has its own reward..
  Dump Trump Putins pal
  
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  January 25, 2026 9:38am
- Hugh Jarse
  
  He only commented on the UK forces, no one else. As you said, no apology.
  
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  January 25, 2026 10:02am
Yvette

Ratana
The only political party not to attend Rātana on Friday was the Act Party, which has traditionally skipped the event. David Seymour has previously said it is a private religious commemoration that doesn’t have a bearing on politics.

So, is the annual Ratana event as has just been, a vast cultural misappropriation which Maori seem to accept and indeed apparently encourage rather than deem to need decolonisation?
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January 25, 2026 8:52am
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  Ratana is a Maori response to Christianity. In one sense it’s part of the blending of our two cultures.
  
  People forget that Maoris were eager to hear the word of the Christian God. They were converts in huge numbers, and the first book translated into Maori was the Bible – indeed, the written Maori language came from the missionaries.
  
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  January 25, 2026 9:56am
  - imalwaysright
    
    Yes, the Church was the first ‘safe space’ for Maori.
    
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    January 25, 2026 10:04am
    - kowtow
      
      I recall Neil Oliver making the point in one of his shows about the civilising influence of Christianity and “sanctuary” over the previous all barbaric nature of society during the post Roman chaos .
      
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      January 25, 2026 11:25am
  - Mike
    
    Māori were not initially receptive to the message from the Christian missionaries. It took until the lates 1830s for significant numbers of converts to be made – this was probably linked to the twin scourges of disease and vastly intensified wars.
    
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    January 25, 2026 10:05am
    - Centrist
      
      It was actually through peace, power, and forgiveness rather than disease and war that spread the gospel amongst Maori. Do you know the story of Tarore (12 year-old martyr)? Her murder, the forgiveness for that murder, and the words in the gospel of Ruka (Luke) changed many Iwi and saw a major growth in faith.
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarore
      
      Joy Cowley wrote a kids’ book about Tarore a few years ago. Tarore’s grave is near Matamata
      
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      January 25, 2026 11:07am
    - the deity formerly known as nigel6888
      
      Yes, becoming Christian gained access to trade and muskets to protect yourself from Nga Puhi raiders. It was simple Realpolitik at work.
      
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      January 25, 2026 3:28pm
      - Mike
        
        You’ve got that back to front.
        
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        January 25, 2026 5:36pm
  - Paulus
    
    Not before the arrival of Missionaries such as Marsden, Williams and Pompalier.
    Thet were pure Heathens.
    
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    January 25, 2026 2:55pm
- Yvette
  
  The Raetihi Rātana Temple Restoration Appeal is a major community and heritage initiative to restore Te Pāriha o Raetihi Temple (Te Whare Whakamoemiti) ahead of its centennial in September 2026.
  Immediate Financial Goal: As of February 2025, the project team needed to raise $59,000 to qualify for a vital biannual grant. Total Budget: The total cost for the upgrades has been estimated at over $200,000.
  Donations: Public support is actively sought through the Te Pariha o Raetihi Givealittle page.
  currently $16,370 of $177,403 goal
  
  How many politicians, mid Election campaigning, will attend the Ratana Temple for its centennial in September this year?
  
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  January 25, 2026 9:58am
- pdm
  
  ACT did not attend last year either.
  
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  January 25, 2026 10:19am
  - G the giant from Dunedin
    
    I thought Seymour has never attended
    
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    January 25, 2026 11:41am
otago-man

In yesterdays ODT it reported the Queenstown Plunket rooms were sold 4 years ago to Ngai Tahu in an off-market deal for $2.45 million- below capital valuation. Todays CV is $5,040,000 and Ngai Tahu are selling it by auction in February. 4 years ago Amanda Malu of Ngai Tahu decent was Plunket’s CEO…..hmmmm
43 1
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January 25, 2026 8:58am
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  And now she’s CEO of Oranga Tamariki.
  
  17 1
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  January 25, 2026 9:58am
- kowtow
  
  I see their vehicles around . Rebranded from “Plunket” to ‘Whanau Awhina Plunket’.
  
  With the first two words very prominent and the historic , cultural , traditional Plunket relegated to much smaller script.
  
  What an insult to the originators and forebearer stalwarts of that wonderful colonial construct who created and carried it through to our oh so woke era.
  
  30 2
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  January 25, 2026 10:14am
  - Paulus
    
    Hato Hone, St John have still not learned although a small bit, that changing the name a Maori one lost them considerble funding, but they expect that Government Taxpayer to stump up the losses.
    St John of Jerusalen goes back as far as about the year 800c, before so called Maori.
    
    13 2
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    January 25, 2026 3:00pm
- Clyde
  
  And this is a surprise? There were NO maori living in the interior of Otago since the enviromental maori torched the place and killed everything they could find.
  
  23 1
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  January 25, 2026 10:25am
  - kowtow
    
    Te Rauparaha and Co basically ate his way through most of the SI Maoris leaving the place essentially empty and ripe for colonial settlement .
    
    But as John Cleese would say “Don’t mention the war”.
    
    18 3
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    January 25, 2026 12:15pm
  - greybeard
    
    Far too cold for them anyway. Why would they bother ?
    
    3 2
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    January 25, 2026 4:54pm
- Dougal10
  
  It certainly doesn’t pass the sniff test.
  
  6 1
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  January 25, 2026 1:36pm
lastmanstanding

IMHO the November elections should be cancelled and instead Winston should be asked whether he is going with Labour or the Nats. Of course it will depend on who offers him PM for at least 18 months and a knighthood when he retires at the end of the term. Winston is like Groucho Marx. He has principles and if you dont like those he has other principles. Look at 2017. Instead of following long time convention and going with the party with the largest share of the vote he went with Labour because they offered him a better deal. Whatever is said by Labour and the Nats leading up to the election doesnt matter a toss. Its will be a big yawn.
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January 25, 2026 9:07am
- Yvette
  
  All New Zealand voters have an opportunity to vote, prior of course to voting closing, except for Winston who usually has thousands of votes to cast, as he sees fit, after all other votes are officially counted.
  
  17 3
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  January 25, 2026 9:44am
- imalwaysright
  
  “…long time convention and going with the party with the largest share .”
  
  Wouldn’t that mean that National and Labour should have formed a Government…
  
  3 1
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  January 25, 2026 10:08am
  - G the giant from Dunedin
    
    No point saying that, Luxon has ruled out all three leftie parties, and before you say he has only ruled out 2 parties like the media are spewing, if you check his state of the nation he also ruled out Labour as he did last time
    
    7 1
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    January 25, 2026 11:44am
- MCōs
  
  These long time conventions you mention . . . . .
  Would you like to expand on that because it sounds exactly like NZ First’s long time modus operandi conventions, which are Winston First, Second & Third
  
  7 5
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  January 25, 2026 10:16am
- BananaLlama
  
  Winston Derangement Syndrome.
  
  5 1
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  January 25, 2026 12:42pm
- Paulus
  
  Winston – Three Years a PM surely – no half measures.
  
  2 0
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  January 25, 2026 3:01pm
Cassandra

It’s Burns Night. Robbie described the national tipple thus: “my Muse! guid auld Scotch drink!… Inspire me, till I lisp an’ wink”.

Raphael Holinshed, a chronicler of English and Scottish life, wrote in 1577: “Being moderately taken, it slows the age, cuts phlegm, helps digestion, cures the dropsy, it heals the strangulation, keeps and preserves the head from whirling, the tongue from lisping, the stomach from womblying, the guts from rumbling, the hands from shivering, the bones from aching,”.

Slainte!
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January 25, 2026 9:08am
- MCōs
  
  Speak English
  That’s the convention on this forum
  
  7 15
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  January 25, 2026 10:17am
  - R
    
    Speaking English was once for effective
    communication, was once the convention within NZ; but not now!. So MCos, why should KB be any different?
    
    11 3
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    January 25, 2026 11:01am
  - pdm
    
    mcos you have led a sheltered life if you do not know what Slainte means.
    
    9 3
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    January 25, 2026 12:13pm
  - quarterpack
    
    C’est qui qui dit ça ?
    
    3 0
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    January 25, 2026 1:06pm
  - mandk
    
    “Convention” is French.
    
    4 1
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    January 25, 2026 1:12pm
    - Kevin
      
      ‘Lao Bai Chi’ is silly old man
      
      2 1
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      January 25, 2026 2:15pm
  - kowtow
    
    Forum , is Latin.
    
    5 1
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    January 25, 2026 2:20pm
- mogg
  
  More from 1564, thank god for feminist authors.
  According to Irene Coslet, Shakespeare was not a white man but a black woman called Emilia Bassano who at the time was living in Venice and writing poetry. Shakespeare was just a semi-literate stage player.
  Their identities were swapped because of white racism, people would have been more accepting of a white man rather than a black woman.
  One little problem is that a painting of Bassano has been found showing her to be very white skinned.
  According to Coslet this can also be explained away by racism.
  
  14 2
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  January 25, 2026 10:54am
  - Jack5
    
    Coslet, a feminist historian, in her book claims Shakespeare was a Coloured Jewish woman.
    
    Coslet says Shakespeare’s plays were written by Bassano, the mistress of Henry Carey, patron of the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, the theatre troupe Shakespeare made famous.
    
    The Telegraph says some writers have suggested Bassano may be the “Dark Lady” addressed in Shakespeare’s sonnets.
    
    The book claims scholars have been unable to explain why Shakespeare incorporated influences of various cultures, as a humble man from Warwickshire. Bassano’s “diverse identity” would give her the expertise. The book claims she was of North African origin with family ties to 16th century Venice.
    
    It’s worth noting the US Census classification of White: “A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa.” North African Moors are thus theoretically “White”. Racial classifications tend to be arbitrary and often vague.
    
    A swag of books have postulated different authors for Shakespeare’s work.
    
    Here’s an argument why they are all wrong and Shakespeare is the author:
    
    https://www.bardweb.net/content/ac/simple_case.html
    
    8 1
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    January 25, 2026 12:28pm
    - NeverMindTheBollocks
      
      The Earl of Oxford seems to be a more likely candidate as the author of the Shakespearean oeuvre. There are other possibilities.
      
      Luckily, we’ll likely never know, as it underpins an entire industry of academic grants, fellowships, conferences and publications.
      
      Exhibit A: Hamnet, now showing at your local cinema.
      
      8 1
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      January 25, 2026 1:45pm
      - Christopher Thomson
        
        Oxford never wrote Shakespeare!
        
        A number of plays were released and some include historical events that occured after Oxford’s death.
        
        The first proponent of Oxford was a man with a severe case of nominative determinism, J. Thomas Looney.
        
        2 1
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        January 25, 2026 7:09pm
    - mogg
      
      Surely if ‘contemporaries new Shakespeare and praised his work both during his lifetime and after his death’. Were they all liars too.
      What surprises me most of all is that a modern day publishing house will pay for and print this shite in a book.
      
      4 2
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      January 25, 2026 1:55pm
    - NothingLeft
      
      Shakespeare’s relevance and celebrity is rapidly disappearing (as is all study of English literature). He used to be a cornerstone of elitist institutional academia, a corpus of knowledge that bestowed membership to snobbish elites – but last two generations of left wing capture, and vast tertiary expansion with plummeting standards, and the ridiculous pantomime of academic rigor that the humanities have become have debased its cachet to the point that it has lost all value and is now more a marker of worse-than-useless sophistry and destructive left wing beliefs than intellectual quality.
      
      3 2
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      January 25, 2026 6:12pm
    - Christopher Thomson
      
      Shakespere was not a humble man from Warwickshire.
      
      I will quite confidently state he was better educated, more intelligent, knowledgeable, and far more literate than many currently stalking the houses of parliment here and overseas.
      
      The claim that scholars have been unable to explain his influences is nonsense.
      
      Shakspeare wrote Shakespeare.
      
      5 1
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      January 25, 2026 6:56pm
    - Christopher Thomson
      
      Bassano with ties to Venice would be expected to know that Milan was not a seaport, something that was claimed in 2 plays.
      
      1 1
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      January 25, 2026 7:47pm
    - Christopher Thomson
      
      Trivial fact, the current spelling of Shakespeare was one he never used.
      
      I have inserted some he did use in my comments.
      
      0 0
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      January 25, 2026 11:41pm
- Cassandra
  
  MCos: when drinking Scotch do as the Romans do or something. Cheers!
  
  6 4
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  January 25, 2026 12:28pm
  - MCōs
    
    https://www.instagram.com/reel/DT19zZbFGHP/?igsh=dGJvYXQ1bW5xMTlm
    
    1 1
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    January 25, 2026 8:08pm
    - MCōs
      
      https://www.instagram.com/reel/DT3MyUaiFu6/?igsh=bXpjcmcwdmhnbm9h
      
      1 1
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      January 25, 2026 9:19pm
- Paulus
  
  From the St James’ Bible
  “Drink a little wine for thy stomach sake, and thine other oft infirmaties”.
  
  4 3
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  January 25, 2026 3:04pm
TripeWryter

My Irish great-grandfather was buried under a small landslide in the Wairarapa in 1900.
His remains were found in 1919 when the track he’d been walking on was being built into a road.
There had been heavy and persistent rain over the area for several days.
On the day he disappeared – he was walking from one family farm to another – the weather had been sunny, hot, and humid.
He was a diabetic. It is speculated that he stopped to rest against the bank – and it fell on him.
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January 25, 2026 10:38am
Nikola Donatello

It is beyond stupid. Does this guy think that New Zealand emissions affect New Zealand weather? I would not rule it out. I once read a Chistchurch city councillor arguing for more electric buses in Christchurch to protect Christchurch from severe weather events.

Of course even if New Zealand weather events are becoming more pronounced because of increased greenhouse emissions, and that is debatable, it would be GLOBAL emissions that are doing that. Blame China and India for the landslide. Not Chris Luxon.
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January 25, 2026 11:15am
Jack5

Llloyd Burr looks for signs of life in Hipkins …

Stuff didn’t give much oxygen to the Left today, asking Christopher Hipkins, face to face, whether he’s “just too boring”?

You can read and re-read the article until you nearly nod off. There is … no … answer …

Would Trump-izing Hipkins save Labour?

Like: “We’ll retake full control of the Cook Islands and their orange juice… there will be tariffs on Ali Express … we will end slave labour in our orchards … Army haka gear will all be New Zealand-made … we will make ever public servant’s first language Te Reo Maori …”

The Stuff search for colour in the Leader of the Opposition covered: Hipkins’s weight-loss diet and ration of sausage rolls; plans for a “lovely family celebration” in wedding to Mrs Hipkins No. 2, and whether this will be in the election run-up.

Reporter Lloyd Burr talks of Labour’s “new policies like the capital gains tax,” when NZ has capital gains tax now, has had rigorous capital gains tax in the past; and Jacinda Ardern once ruled out tighter capital gains tax.

Even the headline writer tries hard: “…How Hipkins plans to make political history.”

https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360928796/hipkins-weight-goals-polls-and-ditching-sausage-rolls
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January 25, 2026 11:19am
- greybeard
  
  Thanks for reading it and suffering on our behalf.
  The very sight and sound of Hipkins, Ardern , Clark, Goff and all the other socialist scum make me sick.
  
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  January 25, 2026 4:49pm
Maggy Wassilieff

A detailed take-down on Mariameno Kapa-Kingi

“When Mariameno arrives, the boys and the invoices soon follow”.

https://waateanews.com/2026/01/16/te-pati-maori-and-the-bullying-allegations/
10 1
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January 25, 2026 1:38pm
- Swifty
  
  I remain convinced that Maori who look to the political process to better their lives will be perennially disappointed.
  
  Go to the Maori Party website and take a good, hard look at their policy statements – what they would do given half a chance.
  
  It’s total mish mash of half-baked revolutionary student ravings combined with ruinous taxation and borrowing policies to fund massive increases on state welfarism, reach and scope – with the great, ripe cherry on the top of calls for huge increases in the funding of ‘By Maori, for Maori’ initiatives that the various Tamihere and Kapa-Kingi etc clans are curiously and fortuitously ideally placed to be the primary service providers of.
  
  On the other hand, Maori who complete their primary and secondary education well, prioritise their careers when young, complete sensible tertiary or trades education, don’t have kids till they’ve found a great partner and don’t break the law will invariably be just as successful as any other New Zealander and will have no need for the racist and self-interested Maori Party.
  
  11 1
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  January 25, 2026 3:19pm
  - artemisia
    
    Your last paragraph, Swifty. Yes, my two siblings and more than half my large number of first cousins live overseas, most in Australia. All with families. Most tertiary educated and / or business owners. Not one has been in prison. None coming back to live in NZ, but quite a few interested in their Maori heritage and have visited our marae and some of the olds.
    
    A loss to New Zealand.
    
    7 1
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    January 25, 2026 4:24pm
- Yvette
  
  Maggy
  Waatea News is owned by UMA Broadcasting Ltd, in turn a joint venture between two prominent urban Māori authorities:
  • Manukau Urban Māori Authority (MUMA): Based at Ngā Whare Waatea marae in Māngere.
  • Te Whānau o Waipareira Charitable Trust: Based in Henderson, West Auckland.
  
  3 1
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  January 25, 2026 4:32pm
  - NeverMindTheBollocks
    
    And Waatea News is down on the Kapa-Kingis.
    
    Just a coincidence, I’m sure.
    
    3 1
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    January 25, 2026 5:37pm
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    Yes,
    I realise Rawiri Taonui is not exactly an independent/disinterested/neutral commentator on Te Pāti Māori matters.
    
    2 1
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    January 25, 2026 5:48pm
Jack5

ACC’s problems are deeper and more worrying than “workplace culture” issues that Stuff’s Paula Penfold raises today.

Penfold talks about feedback from fifty managers to a presentation about “an internal survey of the executive leadership team”. Penfold got her hands on it only after action by the Ombudsman.

ACC’s deficit for 2025 was still $1.48 billion, after a $7.2 billion deficit the previous year.

Has anyone on Kiwiblog perused ACC’s annual report and gained some idea of what’s going on in the ACC process beyond “workplace culture”?

Has public pressure so widened compensation for injuries, including non-physical ones, that the whole ACC system is under threat?
6 1
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January 25, 2026 2:03pm
- Ian
  
  There’s a letter to the editor in today’s SST decrying the unfairness of ACC not covering long time illnesses as well. I have spent over forty years selling life and risk insurance. The statistics were that you were three times more likely suffer a long term illness than an accident. Taking that into account, ACC premiums would have to go up enormously to cover long term illness – obviously by at least three times more. Do those advocating for ACC to extend its cover ever take this into account? Employers would have to bear the brunt of such increases and there’s enough pressure on employers already. If it did happen, employers would have to factor any such extra cost into the price of their goods/services. Inflation would rise…
  
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  January 25, 2026 3:58pm
- Mike
  
  No, and no.
  
  2 1
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  January 25, 2026 4:00pm
- greybeard
  
  Get your facts right please before posting:
  “At the end of 2024, a group of about 50 of ACC’s most senior managers was shown a PowerPoint presentation summarising feedback from an internal survey of the executive leadership team.
  The feedback had come from a smaller group of participants, evaluating the chief executive and seven deputy chief executives.”
  
  The survey was done by an unspecified number of people, but not 50.
  
  Why they have 7 deputy CEs eludes me. SEVEN !
  
  5 1
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  January 25, 2026 4:41pm
  - MCōs
    
    ACC has about 4k staff to process about two million new claims annually
    Maybe that’s why they have all those managers
    
    4 1
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    January 25, 2026 5:46pm
  - Jack5
    
    Greybeard: Yes, but wouldn’t the survey have been done of an unspecified number of people, not by an unspecified number of people?
    
    The main point stands: are ACC’s problems far wider than management-theory aspects like internal culture?
    
    0 1
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    January 25, 2026 8:20pm
NeverMindTheBollocks

Xi has attacked the military. It’s been announced that General Zhang, China’s highest ranking general, is being investigated for “grave violations of discipline and the law”, which usually means corruption. There’s no indication that Zhang is any more or less corrupt than any other member of the Politburo, of which he is/ was a member. Zhang’s father was one of the founding generals of the CCP. Nine other generals were sacked back in October.

Let’s hope that this is not a prelude to Operation Barbarossa.

http://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c701kr5zqdqo
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January 25, 2026 2:19pm
- PeterTrentham
  
  Op Barbarossa was a few years back! But like China USSR decimated the military in the mid 30s to late 30s. No one’s invading China.
  
  3 1
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  January 25, 2026 4:16pm
  - NeverMindTheBollocks
    
    Still too early to say …
    
    2 0
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    January 25, 2026 5:38pm
NeverMindTheBollocks

According to the BBC, 1.6m Brits use Wegovy, paying GBP 300+ per month each. Not a small number. It doesn’t say how many are funded by the NHS.

http://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj6wy85l3x5o
3 2
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January 25, 2026 2:23pm
- Colville
  
  Weight loss, hair regrowth and dick pills are the most profitable lines for big pharmacy.
  All about vanity. People will pay.
  
  Disclaimer. I am thinking about wegovy. Weight loss and lose the desire to drink booze. Worth a crack for a few months I think.
  
  3 1
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  January 25, 2026 4:03pm
  - NeverMindTheBollocks
    
    Good stuff. Please report back if you do.
    
    Me, I’m deeply suspicious of anything that sounds too good to be true. “Just take this pill and the weight will drop off”. Hmm.
    
    3 1
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    January 25, 2026 5:41pm
Colville

So Alex Honnold just free climbed 101 storey tower in Taipei. Live on Netflix. Made it look pretty pedestrian really despite being 500 meters off the ground and relying on nothing more than his fingers.

An athlete the like of none other on earth.

Watch Free Solo if you haven’t. Freakish.
8 1
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January 25, 2026 4:08pm
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  No way was I going to watch that live…
  
  Just standing near to Taipei 101 and looking up made me dizzy.
  
  5 0
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  January 25, 2026 7:21pm

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