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March 17, 2026 8:00am by Kokila Patel

General Debate 17 March 2026

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General Debate

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slightlyrighty

So…does this Chippie story have legs?
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March 17, 2026 8:05am
- Mobile Michael
  
  Sounds like it – relationships are always complicated and messy and there’s always two sides to every story, but some of the allegations are quite damning. Even if 25% true they’re a real stain on his character.
  
  I especially like how the media refusing to report any of it has meant they’re all over social media now – next round of polling probably not going to be kind.
  
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  March 17, 2026 10:13am
  - Philview
    
    I had a quick look to track down allegations and can see he is getting a lot of support from women. They seem to regard this is a dirty tricks campaign from the Centre Right parties. Let’s blame Chris Luxon for comments made by Chris Hipkins’ ex wife.
    
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    March 17, 2026 1:29pm
    - alwyn.a
      
      I think they all want to mother the dear little chap.
      Don’t you think that is so sweet?
      
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      March 17, 2026 5:22pm
    - NZer In Exile
      
      The woke-brainwashed kiddies on Reddit believe that because she worked for NZ First for a time, it’s a right wing plot against the left.
      
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      March 18, 2026 7:26pm
  - R
    
    Next round of polling may be closer to the real world of NZ!
    
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    March 17, 2026 2:58pm
- Poppax8
  
  Who could replace Hipkins as leader? Not exactly a galaxy of talent. Willy Jackson? Seriously I would love to hear your views
  
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  March 17, 2026 10:45am
  - imalwaysright
    
    Luxon
    
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    March 17, 2026 11:36am
  - Boy Geoff
    
    Why do people rubbish Willie?
    
    He’s very confident in his own talent – and he’d definitely keep the korero flowing with Tamihere & Waititi. Inc.
    
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    March 17, 2026 11:37am
    - Sweet Hitchhiker
      
      Forgive me if I’m wrong here, but it might be because he once suggested he would kill his wife if she was ever unfaithful. Not a helpful attitude when you consider the horrific stats for violence against Maori women and children.
      
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      March 17, 2026 6:42pm
  - Paulus
    
    It will be a Labour Woman anyway !
    of which Belich is my first choice.
    Lawyer and pure Labour Party backing.
    
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    March 17, 2026 11:40am
    - Dougal10
      
      And a certain someones partner
      
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      March 17, 2026 12:37pm
      - Steve Todd
        
        As I understand it, that comment is now outdated — in the professional, not personal, sense.
        
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        March 17, 2026 2:26pm
    - Maggy Wassilieff
      
      Look at Labour’s top table:
      https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/election-2026-labour-party-announces-caucus-reshuffle/VH25T6XHZ5HCDDN7DZPFFR7IQI/
      
      Camilla would need to dump at least 9 of them for her team to have any credibility.
      
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      March 17, 2026 2:05pm
  - Raphael
    
    I think McAnulty is the one put forward most. Although he may be sweating a little if Hipkins gets too much heat for this, as I’ve seen reports that he has some similar skeletons.
    
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    March 17, 2026 12:51pm
    - NothingLeft
      
      The story a couple of elections back was that McAnulty spent his (ex)Irish wife’s inheritance getting elected, then dumped her as soon as he was in parliament. Taht would be bought back to light should he get top spot and won’t win a lot of support from Labour’s mostly female voting base.
      
      He was also a nasty wee bastard regarding the (Gaurav) Sharma Drama “he was being bullied by Labour party whips, the Parliamentary Service, and the Prime Minister’s office, claiming a “rampant” culture of bullying and a “cover-up”.
      
      Seems to be a pattern of sociopathic/back-stabby behaviour. Wouldn’t trust him as far as I could spit him.
      
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      March 17, 2026 2:23pm
- Hugh Jarse
  
  Yep and Jade has been very smart putting it on social media which the media can’t control. I think a good amount of the public interest and comment has been because of the media bias we know exists and their sidelining.
  
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  March 17, 2026 12:59pm
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  Hell no. Stuff have already moved the story well down the batting order; pretty soon it’ll be a tail end Charlie and then gone for good.
  
  Would the media do likewise if it were Chris Luxon? (rhetorical question alert)
  
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  March 17, 2026 1:32pm
NeverMindTheBollocks

Predictably, there are calls for people to start working from home. However, the thrust of the article is that the problem fuel is diesel, “the workhorse of the economy”.

So, only those who drive diesel vehicles need pay attention, I guess. Certainly not the central government public servants of Wellington, who wouldn’t be seen dead driving a dirty diesel. No, those hoover-uppers of taxpayer subsidies for EVs and double-cheap e-bikes, with access to more-or-less functional public transport, plus in many cases the ability to walk to work on our compact capital, should be the last people to be invited to work from home. We tried that once before, and it’s been the devil’s own job to get them back to their desks.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/money/360951816/willis-says-we-have-52-day-fuel-buffer-numbers-arent-clear-cut
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March 17, 2026 8:12am
- KKNZ2025
  
  They’ll never go back to their desks, that horse has bolted. The Govt has backed down in challenging it.
  
  https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/360911865/acc-backs-down-proposal-force-staff-wfo-least-three-days-week
  
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  March 17, 2026 10:27am
  - Tricati
    
    The easiest and quickest way to deal with it is the significantly reduce their number and then watch them get back to the office to show how valuable (their perception) they are.
    
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    March 17, 2026 11:37am
    - imalwaysright
      
      Elon Musk : ” If you aren’t in the office on Monday, you can pretend to work for someone else.”
      
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      March 17, 2026 1:41pm
    - artemisia
      
      Stricter management oversight and feedback would get results. The boss does their day job – sets targets and makes sure they are being met – timely and good quality. Could call it performance management. Or just management.
      
      I have performance managed several people out. No fun but it’s the job. Fortunately a couple were contractors, EZ.
      
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      March 17, 2026 4:20pm
- Paulus
  
  I have three Wellingtons who bus and walk to work.
  And they each have a car at home.
  
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  March 17, 2026 11:42am
  - mike
    
    Fascinating
    
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    March 17, 2026 12:22pm
Damocles11

‘“There was never a joint decision on whether to intervene. That is why the question of how Germany might contribute militarily does not arise. We will not do so,” German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said.’
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March 17, 2026 8:15am
- Blog-aholic
  
  Herr Merz is a little dumb if he cannot understand the geo-politics of the situation. The USA provides 2/3 of the entire NATO defense spend……this may not be their war but if that is the case how is Ukraine their war then?
  Herr Merz is pulling the tail of a powerful tiger only because he dislikes Trump…..but he forgets that he is only president for a short time but the USA has a long memory for quasi un allied behaviour when it comes to NATO…..
  
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  March 17, 2026 10:23am
  - Taieri
    
    The USA provides 2/3 of the entire NATO defense spend
    ————–
    
    NATO members were not informed or consulted on this war.
    Not that long ago some NATO members were threatened with invasion and their leaders and soldiers insulted and abused. To all practical purposes NATO doesn’t exist anymore. All thanks to one man and his take on geopolitics.
    
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    March 17, 2026 12:01pm
  - virtualmark
    
    “The USA provides 2/3 of the entire NATO defence spend”.
    
    Kind of.
    
    The USA’s military budget (about US$1 trillion pa) is 62% of the total military spend of all NATO countries. But that US military budget is for their global presence, not just in Europe and the North Atlantic. And it includes money for things like the VA, which is a type of spending that appears elsewhere in the budgets of the other NATO countries.
    
    Best estimate I’ve seen is that the US military expenditure on Europe + North Atlantic is about 25% of the total NATO military spend.
    
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    March 17, 2026 12:47pm
    - Hard Cheese
      
      Regardless of the numbers, it’s the choice of the US to spend that amount on their military, NATO isn’t forcing them to do it.
      
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      March 17, 2026 2:05pm
  - Ra Henare
    
    I do wish people would check their facts.
    USA DO NOT supply 2 thirds of Nato Budget.
    its less than 16%
    
    https://www.reuters.com/fact-check/us-contributes-16-nato-annual-budget-not-two-thirds-2024-05-31/
    
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    March 17, 2026 4:45pm
  - MCōs
    
    Friedrich Metz wouldn’t be Chancellor of Germany if he didn’t understand a damned sight more about the geo politics of the situation than some random nobody commenting on this forum.
    
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    March 17, 2026 5:30pm
- Ra Henare
  
  Trump decided to create the war with Iran (along with warmonger Bibi who seems to be Trumps controller).
  
  This war directly affected the Oil supply.
  So let Trump sort out his own mess.
  
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  March 17, 2026 4:47pm
Damocles11

Trump doesn’t want the political fall-out that would occur if a US warship were to be sunk in the Strait of Hormuz, so he is pushing to have the US’s traditional allies take the risk for him instead. Reprehensible.
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March 17, 2026 8:18am
- lastmanstanding
  
  On that matter the Coalitions re-election hinge on the SOH opening asap and staying open. If they dont and we face fuel rationing the Opposition will blame the Government the unwashed will believe them and by Christmas we will have a Labour/Green/Maori Party Government. Happy Days!!!!
  
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  March 17, 2026 10:06am
  - R
    
    ‘Happy Days’…. and embedded Marxist misery, controlled by IWI thereafter!
    
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    March 17, 2026 10:21am
- NothingLeft
  
  Low cost drone tech means that the only way you can end threat to shipping/planes around the world from any group is to take them out. See for example how Ukraine has been bombing Russian tankers off the coast of Africa and in the Med.
  
  Iranian theocracy delenda est.
  
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  March 17, 2026 10:13am
- kowtow
  
  Rubbish.
  
  He’s telling the countries that are whining about their precious oil to put up or shut up.
  
  And this does raise another interesting point .
  
  Places like Japan and Korea , who live under active threat from N Korea and China have been happy to gain prosperity under US protection and fully expect Uncle Sam to come to their party , bugt won’t reciprocate . The same applies to Germany and the rest of Europe when it comes to the Ivans .
  
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  March 17, 2026 11:00am
  - imalwaysright
    
    I don’t think the problem is Uncle Sam, its Uncle Ben.
    
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    March 17, 2026 11:39am
  - Damocles11
    
    ‘Countries are whining about their precious oil.’
    First I’ve heard of it. That’s the way you are framing it because that’s the way Trump is framing it. Because the price of oil effects everyone globally, I think you’ll find a lot of the whining is being done by:
    – Americans over gasoline prices.
    – Americans who hold stocks or are looking at their 401K balances.
    – Americans who are dealing with rising inflation.
    – Americans who are eyeing the mounting USD cost of this war.
    So as much as Trump and his most devoted fans may frame it as ‘we don’t need the oil, they need the oil’, the reality is a lot more complex.
    
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    March 17, 2026 12:22pm
  - virtualmark
    
    Big difference between (a) collective defence in the event of an unprovoked attack and (b) being dragged into elective wars of aggression that you do not agree with and did not start.
    
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    March 17, 2026 12:49pm
- Graeme Hall
  
  “..so he is pushing to have the US’s traditional allies take the risk for him instead. Reprehensible.”
  
  Does any Western Country want Iran to get nuclear weapons given they have ballistic missiles and Russian guidance and a government following a religion that kills their own people indiscriminately to stay in power? Trump certainly doesn’t, but there are many European countries a lot closer to Iran who are sitting back and contributing next to nothing. The USA isn’t a geographic risk and is self-sufficient in oil so we should be thankful Trump has acted while the spineless ones criticise him.
  
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  March 17, 2026 11:22am
  - virtualmark
    
    Graeme, it’s possible that the European countries, rather than “sitting back and contributing nothing”, believe that Iran poses no direct threat to them.
    
    Certainly there’s nothing in publicly available information that suggests Iran does. And, rationally, it’s hard to see how Iran would benefit from attacking Europe.
    
    I’m not saying Europe should be complacent. Just that there is no imminent threat that requires any pre-emptive attack on Iran at this time.
    
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    March 17, 2026 12:55pm
    - Graeme Hall
      
      If the European countries believed Iran was no direct threat then why did they join in the Obama deal to pay Iran billions for not developing a nuclear bomb? After Trump cancelled the Obama pay-offs Europe still continued. None of this makes sense unless the European politicians just keep trying to kick the can down the road & let some other sucker deal with Iran.
      
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      March 17, 2026 2:00pm
      - virtualmark
        
        I’ll guess they did that because:
        * They can see that Iran has ambitions to have a nuclear bomb,
        * Nuclear proliferation is bad,
        * Especially in the Middle East where Israel and Saudi Arabia are already (undeclared) nuclear powers who have tense relationships with Iran,
        * So let’s try diplomacy, as a cheaper carrot versus an expensive military stick.
        
        All indications are that the JCPOA was working. Check out the chart of the number of Iranian centrifuges by year at https://isis-online.org/isis-reports/updated-highlights-of-survey-of-irans-advanced-centrifuges-March2023 The JCPOA was agreed in 2015. Trump threw it out in late-2018. Iran responded by rapidly building more centrifuges.
        
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        March 17, 2026 2:49pm
- MCōs
  
  Interestingly I’ve read that’s why Churchill sent the NZ Army to defend Greece in 1942.
  It was a forlorn mission and politically untenable for the British Army to undertake
  
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  March 17, 2026 5:42pm
  - mike
    
    1941, and militarily untenable. Done for political reasons.
    
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    March 17, 2026 5:55pm
    - MCōs
      
      My apologies for the mixups.
      Dad was on leave in the Holy Land (aka Palestine at the time) in February-1941 and I knew he’d gone to Greece only a few months later, been captured and spent the rest of the war as a pow.
      I should have rechecked my dates.
      
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      March 17, 2026 6:34pm
NeverMindTheBollocks

When those in authority tell you that there’s no reason to panic, that’s the time to panic.

I was talking with a petrol station attendant up country over the weekend. He told me that on 1 March he had regular farming customers come in and buy up 6 months of fuel.
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March 17, 2026 8:21am
- Dougal10
  
  He could have also had a tax problem
  
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  March 17, 2026 10:22am
- Paulus
  
  Petrol does not have a long shelf life anyway, so carefull storage is essential for the good of the machinery.
  
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  March 17, 2026 11:45am
  - Dougal10
    
    When i was a young fella in the 80s we had a tank that was filled in 1970 that we used for the boat , it must have been there at least 15 years and was perfectly good.
    
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    March 17, 2026 12:43pm
    - alwyn.a
      
      I fear the Oil Companies would disagree with you.
      In a sealed container you can get away with a year. Once the seal is broken the max is about six months.
      The boat wasn’t a P-class or a Zephyr by any chance?
      
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      March 17, 2026 5:31pm
  - NothingLeft
    
    It’s fine if in a sealed tank that prevents volatile compnenets from boiling off. And it’s more likely to be diesel that has a much longer shelf life.
    
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    March 17, 2026 2:27pm
kowtow

Another day another panicky media frontline headline from the Herald ;

“Govt braces for fuel turmoil”

If the media remained calm and stopped engaging in fear mongering perhaps our society would retain its rationality . Same thing happened in the scamdemic .

Where’s this alleged kiwi self discipline , resilience and practicality . It exists in much of rural society , not sure about certain parts the urban masses .
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March 17, 2026 8:38am
- R
  
  Self discipline, resilience, practicality and personal respondibilty exited the URBAN regions decades ago; about the same time that respect became somewhat rare.
  
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  March 17, 2026 10:25am
TripeWryter

I woke up this morning to Mike Hosking busily fending off texters demanding he ‘do something about the Jade Paul-Chris Hipkins story’.
He was trying to explain to them that he – and the mainstream media – are governed by rules.
He – and his employers – can be sued.
I found a screenshot of Ms Paul’s allegations last evening.
I don’t see any reason that the mainstream media cannot ask him about Ms Paul’s first allegation.
And ask him with the same vigour and enthusiasm they prosecuted their inquiries against, say, Sam Uffindell.
It is a matter of public interest that should resonate among women.
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March 17, 2026 8:40am
- RoboRob
  
  Yes. I really don’t understand what makes this story any different to all the others pursued by the media. Sure Hipkins refutes it, but inmost other cases there is one party who denies things too. Yes I understand this could be muck raking but why the legal fears in this case and no other cases? If the was Luxons ex making whatever claims this woman is, I am 100% sure the media would be all over it. It would be in the ‘National interest’.
  
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  March 17, 2026 10:13am
  - Ghost
    
    Hipkins has involved his lawyer. The question then is has the lawyer warned the media. Stuff said they cannot report what was said.
    
    Stuff cannot publish the as yet unsubstantiated claims
    
    Article
    
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    March 17, 2026 10:17am
    - TripeWryter
      
      Ghost:
      The story is out. Without trying hard I’ve seen Ms Paul’s allegations on three social media sites.
      There are now too many platforms and sites to sue.
      
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      March 17, 2026 10:32am
      - Ghost
        
        You can get banned on kiwiblog for linking or mentioning what was said, that alone speaks volumes. Media are saying they can’t report what was said.
        
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        March 17, 2026 11:08am
      - Graeme Hall
        
        Ghost: there are much worse consequences than being banned on Kiwiblog – like giving up your freedom of speech. Having seen the accusations on line, there is nothing illegal about Chris Hipkin’s behaviour. By comparison with his Labour colleague, the Hon Kieran Mcanulty in the rotten-behaviour-by-Labour-MPs-to-women contest he comes a clear second equal along with Willy Jackson.
        
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        March 17, 2026 11:31am
      - Ghost
        
        And yet you cannot post them here, the media have said they cannot post them. When was the last time people were told posting such here won’t be allowed and can lead to suspension? That no one has yet officially posted this, that they are saying they can’t, speaks volumes. Stuff made sure they included in their story that Hipkins was talking to his lawyer
        
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        March 17, 2026 11:41am
      - Graeme Hall
        
        Ghost they are being posted – all the time. I’ve been shown multiple copies today. There are two main reasons why our media do not post them. Our media 1) are primarily supporters of Labour/Green parties, and 2) due to low revenues are unwilling to front the costs of going to court.
        
        As for Hipkins talking to his lawyer, that counts for nothing. Wait until Hipkins walks into the Court to testify (it will never happen). Honorable McAnulty had much worse published after his divorce although Google has long since scrubbed the links. Kiwiblog still has some details.
        
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        March 17, 2026 2:13pm
      - Ghost
        
        yeah, so? I saw them yesterday. There is a difference from people posting them on social media and the media saying they cannot report on them. Not even this blog is reporting on it, are you going to claim DPF is a supporter of labour/greens? articles haven’t been scrubbed from the internet.
        
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        March 17, 2026 2:26pm
    - Jack5
      
      Roborob’s … Sure Hipkins refutes it …
      
      Does he? “Refute” means to prove something is wrong. Hipkins denies it or rebuts it.
      
      Here’s a reasonable explanation:
      
      ‘The word you want most of the time is “rebut,” a denial accompanied by argument or presentation of less-than-definitive evidence. If someone claims the sun rises in the west, simply pointing them east at dawn would “refute” that claim. But if someone claims that the Beatles were the greatest rock band the world has ever seen, it is not a provable fact, so any argument to the contrary is a “rebuttal”.’
      
      https://www.cjr.org/language_corner/rebut-refute.php
      
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      March 17, 2026 2:42pm
  - mandk
    
    Hipkins hasn’t refuted the story. He has simply denied it.
    
    They are not the same thing.
    
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    March 17, 2026 10:22am
    - Pope Punctilious II
      
      Unfortunately that distinction is lost on most NZ “journalists”.
      
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      March 17, 2026 12:37pm
    - HeatherW
      
      In the stories I have seen he has said that he “refuted the allegations” or “rejected the allegations”. He has not denied nor actually refuted (which used to mean show evidence to disprove something (until Jacinda)).
      
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      March 17, 2026 1:06pm
  - R
    
    Arhhhh, this involves a, celebrity of the special caring cult, not the hated but responsible PM Luxon and National Party
    
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    March 17, 2026 10:29am
  - TripeWryter
    
    RoboRob:
    I believe there is a national interest aspect to his behaviour that Ms Paul alleges in her first point:
    He and Labour have spent a great deal of effort down the years to make him relatable to women. To be sympathetic to them.
    There is an implied comparison here with Christopher Luxon, who, apparently is not popular with women voters.
    There is nothing more UNrelatable to women than an uncaring man.
    It will be interesting to see on the next Question Time the looks on the faces of Labour’s wimmin MPs in the background as Chris Hipkins stands and smugly asks the prime minister if he ‘stands by his government’s actions and statements’.
    It will be interesting to see the looks on the faces of Labour’s wimmin MPs the the next time ‘Chippy’ stands to lecture the Government on pay equity.
    
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    March 17, 2026 10:30am
    - imalwaysright
      
      If the allegations about Hipkins are true, I wonder how his latest wife must be feeling?
      
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      March 17, 2026 12:16pm
      - Eastlander
        
        Second, third, fourth wives tend to convince themselves it’ll never happen to them (it will).
        
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        March 17, 2026 1:18pm
  - Cassandra
    
    He hasn’t refuted it, he’s denied it only. As you’d expect.
    
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    March 17, 2026 10:50am
  - In Vino Veritas
    
    Yep, and Labour didn’t hold back chasing John Keys connection to the “H Fee”, an unsubstantiated rumour. Along with spending a disproportionate amount of time with the media attacking Key, they sent Mike Williams to Melbourne looking to take him down, and made sure the media knew it. Sorry, [Mod – just use his actual name] , but you reap what you sow.
    
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    March 17, 2026 1:36pm
- Ra Henare
  
  Its none of Mike Hoskings business!!!
  
  Only public interest for gossipers. It AFFECTS NOBODY.
  
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  March 17, 2026 4:51pm
  - Colville
    
    Mike is very well paid to talk about what people want to listen to so yes it’s absolutely his business.
    
    Personally I can’t stand the show, too many ads. Having ad free streaming services really makes me intolerant.
    
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    March 17, 2026 5:29pm
- Beach Haven expat
  
  Hosking talks a good game but usually scurries from stories of this nature, leaving them to HDPA.
  Myocarditis last week barely mentioned. McSkimming quickly moved on from with a lot of excusing Coster.
  I don’t know if he thinks it’s all beneath him but times you think he’ll go for the jugular, he disappoints.
  
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  March 17, 2026 6:49pm
- MCōs
  
  Let he who is without sin cast the first aspersions
  
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  March 17, 2026 6:53pm
Scooter

The inquest into this babies death probably shows what is happening in most families where children are abused and killed, drugs would be the main factor.

“A normal day coming down
5 September, 2020, began as a normal Saturday for Pickering and his then partner, Poseidyn’s mother, Filoi Huakau.
The pair told the court they were heavy users of methamphetamine in 2020, using and staying awake for five-day periods or until their drugs ran out.

After using drugs at other people’s houses, the couple, with their 2-year-old daughter and Poseidyn, would return to Huakau’s mother’s home for a couple of days to come down.”

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/589759/father-tells-inquest-he-heard-baby-poseidyn-hemopo-pickering-gasping-for-air-before-death
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March 17, 2026 8:59am
- Gravelroad
  
  The welfare of babies and young children seem not to rate highly on the agenda for meth heads.
  But the taxpayer funded benefit money for them comes in handy, I suppose.
  No questions asked, no true answers given.
  
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  March 17, 2026 10:20am
- imalwaysright
  
  The circumstantial evidence points to the scumbag busting the baby’s skull.
  That should be enough for life without parole.
  It must be galling for the prosecution to watch this scumbag play dumb and probably get away with murder.
  
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  March 17, 2026 1:58pm
Cassandra

Isn’t there something weird about democracy if National is blamed for the Hormuz fuel price spike increase? NZ is in a much worse position now because of Labour’s mistakes – stopping oil exploration, $30 billion wrongful expenditure etc – yet it’ll get a benefit? Perverse.
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March 17, 2026 9:07am
- david in Aus
  
  The irony is that it now that people see the role of crude oil in the global economy: fuel, plastics, food, fertiliser, computer chips, medicines……
  
  These people banned petroleum exploration in NZ, I am still waiting for the media to interview Labour and the Greens on their position.
  
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  March 17, 2026 9:11am
  - RoboRob
    
    I believe they are claiming it’s the governments fault for stopping everything subsidies. As if that would have made ANY difference.
    
    For what it’s worth, EVs seem to be doing fine without tax payer subsidies.
    
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    March 17, 2026 10:16am
    - Dougal10
      
      Leftys believe that not taxing diesel utes out of existence is a subsidy to them, its an argument you cant win.
      
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      March 17, 2026 10:29am
  - R
    
    I am still waiting for the Labour and Green voters to come forward, and state that they will forgo items of life in support of their voting ideology. Since they clearly didn’t see the need for commercial development and progressive living standards
    
    10 3
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    March 17, 2026 10:35am
  - Ra Henare
    
    Sorry, these people, did not ban petroleeum exploration. It effectively Jacindas play.
    
    The timing of the ban announcement was widely seen as linked to Ardern’s upcoming visit to Europe, where she aimed to strengthen her international climate leadership profile.
    
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    March 17, 2026 4:56pm
- imalwaysright
  
  “$30 billion wrongful expenditure…”
  
  That’s infers that the other $30 odd billion was ‘rightful expenditure’.
  
  The spending of money seemed to be the only plan they had, and the only one they wanted.
  
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  March 17, 2026 9:13am
  - Cassandra
    
    I didn’t mean to imply that I approved the other half!
    
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    March 17, 2026 10:51am
    - imalwaysright
      
      Agreed, my point is about the general public’s acceptance that the rightful spending was rightful when in fact there is no evidence.
      
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      March 17, 2026 11:01am
  - Raphael
    
    Don’t forget, “how much money we are spending” is essentially Labour’s only metric for tracking how well they are doing on something.
    
    Health, they got rid of the targets, focused on how much money, and Andrew Little blew a billion dollars on “mental health” with no single metric to track it.
    Look how much money we’re blowing on this, look how much money we’re blowing on that.
    
    6 1
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    March 17, 2026 11:18am
    - pdm
      
      Raphael – was it not $1.9billion that disappeared into the Mental Health ether under Little.
      
      Even now no one knows who got their grubby hands on it but, it seems quite clear it was not utilised in the Mental Health sector.
      
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      March 17, 2026 11:40am
      - Raphael
        
        I know it was at least $1B; it could have been closer to 2.
        
        4 0
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        March 17, 2026 11:47am
      - Ghost
        
        Where did the $1.9 billion Wellbeing Budget go?
        
        5 2
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        March 17, 2026 11:48am
    - R
      
      Standard Labour politics, QUANTITY not QUALITY of expenditure. Much in the same vein as their supporters budget their own income.
      
      5 1
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      March 17, 2026 12:10pm
      - In Vino Veritas
        
        Correct R. Labour have thrown money at every problem since 1916. And haven’t solved any problems. Ever.
        
        5 0
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        March 17, 2026 2:10pm
  - Paulus
    
    But into whose pockets did it go ?
    
    9 1
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    March 17, 2026 11:49am
    - imalwaysright
      
      “But into whose pockets did it go?”
      
      Don’t know, but I bet it improved their mental health…
      
      12 1
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      March 17, 2026 12:12pm
- cmm (semi-retired edition)
  
  Cause and effect is a long-dead notion in NZ.
  People just immediately expect nanny to fix whatever mess is in front of them.
  
  It does not matter who caused the mess. Nanny must fix it. Now.
  
  This is not new. It is something that my wife and I recognised in our first few days in NZ in 1992 and it has only got to be worse since then.
  
  We grew up in Africa where little happens unless you do it yourself (the prevalence of domestic servants is a different issue) and you need to sort yourself out no matter who’s fault it is because if you don’t do it it won’t get done.
  
  In NZ we encountered people saying “They should fix xxx”, “They should fix yyy” meaning the government, council or other nanny-being should make my problems go away. That has only got to be worse with people now expected to get “equity” and such – equal outcomes no matter what your actions are.
  
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  March 17, 2026 9:17am
  - Gravelroad
    
    Not necessarily disagreeing cmm semi retired but, as individuals, we are not actually allowed to do anything because it might be against some state or local body mandated rule, policy or edict – of which there are many hundreds.
    Lots of individuals and groups can “fix” things.
    The capability and purpose is still there.
    But look out if you make one wrong move or violate one nit-picking regulation. The full weight of the tax raising bureaucracy (by way of fines) will come down on you – especially in the rural context.
    So for many people, easier to let the experts in the government take charge and moan about it when they don’t do anything.
    
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    March 17, 2026 9:43am
    - imalwaysright
      
      “The capability and purpose is still there.”
      
      What’s the point if neither are exercised?
      
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      March 17, 2026 10:31am
    - artemisia
      
      ‘Many hundreds’, gravelroad? Try being a landlord these days with many hundreds of pages, and that’s just central government legislation.
      
      And many of those rules and regs have significant costs, including fines, attached for unwary landlords and property managers.
      
      We can expect to see more Build-to- Rent complexes, tightly managed and top of the range rents. Like Resido apartments in Auckland – 1 bedroom starting at $600 pw.
      
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      March 17, 2026 11:12am
    - westernScientist
      
      While i do generally agree with cmms take, this is an extremely good point that i dont think a lot of people realise how bad it is. Look at what you are actually aloud to do in your own home, want to add a new sink, no sorry you have to pay the council and a plumber at least. Want to move some soil on your farm, no sorry, your not aloud to move more than x cubes without a resource consent which will require an environmental report and who knows what else, want to grow a crop of wheat on your beef farm, no you have to have a change to your consent, a new farm plan and a new audit of the new farm plan, all of which will require 1000s of dollars to various rent seekers. The list goes on. So yes, people expect the nanny state to fix their problems, but also the nanny state forces one to use it to be aloud to fix their own problems, and it has to be done nanny’s way, which usually involves, not fixing ones own problems. I think the difference with SA is that state enforcement of these things still functions to a substantial enough degree here that not going though the nanny state is a non trivial risk of fines or criminal charges.
      
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      March 17, 2026 11:29am
      - Quail
        
        WS,
        Yes it is really bad.
        For example
        A land owner of my acquaintance has been trying to get consent for extending a road to be able to manage his conservation estate. The ( national ) environmental body who is responsible has inspected the proposed area as appropriate and agreed the impact was “ less than minor ” and the proposal should proceed.
        The area’s district Council then decided they want a planner to process the application, so they can OK it.
        The applicant then employed a planning firm and that is where it sits!
        This process started around 18 months ago with no resolution yet.
        It seems the applicant is now so sick of the process nothing will happen.
        As he said Government cutting red tape— yeah right
        
        3 0
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        March 17, 2026 6:26pm
  - Raphael
    
    This is why community groups like Lions International and Rotary are battling for memebers. People expect the guvmint to fix it, rather than people in the community banding together and finding solutions
    
    10 0
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    March 17, 2026 11:24am
    - cmm (semi-retired edition)
      
      Quite.
      
      Charitable support of people in the community is dead. Just pay your tax and NGOs will deal with the problem.
      
      Community working bees? Naah, pay thousands to the councils and they will get it done (inefficiently).
      
      6 1
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      March 17, 2026 1:18pm
      - Maggy Wassilieff
        
        Community working bees?
        
        Have you seen the H&S requirements needed by any group undertaking a clean-up or planting-out activity?
        
        8 0
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        March 17, 2026 2:09pm
      - cmm (semi-retired edition)
        
        Yup Maggy, all made impossible through red tape etc.
        
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        March 18, 2026 9:27am
  - Ra Henare
    
    Cmm. Totally agree.
    Personal responsibility has been abandoned.
    
    Walking to my local market this morning.
    I see staff washing down and scrubbing the footpath and street outside their stores.
    They are not bleating about the gummint should keep the place clean.
    My mind has gone in to lockdown thinking if this could ever happen in NZ.!!!
    
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    March 17, 2026 4:59pm
- Burtland
  
  it is what I say it is – post modernism has redefined everything
  
  7 0
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  March 17, 2026 9:20am
- Paulus
  
  Well of course it is Luxon’s fault so he will not get re elected in November as Chippy will sort it out by then and the know all media will congratulate him and accuse Luxon of being like Muldoon even suggesting carless days which with the difference in car numbers wil be considered second only to getting rid of the ghastly Luxon.
  
  17 2
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  March 17, 2026 9:22am
  - Simon
    
    Of course Luxon / National could do something. That’s is reduce the price gauging taxes on petrol.
    
    But this would break their neoliberal brains.
    
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    March 17, 2026 9:25am
    - Ghost
      
      Taking the tax off means having to borrow money to cover the shortfall in the loss of taxes
      
      17 1
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      March 17, 2026 9:52am
      - Charlotte Wells
        
        Maybe they will see a need to really slash all the spending that governments use to buy an election every time.
        
        Every election there is the offer of something ‘free’.
        
        It’s never free, it’s just paid for by taxing the productive harder and harder.
        
        13 2
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        March 17, 2026 10:05am
      - RoboRob
        
        Ironic that you need to point that out immediately after posts on people not understanding cause and effect!
        
        7 0
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        March 17, 2026 10:18am
      - Dougal10
        
        They are currently creaming the gst off fuel so a little wouldn’t hurt.
        
        4 1
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        March 17, 2026 10:33am
      - Colville
        
        I hope the drop the price of RUC.. I am due to buy 30,000 kms worth… 🤣
        
        1 0
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        March 17, 2026 5:33pm
    - R
      
      At least this government has brains to ‘break’, more than could be said for the last government.
      
      3 0
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      March 17, 2026 10:37am
    - pdm
      
      Simon implies – Luxon and the current National party are Neo Liberal?
      
      That is stretching credibility I think.
      
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      March 17, 2026 11:43am
    - cmm (semi-retired edition)
      
      “That’s is reduce the price gauging taxes on petrol.”
      
      Much of that price gouging on petrol is hidden road tax.
      
      So sure, we can move that over to RUC if you wish, but it won’t go away.
      
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      March 17, 2026 1:19pm
- Simon
  
  National promote themselves as safe clever economic managers. National might be a bit thick as it’s a global economy of which NZ has no control. On the other hand National also think they can control global temperatures through taxing and regulating NZ. National ain’t too thick per say but the economic model they believe in with all their might, neoliberalism, has utterly failed
  
  When an economic model had to import the third world to substain itself it’s time to call it a night.
  
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  March 17, 2026 9:23am
Right of way is Way of Right

So, Mr Hipkins refutes the allegations that have been made by his ex-wife, and the mother of his children.

Now, I’m no lawyer, but it seems to me that if someone is spreading falsehoods about you in the public domain, then the recommended legal recourse would be a defamation action.

It’s also my understanding that the defence against a defamation action is that the assertions that have been made are in fact, true.

This has somewhat placed the ball very firmly on Chippies side of the net. If he goes down the litigation route, the dirty laundry gets a very public airing, and if the allegations are true and probable, he is toast.

I expect the spin will involve Chippie stating he is very reluctant to bring legal action because he doesn’t want to put his children through a divisive and upsetting process, and he will try to paint his ex as a woman scorned.

True or not, these allegations are a PR nightmare.
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March 17, 2026 9:21am
- keepcalmcarryon
  
  I feel sorry for the sad family situation and airing the stresses of what’s happened isn’t going to make anyone feel better. Poor lady.
  That said I don’t need any extra evidence that Hipkins is a slimey weasel , his actions over Covid proved it beyond doubt.l, especially blaming people for breaching lockdowns when he knew they hadn’t.
  
  26 2
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  March 17, 2026 10:34am
  - Tricati
    
    Don’t forget the Charlotte Bellis issue and his involvement in the Barnaby Joyce dual citizenship saga (Interfered with another countries government) for Australian Labor Party mates.
    
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    March 17, 2026 11:44am
- imalwaysright
  
  Luxon will be on Seek this morning looking for listings under ‘Party Leader, Wellington CBD, Politics negotiable, morals and ethics welcome but not essential.’
  
  6 8
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  March 17, 2026 10:35am
- Dougal10
  
  I do see an auckland woman mp without the baggage of chippy and his inner circle potentially gaining from this .
  
  6 2
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  March 17, 2026 10:36am
- Pope Punctilious II
  
  No, Hipkins DENIES the allegations. He needs to put convincing evidence on the table to REFUTE them.
  
  8 0
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  March 17, 2026 12:41pm
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    That was a distinction Jacinda never recognised….
    
    but then, knowing stuff was never her thing….
    
    10 0
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    March 17, 2026 2:11pm
    - NothingLeft
      
      Refuding the Premise was powerful stuff for her voters and supine female cadet reporters who didn’t understand what either word meant.
      
      4 0
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      March 17, 2026 2:32pm
    - imalwaysright
      
      Some say her scripts were spelled foneddickly…
      
      1 0
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      March 17, 2026 3:00pm
- Right of way is Way of Right
  
  I said this morning the spin doctors would be pushing the family narrative.
  
  From Stuff this afternoon, when Chippie was asked about the matter at the Airport.
  
  “The main point that I’m going to make is that these are ultimately personal and family matters. I’m not going to get into a backwards and forwards with her in public about that.”
  
  Called it!
  
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  March 17, 2026 3:52pm
Libertarians are right

So it turns out that Iran’s new leader may be gay (gayotolla).
No wonder the Left are on Iran’s side.
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March 17, 2026 9:24am
- NothingLeft
  
  Rumour has it he has also lost a leg in an airstrike.
  
  And with all the missile strikes he’ll find it very difficult to hop to the top of a building and throw himself off as the Koran dictates should be done in Islam.
  
  11 3
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  March 17, 2026 10:10am
  - Paulus
    
    And we are told he is in a good hospital in Moscow – not well !
    
    7 2
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    March 17, 2026 11:53am
- Ra Henare
  
  Regurgitateing propoganda are we Liber.????
  
  There are no ends to which Mossad and CIA Pr spin will go.
  
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  March 17, 2026 5:05pm
I remember when

Could what happens to Te Pati Maori be an influencing factor in the next election?
Will Te Pati Maori introduce a new management team?
Will there be a new Maori Party, with widespread iwi backing, that would compete with or replace Te Pati Maori?
Will Peeni Henare be a participant?
A low total vote Maori Party with maximum Maori seats, helps Labour more than the Maori vote coming back to them.
Could the Maori seats still influence the election outcome?
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March 17, 2026 9:25am
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  John Tamihere and whanau are not going to take a back seat….
  $omehow TMP will find funding….
  
  14 2
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  March 17, 2026 10:00am
Cassandra

The Cipher Brief is a national security newsletter. It appears to be balanced, regularly quoting people like Admiral Stavridis who I rate. This morning it published an unverified intelligence report that Mojtaba is homosexual, hence his father’s opposition to any promotion. Personally I think that a serious injury is more likely.
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March 17, 2026 9:25am
- Cassandra
  
  As the Telegraph puts it “Separately, there were also rumours of problems in his private life.”
  
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  March 17, 2026 9:32am
  - kowtow
    
    Either way ,what does it matter.
    
    A big part of this war is , of course , propaganda .
    Each side is of course engaging in it.
    
    9 1
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    March 17, 2026 9:49am
    - imalwaysright
      
      It could be they are creating the impression that Iran, in its death throes, is at its most dangerous, and therefore justifies the use of nuclear weapons.
      
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      March 17, 2026 10:22am
      - kowtow
        
        Not. Going . To. Happen.
        
        1 0
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        March 17, 2026 12:20pm
    - Cassandra
      
      Hypocrisy always relevant and interesting.
      
      2 1
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      March 17, 2026 10:58am
- RoboRob
  
  When the US is killing anyone who becomes leader, one option is the have a ‘fake’ leader who never makes appearances. Hard to kill and allows the real leader to act. It my be that the son is already dead or that he is injured or just smart enough not to appear in public and get blown up!
  
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  March 17, 2026 10:23am
  - imalwaysright
    
    Remember the one about Saddam’s team of Saddam body doubles being briefed:
    
    “Good news and bad news lads.
    
    -Saddam is still alive !
    Yaay!!!
    -The bad news is his right leg was blown off…”
    
    2 0
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    March 17, 2026 3:04pm
- Dougal10
  
  And here lies the whole problem with these regimes , they become mini kingdoms which rule via family ties and guns , the very thing that the populations were trying to avoid .
  
  9 1
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  March 17, 2026 10:42am
- artemisia
  
  A long weekend at Bernie’s?
  
  5 0
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  March 17, 2026 10:58am
Ipanema69

Is there any reason why the government has not dispatched the two anzac frigates to the gulf?

Whatever your views are on the Iran conflict the straits need to be kept open.
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March 17, 2026 9:26am
- Charlotte Wells
  
  Probably waiting for Comrade Helen to decide if we should or not.
  
  9 4
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  March 17, 2026 10:11am
  - Paulus
    
    Are they in a Seaworthy conditons yet ?
    And have we any male Captains or !!!!!!
    
    8 3
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    March 17, 2026 11:55am
- Phronesis
  
  The reason is the same as for every other country. Health and safety is the number one priority everywhere. Can’t send combat ships to a war zone, too much chance that someone might get hurt.
  
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  March 17, 2026 10:17am
- septic skeptic
  
  Well at least that might be a good place to replenish the oil that one of them spilled into Akaroa recently.
  
  10 3
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  March 17, 2026 10:20am
- RoboRob
  
  Our ‘frigates’ aren’t going to open the straight or do anything useful. Quite possibly they would crash into the shore or another vessel. Our frigates are underpowered and suffer crew shortages/ training issues. See the autopilot affair that took out 20% of the NZ navy.
  
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  March 17, 2026 10:26am
  - Don Beckett
    
    What they really need is armed minesweepers. Iran’s capacity to send rockets & drones is daily being seriously curtailed.
    
    10 3
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    March 17, 2026 10:43am
    - Taieri
      
      What they really need is armed minesweepers
      ————
      
      The US Navy currently has about 4 of them in active service.
      
      3 0
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      March 17, 2026 11:55am
      - Colville
        
        I belive they are now defunct.
        There is new tech which any ship can carry but never been tested in a hot situation.
        
        0 0
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        March 17, 2026 5:37pm
      - Quail
        
        The NZ Frigates apparently don’t have the necessary armaments to be able to defend themselves let alone other commercial vessels
        .Outdated and very vulnerable.
        So sending them anywhere near the Persian Gulf is probably not a good idea.
        
        0 0
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        March 17, 2026 7:30pm
  - imalwaysright
    
    RR
    Yes, better for all involved if they work from home for a while…
    
    5 0
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    March 17, 2026 10:43am
- Cassandra
  
  Get real, Ipan.
  
  2 0
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  March 17, 2026 10:59am
imalwaysright

Wonder if the media will interrogate Ardern and Robertson on the covid scam when they show for their Laurel and Hardy book promotion next month…?
17 4
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March 17, 2026 9:31am
- Bobba Fret
  
  I wonder how much security they will have and who is paying for it?
  
  5 1
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  March 17, 2026 12:32pm
  - NeverMindTheBollocks
    
    To ask the question is to answer it, Comrade.
    
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    March 17, 2026 1:42pm
cmm (semi-retired edition)

I wonder whether Trump’s main goal is to break up BRICS, or at least decrease the BRICS vs West rift?

There has been some evidence of that in chewing on South Africa a bit. South Africa is the smallest, and weakest, BRICS member.

Iran is a second-tier BRICS associate. With the current conflict, Chinese oil supplies are under threat and this gives an opportunity to drive a wedge between Iran and China.

Deflating BRICS is certainly in USA’s interests as BRICS is eroding the value of the US$ as the world’s reserve currency.
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March 17, 2026 9:33am
- septic skeptic
  
  I think it would be good to strip the US of this reserve currency role. If we did that maybe they could get back to actually earning a living as opposed to basically exporting debt. The arrogance and stupidity of the US is astounding. Maybe time to give China a chance and see if having some people with a few brains in charge might be a better idea.
  
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  March 17, 2026 9:40am
  - Dougal10
    
    China is a modern day monarchy at least the yanks get to vote for their top dog , which is more favorable to us peasants . Trumps time will end in a couple of years by law .
    
    11 2
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    March 17, 2026 10:44am
    - septic skeptic
      
      The last 3 US presidents have been Trump, Biden and Trump. That will be 12 years of incompetent senile old gits. Democracy in the US is pretty much ineffective anyway. Both parties are beholden to the same donors and especially Israel.
      China is not a monarchy. It is closer to a meritocracy in appointing its leaders than the current western democracies.
      
      10 4
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      March 17, 2026 12:07pm
      - NeverMindTheBollocks
        
        Remember when it was China and Russia that had the senile old gits in the top jobs?
        
        5 0
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        March 17, 2026 1:43pm
      - kowtow
        
        Meritocracy ?
        
        You are joking aren’t you.
        
        3 3
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        March 17, 2026 1:46pm
      - septic skeptic
        
        Kowtow. The people rise in the CCP seem to have a lot more mental horsepower than those that get elected here or in any of the western democracies. Evidenced by the number of engineering graduates running China compared with the Communications and Political Science graduates we get here.
        
        1 0
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        March 17, 2026 2:56pm
    - Wayne1749
      
      In China an average person has a more equitable chance of being president than in the US.
      In the US you have to have the backing of huge corporations who bankroll both sides, or be a billionaire like Trump.
      In China the party is embedded in the population and people are promoted upwards, largely based on a meritocratic system. The party controls the process, as do corporations in the US.
      
      3 6
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      March 17, 2026 1:51pm
  - cmm (semi-retired edition)
    
    “I think it would be good to strip the US of this reserve currency role.”
    
    It is all very well saying that, but how do you actually achieve that?
    
    “Being fair” and “giving a chance” don’t really work except in the sort of place inhabited by pink unicorns and our beloved Cindy.
    
    For better or worse, USD is the reserve currency because that is what people trust. Before that it was the pound and gold.
    
    Of course the BRICS countries would want to be free of that. Likely the rest of the world too. While BRICS might be mainly third-ish world, they are still a formidable part of the world’s population and consumption.
    
    2 1
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    March 17, 2026 3:47pm
- david in Aus
  
  Trump has isolated the US from its traditional allies. That wasn’t easy to do. Well done.
  
  Now his administration is going after Tucker Carlson – Big mistake.
  
  8 14
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  March 17, 2026 9:47am
  - kowtow
    
    Old Tehran Tucker eh ?
    
    He’s unhappy that the US intelligence community suckered him into giving the genocidal mullahs a false sense of security , just prior to the buker busters .
    
    Ouch .
    
    6 2
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    March 17, 2026 1:43pm
  - NeverMindTheBollocks
    
    I’m surprised not to have yet seen a Downfall parody of Donald lambasting his generals.
    
    4 2
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    March 17, 2026 1:45pm
- Northshoredoc
  
  I believe Trump’s plan was copied off the underpants gnomes.
  
  8 12
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  March 17, 2026 9:55am
  - Charlotte Wells
    
    Of course it was.
    
    Having all those war planners and military strategists are of no use to President Trump. He is the Commander-in-Chief so he must be a mlitary genius, yes?
    
    7 2
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    March 17, 2026 10:10am
    - Northshoredoc
      
      Perhaps if he had paid attention to those planners and strategists who had repeatedly said there was no short or medium term danger of a workable nuclear device nor a credible threat of Iran launching an pre-emptive attack on the USA or the Gulf States we might not be in the current situation.
      
      7 5
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      March 17, 2026 12:17pm
    - Taieri
      
      “In 2026, several U.S. military commanders were dismissed, including General Thomas Bussiere, head of Air Force Global Strike Command, and General Bryan Fenton, head of U.S. Special Operations Command. These dismissals were part of a broader trend of senior military leadership changes under Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, raising concerns about the politicization of the military.”
      
      8 0
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      March 17, 2026 12:20pm
      - In Vino Veritas
        
        It could be Taieri, that the leadership changes were BECAUSE of politicisation, rather than raising concerns about it after it was done.
        
        0 3
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        March 17, 2026 2:15pm
  - imalwaysright
    
    Speaking of gnomes underpants, Zelensky was a local tv comic actor yet his prowess as a military tactician was lauded by many on this and other sites.
    
    Its amazing what people will believe.
    
    7 9
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    March 17, 2026 11:54am
    - Northshoredoc
      
      Really? Some people are very odd.
      
      0 0
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      March 17, 2026 1:59pm
      - imalwaysright
        
        Here’s a taste of the modern day ‘Churchill’
        (20 seconds)
        
        https://youtube.com/shorts/NRpCWd-Oc-k?si=FhSLflSuyLHNJI2H
        
        0 1
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        March 17, 2026 3:40pm
    - Faroffsound
      
      He does also have a law degree even if he doesn’t use it.
      
      0 0
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      March 17, 2026 5:17pm
      - imalwaysright
        
        I hear the Ukrainian legal system is held in extremely high regard…
        
        0 0
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        March 17, 2026 6:58pm
- Burtland
  
  India have apparently organized a free pass for its oil tankers with Iran – BBC
  
  8 2
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  March 17, 2026 9:55am
  - septic skeptic
    
    Why not? Iran hasn’t been bombed by India or China.
    
    6 1
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    March 17, 2026 10:23am
  - RoboRob
    
    If that’s the case then the oil crisis is practically over. India can get all the oil it needs and forward on oil to other players.
    
    12 3
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    March 17, 2026 10:28am
Simon

NZ not sending a military support to help US military attempt to handle the straights of Hormuz.

Well of course Israel isn’t either.

But in NZ stand down Song & Dance Maori Unit and the MIQ security perimeter detachment. Stand down. Yes Sir!
10 4
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March 17, 2026 9:33am
- Stu2
  
  The question is could they handle a drone swarm directed at themselves? Sunk by 10 $30K drones?
  
  Or a second wave of 10 more?
  
  Even harder to defend a tanker
  
  1 0
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  March 17, 2026 4:26pm
cmm (semi-retired edition)

Education failure: salami is not an animal product.

How to avoid the same mistake? Use your friggin brains!

https://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/360949626/declared-food-airport-and-still-got-400-fine-how-avoid-same-mistake
10 0
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March 17, 2026 9:41am
Burtland

Barbara Edmonds stepped in for shagger this morning and has started rolling out Labours next lollie scramble to address the cost of living crisis caused by National

– emergency food grants, food bank and financial services support
– ev subsidies and free bus fares cross subsidized by polluters

She has confidence our supply agreements will hold – no questions on the impact of force majeure

https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2019027226/weekly-interview-with-opposition
18 1
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March 17, 2026 9:44am
- Gravelroad
  
  Barbara Mamdani – next Mayor of the Labour Party.
  Cool!
  
  14 3
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  March 17, 2026 10:11am
  - Gravelroad
    
    Here’s another good idea!
    When the free buses have finished going round and round (especially in Wellington), with the homeless people on them all day, they might as well just stay on them for the night.
    Labour could then trumpet that they have solved the homelessness “crisis.”
    I see a fact-finding trip to New York City for several Labour politicians and public servants coming on.
    I am sure Mayor Mamdani there would be thrilled to see them.
    
    18 1
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    March 17, 2026 10:49am
    - NeverMindTheBollocks
      
      Excuse me! Wellington’s homeless have a perfectly good central library in which to take up residence. I have it on good authority that there’s been a scramble for the comfie chairs by the sunny windows.
      
      8 0
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      March 17, 2026 1:48pm
- Dougal10
  
  So another 30 billion dollars worth of debt coming to the few who actually pay net taxes is labous answer to a question we havent asked.
  
  13 1
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  March 17, 2026 10:52am
Damocles11

‘An Iranian military spokesman has challenged U.S. forces by declaring that the results of war are determined in the field, claiming, “The very place where you and your forces do not dare to approach”.
The spokesman from the Khatm al-Anbiya HQ dismissed U.S. efforts, specifically the Joint U.S.-Israeli operation targeting Iran, by stating, “It’s better to name this war ‘Epic fear’ instead of ‘Epic fury'”.’
10 6
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March 17, 2026 10:10am
- All_on_Red
  
  [Mod – abuse deleted, next time is a ban]
  
  1 5
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  March 17, 2026 11:41am
- kowtow
  
  [Mod – debate what is said]
  
  1 4
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  March 17, 2026 12:23pm
- virtualmark
  
  This US-Israel-Iran conflict reminds me of a famous conversation at the end of the Vietnam War between Colonel Harry Summers of the US Army and Colonel Tu of the North Vietnamese Army …
  
  “You know you never defeated us on the battlefield,” said Summers. Tu pondered the remark for a moment. “That may be so,” he replied. “but it is also irrelevant.”
  
  Neither the US or Israel can strike a war-ending blow from the air. And neither is able to land enough troops to win on the ground. So Iran just needs to continue to impose enough military and political pain for long enough that the situation becomes intolerable for its opponents.
  
  7 2
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  March 17, 2026 1:02pm
- Northshoredoc
  
  Can’t say I’m surprised tha the Iranian version of Chemical Ali is trolling Trump and the US forces.
  
  I’m desparately sad for the Iranian people caught between two sets of luncatics.
  
  7 2
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  March 17, 2026 2:02pm
- Rumblestrip
  
  Well, of course the Iranians would like to goad the Americans to engage on a battlefield of their own choosing. Why would the US agree to that?
  
  The US will continue to operate where they have strategic advantage, as any sane, technologically superior combatants would.
  
  0 0
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  March 17, 2026 8:18pm
Maggy Wassilieff

The MSM inventing stories

How many times do you have to say a story isn’t true before it isn’t a story?

Is it true to say if a story that isn’t true is still run as a story, we most definably have an agenda here? A bias? A level of dishonesty?

https://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/on-air/mike-hosking-breakfast/opinion/mikes-minute-invented-stories-and-the-media/
16 3
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March 17, 2026 10:57am
- Right of way is Way of Right
  
  A perfect example of this is the NZ Herald non story pushing an unsubstantiated report that the PM tried to call off the Chiefly Title ceremony in Samoa, while the reports regarding the ex wife of the leader of the opposition appear to have been buried.
  
  12 0
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  March 17, 2026 11:22am
- Libertarians are right
  
  I mean, look at Trump. So many false stories, beat ups etc (he’s scum but most of the stories are false). And it works. That’s why they do it.
  
  11 3
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  March 17, 2026 11:29am
- kowtow
  
  Hosking should have added his nzme radio colleague , hdpa , to that list.
  
  Last week she declared the leadership challenge matter as over, had a go at the media for chasing him round airports and then only last night on her radio show , she’s flip flopped , amplified her Herald colleagues Young and Coughlin and added that she reckons Luxon will be gone before the election.
  
  9 2
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  March 17, 2026 1:01pm
  - Hugh Jarse
    
    Yes all over the place like a ….. and struggles to hold a rational thought for longer than day.
    
    3 0
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    March 17, 2026 2:53pm
- kowtow
  
  Tell you something else nzme radio’s doing during this “petrol crisis”, subliminally supporting their EV advertisers , heavily .
  
  In my humble opinion.
  
  3 0
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  March 17, 2026 3:46pm
Ghost

One day I want to understand how couriers work

Monday I get notification there will be a delay in a package that was cleared from customs in Auckland yesterday, “ Your package may be late- local delivery restrictions”.

Last night it was in Christchurch, two hours away. Today it is in East Tamaki…..
2 0
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March 17, 2026 12:28pm
- Taieri
  
  Was it Aramex by any chance?
  
  1 0
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  March 17, 2026 1:02pm
  - Ghost
    
    New Zealand Couriers
    
    1 0
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    March 17, 2026 1:10pm
  - Aquarius
    
    Aramex is the worst
    They’ll leave things in your letterbox and then when they go missing swear that you signed for them
    But when pushed they provided a picture of it in the letterbox as proof of delivery !!!!!
    
    1 0
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    March 17, 2026 2:51pm
- cmm (semi-retired edition)
  
  The “clearing customs” does not mean they have a physical package. They can do customs clearance etc while the package is en route.
  
  A fortnight ago I had a package clearing customs in Auckland that was still in UK.
  
  Oh, and that was DHL.
  
  1 0
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  March 17, 2026 1:15pm
  - Ghost
    
    yeah, the custom process started when it was in Australia, it spent 3 days there because the company never attaches an invoice to the outside, so stays in Australia until customs get the invoice. It was released from Auckland customs yesterday. I track it every time I get it. Once under covid it went to several cities in the USA, then to the UK, Asia, Australian, then NZ.
    
    2 0
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    March 17, 2026 1:20pm
- Sponge
  
  I had a similar experience with FedEx recently. It arrived from the states in Auckland, then went to Sydney then arrived a few days later in Christchurch. Very strange.
  
  1 0
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  March 17, 2026 2:22pm
cmm (semi-retired edition)

IRD (aka the net taxpayers) are owed over $2 billion in PAYE and GST that are not being paid through on time.

IRD is saying this is illegal and could result in prosecution and even prison time. Well, duh! That has been the law since forever.

IRD, stop gnashing your barley-sugar teeth. Just do it. Just start prosecuting. The laws are there for a purpose. It is your job to enforce them.

People that are extracting PAYE from paypackets and not passing it on are committing fraud. Ditto those charging GST and not paying that on. This is fraud. Fraud should be treated as the crime it is.

Now obviously GST is a bit more complex to reconcile, but ample time is provided and extensions are available if needed. PAYE is much simpler. There is really is no justification to hold on to PAYE for more than a day.

The slide apparently started during Covid with huge grace periods being handed out to help lubricate business. Unfortunately it has been a case of give an inch and they grab a mile.

We can’t blame Cindy and Robbo either. The problem has just got worse and worse since Covid.

Of course, if IRD lets things slide then people will hold on to the “free money”. Essentially it is an interest free loan.

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/589720/ird-issues-warning-over-employers-failing-to-pass-on-tax-deductions
11 0
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March 17, 2026 1:11pm
- Northshoredoc
  
  Surely any payments over a certain threshold and remaining outstanding or with no payment plan after a specified amount of time would be automatically prosecuted?
  
  0 0
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  March 17, 2026 2:06pm
  - Gussy
    
    Automatic prosecution?
    Liquidator Damien Grant posits that – of circa 3k liquidations annually – maybe 80% are at least 1 month in PAYE arrears, and associated criminal charges are in the region of zero.
    
    No point having teeth if you don’t bite anything.
    
    5 0
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    March 17, 2026 4:39pm
  - cmm (semi-retired edition)
    
    Nothshore – you would hope so but they are not.
    
    That is how we can end up with companies going bust owing hundreds of thousands of dollars of PAYE and GST.
    
    Nobody gets prosecuted.
    
    0 0
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    March 18, 2026 9:29am
cmm (semi-retired edition)

Perhaps it is just my overactive imagination, but I think Chippy is the victim of a shank-fest.

No, not National or such, but an “et tu Brutus” move from far closer to home.

Chippy should have left the limelight along with Cindy’s generation. Instead he’s sticking around like an old fart – gumming up the flow of “leadership”.

Sepuloni has been in the shadows for far too long. She wants her time in the sun and Chippy is not going to move out of his own accord. So, time to sharpen the shank…

Of course it isn’t just a battle for the top spot. It is a whole generation.
The Cindy/Robbo/Chippy/Twyford generation are out and need to make room for the next crop.

Some long termers (eg. O’Connor, Twyford, Wood) have still stuck around, but they’ve moved off the prime seats (a bit like Ruth Dyson and ilk did in the past). Chippy could survive if he did that, but he’s unlikely to.

Sorry mate, if you don’t step aside voluntarily then you get a blade between your ribs.
11 2
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March 17, 2026 1:31pm
- Eastlander
  
  If O’Connor had any dignity he’d quit Parliament entirely.
  
  6 1
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  March 17, 2026 2:15pm
- fightingtemeraire
  
  If it is a “shank job” I doubt that whoever, did it know their history.
  
  Sunday was “The Ides of March”. So who is Brutus or Cassius with the lean and hungry look.
  
  4 1
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  March 17, 2026 4:11pm
- Gussy
  
  One does wonder, why now?
  
  0 0
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  March 17, 2026 4:47pm
- Rumblestrip
  
  I can’t bring myself to believe that the ex-wife’s allegations are a carefully calculated political hit job, coordinated with Hipkins’ rivals. It’s too messy, too bloody ugly, it drags her kids into the fray and critically risks destroying her own reputation too.
  
  To me, this is furious utu from a scorned and discarded woman.
  
  This is not to say that Hipkins’ rivals won’t capitalise on the situation. It may still be the beginning of the end for chippy.
  
  4 0
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  March 17, 2026 5:49pm
Maggy Wassilieff

The latest Editorial in the Samoa Observer makes it pretty clear that the Current PM of Samoa has a history of making untrue statements:

https://www.samoaobserver.ws/category/editorial/118938
6 0
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March 17, 2026 2:49pm
Bobba Fret

Chris Hipkins photo in this article, is like a Prince Andrew imitation.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360952236/chris-hipkins-arrives-back-new-zealand-questions-about-his-ex-wifes-claims
3 0
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March 17, 2026 3:26pm
Ghost

Heard of a new scam, seems to be targeting older people. So far it seems to be woman shoppers in Woolworths, do their shopping, then approach elderly people, telling them they don’t have their reward card, if you’d like the points for their shopping you can swipe your card. Then they use any saved up vouchers the elderly person had on their everyday rewards.
2 0
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March 17, 2026 4:50pm
Ghost

Chri Hipkins giving a stand up and crying when asked about his kids, sympathy vote incoming
11 0
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March 17, 2026 4:54pm
- KKNZ2025
  
  He whines like an Aussie cricketer
  https://youtu.be/vWiSdISJsuA?si=HUqiygLk6hLEW1xb
  
  6 1
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  March 17, 2026 5:02pm
- Ghost
  
  video starts at 1:07
  
  https://www.1news.co.nz/2026/03/17/full-video-labour-leader-chris-hipkins-speaks-to-claims-by-ex-wife/
  
  2 1
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  March 17, 2026 5:02pm
- Rumblestrip
  
  Yesterday: “I reject the allegations entirely and don’t intend to make any further comment.”
  
  Today: Further comment
  
  He’s probably figured out that any legal action would look bad (“powerful man squashing his long-suffering ex-wife”) so an appeal to emotion is the way to go.
  
  10 0
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  March 17, 2026 5:12pm
- kowtow
  
  Te media party will now be able to use this to close the case , off to the memory hole.
  
  That’s it , over .Gone.Never happened.
  
  6 1
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  March 17, 2026 6:05pm
  - Ghost
    
    i doubt it. Stuff have added to the article on his stand up that Jade stands by what she wrote. NZ Herald reported that after the presser Jade told them she stands by everything she said.
    
    The blood is in the water, the sharks will continue to circle. The question will be what she will post next.
    
    5 0
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    March 17, 2026 6:46pm
Gravelroad

TVNZ’s Benedict Collins very supportive of Mr Hipkins on Te News this evening.
He was clearly personally moved by poor Mr Hipkins’ current situation.
Almost shedding a tear of support for his mate.
Boo hoo.
12 2
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March 17, 2026 6:09pm
- imalwaysright
  
  Benedict “How are the kids?”
  Hipkins crying ” They’re with herrrrr!”
  
  You would think she had taken them hostage and had her thumb on the dead mans plunger.
  
  1 0
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  March 17, 2026 7:08pm
graham

Thanks for the warning. Haven’t started watching yet, so will be able to skip through the unbiased, completely neutral coverage (/s)
1 0
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March 17, 2026 6:50pm
Ghost

Hmmm

Proof of life video….. ring disappears just after 20 seconds then reappears

https://x.com/netanyahu/status/2033515975379911114?s=20
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March 17, 2026 7:44pm

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