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January 30, 2026 8:00am by Kokila Patel

General Debate 30 January 2026

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General Debate

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graham

Is it just me, or is Tova O’Brien really not that bright when it comes to working out just what her employment terms and conditions actually mean?

(Paywalled)
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/media-insider/media-insider-breakfast-co-host-tova-obriens-legal-restraint-ex-admans-novel-skewers-industrys-awards-obsession-bsa-rules-on-tvnz-tom-phillips-privacy-complaint-the-life-of-brian-fm-founder/premium/KEQWJUB3R5FCRL5ZYAISZSKIP4/

Article is paywalled; but in brief it appears that Tova O’Brien won’t be starting as the new co-host on TVNZ’s Breakfast show for some weeks yet – even though she’s already left her job at Stuff – because of a restraint of trade condition. Seems she won’t be on air by early February as TVNZ had hoped, and her Breakfast debut might even be pushed out to late April.

If you’re thinking this sounds familiar, you’re correct. There was a remarkably similar saga in 2022, when Ms O’Brien moved from a role as political editor at TV3 to take up a new position as breakfast host of MediaWorks’ Today FM radio show. Or rather, she tried to move, but fell foul of a restraint of trade condition then as well – which she appealed, only for the Employment Relations Authority to reject her appeal, and order her to pay $2,000 for breach of contract.

Not to mention the infamous episode when, in March 2023, O’Brien interrupted the mid-morning Duncan Garner Today show to announce Today FM‘s closure, where she proceeded to swear on-air and then joined Garner in criticising the station owners Mediaworks until the show was abruptly taken off air and replaced by automated music.

Personally, if I was in a position of looking to employ someone like Tova O’Brien, I think I would tread pretty carefully and do my own due diligence – I certainly wouldn’t rely on her to get it right.
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January 30, 2026 8:01am
- alex Masterley
  
  She probably thinks contractual obligations dont apply to her and that they can be ignored or observed as and when she sees fit.
  
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  January 30, 2026 8:26am
  - Mike
    
    Which happens a lot in many organizations.
    
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    January 30, 2026 8:32am
    - graham
      
      So you think it’s quite acceptable to sign a legal document, then ignore it?
      
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      January 30, 2026 10:49am
      - Mike
        
        Not what I wrote. Merely observing that contractual obligations are unevenly enforced, particularly hazy things like restraint of trade, depending on who’s who, etc. I don’t care about this particular case.
        
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        January 30, 2026 11:44am
      - David Garrett
        
        Mikey: Restraints of trade – when drafted properly – are in fact one of the least hazy provisions in a contract.
        
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        January 30, 2026 12:53pm
    - NZer In Exile
      
      Only mentioned because T O is a political fellow traveler.
      If she was further right on the sanity spectrum you’d be putting the boot in.
      
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      January 30, 2026 2:42pm
  - lastmanstanding
    
    Winstons opposition to the India FTA will appeal to his base and also attract the anti-immigration vote. But is it a sign he intends to go into coalition with Labour with the Greens offering confidence and supply. As I have posted before Winstons terms will be Foreign Minister for the first half of the term Prime Minister for the second half of the term and a knighthood upon his retirement.
    Forget what he has said re Hipkins. We know the baubles are more important than words with Winston. He knows its very unlikely the Nats would agree to him being PM and Seymour would rule it out totally and would walk away from the Nats whp would need ACT to form a Government.
    As I have posted IMHO the election is a waste of time. Better to ask Winston what he intends to do and use the taxes saved on an election for someting else. Ahh the joys of MMP.
    
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    January 30, 2026 9:03am
    - Paulus
      
      Would you expect to get an honest reply to your question ?
      
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      January 30, 2026 9:10am
      - Simon
        
        Surely no one now expects honesty from National?
        
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        January 30, 2026 9:34am
      - pdm
        
        Not from Winston.
        
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        January 30, 2026 9:40am
    - Simon
      
      You may be right about Peter’s but the appalling National govt might be forcing his hand. No where for NZ first to go but with the biggest party which is Labour
      
      National are just so much garbage it’s hard to stomach for many.
      
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      January 30, 2026 9:33am
      - Quail
        
        Peters had no problems going with a minority party ( Labour) in the past.
        The damage he did to New Zealand by that action has been ,and still is ,huge.
        Luxon and Peters are both likely to be stabbing Seymour in the back, despite the heavy lifting done by ACT this term ,with both trying for ACT’s voter base.
        MMP is a disaster !
        
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        January 30, 2026 10:36pm
    - R
      
      I often wonder if voters now regret their decision to follow the activists promotions, and voted for MMP instead of STV. STV where your vote actually determined the composition of the government, not the media.
      
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      January 30, 2026 10:22am
      - NZer In Exile
        
        Australia uses STV. To me it appears to be highly gamed (think the “Teals” aka the “fake independents” funded by a climate activist billionaire and who generally vote far left in the parliament).
        I think most voters don’t really understand it. It’s very hard to work out how to vote to eliminate your political enemies. The political party boffins do understand it and play the system big time. The full senate voting paper is just ridiculous in size also. It seems to me a system more advantageous to party scumbags than we the people.
        
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        January 30, 2026 2:51pm
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  The ego is strong in this one
  
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  January 30, 2026 8:33am
  - NZer In Exile
    
    Not just this one. I can think of a number from the same mold of late including a recent PM. Massive egos and very hard to pin down on any matter. Perhaps due to being told men are generally shit and the sun shines out of your proverbial for just being born female in Nu Zul? Quasi marxist brainwashing in education also a factor.
    
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    January 30, 2026 3:03pm
- Paulus
  
  But after her dismal history why would you consider employing her as she has been n0thing but a problem since she started her Anti Government media campaign.
  To me not a nice person under any circumstances.
  
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  January 30, 2026 9:09am
  - graham
    
    When an employee apparently thinks it’s perfectly okay to state that her bosses have “f….. us” – on live radio – then I’d tend to consider that person a somewhat toxic employee.
    
    https://www.1news.co.nz/2023/03/30/theyve-f-us-today-fm-staff-fear-stations-collapse/
    
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    January 30, 2026 9:56am
  - R
    
    An ideal Labour candidate.
    
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    January 30, 2026 10:23am
    - Paulus
      
      No, too far left anyway !
      
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      January 30, 2026 2:07pm
- imalwaysright
  
  The lady filling in for her on Breakfast is great and a vast improvement on her dour, depressing, predecessor.
  Not looking forward to the lefty political activist taking over in April.
  
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  January 30, 2026 9:16am
  - graham
    
    Never watched Breakfast, who’s in the current lineup?
    
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    January 30, 2026 9:28am
  - pdm
    
    ima – why do you watch it?
    
    Our TV does not come on until 1pm when mrspdm catches up with Emmerdale and Coronation Street.
    
    If I am home I read until I doze off. Retirement can be good at times like that.
    
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    January 30, 2026 9:41am
    - NZer In Exile
      
      Coronation Street! Wow. We had to go to bed in the late sixties when that came on! Stan and Hilda Ogden. Ina Sharples. Minnie Caldwell. Len Fairclough.
      
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      January 30, 2026 3:07pm
  - R
    
    Yes. That young lady is pleasant, and she can speak clearly when reading the news. Hire her, fire Tova.
    
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    January 30, 2026 10:27am
    - Paulus
      
      Remember Tova cannot be ignored – she knows too much !
      
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      January 30, 2026 2:07pm
- MCōs
  
  Tova O’Brien — always guaranteed to wind some people up
  
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  January 30, 2026 9:45am
  - graham
    
    Shayne Currie didn’t appear particularly wound up – merely reporting the story.
    
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    January 30, 2026 10:52am
  - NZer In Exile
    
    You can stomach her crap?
    
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    January 30, 2026 3:08pm
- R
  
  Who ever thought that Tova was bright?
  
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  January 30, 2026 10:14am
  - Paulus
    
    She did and does !
    
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    January 30, 2026 2:08pm
- G the giant from Dunedin
  
  Restraint of trade especially when it comes to knowledge of the trader is usually 6 months, we have been going through it at work, but they were too gutless to do the 6 months, just standing them down with their months notice
  
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  January 30, 2026 10:45am
  - Paulus
    
    Restraint of Trade is only as good as the money on offer.
    I once did 18 months, but what a great price .
    
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    January 30, 2026 2:09pm
NeverMindTheBollocks

When the kids were small and complaining about the cold, we’d tell them that there’s no such thing as bad weather, just poor clothing choices.

The analogy applies to NZ and storm damage. Geologically, we sit on two tectonic plates, continually bumping into each other and pushing up the land – compared to many land masses, our hills are steep. Combined with our maritime location and associated rain, erosion is a constant.

So much for the geography. We have done some dumb things, including stripping the bush in parts of the hill country that should have been left alone. Removing the toe of the slip at Mt Maunganui clearly contributed to the recent camp ground slip. Our approach to slash will keep turning heavy rain into flooding until it’s changed.

What’s more, there are 5+m residents here now. We’re building in places that were rejected for good reason in the past. Consider the Akld Anniversary floods in Wairau. Wairau means “many springs” – the clue’s in the name, guys! Tracks through the bush that have been widened for roads now take traffic that the hillside slope can’t sustain, leading to slips. And so on.

Whatever your view on climate change, we’re unable to control the weather. We need to think harder about resilience when making decisions about what is and isn’t done in our physical geography. She’ll no longer be right, if she ever was. After all, we recognised that our old way of constructing buildings was not fit for purpose given our earthquake proneness. We need to adopt the same hardheadedness when thinking about land use.
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January 30, 2026 8:01am
- Paulus
  
  Christchurch Council knew full well about building in areas which would both flood and sink – called liquidfaction, but they went ahead anyway.
  Reports done on the subject were just put in the Mayors draw.
  
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  January 30, 2026 9:13am
- R
  
  Welfare will always Trump infrastructure in a democracy. Infrastructure doesn’t earn many kudo votes
  
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  January 30, 2026 10:31am
greybeard

https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/360931449/i-said-it-was-surfing-accident-new-iwi-ceo-apologises-over-acc-mistake

This person, while he was a Deputy Chief Executive of ACC, lied to his employer about an injury incurred outside work hours. He said it was a “surfing accident”. Not great behaviour for a well-paid senior ACC employee !

There had been allegations he had been involved in “drunk and inappropriate behaviour”.

He admitted that it was not a surfing accident.

He said he “made a mistake”: he didn’t make a mistake, he deliberately lied to ACC, and his position made that even more despicable.

He parted ways with ACC: details of this departure are unavailable.

He was subsequently appointed CEO of Ngati Whatua .

https://www.ngatiwhatua.iwi.nz/our-people

He does not appear on their website. Yet.
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January 30, 2026 8:02am
- pdm
  
  He cannot be trusted.
  
  Sack him.
  
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  January 30, 2026 8:09am
  - NeverMindTheBollocks
    
    Perhaps he’s learned his lesson.
    
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    January 30, 2026 8:35am
  - Paulus
    
    Can’t with his name makes him remain special anyway.
    
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    January 30, 2026 9:15am
  - lastmanstanding
    
    Sir Brian Roche the Public Service Commissioner reminds me of Sir Arnold Robinson the Cabinet Secretary in Yes Minister. Their objectives are to run Government with the least interference of Ministers. They see Ministers as temporary and rather dim and they seek to keep the facts from Ministers and feed them what they want Ministers to know. The public are a nuisance that get in the way of the good work of the Public Service. If it wasnt for the public the Public Service would run so much more smoothly. And that one of the great problems for this country. And one that wont get fixed any time soon.
    
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    January 30, 2026 9:16am
  - Northshoredoc
    
    Meh… private company if he’s disclosed his past employment and sins to them during the process of hiring it’s their decision.
    
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    January 30, 2026 10:35am
  - Prince
    
    Sounds perfect for his new role then.
    
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    January 30, 2026 10:54am
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    I think he’s on too many Trusts/Boards/etc to “sack”
    …..
    https://indigenous100.com/episode-19-renata-blair/
    
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    January 30, 2026 4:21pm
Cassandra

Alex Pretti was shot 10 times in Minneapolis while being arrested. It seems to be overkill – literally! However, he was no “peaceful protester”. A few days earlier he was filmed kicking in the taillight of an ICE vehicle.

He was clearly an angry young man. However, probably not a candidate for the death penalty. I assume it’ll all come out in the wash. But it seems to have damaged Trump and the GOP. Public opinion is a fickle master.

A bloke here, arguing with the father of a girl whom he’d thought, mistakenly, had stolen his child’s shoes then punched him several times and has been sentenced to 150 hours community service. Broken jaw, headaches, trauma. Most places it’d be the pokey.
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January 30, 2026 8:03am
- artemisia
  
  ICE is still going to be operating in Minnesota of course, perhaps more quietly for now and with better local law enforcement support signed up.
  
  Meanwhile, fraud investigations and prosecutions there will continue, alongside serious scrutiny of ongoing federal funding.
  
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  January 30, 2026 8:20am
- imalwaysright
  
  When he kicked in the car light he was carrying a gun in his waistband.
  He had a carry license but why would he choose to bring it to a protest?
  
  https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/29/alex-pretti-shooting-11-days-before-federal-officers-clash
  
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  January 30, 2026 8:48am
  - Ghost
    
    Here is another witness account of the moments leading up to pretti kicking the car
    
    https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/video-shows-aftermath-of-first-confrontation-between-pretti-and-agents/ar-AA1Vh9iM?ocid=BingNewsVerp
    
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    January 30, 2026 10:24am
- David Garrett
  
  Cass: Pretti was murdered AFTER having been disarmed. Yes, taking a gun with him to a protest was very silly, but that doesn’t change the fact that he was murdered.
  
  Any finding other than he was murdered by those who shot him multiple times will a whitewash. Simple as that.
  
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  January 30, 2026 8:58am
  - Cassandra
    
    Yes, it sure looks like that. Poorly trained ICE fella either panicking or did it on purpose. But Pretti didn’t help himself. When I went to,Sydney in 1959 my father told me to obey Sydney cops “or they’ll shoot you”. Very sound advice.
    
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    January 30, 2026 9:05am
    - David Garrett
      
      Cass: TWO ICE agents have been stood down, which suggests at least two agents fired shots at Pretti. I believe I saw a report that a total of 10 shots were fired in a five second period? Pretty much impossible for one shooter to loose off 10 shots in five seconds
      
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      January 30, 2026 9:15am
      - imalwaysright
        
        10 shots in 5 seconds is very easy for one shooter.
        
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        January 30, 2026 9:19am
      - Ghost
        
        The official account is two agents fired the shots
        
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        January 30, 2026 9:23am
      - CJames
        
        Wrong David. They were Border Patrol agents
        
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        January 30, 2026 1:07pm
      - Christopher Thomson
        
        All cops involved in a shooting are stood down. It’s SOP.
        
        Even here in little ol NZ.
        
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        January 30, 2026 4:24pm
    - Ghost
      
      Pretti was face down on the ground, he was shot 10 times in the back. Investigations are now looking at if either of the agents were involved in the previous incident.
      
      Unarmed, held face down on the ground. Shot 10 times in the back.
      
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      January 30, 2026 9:20am
      - David Garrett
        
        Ghost: The last sentence of your comment says it all for me…and thank God for the plethora of video evidence, from several different angles.
        
        I saw the best one yet on CNN last night – taken by some blond woman who was about three metres away. It shows both Pretti and a woman being pepper sprayed, then taken to the ground by at least three ICE agents, then having his gun removed (the guy who retrieved it stepped well back from the action, which is apparently standard procedure) – and then the shots ring out … and Pretti is shown lying face up on the road, presumably dead.
        
        The “full and thorough” enquiry will surely not take long.
        
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        January 30, 2026 12:07pm
      - Ghost
        
        The official story just keeps changing, now changed from a violent riot to several people protesting. Has anything they claimed been factual?
        
        https://reason.com/2026/01/29/dhs-retreats-from-the-claim-that-the-agents-who-killed-alex-pretti-faced-a-violent-riot/
        
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        January 30, 2026 12:29pm
      - Ghost
        
        Wow, If this is the video you watched David, these agents are finished and his family are going to get one hell of a pay out
        
        https://edition.cnn.com/2026/01/29/us/immigration-agents-shooting-alex-pretti-invs
        
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        January 30, 2026 1:27pm
      - David Garrett
        
        Ghost: Even allowing for American excess this one takes the cake. Even Trump is walking back from the labeling of Pretti as a “domestic terrorist” who was planning to “massacre law enforcement” as that silly woman from the DHS claimed.
        
        Clearly none of that labeling is true: the one thing you can say in the establishment’s favour is that Pretti was incredibly stupid to take a loaded handgun to a protest of that nature. All Americans surely know by now that ICE agents are poorly trained, and tend to shoot first and ask questions later?
        
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        January 30, 2026 12:35pm
      - Don Beckett
        
        Here’s a video giving an explanation of what is legal and what is not – what is compliance with the law & what breaches the law.
        Pretti, it appears, breached the law by his actions.
        Tragedy waiting to happen.
        
        8 mins.
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QePoawDA_48
        
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        January 30, 2026 3:14pm
      - Christopher Thomson
        
        He wasn’t unarmed. How do you know he was unarmed?
        
        He wasn’t held face down on the ground. If you look at the video as soon as the call of gun is made all the agents step back.
        
        He was shot at center mass. Where he was shot is of no relevance to the threat he posed.
        
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        January 30, 2026 6:50pm
  - Spam
    
    I’m surprised that you, as a lawyer, are being so unequivocal and pronouncing guilt.
    
    I have read several analyses. One (that appears somewhat credible) is that after disarming Pretti, the gun discharged, leading the other officers to believe that he was firing at them.
    
    Whether this is the case or not is to be determined, but I guess it is a defense against a murder charge.
    
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    January 30, 2026 9:10am
    - David Garrett
      
      Spam: if the scenario you outline is correct then it may change things to a degree – remember the US has degrees of murder and other crimes involving homicide which make no sense at all to a New Zealand trained lawyer.
      
      But if the scenario you outline is true, it also underlines the poor training of ICE agents which many have noted
      
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      January 30, 2026 9:21am
      - All_on_Red
        
        I see people have claimed that ICE agents arent well trained, but they get more training that our Police.
        NZ Police get 20 weeks
        https://yourbestcv.com/nz/police-jobs-in-new-zealand-how-to-join-salaries-and-requirements/
        ‘Training at the Royal New Zealand Police College in Porirua lasts 20 weeks, covering law, tactical skills, firearms, communication, and mental resilience (NZ Police College). ‘
        ICE Agents get 27 weeks and they are all mainly ex Military or Police also.
        Good pay too. $167k pa
        ‘Training Duration: ICE agents must complete a 27-week training program at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC), including the 12-week Criminal Investigator Training Program (CITP) and the 15-week Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent Training (HSISAT).’
        https://research.com/careers/how-to-become-an-ice-agent
        So over six months training.
        
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        January 30, 2026 9:31am
      - Mike
        
        And you have information about the quality of recruits and the quality of their training?
        
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        January 30, 2026 10:16am
      - All_on_Red
        
        Sure
        How about this guy?
        ‘Thomas D. Homan was one of three Department of Homeland Security (DHS) career executives who received a 2015 Presidential Rank Award for Distinguished Service, which is bestowed to leaders who’ve achieved sustained extraordinary results.’
        This was given to him by President Obama
        https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/ero-ead-thomas-homan-receives-2015-presidential-rank-award
        
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        January 30, 2026 10:53am
      - SGA
        
        @All_on_Red
        You might want to be a little cautious with that “official” 27 weeks figure. There are reports that they are cutting corners where they can because they have *so* many new recruits – even as low as 8 weeks for some. It’s hard to know the truth because the administration has demonstrably lied so readily about ICE activities (as the evidence of our own eyes attests).
        
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        January 30, 2026 10:59am
      - geoff3012
        
        You watch CNN?
        
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        January 30, 2026 12:46pm
      - SGA
        
        @geoff3012
        Not sure who of the above you are asking? If me, sure, from time to time and among others (including Fox, for example). It’s not a staple. I imagine you look at a range too?
        With regard my post, I can’t tell you exactly all the places that I saw the various videos of both killings – they were all over the internet. Likewise with Noem, Miller, & co’s fantastical descriptions of what I could see with my own eyes. The gulf was so great, I can’t see why any reasonable person would have confidence in anything the administration says about ICE.
        That help?
        
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        January 30, 2026 2:33pm
      - Christopher Thomson
        
        Have you even taken the time to look at the video’s by Branca.
        
        That you keep going on about it being muurder suggests to me that you have taken no outside advice.
        
        [Mod – just debate the topic, there is no need for you make it personal]
        
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        January 30, 2026 6:52pm
    - JackRabbit
      
      One (that appears somewhat credible) is that after disarming Pretti, the gun discharged, leading the other officers to believe that he was firing at them.
      
      I read that also, very early on. I also read that the “safety” was off, which is why it (was?) discharged in the violent struggle.
      
      I am also seeing the return of multiple “fact checker websites” disputing any piece of information that portrays it as anything but a “murder”.
      
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      January 30, 2026 12:14pm
  - Christopher Thomson
    
    He was disarmed was he?
    
    How do you know that?
    
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    January 30, 2026 4:27pm
    - Hard Cheese
      
      You can see it on the video, FFS. One of the agents removes it from the back of Pretti’s coat and in a few frames you can see him carrying it away off to the right, muzzle down. I’ve read some saying that the gun discharged by itself because of a known fault with that particular make and model. That seems like an awfully convenient coincidence to explain away a murder. There’s no sign of it discharging on the video. But let’s pretend it happened. Since the agent was carrying the gun muzzle down there should be an indent in the road surface where the bullet impacted. Pardon me if I’m skeptical.
      
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      January 31, 2026 3:43am
- alwyn.a
  
  I wonder how this DHS agent would have been treated if he had been stopped by people in his own organisation?
  He would probably be dead by now. Luckily he was stopped by properly trained police. Otherwise the second he got both hands out of sight within the vehicle who would have been shot by someone who thought he could have had a gun out of sight.
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DcLHO40kUk
  
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  January 30, 2026 9:06am
- Philview
  
  I saw footage earlier of him spitting on ICE agents. Megyn Kelly reported yesterday that Pretti broke a rib 2 weeks ago in scuffles with ICE agents. At face value his killing is unjustified but he certainly wasn’t just a nice guy helping an elderly stand up and in the wrong place at the wrong time.
  
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  January 30, 2026 9:43am
  - Taieri
    
    I saw footage earlier of him spitting on ICE agents.
    ————-
    
    Nasty and stupid. But it does not justify, what was effectively, a summary execution a few days later.
    
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    January 30, 2026 11:29am
    - KH
      
      Lets me be clear. He should not have been killed.
      But but. He was repeatedly out seeking trouble spots and adding to the trouble.
      Bad things were inevitable there. It was his decision to be there.
      
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      January 30, 2026 12:01pm
    - NothingLeft
      
      Not a ‘summary execution’. A lethal fuckup by officers in a high stress situation created by physically confrontational protestors who collectively are trying to goad the agents into on-camera ‘atrocities’, and have achieved that aim in a couple of cases across thousands of interactions in Minnesota.
      
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      January 30, 2026 12:11pm
    - David Garrett
      
      Taieri: Exactly.
      
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      January 30, 2026 12:37pm
  - JackRabbit
    
    I read his ex-wife when told about the incident, was not surprised he was involved. She said he got very involved in the BLM demonstrations over the George Floyd.
    
    I’m not sure I’d call the BLM demonstrations peaceful with widespread arson, looting, and vandalism, which caused $2 Billion of damage.
    
    She said he got a gun permit 3 years ago, and started carrying every time he was in public, except with her, as him carrying the gun made her uncomfortable. They divorced a year later she moved to another state, and had no further contact.
    
    His parents are angry about the shooting, quite rightly so. However before he went to the demonstration, his father said he advised Alex to watch from the sidelines, to not to get involved and confront agents.
    
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    January 30, 2026 12:04pm
  - AitchW
    
    He was carrying a semi automatic pistol with 2 21 round magazines. He repeatedly taunted the ICE guys, and violently resisted arrest. In the heat of the moment mistakes happen.
    Is it rocket science to imagine that if you don’t harass heavily armed men while carrying a firearm then get into a scuffle with them you’re less likely to get shot than if you do?
    
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    January 30, 2026 4:50pm
- Tom Barker
  
  There is nothing particularly fickle about the US public’s opinion of Trump. His approval has declined fairly steadily since his re-election and he is now the most unpopular US president since records began. This is known, for some reason, as Making America Great Again.
  
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  January 30, 2026 9:54am
  - NothingLeft
    
    That’s not even remotely true. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_approval_rating
    
    4 3
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    January 30, 2026 12:09pm
    - Mike
      
      Yes, let’s be fair. Donald Trump is only the most consistently unpopular president in the modern era.
      
      2 4
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      January 30, 2026 3:22pm
  - David Garrett
    
    Tom B: Not often do you get an uptick from me…but credit where credit is due, and all that.
    
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    January 30, 2026 12:38pm
- mogg
  
  Pretty is also on vid spitting at ICE.
  
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  January 30, 2026 1:02pm
Swifty

Luxon pretty good in the House yesterday:

https://x.com/suitandtie9999/status/2016360696901206076?s=46

Hipkins looking rather weak and uninspiring in my view. He’s a million miles away from a Kirk or Lange.
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January 30, 2026 8:13am
- Simon
  
  A competent opposition would tear National apart.
  
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  January 30, 2026 9:38am
  - Flossie
    
    Yet this incompetent lot – currently the opposition – are those that you seem to prefer as our government.
    
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    January 30, 2026 12:19pm
- KH
  
  Awesome. And it ain’t Hipkins.
  
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  January 30, 2026 12:07pm
  - NZer In Exile
    
    Keep Hipkins on. He’s doing a great job. 😉
    
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    January 30, 2026 3:13pm
artemisia

Minister Stanford has announced two new specialist schools for children with high and complex needs, alongside recently announced two new charter schools for autistic students.

Minister Stanford – Parents who have children with high or complex needs should have the choice to either go to a specialist school, a satellite classroom or, indeed, their local mainstream school.”

You’d thing parents and teachers would be pretty happy with choice. But not so much advocates for ‘disability equity’ who seem to only support more money for mainstream schools.

Auckland University education senior lecturer and committee member for the Inclusive Education Action Group Dr Jude MacArthur was disappointed by the today’s announcement.

Same with Frian Wadia, interviewed on Newstalk ZB asking for more money for teacher aides and classroom assistants in mainstream schools.

Their way or the highway. Sometimes it would just be nice if these academics and advocates stepped out of their blinkered ideology lane for a moment and found something positive to say. About choice and flexibility.

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/585360/two-new-specialist-schools-to-open-for-children-with-high-needs-disabilities
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January 30, 2026 8:13am
- Biscuit
  
  Artimesia, it’d be interesting to have these ‘their way or the highway’ types polled as to their opinions on the need or desirability for various options on things like supermarkets, petrol sellers or the like.
  
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  January 30, 2026 8:22am
- Simon
  
  Have you seen some of the teachers who opposed National mild luke warm changes ? As a parent why would you entrust your kids education to these people?
  
  Why hasn’t National fired all the Treaty teachers? Just appalling political brainwashing.
  
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  January 30, 2026 9:41am
NeverMindTheBollocks

Old salts bewail! Another of the great traditions of the Royal Navy slips its moorings. Only one of them now encouraged.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/01/29/royal-navy-orders-sailors-to-quit-alcohol-two-days-a-week/
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January 30, 2026 8:15am
- G152
  
  No roundies no tot ?????
  Go join the army
  
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  January 30, 2026 8:38am
- Mike
  
  Traditions, you say? Brings to mind the (bogus) Churchill quote: “Don’t talk to me about Naval Tradition. It’s nothing but rum, sodomy, and the lash.”
  
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  January 30, 2026 8:39am
  - David Garrett
    
    Bit of an expert on Churchill are you Mike?
    
    4 3
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    January 30, 2026 12:39pm
    - Mike
      
      No more than any other Kiwiblog commenter.
      
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      January 30, 2026 3:24pm
- Cassandra
  
  But nights okay?
  
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  January 30, 2026 9:06am
- fightingtemeraire
  
  Mess dinners will not be fun any more.
  
  By the time the Port is passed and the toast to “The Immortal Memory” is drunk that will be 3 weeks booze allowance.
  
  RN has more Admirals than ships, so they have to do something.
  
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  January 30, 2026 1:21pm
  - Christopher Thomson
    
    More admirals than warships.
    
    If you count all the scows, barges and bumboats they have more ships.
    
    Also more horses than tanks.
    
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    January 30, 2026 4:36pm
imalwaysright

Here we go again.
Will the cops arrest everyone wearing a patch or will they stop the law abiding citizens so that the terrorists can have the roads to themselves…

They are on their way now.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/police-prepare-for-500km-gang-funeral-procession-for-former-head-hunter-leaders-son-mossy-hines/M5QUNBZOWBA7ZNVSQUMQJYRDBA/
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January 30, 2026 8:38am
- Simon
  
  Gang costumes take on many forms. Have seen gang low IQ members wearing their costumes in public places. There just isn’t the one costume design for each IQ80 gang.
  
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  January 30, 2026 9:44am
- Simon
  
  The other aspect of the gang costume ban was an appeal to low information National party voters. The gangs have tuned many small towns in the North Island welfare basket cases.
  
  There is the wider problem that gangs are the tip of the feral welfare ice berg. Which National can’t deal with. However by all means National voters get your jollies over the gang “patch” ban.
  
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  January 30, 2026 9:52am
- MCōs
  
  I expect we’ll find out won’t we.
  We went to the Strawberry Farm near here one day and passed the Mangere cemetery where a sizeable gang funeral was going on with a dozen or so carloads of bored cops were looking on and not a gang patch in sight.
  There’s probably a lot of these funerals for lower level gang people you never hear about. I doubt if those blokes have a long life expectancy
  
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  January 30, 2026 10:12am
Nigel Kearney

Does this seem at all reasonable to anyone?

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/early-childdhood-teacher-kaaren-stewart-loses-registration-over-rough-handling-of-preschooler/ILNSERNWENFK5DBB3H325J4Y5I/
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January 30, 2026 8:42am
- imalwaysright
  
  Good that she’s sacked. Should have been charged with assault as well.
  
  However, the $20,000 ‘costs’ is beyond the Pale.
  A court wouldn’t impose a fine or costs at that level.
  Leo Molloy got a similar amount charged by the Veterinary Council for ‘bringing vets into disrepute’ (yes,really) when Molloy broke a Court name suppression order.
  
  https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/580645/leo-molloy-censured-ordered-to-pay-23k-by-vet-council-for-grace-millane-suppression-breach
  
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  January 30, 2026 9:25am
Tauhei Notts

My youngest sister praised the recent appointment to the Law Commission.
Judith Collins, in her final year at Matamata College, had a lead part in Gilbert and Sullivan’s “Trial By Jury”. She has excellent credentials for such an appointment.
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January 30, 2026 8:54am
- Mike
  
  Can cosplay as an eminent jurist?
  
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  January 30, 2026 10:19am
slightlyrighty

So we now have the MSM falling over itself to call out ACT for not supporting the Anti-Slavery legislation.

The question I have, is why is the MSM not asking ACT directly what specific issues it has with the bill in it’s current form?
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January 30, 2026 9:08am
- pdm
  
  ACT seemed to have good reason based on the interviews I saw with Seymour last evening.
  
  He called it virtue signalling because it did not cover every business.
  
  The corner dairy is as likely to infringe as Fonterra is – in fact more likely probably because they come under less scrutiny.
  
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  January 30, 2026 9:51am
  - Mike
    
    So he wants stronger action or no action?
    
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    January 30, 2026 10:19am
- MCōs
  
  Brooke van Velden said on TV last night that it came under her scope as Minister of Workplace Relations and Safety and there wasn’t room in her busy agenda.
  Make of that what you will, but that’s not the first time she’s been pushed out front to take a hit for the team.
  
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  January 30, 2026 10:25am
- cmm
  
  The biggest question is why we need all of this anti-slavery legislation all of a sudden.
  
  We didn’t need it 30 years ago.
  
  Where does this new threat of slavery come from?
  
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  January 30, 2026 10:52am
  - Mike
    
    South Africa?
    
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    January 30, 2026 11:50am
  - AitchW
    
    We don’t. Seymour is right, all it will do is to force large companies to hire a myriad of unproductive staff to report on their supply chains and attempt to establish that there is no slave labour in those chains.
    I can just imagine it.
    “Hello Mr Pakistani supplier. Any slaves in your factory?”
    “Goodness gracious me, no, of course not!”
    “Oh, ok then, jolly good show.”
    Not National’s smartest idea.
    
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    January 30, 2026 4:42pm
- imalwaysright
  
  How about some legislation to let the cops arrest everyone in a house where a child is abused, tortured, or murdered?
  And, in the absence of the death penalty, a minimum sentence of imprisonment until death.
  
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  January 30, 2026 11:37am
Swifty

Is that a man wearing a cape?

https://x.com/suitandtie9999/status/2016940426897633424?s=46

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bHNqri_0Mbo&pp=ygUQTGFycnkgZGF2aWQgY2FwZQ%3D%3D
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January 30, 2026 9:09am
- david
  
  There was a man?
  
  3 2
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  January 30, 2026 10:37am
Yvette

From Kiwiblog 7am post – Climate change and Mt Maunganui
Last sentence –
It is hard to think of a more preventable disaster.

Pike River Mine
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January 30, 2026 9:11am
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  White Island
  Cave Creek
  
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  January 30, 2026 9:31am
  - Prince
    
    Wahine
    Erebus
    
    12 1
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    January 30, 2026 11:01am
- imalwaysright
  
  Ministry of Education.
  
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  January 30, 2026 9:57am
  - NeverMindTheBollocks
    
    Heh!
    
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    January 30, 2026 11:25am
- graham
  
  Somewhat of a tangent, but while the Pike River Mine disaster continues to receive lots of coverage in the media, its worth remembering that New Zealand’s worst mining disaster, the Brunner Mine disaster (which occurred in 1896), killed all 65 miners below ground.
  
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brunner_Mine_disaster
  
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  January 30, 2026 10:05am
  - Mike
    
    Shipwrecks have entered the chat.
    
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    January 30, 2026 11:53am
    - NeverMindTheBollocks
      
      Ah. HMS Orpheus.
      
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      January 30, 2026 6:30pm
Tom Barker

It is a relief to hear that Luxon has declined to join the “Board of Peace,” an Emperor’s New Clothes parade of kakistocracies.
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January 30, 2026 9:28am
Philview

I have just been listening to the Brink podcast and an interview with a couple of expat Iranians. Their version of what is happening in Iran details a level of evil terror enforced by the regime in recent days that is sickening.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72VW-k3zWiw
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January 30, 2026 9:49am
Yvette

Since 9/11, over 7,000 U.S. service members have been killed in post-9/11 war zones (Afghanistan/Iraq) as of 2021, while domestic Islamic extremist attacks have killed 45 Americans. Another study noted 121 deaths from jihadi-inspired attacks, with 139 from far-right ideologies in a similar period. Total 9/11 victims were 2,976.
So close to 3,000 total 9/11 and 7,270 ‘domestically’ giving 10,270 people.
________

It is now becoming apparent that after the regime put the country into a communications black-out three weeks ago, it engaged in a brutal massacre of its own citizens. Security forces opened fire on huge crowds rallying in cities across the country calling for an end to the Islamic theocracy. Numbers killed are being reported at over 30,000. It was a bloodbath.

Relatives are now being forced to pay “bullet money” for the return of bodies – or sign fake declarations that their family members were actually security force volunteers killed by protestors. Hospitals are overflowing with injured, including many having being shot in the eye – a regime specialty, developed during the “Women, Life, Freedom,” uprising three years ago. And of course, thousands are in prison, many awaiting public hanging for daring to challenge the repressive rule of the Ayatollah.
Zero Day comes for the Iranian regime
https://www.bassettbrashandhide.com/post/ewen-mcqueen-zero-day-comes-for-the-iranian-regime
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January 30, 2026 9:51am
Maggy Wassilieff

The first (modern) Waitangi Treaty Settlement for an Iwi was in 1995

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Waitangi_claims_and_settlements

Ngapuhi have had over 30 years to work on their claim(s), but they argue they are being rushed

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/585171/ngapuhi-leaders-challenge-government-over-rushed-and-divisive-treaty-settlement-process

They argued they were being rushed in 2014-2015, when one entity wished to settle…

https://maorilawreview.co.nz/2015/09/protecting-hapu-rangatiratanga-ngapuhi-mandate-inquiry-wai-2490/

Will another 30 years go by before the poor folk of Northland receive some trickle-down benefit from a Treaty Settlement?
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January 30, 2026 9:52am
- pdm
  
  Maggy – maybe it is time for the Government to set a deadline and pull the pug on all recalcitrant and frivolous claims from that date.
  
  Say 30 September 2027.
  
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  January 30, 2026 9:56am
  - imalwaysright
    
    There aren’t any Maori left and there are very few who are 50% or more Maori.
    
    There can’t be any contractual, moral, or ethical obligations to a people who no longer exist.
    
    To paraphrase she who shall not be named: ” They are now us “
    
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    January 30, 2026 10:45am
    - Christopher Thomson
      
      I understand that the 50% or more mark is zero.
      
      Being maori these days is all about the money.
      
      For maori, by maori, paid for by maori would see a rapid reduction in the number of maori.
      
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      January 30, 2026 4:38pm
- greybeard
  
  Maggy ! Name one Treaty Settlement which has resulted in “trickle-down” benefits to the lower levels !
  The “elites” get it all, and keep it !
  If previous settlements had been fairly distributed every maori family from Auckland south would be living in their own freehold house by now.
  
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  January 30, 2026 10:14am
  - BeaB
    
    Just like so many NGOs. Great sinecures with inflated salaries and bugger all achieved for the people they are meant to serve.
    
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    January 30, 2026 11:11am
  - Jigsaw
    
    Name any follow up to a settlement. Here in Taupo after a settlement in 2007 that guaranteed access to the lake through land given, local Maori fenced it off and ripped up the road. No way apparently to compel the people who signed the settlement from honouring what they signed. Ask and everyone runs for cover.
    
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    January 30, 2026 11:32am
    - kowtow
      
      ‘Name any follow up to a settlement.’
      
      Follow ons.
      
      Ngai Tahu have had five.And now are coming for water , power cos give ’em millions.
      
      No end to it.
      
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      January 30, 2026 2:44pm
  - AitchW
    
    I remember Winston Peters opining that ordinary Maori got not one snapper out of the myriad of treaty settlements.
    
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    January 30, 2026 4:36pm
- Prince
  
  How much do the negotiators receive, including benefits ?
  
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  January 30, 2026 11:02am
- I remember when
  
  This shows the problem with iwi/hapu being the treaty signatories.
  Are iwi the right signatories or should settlements be broken down to hapu?
  Would threatening to break the settlement down, so that different hapu received different percentages unless settlement was reached result in a speedy outcome.
  Should the Treaty settlements have been bundled together to produce a combined payout for Maori, then let iwi/hapu decide who got what.
  Similar to the fisheries allocations.
  
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  January 30, 2026 11:04am
- Paulus
  
  But they believe the longer they delay the more money they will get – and that is all that matters.
  
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  January 30, 2026 2:17pm
Paul Marsden

It is regrettable that the Police case file notes relating to the Watson murder trial, are no longer available to the public on line. The file notes reveal to any enquiring reader, why he should never have been convicted of the murder of Olivia Hope and Ben Smart, regardless of whether he is responsible for their disappearence, or not. Only Watson knows the answer to that and having once lived a life on the ocean wave similar to him, it is my immutable view, that if he is responsible for the couple’s dissapearance, then it did not occur in the circumstance and manner the prosecution argued in court. Impossible.
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January 30, 2026 10:10am
- grumpy
  
  He did it. No doubt at all.
  
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  January 30, 2026 11:54am
  - Paul Marsden
    
    Are you able to point me to the irrefutable evidence? Thanks. Paul
    
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    January 30, 2026 12:03pm
    - Christopher Thomson
      
      The conviction by a jury of his peers is a good start.
      
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      January 30, 2026 4:42pm
  - Paulus
    
    Thank goodness, then you can prove it please !
    
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    January 30, 2026 2:18pm
I remember when

Climate Change and Mt Maunganui: DF.

Is the problem with climate change that it doesn’t matter whether it is caused by greenhouse gases or some other source.
Climate change being increasing temperatures.
The results will be the same.
If climate change means more rain, there will be more rain, whether greenhouse gases are involved or not.
This means that mitigation must be the answer, not depending on greenhouse gas reduction.
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January 30, 2026 10:54am
- Dudley Quaffquaff
  
  Suggest you have another look at DPF’s separate article, in which he explains the difference between mitigation and adaptation
  
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  January 30, 2026 11:32am
- Jigsaw
  
  Which has always been the case-what purpose in asking what caused a slip-better just to avoid it and its consequences surely?
  
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  January 30, 2026 11:34am
MCōs

High level domestic netball seems to be in all sorts of trouble in New Zealand as does cricket to a lesser extent.
Playing for the local provincial professional netball teams has never been well paid, but now their salaries are being reduced because the income Netball NZ previously received from Sky TV has gone and they’re having to pay TVNZ to broadcast the games
Plane loads of players are signing up to play in Oz
Similarly with the cricket. The local T20 competition wraps up this weekend in front of undoubtedly sparse crowds with all the top players elsewhere
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January 30, 2026 10:55am
- Prince
  
  I still find the local comp more watchable than IPL etc.
  Apart from the commentary that is.
  
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  January 30, 2026 11:06am
- Christopher Thomson
  
  Finn Allen was the top batsman in the Big Bash.
  
  Yet NZ won’t give him a contract.
  
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  January 30, 2026 4:44pm
BeaB

Luxon has had a great start to the year on the ground in the disaster areas, warm and approachable. Excellent start in the House making Hipkins look like a fifth form debater.
The media won’t like this and will be plotting how to trip him up. Just wait.
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January 30, 2026 11:09am
- grumpy
  
  Yes, if it carries on I will reconsider my inclination to vote NZF
  
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  January 30, 2026 11:56am
  - R
    
    Wise decision. NZ ‘s grandchildren are relying on voting lateral thinking this year
    
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    January 30, 2026 12:30pm
- R
  
  Hipkins has always presented as a schoolboy. Is insulting to compare him to a 5th Form debater, as I recall they were generally very good.
  
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  January 30, 2026 12:32pm
  - AitchW
    
    Over on X hardened Labour supporters are still pouring scorn on Seymour for referring to Charles V when our head of state is, of course, Charles III.
    They call Seymour ignorant and other various uncomplimentary epithets…
    One can only imagine the horror when it is pointed out to them the error of their ways.
    In fact the principal of the school involved texted the Hosk this morning and confirmed the parent who wrote to Seymour referred to Charles V.
    The Hipkins fan club will be mortified to find that he does have feet of clay after all…
    
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    January 30, 2026 4:31pm
I remember when

High level domestic sport, of whatever type, always depends heavily on sponsorship and commercial income.
New Zealand will always suffer from our small market and lack of financial depth.
Overseas markets almost always offer opportunities, especially at the end of careers and for players who don’t appeal to local selectors.
Apart from at national/Test level, New Zealand cricket has always been played in front of limited crowds.
I often wonder whether New Zealand sport should concentrate on high school/college level competition, similar to the US system.
How many New Zealanders have watched Sam Ruthe and Sam Tanner compete?
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January 30, 2026 11:31am
Yvette

Tamaki walking over the water
Tamaki previously blasted NZTA’s decision in a social post, saying: “It’s obvious [the] Government and police are panicking that big numbers of Kiwis will be turning out to cross the Auckland Harbour Bridge on Sat 31st January.

The more successful the rallying by Brian Tamaki to encourage people to assemble the more damaging the consequences can be in crossing the Bridge –

When asked why other groups were allowed to go over, Hassan said NZTA had given the advice that marches could damage the critical infrastructure.
“We will not be facilitating or supporting in future any [pedestrian crossing]. So we have drawn a line in the sand, and it just happens to be with this group

• Why does the NZTA not take out an injunction which allows the Police a precise point of law to enforce?
(It has seemed to work in the case of Mind My Health files – remember those?)

quotes – https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/auckland/police-vow-to-block-destiny-church-protest-march-over-auckland-harbour-bridge-new-ban-for-walkers/Y7S7Y32FF5FPDBTU62RJZSKOLA/
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January 30, 2026 11:37am
- grumpy
  
  Poor police optics when they set up a devout hijab wearing Muslim deputy commissioner to front banning Christian, mainly Maori march while allowing a similar demonstration over the bridge by Hamas supporters.
  
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  January 30, 2026 11:58am
  - Paul Marsden
    
    Sort of like a clash of doctrines, perhaps? In view of past sanctions that allowed marches across the bridge, that might well be the public perception too.
    
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    January 30, 2026 12:20pm
  - Yvette
    
    Grumpy … a devout hijab wearing Muslim deputy commissioner
    
    For matters that involve public safety, road closures, major protests, or incidents on the bridge, Superintendent Hassan would be the appropriate senior command point within the New Zealand Police — or at least the first point of operational leadership from a police district perspective.
    The Waitematā Police District covers a large area of northern Auckland, including the North Shore and West Auckland — and crucially, the Auckland Harbour Bridge lies within that jurisdiction as part of the motorway network between the city centre and the North Shore.
    
    (Superintendent Hassan was not wearing a hijab for her reasonably public television interview and website exposure)
    
    Of perhaps more interest is –
    • A top-ranking cop says a “significant” police presence – with officers drafted from across the country – will be preventing protesters from walking over the city’s harbour bridge tomorrow.
    
    Perhaps that cost of drafting extra officers in to deal with potential problems, would be better for NZTA to publicise “NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) declines an application by The Freedom and Rights Coalition, an umbrella organisation created by Destiny Church in opposition to the Covid-19 restrictions, to walk the bridge on Saturday” and have a lawyer inform Tamaki (and through him, his adherents) that they do not have the permission to do what they propose and legal consequences will follow any unwise action.
    
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    January 30, 2026 12:24pm
    - NeverMindTheBollocks
      
      These police will not be available to keep an eye on that Mongrel Mob member whose cortège is travelling pretty much the length of the North Island.
      
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      January 30, 2026 6:37pm
- MCōs
  
  If the self appointed Apostle, Bishop Brian of Wiri is as marvelous as he says he is he shouldn’t need a bridge . . .
  https://youtu.be/j3CANELyPo0?si=0gj32-hbTHo1t1AM
  
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  January 30, 2026 1:38pm
- Gravelroad
  
  Can someone please enlighten me: why is it so important for various protest groups to walk over the harbour bridge?
  Is it purely for publicity purposes, or is there some “cultural” connection?
  Just can’t see the point of it.
  Pisses travellers off and causes extra work for police etc.
  I recall the great Billy T. James advising his TV audience about the desireability of “getting your head on the teeeev”.
  Is that all it is?
  
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  January 30, 2026 3:49pm
  - Swifty
    
    Good question.
    
    I’ve thought it’s just the media and publicity value – anything involving the bridge is guaranteed to get great coverage.
    
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    January 30, 2026 7:24pm
imalwaysright

Apparently Mike King is relatively quiet these days because the post election funding from this Government was conditional on him toning it down a bit.

Didn’t expect that from this Government.
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January 30, 2026 12:50pm
- Mike
  
  Too busy spending his increased salary?
  
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  January 30, 2026 3:27pm
  - Jack5
    
    Whatever Mike King’s I am Hope is doing it’s not helping the hospitals for the mentally ill. They’re over-run, understaffed, and underfunded.
    
    Under Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey, priority appears to be on helping neurotics, misfits, and the chronically unhappy rather than caring for psychotics and others who are seriously mentally ill.
    
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    January 30, 2026 8:24pm
Swifty

Cost of power in the UK:

https://x.com/netzerowatch/status/2016888847846482415?s=46
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January 30, 2026 4:10pm
Swifty

This is an issue I take some interest in – the importance of our civil institutions being secular, where religion and spirituality is left a strictly private matter as much as possible.

As such I think Gibson has a point.

I wouldn’t have done as he did though, I think I would have been prepared to give it a go but having no reservations about raising objections subsequently if the meeting had in fact featured or devolved into gods and spirits invocations etc

https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/360931665/iwi-chair-calls-out-councillor-his-refusal-attend-meeting-marae

I note too that among the several Maori people interviewed in this story for their perspective – not one directly addressed Gibson’s points and objections.

Instead they raised points nothing to do with his rationale – and as such an opportunity to air this issue is lost. It’s all now about Gibson being a slightly distasteful individual in need of re-education.

Such is the calibre of debate in NZ currently I guess.
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January 30, 2026 7:23pm

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