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February 25, 2026 8:00am by Kokila Patel

General Debate 25 February 2026

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General Debate

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NeverMindTheBollocks

This is a great story of an iwi who want to partner with an energy company to produce “green” methanol via wind-driven electricity.

All power their arm, say I. Just so long as no taxpayer gifts are involved.

http://www.rnz.co.nz/news/ldr/587396/if-the-stars-align-boom-nga-wairiki-ngati-apa-bets-on-green-energy
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February 25, 2026 8:01am
- R
  
  Good to hear about an IWI that wants to contribute to the countries economy!
  
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  February 25, 2026 10:07am
  - Paulus
    
    With Taxpayer’s money of course !
    
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    February 25, 2026 1:40pm
- cmm
  
  “If the stars align, boom!”
  
  F’all to do with stars aligning. What does the physics say?
  
  “Our rohe is affected by hydro…” Never mind…
  
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  February 25, 2026 10:07am
- kowtow
  
  There’s nothing “clean” about those industrial windmills .
  
  They are an outrage on the visual landscape , not to mention bird munching, the coking coal to make the steel , the concrete foundations , roads for establishment and maintenance etc
  
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  February 25, 2026 10:32am
  - Flossie
    
    And disposal of those past their useful life.
    
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    February 25, 2026 11:13am
  - Paulus
    
    Once destroyed they are put into landfills as there is nothing to do with them once they have crashed – Worldwide problem I believe.
    
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    February 25, 2026 1:41pm
    - Michael Sommerville
      
      And worse than nuclear waste!
      
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      February 25, 2026 4:00pm
- rouppe
  
  Who is going to buy the methanol? At what price?
  
  What’s the bet that the government will buy it, at a severely inflated price compared to alternatives
  
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  February 25, 2026 12:44pm
- NZer In Exile
  
  Does the “green” Methanol plant need a reliable supply of baseload energy? Then all the “firming” expenses will need to be added to the bullshit headline.
  
  And of course, who actually pays (too much)? I think we know the answer.
  
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  February 25, 2026 4:31pm
NeverMindTheBollocks

A pod of dolphins were spotted gambolling off Miramar on Sunday. That well-known fan of personal choice, Mayor Andrew Little, has said that the South Coast sea is not unsafe to swim in.

Looks like all the talk of an environmental catastrophe that will set marine life back 40 years is just that – talk.
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February 25, 2026 8:01am
Chuck Bird

Latest political polling in Oz shows Pauline Hanson’s One Nation is doing very well.
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February 25, 2026 8:04am
- Wandering Star
  
  The Western publics are increasingly aware, explicitly or implicitly, of the core issues (chiefly, rapid demographic replacement), but unfortunately, the parties who they think will act in their interests (e.g. One Nation, Reform, Trump, Meloni in Italy, and nobody at all in New Zealand) do not have the kind of will and concrete plans and intentions to do anything about it if/once elected. People vote for these parties, but never get what they actually voted for.
  
  Mass immigration has gone from a somewhat fringe concern in the 90s when Hansen first came on the scene (when only those with intelligence and foresight could see where it would lead) but now its really the huge elephant in the room. As I observed yesterday, what is needed is the 90s version of a One Nation, not the pale imitation of 2026.
  
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  February 25, 2026 8:12am
  - KKNZ2025
    
    The global population increased by a third since 2000, the majority are looking for a better life anywhere
    
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    February 25, 2026 12:15pm
    - Wandering Star
      
      So what? I’m sure they are. But how does it follow that they must be allowed to live in countries that aren’t sh*t holes? They’re winning out of the deal, but we’re all starting to lose big time. Look at the state of Europe and North America, because that’s the trajectory.
      
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      February 25, 2026 3:17pm
  - David Garrett
    
    WS: Not sure why you got downticked for that entirely sensible comment…
    
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    February 25, 2026 1:06pm
    - Wandering Star
      
      Because it’s me saying it.
      
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      February 25, 2026 3:19pm
  - Sir Henry Morgan
    
    That’s why Restore Britain is going to win the next election.
    
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    February 25, 2026 5:17pm
- sungsamning
  
  Good news for One Nation is good news for Australia.
  
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  February 25, 2026 8:30am
Simon

National moving all the homeless out of Akl CDB is solid LatAM third world style governance. The homeless problem isn’t fixed or even addressed but you simply dump the undesirables elsewhere in a much lesser barrio.

In LatAM the police guard the key wealthy barrios from intrusion. With the police to guard Akl CBD from the homeless, to protect & promote the status of the key Akl CBD barrio.

If National could be honest with everyone and say yeah NZ is LatAM third world now but with parasitic levels of taxation of the productive. But well done National for recognising reality even if you can’t upset the boomers.
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February 25, 2026 8:05am
- greybeard
  
  Am I correct in assuming that most, if not all, of the “homeless” people living on the city streets in NZ would be receiving some sort of social welfare payouts from the Government ?
  
  If this is the case then surely a solution is to house them in dormitory-style accommodation on a week-by-week basis and deduct some of the costs from their welfare ?
  
  Would I also be correct in assuming that many of these “homeless” in fact have relatives elsewhere in the country and should be encouraged to return to their environment for support ?
  
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  February 25, 2026 10:24am
  - David Garrett
    
    grey: I would think you are correct on all points.
    
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    February 25, 2026 10:41am
    - Don Beckett
      
      I know a couple of “homeless” people in Tauranga who own their own homes – inherited from deceased parents.
      Its a life-style choice for many, including some that are mentally deficient, and most are affected by drugs that the welfare payment funds.
      
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      February 25, 2026 10:58am
      - G the giant from Dunedin
        
        Yes, we spoke to a Māori woman who pitched her tent outside our hotel at the top of Queen street 10 years s as go, we asked why fo you want to lie here, she told us she had her own mortgage free house in Auckland, but chose the street so she did not miss out on anything g. In her case she will be a millionaire, it’s crazy lunatic stuff, but it’s the facts that she told me
        
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        February 25, 2026 11:38am
  - G the giant from Dunedin
    
    Yes they get the dole, but before Clark you could not get the dole without an a fixed obode
    
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    February 25, 2026 11:35am
  - artemisia
    
    Good chance some, maybe most, are no longer welcomed by accommodation providers. If they did not abide by the rules, usually strict.
    
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    February 25, 2026 1:26pm
  - Paulus
    
    Sadly many are we are told have mental problems often created by Drugs and are sufficiently useless to do or understand anything done to try and help them.
    Who shut all the Mental Hospitals who could help in such things.
    Was it not Helen Clark ?
    
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    February 25, 2026 1:44pm
    - Ghost
      
      https://teara.govt.nz/en/mental-health-services/page-5
      
      it started much ealier than clark
      
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      February 25, 2026 1:49pm
  - Simon
    
    National’s LatAM third world style handing of the issue is the point. That is moving the “undesirables” from one location to another for no other purpose but to ensure on important area is clean. The homeless are being made to camp elsewhere in a less important area. In the total sum nothing has changed.
    
    It so happens that the clean area has the rail link which up and running is very useful for national election prospects. Hence the cleaning of one particular area for no other reason that it helps National. Its very third world.
    
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    February 25, 2026 2:29pm
  - sungsamning
    
    Substantially correct. Time to open mental hospitals for those who are addicted, or criminally insane.
    
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    February 25, 2026 2:39pm
- G the giant from Dunedin
  
  They are not moving them all out, stop the lies, they will move on civil disobedience, and pity they didn’t get rid of the lot
  
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  February 25, 2026 11:34am
greybeard

https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/360942768/builder-bankrupt-director-overseas-after-unpaid-debts-and-unhappy-customers

This week’s example of corruption and undesirability. The trend continues.
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February 25, 2026 8:09am
- Colville
  
  Any prize for guessing which country the shyster has fled to?
  
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  February 25, 2026 10:21am
- kowtow
  
  Cordial , till they fell out.
  
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  February 25, 2026 10:34am
artemisia

Immigration enforcement criticism is in the news – not only ICE but also New Zealand with (slightly) extended powers in the pipeline.

Immigration lawyer Alastair McClymont called it “a solution looking for a problem”, a “pretty small problem” he reckons based on something.

Immigration Minister Stanford disagrees also based on something, probably more comprehensive data than readily available to an immigration lawyer –

“We have a big overstayer problem, tens of thousands more than we suspected, and we have to arm [immigration officers] with the tools to be able to request information from people when they have a reasonable suspicion that they are in breach of their visa conditions.”

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/587825/immigration-officers-to-get-increased-powers-to-ask-suspected-overstayers-for-identification
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February 25, 2026 8:10am
- MCōs
  
  “We have a big overstayer problem, tens of thousands more than we suspected”
  I find that hard to believe without further elaboration
  People sign in when they come into the country check out when they leave. If they don’t leave when their visa expires the system knows and they are an overstayer.
  When I applied for the pension Immigration was able to give Winz a list of every time I’d entered and left the country including flight numbers at the push of a few keys.
  
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  February 25, 2026 8:34am
  - Nukuleka
    
    You appear to be somewhat naive. As anyone who had any association with the Pacific Islands, particularly Tonga, knows, overstaying visitor visas is and has been endemic.
    
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    February 25, 2026 8:51am
    - R
      
      Are the members of the Tongan Rugby team, who went into hiding, instead of departing NZ at the end of their TOUR still unaccounted for?
      
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      February 25, 2026 8:58am
      - trout
        
        re the Tongan U19 rugby team the comment by the immigration minister at the time went something like; ‘ we have deported the hooker but the winger is proving elusive’.
        The management held the team passports until check in but after handing them back half the team skedaddled.
        
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        February 25, 2026 10:37am
    - MCōs
      
      Maybe so, but Immigration should be able to easily figure out the numbers from their records of who enters and leaves.
      
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      February 25, 2026 9:11am
      - RoboRob
        
        Its more about finding the people who haven’t left. Thats the tricky part. These people may be working under the table and often wont have a fixed abode. If they do, there are often others living there. Who is who?
        
        Then of course there is the issue that the immigration department are absolutely, hoplessly, useless and generally uninterested in the hard stuff.
        
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        February 25, 2026 9:27am
      - MCōs
        
        Last year immigration figured there were about 21k overstayers, which, while it might annoy genuine immigrants is not a huge number and probably not worth spending megabucks to track down.
        It’s always a good minor political talking point to hit the Greens with — worth a few votes here and there
        https://www.immigration.govt.nz/about-us/news-centre/immigration-new-zealand-releases-2025-estimate-of-number-of-people-who-have-overstayed-their-visa/
        
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        February 25, 2026 9:40am
      - cmm
        
        When we have politicians tearfully apologising for applying the law (Dawn Raids etc) then we’re screwed.
        
        There is no way any laws will ever grow any teeth and be applied.
        
        As I already said, we don’t need more laws. We just need existing laws to be applied.
        
        Saying we need more laws is just a way of pretending there are insufficient laws and kicking the can down the road.
        
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        February 25, 2026 9:47am
      - cmm
        
        Finding overstays really isn’t hard if you want to do it:
        * Prosecute anyone that harbours an overstayer.
        * Prosecute anyone that employs one.
        * Immediately expel them. No ifs or buts.
        
        The trick is wanting to do it.
        
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        February 25, 2026 9:49am
      - RoboRob
        
        @MCōs
        
        21, 000 overstayers IS A HUGE number in a country like NZ. The minister is right, thats a major problem.
        
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        February 25, 2026 10:33am
      - MCōs
        
        It’s about 0.4% of the population. About a tenth of the number in America
        
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        February 25, 2026 11:12am
      - All_on_Red
        
        Specious and dumb comparison MCos
        21,000 people is the equivalent of Taupo
        Thats a lot
        
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        February 25, 2026 12:04pm
      - Charlotte Wells
        
        The total number may well be .04 of the total population but that is misleading, perhaps deliberately so.
        
        What is the actual age range? What are the mean, median and mode of all overstayers?
        
        How do they survive? If they are working illegally then they are depriving a New Zealander of a job.
        
        If they are receiving welfare in any form then they are taking taxpayers money that should go to New Zealanders.
        
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        February 25, 2026 1:05pm
      - Paulus
        
        Health Numbers are unique to everybody so they must help identify these people even if the change their names which they do in Porirua I am told by a local Doctor.
        
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        February 25, 2026 1:47pm
    - David Garrett
      
      Nuku: Good on you for admitting to that reality. I think Tongans have the highest rate of overstaying in NZ?
      
      As a segue, I would be interested in your view of what my half Tongan son said to me a while ago about “the unspoken truth” – his words – that as a rule, Islanders can’t handle the liquor.
      
      I’m sure you are aware that until about 1980 Tongans were not permitted to buy booze up here? I love telling uninformed young people who don’t know Tonga was never colonized that…
      
      They immediately go into a rave about “condescending (white) colonizers…blah blah blah..” I let them go for a bit and then tell them Tonga was never colonized by the Brits or anyone else. They then invariably reach for the phone and confirm what I have said…
      
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      February 25, 2026 10:50am
      - Charlotte Wells
        
        Interesting about Tongans and alcohol.
        
        Some ethnic groups do lack certain enzymes that make them more susceptible to the effects of alcohol.
        
        Asians have an ALDH2 deficiency and variants of the ADH enzyme can cause alcohol to break down faster or slower.
        
        With Tongans it would appear to be down to social and cultural factors.
        
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        February 25, 2026 4:30pm
  - artemisia
    
    You could ask. Probably depends on how defined and numbers may well include many non-citizens who were born here.
    
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    February 25, 2026 8:55am
    - MCōs
      
      Babies born in NZ pre 2006 are NZ citizens otherwise if their parents are non citizens they require a visa.
      I expect there are some that are not registered, but not thousands.
      
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      February 25, 2026 9:16am
      - artemisia
        
        Undocumented. Depends largely on how many offspring, including offspring of offspring. Family trees tend to the exponential.
        
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        February 25, 2026 9:36am
      - NeverMindTheBollocks
        
        I think you are out of touch with modern NZ, MCoS. 2006 is 20 years ago. There are any number of immigrant couples who will have a child here to help seal the deal. Consider the case of the young man who hit the headlines last year as someone who had left school but could not get a job or into tertiary education as he has no right to be here. At the time, the same Mr McClymont was opining that this young man was the first of a wave of such cases.
        
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        February 25, 2026 9:40am
      - David Garrett
        
        Art: You are quite right. My former mother-in-law, who is an absolutely delightful lady of 75, is a great-grandmother many times over, with several of her grandchildren reproducing before age 20.
        
        Family sizes have definitely decreased up here – I know several couples who have limited their family to two. The usual reason is financial – raising kids properly isn’t cheap – and there is no welfare up here.
        
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        February 25, 2026 11:00am
      - alwyn.a
        
        “Family trees tend to the exponential”.
        So?
        You do realise that the sequence 1, 0.5, 0.25, 0.125, 0.0625, … etc is also exponential don’t you?
        What are you really trying to say by your comment?
        
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        February 25, 2026 11:08am
      - comm4nder
        
        Sorry alwyn.a, the series you quote is geometric, NOT exponential.
        
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        February 25, 2026 12:59pm
- kowtow
  
  There’s a very simple solution.
  
  The govt will know which are the problem countries.
  
  Stop issuing visas to anyone from the problem countries.
  
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  February 25, 2026 8:38am
  - MCōs
    
    Refer to the article I posted above
    High on the list are China and America.
    Good luck not issuing visas to people from those countries.
    
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    February 25, 2026 11:08am
  - Paulus
    
    I wonder with our potential immigration changing how much longer Australia will give New Zealanders special entry – not much longer I suspect.
    We should make it harder and longer to get New Zealand passports.
    
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    February 25, 2026 1:51pm
- cmm
  
  We don’t have a problem with insufficient laws.
  We have a problem with insufficient enforcement.
  
  There is no point having huge discussions about tightening up laws if the laws are never applied.
  
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  February 25, 2026 9:18am
  - sirknz
    
    But tightening the laws gives the government more powers, they never take away their powers, only ever increase them.
    
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    February 25, 2026 9:23am
    - Quail
      
      SirkNZ.
      Extra power is obtained by increasing fines .
      Example is the Coalition Government doubling and more RMA environmental penalties .For some they could be in excess of one million dollars
      Don’t worry , the death penalty has not been reinstated — yet!
      And while some councils (eg Wellington water ) seem immune to fines they now have the power to bankrupt most individual ratepayers!
      
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      February 25, 2026 1:41pm
  - artemisia
    
    Part of the law change under way is about enforcement. For example, immigration turn up somewhere and there is a fast exodus of others. The idea is that will now be sufficient to request id. Seems reasonable and inexpensive.
    
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    February 25, 2026 11:13am
- Dudley Quaffquaff
  
  Stipulate that there is solid evidence that there are overstayers here.
  
  What is the evidence that this is a problem? Is there evidence that these people are fraudulently collecting benefits? Committing violent crime? Antisocial behaviour?
  
  All of these should be addressed whoever is doing them. What is the specific problem that finding and removing people, solely on the grounds that they are overstayers, would address – and what would be the cost of doing so?
  
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  February 25, 2026 12:41pm
Nukuleka

It was inevitable that there would be a budget blow- out with the rebuilding of Canterbury Museum, following on from similar blow-outs with the Library, Stadium, Convention Centre and Metro Sports Facility. Not to mention the mothballing of the reconstruction of Christ Church Cathedral. The sad thing about the Museum is that it was such a perfectly formed, beautifully presented and successful museum before those decision- makers decided it needed to be gutted and essentially reconstructed, putting it out of action for 5 years at ever- ballooning costs.

Why is it that NZ has champagne tastes when it has only a beer budget?
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February 25, 2026 8:19am
- Tomtoddy
  
  Why is there also now an entrenched culture that if you are the construction company doing work funded by central and local government you can just put your hand out when 80% finished and gouge extra payments turning a modestly budgeted job into a luxury rewarded opportunity?
  
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  February 25, 2026 8:24am
  - imalwaysright
    
    All contracts paid with Public money should be published.
    
    Commercial sensitivity is fine in the private sector, but if someone wants Public money the Public deserve to know how much and for what.
    
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    February 25, 2026 8:49am
  - Quail
    
    [email protected] am
    This is the just local government play book and has been so for many years.
    Get the job started with a reasonable( acceptable to ratepayers) budget, and then keep adding the extras to create the outcome they always wanted!
    Once started the job will/can not stop!
    This is just how NZ bureaucracy works and there is precious little elected politicians can do about it!
    
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    February 25, 2026 9:16am
    - artemisia
      
      Scope creep not managed, or even noticed as people come and go from a project. Not sure ‘çreep’ is accurate. Scope bullrush?
      
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      February 25, 2026 11:08am
  - RoboRob
    
    Becuase thats the ‘secret’ agreement between major builders and councils. To get voter sign off the project needs to be ‘cheap’. Once the job is started you can have 3-4 ‘blow outs’ that move the cost to what it really should have been in the first place. Just add ~ 1/3 to the quoted cost to get an idea of how much something will cost. Becuase the project is already started the voters have to suck it up. Oh and its worse when something is underquoted AND has real cost over runs !
    
    The builders know this, the council knows this and many voters know it. Left or right, both sides do it. Hell even the ‘right’ wing National party are doing this with their new medical school. Just wait for the cost blowouts on that one.
    
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    February 25, 2026 9:32am
    - MCōs
      
      A good example of that is the Sydney Opera House, which would never have happened if the true cost had been known at the start.
      As it was the State Government knew it had to proceed before the design was complete because the Opposition would halt the project if the Government changed before a point of no return.
      Consequently the foundations were a shambles and things only got worse
      It took 14yrs with 1,400% cost overrun, but it’s now one of the great world landmarks
      If it was built without political interference it would have been much closer to a realistic tender price.
      
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      February 25, 2026 3:16pm
- Philview
  
  I read an article that the lovely old settlor street inside the museum had become a trigger point for cultural marxists who felt it represented the annexation of “Aotearoa” by colonialists. I had a lot of fun taking my children there so was annoyed by that sort of leftish political sentiment.
  
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  February 25, 2026 8:31am
- R
  
  SOCIALISM..the consequences of such!
  
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  February 25, 2026 9:00am
- KKNZ2025
  
  $205M to $262M – less than 30%
  Peanuts…
  If they want to be world class project managers Christchurch still has a lot to learn from Wellington- $200M to $500+M 250%
  
  https://www.thepost.co.nz/politics/360946704/banging-together-inside-story-wellingtons-511m-wastewater-blowout
  
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  February 25, 2026 9:03am
  - judith8409121
    
    who said thats the end of it? When dealing with the government you never blow out to the full amount – softly softly gets you the most. Start by costing low, then, when its impossible for them to drop you you add on costs, additions and overruns – rinse and repeat – sooner or later they will have caused that massive blowouts that wellingtonians are so used to
    
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    February 25, 2026 1:03pm
Pope Punctilious II

Bryce Edwards puts a well-aimed boot into the NZ parliament house clerk’s decision to leave X: https://www.democracyproject.org.nz/p/democracy-briefing-the-questionable?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
So much for the institutional “neutrality” of the public service.
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February 25, 2026 8:23am
sungsamning

Socialism works great – until you finally run out of other people’s money. Then you descend into tyranny, economic depression, and starvation.
Bolivia would do well to build a sovereign wealth fund like Norway, and assure that the benefits of all this new revenue is used to rebuild kits infrastructure, housing improvements, and standard of living. [Now, they’re giving capitalism a go. Its not the most stable country in Latin America. The CCP is not amused. ]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOWEyDRrnig
Bolivia: From Socialism to Capitalism in Just a Few Weeks | VisualPolitik EN.
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February 25, 2026 8:27am
sungsamning

Buried inside millions of DOJ pages is a chilling playbook for how Wall Street learned to enter Zhongnanhai. This episode unpacks emails showing how Jeffrey Epstein coached top bankers to master “guanxi,” flatter CCP power brokers, and build backchannels into China’s inner court. [Western finance and Chinas political elite had common interests. The children of the CCPs elite benefited with access to US universities. Hookers, cash, and gold bars were unimportant. Both sides were locked together.]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_ucjmv7sVg
Epstein’s Backchannel: The Secret Pipeline Between Wall Street and Beijing.
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February 25, 2026 8:28am
BarryB

For those who think terrible things are happening in Ukraine (or The Ukraine) I suggest that you have a look one or both of these two videos.
They show the border history of Europe over the last 1000 years or since 400BC.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjWVFZ5e_vo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UY9P0QSxlnI

Concentrate on the date of 1840 and there after to see how much Europe has changed since the Treaty was signed. Many of Europe’s countries didn’t exist when New Zealand effectively came into existence.
Looking at the total scope of Europes history the Ukraine situation is just another of the hundreds of conflicts that have been part of Europe for decades.

A fascinating series of videos on all sorts of history can be found by looking for Dr. Roy Casagranda on youtube. Also look for ‘Office hours with Dr Roy.’ His memory for historical detail is astounding – better than a memory stick !
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February 25, 2026 8:31am
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  Pre Bismarck, Germany was then a collection of 50+ mini states (pre Napoleon there were many more), while Italy was still in its pre Garibaldi stage in 1840.
  
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  February 25, 2026 10:37am
  - Cassandra
    
    350.
    
    2 0
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    February 25, 2026 12:14pm
Tomtoddy

This could be a controversial observation, and I am conscious that two swallows don’t make a summer, but I have made two return flights from Australia – Sydney and Brisbane – to Auckland on a Friday in the last couple of months.

On both flights the front 8 rows or so were almost all Māori passengers. These are priority seats for Elite or Gold card holders – regular flyers. On the Brisbane flight there was only two obviously non-Māori pax. Some clearly knew each other.

Are these the people downtrodden and adversely affected by colonialism?
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February 25, 2026 8:34am
- pdm
  
  Maybe all of the waka’s were fully booked TT.
  
  The colonial flying machine was the only way home.
  
  28 3
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  February 25, 2026 9:12am
  - David Garrett
    
    pdm: You mean the sky-waka.
    
    8 2
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    February 25, 2026 11:06am
  - Don Beckett
    
    But a plane is a waka – waka manu – a bird canoe – or flying boat. Sunderland maybe?
    
    7 1
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    February 25, 2026 11:11am
- cmm
  
  I’m picking that most of those were using taxpayer funded NGO travel budgets.
  
  27 1
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  February 25, 2026 9:19am
- MCōs
  
  Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
  Why didn’t you ask them why they weren’t down the back of the plane so whitey could have the good seats?
  
  7 40
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  February 25, 2026 9:27am
  - leoj
    
    Politeness.
    
    12 2
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    February 25, 2026 9:40am
  - Libertarians are right
    
    You realise that as racist as your statement is, the opposite seems true in this case?
    
    13 1
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    February 25, 2026 10:20am
- rouppe
  
  It’ll all be iwi settlement trust business. Sorry, charity work 🤢
  
  4 0
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  February 25, 2026 3:25pm
imalwaysright

Googled “what is Maori Data Sovereignty?”

‘Māori data sovereignty is the inherent right of Māori to exercise control over data about or from Māori people, language, culture, resources, and environments. It is rooted in Te Tiriti o Waitangi…’

At least one Government department, NZTA, specified MDS in job applications.

Does this mean that anything Maori can now be censored or manipulated by anyone Maori?
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February 25, 2026 9:01am
- RoboRob
  
  Thats BS. MDS certainly isnt rooted in the treaty. Google is just repeating what it has picked up from all the govt departments / not for profits.
  
  All NZers have some right to privacy. The treaty says that Maori get those exact same rights. There is no need to make up fancy titles and agencies to describe the Maori version of privacy. Unless of course our National led government believes Maori should have additional rights? Assuming, and thats a big assumption, that they dont, this stuff should have been gone 2 years ago.
  
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  February 25, 2026 10:41am
  - imalwaysright
    
    “Google is just repeating what it has picked up from all the govt departments / not for profits.”
    
    Correct, and that’s how every new grift starts.
    It gets mentioned in passing as just another minor term that will never become a policy or a protocol until it becomes policy.
    
    This is a big deal as it will become the basis of a political movement that can never be questioned or held to account.
    
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    February 25, 2026 10:58am
- judith8409121
  
  its amazing that maori had data rights so far back that they can expect the treaty of waitangi to endorse them even today – who wodda thought?
  
  7 1
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  February 25, 2026 1:05pm
- westernScientist
  
  it is already government policy:
  https://data.govt.nz/leadership/centre-for-data-ethics-and-innovation/guidance/maori-data-and-ai-guidance-for-business
  https://data.govt.nz/toolkit/data-governance/maori
  
  It is pretty wide reaching
  
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  February 25, 2026 1:08pm
wisteria

The following were true Educationists who had had years of being in the Education Service in New Zealand. They understood both the process of being a pupil and a teacher. We seem now to have Unionists or other people taking the role who are administrators.

Bill Renwick – Director-General of Education before the Picot reforms broke up the old Department of Education (served through much of the 1970s and 1980s).

C. E. Beeby – Director of Education (from 1940; one of the most influential educational leaders in New Zealand history).
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February 25, 2026 9:23am
RoboRob

Hearing the power companies post their increased profits and commenting on further power rises this year I wondered….

If Solar and Wind are the cheapest sources of power and we are replacing ‘expensive’ power with these sources. Why are power bills rising?

It’s the money ball question. ‘If x is a good batter, why cant he hit?’

p.s. it’s three years in and National have no results around getting power prices under control. Yes they have announced legislation tweeks. I am talking about actual results. Are power prices rising more or less then 4 years ago? I would say its, no better or worse.
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February 25, 2026 9:36am
- imalwaysright
  
  The Ardern regime boiled the frogs, Luxon is lightly poaching them.
  
  10 0
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  February 25, 2026 9:46am
- G the giant from Dunedin
  
  Yet today they are saying door power prices for 27-28 have dropped $15 so far thanks to reactors generation and the LNG installation, so you may have spoken too soon.
  
  But that clown Hipkins is going to cancel the project even though it will be started
  
  4 1
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  February 25, 2026 9:47am
  - RoboRob
    
    Nope I haven’t. You are talking the wholesale price. I am talking about the cost to consumers, what really matters, and that continues to rise. Genesis has apparently just increased some rates by 10-20 percent.
    
    I dont know what reactors or LNG installation you are talking about? We dont allow Nuclear reactors here and a new LNG port is still on the drawing board (after almost 3 years or urgent National action) with no on the ground activity.
    
    Hipkins is a clown. But he wont be cancelling a started project. Not a single shovel will touch soil before the election.
    
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    February 25, 2026 10:44am
    - G the giant from Dunedin
      
      The wholesale price leads to the price consumers are charged ffs
      
      1 4
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      February 25, 2026 11:42am
      - RoboRob
        
        Say ffs doesnt prove your argument. The wholesale price dropped by 15% late last year. Did the price to residential consumers go down. No becuase those prices are ‘locked’ and independant of the current wholesale rate. Yes, the wholesale rate will determine future resitential unit prices but they NEVER go down.
        
        It is also a fact that while wholesale rates are down, power companies are still putting up residentail retail prices this year. Obviously the price that consumers pay is the most important thing to consumers.
        
        I dont know what it is you dont understand.
        
        You know that you dont have to defend National for everything, right? I like the National policy on education (and other things), that doesn’t mean that their energy policy is any good.
        
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        February 25, 2026 1:22pm
- kowtow
  
  There’s an interesting article in today’s ODT about these swinging power price rises .
  
  Behind paywall .
  
  Lines cos putting up prices as are generaters.
  
  ‘Generators are also pushing up costs, saying it is more expensive to produce electricity.’
  
  And get this from the Commerce Commission who set the line charges prices;
  
  “When setting this change, the commission aimed to balance keeping electricity affordable with the need to continue investing in the network to support growth and new technologies that help customers manage their energy use,” the spokesperson said.’
  
  I reckon we’re being reemed out to pay for all this wunnerful “green” or “new reliable” power sources. For the non existent climate catastrophe /Paris bollocks.
  
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  February 25, 2026 10:48am
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  Look first to Tanspower and the Lines company charges, before looking at the price of power itself.
  
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  February 25, 2026 11:18am
- KKNZ2025
  
  Who is the 51% shareholder?
  
  Exactly.
  
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  February 25, 2026 12:22pm
- [email protected]
  
  The higher power prices get the more people will put solar panels on their roof. Once installed solar is there for 25+ years so power companies are shooting themselves in the foot.
  
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  February 26, 2026 4:15am
leoj

Hosking is correct about Leavitt, Trump’s communications supremo.
She is brilliant.
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February 25, 2026 9:39am
- Philview
  
  I agree, she sometimes has an almighty comms mess to clean up given the President’s habit of firing off random messages in the middle of the night, but she always seems to be on top of it all.
  
  8 3
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  February 25, 2026 11:10am
- [email protected]
  
  And good looking. A women with a brain.
  
  4 1
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  February 25, 2026 1:42pm
cmm

Nia Glassie murderer didn’t make parole and has to wait until next year when his 17 year stint will be up.

Maybe he should have waited until 2025 to commit his crime. He’d have ended up with a bit of home D.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/rotorua-daily-post/news/parole-board-keeps-nia-glassie-murderer-wiremu-curtis-behind-bars/CHYC6AYKORAJBPFDZKZF5BPLAY/
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February 25, 2026 10:02am
- imalwaysright
  
  Article -‘Among the other abuse she suffered was being put over a burning fire, thrown at walls and dropped from heights.
  When the Curtis brothers were using Nia to practise wrestling moves, she was fatally kicked in the head.’
  
  ‘3-year-old Nia died after months of abuse and torture, including being put in a dryer set to hot and spun on a clothesline until she fell off.’
  
  ‘Two others, Oriwa Kemp and Michael Pearson, were convicted and jailed for assaulting Nia.’
  
  Four scumbags and a scumbag mother beat, tortured and killed a 3 year old girl.
  
  In a civilised society these scum would be dead.
  
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  February 25, 2026 10:34am
  - Philview
    
    It is hard to hear what they did to her and sadly she is one of many.
    
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    February 25, 2026 11:13am
- MCōs
  
  They have been sentenced to life in prison
  Their stint is never up
  
  4 9
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  February 25, 2026 11:17am
  - All_on_Red
    
    Please provide a citation showing they got Life without Parole.
    Otherwise they will be out eventually.
    
    10 3
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    February 25, 2026 12:08pm
    - MCōs
      
      They didn’t get sentenced to life without parole, but their stint is never up because they can be recalled to prison at any time if they break parole conditions
      And that’s the was it should be.
      They have a minimum parole period, but some inmates are locked up way longer than that.
      
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      February 25, 2026 2:37pm
Swifty

Now, before anyone overreacts, just remember this has got absolutely nothing to do with Islam.

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/587866/gay-and-bisexual-sydney-teenagers-lured-and-bashed-on-camera-in-is-inspired-attacks

Bigots.
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February 25, 2026 10:23am
- kowtow
  
  Fully expect the Queers for Gaza mob to strongly condemn . Not.
  
  13 3
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  February 25, 2026 10:49am
- Tarquin North
  
  Send it to Chloe and watch her break dancing on head of a pin.
  
  16 2
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  February 25, 2026 10:52am
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  “Five teenagers have so far been convicted over the bashings”
  
  Teenagers. Words fail me, in the same way that the Aussie education system failed these kids.
  
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  February 25, 2026 6:48pm
I remember when

Bob Edlin: Epstein files, duty and service tp the public…. Breaking Views.
“The royal family represents the apex of a heregity class system that sits uneasily with Aotearoa’s egalitarian values.”

Do 18% of New Zealand’s population agree?
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February 25, 2026 11:25am
Swifty

Labour MPs again dodging and weaving when it comes to stating how they’ll pay for their $10-12 Billion in pay equity claims in the first four years alone.

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/587875/pay-equity-backlash-is-hyperbole-finance-minister-says

I don’t think they’ve got a plan.

And let’s not forget that this will come on top of a similar figure for ‘fair pay’ agreements.

NZ families are going to get screwed, in their taxes and at the till.
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February 25, 2026 11:27am
- imalwaysright
  
  Didn’t they blow $12 billion selling and buying Government bonds to finance the Ardern regime?
  
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  February 25, 2026 12:39pm
- sirknz
  
  Tax everybody on their unrealised gains, obviously…
  
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  February 25, 2026 12:59pm
  - Swifty
    
    Wouldn’t put it past them.
    
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    February 25, 2026 3:30pm
Jack5

The Auckland firm sanctioned in the UK for providing insurance for “dark fleet” tankers carrying oil against sanctions, took $US108,518,999 in insurance revenue for 2024. After costs such as re-insurance, the documents show a profit for 2024 of $US15,533,279. Net cash inflow for the year was $US26,176,651.

The owner is Maritime Mutual Association Ltd, of Gibraltar.

The directors of the NZ registered firm are: John Hart (Auckland), Julian Lister (Hong Kong), Stephen Murphy (South Africa), and Paul Rankin (Guernsey).

The directors listed in the 2024 accounts also include Athena Ellis (Christchurch) and Stephen Bereaux (Switzerland).

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/uk-sanctions-new-zealand-based-marine-insurer-maritime-mutual-after-reported-links-to-iran-and-russian-oil-shipments/HB2VIYAWJRBCTMS6FFFEZFGQNE/
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February 25, 2026 12:04pm
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  Is that the former rugby coach John Hart?
  
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  February 25, 2026 6:49pm
  - Jack5
    
    Maritime Mutual Insurance Association (NZ) Ltd:
    
    The Companies Register tonight shows that “John Wilson Hart,” of Epsom, Auckland, stopped being a director of the company today, 25 February.
    
    He had been a director since June, 2009.
    
    The Athena Ellis mentioned above stopped being a director of the company two weeks ago, 12 February.
    
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    February 25, 2026 11:02pm
Swifty

“Can a woman have a penis?”

Just listen to the gaslighting and manipulative language in the response.

https://x.com/jomickane/status/2026009261659042166?s=46

“Punching down” is a good and recent one. It’s purely as assertion designed to shut people up.

“You can’t say that, it’s punching down…”

When I was young the left championed free speech and free and open enquiry.

Seems they are the opposite these days. They’ve become the fascists.
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February 25, 2026 12:47pm
- Jack5
  
  Re “punching down”
  
  Perhaps this is the source of the expression:
  
  ‘Linguist Ben Zimmer has traced the earliest known usages of the phrases “punching up” and “punching down” to mid-20th century sports writers who used them literally to describe boxers punching above or below their weight class’.
  
  Since then there’s been the “punching up v. punching down” theory of comedy.
  
  Jamie Paul, at the site America Dreaming, says that since then the terms have lost virtually all literal meaning, merging with critical-theory-inspired social justice thinking and the meaning “anyone who takes a shot at someone more/less powerful than themselves.”
  
  https://americandreaming.substack.com/p/george-carlin-and-the-truth-about
  
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  February 25, 2026 1:41pm
  - Swifty
    
    It’s the same as the recent trend that some claim “if you aren’t a woman you can’t comment” or, on Maori issues “you can’t comment because you’re not Maori, shit up pakeha.”
    
    I’ve seen it quite a lot.
    
    All designed to shut people up.
    
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    February 25, 2026 3:29pm
    - Swifty
      
      *shut up
      
      1 0
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      February 25, 2026 4:15pm
Swifty

🎼 Free Peter Mandelson…🎶

https://x.com/crewkernegaz/status/2026338465772642780?s=46
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February 25, 2026 12:55pm
- sungsamning
  
  Oh, them again. I get a couple in my YT feed every day. They’re pretty entertaining. Thanks for posting.
  
  2 1
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  February 25, 2026 2:58pm
  - Swifty
    
    Some of them are a lot better than others.
    
    But some here might get a giggle.
    
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    February 25, 2026 4:14pm
  - Swifty
    
    This is quite a good one.
    
    Islam in Afghanistan.
    
    https://x.com/trobinsonnewera/status/2026454227682300396?s=46
    
    1 1
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    February 25, 2026 4:52pm
sirknz

This was a harrowing read but the guy who stabbed the woman on the bus in Auckland back in 2024 has pleaded guilty.

I wonder how long his home detention will be after the discounts are applied for his early guilty plea, his obvious tough upbringing, his drug dependency issues, and nobody ever teaching him right from wrong.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/crime/auckland-bus-murder-kael-leona-pleads-guilty-to-killing-bernice-marychurch-in-onehunga/OICU4YTDO5BATN7VDQCZF2HKBY/
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February 25, 2026 12:58pm
- Ian
  
  Sadly, if not for drugs. “Both had met outside a Woolworths grocery store in Onehunga around 8.15am before boarding a bus together to Panmure, where they both went looking to purchase methamphetamine. When that effort was unsuccessful, they were able to find and consume methamphetamine in Point England, the agreed summary of facts states.”
  
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  February 25, 2026 1:50pm
Swifty

A quite prescient skit from SNL from back in the 80s apparently.

https://x.com/dennyburk/status/2026427751092167030?s=46

Re: trans and sex changes etc.
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February 25, 2026 4:12pm
Swifty

“One of the sad signs of our times is that we have demonized those who produce, subsidized those who refuse to produce, and canonized those who complain.” Thomas Sowell.

There’s some truth to that.
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February 25, 2026 4:34pm
Chuck Bird

Trump claims that other countries pay the tarriffs whereas US importers pay the tarriffs and his supporters believe his BS.
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February 25, 2026 4:52pm
greybeard

https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/360943179/auckland-train-lines-delayed-due-emergency-services-incident

https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/360943573/confusion-operational-error-impacts-trains-wellington

Could this be some sort of anti-rail plot ?
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February 25, 2026 7:55pm
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  If only
  
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  February 25, 2026 8:04pm

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