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January 28, 2026 8:00am by Kokila Patel

General Debate 28 January 2026

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General Debate

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NeverMindTheBollocks

This selfish prick has never paid rates and says he never will. Apart from anything else, he’s a menace to ratepayers who have to pick up his share. Who does he think pays for the local roads and other Council services?

The Council should evict him for unpaid rates and sell the house from under him.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/home-property/360929961/man-says-his-house-embassy-and-he-will-never-pay-rates
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January 28, 2026 8:01am
- artemisia
  
  I see Mr Gregory has applied to the Maori Land Court to have the property reclassified as Maori customary land. That is a very specific classification and may well have no precedent in the Maori Land Court. Interesting to see what evidence Mr Gregory produces to support his application. Predict it will be vague and angry, and will be dismissed.
  
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  January 28, 2026 9:06am
  - pdm
    
    Why has the council been `sitting on its hands’ for all of these years?
    
    He should have been dealt to years ago just as any other delinquent ratepayer would have been..
    
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    January 28, 2026 9:11am
    - artemisia
      
      Lawfare.
      
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      January 28, 2026 9:25am
      - Yabster
        
        hope they aren’t collecting rubbish and have turned his water off…
        
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        January 28, 2026 9:31am
    - cmm
      
      “Why has the council been `sitting on its hands’ for all of these years?”
      
      Exactly the same should be said of IRD allowing companies to get into huge arrears with PAYE and GST payments.
      
      Such problems should be nipped in the bud before they get out of control.
      
      The IRD and councils are not lenders. They should not extend credit. If people are having problems paying then they should get bank loans etc to pay.
      
      If the preople really cannot pay and go broke then at least they fail owing small amounts rather than tens of thousands to millions.
      
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      January 28, 2026 9:45am
      - imalwaysright
        
        Complacency.
        
        If Complacency was an Olympic sport NZ would come fourth every time…
        
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        January 28, 2026 10:27am
    - imalwaysright
      
      “Why has the council been `sitting on its hands’ for all of these years?”
      
      Complacency.
      
      If Complacency was an Olympic sport NZ would come fourth every time…
      
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      January 28, 2026 10:30am
    - Jigsaw
      
      pdm- You would wonder then why the Taupo District Council continues to ignore two increasing shack settlements here in Taupo. One is off the Acacia Bay Road and the other at Five Mile Bay. Both are on Maori land and contain countless shacks and humpies all with no water of sewage. When asked about these the only answer you are liable to get is that it is just too difficult. They are all increasing.
      
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      January 28, 2026 11:14am
    - R
      
      ‘dealt to…..’ such requires competence at Councillor level, and Management level.
      
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      January 28, 2026 11:25am
    - NZer In Exile
      
      They think he’s a special case because made-up “treaty principles” but realise they would be seen as ridiculously irrational twats by the public so have decided to stone-wall?
      
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      January 28, 2026 7:04pm
- peterwn
  
  No worries, time is on the Council’s side and it is politically expedient to take a softly softly approach especially as interest and penalties are accruing. Also only a limited few can try that game – if you have a mortgage the lender will cough up and add it to the mortgage balance. Also when he comes to sell the buyer’s lawyer would hold back sufficient to cover the unpaid rates.
  
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  January 28, 2026 10:49am
Cassandra

The Telegraph comments on an invasion of Taiwan by China:

“Both China and the US would be seriously damaged as global military powers, and Taiwan would still be free but shattered as a nation and an economy – and that would mean knock-on damage to all world economies, given how vital the Taiwanese semiconductor industry is to us all.

The lesson of history for us all to take away – not only the US, but Australia, Britain and everyone else in the West – is that ancient and well-tried truism: if you would have peace, prepare yourself for war.
The way to persuade Xi Jinping not to invade Taiwan is to make the chance of failure higher.”

It’s the knock on effect that should concern NZ and is the reason we need to pay our share and integrate with Australia. Our aim must be to prevent war. A broken record, I know, but there’s always something else which needs the Government’s attention and taxpayers’ funds, so the Defence can gets kicked down the road. That has to stop. It’s now the end of that road.
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January 28, 2026 8:05am
- Wandering Star
  
  “…given how vital the Taiwanese semiconductor industry is to us all.”
  
  Why not instead invest all the tens of billions you insist on pissing against the wall on military expenditure that won’t make any difference into our own semiconductor manufacturing industry, which would actually be a productive investment?
  
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  January 28, 2026 8:12am
  - Cassandra
    
    And what precisely would be put into the fuel tanks of vans, planes and ships to deliver them to customers? And how would we treat the sick or even diagnose them? And how would we get food from farms to city?
    
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    January 28, 2026 8:48am
    - Fender
      
      The last semi conductor meltdown that caused such a hiccup to the world has finally opened their eyes to not being caught with only one supplier and duplicate plants are being built in other countries now
      It may even end up as taiwan losing its strategic importance eventually and then nobody will really care if china claims it except the taiwanese.
      Theres alot of speculation about mh370 and the passenger list having a massive contingent of very important people to a particular company onboard
      The sort of experts where you wouldn’t let them all fly together because if they all disappeared the company would be seriously affected
      
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      January 28, 2026 12:21pm
  - slijmbal
    
    @Wandering
    
    as NZ has a larger semiconductor related industry than I expected (I use related as it appears the majority is really electronic components rather than actual semi-conductors) it would be an astronomically long bow to suggest any of it would make the slightest difference should China invade Taiwan.
    
    This entire industry contributes ~ $2bn to the NZ economy. Building a serious fab costs 10 times that and counting.
    
    Please, please, please don’t get governments involved in picking winners. We know that governments of all ilks p**s $ up against the wall repeatedly when they attempt to invest in commerce.
    
    Rather silly strawman.
    
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    January 28, 2026 11:18am
    - Fender
      
      True but the Chinese would continue supplying the semiconductors and it would be business as usual
      America already controls what chips are allowed to be sold in what markets on high level chips to try and contain their opponents but the Chinese appear happy to sell anything to anyone
      
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      January 28, 2026 12:26pm
  - In Vino Veritas
    
    Are you serious WS? The NZ Government cannot make health, education etc work within a budget in this country. So on what planet do you think they could make a commercial business work? Your comment is so laughable it must surely be a joke.
    
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    January 28, 2026 12:10pm
    - Wandering Star
      
      It’s no more ludicrous than the proposal it countered, which was buying a very expensive set of military hardware for the Chinese to use for target practice in a hypothetical engagement.
      
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      January 28, 2026 1:05pm
- Mike
  
  It’s the result of decades of failure by our politicians, public service and military as they pursued various fads and rivalries while continually making promises that were never fulfilled.
  
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  January 28, 2026 8:21am
  - imalwaysright
    
    Modern warfare is asset accumulation on behalf of interested parties.
    Soldiers unwittingly are being used as burglars.
    
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    January 28, 2026 8:38am
    - KKNZ2025
      
      nothing “modern” about that; it was ever thus
      
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      January 28, 2026 9:51am
  - Wandering Star
    
    My view is that if the US wishes to maintain its stranglehold, let them pay for it themselves. I’m fairly indifferent to whether China or the US controls the Pacific. China has no reason to attack NZ, because it wouldn’t need to, due to how reliant we are on China economically. Cassandra’s still living in the 1800s.
    
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    January 28, 2026 8:39am
    - cmm
      
      Having lived in South Africa, a country royally fucked over by the USA in the 1970s and 1980s, I somewhat share your views.
      
      I spent 2 years in the Army thanks, largely, to US foreign policy interference.
      
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      January 28, 2026 9:48am
    - NoFax
      
      “I’m fairly indifferent to whether China or the US controls the Pacific.”
      In China you would not be able to say that. Maybe think about that a bit longer.
      
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      January 28, 2026 1:01pm
      - septic skeptic
        
        It doesn’t sound like you have ever been to China, NoFax. You should. It’s a fantastic destination.
        
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        January 28, 2026 1:25pm
      - Flossie
        
        Places you go as a tourist can be a different kettle of fish to live in.
        
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        January 28, 2026 1:45pm
  - Cassandra
    
    It’s certainly gone on for a long time and I agree that we’ve never had a clear permanent bipartisan strategy. It’s always been a little bit of everything, complicated by the red herrings of nuclear and lefty abhorrence of anything military. We now have an opportunity to get it right.
    
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    January 28, 2026 8:54am
- lastmanstanding
  
  Xi has just sacked the highest ranking military officer who was second only to Xi. He has also purged or disappeared a number of other senior officals and high ranking military. Anyone who questioned his order for the military to be ready to invade Taiwan in 2027 has gone. Xi is 74yo. He knows he is coming to the end of his leadership. He wants to leave a legacy like all dictators. For him it is Taiwan. All the West can do is prepare for the conseqences.
  
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  January 28, 2026 9:22am
  - Wandering Star
    
    Sounds like Xi actually drains his “swamp” in China, whereas Trump just talks about it, and in fact hires them into plum roles.
    
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    January 28, 2026 1:10pm
G the giant from Dunedin

Last night I replied to someone about the fact Luxon said the fact trees had been cut down at the Mt.

I noticed drone footage from above the slip and found that the trees are right around the slip and have not been removed at all, and some trees had fallen in the slip as well.

There cannot be removed trees snd clear footage of trees at the same time. Just maybe Luxon has already seen drone footage and knew the trees had not been cut down where the slip was, if so he is correct in saying that the ree we moral of trees was the cause of the slip and called it misinformation.

I challenge anyone to show footage of all the trees removed either before the slip or now after.

Have a good day
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January 28, 2026 8:29am
- Yvette
  
  G the giant from Dunedin, people who have mentioned trees in connection with the landslide are generally referring to the removal of some trees, not all of them –
  https://www.facebook.com/reel/1167834315430969
  
  Another theory considered is two earlier roughly adjacent slips, one in 1977, left a neck of land between the two, and without ‘lateral buttressing’, the presence of the two historic slipped regions, the remarkable amount of rain caused the neck of land to move: the current slip –
  https://theconversation.com/the-mount-maunganui-tragedy-reminds-us-landslides-are-nzs-deadliest-natural-hazard-274201#
  
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  January 28, 2026 9:02am
  - G the giant from Dunedin
    
    Well, many on here were playing their part about the cutting of trees caused the slip, only for drone foot to show the trees are still in place minus the trees that fell down in the slip, I am aware of the 1977 slip in virtually the same area, my point is where is evidence the trees were cut down, and Luxon was able to say that was misinformation, yet footage shows he was correct
    
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    January 28, 2026 9:45am
    - Don Beckett
      
      What a stupid comment. I have lived in this region for the most of the past 83 years, and I have seen the trees being removed. FFS there was a video clip posted in the last few days of them taking out the trees in 2018= not all of them, just the “culturally insensitive” trees, which were the main one stabilising the ground.
      
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      January 28, 2026 11:25am
  - R
    
    Yvette the most plausible explanation so far, without Geotechnical investigation. One has to have grown up on the land to appreciate that, there is a limit to how much rainfall water at one time, the soil can hold safely. An academic and/or urban life doesn’t help understanding. Politic points coring is infantile, as usual; but I recognise that this election year.
    
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    January 28, 2026 11:35am
- G the giant from Dunedin
  
  I see all the down votes, but put evidence up the trees around that slip have been cut down, don’t hide behind a meatless down vote, put a pick up of a bare typography around that slip, because the trees are still there, unbelievable crap
  
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  January 28, 2026 9:05am
  - Cassandra
    
    One of the scientists reported on the removal of trees in 2017 because of Myrtle rust just above where the slip took place. This was reported and commented on yesterday and Monday.
    
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    January 28, 2026 9:20am
    - G the giant from Dunedin
      
      Yet trees are still surrounding the slip
      
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      January 28, 2026 9:46am
      - slijmbal
        
        @G
        
        I would expect trees to be surrounding the slip as the trees would limit the extent of the slip. Logic suggests the slip would initiate and predominantly occur in the area where trees are removed.
        
        I find Wishart too conspiracy oriented for me but his investigation into this looks one of the soundest so far and with various photos of pre and post removal there looks a strong possibility that the removal was a contributing factor. Mind you it’s an area where slippages have occurred in the past.
        
        Early days so we don’t really know. But I will be pleasantly surprised if there wasn’t some human stupidity involved.
        
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        January 28, 2026 11:26am
      - Don Beckett
        
        Der.
        
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        January 28, 2026 11:26am
      - R
        
        G the giant. The soil with trees still standing, hasn’t slipped down, that’s why you can see them up on the Mount. The rest are in the mud at the campsite.
        
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        January 28, 2026 11:37am
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    Trees have also been cut from ABOVE the slip.
    
    The process of landslipping in this instance involves very wet soils that become mobile. What happened to the soils above and to the sides of the slip influenced the water that flows/infiltrates into the soils at the slip site.
    
    i.e. If vegetation has been cleared from an area above the current slip scarp, then that cleared area will absorb more water /retain more water in the soil column, and will feed into the subsurface soils downslope.
    
    These 2 images show the change in vegetation cover above the slip
    
    https://media.centrist.nz/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/26074602/mauao2005to2025-1024×860.jpg.webp
    
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    January 28, 2026 9:35am
    - mogg
      
      The maze of now rotten tree roots will form a pipeline into the ground for surface water.
      25 years ago I lived in Peremata where the council decided to cut down pine trees in the nearby hills, there were three serious land slips in the following ten years. We moved away but I am told that the slipping has not stopped.
      
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      January 28, 2026 10:52am
  - RoboRob
    
    Not that I know anything, or have said anying, about trees, but why would someone bother to post links to your demand?
    
    I have twice posted links to prove things you insist never happened (Luxon saying he would shut down Seymours treaty bill, and proof that Luxon said comments on IWI involvement in the slip are racist). Never have you acknowldged you were wrong. If you are going to insist people back up their assertions, you need to be willing to accept when they are right.
    
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    January 28, 2026 9:56am
    - R
      
      Robrob, activists don’t do ‘self criticism ‘
      
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      January 28, 2026 11:41am
- Tomtoddy
  
  A copy of the Sunlive paper of July 2022 states clearly, with photos, trees were removed from that area of the mountain. Where they were taken from exactly is not clear and there is a suggestion that some video footage showing fewer trees above the campground may be fake.
  
  it is now part of the crazy worl we live in. Images can be created and be difficult to assess for authenticity.
  
  The article says the trees were old and in dangerous condition. If stability was known to be a problem they should have been replaced by a deep rooting variety. Despite some “experts” disagreeing about whether trees slow erosion they have been know for centuries to maintain stability.
  
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  January 28, 2026 9:13am
  - Don Beckett
    
    No the trees were not old & dangerous – they were planted in 1977 after the slip then. They were about 40 years old & in their prime.
    
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    January 28, 2026 11:29am
  - Paulus
    
    Were the trees not removed as ? suggested by local Iwi when they took over the Mountain from the peasants being Council led, under some stupid settlement.
    I belive we were told that all non native trees were to come down – dont know who paid for that I can guess, the Ratepayers, and sold collected for firewood of course.
    
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    January 28, 2026 2:25pm
- crackle
  
  https://retrolens.co.nz/
  
  A handfull of exotics were removed in @ 2023 its not a secret.
  Go back way earlier the area was planted with pines after a slip which were then removed and replaced with a mix of exotics and natives. Some good photos of the area on that site.
  That said the trees are a side show its a very unstable bit of hillside with a history of slipping.
  
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  January 28, 2026 9:21am
  - G the giant from Dunedin
    
    I was there in 1980 not long after the 77 slip, yes there was trees, but I can not remember them being pines, many marcrocapa, but I don’t remember many pines
    
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    January 28, 2026 9:48am
    - pdm
      
      G you must have a memory to match any mastermind winner if you have a precise memory of thing you saw in 1977.
      
      I have been to the mount 4 or 5 times since about 1990 and I have no idea where the slip occurred or where the camping ground is/was. This is despite, obviously from photos seen recently, driving and walking around the area near it.
      
      Give up – you are flogging a dead horse as the old saying goes.
      
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      January 28, 2026 11:44am
    - crackle
      
      Prob pre date your visit, you would have seen what was planted in place of the pines.
      
      https://paekoroki.tauranga.govt.nz/nodes/view/3504
      
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      January 28, 2026 3:05pm
      - Don Beckett
        
        That’s a good photo – you can actually see that the ground around the trees is really very steep. No wonder it slips periodically, and if you look closely you can see where slips have happened before.
        
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        January 28, 2026 4:56pm
  - imalwaysright
    
    Correct crackle.
    Its a mound of dirt exposed to the elements and gravity.
    The only certainty is that it will continue to slip and slide until it achieves stability.
    
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    January 28, 2026 9:49am
    - pdm
      
      Agreed ima.
      
      A hill rather than a mountain. At 232m above sea level it is just over half the height of Te Mata Peak which is about 400m above sea level.
      
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      January 28, 2026 11:48am
- Dudley Quaffquaff
  
  And this is why a proper inquiry in which all the evidence is carefully considered, is the appropriate way forward
  
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  January 28, 2026 9:47am
Jack5

Wellington’s “Cake Tin” stadium is renamed Hnry Stadium. It’s where Wllngton people like Mke will go for big Rgby.

Hnry’s a specialist accounting firm with its own system. It targets sole traders and other self-employed. It caps its fee of at 1 per cent of self-employed income at $1500 a year plus GST.

Gd lck to the Hrricns.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/wellington-regional-stadium-to-be-renamed-hnry-stadium-as-new-sponsor-signs-on/B3MJIJT4E5FIFI73TVFWDJC2CI/
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January 28, 2026 8:45am
- Cassandra
  
  It’ll always be the Caketin.
  
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  January 28, 2026 9:21am
  - Cassandra
    
    Before DG gets on to me: Cake Tin.
    
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    January 28, 2026 9:29am
    - R
      
      You are allowed poetic license.
      
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      January 28, 2026 11:43am
- Flossie
  
  I had not realised it had been Sky Stadium for the past five years! Maybe I am just very unaware, but maybe paying for naming rights is a bit of a waste of money?
  
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  January 28, 2026 9:47am
- Scott
  
  Jack 5,it’s been called Sky Stadium for some years now. Unfortunately with professional sports and sponsorship the name of the stadium gets changed every few years.
  
  I do like the old days when I went to watch Taranaki play the visiting team at “Rugby Park”. We kept things simple in those days. 😊
  
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  January 28, 2026 9:51am
  - R
    
    That was an era, where titles and names indicated the function of the activity, or use. Before MANGLISH became the norm.
    
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    January 28, 2026 11:46am
  - MCōs
    
    The present ‘temporary’ Crusaders stadium was for a long time known as Rugby League Park and then AMI Stadium, Opollo Projects Stadium and Orangetheory Stadium
    Across town is Rugby Park, which used to be where athletics were held every Saturday
    
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    January 28, 2026 11:52am
  - In Vino Veritas
    
    Lile Eden Park. Lancaster Park. Athletic Park. Carisbrook. None of the rest rated a mention when it came to test footy. Eden Park and Lancaster Park were the best two. Athletic Park on a shit day was God bloody awful. If you had a seat at the wrong end, when the wind howled down and the rain pissed down, then good luck seeing a game. And that bloody stand. Was great on a still, clear day, but other than that….. Carisbrook was better but way colder on a crap day.
    
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    January 28, 2026 9:00pm
artemisia

Broadcasting Standards Authority calls for law change to deal with ‘rapidly evolving’ media, expects declining levy revenue Herald today, not paywalled.

…. the BSA said that the Government must work to define modern broadcasting and that regulation should focus on content rather than on platforms.

That sounds remarkably like requesting expanded BSA jurisdiction. And more funding.
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January 28, 2026 8:49am
- pdm
  
  Better to disband the BSA.
  
  They serve no worthwhile purpose these days.
  
  I remember back in the 1950’s when Neville Chamberlain got stood down for I think a month for saying bugger on Radio.
  
  Now anything goes.
  
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  January 28, 2026 8:56am
  - imalwaysright
    
    “They serve no worthwhile purpose these days.”
    
    Its worse than that. Last year they engaged in political activism against the Platform in an attempt to financially punish them while assuming jurisdiction over them outside their remit.
    
    The Broadcasting Minister, Mr Goldsmith, clearly agrees with this activism as Mrs Wood who runs the gaff is still employed.
    
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    January 28, 2026 9:15am
    - MCōs
      
      Bugger
      
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      January 28, 2026 9:31am
    - RoboRob
      
      Goldsmith is in the wrong party. He supports the expansion of government agencies like this* and also supported Labours planned Google tax (to support NZ news), right up until Trump made that support impossible. He also supports our publicly owned news agencies.
      
      * Goldsmith was notified before the BSA took action against Plunket, and didn’t stop them. When the things hit the fan even mild mannored Luxon thought the BSA ‘might have gone too far’, yet nothing from Goldsmith. He is MR hands off.
      
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      January 28, 2026 9:51am
      - imalwaysright
        
        I remember Goldsmith, on breakfast Tv with Willie Jackson, giggling as Jackson humiliated him.
        Maybe he lacks intestinal fortitude and is incapable of being a Minister.
        
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        January 28, 2026 10:23am
      - RoboRob
        
        @imalwaysright
        
        Certainly seems a possibility.
        
        Interestingly Luxon has publicly stated no major cabinet reshuffle this year. Any changes will be due to retirements etc. I know some people certainly hoped a a change in some deck chairs.
        
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        January 28, 2026 11:20am
      - RoboRob
        
        ‘Luxon has publicly stated no major cabinet reshuffle this year. Any changes will be due to retirements etc.’
        
        That comment aged well 🙂
        
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        January 28, 2026 3:24pm
- R
  
  There is a Budget due in May, managers/CEOs getting their bids in now
  
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  January 28, 2026 11:47am
  - Paulus
    
    Have to as Collins going shortly – May I believe, and Penk is due for upwards movement.
    
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    January 28, 2026 2:29pm
slightlyrighty

Trump held a gaggle where he said, on the White House Lawn, “With that being said, you can’t have guns. You can’t walk in with guns. You just can’t. You can’t walk in with guns. You can’t do that”

Who would have thought the Liberals would get Guns in the National cultural divorce? I imagine there will be some uncomfortable conversations at the NRA HQ.
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January 28, 2026 9:36am
- MCōs
  
  It’s a very confusing situation
  All manner of Trump bit shots have been saying you just can’t take guns to protests and yet there have been a number of examples highlighted of their supporters doing just that.
  
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  January 28, 2026 4:23pm
Southern Raider

Just saw pictures of Simon Bridges in one of the new CRL stations.

I have no issue with bilingual signs, but surely their needs to be a national standard that English comes first and then Te Reo?
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January 28, 2026 9:40am
- RoboRob
  
  Lol. The government cant even get government departments to implement that, let alone a national standard!
  
  Would Luxon have the stones to suggest such a policy? After all it would be ‘racist’. Would Luxon even agree with such a policy?
  
  We know for a fact that NZF and Act support the concept of English first.
  
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  January 28, 2026 11:23am
  - MCōs
    
    I would have thought it’s a local government issue
    
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    January 28, 2026 12:03pm
    - Cassandra
      
      Well, if it was it’d be a cock up. Tauranga’s library has Marama in big letters above Letters Library in tiny ones. When I pointed this out to the library and the mayor I was told it just a design matter, despite 99% of the library content and use being English.
      
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      January 28, 2026 12:43pm
      - Tauhei Notts
        
        I think a Marama is a library that has a vast collection of eighteenth century Maori literature.
        
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        January 28, 2026 3:14pm
      - muzled
        
        I thought she was a crazy green politician that blamed all wars on white men
        
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        January 28, 2026 3:31pm
    - RoboRob
      
      Not in my opinion. If we want consistant signage and communications accross the country, national standards are required. In the past it was never an issue, it was widely understood that people communicated in English. Now that we have activist councils, government departments and media all pushing communication primarily in Maori, we need standards to keep people in line.
      
      All that said, my post was that we aren’t going to have a national standard becuse the current National leadership doesn’t believe we need communication english and wouldn’t have the guts to push for it even if he did. Thats also the reason government departments havn’t followed instructions to emphasize English. They know the governments heart isn’t in it.
      
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      January 28, 2026 1:29pm
- NoFax
  
  You keep on thinking that Luxon doesn’t know. He knows and this is exactly what he wants.
  
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  January 28, 2026 1:03pm
- Dougal10
  
  There will be so much crime and criminal behavior in those train stations that most new zealander’s will never venture in to read the signs.
  
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  January 28, 2026 1:29pm
MCōs

On Monday we went for a drive around Mission Bay, one of Auckland’s more affluent suburbs, and noticed a number of expensive cars driving round with big Iranian flags being waved out the windows.
I read a novel novel by Roddy Doyle in which a character became involved in the IRA, not so much putting his life on the line for the cause, but so he could be in there in a position of power if there was a regime change.
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January 28, 2026 10:04am
- than
  
  When you say Iranian flags, are you meaning the Islamic Republic flag or the “lion and sun” flag?
  
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  January 28, 2026 2:13pm
  - MCōs
    
    Hard for me to tell, but I’m guessing the latter
    
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    January 28, 2026 4:13pm
Scooter

How much will the Tauranga City Council slip inquiry cost rate payers? I assume that is who will be paying for it. This along side a separate inquiry by the Government. Maybe the TCC should just get staff who can answer phones in emergencies and not drive buggies past slips ignoring the danger and not warning campers.
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January 28, 2026 10:20am
- imalwaysright
  
  Did anyone ask Drysdale why it will take six months to work out what happened between 5am and 10am last Thursday?
  
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  January 28, 2026 10:38am
- Don Beckett
  
  Exactly. The TCC should just butt out & let the Govt. do the investigation. I don’t want my rates paying for a cover up/ protection racket.
  
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  January 28, 2026 11:36am
Ian

Green List MP Celia Wade-Brown to step down at this year’s election. Seems a sensible member. Wonder what their list candidates will be this election – hopefully more of the pole dancing and cross dressers to keep the public entertained if not bamboozled…
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January 28, 2026 12:31pm
- Gravelroad
  
  I don’t want to be entertained by politicians, Ian.
  I don’t find the mishmash of ignorant, attention seeking, “it’s all about me because I’m really different” candidates that the Green Party put up (as an example) exciting or necessary – at all.
  But that is what the MMP list system will give you – and they can’t usually be removed.
  What I prefer are sensible people with talent, useful life experience, integrity and purpose as candidates.
  People who put the country and its citizens first – before their own needs to show off.
  
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  January 28, 2026 1:22pm
  - AitchW
    
    Listened to parliament this afternoon. Only heard a few speeches after question time. I heard 2 Green mps. Honestly they must outsource their speech writing to a remedial 5 former. A waste of time and space.
    
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    January 28, 2026 4:25pm
- rouppe
  
  Seems a sensible member?
  
  Where were you when she was mayor of Wellington?
  
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  January 28, 2026 2:25pm
Swifty

Move over Mongies, there’s a new crew in town.

Meet SikhDog of the Mighty Mumbai Mob.

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/19gSkQdSDt/?mibextid=wwXIfr

😃
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January 28, 2026 4:27pm
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  Please tell me that’s a parody and not a diversity dividend.
  
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  January 28, 2026 7:54pm
greybeard

https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/360930869/ikea-hikes-staff-pay-minimum-29-other-retailers-told-step
I think that within 12 to 18 months Ikea will close down its NZ operations: not enough customers with enough money to pay the expenses and make a profit.
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January 28, 2026 6:04pm
- Ghost
  
  I predict in 12 months you will still be wrong
  
  Swedish retailing giant Ikea is adding a further 85 jobs at its flagship New Zealand store due to overwhelming demand since opening last month.
  
  Article
  
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  January 28, 2026 6:23pm
- NZer In Exile
  
  It’s possible I guess if people are generally only buying the cheap end of their wares, which would not surprise me. Mind you their cheap stuff is probably nicer looking and longer lasting(maybe) than K Mart, Warehouse etc etc. Not sure how long they’d last pumping chipboard crap and plastic baubles.
  
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  January 28, 2026 6:52pm
Swifty

Nice work if you can get it:

https://www.facebook.com/share/1BrjuK8GSg/
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January 28, 2026 7:08pm
- greybeard
  
  “Work”?
  
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  January 29, 2026 6:47am
MCōs

I live on the slopes of Mangere Mountain, like Mount Maunganui another extinct volcano from which the exotic trees have been removed.
Also removed were cattle that used to wander round up there leaving cow pats everywhere.
There hasn’t been any landslides, but because the grass is now much longer there has been fires.
Old photos from a century or more ago show no trees on the mountain whatsoever.
Why one place has landslides and another doesn’t, I don’t know although a geologist familiar with the terrain would have all the answers, one would expect.
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January 28, 2026 9:37pm

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