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March 22, 2026 8:00am by Kokila Patel

General Debate 22 March 2026

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General Debate

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Cassandra

News: man on probations for arms offences who stabbed a probation officer five times with a flick knife, death avoided by a millimetre, is sentenced to 6 years in prison. Yes, you read that correctly, I didn’t omit the 2 before the 6. Although the judge did.
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March 22, 2026 8:01am
- Gravelroad
  
  Judging by my casual reading of similar cases in the UK, the perp could/would indeed have been sentenced to 26 years in prison.
  Why is it so different here?
  Criminals always given the benefit of the doubt to ensure a good outcome – for them.
  Why?
  
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  March 22, 2026 8:08am
  - igm
    
    Gravelroad: Most serious crimes in NZ are committed by our preferred people who are feted by Labour-appointed judiciary.
    
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    March 22, 2026 8:27am
  - kowtow
    
    We are a country that no longer has principles due to state adherence to the principles .
    
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    March 22, 2026 8:49am
    - Paulus
      
      When will Maori Honour their part of their Treaty ?
      
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      March 22, 2026 10:45am
  - R
    
    Why?…….ideologically deluded Judges perhaps!; or just plain irresponsible?
    
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    March 22, 2026 8:57am
    - Paulus
      
      DEI I expect over recent years.
      
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      March 22, 2026 10:45am
    - [email protected]
      
      Is it because the country can’t afford to jail them?
      
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      March 22, 2026 12:50pm
  - Simon
    
    “Why is it so different here”
    
    Sentence law established by National party. Dripping wet liberals.
    
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    March 22, 2026 9:16am
    - cmm (semi-retired edition)
      
      You have somewhat of a point.
      It really does not matter who established it. What matters is who fixes it.
      National are not off the hook if the weak sentencing was put in place under Labour. National have the opportunity to change it.
      
      And vice versa.
      
      But here in NZ we have the expectation that Labour messes things up and National acts as the adults in the room and fixes them. Therefore failure to act sits squarely on National’s shoulders no matter who messed it up in the first place.
      
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      March 22, 2026 10:21am
      - R
        
        When the playroom has been nearly destroyed – (6 yaers of mismanagement), it takes a very very long time ( 20 -25 yrs) to restore it to soon semblance of tidy normal
        
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        March 22, 2026 11:31am
      - RoboRob
        
        @R
        
        That’s just a nice excuse for inaction on Nationals part. Yeah Labour screwed things up pretty badly and yes some things will take a long time to repair BUT sentencing laws isn’t one of them. These laws can easily be changed IF the minister involved is motivated. Goldsmith simply isn’t.
        
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        March 22, 2026 12:40pm
      - ISeeRed
        
        My expectation is National will make the tiniest tweaks then put on a song and dance rivalling anything on Broadway.
        
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        March 22, 2026 5:53pm
    - Jethrod
      
      Wow, 6 list place raises…. could be Leader by weeks end.
      
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      March 22, 2026 10:34am
    - mediocrates
      
      Sentencing Act 2002 was passed into law, when Labour was the Government.
      
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      March 22, 2026 10:53am
      - cmm (semi-retired edition)
        
        Sure, but laws can be changed. Every sitting of parliament in the last 24 years has had an opportunity to change it.
        
        They have not, therefore we can only assume that they all approve of it.
        
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        March 22, 2026 11:32am
  - Albie
    
    Labour strikes again! The Labour Government under HC led the reforms to the Sentencing Act 2002, which in large part is the reason we now have the sentences as Cassandra gave as an example. Would this be correct DG?
    
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    March 22, 2026 9:24am
    - Ghost
      
      Why blame Helen? Since that law was changed, national have been in government 11.5 years.
      
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      March 22, 2026 9:29am
    - David Garrett
      
      Albie: Spot on Sir…but the Nats have done nothing to reform the Sentencing Act…not even to remove the section which requires judges to impose the least restrictive sentence possible
      
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      March 22, 2026 9:56am
      - cmm (semi-retired edition)
        
        ” the section which requires judges to impose the least restrictive sentence possible”
        
        What!
        
        OK, I thought I kept myself reasonably up to date – for a layman of the law – but I was not aware of that!
        
        So we can’t even blame the dudges for being dudges. They are required to be dudges!
        
        An environment like that is extremely challenging for any judge who wants to do their best to protect society. (s)he will get frustrated and leave – leaving a population of useless dudges who can stomach it.
        
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        March 22, 2026 11:37am
    - Wandering Star
      
      You cannot keep blaming Labour for what they did 20 years ago when there’ve been National-led governments for at least half of the time since.
      
      Why is it that when National comes in and doesn’t take the opportunity to legislate to fix the problems caused by other governments, National supporters continue blaming previous Labour governments?
      
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      March 22, 2026 10:06am
      - R
        
        A National govt(coalition) has to prioritize the repair work. Starting with the most urgent first, I.e.. keeping the economy running and limiting the unemployment (read welfare) needed to correct the numerous errors of the past.
        
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        March 22, 2026 11:35am
      - Wandering Star
        
        Yes, but that’s exactly what I’m saying: they barely ever do any “repair work” when they have the opportunity, they just spend 3, 6 or 9 years embedding the work of previous Labour governments. Remember, as one significant example, how Key never did anything about what he called “communism by stealth” when he was in opposition?
        
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        March 22, 2026 11:56am
      - RoboRob
        
        @R
        
        That’s a BS excuse. The justice minister isn’t busy with the economy / unemployment. Sure they could pass or remove laws that would help businesses but they have plenty of time for sentencing law reform. What has Goldsmith achieved in the last 2.5 years?
        
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        March 22, 2026 12:44pm
      - ISeeRed
        
        Yep. It’s a pity our media don’t hold National’s feet to the fire for this, instead of acting as Labours’s PR wing for the pettiest stuff.
        
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        March 22, 2026 5:56pm
- KKNZ2025
  
  …because give the NZ judiciary an inch & they’ll take a mile to avoid applying the law as Parliament intended.
  
  https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/360953991/family-taonga-exception-why-judge-let-gang-member-keep-his-patch
  
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  March 22, 2026 9:08am
  - Jack5
    
    Criticism of our court sentences seems to be growing. What to to do?
    
    The Dutch Public Prosecution Service can impose court sentences.
    
    In Japan, South Korea, and Scandinavian countries, lay people sit with with judges in many criminal cases and jointly decide verdict and sentence.
    
    Should we consider a similar system for NZ?
    
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    March 22, 2026 3:57pm
- imalwaysright
  
  The 7am post article on KO said that the cops attended the address three times, but it didn’t mention arrests.
  
  Have the Police raised the bar for arrest?
  
  The recent rise in dollar limits on investigating shoplifting offenses suggests that they are unilaterally redefining acceptable behaviour.
  
  Is the recent drop in violent crime statistics because the cops are arresting only the really bad ones?
  
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  March 22, 2026 10:04am
  - cmm (semi-retired edition)
    
    If I read the Crimes Act correctly (big if), then a threat with a deadly weapon would be textbook assault.
    
    If the cops are not arresting for assault, then WTF are they doing?
    
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    March 22, 2026 11:39am
    - artemisia
      
      Were the police called to the incident?
      
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      March 22, 2026 6:49pm
- cmm (semi-retired edition)
  
  It is ridiculous that attempted murder does not have the same outcome in the courts as murder.
  
  It is only remarkably good luck that the probation officer survived. The outcome of the courts should not be determined by good luck – they should reflect the intent of the offender – in this case to cause death.
  
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  March 22, 2026 12:02pm
- Scooter
  
  NZ has long been a petri dish for new laws and I can see a day when NZ will be the first country with no prisons. Might just be when the next Labour/Green lot get in.
  
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  March 22, 2026 1:55pm
NeverMindTheBollocks

Driving up country this week, I was amused to note that petrol was cheaper in towns than it was in Wellington, and Waitomo was more expensive than the majors. Normally, the reverse is true for both.
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March 22, 2026 8:06am
- RoboRob
  
  Strangely petrol is almost always cheaper out of central Christchurch (ohoka / rangiora etc).
  
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  March 22, 2026 12:45pm
Yvette

‘The silence is deafening’: Mariameno Kapa-Kingi yet to speak with Te Pāti Māori leaders
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/590210/the-silence-is-deafening-mariameno-kapa-kingi-yet-to-speak-with-te-pati-maori-leaders
________________

The Moral Task Ahead
Our nation cannot keep claiming progress while its foundation remains unbalanced.
It cannot speak of national unity while one partner continues to govern and the other continues to petition.
Te Pāti Māori stands for honesty, for confronting the unfinished work of this nation and rebuilding its constitution on partnership, reciprocity, and trust.

… Why We Stand
We stand because silence protects imbalance …

Te Pāti Māori stands for authority grounded in tikanga, for leadership grounded in service, and for a nation confident enough to act with justice rather than sentiment.
That is not idealism.
It is maturity.
We will stand in it until the nation does too. – John Tamihere, President Te Pāti Māori

https://www.facebook.com/JohnTamihereOfficial/posts/what-drives-te-pāti-māori-every-generation-of-māori-faces-a-moment-when-it-must-/1357545995962961/.

The public, especially it seems here on kiwiblog for example, makes judgement on judges and court outcomes: how well they administer the Law.

Likewise now, as entities (Maori legal activists for one, the Supreme Court for another – R v Ellis – and Flavell Senior who involved himself in the silent dismissal of the te Papa activist case) – as these people introduce the concept of tikanga into Law, we have the right, even duty, to follow them and comment on its application.

One major anomaly now is John Tamihere, with his stand on tikanga, but his treatment of Mariameno Kapa-Kingi, which is evidence of tikanga standing more in sham, or shame.
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March 22, 2026 8:13am
- imalwaysright
  
  Yvette,
  
  The problem is that no one knows what tikanga means.
  
  It is basically a blank space in every act of Parliament where someone can insert their own words.
  
  Anarchy is the result.
  
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  March 22, 2026 10:09am
  - Yvette
    
    Imalwaysright, I assume tikanga is likely to be defined court case by court case.
    But
    [1] Does John Tamihere who has made such a palaver that everything te Pati Maori does is by tikanga (several media reports), accept that the Court’s reinstatement of Mariameno Kapa-Kingi is correct according to tikanga?
    Or,
    [2] The Te Papa vandalism case against Ratana who had Uncle Flavell submit tikanga reasoning to the Crown seems to have been instrumental in the case being dismissed – the ‘dismissal’ apparently meaning it can not be retried. So that is a Law / Tikanga interaction which detail is not revealed. That is like a heavily tattooed couple having a baby which comes out blank – to be written on as you say.
    
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    March 22, 2026 1:55pm
    - PurplePen
      
      it would have to be case by the case as tikamga is just customs and common practice and every tribe will have their own that are unique to them there might be some commonality amongst them.
      
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      March 22, 2026 3:27pm
      - Quail
        
        Y and PP
        I suspect 90% of NZ , including myself , have no real idea what tikanga means!
        Obviously taniwha , Wahi tapu etc etc fall into the same box.
        Perhaps it all can be explained by” the one who knows “ !
        
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        March 22, 2026 6:00pm
- Boy Geoff
  
  He & Rawiri wouldn’t be scared of a little korero – wahine know their place on the marae…
  
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  March 22, 2026 10:20am
  - Paulus
    
    Wahine may know their place on the marae but it off that they have considerable control now.
    
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    March 22, 2026 1:53pm
Damocles11

‘Robert Mueller just died. Good. I’m glad he’s dead. He can no longer hurt innocent people.
President DONALD J. TRUMP’

The above was posted by Trump on Truth Social today. No words can really describe how awful it is for a sitting US President to broadcast to the world that he is revelling in the death of somebody who delivered a report that largely exonerated Trump. Trumps recent posts where he is demonstrably taking pleasure from killing, and death, reveal a level of psychopathy that even his most ardent opponents would have shuddered to admit. This destruction of all established norms of Presidential conduct is really a horror show unfolding before our eyes, and it will undoubtedly get worse.
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March 22, 2026 8:21am
- gardenofearthlydelights
  
  He says it honestly and from the heart. At least he’s honest. Ok for Iranian leaders to say death to Americans, death to Jews, and so on. Muller tormented Trump and undermined his first presidency, meaning he couldn’t engage with Russians. Perhaps Muller is partly responsible for the mess we have ended up with. Perhaps the mad mullahs of Iran would have been dealt with then. Imagine them blackmailing the world with an actual nuclear weapon. Trump says it like it is and is a warrior like no other. Let’s stop the pearl clutching smug TDS and celebrate honesty.
  
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  March 22, 2026 9:43am
  - herb1
    
    Adolph Hitler , Pol Pot and Brenton Tarrant, among other said it “Honestly from the heart”. You’re ok with that ?
    
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    March 22, 2026 11:56am
    - yobi
      
      Yes.
      
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      March 22, 2026 12:06pm
    - Jethrod
      
      Of the 3, Tarrant is the worst as he was actually there, present when it all went down. The other 2 relied on others to do the deeds.
      1 to suicide(?)
      1 to heart failure
      1 to old age(possibly)
      
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      March 22, 2026 2:27pm
  - Damocles11
    
    ‘He says it honestly and from the heart.’
    
    What heart?
    
    TDS is an artificial construct that a group of people use in an attempt to deflect any and all criticism of Trump. They should be able to acknowledge a lack of any sort of basic human decency without resorting to the ‘TDS’ crutch, but are obviously unable to.
    
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    March 22, 2026 1:10pm
- Ipanema69
  
  When Winston Raymond Peters shuffles off this mortal coil, I will post something along similar lines on Kiwiblog.
  
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  March 22, 2026 9:55am
  - R
    
    If you are permitted by the moderators!
    
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    March 22, 2026 11:39am
    - Yvette
      
      R, the generous Moderators have permitted Ipanema69 to write what is written so far :o)
      
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      March 22, 2026 3:53pm
  - Paulus
    
    As before, I will pour a bottle of Whisky over his grave, but only after having passed it through my kidneys first.
    
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    March 22, 2026 1:55pm
- Wandering Star
  
  He embarrasses himself every day at this point. I’m sure he thinks this is what his voters want to hear, when I’m sure they’d much prefer he post that “we’re ending the foreign wars and we’re doing the mass deportations” – you know, two of the central policies the people voted for.
  
  Then there’s the extreme irony of the accusation of “hurting innocent people” as if Trump’s not currently raining bombs on the innocent people of a foreign nation.
  
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  March 22, 2026 10:19am
  - yobi
    
    But you don’t think your leader is embarrassing when he cries on tv because his ex has said hurty words about him?
    
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    March 22, 2026 12:09pm
    - Wandering Star
      
      “My” leader? Lol. Clearly you’ve never read any of my comments if you believe I have a “leader” in any political party.
      
      Don’t you think it’s a very low level current of thought to assume that if I criticise one guy, I must therefore like the other guy?
      
      I can and so criticise all of them, and what’s more, I don’t even vote, such is my disdain for all of the available options.
      
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      March 22, 2026 1:51pm
    - imalwaysright
      
      Same tears as when Ardern pretended she was ‘resigning’.
      Tears shed for themselves…
      
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      March 22, 2026 2:11pm
- Handyman
  
  Those comments remind me of the reaction of the British aristocracy during the industrial revolution. The upper classes saw the rise of working class industrialists surpassing their land based inherited wealth.
  They reacted by creating a plethora of arcane social and behavioural norms (how many forks and spoons?) to differentiate and signal their moral superiority and belonging to the ruling class.
  They were thus able to condescend:
  “No matter how talented, successful and rich these businessmen are, they will never be accepted as gentlemen because these ignorant uncultured odious oiks don’t know how to behave in polite society.”
  
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  March 22, 2026 10:32am
  - Damocles11
    
    It has never, ever been a norm for US Presidents to revel in and positively relish the death of this kind of person, a decorated Vietnam war veteran and director of the FBI for more than a decade.
    Mueller volunteered to serve in Vietnam. On December 11, 1968, during an engagement in Operation Scotland II, he earned the Bronze Star with “V” device for combat valor for rescuing a wounded Marine under enemy fire during an ambush in which he saw half of his platoon become casualties. For his service in and during the Vietnam War, his military decorations and awards included, additionally: the Purple Heart, two Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medals with Combat “V”, Combat Action Ribbon, National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal with four service stars, Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross, Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal, and Parachutist Badge.
    
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    March 22, 2026 1:16pm
    - imalwaysright
      
      And he dishonoured every other recipient of those awards, and their families, by knowingly engaging in subterfuge against the President.
      
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      March 22, 2026 2:13pm
      - Damocles11
        
        He did nothing of the sort, what a ridiculous slur.
        
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        March 22, 2026 4:17pm
- grumpy
  
  Mueller was a patsy for the radical Democrats. He willingly went along with destroying many people’s lives for purely partisan reasons. When he finally woke up and cleared Trump he had the opportunity to correct his earlier actions but he did not.
  Trump and the others affected would be hypocritical to say anything else after what he did or tried to do to them.
  
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  March 22, 2026 11:03am
  - herb1
    
    Sometimes silence is a good option
    
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    March 22, 2026 11:58am
    - kowtow
      
      Quite right.
      
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      March 22, 2026 12:28pm
  - Damocles11
    
    Someone had to do the job and Mueller did. Someone was always going to be appointed to head that investigation. If it had been someone genuinely motivated by a desire to ‘get Trump’ then I have no doubt that the findings of the report would have been skewed in that direction. Therefore there is a strong case to be made that Trump should be grateful that it was Robert Mueller heading the investigation rather than an erstwhile political foe.
    
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    March 22, 2026 1:20pm
    - grumpy
      
      It was not Mueller that headed that investigation. It would be harder to find a more rabid Trump hater than Andrew Weissmann.
      
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      March 22, 2026 2:19pm
    - imalwaysright
      
      “…I have no doubt that the findings of the report would have been skewed in that direction.”
      
      What a ridiculous statement. If there was any evidence they would have published it.
      There wasn’t any evidence because it didn’t happen.
      It was a knowingly fraudulent accusation.
      
      Just because you don’t like someone doesn’t mean you can mess up their lives by lying about them.
      
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      March 22, 2026 2:19pm
- virtualmark
  
  When Trump dies he will be treated with the dignity and respect he has shown others.
  
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  March 22, 2026 3:26pm
Poppax8

Taylor Broughton carried a flick knife to this meeting with his probation officer. If the PO’s colleagues hadnot dragged the scumbag off the PO would be dead.
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March 22, 2026 8:30am
- Boy Geoff
  
  Why hasn’t the miscreant rebranded themselves as Taylah, or similar?
  
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  March 22, 2026 10:27am
NeverMindTheBollocks

Donald Trump is a most unpleasant person.

‘Trump on Saturday celebrated Mueller’s passing. “Good, I’m glad he’s dead,” Trump wrote on the Truth Social site’.

Just unnecessary.

http://www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/590294/robert-mueller-special-counsel-who-probed-but-did-not-charge-trump-dies-at-81
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March 22, 2026 8:40am
- Scott
  
  Never mind – as Trump’s number 1 booster on this blog I would normally defend him. But on this? I agree, completely unnecessary.
  
  Normally when a person dies there is a time of grace. Where we say nice things about the person or we don’t say anything at all. I wish president Trump would observe the rule. 😔
  
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  March 22, 2026 9:41am
- Damocles11
  
  Trump is rapidly becoming (or revealing that he is and always has been) a modern-day Caligula.
  
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  March 22, 2026 10:01am
  - virtualmark
    
    I think Nero is a better Roman analogy.
    
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    March 22, 2026 3:27pm
- grumpy
  
  Very necessary. In an ideal world Mueller would have died in jail as he tried to do to his political enemies, including Trump
  
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  March 22, 2026 11:04am
  - igm
    
    He was no better than J. Edgar Hoover . . . a Democrat pawn.
    
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    March 22, 2026 11:11am
  - Damocles11
    
    What did he do or ‘try to do’? If he had genuinely wanted to ‘get Trump’ he could have presented findings that would have ensured that. He didn’t.
    
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    March 22, 2026 1:21pm
    - Scott
      
      Damocles, gosh you are so wrong. Mueller tried to get Trump every which way. When they couldn’t get “collusion” they went for interference with the investigation. The whole thing was a democrat led hit job emanating from Hillary Clinton.
      
      You seem to know very little about what went on. To claim that the Mueller investigation was on the level and they weren’t out to get Trump and as Virtual has claimed the Russians interfered with the election and colluded with Trump is insane. Sorry.
      
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      March 22, 2026 3:47pm
  - virtualmark
    
    Both Roger Stone’s trial and the US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election found the same conclusions as the Mueller report.
    
    The 2016 Trump Presidential campaign knowingly and willingly accepted Russian interference in that election.
    
    If you disagree – and I expect you do – then please show which parts of the Mueller report, the US Senate report and the Roger Stone trial were in error. Which part of those factual findings were wrong? Be specific. Not just “Tucker and Hannity said it wasn’t true”.
    
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    March 22, 2026 3:31pm
    - Scott
      
      [Mod – debate the topic without making it personal]
      
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      March 22, 2026 3:43pm
      - Scott
        
        Let’s try again. The idea that Russia interfered in the 2016 election and colluded with Trump to deprive Hillary Clinton is insane. No one believes that now. No one.
        
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        March 22, 2026 4:23pm
      - RichardX
        
        You appear to have missed VM’s last paragraph.
        
        Are you happy with making false statements or are you able to demonstrate in any way that “No one believes that now. No one.”?
        
        Do you want to try for a 3rd time?
        
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        March 22, 2026 7:42pm
      - virtualmark
        
        And yet you provide no reasons why. Just random assertions of “hoax!” that you are parroting from your orange Messiah.
        
        Scott, when Trump says stuff like “Russia hoax!”, where he provides no evidence or proof to counter the hard facts in those three investigations that I listed, then Trump’s goal is to set it up as a loyalty test. If you repeat it you belong. If you question it you’re out. He’s not trying to convince the rational thinkers, he’s just trying to identify the mindlessly obedient. That’s you.
        
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        March 22, 2026 7:54pm
      - Scott
        
        [Mod – you’ve already been warned once today for personal abuse]
        
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        March 22, 2026 11:40pm
- sungsamning
  
  Yeah, not a good look.
  
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  March 22, 2026 11:55am
NeverMindTheBollocks

Apropos of people filling up their petrol cans, what’s perhaps not well known is that most domestic insurance policies limit how much fuel can be held in such a way, to perhaps 40 or 50 litres.

For those with a garage integrated into the house, it raises the risk of losing the lot.
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March 22, 2026 8:50am
Tauhei Notts

Racing tips on Kiwiblog are rare but I have one. If you have a spare two dollar coin consider putting $1 each way on Matamata Race Six #14.
The said horse is Camila (Savabeel-The Auld Floozie). If you owned a mare named The Auld Floozie, sired by a classy English stallion, and you mated her with New Zealand’s most expensive stallion what would you name the resulting filly foal?
If this filly grows into a champion I doubt whether she would be welcome at Royal Ascot.
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March 22, 2026 9:16am
- pdm
  
  Clever research TN.
  
  You know your breeding.
  
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  March 22, 2026 9:40am
  - Tauhei Notts
    
    I chatted with Andrew, the trainer, and his wife Sarah before the race. They expected a much better result than an abject seventh.
    
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    March 22, 2026 6:47pm
sungsamning

The use of the agricultural input glyphosate may be one of the most hotly contested issues within public health right now. For some, glyphosate is proof that modern agriculture is poison. For others, it is an example of anti-science panic. [Its an important farming input. However there is conflicting literature on cancer. Public trust is collapsing. Regulators seek to find out if it is safe when used as labelled. There are concerns about its effect on the gut biome.]
https://www.dailysignal.com/2026/03/20/the-truth-about-glyphosate-genuine-concerns-and-sobering-realities/
The Truth About Glyphosate: Genuine Concerns and Sobering Realities.
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March 22, 2026 9:17am
- Handyman
  
  There over 20,000 scientific papers on Glyphosate.
  If any scientist found it caused damage they would instantly be famous, wealthy and have a Nobel prize.
  So the fight against glyphosate moved to the political arena, with attempts to get judges and members of parliament swayed by public opinion, in turn swayed by lobby groups.
  
  The left hate everything and anybody associated with Trump, so if RFK Jnr comes out against glyphosate it could blow their minds.
  
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  March 22, 2026 11:02am
  - R
    
    The LEFT hate anything, or anyone, who is successful, or motivated with ambition
    
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    March 22, 2026 11:44am
    - sungsamning
      
      Amen to that. Its all they’ve got going for them.
      
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      March 22, 2026 11:57am
  - sungsamning
    
    Yeah, its not their fave substance is it? Imagine how exercised they’d be if Agent Orange was still in use.
    
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    March 22, 2026 11:56am
- newview
  
  Sgg Put simply there is no proof Glyphosate does anything accept kill weeds and grass. I’ve used it in farming and for personal use ever since it came on the market. I’m 74. When people get cancer or sick they blame chemicals first, proof or not. Being a retired farmer I believe it’s an overused tool. It saves time with tillage and how many times a paddock needs to be worked before sowing. It therefore saves diesel and the amount of carbon released to the atmosphere. However I believe use of it could be halved if farmers were prepared to plough and let the ground fallow longer more often, which is what they did before roundup.
  
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  March 22, 2026 11:05am
  - sungsamning
    
    Agreed. Don’t add any to your after dinner drinks though.
    
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    March 22, 2026 11:57am
- Dougal10
  
  The grams per hectare used are small when used in a farming situation , the rates used by those who apply it by knapsack and the contact they have with the drift means a lot more can go wrong , the dyes that used to be used in the past to show knapsack/spotspray users where they had been were particularly nasty .
  
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  March 22, 2026 11:13am
  - newview
    
    Yes I agree D. Knapsack amateurs over use chemicals but I’d have to say over the 60 yrs I’ve been farming I would have breathed in gallons of drift from MCPA and Roundup especially when safety hadn’t been thought of. I’m well, and still standing but could be just lucky. I understand some people have bad reactions to lots of things. No would draw the line at drinking it. (:
    
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    March 22, 2026 12:51pm
    - Dougal10
      
      Cabs with good filtration and low drift tips were a game changer. Imagine the problems if we had to go back to paraquat and the towel in your lap to catch the blood from the constant bleeding nose while using it even with filtration
      
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      March 22, 2026 1:19pm
- An Old Kiwi
  
  Even if the harm rate is supposedly only tiny (eg 1 per 50,000), you can understand a person being bitter about it
  when it is their (one) husband who dies – from an illness of which glyphosate is a known major contributing factor.
  
  Then it is not easy to read comments claiming that it is safe, when your reality has shown it not to be.
  
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  March 22, 2026 12:53pm
sungsamning

Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves declared that his government does not recognize the legitimacy of the communist regime in Cuba.
During a press conference in Peñas Blancas, on the northern border with Nicaragua, Chaves ordered the definitive closure of the Costa Rican embassy in Havana and demanded the immediate withdrawal of Cuban diplomatic personnel in San José, limiting relations to the consular sphere starting April 1. [There has been a rightward swing in Latin America over the last couple of years. Particularly in Argentina, and Peru. Hopefully, this trend will continue.]
https://gatewayhispanic.com/2026/03/costa-rican-president-rodrigo-chaves-stated-that-he/
Costa Rica Closes Embassy in Cuba.
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March 22, 2026 9:17am
- Wandering Star
  
  I enjoy reading your comments if only to keep up to date with what the Boomers think is an important issue worth considering.
  
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  March 22, 2026 10:53am
  - sungsamning
    
    Yeah, I am a boomer. I like to post on less noticed stuff.
    
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    March 22, 2026 11:59am
    - Wandering Star
      
      Thank you for your service.
      
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      March 22, 2026 1:10pm
      - sungsamning
        
        You’re welcome.
        
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        March 22, 2026 6:41pm
lastmanstanding

Winston has raised the question of a binding referendum on the future of the Maori seats. I suggest he commissions DPF or one of the other polling companies to run a poll. This will give an indication of the citizens appetite for a referendum. If the other Parties are so confident of the outcome of a binding referendum they shouldnt have a problem.
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March 22, 2026 9:18am
- AitchW
  
  Do we have a mechanism for a binding referendum?
  I’d imagine that if we do, and if Peters is able to arrange one on the future of the Maori seats it would be an overwhelming vote to dump them.
  The reaction from violent Maori “activists” would be swift, ugly, and well signalled.
  Perhaps fear of that reaction would encourage some to vote to keep the seats?
  
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  March 22, 2026 9:23am
  - Ghost
    
    Last local elections 42 councils voted to abolish Māori wards.
    
    Only 24 voted to abolish them, 18 voted to keep them.
    
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    March 22, 2026 9:49am
    - Paulus
      
      It is not a matter for Local Councils but for the whole Country.
      
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      March 22, 2026 10:52am
      - Ghost
        
        And yet when it went to the electorates, 18 local electorates voted for their councils to keep Māori wards.
        
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        March 22, 2026 10:54am
    - NothingLeft
      
      Local body elections have tiny turn outs. Lunatic fringes frwquently dominate. Polling would be more accurate in gauging actual support.
      
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      March 22, 2026 12:01pm
- Cassandra
  
  The problem is the widely held opinion that it is a matter for Maoris, not the rest of us. The wet end of National plus all those left of that. Even though it is National Party policy and backed up by the Royal Commission!!
  
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  March 22, 2026 9:26am
  - Greenstone
    
    Is it a widely held opinion or a widely (selectively) reported one?
    I’m not sure as I have never personally heard the opinion that only Maori get a say. Perhaps I need to relax a little and allow the media to tell me what my opinions are!
    
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    March 22, 2026 9:37am
  - NeverMindTheBollocks
    
    All of us have an interest in our system of democracy, particularly where one group in society have rights that are different to those of others.
    
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    March 22, 2026 9:37am
  - pdm
    
    I think John Key may have said that and possibly even Bolger.
    
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    March 22, 2026 12:26pm
  - Paulus
    
    But we must first ask what is a Maori, as since about 1960 there are none, only pretend ones to suit their purpose, and of course money.
    
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    March 22, 2026 2:00pm
- KKNZ2025
  
  >90% of NZs voted in the 1999 referendum for crims to be treated as crims. Hows that working out 25 years later?
  
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1999_New_Zealand_justice_referendum
  
  https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2025/04/labours_unfortunate_experiment.html#google_vignette
  
  https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/556291/opposition-cries-foul-over-tougher-sentencing-laws
  
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  March 22, 2026 9:34am
- pdm
  
  Winston will only do that if he can use taxpayers money lastman.
  
  He could also include in the poll how many New Zealanders expect him to keep his word and not go with Labour.
  
  Very few would be the answer I think.
  
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  March 22, 2026 9:42am
- Ghost
  
  Again, how many times does Winston have to claim this and not follow through before you realise he is just playing to the gullible for their vote?
  
  When he campaigned on it in 2017 what was the result of that referendum? Oh that’s right, he didn’t even raise it in negations.
  
  2017
  
  Peters said he wouldn’t use “silly phrases” like “bottom lines” but he made it clear the referendum wasn’t negotiations.
  
  “My strategy is to tell everybody out there that you won’t be talking to NZ First unless you want a referendum on both those issues at the mid-term mark of this election.”
  
  Article
  
  Kiwiblog
  
  Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me
  
  Not only wasn’t it in the coalition agreement, Labour sources all say NZ First didn’t even raise it during the negotiations.
  
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  March 22, 2026 9:47am
- Damocles11
  
  I doubt that Winston wants to commission any polls. I think he’ll believe just talking about such a binding referendum will get him sufficient traction in social media and on on-line political forums, where people will take what he has said and run with it, amplify it, and continue to give it legs. In many ways this has always been the NZ First strategy: say things that sections of the electorate strongly agree with & reap the votes and support that go with that – and who cares about the actual work of delivering on the words that have been uttered.
  
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  March 22, 2026 10:45am
- cmm (semi-retired edition)
  
  Winston loves raising this issue, but is unlikely to ever follow through because then the issue would no longer be there to raise.
  
  This is a 5% issue that will get Winston back in parliament.
  
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  March 22, 2026 11:42am
- sungsamning
  
  A waste of time. Just change the law that allows for Maori seats. No chance for a ‘wrong’ referendum result then. It must be an election year.
  
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  March 22, 2026 12:00pm
- PurplePen
  
  The seats actually disenfranchise Maori by neutering what would otherwise be the strongest voting bloc.
  
  Total Maori enrolment is around 575,000, about 16% of the national electorate. Spread across the general electorates, that averages 9,000 Maori voters per seat. Winning margins in most electorates are under 2,000 votes. A coordinated Maori vote would be decisive in almost every seat. Every candidate, from every party, would have to compete seriously for it.
  
  That’s the opposite of the current situation, where certain parties have little incentive to be accountable to the voters who hold them.
  
  Maori hold around 27% of seats in parliament already. Dedicated seats are no longer necessary for representation. What they actually do is limit Maori leverage.
  
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  March 22, 2026 3:31pm
NeverMindTheBollocks

I find this hard to believe. In my experience, these days all IT projects have cyber security baked in.

“It said many data and digital projects did not include information relating to cyber security management or improvement.

“The current financing rules and settings around capital and operating expenditure are preventing agencies from modernising and improving their cyber security.”

http://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/590299/government-data-being-held-by-unvetted-third-parties-treasury-report
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March 22, 2026 9:28am
- cmm (semi-retired edition)
  
  “In my experience, these days all IT projects have cyber security baked in”
  
  In my experience that is still not the case in far too many workplaces. Cybersecurity is still seen as something that is done later in the project and is distinct from the actual functional development.
  
  This “two step” approach has a few pros – such as being able to develop and test some parts more rapidly. However it has many downsides. Trying to retro-fit security to an unsecured platform is extremely challenging.
  
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  March 22, 2026 10:31am
- Southern Raider
  
  Definitely happens more than you would think. SaaS solutions pushed by some vendors as click and deploy and the business unit using them buy into this and don’t involve tech teams at all.
  
  Plus the rise of AI as no code and you don’t need any technical skills. Lots of companies deploying solutions with no governance in place, let alone formal cyber reviews.
  
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  March 22, 2026 1:05pm
Yvette

Damn (so you are clearly aware of my attitude) Treaty

The real Real Estate nature of the Treaty deals with the chattels in saying all Maori possessions are protected as theirs until such time as they want to sell them and then they must first offer them for sale to the Crown.
There is nothing about the water non-Maori may drink, radio waves which had not been thought of or rights to being every part rural Maori being invited with KFC to have a covid vaccine injection where even covid would likely not have reached them.

For those who wish to check this from the most authentic translation – that featured on the Waitangi website – it is attached below (and to help out Jacinda Ardern who was unsure what the Treaty said)

Where does it say medicine people – chemists, doctors and dentists – will have special regulations and aims for Maori, while non-Maori will be treated on a “here it is, come and get it” basis?
Or individual school board members will be responsible for an application of the Treaty in connection with education in schools, which your children will be asked to sometimes attend as inclination takes them.

_________________
Article the Second
Her Majesty the Queen of England confirms and guarantees to the Chiefs and Tribes of New Zealand and to the respective families and individuals thereof the full exclusive and undisturbed possession of their Lands and Estates Forests Fisheries and other properties which they may collectively or individually possess so long as it is their wish and desire to retain the same in their possession; but the Chiefs of the United Tribes and the individual Chiefs yield to Her Majesty the exclusive right of Preemption over such lands as the proprietors thereof may be disposed to alienate at such prices as may be agreed upon between the respective Proprietors and persons appointed by Her Majesty to treat with them in that behalf.

Article the Third
In consideration thereof Her Majesty the Queen of England extends to the Natives of New Zealand Her royal protection and imparts to them all the Rights and Privileges of British Subjects.
W HOBSON Lieutenant Governor.

Now therefore We the Chiefs of the Confederation of the United Tribes of New Zealand being assembled in Congress at Victoria in Waitangi and We the Separate and Independent Chiefs of New Zealand claiming authority over the Tribes and Territories which are specified after our respective names, having been made fully to understand the Provisions of the foregoing Treaty, accept and enter into the same in the full spirit and meaning thereof: in witness of which we have attached our signatures or marks at the places and the dates respectively specified.
Done at Waitangi this Sixth day of February in the year of Our Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty.
_________________

Notice to that the Treaty mentions identifies the Chiefs of the Confederation of the United Tribes of New Zealand and Independent Chiefs of New Zealand claiming authority over the Tribes and Territories, but the Treaty – the ‘living’ by totally English attributable (drafting, writing, interpretation and explanation) document which looks forward 186 years to have such ‘sanctified’ total impact now – did not look back 5 years to the Declaration of Independence of the Confederation, 1835, and explain the simple difference between chieftainship and governorship, for God’s sake.
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March 22, 2026 9:36am
NeverMindTheBollocks

This will not be helping people suffering from climate change anxiety.

Apparently (‘analysts’ estimate), 5m tonnes of CO2 has been released in the first 14 days of the US-Iran war, amounting to more than the global carbon budget of 84 countries combined.

Not mentioned is the effect of voluntary restrictions on fuel use due to the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which should be included in for “equity”.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/mar/21/middle-east-iran-conflict-environment-climate?
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March 22, 2026 9:56am
- Don Beckett
  
  I call bullshit on that. There would no have been 5 mil. tons of ordinance used – so how can they claim ‘5 mil. tons of CO 2’.
  Is the gas CO2 heavier than solid steel encased explosives now ?
  
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  March 22, 2026 11:28am
  - Ghost
    
    Might pay for you to read the article. There is no claim of “ 5 mil. tons of ordinance”
    
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    March 22, 2026 11:32am
- Wandering Star
  
  “The US-Israeli axis claims to have bombed thousands of targets inside Iran, and Israel has hit hundreds more targets in Lebanon. Reports from inside both countries show extensive destruction of infrastructure.”
  
  Does Israel think that Lebanon is a region of Iran, now? Are “we” saving the people of Iran and or taking out the Mad Mullahs, or are “we” taking the opportunity to bomb other countries while nobody’s looking?
  
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  March 22, 2026 12:05pm
- david
  
  I am also puzzled when apparently an aircraft on one flight can release several times its fully laden weight in CO2. Does not compute.
  
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  March 22, 2026 2:21pm
Damocles11

From the lefty Guardian newspaper –
‘The US-Israel war on Iran is a disaster for the climate, according to an analysis that finds it is draining the global carbon budget faster than 84 countries combined. The first analysis of the climate cost has found the conflict led to 5 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions in its first 14 days.’

Whether you do or don’t believe in man-made climate change, it is becoming increasingly ludicrous for NZ to cling to the fiction that our behaviour here will profoundly influence the behaviour of other nations and we can ‘save the planet’. To pay many billions of dollars in penalties for not meeting our (self-imposed) ‘obligations’ is demonstrably absurd, and equally absurd would be to damage our economy and living standards by demanding our farmers and industries meet onerous local emissions targets which can have no discernible effect on ‘global warming and climate change’ given the actions of the big emitters.
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March 22, 2026 10:08am
- Wandering Star
  
  We’re far too small and insignificant to make any difference to the climate at all, be it a “positive” or “negative” difference. Accordingly, we’re wasting our time and shooting ourselves in the foot based on a false premise that we can make any difference.
  
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  March 22, 2026 11:22am
- Handyman
  
  The guardian should be celebrating. Cuba just became the country to reach net zero and thanks to the Iran war, many other countries will soon achieve that milestone.
  The temperature of the Earth should start deceasing any time now. Guardian readers can eagerly look forward to a joyless cold UK summer.
  
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  March 22, 2026 11:58am
  - Damocles11
    
    It’s just a merry-go-round. Decreased emissions here are offset by the emissions produced by burning oil and gas fields and storage facilities. None of it makes any difference one way or the other in any case, not in world where China is currently burning 5 Billion tonnes of coal every year.
    And for all that the Left attempt to brainwash us into thinking our NZ farmers are ‘killing the planet’, there’s this: ‘New Zealand holds a very small percentage of the global cattle herd, estimated at less than 1% of the total world population.’
    
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    March 22, 2026 1:27pm
Paulus

This may just represent a problem as in the UK the destruction of the Monarchy is well under way taking Randy Andy as the excuse.
Waiting to hear what crime he has committed as he has yet to be charged with what ?
Will and how can the so called Commonwealth continue to exist as inevitably some aspects pertaining to the Crown, and therefore how can the Treaty of Waitangi be retained.
It will not happen overnight but in say 10 years time this may well be seen to be occurring.
To say that the British and Commonwealth Member public will not allow it is to presuppose that those behind it – known as the media will have caused at least some destruction.
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March 22, 2026 11:03am
- sungsamning
  
  Giving sensitive info to Epstein. Just like Mandelson. the monarchy are a shower of rubbish. Time they were gone.
  
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  March 22, 2026 12:01pm
Handyman

I see that wind generation this morning is providing 1% (47MW) of the 4,400 MW required.
Luckily it is a fine Sunday morning with low heating load and low industrial use.
We are using our dwindling gas supplies to produce 280MW. What happens when the gas is gone on the morning of a calm winter frost?
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March 22, 2026 11:18am
- R
  
  It will bethe fault of NATIONAL, not the COALITION GOVT
  
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  March 22, 2026 11:52am
TripeWryter

I’ve just been reading Heather du Plessis-Allan’s column in the once-Royal New Zealand Herald.
I was becoming increasingly worried as I read that she was doing what so many media people and Labour (women) MPs are doing – gaslighting Jade Paul and minimising her for what she wrote on Facebook about her ex-husband, Christopher Hipkins, the Leader of the Labour Party.
A man whom Labour has spent a great deal of effort to make relatable – empathetic, sympathetic, kind – to women voters.
For me, Ms Paul’s first two allegation do not fall into the category of a pissed-off ex about an ex.
They are damaging and specific, and, given the ages of the children now, a deeply historic hurt.
Any woman who has been through similar experiences – or who know someone who has – will relate.
Therefore they will watch Chris Hipkins in Parliament in a different kind of way.
They will ask: is he real?
And no amount of gaslighting and minimising of his ex will change that.
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March 22, 2026 11:42am
- Ghost
  
  I recently saw the accusations against Jade. I’d rather just not know what is going on in that break up, it’s going to get messy as hell if claims from both sides come out.
  
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  March 22, 2026 12:12pm
  - Gary Benner
    
    But Ghost, Hiplins has put himself on the front page of Women’s Weekly (or equivalent) many times, talking openly about his family, his marriages, and all in a glowing light. If it turns out that what has been said there is not true, then we deserve to know.
    
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    March 22, 2026 1:53pm
- Swifty
  
  I see Helen Clark retweeting posts that claim it’s all a vast right wing conspiracy against Hipkins.
  
  She’s really lost the plot.
  
  She’s now become a Hilary Clinton, blasting the character of her husband’s sexual assault victims in an attempt to get him off the hook and to cover for all his lies.
  
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  March 22, 2026 12:54pm
  - TripeWryter
    
    Swifty:
    I hadn’t seen Helen’s tweets.
    I can’t help recalling our hiding-behind-the-children media went after Uffindell, the National Party MP, on much less.
    Lack of proof didn’t stop them.
    Thomas Coughlan ruminated briefly about ‘evidence’ to support Ms Paul’s allegations.
    How lofty.
    I couldn’t help thinking: ‘what ‘evidence’ does he want? [Mod – deleted, go back and view DPF’s final paragraph in his article on this
    
    https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2026/03/difficult_to_assess.html. ]
    
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    March 22, 2026 1:40pm
    - TripeWryter
      
      My apologies, Mod. I thought that given so much of the detail is now known and said, that prohibition had lapsed.
      
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      March 22, 2026 5:02pm
Handyman

We keep hearing “the Strait of Hormuz through which travel 20% of the world oil”.
Yes, in normal times but Sudi Arabia can send 7% via pipeline and Iran is allowing oil shipments to Japan, China and India. Russian oil is allowed to spike up production.
The overall effect is a 5-10% reduction in world oil, which is significant but is hardly a complete halt to oil production.
The impact will be felt unevenly. New Zealand could limp through if the impact was “only” a 5% reduction in the short term.
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March 22, 2026 11:49am
- Gary Benner
  
  I was watching a video of how Iran can mine the Straits of Hormuz, but cannot fathom how they can have done that and still allow some ships through, as the mines of all types are “dumb” – ie they have no discrimination as to who owns the ships, and it appears are not remotely controlled. Mining would also stop their ships or those friendly to the regime.
  
  So they must be only able to use missiles, stocks of which must be getting pretty low by now. So suggest it will return to business as usual pretty soon. And even if mines are laid, it seems pretty easy to remove once the backup supply have been eliminated.
  
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NNZ2u2WDD0
  
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  March 22, 2026 12:44pm
  - RdM
    
    “as the mines of all types are “dumb” – ie they have no discrimination as to who owns the ships, and it appears are not remotely controlled. Mining would also stop their ships or those friendly to the regime.”
    
    I don’t know whether Iran would have acquired any, but there are smart naval mines now.
    
    https://defenceagenda.com/malaman-smart-naval-mine/
    
    “The development of smart naval mines represents a pivotal shift in underwater warfare. Traditional mines were static, indiscriminate, and often posed long-term risks, even to friendly vessels. In contrast, smart naval mines are designed with precision targeting capabilities, advanced sensory technology, and enhanced operational autonomy.
    
    Smart naval mines can now distinguish between different types of vessels, including warships, submarines, and commercial ships. They can track, follow, and target enemy ships, responding only to specific threats. These intelligent mines also can lay dormant for extended periods, activating only when a defined target profile is detected. ”
    
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    March 22, 2026 3:26pm
  - virtualmark
    
    Mining the Strait is the “nuclear” option so to speak. As you say it would be an indiscriminate step that would stop all traffic.
    
    I suspect that’s why Iran hasn’t as yet taken that step.
    
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    March 22, 2026 3:33pm
  - cmm (semi-retired edition)
    
    “as the mines of all types are “dumb” – ie they have no discrimination as to who owns the ships, ”
    
    I am not sure what mines the Iranians have, but remotely detonated “smart mines” were used during WW1 – including at the Dardanelles. These were detonated by wire. Of course these days we have far more options like radio,
    
    That said, mines are old hat. A 50+ year old missile is easy enough to deploy from a ute or such from a distance of 50km or so. Given that the SoH is only about 30km wide that’s quite a choke point.
    
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    March 22, 2026 5:04pm
- PurplePen
  
  “I keep hearing on the news that everything is shutting down because of the straits of Hormuz. Like, what is it about the straits of Hormuz that they won’t let them through? Does that mean they let the gays of Hormuz through? I’m just so confused why Hormuz are stopping the straits.” it got a laugh out of me
  
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  March 22, 2026 3:44pm
Swifty

The UK is crumbling:

https://x.com/fuddaily/status/2035023052065362223?s=46

Descending into third-worldism before our eyes.
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March 22, 2026 12:51pm
JJ56

Julia Gabel Political Reporter NZ Herald obviously in training for the top job. ‘Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has a lot of explaining to do when he meets with his Samoan counterparts ‘.

Well perhaps not a long list, just the HMNZS Manawanui, and she couldn’t even get a local Samoan to quote saying this. All her own work.
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March 22, 2026 12:58pm
- Damocles11
  
  There’s plenty of things that people on both sides of the political divide can and do find at fault with Luxon. But then you have this clear-as-day campaign by the MSM to bring him down using anything they can find to beat him over the head with, including lies that he asked to be made a Samoan chief & now that he should somehow grovel at the feet of Pacific leaders for largely illusory wrongs. Utterly disgraceful stuff from the completely biased mainstream media.
  
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  March 22, 2026 1:33pm
  - R
    
    NZ has been groveling at the feet of the ‘special people over alleged largely illusionary wrongs, since the 1970’s. This doesn’t seem to be worrying very many of our population, who keep supporting this nonsense at the Polls.
    
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    March 22, 2026 2:20pm
  - greybeard
    
    That never-ending campaign by the MSM shows us just how the left DOES rate him as a Prime Minister, and they don’t like to admit it.
    
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    March 22, 2026 2:32pm
    - R
      
      So true GB!. The present opposition are terrified of the coming election. They foresee the prospect of being unemployed, and with their lack of real world employment exposure, makes most of them unemployable; and certainly on a salary nothing like what they are given at present.
      
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      March 22, 2026 4:59pm
Damocles11

Trump posted this on Truth Social just 52 minutes ago. This escalation would represent ‘total war’ waged against a civilian population & millions of people would suffer terribly as a result.

‘If Iran doesn’t FULLY OPEN, WITHOUT THREAT, the Strait of Hormuz, within 48 HOURS from this exact point in time, the United States of America will hit and obliterate their various POWER PLANTS, STARTING WITH THE BIGGEST ONE FIRST! Thank you for your attention to this matter. President DONALD J. TRUMP’
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March 22, 2026 1:39pm
- Wandering Star
  
  Why would they? They’ve been marked for eventual destruction anyway, so they may as well call his bluff and watch the United States’ credibility slip even further when he doesn’t enforce his own red lines, which seem to change every few hours, sometimes within the same speech.
  
  Besides, surely he can communicate this to the Iranians by other means rather than the FAILING Truth Social (VERY SAD!), so it’s fair to say this message is addressed to an American audience rather than an Iranian one.
  
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  March 22, 2026 2:23pm
- virtualmark
  
  Don’t worry, in 12 hours he will say something about the war will end soon, because America has achieved its objectives.
  
  Then 12 hours after that he will threaten Iran with some new attack.
  
  Then 12 hours after that he will say he’s seeking peace.
  
  Then 12 hours after that he …
  
  The man is pure chaos.
  
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  March 22, 2026 3:36pm
- Damocles11
  
  ‘Iran responds to Trump threats by promising attacks on water and energy sites across Middle East.’
  
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  March 22, 2026 4:28pm
  - virtualmark
    
    And one very likely response is that Iran will target the Gulf states desalination plants. Which so far they have refrained from doing, even though it’s the widely known vulnerability.
    
    I bet Qatar are thrilled at the payoff they’re getting from their “donations” to Trump.
    
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    March 22, 2026 7:56pm
- Wayne1749
  
  Yep, it would be an obvious war crime, wonder what the Iranian diaspora, a useless bunch of misfits, will say to that.
  
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  March 22, 2026 5:34pm
Damocles11

‘The Danish military has reportedly developed detailed plans to blow up airfields in Greenland in the event of a US invasion according to European officials said, the New York Times reports.’
2 7
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March 22, 2026 2:23pm
- cmm (semi-retired edition)
  
  So what?
  
  All military draw up plans for all sorts of things (well they should anyway). And such plans are likely the same (or very similar) regardless of who the attacking force is.
  
  I would assume we have plans for what to do should NZ be under threat of invasion.
  
  The purpose of such plans is:
  a) to be prepared for possible invasion scenarios.
  b) training senior officers how to plan for such events.
  
  They should not be viewed as thinking that such an attack is imminent.
  
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  March 22, 2026 5:36pm
- [email protected]
  
  Pretty sure there are better non-destructive methods to prevent use of an airfield that can easily be undone. Scattering railroad ties across the runway?
  
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  March 23, 2026 8:58am
Centrist

Good to see Alfred Ngaro has joined NZF. He can bring wisdom and experience to the future cabinet.
2 7
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March 22, 2026 4:12pm
- Damocles11
  
  I don’t know how effective Alfred was when he was in National. I don’t think Winnie particularly cares about the political philosophy of his candidates, as long as they have a bit of name recognition and are prepared to bend the knee then they are welcome.
  
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  March 22, 2026 4:24pm
  - Colville
    
    I wonder Ngaoro feels about being a poor second choice after Nash fucked it up so publicly.
    
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    March 22, 2026 10:10pm
- R
  
  REALLY!
  
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  March 22, 2026 5:00pm
- greybeard
  
  He is just another trougher who can’t ( won’t ) stay out of the limelight.
  
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  March 23, 2026 9:55am
Graeme Hall

Winston has offered $15million towards the continuing rebuild of the old building formerly known as the Christchurch Cathedral. Given the budget has blown out previously and will most likely do so again, I wonder where this chunk of money will come from – surely not the mysterious NZ First Foundation?

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/590827/nz-first-commits-to-15-million-towards-christ-church-cathedral-rebuild-if-elected
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March 27, 2026 5:51pm

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