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March 14, 2026 8:00am by Kokila Patel

General Debate 14 March 2026

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peterwn

“Datagrid secures approval for New Zealand’s first AI factory in Southland”
https://w.media/datagrid-secures-approval-for-new-zealands-first-ai-factory-in-southland/

(this is the best I can do – BusinessDesk, The Press, ODT etc has paywalled the story)

This is a proposal for a vast data centre in Southland which will be linked by cable to Australia. My interest is in the electric supply arrangements. Its initial load is envisaged to be 280MW which would make it NZ’s second largest power customer after Tiwai smelter and this could increase to 1000MW in due course (rather surprisingly, the size of data centres is measured in MW rather than some technical computing capacity term).
The issue is whether they and similar customers have a ‘right to supply’. Historically virtually all customers had a right or virtual right to receive supply, indeed the Government wanted to foster major industry to reduce dependence on imports so those proposing major projects could take for granted that an electricity supply would be available. The Tiwai smelter was a historic exception to some extent, its promoters originally planned to build Manapouri and transmission to Tiwai. They then changed their mind and the Government had to pick up these works to keep the project alive.
Small to medium customers have a right of supply (whether by legislation or the potential threat of legislation). There was a brief period following the Bradford reforms and during a power shortage where new or relocating domestic customers face difficulty with obtaining supply but it quickly became apparent to the power companies that this was potentially political.
As the power situation is currently tight, some people may be thinking that new major customers like data centres could come on the scene and would automatically be granted supply. However this is not really the case. Datagrid seems to be understand that that it has no automatic right of supply and has to negotiate supply contracts with existing gentailers or even look at arranging its own generation of power.
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March 14, 2026 8:00am
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  Wait for Lefties to agitate against dirty aluminium production in favour of clean data centre powering.
  
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  March 14, 2026 8:05am
  - Master Mariner
    
    Aluminium Prices are rocketing World wide due to Gas Shortages.
    As are fertiliser prices.
    Wonder why //
    
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    March 14, 2026 10:04am
    - Don Beckett
      
      I’m okay, I make my own compost. 🙂
      
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      March 14, 2026 11:45am
  - Phronesis
    
    The southland data centre idea has been around since before most people had heard of data centres. It exists pretty much as an answer to the question of what will southland do with the power from manapouri if Tiwai closes. Tiwai has been closing for years, in order to keep getting absurdly cheap power, they keep threatening to leave. Having a plausible replacement use for the power is therefore a useful negotiating tactic by the power company. I believe moving that power north is not likely to ever be feasible.
    
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    March 14, 2026 12:48pm
    - AitchW
      
      The problem with Tiwai closure is that it employs somewhere around 500 Southlanders. Tops have to wonder where they go if the smelter closes. A lot of them would have a pretty specific set of skills..
      
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      March 14, 2026 5:56pm
- Burtland
  
  a “factory” to exploit cheap NZ power for the benefit of Australia
  
  Thought any excess from Manapouri was going to go to baseload capacity – maybe the cable to Australia includes a power cable
  
  Continues to add pressure to the home consumer to keep paying for more grid builds – hey comcom was that why you raised prices for grid reinforcement
  
  “We extend our sincere gratitude – ngā mihi nui – to the iwi, landowners, local councils” – CEO Datagrid
  
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  March 14, 2026 8:30am
- Dudley Quaffquaff
  
  TLDR version: the issue is something that is not in fact an issue
  
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  March 14, 2026 8:31am
- MCōs
  
  According to Transpower’s live data info 1000MW would represent approximately the entire geothermal generation output right now.
  It looks like about 5000MW is the average amount of power generated during the daytime.
  What does NZ get in return for providing access to all this, presumably uninterrupted, supply of electricity?
  
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  March 14, 2026 8:33am
  - Master Mariner
    
    “What does NZ get in return for providing access to all this, presumably uninterrupted, supply of electricity?”
    SFA would be my Guess apart from construction jobs.
    There was a reason the “Annointed One” had secretive meetings with the likes of Blackrock, Amazon etc.
    Treasonous or “useful Idiot”, Take your pick.
    
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    March 14, 2026 8:39am
  - RoboRob
    
    If we want NZ to succeed in modern business we want data centers. This is the new economic power house. We want the facilities and the tax revenue and the jobs.l (55 full time roles at this plant) .
    
    To get all of this we need energy infrastructure and supply. Labour fucked us with Megan and Jacindas anti energy policies. People are moving from gas to electricity as supply dies. Nationals Watts has sat on his hands for the last 2.5 years too.
    
    It is great that we are getting a data center. Hopefully the additional demand can be met by the construction of additional generation. In other countries SMR is one of the sources but through Watts inaction the legislation for that is too far away. In Invercargill we might be talking either geothermal or .. . Coal!
    
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    March 14, 2026 8:44am
    - Maggy Wassilieff
      
      Coal!
      
      Oh no, the C word…
      
      Let’s use lignite
      
      Lignite is New Zealand’s largest fossil fuel energy resource. The main deposits are well known, with technically and economically recoverable quantities in the 10 largest deposits established at over six billion tonnes.
      
      https://www.nzpam.govt.nz/nz-industry/nz-minerals/resources-potential
      
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      March 14, 2026 9:01am
      - Notsofast
        
        It seems odd that technology has yet to find a way to extract that energy without pollution.
        
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        March 14, 2026 9:03am
      - Jack5
        
        Lets hope Southland isn’t taken for a ride on this datagrid project.
        
        First, where is the power going to come from? This sounds to be alumininum-smelter scale consumption.
        
        Second, who is making the proposal?
        
        Datagrid Pte Ltd, the promoter, is a six-year-old private company in Singapore. A business web site says Datagrid’s principal activity is information technology consultancy (except cybersecurity). It adds the firm’s secondary activity is “other information technology and computer service activities (e.g. disaster recovery services).
        
        Datagrid’s office is in the Meralodge building, where four other small firms are listed as being “cancelled or struck off”: Homenis & Staffon Enterprise, Brawn Glosubs Turnkey Solutions Pte Ltd,
        MIS Management & Consultancy, and H&C Ventures Pte Ltd.
        
        There’s no indication Datagrid is linked with these, but it doesn’t seem to have a impressive business neighbours.
        
        Singapore is a booming capitalist city-state, but it has its share of tiny firms. An example, the outfit that does the handling for the shipping register based in the NZ island of Niue.
        
        Southlanders, with a tradition for entrepreneurship are honest folk, but could do with a little more scepticism.
        
        It’s not so long ago that a community- financed organisation promoted an oat-based industry for the region. More than a century ago, Southland and east Otago had a thriving trade in supplying horse-fuel oats to Melbourne. The region’s oats had the reputation of being a sort of high-octane fuel for the big draught horses that were the truck engines of the day. From sealing and whaling days, through to the Otago gold rush, the far south of NZ had strong links with Victoria and Tasmania.
        
        Sadly, the attempt to revive Southland’s oat industry led to a private partner moving the location to Canterbury, with the oats to be trucked north.
        
        Oats processing continues in east Otago, with a long-standing processor for the NZ consumer market. Otago has other potential oats business, too. But the Southland idea went further north.
        
        Some of the information for this post on Datagrid came from a southern online local news outlet, the Southland Tribune. run by Logan Savory ([email protected]).
        
        Perhaps also of interest: the Niue shipping register run from Singapore:
        https://niueship.com/
        
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        March 14, 2026 9:04am
      - David Garrett
        
        Maggy: lignite is the low grade dirty stuff, right?
        
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        March 14, 2026 9:15am
      - Im Right
        
        C’mon Maggy, you know mining is an anathema to the left, but importing a few hundred million tons of coal from Indonesia is perfectly fine.
        Mining is acceptable when you can’t see the actual mining.
        Must be good exercise, with all that mental gymnastics, being a lefty.
        
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        March 14, 2026 9:24am
      - Maggy Wassilieff
        
        @DG
        
        Well, yes….but it’s never stopped Germany, Russia, China, USA, Australia, Poland, etc, etc from developing their lignite fields
        
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        March 14, 2026 9:24am
      - Master Mariner
        
        Lignite is a perfect fuel for Coal to gas/Liquid. CTG and CTL plant would be a perfect solution to NZ energy security, At t least warrants further analysis etc.
        Bugger Data centres and use Southland hydro to help power a processing plant.
        
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U94Dz8ORxWw
        
        The History of Sasol: South Africa’s Energy Giant
        
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        March 14, 2026 9:29am
      - Paulus
        
        Are not Lignite largest supplies in Southland ?
        
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        March 14, 2026 10:10am
      - Jack5
        
        Lignite fires have a distinct smell that I remember from clear, frosty winter nights in southern Southland long ago.
        
        Homes would typically have at least one big open home fireplace.
        
        Country Southlanders would typically burn wood and ordinary coal for the warmth and flicker, but would place under them a block or two of lignite. This burned slowly. It kept a fire alive until late, even until morning.
        
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        March 14, 2026 11:24am
      - Jethrod
        
        Absolutely Southland has a bit of lignite…… 6254.4 million tons, give or take recoverable lignite.!
        
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        March 14, 2026 2:59pm
    - KKNZ2025
      
      Raise Manapouri
      
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      March 14, 2026 9:16am
    - Sparrow
      
      ” It is great we are getting a data centre”
      Question: Why ?
      
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      March 14, 2026 9:19am
      - Master Mariner
        
        Cheap Renewable energy would be my guess and some mixed messaging about us being 12 hrs behind Europe etc.
        Meanwhile the Greens in Germany that help close down there Nuclear power plants are now actively promoting it.
        EU President has now stated the obvious that this was Germany’s biggest mistake.
        You could not make this up!
        
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        March 14, 2026 9:40am
      - Flossie
        
        Sorry Master. What does us being 12 hours behind Europe mean?
        
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        March 14, 2026 9:56am
      - Master Mariner
        
        @Flossie,
        To be honest I am not sure but being 12 +/- hours behind Europe allows ours to run while the World is sleeping.
        A little unsure t be honest but can remember something similar statement being “peddled” previously.
        Update, Asked Grok AI
        Here are the main ways this time zone offset can create value:
        
        Follow-the-sun operations / 24/7 coverage with handoffs
        When a US-based company (or team in the Americas/Europe) finishes their workday, the New Zealand team or operations can pick up immediately — it’s morning/start of day in NZ.
        This enables near-continuous human-supported monitoring, incident response, support, maintenance windows, or DevOps/security operations without overnight on-call burdens in the primary timezone.
        It’s similar to how outsourcing to India/Philippines gives US firms overnight progress; NZ can play the same role but with closer cultural alignment to Western countries, English as primary language, and very high political/legal stability.
        Staggered development, testing, and batch workloads
        Non-real-time workloads (e.g., overnight batch processing, large data analytics runs, AI model fine-tuning, backup replication, or software builds/tests) can run during NZ daytime — which is US nighttime — utilising off-peak power pricing in some cases and avoiding peak-hour contention on shared global cloud resources.
        Disaster recovery (DR) and geo-redundancy
        Being physically and temporally distant from North America reduces the chance that a regional catastrophe (e.g., major earthquake on the US West Coast, widespread power grid event, or even a large-scale cyber incident) affects both primary and backup sites simultaneously.
        The ~12-hour offset means NZ staff can respond during their normal working hours while the US is asleep (or vice versa), speeding up recovery coordination.
        
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        March 14, 2026 10:11am
      - Jack5
        
        Flossie, the skipper’s talking about time zones.
        
        For example, as I type this it’s 10.52am Saturday in NZ, but in London it’s 9.52pm Friday.
        
        We’re 13 hours ahead of London at the moment. Summer time adjustments complicate differences between the zones.
        
        Europe has four time zones. The biggest spread, however, is Russia, which has 11. The farthest east of Russia’s time zones is the same as New Zealand’s, excluding our current summer daylight time adjustment of one hour.
        
        [Mod – fixed]
        
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        March 14, 2026 10:59am
    - imalwaysright
      
      “We want the facilities and the tax revenue and the jobs.l (55 full time roles at this plant) .”
      
      Then why don’t we build 10, 100, 1000 more?
      
      We are in an energy crisis yet some think its a good idea to turn ourselves into a carpark for buildings that use more energy than an average town in order to store 1’s and 0’s for overseas companies?
      
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      March 14, 2026 10:17am
      - gravedodger
        
        This is not to imalaysright but that is the next post available as others only have “report”
        I wonder why the NZ time zone is desirable for 24 hour service as there is no reason for a team to need “Daytime ” for such work in an almost Laboratory type center?
        Is “Night shift” not viable?
        Is this matter smellie or what
        
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        March 14, 2026 1:49pm
      - david
        
        But but but wot about global warming?
        5000MW is the equivalent of what? 50,000? or 500,000? 0ne bar heaters sitting outside on full noise 24/7. It would probably mitigate some frost damage to the cherry crop I suppose. Heated swimming pools nearby? Central heating for a hospital or 10? prawn farms?
        any other ideas?
        
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        March 14, 2026 1:51pm
  - AitchW
    
    Tax on profits, PAYE on wages, jobs, international exposure, GST. Plenty of cash for NZ.
    
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    March 14, 2026 8:45am
    - Burtland
      
      not if Tiwai has to close
      
      55 jobs as opposed to 1000
      
      “The Tiwai Point Aluminium Smelter employs about 1,000 full-time staff and contractors, with an additional 2,200 people employed indirectly.
      
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      March 14, 2026 11:19am
  - NeverMindTheBollocks
    
    Good question, Cossie. Microsoft has outsourced the problem to Ecotricity, who can apparently guarantee that 100% of its data centres are powered only by solar, wind & hydro.
    
    Electrons being fungible, unless Ecotricity runs a separate grid complete with its own power generation systems, you would think Microsoft would be vulnerable to an activist challenge over this claim. Though I forget – do Lefties like Bill Gates now, or not?
    
    https://news.microsoft.com/en-nz/2022/08/18/conscious-cloud-our-aotearoa-datacenter-pledge-microsofts-datacenter-region-powered-by-100-carbon-free-energy-from-day-one/
    
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    March 14, 2026 8:51am
    - Master Mariner
      
      “Though I forget – do Lefties like Bill Gates now, or not?”
      Not sure but our previous Leader sure did.
      The stipend she received from the Bill & Melinda Foundation will go a long way//
      
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      March 14, 2026 10:13am
- Southern Raider
  
  Datagrid will sit under the transmission line between Manapouri and Tiwai. As I understand any spare load from Manapouri is not easy to get from Southland to Nth Island due to transmission constraints a
  
  As a comparison Auckland’s multiple datacentres consume about 200MW and this is forecast to grow to between 500MW and 700MW over next 10 years, but Auckland is no where near any major renewable power sources.
  
  I’m not in support of either but seems a bit myopic to deride a new datacentre in a cool climate right beside power generation vs the multiple new hyperscale datacentres recently built in Auckland which are only starting to draw major power consumption as they scale up
  
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  March 14, 2026 8:42am
  - Master Mariner
    
    Dont forget they need plenty of water, Which NZ has in abundance at least.
    
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    March 14, 2026 9:42am
    - Paulus
      
      But who ones the South Island Water ?
      All of it !
      
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      March 14, 2026 1:59pm
  - NeverMindTheBollocks
    
    IIRC, Transpower has undertaken a programme of building out the grid so that Manapouri power can be sent around the country, in the event that Tiwai Pt closes.
    
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    March 14, 2026 1:06pm
- Dougal10
  
  I am one of those customers that almost got cut off the grid , it was only potential bad publicity that stopped it happening.
  
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  March 14, 2026 8:51am
- Yvette
  
  Has anyone done the math on future potential power demand. I have seen two statements, which I unfortunately cannot find now, suggesting complete conversion of New Zealand’s vehicle fleet to electricity would require 3.5 x more Benmore and that United States requirement of power for AI by 2030 would require the same amount of electricity as the entire output of the States at present.
  
  Is this one case where one prays for the reservations that trenching the beach for the Australian cable may disturb Maori artifacts, unmarked ancestors, mauri, mahinga kai, kaitiakitanga and rangatiratanga and toheroa clams in the sands of Ōreti Beach, although isn’t Australia in the opposite direction.
  
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  March 14, 2026 8:59am
  - Albie
    
    Yvette, yes someone has done the maths. Professor Michael Kelly (Cambridge University- New Plymouth born) came here about 10 years ago and presented a comprehensive paper on “electric dreams” vs engineering reality. He was largely ignored by the politicians from both sides if I remember correctly.
    The paper was titled Future Energy Needs and Engineering Reality.
    
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    March 14, 2026 10:02am
    - Yvette
      
      A $100 million Auckland surf park project headed by Sir John Kirwan now includes about 500 homes, under the Government’s new Fast Track Approvals Act.
      The park, which was given the go ahead by the Environmental Protection Authority in 2023 as part of the last government’s Covid-19 Fast-Track programme, covers a 43-hectare plot in Dairy Flat, about half an hour north of Auckland, outside Silverdale.
      It is already approved for a heated wave pool, or cove, a solar farm and a 4ha Spark data centre, as well as sports facilities, eco-accommodation, restaurants and walking and cycling trails.
      https://www.stuff.co.nz/home-property/360744859/sir-john-kirwans-auckland-surf-park-project-adds-500-homes
      
      Is this still happening and how many data centres can New Zealand support?
      
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      March 14, 2026 11:48am
      - Quail
        
        Anything the EPA gives the go ahead to is ,by definition ,suspect!
        
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        March 14, 2026 9:04pm
  - Burtland
    
    there will be whole departments of people doing power demand calculations – problem is it will be for increasing company profit margins and share prices.
    
    the electricity reforms in NZ have been a disaster – theyve delivered unreliable generation at much increased cost – wonder what Bill Birch has to say
    
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    March 14, 2026 11:24am
  - David Garrett
    
    MATHS woman !!
    
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    March 14, 2026 1:40pm
    - Yvette
      
      David, both “math” and “maths” are correct abbreviations for mathematics, with usage determined somewhat by regional preference. “Math” is standard in American and Canadian English, while “maths” is the preferred term in the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and the Kingdom
      
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      March 14, 2026 4:54pm
- imalwaysright
  
  Its a worry that the types on our end who negotiate these deals tend to touch their toes at the first sign of a free dinner and an American accent.
  
  Do we know how much (little) these data centres are paying per kW?
  Do we know the supply guarantee?
  Do we know if they have priority access to the electricity over kiwis?
  
  Probably commercially sensitive ….eh!
  
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  March 14, 2026 10:47am
  - Burtland
    
    they also produce a virtual product that will be impossible to tax
    
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    March 14, 2026 11:27am
    - imalwaysright
      
      Very good point Burtland.
      
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      March 14, 2026 12:58pm
- judith8409121
  
  The Tiwai Point aluminium smelter (often called the Tiwai smelter) in Southland on New Zealand’s South Island can reduce—or “turn down”—its power consumption significantly during periods of low electricity supply, such as dry years with low hydro lake levels, high demand, or fuel shortages.It doesn’t typically mean a full shutdown of the entire smelter (as completely turning off aluminium potlines is complex and restarting them can take months, like around 200 days for a full potline). Instead, it operates under demand response agreements in its electricity contracts (primarily with Meridian Energy and Contact Energy, signed/updated around 2024 for long-term supply).
  
  can the datacentre also be turned down when power is needed in nz or power generation is low?
  thats the beauty of the smelter
  
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  March 14, 2026 12:10pm
- NZer In Exile
  
  “Datagrid secures approval for New Zealand’s first AI factory in Southland”
  
  Hahaha. In NZ? Nope.
  
  Not the current mess known as NZ anyway.
  
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  March 14, 2026 5:16pm
NeverMindTheBollocks

Quick quiz: Is Donald Trump more hated by the Left than Margaret Thatcher was?

Thumbs up – Donald Trump is more hated.
Thumbs down – Margaret Thatcher was more hated.
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March 14, 2026 8:02am
- Swifty
  
  My money would be on Trump, I don’t recall lefties g, tearing at their clothes wailing that Thatcher was an existential threat to democracy and a fascist dictator in waiting.
  
  Thatcher gets them angry, Trump drives them demented.
  
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  March 14, 2026 9:55am
- Gussy
  
  The Donald v The Iron Lady?
  
  You’d have to factor in today’s more politically polarised society, and the wider each of a US president.
  The contemporary Blob goes after Trump in a way that doesn’t quite compare, too.
  I think it’s gotta be Trump irrespective though, not least because he so blatantly trolls the left.
  
  Secondary question – what would Maggie have made of Trump?
  
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  March 14, 2026 10:28am
- igm
  
  Is it actually hate, or is it vile envy?
  Anyone who has worked hard and been financially successful is always maligned by bludging left losers!
  
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  March 14, 2026 11:36am
Damocles11

Has the US now totally obliterated the Iranian nuclear programme that they had previously totally obliterated during Operation Midnight Hammer? Apparently the US has wiped out the Iranian leadership, sunk their navy, destroyed their airforce, and decimated their army…..so why is there still a full blown oil crisis that has now surpassed the crises from the 1970’s?
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March 14, 2026 8:35am
- Master Mariner
  
  Try this for news.
  
  Jeffrey Sachs: U.S. and Israel underestimated Iran
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVMqYkvS98o
  
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  March 14, 2026 9:46am
  - Wandering Star
    
    Even if they managed to overthrow the regime and replace it with a compliant one (of no interest at all to me), which would necessitate a massive ground invasion, it would be a completely pyrrhic win, either or both finishing off a terminally ill America and or plunging the rest of the world into economic catastrophe.
    
    I simply don’t care enough about who’s in charge in Iran nor whether Israel has any potential rivals in the region to support any of this.
    
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    March 14, 2026 10:31am
  - All_on_Red
    
    Sachs is an idiot
    Get betters sources
    https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/beltway-confidential/3874362/jeffrey-sachs-learns-he-is-russia-useful-idiot/
    https://www.columbiaspectator.com/news/2023/04/09/economics-professors-condemn-jeffrey-sachs-in-open-letter-on-russia-ukraine-war/
    https://thehill.com/opinion/international/4727046-from-economist-to-kremlin-mouthpiece-the-troubling-transformation-of-jeffrey-sachs/
    
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    March 14, 2026 11:12am
    - Wandering Star
      
      Explain with your own examples your conclusion that he’s an idiot.
      
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      March 14, 2026 11:28am
    - Ra Henare
      
      So some hit pieces from some news organisations.
      Commonplace for those looking to discredit sources they dont like.
      
      Supporters see him as a truth-teller who provides a necessary, fact-based critique of American exceptionalism and the dangers of a unipolar world order.
      
      Critics (including many foreign policy analysts and former colleagues) argue that he has moved away from his academic roots and now functions as a “propagandist” for non-Western powers.
      
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      March 14, 2026 2:43pm
- Damocles11
  
  Pretty straightfoward questions, no criticism of Trump, yet 6 thumbs down already. Oh dear, even asking general questions about the war is enough to induce a negative response. Here’s another couple of questions:
  Is the Trump administration still the ‘no war’ Presidency, committed to ending the US’s foreign wars and interventions?
  BTW, I support the idea of taking Iran off the board as a partner to Russia and China as a existential threat to the Western Alliance. I’m not one of those who was waffling about how Trump would end the wars while the Dems were the ‘Party of War’. I take consistent positions because I am intellectually honest.
  
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  March 14, 2026 11:19am
  - Wandering Star
    
    Trump came out the other day and literally called to “Make Iran Great Again.”
    
    I guess he’s given up on Making America Great Again, which you’d think would be his number 1 priority, being the president of America after all.
    
    If he isn’t removed from office before 2029, Trump will have done practically nothing he said he would do during the preceding 14 years, while having done several things (including not ending the foreign wars) in complete contradiction to his core platform. Incredible really.
    
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    March 14, 2026 11:30am
    - Damocles11
      
      He was going to pay off the national debt in his first term. 🥴 Many virulent anti-vaxxers are also virulent MAGA supporters, who have incredible amnesia about Trumps boasts that he rapidly introduced a vaccine via Operation Warp Speed. The cognitive dissonance is unreal.
      
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      March 14, 2026 1:14pm
      - Wandering Star
        
        I suspect that many of the diehard MAGAistas of 2026 hated the guy in 2016, but have come around to Trump now that Trump has been fully assimilated into the mainstream of GOP politics. I was on board in 2016 and after, but since at least 2020, it’s been quite clear that Trump has been coopted along with MAGA. Anyone who was in 2016 but is still a devoted Trumpite needs their head read, such is the difference between then and now. Trump’s 80, he’s tired, he’s increasingly incoherent, and he just doesn’t have it in him.
        
        The 2015/16 rhetoric of Muslim bans, no foreign wars (“Iraq was a mistake”), Mexicans are rapists etc. has been replaced in 2025/26 by attacking Iran (twice), “we need the H1B Indians and Chinese students,” and fighting criticism of Jews and Israel (aka antisemitism) because so many Jews jumped on board the Trump Train post October 7.
        
        2026 Trump’s policies are really no different in general terms than a Mitt Romney’s and Geb Bush’s or, really, a 2016 Hilary Clinton’s would have been. In fact, Hilary recently praised the current Trump admin on its policies.
        
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        March 14, 2026 2:22pm
  - Ra Henare
    
    for information Trumps naugural address in January 2025
    
    “We will measure our success not only by the battles we win but also by the wars that we end—and perhaps most importantly, the wars we never get into.”
    
    So I guess he shouldnt be upset when republicans take a hammering in teh mid terms.
    
    Of course he could he could use the Russian Ruse.
    The attack on Iran is a
    special military operation
    
    Unfortunately he has already called it a war.
    
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    March 14, 2026 2:51pm
- Gulag1917
  
  I am getting impatient waiting for the insurrection that will overthrow the government. Does not seem to be happening.
  
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  March 14, 2026 12:06pm
  - Wandering Star
    
    Some of the same people who bleated the loudest about the “insurrection to overthrow the government” provoked by or done in the interests of “outside actors” (usually cited a Russia, without evidence) on Jan 6th 2021 are also some of the loudest voices now calling for the popular overthrow of the Iranian government, presaged by a bombing campaign by outside actors from America and Israel and in their interests.
    
    Is it right, or is it wrong, to overthrow a sovereign government? Turns out that principle has nothing to do with it, just relative competing interests.
    
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    March 14, 2026 1:07pm
    - Damocles11
      
      Trump was going to build a wall and have Mexico pay for it, he was going to end the Ukraine war “in no longer than 1 day”, he was going to pay off the national debt in his first term, he was going to end the US’s foreign wars…..on and on it goes.
      
      https://m.youtube.com/shorts/jcNzoONhrmE
      
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      March 14, 2026 2:54pm
      - NZer In Exile
        
        D11. I suggest you go to night classes to understand Trump language. Some people get him and others take him literally, which is a mistake. He’s not a polished spin meister like most pollies these days and has some weird ways of speaking. Do I wish he was more professional and concise in his language? Yes I do. Can’t have everything unfortunately.
        
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        March 14, 2026 5:22pm
Wandering Star

There’s a meme of uncertain provenance doing the rounds which cannot be faulted for its factual accuracy and its pinpoint skewering of Judeo-American Middle East policy:

“20 years to replace Taliban with Taliban and 9 days to replace Khamenei with Khamenei.”

May I suggest another in the same vein which says:

“40 years of Iran being 9 days away from having a nuclear weapon and 9 days to destroy the nuclear program we already destroyed 9 months ago.”

Discuss.
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March 14, 2026 8:40am
- Master Mariner
  
  Netenyahu has been stating for 30+ yrs Iranians are weeks away from a Nuclear Bomb.
  Meanwhile Ayatollah Khomeini has issued a Fatwa denouncing Nuclear and Chemical weapons as being in humane.
  Iraq used Chemical weapons during the Iran / Iraq war supplied by the US.
  Discuss where this is in factual //
  
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  March 14, 2026 9:50am
  - Ra Henare
    
    Small amendment Mater.
    
    Meanwhile Ayatollah Khomeini had issued a Fatwa denouncing Nuclear and Chemical weapons as being inhumane.
    
    Note the Fatwa died with him. ie no longer inplace.
    
    So the Israelis wanted the war to happen, so killed the gaurdrail(fatwa) to destroy the peace agreement being negotiated and agreed(as reported by the meeting moderator) between Iran and the USA.
    
    I expect downticks from the Trumpist warmongers who believe the wests propoganda.
    (which you point out Master)
    
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    March 14, 2026 2:57pm
- mandk
  
  How could the Judeo-American policy be worse than the cruel and oppressive Muslim theocracy it is competing with?
  
  It couldn’t.
  
  Do you dislike it because it involves the Jews?
  
  Your track record leads me to suspect so.
  
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  March 14, 2026 9:55am
  - Wandering Star
    
    “…. the cruel and oppressive Muslim theocracy….?”
    
    Even if this is true (and this is the bulwark of the propaganda for the last 50 years since the puppet regime of the Shah was overthrown) it’s difficult to see how and why this supposedly, as a logical consequence, gives Israel and the United States a right to bomb them, possibly invade them, and perform regime change.
    
    You only have to look at other “cruel and oppressive” regimes, now and in the past, that have been ignored, or in many cases, propped-up as beneficial to Judeo-America, to know that this is a false justification contradicted by mere observation.
    
    It’s hard to say what is worse: that the same demonstrably false justifications keep getting rolled out, or that people keep believing them.
    
    I mean, astoundingly, you’ve got individuals like Condoleezza Rice currently being brought out to repeat exactly the same script she read from in 2003 (along with Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, Powell, Perle, Netanyahu and all the other ghouls) and since shown to be completely fallacious. They haven’t even bothered updating the talking points from 25 years ago, so cynical and contemptuous of the public are they.
    
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    March 14, 2026 10:12am
    - Don Beckett
      
      Mate, sometimes I wonder if you just enjoy taking the piss.
      
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      March 14, 2026 11:52am
      - Wandering Star
        
        I do. But I’m completely serious about what I wrote. Is there something specific you disagree with here? Because wondering if I enjoy taking the piss isn’t an argument and won’t convince anyone with even a moderate capacity for mature reflection and rational analysis.
        
        Maybe you were living under a rock in 2003, but I, as someone who remembers that time and sees the clear identity between then and now, recognise that the parallels are probably the best way to see where this current situation comes from and where it’s heading unless cool heads prevail.
        
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        March 14, 2026 12:00pm
      - Don Beckett
        
        It was a comment, not an argument.
        You take the position that Iran has not provoked any action against them, despite it being very obvious that they are the power behind Hamas, Hezbollah & the Houthis, most of whom have been attacking Israel & he USA for decades since 1979 , that they have constantly stated that they will get a nuclear weapon & eliminate the Great Satan (USA) and the Little Satan (Israel), and many other examples. And you virulent anti-semitism.
        Perhaps you’re the one who has been living under a rock.
        
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        March 14, 2026 2:33pm
      - Wandering Star
        
        “….[Iran] are the power behind Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, most of whom have been attacking Israel and the USA for decades since 1979”
        
        While I don’t recall Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah et al ever attacking the USA as you claim, you’ve got to ask yourself why they have attacked Israel over the years– Hamas, because of Israeli actions vis a vis Gaza; Hezbollah because of Israeli actions vis a vis Lebanon; Houthis because of Israeli actions in Gaza and so on. Moreover, these “proxies” are indeed funded by Iran for the simple fact that doing so helps protect Iran from the naked aggression we’ve seen over the last couple of weeks. If Iran comes under attack, the proxies can attack Israel – which is why Israel has had to nullify the proxies prior to attacking the big prize, Iran.
        
        There’s a common conceit (you could call it an outright lie) that Iran and their various proxies have engaged with Israel for no reason at all, and out of the clear blue sky. In fact, they are responding to Israel, not the other way around.
        
        There’s a further conceit that these groups should simply lie down and let Israel have its way with them – that’s an illustration of the sense of entitlement and expectation of submission we’ve seen from the Israelis for 100 years. When non-Jews don’t do what is apparently expected of them and they resist, the Israelis call it irrational hatred.
        
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        March 14, 2026 3:14pm
      - Jethrod
        
        He’s just TAKING one cos he needs to.
        
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        March 14, 2026 3:19pm
    - mandk
      
      “Even if this is true …”
      
      Do you truly disbelieve the things that are attributed to the Iranian regime and its puppets?
      
      You know, like throwing homosexuals off buildings, executing apostates, imposing barbarous penalties on women who show their hair in public, shooting protesters dead, raping women protesters before killing them so they can’t enter paradise, and disfiguring the ones they don’t kill.
      
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      March 14, 2026 12:14pm
      - Wandering Star
        
        I have every reason to be sceptical of claims about Iran made by the Judeo-Americans, given the incentives they have and the need to formulate a moral pretext for their aggression towards Iran. So yes, I tend to disbelieve any of their statements vis a vis Iran.
        
        Moreover, notice that I said “even if true.” In other words, even if all of these claims were 100% true, you still haven’t demonstrated how we go from this state of affairs to a Judeo-American right to come in by force and violently remove a sovereign government.
        
        On your own principle, this gives any country so motivated the right to invade America or Israel and perform regime change if they decide that they disagree with how the respective governments run their affairs. If you disagree with this being done to America or Israel, then you have to disagree with it being done in Iran.
        
        If not, you are irrational, inconsistent and parochial, which actually qualifies you to formulate Judeo-American policy, all of which is inconsistent, selective, relativistic and intended only to advance their own interests.
        
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        March 14, 2026 1:17pm
    - Ra Henare
      
      and of course remembering the US support for Pol Pots mob being a member of the UN while Khmer Rouge were slaughtering millions!!!! of their own people. some estimates put it at 20%-25% of the population.
      
      Makes the breathless reporting of Iranian protester deaths (some say 30,000) a bit of a joke. (0.03% of population)
      
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      March 14, 2026 3:00pm
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  Whatever. I’m certainly not keen on hearing that Iran has had nuclear weapons for 9 days. That genie, once out of the bottle, cannot be put back in.
  
  Why? Recall that MAD game theory relies on sane actors on each side, not wanting to be blown to smithereens. When one actor has it in mind that martyrdom is a positive outcome, the deterrent effect of MAD disappears.
  
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  March 14, 2026 1:12pm
- Damocles11
  
  The Iranian nuclear programme was ‘totally obliterated’ by Operation Midnight Hammer, remember.
  
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  March 14, 2026 1:16pm
david in Aus

It looks like we are going down the escalation path of the Vietnam war. “Pete Hegseth has approved a request from U.S. Central Command for an element of an amphibious ready group and attached Marine expeditionary unit, typically consisting of several warships and 5,000 Marines: WSJ”

Oh dear, history rhymes.

This war will end when Iran feels the pain had been bad enough for the US. One marker they used is an oil price of $200 per barrell. Which is a proxy for major economic and political damage for Trump.

The major weakness of the US is its political system. Iranians know this. In wars of choice, Americans have a low tolerance for pain.

Americans will win every military battle, but they cannot win the war without expending more treasure/lives than this war is worth.
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March 14, 2026 8:45am
- Wandering Star
  
  The situation in Iran is a stark reminder that the US continually acting to advance the exclusive interests of Israel costs them massive resources in terms of blood and treasure, while Iran, if attacked, is in a position to bring the world economy to its knees by strangling the global energy supply.
  
  There is no conceivable benefit to the US in either fighting this war, nor even maintaining an antagonistic posture to Iran – but Israel demands both, because otherwise they can’t be top dog in the region with freedom of action.
  
  Sorry, but keeping Israel safe (the public pretext, although second to the delusion that this is about “freeing Iranians” – by bombing them and their country, apparently), or securing Israeli regional hegemony (the actual reason for this and all the other US actions in the Middle East since at least Gulf War 1 in 1990) are completely insufficient justifications for any of this. Not our problem.
  
  Next time you’re filling up your car at exorbitant cost, keep in mind that the blame lies squarely in Tel Aviv, not in Tehran.
  
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  March 14, 2026 9:49am
  - imalwaysright
    
    It appears that successive Israeli governments have manipulated the US governments for such a long time that there has become an ingrained reflex to give the Israelis whatever they want, whenever they want it.
    
    That reflex has caused the Americans to forgo critical analysis, willingly or unwittingly, of the Israeli governments motives, and in effect become the defacto Israeli Defence Force.
    
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    March 14, 2026 5:40pm
    - Wandering Star
      
      Yes. Even Biden or Bush II, despite the huge influence of the Israel Lobby in Washington, weren’t dumb enough to take Netanyahu’s bate and attack Iran. Then idiot Trump comes along and he’s already done it twice in two years.
      
      With apologies to Kerry Packer, Netanyahu may well be saying in private “you only get one Donald Trump in your lifetime, and I’ve had mine. Twice.”
      
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      March 14, 2026 5:50pm
- Taieri
  
  an oil price of $200 per barrell. Which is a proxy for major economic and political damage for Trump
  —————–
  
  And a total catastrophe for New Zealand…
  
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  March 14, 2026 10:07am
  - Master Mariner
    
    Even if Oil reached 200 bbl,
    There is next to zero chances of NZ getting refined Fuels.
    It may as well be 10 cents/ltr as there will be none.
    This is what is lost in MSM.
    
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    March 14, 2026 11:36am
    - Damocles11
      
      Carless Months?
      
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      March 14, 2026 2:54pm
- KKNZ2025
  
  Apparently it also takes a persistent American draft dodger to declare war.
  
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  March 14, 2026 11:14am
  - david in Aus
    
    Bonespur bravado.
    
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    March 14, 2026 1:07pm
- Damocles11
  
  Good news from Pete Hegseth regarding the Strait of Hormuz, sort of –
  
  “The only thing prohibiting transit in the strait right now is Iran shooting at shipping. It is open for transit should Iran not do that.”
  
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  March 14, 2026 11:46am
- Ra Henare
  
  This conflict will end when the US population have suffered enough economic pain.
  
  Petrol $5 at the pumps will ensure Republicans(Trump) will take a bath in November.
  
  Bias. I was a Trump supporter until he lost the plot over Venezuala and Greenland and of course Iran
  
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  March 14, 2026 3:06pm
Dougal10

I hope that the current high prices for diesel reflect the fact that this is the price needed to replace what i have just put in my tank , i think we will all be pissed if companies are just taking higher income without using it to secure supply .
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March 14, 2026 8:56am
- Master Mariner
  
  In all honesty Dougal10, It is the price on the water already paid for but in all honesty it is anyones guess what the next shipments will cost.
  Elephant in the room is if Asia’s Refineries ban exports of refined products , Which is on the cards.
  In which case how do you put a value on unobtainable Fuel ?
  
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  March 14, 2026 9:53am
  - Burtland
    
    you dont, you buy an electric car
    
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    March 14, 2026 11:34am
    - Dougal10
      
      Cant buy an electric combine harvester or a tractor, anyway my rural power supply couldn’t charge it anyway so i’d have to run a generator opps no diesel, or charge solar all day and wait for a dewless night to be able to harvest wheat .
      
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      March 14, 2026 1:48pm
  - crackle
    
    Given South Korea are activily considering banning fuel exports, China and Thailand already have and major Singapore energy companies declaring force majeure the chances of NZ finding itself with a massive supply gap in a matter of weeks is very high. Im amazed there havn’t been hard questions asked about what the Govt’s plan is to address a severe shortage and the fesulting economic crisis.
    Allowing Marsden to close is looking increasingly foolish.
    
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    March 14, 2026 11:43am
    - Ra Henare
      
      The closing of Marsden was a economic decision.
      Even if it was open today there would still be a problem.
      Ie the last 4 years we would have had more expensive fuel.
      
      The availability of crude oil would still be a major problem.
      Remember marsden sourced the majority of its crude from the middle east.
      
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      March 14, 2026 3:11pm
- david in Aus
  
  The crack spread is huge for diesel. Middle East oil is especially great for diesel and jet fuel. The refineries are running lower to conserve stocks, they cannot stop start, anticipation lower crude oil supply.
  
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  March 14, 2026 1:21pm
Damocles11

‘Watch what happens to these deranged scumbags today. They’ve been killing innocent people all over the world for 47 years, and now I, as the 47th President of the United States of America, am killing them. What a great honor it is to do so! Thank you for your attention to this matter. President DONALD J. TRUMP‘
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March 14, 2026 9:04am
- Damocles11
  
  You’d have to say that the man seems to positively relish this killing. There is a strong element of Caligula in his recent posts.
  
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  March 14, 2026 11:49am
  - NeverMindTheBollocks
    
    Do you think he wants to make his horse a Senator?
    
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    March 14, 2026 1:14pm
  - NothingLeft
    
    you have to say that the Theocratic Iranian regime are properly evil bastards responsible for the deaths of millions and suffering of a hundred million more and hundreds of billions of otherwise unnecessary security and military expenses foisted upon the world.
    
    They needed to be excised from this mortal plane 50 years ago. Today is the second best time to do it. Free the persian peoples.
    
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    March 14, 2026 2:58pm
    - Damocles11
      
      So you agree that Trump seems to relish this killing then?
      
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      March 14, 2026 4:54pm
- Ra Henare
  
  and I am continuing the foreign policy of previous US administrations in killing millions of Civillians.
  Think Iraq, Think Syria, Kosovo, Lybia and others
  
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  March 14, 2026 3:15pm
Boy Geoff

Why is the media suddenly publishing individual Covid horror stories again?
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March 14, 2026 9:08am
- Master Mariner
  
  Trying to be relevant and perhaps some Guilt.
  It will not go away and be swept under the carpet as some “Useful Idiots” would have hoped.
  
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  March 14, 2026 9:55am
- R
  
  This is election year. Labour are desperate to take control of OTHER PEOPLES MONEY, earned by those peoples diligence, personal responsibility and motivation. OTHERWISE thd marxist socialists will be unemployed, and won’t be able to afford to fly to the Dame Princes’s soraris in Sydney.
  
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  March 14, 2026 10:50am
  - Ra Henare
    
    I note that the NZD USD has fallen 4.23% in the last month!!!
    
    So add that to your price of fuel and any other imports. (oh and interest on Government debt paid in USD)
    
    Good news for the struggling Rural sector tho
    
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    March 14, 2026 3:19pm
    - Quail
      
      RH,
      Recent Exchange rates largely reflect Governments deficit budgeting , Trying to inflate their way out of increasing debt, this Government is ( almost ) as bad the last.
      Individual NZ savers are also being robbed by the falling exchange rate.
      The Government is every bit as responsible as are international events !
      
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      March 14, 2026 9:30pm
- Nikola Donatello
  
  Is this an example?
  
  https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/thedetail/589319/as-covid-hits-again-new-zealand-confronts-its-pandemic-past
  
  It seems more or less factual. What is your problem with the reporting?
  
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  March 14, 2026 12:16pm
Notsofast

Against the Iran war equals in favour of Iran having nuclear weapons.
They were building them while pretending to negotiate.
I can’t parse this another way after listening to the Witkoff interview.
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March 14, 2026 9:09am
- david in Aus
  
  Iran has likely dispersed nuclear material around the country. If you are for this war’s purported aims of removing enriched uranium. You are for ground troop invasion of Iran. The number of troops required will be more than the Iraq war and closer to the Vietnam war. Not only this, the economic impact will likely cause famine/deaths for millions of people around the world.
  
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  March 14, 2026 9:38am
  - Wandering Star
    
    Iran has a right to the same means of defence that both the US and Israel have in great numbers, the latter illegally.
    
    The irony of two heavily nuclear armed nations attacking in “preemptive self defence” a non-nuclear armed state made vulnerable by the very fact of it being non-nuclear armed is considerable. They are currently demonstrating precisely why Iran needs a nuclear deterrent.
    
    The trouble is, far too many people accept the brazen nonsense put out as justification for this by the antagonists without thinking about any of this for even a second.
    
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    March 14, 2026 9:59am
    - vand
      
      But WS- Iran has said they don’t want to build nuclear bombs (fatwa and all that )So why do they in your word “need” a nuclear deterrent? I didnt know you were a spokesman for hardliners in Iran but ,,,
      
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      March 14, 2026 11:36am
      - Wandering Star
        
        Obviously, Iran “needs” a nuke only because Israel wants to destroy them and negate them as a potential regional competitor. That’s what they are literally doing as I write this.
        
        If Israel didn’t exist, Iran wouldn’t need the protection. None of the other states in the area targeted by Israel have had the insurance of a nuclear weapon, which is why they have all been nullified. Israel is far and away the most aggressive and antagonist state in the region, which is why Iran has “proxies” in the first place. Israel is in a persistent offensive posture, not defensive as they always claim.
        
        Have you not been paying attention for the last 20 to 40 years?
        
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        March 14, 2026 1:25pm
      - NZer In Exile
        
        WS appears to be motivated by hatred of Jews and by extension the USA because they support Israel’s right to exist. Same shizzle, different day.
        
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        March 14, 2026 5:28pm
    - Southern Raider
      
      Your proposition works on the basis of two rational parties who both don’t want Armageddon.
      
      The reality you conveniently ignore is the leaders of Iran are religious fanatics to a doctrine of Shia which is all about creating Armageddon. If they could wipe out Israel, even if it meant 90% of Iranians dead, they would
      
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      March 14, 2026 1:37pm
    - NothingLeft
      
      You cannot allow nutjobs who think death in furtherance of their religious shit-headedness s a good thing to have nukes. Their theocratic death-cult leadership genuinely believes that murdering millions of their own and people to wipe out Israel would be the right thing to do.
      
      Remember the Iran Iraq war when they sent waves of unarmed children across no-man’s land to die? They are inhumanly evil.
      
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      March 14, 2026 3:02pm
  - david in Aus
    
    We need a Henry Kissenger, and not the amateurs in the Trump administration.
    
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    March 14, 2026 10:45am
    - Wandering Star
      
      At least he was much more intelligent, but Kissenger had blood all over his grubby hands too.
      
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      March 14, 2026 11:44am
    - mike
      
      Eric Idle would like a word about Kissinger:
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVGV6lvNTR4
      
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      March 14, 2026 12:14pm
    - imalwaysright
      
      If Kissinger was born 20 years earlier he would probably have been Hitler’s number two.
      An evil man.
      
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      March 14, 2026 5:46pm
      - Wandering Star
        
        I know what you mean, but Kissinger was Jewish, so I doubt he’d have been Hitler’s anything.
        
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        March 14, 2026 5:52pm
      - NZer In Exile
        
        IAR, off the top of your head, what would be 4 reasons why Kissinger was “an evil man”?
        
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        March 14, 2026 6:13pm
- Wandering Star
  
  “They were building them while pretending to negotiate.”
  
  Were they? Any evidence for this? No, there is no evidence, other than the “evidence” in the form of unsubstantiated claims by neocons like Steve Witkoff.
  
  I remember when Trump told us he’d destroyed them last year (that, despite US intelligence, including Tulsi Gabbard, saying there was no evidence that Iran was building nuclear weapons). So was Trump lying then, or is he lying now? One of these must be the case, otherwise he’s just completely wrong about what goes on in the world, which is really just as bad.
  
  For the record, I support any nation having nuclear weapons (just like the US and Israel, the latter illegally, do), because it is empirically true that the Judeo-Americans never attack nuclear-armed states, which demonstrates that having nukes is the best insurance against attack.
  
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  March 14, 2026 9:38am
  - In Vino Veritas
    
    Personally WS, I couldn’t care less about evidence, whether they are doing it to advance Israel’s interests, or any of your other spurious claims, the world will be a better place when the theocratic dictators are removed from power. They’ve been terrorising and killing people directly and indirectly via proxies around the world, with no repercussions to themselves, since 1979. I would have thought that any rational person would believe that to be a good thing.
    
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    March 14, 2026 11:22am
    - Wandering Star
      
      “… the world will be a better place when the theocratic dictators are removed from power. ”
      
      You’ve got no argument from me that this would be better for Israel, in particular. In fact, this is my fundamental thesis, i.e. that nobody other than Israel benefits from this.
      
      But quite how it would be better for “the world” is harder to see – how has your life in New Zealand been during the last 45 years of Iranian theocracy? Mine’s been fine, because it’s not at all relevant. Stop me if I’m getting too rational here.
      
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      March 14, 2026 1:33pm
      - NZer In Exile
        
        “The world will be a better place when the theocratic dictators are removed from power. ”……” In fact, this is my fundamental thesis, i.e. that nobody other than Israel benefits from this. ”
        
        You conveniently omit the people of Iran who suffer under the theocratic iron fist.
        
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        March 14, 2026 5:33pm
      - Jigsaw
        
        WS – I’m damned sure no one here would ever accuse you of being too rational….
        
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        March 14, 2026 7:35pm
  - Notsofast
    
    Spot the difference.
    Iran is the only nuclear weapons aspirant to also aspire to destroy Israel.
    This makes it mandatory for Israel to permanently destroy their facilities.
    I would if my neighbour wanted my family dead.
    And repeatedly declared so. Israel would be insane to not do their utmost in this matter.
    
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    March 14, 2026 12:00pm
    - Wandering Star
      
      Israel has about 300 illegal nuclear weapons, and consistently refuses to join nuclear arms treaties. The opposite is the case with Iran, which has no nukes and is a signatory of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
      
      By definition, Israel is a rogue nuclear-armed state. As such, it would make more sense in terms of international law if the United States bombed Israel, rather than bombing Iran on its behalf.
      
      For the same reason that Russia would not conduct a nuclear attack on the US (because it would be destroyed in response), Iran would not try to nuke Israel it Iran had nukes. It is the most reasonable defensive strategy to have them. Despite the hysteria that says otherwise, the Iranians are rational actors.
      
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      March 14, 2026 1:38pm
      - Paulus
        
        Rubbish the Autocracy of Iran are as mentally historically unstable as most Muslim men wordwide.
        
        7 6
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        March 14, 2026 2:09pm
      - NothingLeft
        
        And yet in 40-50 years of having nukes the Israelis have never used them, even while being relentlessly attacked by suicidal Shites.
        
        I feel more OK about them having nukes than China, Russia, or Pakistan who might be tempted to employ them in furtherance of hegemonic ambition or general religious nut-jobbery.
        
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        March 14, 2026 3:06pm
      - Jigsaw
        
        WS – Why do you think that Iran has developed intercontinental ballistic missiles – to deliver for Amazon?
        
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        March 14, 2026 7:37pm
- Damocles11
  
  “Thanks to President Trump’s bold and visionary leadership and his commitment to peace through strength, Iran’s nuclear ambitions have been obliterated,” Hegseth said on 22 June after Operation Midnight Hammer.
  
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  March 14, 2026 1:19pm
- Ra Henare
  
  There is NO PROFF that Iran were building Nuclear Bombs before the current war.
  
  Now there is no fatwa prohibiting them(Thanks Israel)
  So I suspect they are working 24/7 to produce them.
  
  US mouth pieces like Witkoff are not beleiveable as fact or truth.
  
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  March 14, 2026 3:22pm
  - NZer In Exile
    
    You realise it’s OK to lie to defeat enemies in ROP doctrine?
    
    2 3
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    March 14, 2026 5:38pm
    - Ra Henare
      
      OK Excile. You have me.
      What in Fk is ROP doctrine.
      Even AI doesnt understand what you are referreing to.!!???
      Cybersecurity: Return-Oriented Programming (ROP)
      Medicine: Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP)
      
      1 1
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      March 14, 2026 10:30pm
      - NZer In Exile
        
        Try Urban Dictionary.
        The term really took off with the cynical/black-pilled set when George Bush described a certain major religion as “The Religion of Peace” (not long after 9/11 terror attack).
        Black pilled = deeply cynical and eyes wide open (derived from the red pill/blue pill choice scene in the dystopian Sci Fi movie The Matrix. You can look up that scene on u toob).
        
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        March 15, 2026 6:36pm
Scott

More and more outlets are predicting the fall of the Cuban communist regime:

https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2026/03/freedom-for-cuba.php

Cuba must have a patron to keep it going and Trump’s energy blockade means they cannot keep the lights on.

What we know is that Cuba is having talks with America:

https://www.cbsnews.com/miami/news/cuba-miguel-diaz-canel-announcement-prisoner-release-march-13-2026/

This is looking good, the fall of the Castro regime would be a very good thing, akin to the fall of the Berlin Wall.
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March 14, 2026 9:09am
- Wandering Star
  
  “This is looking good, the fall of the Castro regime would be a very good thing, akin to the fall of the Berlin Wall.”
  
  Why is the regime in Cuba relevant to you?
  
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  March 14, 2026 9:41am
  - Wandering Star
    
    Believing that the regime in Cuba (or Iran, or Venezuela, or Russia, or China) is something we should all be deeply concerned about is a direct result of letting Pentagon and State Department press releases do the thinking for you, instead of doing it yourself.
    
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    March 14, 2026 10:24am
    - greybeard
      
      If you were in Cuba or Iran right now you would not be allowed to express yourself as you can on KB. Be grateful.
      
      14 9
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      March 14, 2026 11:34am
      - Wandering Star
        
        But I’m not in those places, so that’s not relevant at all to me, or to you.
        
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        March 14, 2026 11:40am
      - Ra Henare
        
        add Israel which has also banned any video etc of the current bombings missile attacks in Israel.
        
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        March 14, 2026 3:23pm
      - imalwaysright
        
        “If you were in Cuba or Iran…”
        
        Don’t forget the UK.
        
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        March 14, 2026 5:52pm
  - Scott
    
    Umm because I hate communism and all its works and I am hopeful for the people of Cuba will get a better life. And I would like western civilisation to win.
    And when Cuba goes, as Venezuela has gone and soon Scott predicts that Iran will go, then I can enjoy a victory lap. 😎
    
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    March 14, 2026 10:28am
    - Wandering Star
      
      Wtf does “communism” have to do with anything at all in your daily life? Zero.
      
      If you’d genuinely “like western civilisation to win” you should really stop worrying about the 20th century phenomenon that was communism and start being concerned about the prospect of western civilisation meeting its ultimate demise precipitated by ill-considered military action in the mountains and cities of Iran in a completely unnecessary war for Israel, which is not part of western civilisation at all.
      
      Let’s stop worrying about the ideology underpinning the system in Cuba or the composition of the Iranian government until we’ve got our own house in better order, shall we.
      
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      March 14, 2026 12:10pm
      - Scott
        
        Umm what’s Israel got to do with your daily life? I’m interested in Iran and I hate communism and I think trump is awesome. So there is that. 👍
        
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        March 14, 2026 7:14pm
    - Hard Cheese
      
      Will you still be doing victory laps when we have no petrol? Presumably not. Is there a point when the price of food, fuel and everyday living gets so high that you stop caring about a better life for people in those countries? I predict your concern for the lives of people in those countries actually doesn’t stretch very far.
      
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      March 14, 2026 3:45pm
      - Scott
        
        Give it time cheese. Venezuela has gone, Cuba is about to go, Iran is teetering. All in all it’s been a good week for truth, justice and the American way. 😎
        
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        March 14, 2026 7:16pm
  - Swifty
    
    So that the people of Cuba can get a shot at freedom and prosperity.
    
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    March 14, 2026 10:53am
    - Wandering Star
      
      I’ve noticed that “we” are only told to care about the “freedom and prosperity” of those living in places whose governments oppose “us” in some way or another. I doubt you’ve never noticed this, but I have.
      
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      March 14, 2026 11:42am
      - Jigsaw
        
        WS – It must be a real comfort to you to know that you are the only one in step.
        
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        March 14, 2026 7:41pm
  - NZer In Exile
    
    “Why is the regime in Cuba relevant to you?”
    
    Because it’s interesting and this is a discussion forum, for starters.
    
    4 2
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    March 14, 2026 5:40pm
    - Wandering Star
      
      Sure, we can discuss it. But Scott’s doing more than that (in fact, he not even really doing that) he is advocating for it to “go” as if he has some pressing need or interest in this occurring. Why? Who except Cubans cares how Cuba is governed?
      
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      March 14, 2026 5:45pm
      - NZer In Exile
        
        Obviously the USA which is right next door. No need to explain why as you obviously know why. Afternoon tea awaits here.
        
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        March 14, 2026 5:59pm
      - Wandering Star
        
        Why does the US care if Cuba is communist? You could argue they did 50 years ago at the height of the Cold War, but that’s long done. The best thing the US could do is just take their foot off the Cubans’ throat and remove all of the draconian sanctions which is the number 1 cause of Cuba’s problems.
        
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        March 14, 2026 6:40pm
- NothingLeft
  
  Trump is really going to deserve a peace prize if he can take down despotic Venezuelan, Cuban and Iranian regimes.
  
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  March 14, 2026 3:07pm
  - sungsamning
    
    If he does, he’ll still never get it. Wrong party, and wrong color.
    
    3 3
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    March 14, 2026 3:50pm
AitchW

Surely the technology exists to burn our high quality coal with minimal emissions? Imagine building high tech, low emission power stations on top of coal seams. No transport costs. No emissions. Win, win!
17 2
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March 14, 2026 9:14am
- Euan
  
  The Mermere plant used to be like that. It had a ‘chailift’ type arrangement for transporting the coal from the mining operation a km or so beyond it.
  
  10 1
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  March 14, 2026 9:53am
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  Any residue can blow out to sea. After all, if it’s good enough for Wellington …
  
  4 0
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  March 14, 2026 10:23am
- R
  
  Far too logical Aitch. Besides, it won’t provide politically maleable employees in Auckland for the unions agenda.
  
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  March 14, 2026 10:55am
- virtualmark
  
  Yes and no.
  
  Yes there is technology to clean up NOx and other particulates from the stack. Clean, but pricey. No as yet there is no economic technology to capture the CO2 and sequester it. You can do it, but the cost is prohibitive.
  
  Reality is that coal-fired thermal plants are likely to be economically unviable if you require them to be clean.
  
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  March 14, 2026 1:49pm
  - NeverMindTheBollocks
    
    Can the captured NOX be made available to the boy racer community?
    
    Too fast! Too furious!
    
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    March 14, 2026 5:44pm
  - NZer In Exile
    
    No need to capture the Co2. It can’t affect the average temp of the planet to any significant degree now. IR bands are saturated and even doubling current atmospheric Co2 (which has approx 96% natural origin anyway) will make F all difference.
    
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    March 14, 2026 5:45pm
- NZer In Exile
  
  AitchW, I pick it will eventually come to that but it will probably take an extreme energy crisis (blackouts and the subsequent deaths resulting from them) to wake up the many brainwashed lefties to get them on board, or at least get them to desist from sabotage.
  
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  March 14, 2026 5:43pm
sungsamning

A fiery speech in the Senate has sparked intense debate after Pauline Hanson called for a full audit of billions of dollars in taxpayer funding allocated to Indigenous programs. During her remarks, Hanson criticised what she referred to as the “Aboriginal industry,” arguing that Australians deserve greater transparency and accountability over how public money is spent.
[Closing The Gap is nice rhetoric. Independent oversight is needed to combat grifting. Without this; cue money going to the usual suspects and staying there. If the gap was closed there’d be a spike in unemployment among the usual suspects.]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoflzzkeGWE
Pauline Hanson BLASTS ‘Aboriginal Industry’ as She Demands Audit of Billions in Taxpayer Funds.
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March 14, 2026 9:41am
- R
  
  Seems to me that NZ may have taught some Australians how to destroy their economy; like we are doing here.
  
  14 2
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  March 14, 2026 10:58am
  - NZer In Exile
    
    The unions in aus are wedded to the deranged far left and all their irrational and destructive pursuits. Labor as they are called in Aus are wedded to the unions (and all the far left [woke] rubbish). Then there is STV voting which most normies don’t understand fully. The Labor party does understand it and spend much energy gaming it (hence the existence of people they employ called “preference whisperers”).
    
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    March 15, 2026 6:54pm
    - Ian Boag
      
      The Australians run a Preferential Vote system which is totally different to STV …. it’s not even remotely proportional … AFAIK it’s unique to them.
      
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      March 15, 2026 7:36pm
sungsamning

Japanese automaker Honda just cancelled the production of three planned made-in-the-U.S.A. electric cars, including the 0-Series SUV, the 0-Series Saloon, and the Acura RSX — and the company says it will write off massive losses as a result. [Reality bites. The Feds aren’t including them in fleet purchases. The public have lost interest. And the production rules have changed. Greta would be rather cross if she was still an enviro-mentalist.]
https://pjmedia.com/vodkapundit/2026/03/12/honda-just-lost-billions-on-evs-it-cant-sell-n4950558
Honda Just Lost Billions on EVs It Can’t Sell.
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March 14, 2026 9:41am
- MCōs
  
  America is a bit like that
  https://x.com/nickofnz/status/2032319223196758260?s=46&t=XZLqGbhN-xeYzprhTaktsg
  
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  March 14, 2026 10:49am
- greybeard
  
  Have a look at the designs: Honda must have realised that these vehicles are far too radical to sell. The engineering would be excellent but a couple of them look like shit.
  https://www.stuff.co.nz/motoring/360950940/honda-cancels-radical-0-series-evs-just-months-launch
  
  5 2
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  March 14, 2026 11:38am
  - [email protected]
    
    Thanks to your link I was able to view those new EV photos. I think they look pretty cool and I’m 78 years old.
    
    4 0
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    March 14, 2026 2:01pm
    - greybeard
      
      I’m only 77: maybe next year I will have better discernment and taste.
      
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      March 14, 2026 8:09pm
- Burtland
  
  if the oil blockade goes on much longer they will sell like hot cakes
  
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  March 14, 2026 11:45am
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  Ditto Fiat, who have dropped the battery-only Fiat 500 and instead have brought back a petrol engined model (sone sort of hybrid). Why? Consumers simply weren’t buying the EV version.
  
  https://autos.yahoo.com/fiat-brings-back-petrol-500-120928013.html
  
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  March 14, 2026 1:22pm
Yvette

The demise of the case of the abseiling spray painting Te Papa exhibit defacing protester has gone basically unchallenged.

How the earlier Supreme Court case R v Ellis— a Trojan Horse case since no one involved was Maori, but which opened the door to tikanga Māori influencing common law—may have subtly affected how prosecutors evaluate culturally charged political protest cases.

Like dismissing the case altogether.
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March 14, 2026 10:00am
- pdm
  
  Should we all email Judith Collins about getting on to the Silicitor General to reverse this decision?
  
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  March 14, 2026 1:15pm
  - Yvette
    
    Following the court decision, the organisation said the dismissal of the charges represents an acknowledgement of the context surrounding the protest and the wider debate about historical narratives and Māori sovereignty.
    … The museum later signalled plans to renew the exhibition to incorporate a broader range of perspectives and historical context.
    https://www.teaonews.co.nz/2026/03/10/charges-dismissed-against-te-wehi-ratana-over-te-papa-treaty-protest/
    
    Since a conviction can make a protester a martyr and an acquittal can make them a hero (partially happening if you read te ao news), it is probably better the perpetrator become just the unknown defaceit
    It may be that burying this action and dismissal downplays it enough that neither side wins.
    So Pdm I would let the sleeping schnauzer lie
    
    3 4
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    March 14, 2026 1:38pm
    - Quail
      
      Yvette,
      At the very least there should have been real consequences.
      Go free if, the activists pay for the repairs, or , is it the case repairs have not been made and the protesters ( criminals ) have achieved their aim?
      In the latter case they should have been prosecuted to the full extent of the law!
      
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      March 14, 2026 9:43pm
  - MCōs
    
    Getting on to who to what?
    
    4 1
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    March 14, 2026 2:58pm
AitchW

Unions whining about 90 day clause proposed in collective agreement.
If, as the unions imply, an employer intends to activate the clause just for shits and giggles then you’d have to ask if you want to really want to work for them.
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March 14, 2026 10:04am
SpencerArnold

(Said on another site but I think it needs saying again.) Willis and Luxon need to climb off their ideological high-horse on interfering in the markets, and drop a chunk of tax on petrol yesterday. Otherwise Labour will ride in on their white charger and announce they would have been “kinder”. The election is on a knife-edge, the coalition does not need to hand the opposition a stick to beat them with. (sorry for all the horse metaphors).
13 5
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March 14, 2026 10:11am
- MCōs
  
  I think it’s a bit early to panic just yet.
  $3/litre is expensive for 91, but I remember paying $3.20+ during Covid days.
  It’s one thing to lower the tax, but sooner or later the situation may get worse/better
  We live in unpredictable times
  We’re adrift on the ocean and soon we’ll be a little bit more so when Watties folds.
  
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  March 14, 2026 1:54pm
  - Ian Boag
    
    RUCs will sort this of course 🙂 Then there would be no excise tax on petrol/diesel ….
    
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    March 15, 2026 7:40pm
Taieri

How to lose friends and piss off allies…

An excellent analysis by Roger Partidge:

https://www.brashandmitchell.com/post/roger-partridge-america-first-or-america-last-trump-s-foreign-policy-and-the-paradox-of-american
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March 14, 2026 10:44am
Swifty

Tracking nuclear energy production – Germany versus China:

https://x.com/michaelaarouet/status/2032506305949143528?s=46

Economic suicide.
5 1
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March 14, 2026 11:20am
pb

Regime change going well. They’ve swapped Khamenei with Khamenei.
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March 14, 2026 11:47am
- judith8409121
  
  carboardeni
  
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  March 14, 2026 12:14pm
- mike
  
  Iran threatens the world with its huge stockpile of ayatollahs.
  
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  March 14, 2026 12:21pm
Jack5

For Kiwiblog’s Old Salts …

A damaged, crewless LNG tanker’s adrift between Italy and Malta.

The Arctic Metagaz, carrying LNG from Murmansk was attacked by Ukrainian drones launched from the coast of Libya.

Reuters reports Italy ‌does ⁠not want the tanker to dock at one of its ports, a source said, describing it as a “ticking time bomb filled with gas”.

You get LNG – liquefied natural gas — by cooling natural gas to about minus 162 deg Celsius. LNG is about one six-hundreth the volume of normal gas.

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/italy-weighs-options-damaged-russian-lng-tanker-drifts-mediterranean-2026-03-13/
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March 14, 2026 12:02pm
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  A tanker full of LNG? That’s a business opportunity for someone.
  
  4 0
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  March 14, 2026 1:25pm
  - mogg
    
    McDonald’s have got a truck load of chickens going cheep.
    
    5 1
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    March 14, 2026 1:43pm
  - Damocles11
    
    Can we send our SAS to capture it? We’re running out of gas.
    
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    March 14, 2026 2:57pm
  - NothingLeft
    
    It’s got a hole in it’s main tank down to the water line that’s big enough to fit a house through.
    
    Possibly not economic to repair. Good chance engine room is at least partially full of water, and it’s not a small job to replace engines, or patch steel structures that have been through a massive fire
    
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    March 14, 2026 5:56pm
Handyman

TVNZ at it again, twice in one episode.

1. The attack on the Synagogue where a “car” drove into the children’s area. TVNZ failed to mention the driver was an illegal alien named Mohammed. Or mentioned why Jewish children’s schools now need armed guards.

2. TVNZ said the percentage of renewables last year was the highest ever. Thet noted hydro increased by 8% due to rain but the “star performer” was solar which increased 70%. They did not show that solar contributi0n averaged 50MW while hydro contribution was average 250MW. They also did not point out the obvious that the output of solar at night remained a zero MW.
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March 14, 2026 12:51pm
- Ghost
  
  not an illegal alien, and american schools have had armed police on site for a long time, Jewish schools shifted more after the Tree of Life Synagogue shooting
  
  Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, 41, a naturalised US citizen born in Lebanon
  
  1news
  
  Authorities said Ghazali entered the United States in 2011 on an IR1 immigrant visa as the spouse of a U.S. citizen, and was granted U.S. citizenship in February 2016, according to a DHS statement.
  
  Wyoming Public Media
  
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  March 14, 2026 1:06pm
  - MCōs
    
    That’s pretty close to illegal for propaganda purposes
    
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    March 14, 2026 1:32pm
  - MCōs
    
    Four close relatives of that chap had recently been killed by Israeli bombing in Lebanon.
    
    5 1
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    March 14, 2026 3:11pm
    - NZer In Exile
      
      Yes tragic but can you expand on your point there?
      
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      March 14, 2026 5:49pm
      - MCōs
        
        Point of interest which may explain the chap’s actions
        
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        March 14, 2026 7:59pm
      - NZer In Exile
        
        You’re saying it “may explain” his terrorism against people who had nothing to do with his relatives’ deaths?
        
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        March 15, 2026 6:58pm
Jack5

The Herald keeps behind its paywall details of the collapse of three Indian kiwifruit contractors leaving debt of tens of millions of dollars to the IRD.

However you can get some idea of the mess from the NZ publication, “Indian Weekender” (link below).

The pre-paywall paragraphs of the Herald report talk of companies owing the IRD $57 million and a director getting gold bars worth nearly $2m.

Looks like a liquidator’s nightmare and a headache for the IRD.

https://www.indianweekender.co.nz/news/kiwifruit-labour-contractors-amandeep-singh-ajaypal-singh-face-ird-penalties
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March 14, 2026 3:02pm
- greybeard
  
  The main culprits, as usual, seems to be the IRD, who never take action in a timely manner.
  You have to wonder if there is some sort of a staff competency/corruption problem in IRD .
  
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  March 14, 2026 5:10pm
expat

Jane Shallcrass worked at the central library when the Ian Athfield-designed building first opened in 1991 … and said the $217 million bill for the library project was money well spent.

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/589571/thousands-queue-as-doors-open-at-revamped-wellington-library-after-seven-years
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March 14, 2026 3:08pm
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  Well, that’s definitive, then.
  
  Jane, can you calculate how much in rates the new library is costing you?
  
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  March 14, 2026 5:49pm
  - Jack5
    
    If the choice was between a spectacular library and modern, working sewerage, you might say Wellington is shit out of luck.
    
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    March 14, 2026 8:41pm
David Garrett

Please tell me this isnt true…

https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360951197/pm-luxon-be-bestowed-honorary-matai-title-samoa-his-request

Chiefly titles should be bestowed because of respect for the person – or his office – not because he “requests” it…
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March 14, 2026 4:30pm
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  I suspect the media has deliberately misinterpreted this.
  
  I expect a “correction” in a few hours/days….. but the hit is in.
  
  The matai title is being conferred as a gesture of appreciation for New Zealand’s longstanding support and partnership with Samoa.
  
  https://islandsbusiness.com/news-break/new-zealand-pm-to-receive-matai-title-in-samoa/
  
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  March 14, 2026 5:01pm
  - greybeard
    
    My interpretation is that the Samoans at some time offered him the title and he requested that if it was to happen then during this trip would be the best time.
    
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    March 14, 2026 5:07pm
  - Ghost
    
    Samoa Prime Minister Hon Laaulialemalietoa Leuatea Polataivao Fosi Schmidt, said the title bestowal was a request by New Zealand Prime Minister Luxon.
    
    Speaking on “Fofola le Fala ma le Alii Palemia” Laaulialemalietoa said the High Commissioner of New Zealand to Samoa had informed him that the Rt Hon Christopher Luxon requested a matai title.
    
    Samoa Global News
    
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    March 14, 2026 5:21pm
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    Well, Surprise, surprise…
    
    This story has been updated. The initial version of the story was based on comments given by the Samoan PM in local media. The New Zealand government says these claims are not correct.
    
    https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360951197/pm-luxon-be-bestowed-honorary-matai-title-samoa-his-request
    
    Now the weaselly Stuff reporters are trying to blame the Samoan PM.
    
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    March 14, 2026 6:44pm
- Hugh Jarse
  
  I hope he won’t have to sit on a stage with a flax blanket over his head à la Jacinda ?
  
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  March 14, 2026 7:02pm
greybeard

https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/360950066/liam-lawson-secures-first-points-formula-1-season-shanghai-sprint-race
Great result for Lawson. I suspect it could have been even better had the safety car not been involved: Lawson’s choice of hard tyres was paying real dividends until the safety car, when those ahead of him had an opportunity to pit and change to softs.
Well done to another talented young New Zealander !
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March 14, 2026 5:04pm
- MCōs
  
  It seems the choice of those tyres puts him at some sort of disadvantage in the main race.
  F1, while it may look simple, blokes race around and the first one to the chequer flag wins; is as complicated as rugby
  
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  March 14, 2026 8:07pm

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