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February 1, 2026 8:00am by Kokila Patel

General Debate 01 February 2026

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General Debate

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Souvlaki

A good demonstration of NZF, saying one thing, and then doing something entirely contrary …..demonstrating how surprisingly naieve/ gullible voters are in NZ. 😕
I anticipate this pattern to be repeated this year….sadly.
https://breakingviewsnz.blogspot.com/2026/02/geoff-parker-anti-maori-talk-pro-maori.html?m=1
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February 1, 2026 8:13am
- AitchW
  
  And yet somewhere around 10% of voters will still vote for him. I guess that cancels out the 10% who vote Green. Unless, of course, Hipkins offers him sufficiently shiny baubles.
  Peters is treacherous.
  
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  February 1, 2026 8:20am
  - G the giant from Dunedin
    
    Greens will be no more than 7%, if Labour are in mid 30s then Greens will be well down
    
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    February 1, 2026 10:58am
  - kowtow
    
    It actually shows that a certain persistent proportion of voters are thick.And are prepared to be fooled over and over again.
    
    Peters has a very long history of talk on the nationalist / xenophobic front and yet has never delivered in reducing the mass migrations he rails against , despite being the “king maker” .
    
    And he’s doing it again.And the polls show it’s working , again.
    
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    February 1, 2026 11:34am
- pdm
  
  Quite normal for NZFirst over the years souv.
  
  Say anything to get elected, grab the best baules on offer after the election and then sit back and enjoy the ride.
  
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  February 1, 2026 8:37am
- RockyJ
  
  Peters has been captured by the racing industry and Shane Jones by the fishing industry.
  
  I did an Official Information Act request to the Ministry of Primary Industries for data on the total allocation of fishing permits by kaitiaki of Customary fishing areas. This was declined on the grounds of “confidentiality, not in the public interest and Maori data Sovereignty”.
  
  I have had anecdotal reports of kaitiaki illegally approving commercial catches to enable commercial fishers to exceed their quotas.
  
  I complained to Jones as the Minister of Fisheries but was ignored.
  
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  February 1, 2026 9:40am
  - kowtow
    
    “Captured” or controls ?
    
    Purely on the basis of double standards and hypocrisy horse racing should also be banned , on the same grounds as they banned the dogs .
    
    One could argue it’s cruel and un necessary . Goose gander and all that.
    
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    February 1, 2026 11:37am
  - Christopher Thomson
    
    I don’t think captured is the right word.
    
    Captured suggest taken against their will.
    
    I’m pretty sure Peters and Jones are quite willing participants.
    
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    February 1, 2026 11:48am
  - imalwaysright
    
    ‘Maori data Sovereignty’
    
    This sounds like another of those concepts that are born and embedded through repetition.
    Sounds like Tiriti speak for no’ one can question Maori’.
    
    Boiled frog anyone?
    
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    February 1, 2026 12:21pm
  - crikey
    
    WTF is Maori data Sovereignty?
    
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    February 1, 2026 12:34pm
    - NZer In Exile
      
      Presumably another creation of the unaccountable and seditious deep-state with zero democratic mandate or logical substance behind it.
      
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      February 1, 2026 6:44pm
Cassandra

Trump’s nominee as chairman of the US reserve bank is married to Esteée Lauder’s granddaughter. They are worth a poultice.

Estée’s father had a hardware shop in New York, her uncle was a chemist who made skin lotion. Estée decided to work for her uncle. She married a bloke, also Jewish, with management and marketing skills which were compatible with her own. From acorns do mighty oaks grow.
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February 1, 2026 8:16am
- stewmar
  
  Cass, not quite sure what the point of your comment is.
  
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  February 1, 2026 8:27am
  - Cassandra
    
    How an energetic, creative, entrepreneurial person can create jobs and wealth from nothing. Plus despite his great wealth the nominee for Chairman of the Fed still serves his country. And noting that once again Jewish immigrants have done well. A tribute to capitalism.
    
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    February 1, 2026 10:04am
    - Cassandra
      
      And I thought KBers might be interested. “Immigrant’s daughter works in pharmacy, turns homemade moisturiser into billion dollar company”.
      
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      February 1, 2026 10:39am
Chuck Bird

A talk by former Act MP Owen Jennings

Owen Jennings – “An insult to farming families”

Dom talks with former Federated Farmers President Owen Jennings about his recent keynote address at an international livestock conference in Spain, why New Zealand is spending over a billion dollars on methane mitigation research for a problem that he says does not measurably exist and why he thinks current methane accounting rules exaggerate NZ’s warming impact by 300–400%.

https://omny.fm/shows/rural-exchange/owen-jennings-an-insult-to-farming-families#description
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February 1, 2026 9:00am
- herb1
  
  This money and the billions more spent on zero carbon, would be better spent on roads and bridges that aren’t along and under steep hillsides
  
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  February 1, 2026 9:26am
  - sungsamning
    
    With Trump pulling out of the Paris Accord, and IPCC; there is a lot of political cover for NZ to do the same.
    
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    February 1, 2026 9:32am
    - Paulus
      
      Peters elected as say Prime Minister as he wants frightens me more than Trump !
      
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      February 1, 2026 2:24pm
sungsamning

There is a reaction against socialism in Latin America. Several countries are having elections. Costa Rica is already center right. President Chavez is building a CECOT style prison. In Brazil, bolsonaro’s son is the leading right wing candidate. Cuba is facing a total collapse because of the oil tarrif threat.
https://pjmedia.com/sarah-anderson/2026/01/30/the-new-monroe-doctrine-n4948934
The New Monroe Doctrine: Buckle Up — This Is Where It Gets Real.
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February 1, 2026 9:26am
- cmm
  
  The South American Hit Parade.
  
  On vinyl: 33 revolutions per minute.
  
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  February 1, 2026 9:32am
  - sungsamning
    
    Oh, very droll. Keep up the good work.
    
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    February 1, 2026 12:54pm
  - peterwn
    
    Hit songs were 45 rpm.
    
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    February 1, 2026 1:24pm
    - Don Beckett
      
      Singles were 45 RPM., Albums were 33 – 1/3 RPM
      
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      February 1, 2026 2:05pm
      - AitchW
        
        Go back far enough and records were 78RPM…
        
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        February 1, 2026 4:16pm
      - Ian Boag
        
        Talking books were 16 rpm
        
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        February 1, 2026 5:59pm
sungsamning

Former Speaker, Newt Gingrich wants the administration to go easy on illegals who have been in the US for a couple of decades. Citizenship is not proposed. Dems and RINOs will love this. Districts will stay blue. Way to split the MAGA crowd. Will they fall for ‘Amnesty 2.0’?
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5713623-gingrich-immigration-reform-conversation/
Gingrich: Time for ‘national conversation’ about immigrants living in country illegally who ‘obey the law’.
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February 1, 2026 9:27am
- MarkF
  
  I think you will find that non-citizens can’t vote. So, I am not sure of the point you are trying to make.
  
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  February 1, 2026 9:48am
  - imalwaysright
    
    They could vote during the Biden regime.
    No ID required.
    
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    February 1, 2026 10:55am
  - G the giant from Dunedin
    
    I think you will find they can, there voting is ridiculous, you do not have to prove who you are with postal ballots
    
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    February 1, 2026 11:03am
    - NZer In Exile
      
      Which obviously is pure naked corruption.
      
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      February 1, 2026 6:48pm
  - sungsamning
    
    Census and redistricting just count heads. The more illegals in blue states, the more districts there are. The more deportations, the less. That’s why the Dems love open borders. They’re terrified that illegals won’t be included in the 2030 census.
    
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    February 1, 2026 12:57pm
    - Paulus
      
      We should worry as we are not having any more Censuses.
      Just fiddled figures again.
      
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      February 1, 2026 2:25pm
  - Raphael
    
    Certain states, California for one, made it illegal to ask for any form of ID in the last elections. That means that anyone could walk up and vote.
    
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    February 2, 2026 9:58am
- MCōs
  
  I don’t live in the USA and my various trips over there haven’t been long enough to determine what the influence is on the ground of all these immigrants both documented and undocumented
  
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  February 1, 2026 9:52am
- artemisia
  
  Meanwhile Project Homecoming in the US is imposing fines of hundreds of dollars a day on illegal migrants who do not self deport. Debt wiped and some bucks in the pocket if they follow the self deport app process.
  
  Not a bad idea. Thousands of fine notices have been sent out, cheap as chips compared to other options. Debt collectors will be hiring.
  
  New Zealand could do the same.
  
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  February 1, 2026 9:56am
  - MCōs
    
    Not a bad idea for who?
    
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    February 1, 2026 11:44am
    - Paulus
      
      Believe we have some 24,000 Overstayers so start there.
      
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      February 1, 2026 2:26pm
- JackRabbit
  
  immigrants living in country illegally who ‘obey the law’.
  
  I’ve seem this fake narrative before. It is only true in theory not reality. All the things you have to partake in to engage with society requires acts of dishonesty and fraud.
  
  Everything else requires continual dishonesty, giving false information. Getting a drivers license, a passport, opening a bank account, going on welfare, filling in any form whether it is private or govt, getting married, filing taxes or evading taxes, doctors visits, pharmacy prescriptions, and so on.
  
  The only way an illegal immigrant can commit only one crime, the crime of being in a country illegally is to transport down from the starship Enterprise into the wilderness where no-one goes, and live off the land or a food and matter replicator, and if interaction with currency is needed using the gold (latinum) you bough with you.
  
  Even selling said gold for cash requires telling a lot of porkies.
  
  Even crossing the border and getting into the country requires breaking multiple laws in both countries, including evading arrest, and paying crims dosh to get across.
  
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  February 1, 2026 11:24am
  - sungsamning
    
    Yes, that is a thorough explanation of the issue. Gingrich is dead wrong.
    
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    February 1, 2026 12:59pm
- Cassandra
  
  I think Gingrich is right. Ether stop them coming in or (perhaps and) work out a solution for those who’ve been in the US 20 years.
  
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  February 1, 2026 11:53am
  - imalwaysright
    
    Yes, legitimise those with steady jobs and roots in the community and are crime free.
    However, no voting rights, no citizenship, and for their offspring, only the right to apply for citizenship.
    If they are useful to America let them stay.
    
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    February 1, 2026 12:29pm
    - Wandering Star
      
      Nah, get rid of them all, no matter how long they’ve lived there. They are all, by definition, criminals anyway.
      
      The problem is, America is so fundamentally broken that illegal immigration is an essential aspect of its economic settings, which is why when the rubber hits they road, they’ve all got to be allowed to stay.
      
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      February 1, 2026 1:08pm
  - sungsamning
    
    Allowing illegals to stay is a slap in the face for workers and the law abiding.
    
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    February 1, 2026 1:00pm
- Christopher Thomson
  
  Seats for the house and senate are allocated based on the population head count.
  
  Illegals dont need to vote to affect representation.
  
  Gerrymandering of states is legal and once a state is controlled by a party it basically becomes locked in.
  
  Hence a high number of illegals will increase the number of representatives that can be sent to the legislature thereby gaining control.
  
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  February 1, 2026 12:00pm
  - sungsamning
    
    Yes, the Dems love illegals. It gives them more seats. If there were none, there would likely be a Republican majority in perpetuity. That’s the reason for the ICE protests.
    
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    February 1, 2026 1:02pm
    - Wandering Star
      
      It’s not just “the Dems.” Big Agriculture, for example, requires illegal immigration as part of its business model, and may of the industry leaders are GOP donors. The same is true of hospitality, construction and other core industries.
      
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      February 1, 2026 1:11pm
    - NZer In Exile
      
      sungsamning “Yes, the Dems love illegals. It gives them more seats.”
      
      Then more seats again from far left air-heads with no skin in the game who think this kind of policy is “kind”.
      
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      February 1, 2026 6:52pm
      - sungsamning
        
        Nailed it. Their jobs depend on ICE failing.
        
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        February 1, 2026 9:49pm
  - MCōs
    
    It’s interesting you should say that.
    Up to half a million Kiwis are resident in Oz without the right to vote because they are not citizens
    That is 2% of population can be ignored by the politicians
    
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    February 1, 2026 2:30pm
Mike

Have any keen Kiwibloggers been to the Melania movie yet?
Early reviews are not encouraging – 12% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Some reviewers have enjoyed the task of writing about their film:

“As first lady, children will always remain my priority,” she coos, and you can almost picture her coaxing them into her little gingerbread house.

To call Melania vapid would do a disservice to the plumes of florid vape smoke that linger around British teenagers

Melania mistakes its subject’s fame for star quality, and mistakes a life of leisure for one of accomplishment and importance, forcing Ratner to create a film that’s all lazy patchwork.

etc, etc.
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February 1, 2026 9:36am
- Cassandra
  
  She was paid 26 million for it. Don’t sneer.
  
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  February 1, 2026 10:06am
  - Mike
    
    All up, the cost for Bezos to suck up to Trump with this insult to filmmaking is somewhere north of US$100 million.
    
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    February 1, 2026 10:13am
  - RichardX
    
    Cassandra
    She was paid 26 million for it. Don’t sneer.
    
    February 1, 2026 10:06am
    
    Yes…it is always the sign of a well made, independent, factual production that the subject of the “documentary” gets paid to appear and has editorial control.//
    
    The Victoria Beckham “documentary” also paid the subject and provided her with editorial control but at least with the Beckham product, no one was buying influence with the President.
    
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    February 1, 2026 11:40am
- Simon Arnold
  
  One reviewer reportedly wrote that even showings on airplanes had the audiences walking out.
  
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  February 1, 2026 10:11am
  - Mike
    
    It’s difficult to distinguish the actual reviews from review-like comments. Eg, “if syphilis were a movie”
    
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    February 1, 2026 10:16am
    - NZer In Exile
      
      That much hate eh? Sad.
      
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      February 1, 2026 6:55pm
  - greybeard
    
    Best quip so far this year !
    
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    February 1, 2026 10:23am
- imalwaysright
  
  She’s probably a very nice woman but she appears to be slightly boring.
  I don’t have enough questions about her that would make me watch a documentary of her.
  
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  February 1, 2026 12:33pm
  - NZer In Exile
    
    She seems nice enough to me (not that I would know for sure). She seems like the ideal president’s wife really. Graceful, attractive, thoughtful, loyal.
    
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    February 1, 2026 6:58pm
PurplePen

Thousands protest on CBD streets is the headline this morning. Of note “A march organised by Toitu Te Aroha also began at 11am … in support of the Palestine, Arab and Muslim communities that have been targeted by hate and discrimination”. Sunday Herald.

Of note, they’ve left out the hate and discrimination of the Jewish community.
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February 1, 2026 9:48am
- MCōs
  
  I wasn’t there. Were there signs denigrating Jewish Kiwis?
  
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  February 1, 2026 9:56am
  - Wandering Star
    
    Very likely not, but there’s rhetorical value in pretending that there was.
    
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    February 1, 2026 11:34am
- I remember when
  
  Don’t think I would want to have to depend on Toitu Te Aroha support if I was Palestinian, Arab or Muslim.
  
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  February 1, 2026 10:04am
- pdm
  
  PP – Lucy Rogers covered her involvement in protest against aspects of the Toitu march in a Guest post at KiwiBlog yesterday evening.
  
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  February 1, 2026 10:12am
- Prince
  
  Is this the march that was portrayed as all ‘peace love and harmony’ on TV News, in contrast to the ‘evil’ Tamaki march ?
  News as propaganda. Long live the PJIF.
  
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  February 1, 2026 10:43am
  - grumpy
    
    Police approved too!
    
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    February 1, 2026 1:15pm
  - MCōs
    
    Bishop Brian Tamaki has staged numerous protests over the years for which I’m sure he has obtained a permit
    He was denied a permit to walk across the Auckland Harbour Bridge, which is entirely different to his usual noisy little self indulgent spectacles
    Btw
    What were his xenophobic black shirts grizzling about? Phony elections in Myanmar? Starvation in Gaza? Destructive bottom trawling?
    
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    February 1, 2026 2:49pm
    - Ghost
      
      denied because they didn’t do the work required to get a permit.
      
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      February 1, 2026 2:54pm
      - Albie
        
        It beggars belief NZTA allow protest marches across the bridge even if you fill out the forms correctly.
        It is SH1 for God’s sake and the only direct route across the harbour. There are plenty of other roads to protest on but of course protestors are after publicity even if it means mass inconvenience to the public.
        
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        February 1, 2026 5:07pm
      - Ghost
        
        They won’t be, from last month the rules changed, no more marches will be allowed now
        
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        February 1, 2026 5:21pm
- Ian
  
  Bomber Bradbury says barely hundreds turned up. Being as he’s of the far extreme left and would shout out if it were a success, I’d believe his numbers over that of a headline that you don’t quote where from.
  
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  February 1, 2026 3:47pm
- Ra Henare
  
  Small correction. Replace Jewish with Zionist
  
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  February 1, 2026 4:52pm
PurplePen

I’m a big fan of AI’s. I use Claude, Gemini and ChatGPT all the time. I’ve noticed myself referring to each one as “he said blah blah etc..” when I’m talking to someone else about what any particular AI said. In my mind my AI’s are all male and probably gay, as is my Google Home nest mini speakers when I talk to them. It occurred to me it’s at least one thing in life the woke-erati and TQI+ lot can’t tell me that I can’t call my AI’s “he”. I’m being provocative of course. But I think I’m right.
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February 1, 2026 9:53am
- JackRabbit
  
  Has your AI confessed yet as to who assassinated President Kennedy?
  
  Or who was actually behind 9/11?
  
  Or where the millions of extra voters are who rose from their graves to vote Democrat in 2020, returning far more postal ballots than were mailed out?
  
  Did they crawl back into their graves? Or was it your AI’s cousin that did it.
  
  Zuckerberg is on public record, that the mainstream media downplayed, that the Biden Administration put “pressure on him” to censor, skew and mold public narratives about the 2020 election and Covid.
  
  KiwiInAmerica did a couple of guest posts on Kiwiblog that laid out evidence and links which was pretty compelling.
  
  So does your AI pass any of those tests?
  
  I’ve worked in automation for decades, some of which I could call AI, but don’t. What is presented as AI is consensus ring fenced answers, a beta version of the Borg.
  
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  February 1, 2026 11:37am
  - PurplePen
    
    haven’t asked any of them that question. tend to use them for analysis and product research
    
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    February 1, 2026 12:38pm
    - Ra Henare
      
      IMHO the correct usage of AI. Purple.
      Too much hoopla about AI capabilitiesthat are basically BS.
      
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      February 1, 2026 4:54pm
    - JackRabbit
      
      Research ‘might’ be OK if it is within the confines of the AI Truman show. Boundaries are ring fenced so that you don’t stray into “forbidden territory”.
      
      Personally I find the in built Quantum 4D computer called the human mind to be far superior.
      
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      February 1, 2026 6:16pm
      - Mike
        
        Well, only a mind like Donald Trump’s could play 4-D chess.
        
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        February 1, 2026 7:11pm
- Notsofast
  
  Chatgpt favours prose from NYT, Wapo, BBC etc.
  Litmus test is ask if Imane Khelif is a woman, the program delivers unmitigated falsehoods that luminaries such as Donald Trump, Winston Peters, JK Rowling spotted on day one.
  So, no good at the culture wars.
  
  Wesley Yang writes:
  
  “The premise of a social movement granting legal recognition to people pretending to be something they aren’t by redesignating the thing that they aren’t as the thing that they are is fatally flawed.
  
  It cannot succeed without imposing absurdities and cruelties on women and children, without mass propagandizing of children to affirm falsehoods, and without totalitarian coercion of every person to stifle truthful statements and compel them to tell lies. ”
  
  https://x.com/i/status/2017404656901554486
  
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  February 1, 2026 1:24pm
Warren Murray

Classic Stuff reporting; once you get past the headline, it’s pretty hard to see what Trump’s doing ‘to tank the dollar’. Or, to be more specific, what he’s doing differently to every other administration since the US, France and many other countries including NZ decided running structural deficits was a good thing.

I thought it beyond laughable to read that one of their pet experts believe the NZ Dollar could step into the void and rival the USD as a reserve currency to support international trade deals.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/money/360931880/trump-tanking-us-dollar-what-it-means-your-back-pocket
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February 1, 2026 10:08am
- Inandout
  
  WM, I am enjoying cheaper petrol regardless of what Trump has or hasn’t done.
  
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  February 1, 2026 10:38am
  - Warren Murray
    
    Really? 🤨
    
    If u think the USD sets the price of patrol,or, indeed anything, you haven’t been paying attention.
    
    If a currency devalues, the unit price for anything bought using that currency goes up.
    
    The best barometer to confirm that is the price of gold.
    
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    February 1, 2026 11:42am
- fightingtemeraire
  
  NZ$ is one of the most highly traded currencies. In the 70’s one NZ$ was worth US$1.20
  
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  February 1, 2026 11:26am
  - Handyman
    
    I got $1.45 USD for each NZD in 1974.
    
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    February 1, 2026 12:49pm
    - NeverMindTheBollocks
      
      I hope you invested wisely.
      
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      February 1, 2026 5:02pm
  - grumpy
    
    Highly traded by speculators because it is so volatile.
    
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    February 1, 2026 1:18pm
    - Quail
      
      Grumpy,
      NZD is highly traded largely because of it’s extreme small size, which makes it easy for currency speculators/ traders to manipulate its value by shifting deposits etc and then buy/ sell the currency.
      Some years back the overnight change in currency value was bread and butter for Traders!
      
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      February 1, 2026 3:22pm
Tom Barker

It’s pretty much guaranteed that Melania Trump will win the next Best Actor in a Leading Role Oscar, but to be on the safe side the judges should also award her film Oscars for Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best Documentary Feature. After all, Trump is suing the NYT for billions for publishing polls that show his popularity is declining. Imagine what he could do to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
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February 1, 2026 10:14am
- Mike
  
  The Academy deserves everything coming its way. A lifetime achievement Oscar for Trump is the least they could do.
  
  7 12
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  February 1, 2026 10:19am
- Northshoredoc
  
  Perhaps a FIFA award for outstanding performance in the field of excellence?
  
  5 5
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  February 1, 2026 10:41am
- MCōs
  
  Might get a special one off people’s choice Halberg
  
  1 2
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  February 1, 2026 6:21pm
  - Mike
    
    Kiwibank New Zealander of the Year.
    
    2 2
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    February 1, 2026 6:29pm
I remember when

Is the real reason for promoting ‘tikanga’ that it ensures one side always has the advantage/control.
17 2
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February 1, 2026 10:26am
- Mike
  
  Is the real reason for not promoting ‘tikanga’ that it ensures one ‘side’ always has the advantage/control?
  
  1 19
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  February 1, 2026 11:34am
  - I remember when
    
    Both sides have to obey the same set of rules, whether they like them or not.
    
    3 1
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    February 1, 2026 4:48pm
  - KKNZ2025
    
    Many contemporary examples of tikanga in action suggest that it exists as a cultural excuse for bullying, corruption and nepotism
    
    5 1
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    February 1, 2026 5:00pm
- JackRabbit
  
  There is no reasoning in promoting “tikanga’. It is all emotive claptrap. But yes, it is all about control.
  
  They claim there are four ‘principles’ of tikanga. Strange, since the concept of ‘principles’ didn’t exist in the Maori psyche.
  
  • whakapapa (purpose),
  • tika (research design),
  • manaakitanga (cultural and social responsibility)
  • mana (justice and equity).
  
  Each principle is explained in terms of three levels that identify progressive expectations of ethical behaviour.
  
  [1] The concepts mentioned did not exist until after colonisation.
  
  [2] Principles are seldom if ever just a word. A principle almost contains a combination of type of nouns, verbs and/or other parts of speech.
  
  “Thou shall not kill.”
  
  These are principles as part of what Maori learned in Christianity from the colonists.
  
  “Thou” = pronoun, “shall” = verb, “shall not” obligation or directive to not do, “kill” = verb.
  
  But even these statements are rooted in a deeper principles as to why it is wrong to take a life.
  
  Principles are an inclusive statement, they can be understood from what is written. They don’t need long explanations to get the meaning.
  
  The fact that the Maori “principles” are not principles at all, shows that the concept of principles is NOT understood, and all this is bullshit conjured up to retrospectively justify the past.
  
  The work “tikanga” is best used to describe embedded behaviour.
  
  “Why do we prank the new guy on his first day, by putting a live mouse in his lunchbox?”
  “Mate, that’s tikanga. We’ve always done it.”
  
  “Why does someone have to pay for everyone’s drinks on his birthday? It’s his birthday right?”
  “Mate, that’s tikanga. We’ve always done it.”
  
  “Why do we takes off our shoes when entering Hushimoto’s house?”
  “That’s Japanese tikanga, mate.”
  
  13 2
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  February 1, 2026 12:01pm
  - Paulus
    
    What a load of Bollocks !
    
    4 5
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    February 1, 2026 2:32pm
- Yvette
  
  I understand ‘tikanga’ differs from Maori iwi to iwi, and then there is the matter of ages, pre-1840 or not, and is 1840 a colonial date or concept anycase? And will all ‘tikanga’ concepts need to be defined in English to be understood, and once defined is that aspect of Maori belief killed dead by definition? Will it fall apart if applied to law?
  Please correct any of these points – but would you subject law to the pace of an Ihumātao process of decision making?
  
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  February 1, 2026 12:17pm
  - PurplePen
    
    that would be correct, especially when you consider that tikanga is merely custom which any and every culture or race or ethnicity has. tikanga isn’t unique to the humans that identify as Maori. all humans in a collective of any sort have customs and traditions, in other words tikanga.
    
    9 2
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    February 1, 2026 12:41pm
    - Yvette
      
      If you take the case of Ellis v R, although no one involved was reported to be Maori, the tikanga ‘principle’ of inter-generational reputation, ‘mana’, as well as being dealt with in English terminology, amounted to Peter Ellis suffering a miscarriage of justice and when the charges were dismissed, it was plainly a common decency of process to clear his name. The Supreme Court itself, by suggesting the examination of tikanga, emphasised what judges saw as a short-coming of “English” law.
      
      Translating it into French and back again may have had the same effect.
      (French law allows for the posthumous rehabilitation of a person convicted by a miscarriage of justice, upholding their reputation even if they died before a pardon. Heirs or close relatives can request a revision of the conviction, aimed at proving innocence, restoring the deceased’s honor, and potentially obtaining compensation )
      
      6 0
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      February 1, 2026 1:44pm
  - Paulus
    
    With only some believed 80 words known at the TOW signing was tikanga one of them ?
    
    6 4
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    February 1, 2026 2:33pm
fightingtemeraire

NZ$ is one of the most highly traded currencies. In the 70’s one NZ$ was worth US$1.20
6 1
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February 1, 2026 11:27am
Swifty

The GM of Waatea News, Matthew Tukaki, nakedly and explicitly blames National for the lives lost in Tauranga.

“What we’re seeing across Aotearoa right now with floods, storms, landslides and infrastructure failures isn’t just “bad weather”. It’s the direct consequence of political choices made since 2023 to pull back on climate adaptation and climate action.

When funding for resilience, preparedness, and emissions reduction is cut, the cost doesn’t disappear — it gets paid later by whānau, communities, and, tragically, with lives.”

https://x.com/tukakimatt/status/2017102126837891532?s=46

I think this is a disgraceful piece of disinformation and one he could not substantiate in a million years.

It also confirms for me that Waatea is just a political mouthpiece for people closely connected to Willie Jackson and given it immediately follows Tukaki’s lengthy and passionate defence of Jackson and smearing of Matt McCarten following the latter’s representation of aggrieved Waatea staff.

If National continues to allow even a cent of taxpayer money to go to Waatea then they are the biggest set of fools in Parliament.

Oh, and I expect all the usual academic anti-disinformation people to come out strongly this week condemning Tukaki’s comments. // 🤡
20 2
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February 1, 2026 12:05pm
- Yvette
  
  Swifty
  At one stage New Zealand cat droppings managing to enter waterways and being swept down to the oceans were blamed as a source of infection killing Hectors dolphins. But an examination of sea currents showed dolphin habitats off the Waikato coast would largely receive flows from Westland or even Australia, where their cats poo in the bush or rivers one assumes as New Zealand cats apparently do.
  
  And as most of New Zealand’s weather comes via Australia, for “Matthew Tukaki, [to] nakedly and explicitly blame National for the lives lost in Tauranga” is surely rubbish as New Zealand is literally the last place effecting our own weather, since it leave New Zealand, crosses the Pacific, South America and the Indian Ocean before churning over Australia to then come on here.
  My cat is willing to testify.
  
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  February 1, 2026 1:20pm
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  Check out how RNZ – Media Watch tries to control the narrative about Climate Change being a key factor in the Mt Maunganui Tragedy.
  
  Again, another bunch of talking heads who can’t recognise that if landslides are historically NZ’s deadliest natural hazard, then just possibly a few factors other than modern climate change may be at play.
  
  https://www.rnz.co.nz/podcast/mediawatch
  
  15 2
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  February 1, 2026 1:21pm
  - Swifty
    
    So what is it do you think Maggy?
    
    Are they just completely ignorant and fundamentally and completely incurious about how the world works, or are they just flat out lying – deliberately intending to mislead?
    
    I do hope it’s the former – but if so what a terrible indictment on our state broadcaster and journalism in this country.
    
    Have they really never stopped to think there have been landslides in NZ since time immemorial?
    
    6 2
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    February 1, 2026 2:06pm
    - Maggy Wassilieff
      
      I’m in the latter camp…
      
      It’s their long-term, systematic bias in interviews and selection of folks to interview that leads me to believe that many folks in RNZ have an agenda to push.
      
      it’s not a secret….
      
      https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/media-insider/media-insider-scathing-rnz-national-radio-review-highlights-cultural-issues-recommends-hiring-presenters-and-on-air-voices-aligned-to-audience/GSZVPPPYMFB7XHLHYJNNWXZZUU/
      
      However, I will concede that some RNZ commentators are pretty ignorant of what I consider to be general knowledge.
      
      4 2
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      February 1, 2026 4:42pm
      - Prince
        
        So their answer was to….hire John Campbell ….
        
        You couldn’t make it up.
        
        2 0
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        February 1, 2026 7:27pm
  - Paulus
    
    What about the Council water pipes above the slip – were they leaking ?
    
    5 3
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    February 1, 2026 2:34pm
    - R
      
      Looking at a recently published plan of water reticulated around the mount, in that area, water leakage is a prime suspect. But, no doubt like Auckland, underground water and any other pipes, are not as important as gold plated visible infrastructure.
      
      4 2
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      February 1, 2026 2:57pm
    - Maggy Wassilieff
      
      Indeed……
      
      I’m willing to bet that the Government Investigation of the tragedy will be another version of the Swiss Cheese model.
      
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_cheese_model
      
      4 1
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      February 1, 2026 4:48pm
      - Mike
        
        Seems likely, as few disasters have a single cause.
        
        1 5
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        February 1, 2026 5:45pm
Northshoredoc

A once in a generation athletic talent.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/360932348/sam-ruthe

‘Teenager Sam Ruthe is New Zealand’s fastest miler of all-time.
The 16-year-old running sensation clocked a sizzling 3min 48.88sec on his way to winning the Boston University Terrier Classic on Sunday (NZT).
Not only did it shatter Nick Willis’ previous indoor mark of 3min 51.06sec, set a decade ago in New York, it knocked off Sir John Walker’s overall mile mark, clocked more than four decades ago.’
14 1
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February 1, 2026 1:13pm
- MCōs
  
  He’s only five seconds or so outside the world record set in 1999. (Half the length of the main straight)
  That’s a long time ago. Maybe the mile is a bit of an oddity these days
  Maybe not. The 1500m record is even older. Both held by Hicham El Guerrouj.
  
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  February 1, 2026 5:54pm
grumpy

When it comes to sucking up to radical lefty media the National Party IS “the biggest set of fools in Parliament”.
They fund RNZ, TVNZ, and keep Jacinda’s gravy train funding Listener, NZME, The Spinoff and all those outlets that hate them and want to destroy them.
19 3
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February 1, 2026 1:26pm
- R
  
  That’s a consequence of MMP, VERY hard to remove past political bribery
  
  3 2
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  February 1, 2026 2:58pm
- MCōs
  
  The national party doesn’t fund any of that media, of course.
  The state is half owner of TVNZ, fully funds RNZ.
  All those other outlets zilch anymore except for NZ on Air
  Do you read the Listener?
  
  3 1
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  February 1, 2026 9:49pm
  - Ghost
    
    Yeah. But facts mean nothing on this blog when someone is having a moan.
    
    3 1
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    February 1, 2026 10:08pm
Master Mariner

Let this sink in,
80% of Singapore and South Korean Refineries rely on Oil transiting the Straights of Hormuz.
If this were to close then what would be the impact on NZ ?
10 1
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February 1, 2026 2:38pm
- AitchW
  
  Could we rely on product from Australian refineries? Or perhaps South American?
  
  1 1
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  February 1, 2026 4:24pm
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  The refineries would source their oil from elsewhere?
  
  3 1
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  February 1, 2026 5:06pm
  - Ian Boag
    
    Crude oil from different p;laces has different characteristics. Refineries can run a limited range of crudes. That’s why the condensate from Taranaki did not go to Marsden Point – which incidentally ran Middle East crude ….
    
    4 0
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    February 1, 2026 5:48pm
  - Master Mariner
    
    80% of there Oil comes through the Straights of Hormuz which is aprox 25% of Worlds Oil.
    There just is not enough Dinosaurs left to replace the
    shortfall //
    
    2 1
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    February 1, 2026 7:12pm
Swifty

You learn something new every day:

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1B3tdVn1Qy/

I wasn’t aware we farmed bison in NZ.
3 3
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February 1, 2026 4:12pm
Swifty

A quick reminder of how we used to be – I miss it quite frankly. 😁

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/17nZGAFvdy/

All power to straight talking I say.
3 1
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February 1, 2026 6:04pm
Swifty

Islamic ethnic cleansing of Jews in the Middle East and North Africa since 1947.

https://x.com/chayasclan/status/2017772730335031403?s=46

(Excuse the dodgy AI narration.)
1 2
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February 1, 2026 7:13pm
Swifty

Brainiacs makes my skin crawl.

https://newsroom.co.nz/2026/02/01/auckland-professor-associated-with-jeffrey-epstein/

What a sleazy interview of an author with nothing to be ashamed about.
3 2
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February 1, 2026 7:55pm
- Swifty
  
  *Braunias
  
  1 1
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  February 1, 2026 9:05pm
- Mike
  
  Thanks for that. Most interesting – Braunias is a first-class journalist.
  
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  February 2, 2026 7:01am

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