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February 12, 2026 8:00am by Kokila Patel

General Debate 12 February 2026

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General Debate

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NeverMindTheBollocks

At $90,600 Wellington City has the highest average income in the country. On the other hand, the Wellington region (as distinct from City) also has the highest average income tax bill at $12,300. The region pays 12.7%, from 10.5% of the population.

These facts show without shadow of a doubt that head office public servant salaries are set too high.

http://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/586608/how-much-of-nz-s-tax-is-your-region-paying
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February 12, 2026 8:03am
- mike
  
  Public servants’ salaries might well be too high, but those two stats do not prove that.
  
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  February 12, 2026 11:09am
- virtualmark
  
  Wellington city’s boundaries are basically all white-collar worker suburbs. There are a lot of public servants living inside those boundaries, but also a lot of corporate workers, IT workers (think Xero, Trademe etc) and film industry workers.
  
  It would be like if you artificially set Auckland city’s boundaries to be a circle that captures Remuera, Parnell, Epsom, Mt Eden, Grey Lynn, Ponsonby, Herne Bay, Takapuna and Devonport.
  
  Or if you set Christchurch city’s boundaries to be the CBD, Fendalton, Merivale, Papanui and St Albans.
  
  If you were to do that you’d find the “Auckland” and “Christchurch” average incomes would be as high, if not higher, than Wellington’s.
  
  Many (more than 50%?) Wellington-based public servants live in the Hutt Valley, Tawa/Porirua or Kapiti coast *because they can’t afford to live in Wellington city*.
  
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  February 12, 2026 11:48am
- Bullion
  
  How much should they pay? Wouldn’t there be some market forces (both internally and externally – demand from jobs overseas) that have some pressure on what wages are?
  
  Wellington lost 10,000 jobs from the election to Sept 2025 – when it usually adds 900 jobs/quarter. So on average you would expect ~16,000 more jobs in Wellington post election to Sept 2025. This alone would have a negative forcing on wages (greater competition for positions and less consumer spending).
  
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  February 12, 2026 11:54am
  - Paulus
    
    Show me where the 10,000 lost jobs come from as we are formally advised that so called Public Service in Wellington has actually increased by a small amount.
    More Labour Party/Union bullshit.
    
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    February 12, 2026 1:56pm
    - Bullion
      
      Stats NZ as reported here: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/wellington-jobs-fall-by-nearly-10000-since-election/premium/MI7WI7YQMFGKZGGBWEAZFDBTZQ/
      
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      February 12, 2026 2:50pm
  - mike
    
    You are partially correct; market forces play a role in public sector salaries. But it is an artificial market, created in 1988 to make agencies compete against each other for the ‘best’ people, under the remarkable idea that this would be more economically efficient than setting government salaries centrally according to easily comparable skills and experience.
    
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    February 12, 2026 5:31pm
    - Pope Punctilious II
      
      Ah yes, let’s encourage different government agencies to compete against each other. One of the those “lovely” ideas bequeathed to us by the Lange-Douglas administration.
      
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      February 12, 2026 7:25pm
      - mike
        
        Careful. Many Kiwibloggers consider those ‘reforms’ saved the country and that the economists’ mouthpiece, Roger Douglas, is some kind of hero.
        
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        February 13, 2026 7:11am
      - Pope Punctilious II
        
        Replying to Mike: sure, but what did Helen Clark and Jacinda Ardern do to correct the worst of Douglas’s legacies when they had the chance. Ardern in particular preferred to focus instead on radical identity politics, whereas Clark was content to stop middle-class parents from delivering a timely corrective smack on the bum.
        
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        February 13, 2026 7:32am
- cmm
  
  It really isn’t just “public servants”. It is everyone that sucks on the taxpayers’ tit.
  
  That includes the nominal “private sector” that feeds on government contracts etc – including various researchers, IT workers, hospitality, univeristy, etc etc,
  
  Since the whole region basically lives off tax take, it is really hard to say that the region is paying net tax.
  
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  February 12, 2026 11:58am
NeverMindTheBollocks

This should be fun.

The Opposition are moaning that the outcome of the Review into Labour’s Covid-era spending will be delivered not long before the election.

Where’s the courage of their convictions? They should be rejoicing! The Review will undoubtedly justify all the sound investment decisions made by Grant and Jacinda and Chris – right?

http://www.1news.co.nz/2026/02/11/nicola-willis-orders-review-into-reserve-banks-pandemic-decisions/
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February 12, 2026 8:08am
- slightlyrighty
  
  If they want to cry about the political implications of the release of the inquiry, then we should be asking about the political implications of not having an enquiry at all while they were in government.
  
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  February 12, 2026 10:03am
- Handyman
  
  Yes, you can almost hear Hipkins insert the missing word.
  “The government should not release such a DAMMING report during an election campaign”
  
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  February 12, 2026 1:17pm
Southern Raider

Strange descriptions being reported by media about the mass school shooting in Canada.

Wonder what “women in a dress” and “gunperson” alludes to?
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February 12, 2026 8:13am
- Chuck Bird
  
  I was wondering also.
  
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  February 12, 2026 9:26am
- Frank the tank
  
  You know the answer and it will be confirmed by either Breitbart and/or Fox News when they have confirmation of such
  
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  February 12, 2026 9:48am
- sirknz
  
  They seemed pretty cocksure about not identifying anything salient about Jesse yesterday but the independent media have already got the back story which has forced the MSM to say what we already suspected.
  
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  February 12, 2026 9:49am
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  Transgender…
  
  You need to go beyond official sources to get an alternative description of this male shooter.
  
  https://www.hungarianconservative.com/articles/current/transgender-mass-shooting-canada-school-jesse-strang/
  
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  February 12, 2026 10:08am
  - In Vino Veritas
    
    A person that thinks they can be the opposite sex to what they actually are that is mentally unbalanced? Quelle surprise!
    
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    February 12, 2026 10:54am
- Sideoiler
  
  mass school shooting in Canada.
  
  How is this possible? Does Canada not have a firearms registry?
  
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  February 12, 2026 10:13am
- Notsofast
  
  Repeal the conversion therapy bill, the sex self ID bill, treat as class A drugs puberty blockers and wrong sex hormones, criminalise recognition of transgenderism, and the fake doctors, psychologists, psychiatrists and therapists enabling it, and call me a transphobe.
  Interestingly young women profoundly disagree with all the above except the transphobe bit.
  
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  February 12, 2026 11:46am
Gnome

Labour is complaining about cynical behaviour by the coalition government with the covid enquiry.

Simon Bridges being sidelined chairing that panel during the covid crap where the Labour pardy just refused to appear is not cynical I suppose.
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February 12, 2026 8:19am
- Scooter
  
  It’s Canada, what do you expect. Woke central.
  
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  February 12, 2026 9:27am
Master Mariner

In regards to DF Post yesterday.

https://cms.clarus.co.nz/assets/Uploads/PDFs/LNG/Public-Release-NZ-LNG-Import-Feasibility-Assessment-1.pdf

“No single location has a good combination of sufficient water depth, favourable metocean
(wind and wave) conditions and existing gas pipeline capacity. All locations will need some
form of development and investment in both new and existing facilities. Given this
requirement, and the limited availability of existing FSRUs, it is not possible for New
Zealand to implement an LNG solution in the rapid timelines achieved in other countries.”
And,
“Contracting an existing FSU / FSRU vessel could be an opportunity to accelerate the
schedule. However, opportunities to secure an existing vessel are limited and, should one
become available, to what extent the schedule will reduce will depend on when the vessel
comes off its existing charter. Additionally, any existing vessel would need to be modified
to accommodate New Zealand’s relatively low demand scenarios”
It certainly looks like it will have to be built, If you think the Ferry’s were expensive then wait till you have a FSRU built to suit NZ Ports, especially New Plymouth.
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February 12, 2026 8:20am
- Taieri
  
  If you think the Ferry’s were expensive then wait till you have a FSRU built to suit NZ Ports, especially New Plymouth
  ————–
  
  The cost of building FSRU Independence for Hoegh to be operated in Port of Klaipeda was USD 330 million in 2014. It took 2 years of construction. In 2024 the Lithuanian operator bought Independence from Hoegh for USD 153.5 million.
  
  The cost of chartering FSRU Hoegh Esperanza for Wilhelmshaven Terminal in Germany is 220K Euro per day.
  
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  February 12, 2026 12:12pm
Scooter

The Canada shooting is another sign of how badly woke media reporting has become. While most media describe the shooter as a “female in a dress with brown hair” at least the Telegraph has this description, “Gunperson’ in dress kills nine in school shooting”. Even this is woke saying “gun person” when in fact it was a male dressed as a woman. Media are more concerned with how the shooter might identify than the fact a mental person killed 9 people.
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February 12, 2026 8:36am
- kowtow
  
  I understand “gunperson” is the term used by a local Plod there !
  
  Oh Canada !
  
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  February 12, 2026 9:51am
- Yvette
  
  … the suspect, Jesse Van Rootselaar, was biologically born male and began transitioning to female six years ago. He added that the police would continue identifying her as a female. He said that the authorities were not yet able to say why the suspect had carried out the murder spree, one of the worst in Canadian history.
  Ms. Van Rootselaar and her family were known to the authorities, Mr. McDonald said, and that the police had last visited the home in the spring for mental health issues that included self harm.
  subscription ‘wall’ –
  https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/02/11/world/canada-shooting-tumbler-ridge#heres-the-latest
  
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  February 12, 2026 9:52am
  - R
    
    Another tragic example of this GENDER TRANSITIONING nonsense.
    When are we, as supposedly mature educated people going to accept that there are ONLY TWO GENDERS, MALE, and FEMALE.
    ERICA, please bring back basic biology teaching into our schools
    
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    February 12, 2026 10:13am
  - alphabeatrium
    
    I don’t subscribe to, but have been exposed to enough of the woke gender ideology crap to hoist that reporting by its own woke petard. If (a big if) sex is not gender, then one does not “identify as female” but rather “identifies as a woman”. By the bizarre standards of woke indoctrination, this is a male sexed human with a gender of “woman”. Or have they started folding sex back into gender? Or do they now pretend sex isn’t a category? I can’t keep up.
    
    (Please note, I’m not crazy; in reality this is a bloke in a dress.)
    
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    February 12, 2026 12:48pm
- nigel2010
  
  i have noticed nothing takes a mass shooting off the front page of the news once the perpetrator has been identified as trans, gay or non white, all mass shooting especially in a school are a tragedy and should be investigated and reported as such
  
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  February 12, 2026 10:10am
BarryB

I see that NZ Cricket is in turmoil with the CEO (or whatever hes called) having resigned for some reason.
Im not surprised really. To me its a bit like the Bud Lite story. A couple of years ago we had cricket teams taking The Knee (treason really) and the womans team decorating the Hamilton cricket ground in rainbow colours. What do they say -‘Go woke, go broke’

However the NZ cricket management have followed the popular trend amount the sport management comunity. Rowing, cycling, netball, rugby, Boxing and probably more have all had – or are having – administration disasters.
They must search long and hard to find such a bunch of incompetants.
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February 12, 2026 8:39am
- Anthony Melchett
  
  And the coverage has been destroyed by maorification and dreadful commentators.
  
  It will only get worse when it goes ba k to sky because they are all in on maorification.
  
  And they wonder why people switch off.
  
  Appeasing 1% and upsetting the majority has never really been a solid game plan.
  
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  February 12, 2026 9:54am
  - Jack5
    
    Lot of Woke-ism in sport.
    
    The NZ Olympic committee has pushed the Maori connection on to the Winter Olympics, a collection of the most un-Polynesian of sports.
    
    State-funded sports officials similarly promoted John Key’s planned “national flag” around Beijing Games time.
    
    The TV channel, Sky, seems to have backed off its Maorification of the Milan-Cortina winter games, but last night, in a results list, “Aotearoa” flashed on the screen for a second or two before being replaced by “New Zealand”.
    
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    February 12, 2026 11:21am
- Reg Perrin
  
  Interesting how the Black Clash gets sell out crowds yet when the Black caps play the crowds are minimal. Shows what happens when you have an event where the crowd are allowed to have fun
  
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  February 12, 2026 10:03am
  - imalwaysright
    
    I don’t go to live events anymore.
    Sick of being treated like a potential criminal at the gate, and being ripped off at the food and drink stands.
    Spent the last game thinking about the cost and the benefit and decided the TV is a better deal.
    
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    February 12, 2026 10:44am
- kowtow
  
  ‘To me its a bit like the Bud Lite story’
  
  Or closer to home the Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand.
  
  All these bodies and that’s across the board and includes possibly every state agency and now seeping into the so called private sector .
  
  Losing sight of core function.
  
  Since the ’70’s this country has been turning itself inside out over the supposed race inequality issue and lost sight of core functions , duties and responsibilities .
  
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  February 12, 2026 12:07pm
Gravelroad

Mrs Nancy Guthrie 84, still missing and unaccounted for two weeks on from her disappearance in the US. FBI and local law enforcement struggling.
Perhaps the authorities there should consider bringing in the ICE agents.
They seem to be able to locate people pretty quick…..
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February 12, 2026 8:43am
- imalwaysright
  
  The masked man on the doorbell camera looks odd.
  Walking up to the camera and then going to the garden to get some foliage to rub on it ???
  
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  February 12, 2026 9:07am
  - Gravelroad
    
    At the start, the US media was stating that no images or information could be retrieved from the door bell camera at the house of Mrs Guthrie- because she didn’t have a current subscription for it to save data.
    The tech people, nearly two weeks later, have now found a way to retrieve the images of the person tampering with it.
    The other interesting thing has been the media focus on bitcoin. A subject I know very little about. The family had been instructed to provide $6m in bitcoin as a ransom. Easier said than done and a convoluted process with no apparent outcome.
    A strange situation all round and no finding Mrs Guthrie , so far.
    
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    February 12, 2026 9:43am
    - imalwaysright
      
      I wouldn’t be surprised if it was a close friend or family member who snatched/killed the lady.
      The Bitcoin is very easy to purchase and send. Its only a matter of selecting an amount in your account and copying and pasting an alphanumeric address and pressing send.
      
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      February 12, 2026 10:10am
- Ian
  
  TV One News seems to have a piece on it every night lately – at least three minutes a segment. While this may be fascinating, it is strictly a domestic affair for them, not us. Why the fascination – people are missing all over the world. We wouldn’t even know who the US anchor-woman is anyway before this and wouldn’t have cared to know about her…
  
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  February 12, 2026 9:12am
  - David Garrett
    
    Ian: quite so….and I strongly suspect Mrs Guthrie is no more…very very dangerous game bargaining with the kidnappers while at the same time engaging- very publicly – with “law enforcement”
    
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    February 12, 2026 10:14am
  - R
    
    ‘Cut and Paste’ is just as easy for LAZY TV editors, as it is for similar printed MSM editors
    
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    February 12, 2026 10:18am
- kowtow
  
  Extraordinary , how our media cover this story .
  
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  February 12, 2026 9:15am
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    Lazy, lazy, lazy journalism on the behalf of TVNZ.
    
    Much easier to bring in clips from USA than to send out a crew to cover a NZ item of current interest.
    
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    February 12, 2026 10:17am
    - David Garrett
      
      Mags: Up here in the Kingdom, I get both the BBC and CNN on the Tongan equivalent of Sky…the BBC coverage of this domestic story is almost as great as CNN’s. God only knows why.
      
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      February 12, 2026 10:22am
      - Jack5
        
        DG’s … up here in the Kingdom …
        
        Keep sending down the message(s), DG.
        
        Born-again’s will soon swamp Kiwiblog for your words.
        
        Amen.
        
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        February 12, 2026 11:28am
    - imalwaysright
      
      The foreign presenters are easy to understand.
      Most of ours seem to have trouble forming coherent sentences, and even more trouble enunciating them.
      
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      February 12, 2026 10:24am
      - Burtland
        
        the only locals on TV now are pretty much just smart maoris – any white person is portrayed as stupid – ONE, Mitre10 are both cringe territory.
        
        What Auckland advertising agency is driving this racist BS ?
        
        Almost entirely foreign accents in any technical field interviewed on RNZ and TVNZ.
        
        next theyll have Attenborough programs on saving the white kiwi from stupidity
        
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        February 12, 2026 3:12pm
    - kowtow
      
      Meanwhile in countries we trade with ( Iran), lionise as stand against MAGA ( Mexico)or have close Commonwealth and sports ties to ( UK/ Pakistan / South Africa) there is mass murder , failed statism ,corruption on an unimaginable scale and our media ……..ho hum.
      
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      February 12, 2026 11:08am
  - NeverMindTheBollocks
    
    It’s because a member of the meeja is front and centre of the story. I mean, that could be Hillary Barry’s mother. Or some such.
    
    Heros, in their own minds.
    
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    February 12, 2026 7:48pm
sungsamning

Cuba has a lot of problems. Airlines have been advised to make sure they have enough fuel for a return trip. Oil supplies have been cut off. The government is talking to American diplomats in Mexico. There is some local oil, and biofuel. Only enough for the barest needs though. Can Castros relative lead a transitional government? [Will Marco Rubio be the next President of Cuba?]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDxXpeFriAc
Total Collapse in Cuba: The Castro Regime Calls for Help .
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February 12, 2026 8:47am
- cmm
  
  Cuba was getting a lot of low cost oil products from Venezuela (commies helping eachother to prove communism works).
  
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  February 12, 2026 9:53am
  - sungsamning
    
    Not any more. They have small local supplies, and biofuel. Nowhere near enough to keep the country running.
    
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    February 12, 2026 12:53pm
- Scott
  
  I think it would be a great day if the communist regime in Cuba falls. Cuba could be a wonderful prosperous place. Let’s hope they get a democratic government that governs wisely.
  
  Also kudos to Trump and Rubio for the pressure they’re putting on the regime.
  
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  February 12, 2026 10:18am
  - sungsamning
    
    Yes, it was very prosperous pre 1959. the Batista regime had little support though. And the rest is history.
    
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    February 12, 2026 12:55pm
sungsamning

FBI has ‘substantiated’ irregularities in Georgia 2020 vote counts, probing if they were intentional. [That should be as easy as probing whether ducks swim, or the Pope is a Catholic. Now for all the other battleground states.]
https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/elections/fbi-has-substantiated-irregularities-georgia-2020-vote-counts-probing-if
FBI has ‘substantiated’ irregularities in Georgia 2020 vote counts, probing if they were intentional.
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February 12, 2026 8:47am
- Christopher Thomson
  
  The voter returns from the 4 key states are starting to look suspicious.
  
  Information is starting to come out, adding credence to the claims of election fraud.
  
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  February 12, 2026 11:01am
  - sungsamning
    
    Yes, lets hope the statute of limitations doesn’t kick in. Surely rigging an election is treason. No statute of limitations there.
    
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    February 12, 2026 12:58pm
- virtualmark
  
  Nah.
  
  Here’s the FBI affidavit to get the search warrant … https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26927576-fulton-county-affidavit/
  
  There’s no there there. No crimes alleged. No suspect’s in the FBI’s sights. Just a piece of theatre, most likely for Trump’s benefit.
  
  Paragraph 36 is interesting. Trump got 36% of the vote in Fulton County, but 40% of the duplicate ballots.
  
  But here’s another court document you should read … https://www.fultonclerk.org/DocumentCenter/View/4138/141-PLEA-TRANSCRIPT-01-08-2024
  
  That’s Kenneth Chesebro’s guilty plea to election interference in Georgia in 2020. Pages 16 to 19 set out the interference he pled guilty too. Hard to see how any action in Fulton County can succeed in the face of Chesebro’s plea and Jack Smith’s special counsel report on the election interference.
  
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  February 12, 2026 11:59am
- Paulus
  
  You don’t mean that somebody in Georgia, as the only place in the USA, actually cheated and lied in the Election Count do you ?
  
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  February 12, 2026 2:04pm
Chuck Bird

This appears not to be premium. Does Key have a point?

Election 2026: Sir John Key reveals advice for National’s Christopher Luxon to win election

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/election-2026-sir-john-key-reveals-advice-for-nationals-christopher-luxon-to-win-election/DICICFDOOBFZ5HQAHJBE4TRZSY/
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February 12, 2026 8:54am
- peterwn
  
  John Key recognised the writing was on the wall in 2017 so bowed out of leadership then.
  Chris Luxon would no doubt follow any sound advise that is relevant to current circumstances. But it is his leadership and he is not going to act like a ventriloquist’s dummy.
  
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  February 12, 2026 9:01am
  - pdm
    
    I am not sure about that pw.
    
    I think if Key had stayed on in 2017 National and ACT would have been able to form a government and Peters would have been left in the cold on the Cross Benches.
    
    We will never know about that but, one thing we do know is that New Zealand would be a better place now if Key had stayed on, won and then resigned say 12 months after the 2017 election.
    
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    February 12, 2026 9:17am
    - Pope Punctilious II
      
      Why would Key have formed a government with ACT? He preferred to get into bed with the so-called “The Maori Party”. Key was not a good PM. His “rockstar” economy was based mostly on property speculation and mass immigration. He legitimized and emboldened TMP, and signed us up to UNDRIP – how’s that working out? And what did he do to combat the metastasis of the woke cancer in our institutions?
      
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      February 12, 2026 9:54am
      - Sacha
        
        He brought in ‘mass immigration’ because he recognised that the NZ economy would benefit from increased tourism and the revenue it would bring (so that we could import nice stuff), but we did not have the workers to service an international tourism boom. It was also recognised that young New Zealanders didn’t actually like ‘serving’ people, and preferred to travel to other countries. And young people from other countries were quite willing to take on jobs in the tourist centres here for a few months while they did their OE.
        And the tourist industry boomed!
        And we all beamed with pride because so many people came to our country and willingly spent their money – which just happened to fill our wallets too so that we could have the ‘nice stuff’.
        
        What happened?
        
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        February 12, 2026 2:37pm
    - cmm
      
      It is really hard to know what you will see when you zoom out a bit.
      
      Let’s say JK had won that election. Due to the way things ebb and flow we would probably have a Labour government in now.
      
      Of course, had JK stayed in we might have never had Cindy…
      
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      February 12, 2026 9:57am
      - pdm
        
        `Of course, had JK stayed in we might have never had Cindy……………….’
        
        Or Peters!!!
        
        We have known for years that we are paying a price for Covid mismanagement and overspending by Labour.
        
        Now we hear we are paying a price because of Loans in default from the much vaunted NZFirst/Jones Provincial Growth Fund.
        
        Proving NZFirst are no better at managing Taxpayers money than Labour were.
        
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        February 12, 2026 10:06am
- cmm
  
  JK really started things down the Labour Lite path. Now the fruits are showing up.
  
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  February 12, 2026 9:12am
  - kowtow
    
    Key and Luxon epitomise ( imho) how the National Party is actually run by faceless backroom types who seem to be able to parachute “charismatic” leadership types into parliament in order to ‘manage” the economy .
    
    It also says a lot about many of us voters , so easily duped into playing the game.
    
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    February 12, 2026 9:55am
    - pdm
      
      Kowtow charismatic is not a word to describe Luxon.
      
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      February 12, 2026 10:08am
      - kowtow
        
        thus the quote marks and I stand by it anyway as that’s what the suits would have tried to attribute to Luxon when he was issued the parachute.
        
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        February 12, 2026 11:11am
    - cmm
      
      That was perhaps JK’s best attribute – making space for the best ministers to operate effectively.
      
      JK was in the lime light, but it was really Bill English’s firm hand on the tiller that kept up us going through the GFC etc.
      
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      February 12, 2026 10:37am
      - imalwaysright
        
        “…making space for the best ministers to operate effectively.”
        
        It appears that Luxon may have a problem with a shallow talent pool.
        
        That Judith Collins has half a dozen Portfolios shows that he considers that those Ministries are better off with 1/6th of Judith rather than 100% of another coalition MP.
        
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        February 12, 2026 10:51am
      - cmm
        
        For me one of the biggest disappointments has been Melissa Lee.
        
        She was an absolute bulldog as an opposition MP, excellent at holding their feet to the fire. But, unfortunately, that skill did not translate into being an effective Minister.
        
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        February 12, 2026 1:14pm
  - Simon
    
    “JK really started things down the Labour Lite path.”
    
    Wrong National have always been garbage. If you understood post WW2 NZ history you would know what utter garbage National have always been & the great harm inflicted upon NZ by this disgusting political party.
    
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    February 12, 2026 11:04am
    - R
      
      Simon, you are still getting the political attributes of National and Labour confused.
      
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      February 12, 2026 2:07pm
      - Burtland
        
        It will take Luxon 30ys to roll back the Cindy crap the way hes going- its alright to take peoples vote on this but do something or get off the pot.
        
        Goldsmith and Bishop have been publicly pelted with Marlon Williams and Don McGlashins organic tomatoes and still not woken up – why do they put up with all this crap from the nutcase community feeding off the tax payer – every day on RNZ
        
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        February 12, 2026 3:34pm
      - Pope Punctilious II
        
        Burtland: I love your “pelted with Marlon Williams and Don McGlashan’s organic tomatoes”.
        
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        February 12, 2026 7:29pm
peterwn

Now that the Government has decided to proceed with a LNG terminal, all sorts of nonsense is being spouted. Starting with the Opposition Leader indicating that the money would be better spent on renewables and batteries. This misses the point that low capital cost quick start last resort generation is needed. This is sort of currently provided by Huntly, except that Huntly is not quick start. Also due to progressing metal fatigue etc Huntly is near end of life.
Then an energy ‘expert’ (more an advocate for particular viewpoints) said that the stockpile of coal at Huntly should be used first, possibly thinking that there is many years of coal in the stockpile whereas it would cover one to two years only if that. Anyway is goes without saying that as the coal is a sunk cost it would be burned anyway and no more ordered once LNG is available. At a pinch gas can be used for Huntly to facilitate any transition.
Interestingly the proposed LNG terminal is not ‘fixed’ but a floating facility. This means if it is no longer needed, it can just be sold off and relocated elsewhere.
Also time is of the essence here, LNG can be provided by winter 2027, other options such as additional ‘renewable’ generation and conversion of customers from gas to electricity cannot be done by then.
Labour is quibbling over the nature of the quite small proposed levy, perhaps they are focusing on the wrong things but then they do not have any realistic energy policy anyway.
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February 12, 2026 8:56am
- Paulus
  
  Labour have all the time in the world to quibble as they have no real policy on anything realistic to put forward.
  
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  February 12, 2026 8:59am
- colina
  
  Good points.
  Tax, levy, fee or charge? Parties in war of words over Govt’s gas policy
  http://www.1news.co.nz/2026/02/10/tax-levy-fee-or-charge-parties-in-war-of-words-over-govts-gas-policy
  Why is the govt mired in this debate with the opposite, why are they seemingly incapable of countering the opposite with the ludicrous Ardern oil and gas ban ?
  
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  February 12, 2026 9:02am
  - Tricati
    
    Well said – Absolutely correct and only shows how inept National have become at embarrassing Labour over many of it’s cock-ups.
    
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    February 12, 2026 9:26am
  - artemisia
    
    A brief sentence stating the impact of that very stupid ‘captain’s call’ should be memorised and repeated at every single opportunity.
    
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    February 12, 2026 9:35am
- Cassandra
  
  Hipkins’ contribution to this was to argue for spending the billion dollars on solar panels and batteries. He probably knows that NZ also needs a reserve system but is relying on voters being stupid. Perhaps they are, Labour is at plus of 30% after all.
  
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  February 12, 2026 9:03am
  - pdm
    
    Cass – Hipkins and his mates will always find away to spend the odd billion dollars that may be laying around.
    
    No way will they apply it to debt reduction or even anything productive.
    
    Having spent that stray billion they will still be looking for extra taxes to inflict upon us.
    
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    February 12, 2026 9:21am
    - In Vino Veritas
      
      Laying around pdm? If it isn’t and it won’t be, he’ll just have it printed.
      
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      February 12, 2026 10:58am
  - cmm
    
    In most countries you need battery or pumped storage, but we do not need it here because of our almost unique relationship with hydro.
    
    We can perform that function with the hydro we have, without the losses.
    
    Here is how.
    
    The purpose of the storage is to store surplus power from solar panels so that that power can be used after dark.
    
    That storage process is, at best, around 70% efficient meaning that storing it is wasteful.
    
    We have hydro. Lots of it. It is always running (eg. right now we’re getting 3.5GW – about 70% – from hydro). Therefore we can achieve the same outcomes by just backing off the hydro and using the solar instead. When it gets dark we run more hydro.
    
    This is a far better strategy because:
    1) It does not need more infrastructure.
    2) It is far more efficient.
    
    Thus until we can supply our whole demand off solar, there is absolutely zero point in storing it. That point is a long way off. We currently have less than 300MW of solar installed (and that seldom generates even 200MW of power). If we get up somewhere near 2.5GW of sustained solar generation then it is time to consider back up storage.
    
    That’s about 15x the solar we have now, so a long time off.
    
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    February 12, 2026 9:28am
    - peterwn
      
      Buffering of wind and solar by hydro stations is ‘recognised’ but such ‘buffering’ capacity is limited and needs to be managed. Transpower had done some transmission reinforcements to facilitate such buffering. This is why in the longer term low capital cost quick start last resort generation is needed on the system and gas is the most appropriate fuel for this generation. Also the Huntly Rankine units are near end of life and will need to be shut down completely within the next several years.
      
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      February 12, 2026 9:48am
      - cmm
        
        Yup, certainly some extra gas etc is a good idea, but the main thing I was talking about is that NZ is in the position of not needing to build BESS and pumped storage as a buffering mechanism.
        
        Since we always use at least 5x hydro compared to our maximum solar and wind capability, it just makes sense to modulate our hydro consumption. That is far more efficient.
        
        Our electricity consumption has not risen significantly in the last few years and is unlikely to do so unless we just become everyone’s energy-bitches for AI data centres etc.
        
        Becoming energy bitches for data centres is an extremely wasteful practice and does not build jobs or much economic return.
        
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        February 12, 2026 10:43am
      - Jack5
        
        Don’t forget geothermal generation. It’s providing about 18 per cent of our electricity.
        
        I think this compares with about 11 per cent for wind generation.
        
        https://www.eeca.govt.nz/insights/energy-in-new-zealand/renewable-energy/geothermal/
        
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        February 12, 2026 1:58pm
  - Albie
    
    The Ardern- Hipkins- Woods plan to phase out gas and replace it with electricity to save the planet would have cost us plenty. We would need to change our Rinnai gas water heater with a new heat pump or find a place in our apartment for a new hot water cylinder. I wonder if those fools really thought through the implications of their hair brained ideas?
    
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    February 12, 2026 12:31pm
    - Paulus
      
      No, they cannot have enough brains to think – the Unions and their Soviet Overseas friends were behind it I would suspect.
      
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      February 12, 2026 2:09pm
- cmm
  
  The idea of using batteries is beyond stupid, as is building pump storage.
  We can perform that function using our existing hydro by just backing off hydro generation when there is other generation available.
  
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  February 12, 2026 9:05am
  - peterwn
    
    See my previous comment. Ability of existing hydro stations to ‘buffer’ erratic wind and solar generation is not infinite.
    
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    February 12, 2026 9:51am
    - cmm
      
      No it isn’t infinite, just as I said above. But the current wind and solar are so small that they are well within hydro’s current ability to buffer.
      
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      February 12, 2026 9:59am
      - peterwn
        
        Wrong. The impact on hydro are significant and are a key factor in grid operational decisions and whether wind/ solar projects proceed.
        
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        February 12, 2026 10:52am
    - wsk12345
      
      Considerable work was done some years ago looking at “block dispatch” of wind/solar and hydro. Doesn’t work unless the stations sit on the same side of constraints, and we will inevitably have constraints are they are massively expensive and take considerable time to mitigate. A chunk was completed to enable more power from Tiwai up the SI and took years (couldn’t be done in winter I think). South Island hydro which has most of our storage capability cannot cover for solar and wind in the NI at any useful scale, at least until the HVDC and related upgrades are completed to get the power north.
      
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      February 12, 2026 10:01am
      - colina
        
        Meanwhile in the UK
        Ed Miliband’s net-zero drive will trigger a financial crash, a former Government scientific adviser has warned.
        http://www.gbnews.com/money/ed-miliband-net-zero-crash
        
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        February 12, 2026 10:33am
      - kowtow
        
        colina
        
        The heavy industry that Britain pioneered has been killed off . They have some of the most expensive , if not the most , in Europe.
        
        The peasants are revolting.
        
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        February 12, 2026 12:58pm
- Taieri
  
  LNG can be provided by winter 2027
  ———-
  
  Not a slightest chance of that. Even if a suitable FRSU was available at a short notice there’s currently not a single NZ port capable of receiving it.
  That’s apart from the lack of shore based infrastructure and regulatory process that’ll be required.
  
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  February 12, 2026 9:18am
  - peterwn
    
    That is why the Government plans to legislate specifically for it, so there are no ‘processes’ to hold things up.
    
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    February 12, 2026 10:54am
  - imalwaysright
    
    And don’t forget the procrastination and the delays and cost overruns.
    
    We should order a stack of turbines and find the geothermal steam to drive them.
    We already have the technology and as soon as they are operational there is no dependency on overseas suppliers.
    
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    February 12, 2026 11:00am
- R
  
  Labour is quibbling to distract attention from the real elephant in the room, re energy security. Hipkins knows that past Labour government policies, aided by environmental activists, supported by a MARXIST MSM are responsible for the present situation.
  The past failure to build, and commission, Hydro powered schemes; is the CONSEQUENCE of Socialist populist policies.
  
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  February 12, 2026 9:23am
- kowtow
  
  better spent on renewables and batteries…..focusing on the wrong things.
  
  A seismic change occured when the leader of the free world kicked emissions into touch .
  
  The UK Daily Telegraph had an editorial on this yesterday .
  
  Basically they say while Trump is getting on with business the UK will continue to sink , deindustrialise , lose jobs etc while they commit to net zero etc .The same can be said for the rest of the EU and to a lesser extent us.
  
  Climate catastrophe is a death cult that is destroying the west , while her enemies are literally arming for war.
  
  And climate catastrophism is just one symptom of many in the decline.
  
  Mass shooter in Canada described as a “gunperson”. Oh dear.
  
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  February 12, 2026 9:24am
- R
  
  Labour quibling is to distract readers, and listeners from thd fact that the Labour lead coalition have NO CREDIBLE POLICIES, nor any pretty girls.!
  
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  February 12, 2026 10:25am
cmm

“Why is it taking six years to investigate Covid money?”

Ummm, maybe because….:
* This is Cindy and Robbo’s cockup so they wouldn’t investigate themselves. There goes at least the first 4 years of the opportunity for an investigation.
* Likely it isn’t just being investigated now. Likely the first investigations started a while ago. Likely it is only now that enough evidence has emerged to justify a proper investigation.

People are getting rattled. Good.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360937122/why-it-took-years-government-investigate-reserve-banks-covid-money
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February 12, 2026 9:00am
- kowtow
  
  NZME radio news leads with “Covid fatigue” quote.
  
  So the media who hyped this thing into the plague , pushing politicians to draconianism now want us to forget it all.
  
  Never forget.
  
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  February 12, 2026 9:26am
  - R
    
    The media are suffering from covid fatigue and fear of exposure for their part on the scam. Bring on the revealing investigation
    
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    February 12, 2026 10:29am
    - Paulus
      
      A simple TVNZ one, last evening – they re ran the final of the good programme The Piano.
      I enjoyed it again but why was it shown one week and the the corresponding day next week.
      All quiet on the media front.
      Told to keep schtum I suspect.
      
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      February 12, 2026 2:14pm
- R
  
  cmm…..STUFF journalists don’t understand such LATERAL thinking.
  
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  February 12, 2026 10:27am
artemisia

A recent review of school bus services has got some Manawatu parents telling the media ‘it’s just not fair’ that their offspring are not eligible for free buses. Maybe these parents are not aware that almost all parents pay for their kids to get to school if they use public transport or are not eligible for free buses.

That review of routes began in 2024 and changes were announced months ago.

At Palmerston North Boys’ High School, rector David Bovey said more than 300 students were affected by the changes. Eligibility rules have not changed. Most of those affected families will have chosen a school that is not their closest. Chosen.

Attention seeking comments like this will not endear their cause to other parents, or taxpayers:

I’ve had families reach out to me that are saying, ‘Well, we might actually have to quit our jobs and relocate’, and sell their homes because they just can’t manage this.”

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/586447/just-not-fair-manawatu-parents-using-savings-and-loans-for-school-buses
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February 12, 2026 9:16am
- kowtow
  
  I love how these teacher types insist on their own self important glorified titles , this one “rector” , yet can’t describe his charges properly ; they are not students , they are pupils.
  
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  February 12, 2026 9:32am
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    Seems to be a limited number of secondary schools in NZ that use the term Rector (Ruler) for Headmaster/Principal
    
    The title is used in New Zealand for the headmaster of some independent schools, such as Lindisfarne College and St. Patrick’s College, Silverstream, as well as a number of state schools for boys, including Otago Boys’ High School, King’s High School, Dunedin, Waitaki Boys’ High School, Timaru Boys’ High School, Palmerston North Boys’ High School and Southland Boys’ High School showing the Scots’ involvement in the foundation of those schools.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rector_(academia)
    
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    February 12, 2026 10:58am
    - Jack5
      
      “Rector” may have too many male connotations for some, and it doesn’t fit the culture of Woke New Zealand.
      
      However, the University of Glasgow in 2020 appointed its first woman rector. That role has existed since 1542. (Winnie Mandela symbolically was elected to the role in 1987.)
      
      Central Southland College, set up in 1965, in Winton, the heart of Southland’s rhotic-rich speech country, has a principal.
      
      Gore High School, in rhotic-rich speaking Eastern Southland, was merged with an intermediate school from 2024 to become Māruawai College, complete with a macron, and with a principal.
      
      Southland Girls’ High school has a principal, in early days called a “lady principal”.
      
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      February 12, 2026 11:54am
      - Taieri
        
        the University of Glasgow in 2020 appointed its first woman rector. That role has existed since 1542.
        —————
        
        In the continental Europe, the vast majority of universities are headed by rectors. Ie. Germany, Poland, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Czechia, Italy, Russia etc.
        
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        February 12, 2026 12:18pm
      - Maggy Wassilieff
        
        Rector is a masculine noun in Latin
        (Rector, Rectoris) – (m) – 3rd declension
        
        The equivalent feminine noun is Rectrix
        (Rectrix, Rectrisis) – (f) –
        
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        February 12, 2026 12:42pm
      - Burtland
        
        ‘comrade’ is the correct tern now
        
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        February 12, 2026 3:36pm
  - peterwn
    
    It is not the teachers who choose these titles, they are based on traditions or origins. As answered in a Parliamentary Question years ago, the (then) Education Department uses the term ‘principal’ officially but acknowledges that each school will use the term consistent with background and history.
    A new appointee will generally accept the term the school traditionally uses, although several years ago a new appointee at Wellington College chose to be known as ‘principal’ instead of the traditional ‘headmaster’. However a school must use a gender neutral term (eg ‘head’) when advertising for a headmaster.
    
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    February 12, 2026 11:04am
    - Paulus
      
      Kura’s – ex Primary Schools, which are growing exponentially have all sorts of Principal’s names to suit, as long as it is in Maori, often led by Doctor or equivalent, and the kura now has a Maori name.
      Yes, I can name quite a few in Tauranga.
      
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      February 12, 2026 2:18pm
  - stewmar
    
    Kowtow, they are learners
    
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    February 12, 2026 11:35am
- Spam
  
  I read this a bit differently. The review has concluded that these pupils will still get a “free” (taxpayer funded) bus, but it will only take them to the closest school, which for many of these people, is not the school that they’re currently enrolled at.
  
  I am supportive of choice in education, and appreciative that (for example) my daughter was accepted into a school that she is ‘out of zone’ for. As such, I can see that for these parents who had enrolled a child at their preferred school, and been given a “free” bus ride to that school for 5 years, and then have the ministry suddenly deciding that they will continue that free bus ride, but only to a different school, will cause frustration and annoyance.
  
  Maybe these parents are not aware that almost all parents pay for their kids to get to school if they use public transport or are not eligible for free buses
  
  True. But these payments are only part of the cost. The busses are heavily subsidized, so it is factually just an argument on how large the subsidy is.
  Also, these fully-subsidized busses are only available where there is no public transport.
  
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  February 12, 2026 11:29am
Maggy Wassilieff

Liam Hehir presents sound reasons for why the voters should know the results of the Reserve Bank Covid inquiry BEFORE the 2026 election.

https://thebluereview.substack.com/p/a-funny-kind-of-argument

There is a certain elitist twang to the suggestion that the electorate should be shielded from the inquiry’s conclusions before voting. It implies that voters cannot be trusted to put appropriate weight on public findings. If nothing else, that is a massive vote of no confidence in our political media and in the capacity of journalists, commentators and editors to report those findings responsibly and with proper context.

That is not a healthy instinct.
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February 12, 2026 9:19am
- peterwn
  
  And yet it had been regarded as ‘fair game’ for docudramas implying criticism of the Government funded by NZ on Air to be aired in election years. Indeed a creator of such programs indicated they were only relevant id screened in election year.
  Similar with Nicky Hager’s ‘books’.
  
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  February 12, 2026 9:57am
- Philview
  
  Does anyone believe the media will allow any aspects of this to negatively impact on Labour’s campaign?
  
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  February 12, 2026 11:19am
- virtualmark
  
  I disagree.
  
  What we need is a calm rational consideration of how best to provide life support to our economy if/when there is another pandemic type situation.
  
  What we don’t need is a report that has been rushed so that it can be used for politics.
  
  Hosking this morning had interviews with Stephen Joyce and with Nicola Willis. What a night and day difference. From the sublime to the ridiculous. Joyce is pretty apolitical. He’s a rational capitalist more than he is a politician. Willis is a politician who’s grabbed the Finance role because it carries more political power. That is not the right priority to bring to the job of MoF.
  
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  February 12, 2026 12:04pm
artemisia

The government is tweaking its legislation removing the right for contractors to challenge their employment status to make clear that it will not be applied retrospectively.

The Minister said if someone took up a claim in the future to be considered an employee in previous work, she did not want a situation where they “may be found an employee under the old law into the future”.

Is there any update on the 4 Uber drivers becoming employees? Has Wellington City Councillor Nureddin Abdurahman accepted an employee contract, and if so does it allow time off for WCC responsibilities?

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/586587/government-tweaks-law-so-contractors-can-t-challenge-employment-status-retrospectively
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February 12, 2026 9:58am
- cmm
  
  “it will not be applied retrospectively”
  
  That’s rather meaningless.
  Almost all contracts are renegotiated on a periodic basis (eg. mine have been 12 months or less).
  When they get renegotiated the new framework will apply.
  
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  February 12, 2026 10:02am
Crafty

I’m a supporter of National generally but what an idiotic mistake Willis made yesterday. No problems with an enquiry into the reserve bank although it should have been done earlier. But to time it so it’s released weeks out from an election is so cynical. It’s something Labour would do but shouldn’t we as supporters of the right demand them to rise above cynical politics like this? Voters will see this for what it is and if there’s one thing voters don’t like it is this kind of politics. Just dumb!
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February 12, 2026 10:22am
- Swifty
  
  I don’t understand the gentlemanliness.
  
  Labour would do this in a heartbeat.
  
  Sorry, I support National in this. They should use any lawful tactics at their disposal.
  
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  February 12, 2026 11:44am
- Cassandra
  
  Crafty: I think you’re attributing something to voters which doesn’t exist.
  
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  February 12, 2026 11:52am
- newview
  
  We all see things differently Crafty. If the timing suits National with the elections coming up, so be it. If it’s electioneering so be it. those who take exception to it won’t vote National and most of those wouldn’t be voting for Labour anyway. If nothing else it will remind everybody how incompetent Labour was.
  
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  February 12, 2026 12:48pm
- Philview
  
  I always thought Labour aligned drilling those bore holes into the Pike River mine with timing of conclusions to assist with the 2023 election. Unfortunately for Labour the 12 bodies discovered were proven to have been killed in the first blast and John Key made the right decision.
  
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  February 12, 2026 1:45pm
- Paulus
  
  It will be leaked or delayed or both so do not panic as those writing it are themselves heavily implicated !
  
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  February 12, 2026 2:21pm
Albie

ZB news this morning- police are looking at opening up recruiting to disabled people. Didn’t say whether it wouldn’t apply to front line cops.
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February 12, 2026 10:22am
- Hammie
  
  Really, I wonder how much further they can lower the bar. They seem to be scraping the bottom of the barrel already.
  
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  February 12, 2026 12:46pm
  - Dudley Quaffquaff
    
    What a shameful thing to say about the disabled
    
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    February 12, 2026 2:10pm
- cmm
  
  My understanding is that the police workers fall into two cetegories:
  
  * Sworn officers: They are all the uniformed people and detectives etc, have arrest powers and should all be front line capable (fit etc).
  * Support staff: clerical and such. No arrest powers and no need to be front-line capable.
  
  So long as they only have disabled people in the support staff that should be OK.
  
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  February 12, 2026 1:24pm
  - david
    
    Sorry to be a grammar Nazi but should that have been: “So long as they have disabled people only in the support staff …….”?
    
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    February 12, 2026 3:34pm
- Philview
  
  I am reminded of the 70s TV show Ironside about a detective in a wheelchair. Also the 6 million dollar man. They were quite enlightened back then.
  
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  February 12, 2026 1:49pm
- AitchW
  
  Pretty sure I heard a report that it was front line and non sworn.
  
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  February 12, 2026 1:51pm
Swifty

The movie industry is about to change massively.

Look at what one guy has done sitting in his bedroom wearing just his undies:

https://x.com/0xpbit/status/2021635028573466643?s=46

No actors, no film sets, no cameras, no locations, no vast catering for cast and crew, no sound engineers, no electricians, no large equipment of vehicle rental.

Big changes ahead. Soon we will have full-length motion pictures created entirely with AI by incredibly small teams working entirely from home.
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February 12, 2026 10:26am
- Reg Perrin
  
  I believe the future is that you will just describe the movie you want to watch and AI will generate it for you.
  
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  February 12, 2026 1:17pm
- AitchW
  
  The overpaid and overblown actors of Hollywood will be marching in the streets to protect their patch!
  
  2 1
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  February 12, 2026 1:51pm
- [email protected]
  
  I’ve saved thousands of hours of time by not watching movies or television. We turned off the TV 14 years ago. Don’t miss it at all.
  
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  February 12, 2026 4:07pm
Swifty

Ad agencies too:

https://x.com/markgadala/status/2021631203473084655?s=46

The world’s about to be put upside down.
6 1
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February 12, 2026 10:44am
- Swifty
  
  A Seedance Transformer video just released:
  
  https://x.com/geesehowardt7/status/2021474880894779772?s=46
  
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  February 12, 2026 2:08pm
greybeard

https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360937122/why-it-took-years-government-investigate-reserve-banks-covid-money
Jenna Lynch reveals her true colours.
( anything but Blue ).
16 1
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February 12, 2026 10:50am
- Flossie
  
  To my mind there was never any doubt about her true colours!
  
  12 1
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  February 12, 2026 11:05am
  - Yabster
    
    yep old Lynch Mob is a red socialist from way back
    
    11 0
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    February 12, 2026 11:23am
cmm

What you get when you put DEI etc ahead of competence…

Buy property worth $4M for $8M.
Spend $11M refurbing it.
Sell it as a site to be torn down and rebuilt.

But at least everyone could sing a waiata…

A lot of people made a lot of grift out of this. It would be interesting to audit this and see if cuzzies scored special contracts etc.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/kainga-ora-to-sell-fenton-st-rotorua-transitional-housing-site-after-11m-spend/KQRCC26INFGZTHIQHURLCUOSZQ/
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February 12, 2026 11:08am
- Raphael
  
  They’re also flogging their part of the new Tauriko housing development that they were going to do, where they were planning on building around 1000 homes and outbid the Developers who are doing the rest. The amount they paid is less than they are selling it for.
  
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  February 12, 2026 12:12pm
Notsofast

“The Islamic Republic of Iran has been elected Vice-Chair of the U.N. Commission for Social Development.
Its priority theme? Promoting democracy, gender equality, and tolerance.”

https://x.com/i/status/2021665651614781811

And we are supporting Ardern to run for this incandescently evil organisation?
14 3
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February 12, 2026 11:12am
- Raphael
  
  It is high time we defunded and disbanded the UN. They haven’t been fit for purpose for decades.
  
  Heck, just look at the behaviour of UN “Peacekeepers” in Africa for the last 30 or so years.
  
  14 3
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  February 12, 2026 12:10pm
- sungsamning
  
  And people wonder why the Board of Peace is becoming a thing? It can’t possibly be worse.
  
  4 3
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  February 12, 2026 1:13pm
  - AitchW
    
    You make a good point. Can you imagine Albanese, Trudeau, Starmer and Macron setting up a UN?
    They’d spend most of their time discussing pronouns….
    
    5 2
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    February 12, 2026 2:07pm
  - mike
    
    The Board of Peace has so far only these counties participating: Albania, Argentina, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Belarus, Bulgaria, Egypt, Hungary, Indonesia, Israel, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Mongolia, Morocco, Pakistan, Paraguay, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.
    I’m not seeing any champions for human rights, or peace, in that list.
    
    4 1
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    February 12, 2026 5:07pm
- Dudley Quaffquaff
  
  A situation in which Iranian representatives will be daily confronted with the inadequacies and poor outcomes of their nation’s approach to democracy, gender equality and tolerance.
  
  Is your preferred model really one in which countries that agree with each other, sit around congratulating each other?
  
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  February 12, 2026 2:09pm
imalwaysright

The release of the Coroners report on the torture and murder of Malachi Subecz, 5, saw the Children’s Commissioner et al doing their usual media presentations. (At least she isn’t writing an open letter to Malachi, yet).

Imagine the local and international outrage if there were a dozen ADULTS kidnapped and tortured to death, over months and years, every single year in NZ?

We only seem to notice murders when the victims are wealthy, accomplished , or good looking.
Polkinghorne, Millane, etc

Infants in nappies with their heads bashed in don’t seem that interesting …
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February 12, 2026 11:15am
- OlderChas
  
  The Children’s Commissioner. Every time I see/hear that woman speak I want to give her a damn good shake and say “Wake the hell up and get into the real world!” She really makes me cringe with embarrassment, and her “word salad” responses last night just exacerbated that.
  
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  February 12, 2026 12:46pm
  - imalwaysright
    
    Older,
    Here’s her letter to the victims and prospective victims. You couldn’t make this crap up, nor could she be more disconnected from reality.
    These infants are given a punch in the face for breakfast and its downhill from there.
    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/581209/children-s-commissioner-launches-anti-abuse-dear-children-campaign
    
    As an observation, if these were children in another country there would be outrage from the Kiwiblog warriors.
    
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    February 12, 2026 1:50pm
- Paulus
  
  Which make me ask the point ?
  Why is it that when we see the tragic deaths of young children, it appears that in almost all cases ethnicity becomes apparent, like in the Malachi case currently just before the Coroner.
  Has anybodty seriously considered and let alone published the basis of of why and where from are these perpetrators.
  Overseas New Zealand has a very bad name in such child killings, often with no comprehensive elements involved as a conclusion.
  Ethnics yes, a strong position to start with – why them, next ?
  What can New Zealand do to stop this madness !
  
  6 2
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  February 12, 2026 2:32pm
  - [email protected]
    
    A lot of these child abuse cases are caused by the parents drug use. Perhaps New Zealand could afford to build a few more jails and increase jail sentences for drug pushers (and maybe drug users).
    
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    February 12, 2026 3:59pm
Swifty

If I was a parliamentary cleaner, being used by E Tu and other unions to advance living wage, fair pay and pay equity demands, I’d be feeling a little nervous right now.

https://x.com/codie_sanchez/status/2021593621703557206?s=46

In fact I’d be urgently upskilling myself and getting the hell out cleaning for wages and out of the unions’ clutches.
6 1
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February 12, 2026 11:39am
- Ian
  
  Looks like it uses the same brush to scrub out the wash basins and the toilets! Maybe the video’s too quick. Hygienic, not
  
  3 2
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  February 12, 2026 1:11pm
  - Swifty
    
    Good on you for completely missing the bloody point.
    
    Great stuff.
    
    2 0
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    February 12, 2026 2:11pm
  - Ghost
    
    It swaps the brushes out for each task
    
    1 1
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    February 12, 2026 2:13pm
    - cmm
      
      … and hold them all in a common bucket?
      
      2 1
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      February 12, 2026 2:56pm
      - Ghost
        
        Clean brushes are taken from one compartment and put in a different compartment when used
        
        https://lokirobotics.co/
        
        2 2
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        February 12, 2026 3:14pm
- Ghost
  
  Sad when a robot does more work than any of the mp’s in the Māori party.
  
  6 0
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  February 12, 2026 2:14pm
  - cmm
    
    Would you want to use a dunny cleaned by TPM?
    
    2 0
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    February 12, 2026 2:56pm
- Burtland
  
  used to clean hospital toilets as a teen
  
  someone used to once a week do a shit in the middle of the floor
  shit on the walls was common too along with other body fluids
  
  wonder how it handles that
  
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  February 12, 2026 4:54pm
imalwaysright

Diabetic Barbie

“To manage her type 1 diabetes, Barbie uses an insulin pump and a continuous glucose monitor (CGM). To keep her CGM in place, she has heart-shaped medical tape — Barbie pink, of course!”

https://shop.mattel.com/products/barbie-fashionistas-doll-with-type-1-diabetes-polka-dot-outfit-hyt97
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February 12, 2026 12:12pm
- NZer In Exile
  
  For those people who want to be diabetics?
  
  Don’t laugh (or cry). There are (able bodied) people who aspire to being amputees.
  
  Bring back mental hospitals?
  
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  February 12, 2026 7:00pm
mandk

This is unfair to grossly obese people who have type 2 diabetes.

There should be a fat Barbie with her very own dialysis machine.
4 1
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February 12, 2026 1:33pm
- cmm
  
  In a wheelchair with a few amputated limbs. Comes with a pack of smokes and a KFC voucher.
  
  2 1
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  February 12, 2026 2:14pm
  - imalwaysright
    
    …and you have to pay a weekly ‘subscription’ to keep her….
    
    0 0
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    February 12, 2026 6:25pm
- Paulus
  
  Obesity will and is becoming the next New Zealand cause of Death
  Will be greater than Cancer soon.
  – Obesity is becoming, along with Diabetes, the one next killer along with the cost need derived for our Health Service – hospitals now have enlarged beds and hoists for patience.
  
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  February 12, 2026 2:37pm
  - cmm
    
    Considering obesity is a contributor to both cancer and heart disease (as well as any respiratory problems like pneumonia) we’re probably already there.
    
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    February 12, 2026 2:46pm
cmm

Tarrant’s lawyer is really pushing it by quoting Mandela:

“No one truly knows a nation until one has been inside its jails.”

NZ jails are soft. I’ll wager that the lawyer does not know what the fuck (s)he is talking about and has never been in a real prison and has nothing to compare NZ prisons with.

Mandela was in a few, including:
* Robben Island: cold and damp, but a bunch of intellectually stimulating co-prisoners.
* Pollsmoor: just down the road from where I lived in Cape Town, a bit of gang activity back then, but Mandela was not held in general population so was protected from all that.
* Victor Verster Prison: a wonderful private house in the winelands of Paarl where he could entertain guests.

So yes, he certainly got to see a spectrum of the country’s prisons.

After he became President, the prisons really went to shit – especially Pollsmoor which is now an out of control gang hell-hole.

Comparing any NZ prison with a South African prison is ludicrous.

It is, however, fitting that a terrorist should be quoted when dealing with another terrorist. I am sure the irony escapes the lawyer though.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/360936815/christchurch-terrorists-lawyer-quotes-nelson-mandela-submission-court-appeal
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February 12, 2026 2:28pm
- Paulus
  
  Well of course, why not, Mandela was a heavily convicted Terrorist.
  
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  February 12, 2026 2:38pm
- greybeard
  
  I visited Robben Island in 2011 when I was in Capetown for my son’s wedding to a local lass.
  I met one of the ex-guards who looked after Mandela for years – he was conducting guided tours. Can’t recall his name, but he featured in a TV documentary on Mandela.
  
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  February 12, 2026 3:49pm
  - cmm
    
    The closest I ever got to there was diving in Table Bay in the early 1980s. We wanted to dive just outside the exclusion zone (IIRC it was 2km), but due to a bit of a navigation stuff up we were about 500 metres within the zone and got chased out by a patrol boat. The guards were pretty friendly and put us on a couple of 19th century wrecks.
    
    Table Bay is a wonderful place for anyone interested in marine archeology. There are hundreds of wrecks going back to the mid 1600s. In some places there are wrecks on top of other wrecks. Over 50 vessels were lost just in one night in 1865.
    
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    February 12, 2026 4:59pm
- mike
  
  It should of course be recognized that ‘terrorist’ is a subjective political term. The old cliche of ‘terrorist’ vs ‘freedom fighter’ has some validity, especially for Nobel peace prize winners like Mandela or Begin.
  
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  February 12, 2026 5:18pm
Jack5

Is MFAT keeping Winston up with the play?

The “dark fleet” of rustbucket tankers that carry oil from embargoed countries like Russia and Iran is now thought to number 1400 vessels, according to an article in the Telegraph.

Meanwhile, the Cook Islands ship registry says it has 791 vessels.

Niue, which is within the realm of New Zealand, also runs a registry. Inquiries about registry on the island are directed to Singapore.

Dark fleet tankers sail under registration in “flags of convenience” registries, usually in tiny remote countries. This helps protect them from international laws and standards.
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February 12, 2026 3:12pm
rouppe

NZ first accused of rage baiting for proposing a referendum on the Maori seats. I note it doesn’t say binding referendum so it’ll be ignored by the wet majority of parliament.

But this statement caught my eye:

The Māori seats have a very long history in New Zealand politics. They were first created in 1867. They were initially used to limit the democratic influence of Māori

What?!

My understanding was that it was intended to enfranchise Maori, who didn’t own land individually, the key requirement to have a vote at the time.
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February 12, 2026 3:42pm
- mike
  
  You are partially right. The idea was to prevent Māori with individual land titles from outvoting Europeans in some electorates. Enfranchising all adult Māori males ensured Māori could only control four seats.
  
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  February 12, 2026 4:59pm
  - cmm
    
    Sounds like very airbrushed history to me.
    
    The Māori Representation Act 1867 give Maori the option of voting on the Maori roll. They could still vote in the general roll if they met the requirements of the time (eg. land ownership/renting).
    
    Some later law changes required full-blooded Maori to be on the Maori roll, but those of mixed heritage had an option. That lasted until the 1970s or such and all talk of doing away with the Maori roll has been resisted BY MAORI.
    
    Since the vast majority of Maori were probably mixed heritage since the early 1900s that was likely inconsequential.
    
    Putting all that aside, what really matters is what is happening now. We can’t change the past. We don’t live in the past. What should the system be for the future?
    
    Clearly the Maori Roll is an anachronism that should be done away with.
    
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    February 12, 2026 5:14pm
    - mike
      
      The key point is that the Māori electorates had much higher populations than European electorates.
      The irony is that a device to subordinate Māori votes to European has become a valuable tool for Māori self-determination. The Māori seats have an in-built mechanism for abolition; convince Māori voters to transfer to the general electoral role and the seats would disappear.
      
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      February 12, 2026 5:25pm
    - Chuck Bird
      
      “That lasted until the 1970s or such and all talk of doing away with the Maori roll has been resisted BY MAORI.”
      
      Bullshit. Where is your evidence?
      
      Winston Peters and David Seymour are opposed to the racist Maori seats.
      
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      February 13, 2026 7:30am
  - rouppe
    
    Source for that?
    
    My understanding is that there were very few eligible maori voters because so few owned land outright.
    
    The maori seats were an attempt to solve that problem.
    
    https://nzhistory.govt.nz/page/setting-maori-seats
    
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    February 12, 2026 9:51pm
greybeard

https://www.stuff.co.nz/world-news/360937425/terrace-collapses-under-unsuspecting-trio-china
“Made in China”.
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February 12, 2026 3:43pm
Maggy Wassilieff

Slavery in NZ, again

https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/360937451/former-prison-officer-turned-slavemaster-moeaia-tuai-jailed-more-16-years

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/slavemaster-moeaia-tuai-set-to-be-sentenced/TKSI2GGE3BBPXAR7N5EYVNPZXQ/
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February 12, 2026 4:42pm
- cmm
  
  Must have learned it from the colonialists…
  
  5 5
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  February 12, 2026 4:48pm
  - mandk
    
    Nah, it’s tikanga Maori.
    
    3 1
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    February 12, 2026 5:38pm
Swifty

TPM through their antics, absenteeism, theatrics, arrogance and disdain for the tikanga of Parliament over recent years have handed this opportunity to Winston on a plate.

A plate he now appears to have grasped with both hands. Winston clearly believes now is the time to strike, when public patience for the Tamihere circus is at an all time low.

The Tamihere/Maori Party has clearly forgotten basic science from school – for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

https://x.com/nzfirst/status/2021786065334575149?s=46

This will spice things up in this, an election year.
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February 12, 2026 6:20pm
Swifty

Open discussion of the seizure of power in France by Islam.

https://x.com/shariakill/status/2021471188330164477?s=46

No question of if, the only questions are how.
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February 12, 2026 6:48pm
NothingLeft

Mossad killed Robert Maxwell (according to Epstein), after he tried to extort 400 million pounds from them to shore up his failing empire. https://x.com/conspiracyb0t/status/2021694039440113698/photo/2
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February 12, 2026 8:49pm

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