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March 24, 2026 8:00am by Kokila Patel

General Debate 24 March 2026

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General Debate

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NeverMindTheBollocks

So, has anyone seen reports of MPs travelling less? Carpooling perhaps, or taking the bus?

No, me neither.
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March 24, 2026 8:01am
- cmm (semi-retired edition)
  
  We live in the world of video conferencing. There is virtually no need to travel for business etc except for occasional schmoozing.
  
  I have made one business trip since 2008 – a one-day trip to Napier. Based on the people on the plane, 90% of business travellers are NGOs and government workers (ie. taxpayer funded). Why?
  
  Although now semi-retired I still consult internationally (and I am doing some courses internationally too). I have not had a valid passport for over 15 years. I can do everything over Zoom/Google meets etc. This week it is discussions with people in Austria (not Australia), Cypress, USA and UK.
  
  One of my neighbours though is a local General Manager for an NGO headquartered in Wellington. Once a week he flies to Wellington for the whole day to have meetings with the same people discussing the same sort of issue. It is astounding to me that he needs to travel every week. But, hey, that’s how they do it…
  
  If I can discuss highly technical issues with people over Zoom, it is difficult to see how mundane government issues can’t be discussed that way either.
  
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  March 24, 2026 10:52am
  - imalwaysright
    
    “…it is difficult to see how mundane government issues can’t be discussed that way either.”
    
    They fall asleep quicker…
    
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    March 24, 2026 11:47am
  - grumpy
    
    I have a similar experience. As a previously frequent overseas traveller (at one time to Europe every 6 weeks), I have now not been outside NZ since 2019. My work has not changed, we just do it without travel. Like you, m work is highly technical unlike the government employees I see clogging up the Koru Club every time I reluctantly must travel to Wellington.
    
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    March 24, 2026 1:37pm
  - Paulus
    
    Does he stay overnight in Wellington ?
    
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    March 24, 2026 2:39pm
NeverMindTheBollocks

Now that Brent crude has dropped $10+ a barrel overnight, what are the odds that this will come straight through to the pump?
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March 24, 2026 8:03am
- MCōs
  
  The current price of Brent crude is $US100.2/barrel
  That’s cheaper than yesterday, but was considered calamitous at the start of this war.
  Btw
  What has been achieved?
  The same hardline regime is still in charge albeit with a new leadership
  
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  March 24, 2026 10:09am
  - kowtow
    
    ‘What has been achieved?’
    
    Far too early to know.
    
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    March 24, 2026 10:16am
    - Philview
      
      Too early to know but it has revealed some stuff. The UK in particular seemed incapable of defending their own bases. Even New Zealand has a functioning Navy but the UK seemed incapable of getting a ship anywhere. I can imagine a future organisation like Nato getting rid of the dead wood and moving to an alliance more global and perhaps including some Middle Eastern countries
      
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      March 24, 2026 11:22am
  - All_on_Red
    
    Only $100?
    I thought david in aus said it would be $150-200?
    No?
    
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    March 24, 2026 12:53pm
    - Master Mariner
      
      It is Red. 100 bbl BUT Same bbl is approx 150 in Asia.
      Becare full what you wish for.
      Another thing Brent crude is A benchmark for North Sea but WTI bbl is what we are dealing with.
      
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      March 24, 2026 2:14pm
    - david in Aus
      
      What we pay is ME oil which is $150 per barrel.
      
      If this continues for another month, WTI and Brent will $150 per barrel.
      
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      March 24, 2026 2:23pm
- Rumblestrip
  
  When the petrol market is unstable, prices rise like a helium balloon.
  
  By contrast, when the market stabilises, prices descend… also like a helium balloon.
  
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  March 24, 2026 5:15pm
Damocles11

Trump says talks with Iran to “make a deal” have been held and he is therefore extending his 48 hr deadline to 5 days.
Trump says “they called and want to make a deal. They called, I didn’t call.”
Trump says the talks have been held with a “top person”, someone “highly respected”…but he won’t reveal the name because “I don’t want him to be killed.”

“No negotiations have been held with the US, and fake news is used to manipulate the financial and oil markets and escape the quagmire in which the US and Israel are trapped,” Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf said in a post on X.
“Iranian people demand complete and remorseful punishment of the aggressors.
All Iranian officials stand firmly behind their supreme leader and people until this goal is achieved,” he added.
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March 24, 2026 8:04am
- David George
  
  Smart move.
  What’s left of the Islamic regime will be accusing each other of treachery and killing the suspects.
  
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  March 24, 2026 9:42am
  - Damocles11
    
    Ahhh, 4D chess again.
    
    So the ‘talks’ Trump is talking about are really just a cunning ruse to sow discord within the regime? 🤔
    
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    March 24, 2026 10:24am
    - Northshoredoc
      
      Trump could crap his pants on live TV and his delusionisitas would call it a smart move.
      
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      March 24, 2026 10:54am
      - kowtow
        
        The Ayatollah’s turban could spontaneously combust and the Basij boys here would call it a Jewish plot.
        
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        March 24, 2026 11:54am
      - Damocles11
        
        Everything gets reduced to binary options with Trumps most ardent supporters. Either you ‘believe Trump’ or you ‘believe the Mullahs’. Or you ‘support Trump’ or ‘support the Mullahs’. There’s zero room for nuance. And everyone is supposed to make an instant determination on black and white truth, even when the actual evidence to support anything either side is saying is incredibly sketchy at best. People who make instant determinations on everything are clearly coming in with closed minds. They are more likely to be saying “I believe President Trump and I believe everything he says!”
        
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        March 24, 2026 12:54pm
    - Colville
      
      Damo.
      
      The obvious line is we are not talking with the people who are leading the country now…we are talking to the people who will be leading the country in a month or so*….
      
      and I would bet good money they are doing exactly that.
      
      *who they HOPE will be leading the country…
      
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      March 24, 2026 11:17am
      - Damocles11
        
        Righto. The other option is Trump backed himself into a corner with his ‘48 hour’ deadline, the Iranians called his bluff, and Trump has now invented these talks to give himself an off-ramp.
        
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        March 24, 2026 11:54am
    - Master Mariner
      
      Nope mother of all f’upps.
      
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      March 24, 2026 2:16pm
  - Ra Henare
    
    You jest of course!
    
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    March 24, 2026 4:29pm
- kowtow
  
  While Trump makes outrageous comments ( literally) and can’t be taken at his word on many topics , including this , I draw the line at taking the Murderous Mullah’s word , in what is also a propaganda war.
  
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  March 24, 2026 10:15am
  - Damocles11
    
    I won’t be taking ‘the Mullahs word’. I’ve posted what both sides are saying and readers can draw their own conclusions.
    
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    March 24, 2026 10:23am
    - kowtow
      
      I beg to differ.
      
      You’ve been regularly posting Murderous Mahdist Mullah progaganda and relentlessly knocking the US /Isr point of view.
      
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      March 24, 2026 11:52am
      - Damocles11
        
        Nah, I don’t think so. I’m simply posting what the regime is saying. It is legitimate to highlight what both sides are saying in order to get a more accurate perspective on what is likely to happen next. We don’t see clearly using just one eye, we use both to get proper depth perception.
        
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        March 24, 2026 12:45pm
  - david in Aus
    
    How about aiming for the truth and not being a shrill for propagandists?
    There isn’t a bad guy in this war. Only which one is worse than the other. Good guys don’t threaten war crimes.
    
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    March 24, 2026 1:28pm
  - Wayne1749
    
    Whether one considers Iran’s clerical leadership “murderous” or not, that does not automatically make them dishonest. History shows that deeply religious societies—such as Catholic and Protestant Europe in earlier centuries—committed brutal acts like burning people at the stake, yet many individuals within those systems still saw themselves as acting with sincerity and integrity.
    
    By contrast, someone like Trump appears to operate with little consistent ideological or philosophical grounding beyond personal or financial interests. On that basis, one might argue that Iran’s leaders, whatever their faults, are more anchored in a coherent worldview and therefore may be more predictable or consistent in their positions.
    
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    March 24, 2026 1:31pm
- R
  
  In those emortal words….’He would say that……..On both counts!
  Trump is the more credible though.
  
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  March 24, 2026 10:22am
  - septic skeptic
    
    I agree that the Iranian regime are one of the few sources you could compare in credibility to the US president, but really it’s no contest. Trump talks shit every few hours that contradicts what he said yesterday. In this instance it’s no contest. Iran has said they are not interested in negotiation with the US because the last two times serious mediated negotiations were held the US broke off to start a bombing campaign. They have consistently said they don’t want talks with the US and I believe them when they say they haven’t had talks in the last 24 hours. On the other hand… I just don’t have time to list the various versions of what the US wants and is doing. Anyone who takes Trump at his word is delusional.
    
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    March 24, 2026 11:38am
    - All_on_Red
      
      So you believe Iran.
      Hahahahahahahahaha
      You, and others, fail to understand how Trump negotiates. Yes, it isnt like Tony Blair or Barrack Obama with nicely worded statements.
      He is a disrupter who uses his Bully Pulpit to achieve a goal and eff the chaos getting there because sometimes thats what you have to do.
      No one else has succeeded so why say his method is wrong.
      I think people have this view that Politicians should say pleasant things and when it comes to Trump getting dirty to fix things people become effete snobs. Its funny to watch their ignorance displayed cause they dont understand.
      
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      March 24, 2026 12:44pm
      - septic skeptic
        
        So in summary you say Trump is talking shit, but it’s a brilliant negotiating tactic, and therefore I should assume Trump is telling the truth not Iran??
        
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        March 24, 2026 1:40pm
- Nick R
  
  Must be TACO Tuesday
  
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  March 24, 2026 10:26am
  - All_on_Red
    
    Why?
    What is Trump going to ‘chicken out’ on?
    Destroying all the oil and gas infrastructure?
    Do you want that?
    This whole TACO thing is just childish and demonstrably wrong.
    
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    March 24, 2026 12:38pm
    - RichardX
      
      Why are Nick’s wants relevant to Trump not following through on his ultimatum?
      
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      March 24, 2026 12:48pm
    - Damocles11
      
      So what would you call carrying on about ‘TDS’ whenever someone even so much as asks a question, or calls out an obvious flip flop?
      
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      March 24, 2026 12:48pm
    - Ian Boag
      
      Destroying all the oil and gas infrastructure?
      
      Would a have considerable impact here in NZ – from a war we are not part of and did not start. Hard cheese I suppose.
      
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      March 24, 2026 1:19pm
  - grumpy
    
    Trump wants the Iranian economy reasonably intact for the new guys taking over (who he is obviously talking to now)
    
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    March 24, 2026 1:43pm
    - Damocles11
      
      He says they are talking to a “very respected leader”. Hey, maybe that is true. And I am sure the Iranian regime will be looking very closely at this matter. Maybe the ‘the new guys taking over’ – perhaps the ‘very respected leader’ or perhaps him and others – won’t be in any position to take over now that the regime has been alerted to this situation.
      
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      March 24, 2026 2:02pm
      - Gulag1917
        
        Iranians remember 1953 far too well.
        
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        March 24, 2026 2:34pm
- David George
  
  “firmly behind their supreme leader and people”
  
  Has anyone from the Islamic regime suggested an independently supervised free and fair election?
  They know bloody well they’d loose in a landslide*, so no.
  
  *Only about 20% overall want the Islamic Republic to remain in power; the majority prefer alternatives such as a secular republic (26%) or (constitutional) monarchy (~21%).
  Support for the “principles of the Islamic Revolution and the Supreme Leader” fell to 11% in 2024 (down from 18% in 2022)
  
  https://www.iranintl.com/en/202508212335
  
  https://theconversation.com/iran-protests-2026-our-surveys-show-iranians-agree-more-on-regime-change-than-what-might-come-next-273198
  
  chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://gamaan.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/GAMAAN-12-Day-War-Survey-Report-Nov-2025-Final-English.pdf
  
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  March 24, 2026 11:08am
  - Colville
    
    If there were elections where women could vote how many would vote for a life where they have less value than a goat versus the chance for their daughters to be educated and have freedom of birth control ?
    
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    March 24, 2026 11:20am
    - Spoff
      
      “If there were elections where women could vote”
      
      Iran is a Constitutional Republic, elections are held at least every four years. Suffrage is universal, and the minimum voting age is 18.
      All important matters are subject to referenda.
      Women make up more than 55% of first-year university students.
      Approximately 70% of university graduates in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields are women.
      
      If this is at odds with your understanding, I suggest you may be ill-informed.
      
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      March 24, 2026 3:55pm
      - Spoff
        
        PS.
        Using UNESCO/World Bank data aggregated by Our World in Data (latest available series), about 30% of tertiary STEM graduates in New Zealand are women.
        
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        March 24, 2026 4:53pm
  - Damocles11
    
    I don’t think anyone at all is saying that Iran is a perfect example of a free liberal democracy, and of course the Mullahs will lie and spin. Therefore I find the point you are trying to make is rather redundant.
    
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    March 24, 2026 11:30am
    - David George
      
      My heart is with the long suffering Iranian people; I was offering an alternative scenario in response to calls (by the UN etc.) for a ceasefire.
      
      Regime change is clearly wanted by the overwhelming majority of Iranians; a vote for liberation would be better for everyone (except the Mullahs and their henchmen) than a war of liberation. No?
      
      ,
      
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      March 24, 2026 11:52am
      - Damocles11
        
        ‘Liberation’ would be wonderful. That goes without saying.
        
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        March 24, 2026 11:55am
      - Drone
        
        Is the UN calling for Israel and America to implement a ceasefire, I suspect not. The want Iran to lead the ceasefire first…
        
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        March 24, 2026 1:44pm
      - Gulag1917
        
        Majority? Where is the proof of that?
        
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        March 24, 2026 2:35pm
      - Spoff
        
        According to a 2024 Gallup poll, approval of the Iranian leadership hovers between 43 and 50%.
        https://news.gallup.com/poll/611210/iran-votes-lukewarm-leadership-cool-economy.aspx
        (Hint. National’s current approval rating is 30.8% https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/590348/rnz-reid-research-poll-bleak-numbers-for-luxon-but-no-obvious-successors )
        This in spite of decades od crippling sanctions.
        
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        March 24, 2026 4:20pm
  - Taieri
    
    Only about 20% overall want the Islamic Republic to remain in power; the majority prefer alternatives such as a secular republic (26%) or (constitutional) monarchy (~21%).
    ————–
    
    These numbers are meaningless.
    While without doubt there’s a significant proportions of Iran population unhappy, most of them are passive that is they have accommodated themselves with the conditions under the current regime and try to live their lives the best they can, without causing any waves.
    There’s nothing unusual in that. A parallel can be seen in the formerly Communist-ruled societies. For example the former Soviet Union, which after a brief flirt with democracy settled into an authoritarian dictatorship with Putin at its helm.
    While the individual people may not agree with many aspects of the autocratic rule, they are willing to put up with it, because the fear of the “unknown” is much greater. A skillful application of social engineering and indoctrination enforces such attitudes – no dictatorship can survive for long without a certain level of support augmented by the system of punishment and rewards. In countries such as Iran, this is further strengthened by the predominant religious beliefs and by the integrating power of the feeling of being threatened by the external “Them”. What’s more, there’s no Iranian Walesa, a figure who could unify the opposition and have enough support to retain his/her own personal safety. Could the former Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi become such a figure? I very much doubt it.
    
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    March 24, 2026 11:48am
    - All_on_Red
      
      Where is your evidence for all these assertions?
      I mean, how do you know what Iranians are thinking.
      
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      March 24, 2026 12:36pm
      - Taieri
        
        Where is your evidence for all these assertions?
        ————–
        
        These are not assertions.
        How many people actively opposed Mrs Gayford’s lockdowns?
        How many voted for her in 2020?
        
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        March 24, 2026 1:32pm
    - Master Mariner
      
      Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi become such a figure? I very much doubt it.
      Yep.
      If people think the IRGC are bad how about the Shah’s crackdown on his own.
      Go beyond 1979.
      
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      March 24, 2026 2:18pm
    - Paulus
      
      The gun is mightier than the words in Iran, as there are too may people with a huge vested interest and they are Mullahs and Koran supporters, who are just plain ignorant Muslim mad ! !
      
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      March 24, 2026 2:47pm
- Damocles11
  
  A bit more had said, and done, by the Iranians:
  
  ‘Iran has launched missiles at Israel after it ominously warned Donald Trump that it has ‘special plans’ for him and the US’s allies in the Gulf, following the American president’s threat to attack the nation’s power plants.
  A source told the state-run Fars News Agency: ‘Tonight, special events are planned for Tel Aviv and some regional allies of the US and Israel that will completely remove the hope of negotiations from the minds of the aggressors.’
  
  But they may also be ‘begging for a deal’(?)
  
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  March 24, 2026 11:33am
  - All_on_Red
    
    Well, who do you believe?
    
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    March 24, 2026 12:34pm
    - Drone
      
      Not Trump..
      
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      March 24, 2026 1:45pm
    - Ghost
      
      The leprechaun at the bottom of the garden
      
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      March 24, 2026 1:48pm
- All_on_Red
  
  ‘Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf’
  How do you know this who the US is talking to?
  Where is your evidence of this?
  The guy could just be making it up and they are talking to others?
  
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  March 24, 2026 12:50pm
  - Damocles11
    
    A whole lot of ‘could’ and ‘might’ there in your response, with precious little in the way of hard evidence. Simply posting the words of someone who is demonstrably part of the Iranian government set-up should be permissible, surely. We read what he said, and we all draw our own conclusions. What do we have to fear from reading words on a screen? Are you worried that a simple statement of fact will have people ‘supporting the Mullahs?’ We should be able to think critically and not be instantly swayed by any given ‘thing’ we may read. The more we read, the sharper our critical thinking skills become.
    
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    March 24, 2026 1:00pm
    - Drone
      
      I have some sympathy for the Iranian leadership, as soon as you get named as a person in the “government” the Israelis will kill you. If you talk too long on a video chat/voice call to the American negotiators the Israelis will kill you. A bit of a hole really for any supposed peace talks..
      
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      March 24, 2026 1:48pm
      - Damocles11
        
        Maybe the “very respected leader” that Trump says he is talking to will not be long for this world, if he even exists.
        
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        March 24, 2026 2:05pm
Boy Geoff

I guess Hipkins could always just say he’s neither for nor against anything the current government is doing regarding fuel relief.

Maybe he could also say he’s neither for nor against his potential coalition partners and what their demands might be for membership of his government.
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March 24, 2026 8:07am
- Handyman
  
  The correct question for Hipkins is…
  “What did you do when the petrol price was higher under your last Labour government?”
  
  The average price now is about the same as under Hipkins/Ardern. Compared to average hourly rate it is lower. Reporters have the memory of a goldfish.
  
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  March 24, 2026 9:59am
  - Ghost
    
    Do you really want to ask him what he did , because the answer would not go down with kiwis looking at the price now. What labour did was reduce the fuel excise duty and RUC
    
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    March 24, 2026 10:06am
    - kowtow
      
      They also reduced their coffers .
      Then when the coughing virus hit spent up like it was the bubonic plague .
      
      The combination of which has left us worse than broke.
      
      And quite a few voters think that bunch have the answers.
      
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      March 24, 2026 10:12am
      - Ghost
        
        Precisely. What New Zealanders remember is lock downs were paid leave. So don’t expect them to rebel over any further request to stay home and be paid. They remember Ardern reduced the price of petrol. The polls show people don’t care how that was done or the huge debt that’s been left. With the damage done, the left have a very good chance at becoming the next government.
        
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        March 24, 2026 10:28am
    - Nikola Donatello
      
      You should he have concluded with “.. which was a very stupid response.”
      
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      March 24, 2026 10:13am
      - Ghost
        
        Voters don’t care, and they are happy to put the left back in.
        
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        March 24, 2026 10:28am
    - Taieri
      
      What they could do is to reduce the excise on petrol to the levels applying at the end of February, i.e. to before the current conflict started.
      They will not do it though in order to reduce current consumption by discouraging driving and to extend the availability of the current stock.
      Diesel is a bigger problem.
      
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      March 24, 2026 10:31am
    - Handyman
      
      Socialism has convinced everybody that the government has the solution and the money for every occasion and inconvenience.
      I know people who sincerely believe that the only purpose of government is to dispense money to those who need it.
      We need someone like Charlie Kirk to set up a stall “your child died because we did not have the money to buy life saving drugs; Labour spent it on reduced RUCs for transport companies.”.
      
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      March 24, 2026 3:26pm
  - R
    
    What memory. Most of them are ideological easily manipulated vacuums
    
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    March 24, 2026 10:25am
- Manu-Rau
  
  I am just waiting for Hipkins to say something – actually, anything at all – along the lines if the government needs to do more to support families.
  
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  March 24, 2026 7:01pm
imalwaysright

I would say the increased cost of mince would be a bigger burden on families than fuel cost.

Perhaps Nicola can launch a Minced Meat Rescue Package as well…
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March 24, 2026 8:08am
- david in Aus
  
  The cost of beef will come down. Apparently, exports to the Middle East are limited due to the current troubles.
  Greater supply in the local market means meat on special, load up the freezer soon.
  
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  March 24, 2026 9:38am
  - kowtow
    
    I suspect you’re posting tongue in cheek.
    
    Beef prices won’t be coming down in a hurry .It takes quite a while for animal inventories ( which are low ) to be built up .
    
    Something to do with the birds and the bees .
    Can’t be grown in a lab or substituted by soy .
    
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    March 24, 2026 10:28am
    - NeverMindTheBollocks
      
      Well, no. The steers are already in the paddock, at the works or in the freezer. There will have been orders for the Middle East that will likely be cancelled as no one’s shipping to Abu Dhabi right now. That meat has to go somewhere: hopefully the home market gets some of it.
      
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      March 24, 2026 12:26pm
    - All_on_Red
      
      He, as usual, doesnt know what hes talking about.
      NZ Beef Exports
      1. United States $2.1 billion
      2 China $2.5 billion
      3 European Union $1.8 billion
      4 United Kingdom $858 million
      5 Canada $644 million
      The ME isnt even in the top 5
      The US loves our beef in their Hamburgers
      
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      March 24, 2026 12:33pm
      - Gulag1917
        
        Better quality beef.
        
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        March 24, 2026 2:36pm
    - david in Aus
      
      Actually, there are reports in Australia of cancelled Middle East orders. Also in NZ,
      https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/country/589148/anzco-working-to-get-shipment-of-beef-destined-for-middle-east-back-to-new-zealand
      
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYg7r7-uYN8
      
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      March 24, 2026 1:31pm
      - david in Aus
        
        Price cuts in Australia because of the ME crisis. Beef is a world market.
        
        3 0
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        March 24, 2026 1:52pm
    - grumpy
      
      As a farmer who just enjoyed a windfall surprise of $9.25/kg for P2 steers and $7.50 for cull cows, I hope it stays high for a long time. Greenie pressure and bovine disease has reduced breeding numbers drastically and the only way to get beef calves is to have beef cows. The US has cut their breeding numbers with the result that Angus heifer calves are now fetching $US5,000 a head.
      
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      March 24, 2026 1:56pm
  - Paulus
    
    But are not the USA cleaning up most of our Beef for sales for Hamburgers ?
    
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    March 24, 2026 2:50pm
- Damocles11
  
  Wouldn’t that already be included in the all-encompassing review of our supermarket duopoly?
  Btw, did that report on the grocery sector get made public?
  
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  March 24, 2026 10:27am
  - imalwaysright
    
    D11,
    
    The Government asking for a report into a duopoly says it all.
    
    What part of ‘duopoly’ do they not understand?
    
    As an aside, has anyone ever seen or heard of anyone paying LESS than the display price at the checkout…?
    
    Maybe all of the overcharging for specials is an honest mistake, but they do contradict the laws of statistics.
    
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    March 24, 2026 10:47am
Gravelroad

https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360954903/do-we-need-lockdown-dampen-diesel-demand
You will need to scroll way down this article before getting to the magic words “Lock down”.
What is it about the msm and their fascination for controlling the population via authoritarian ‘lock downs”.
Level 4 coming up?
It was so good in the covid times, eh.
Not round here, thanks.
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March 24, 2026 8:16am
- Nikola Donatello
  
  Yes I saw that yesterday. Had the same reaction. The media coverage of the petroleum price increases has been disgusting click bait.
  
  I saw a headline yesterday “Aotearoa has 42 days of reserves left”. Read the article and it is clear that the reserves number is just business as usual.🙄
  
  When you add in their blatant election campaigning, it is insufferable.
  
  EDIT Just on your specific comment about lockdowns, I will never forget a conversation I had with a senior public servant acquaintance in 2020. She referred to the lockdown as “the best time of her life”. One of those moments that I will never forget.
  
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  March 24, 2026 8:24am
  - Gravelroad
    
    Yes, it would be interesting to see the lefts reaction to another round of lock downs.
    In the Covid days, the left and their msm handlers were all-in on lock downs and many people did indeed relish that time of not having to go to work.
    But if the National led government ordered such an extreme mandate to restrict peoples freedoms, I suspect there would be a lot more push back and they would be punished big time at the ballot box.
    
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    March 24, 2026 8:41am
    - Sacha
      
      If the Government put us into lockdown, the Labour Party would be delighted – they could finally justify their COVID lockups – and we would never hear the end of it.
      
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      March 24, 2026 8:57am
  - cmm (semi-retired edition)
    
    There are two very distinct problems which are being conflated:
    * Risk of supplies running out.
    * Cost at the pumps.
    
    The increasing cost at the pumps is a price reaction that goes some way to solving the supply issue. ie. prices go up, people use less and the supplies last longer.
    
    Luxon seems hell bent on addressing the costs issue because that is what people feel on the day to day basis (they feel it even if it is not really a significant cost).
    
    But if they address the cost issue, it only makes the supply risk worse.
    
    As discussed yesterday, most of the “feelings” people have related to cost are emotional reactions not grounded in reality.
    
    Diesel costs can double and that will have close to zero impact on the cost of transporting groceries to the supermarket.
    
    What we are certainly not seeing is leadership of any sort. Instead we are seeing emotional games.
    
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    March 24, 2026 8:45am
    - Cassandra
      
      Re leadership: Willis in particular, also Jones and Luxon, are handling this well.
      
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      March 24, 2026 8:50am
      - RoboRob
        
        The same Willis who plans to borrow even more money so that she can hand it out to families with Children to help them with fuel costs?
        
        The Willis who is rapidly morphing into Grant Robinson mark II?
        
        Jones, I will give you. He hs been calm and rational and organised. Willis, nope thats a hard no. Dont know about Luxon, was out of the country for most of the early stuff, but recent performance… mah.
        
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        March 24, 2026 8:57am
      - Raphael
        
        @RoboRob
        
        The same Willis who plans to borrow even more money so that she can hand it out to families with Children to help them with fuel costs?
        
        If National doesn’t do something like that, the media will paint them as beign cold and heartless, drawing comparisons to the “Kindness” of our former Glorious Leader. And that will guarantee an election win for Labour.
        
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        March 24, 2026 9:04am
      - cmm (semi-retired edition)
        
        Cassandra, I think a lot depends on what you consider good leadership and much of that depends on what you think should be the goals that they are pursuing.
        
        Luxon has clearly pegged the feelz and so has Willis. They are focused on delivering a “relief package”. In other words making it easier for people to buy petrol and increase demand.
        
        That is OK-ish if there is good fuel security.
        
        Leadership, imho, is explaining reality to people and getting them to cut consumption if that is needed. That means clearing up unclear messaging.
        
        If there really is a potential run-dry situation in the future, then belt-tightening is in order and leadership is selling that.
        
        It seems to me they are trying to have it both ways.
        
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        March 24, 2026 9:12am
      - jkt
        
        And grabbed the opportunity to customise us all to the idea of targeted charity to break the universality expectations dictating our psyche.
        
        Watch this space. Kindness? Economic wisdom? Politics?
        
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        March 24, 2026 9:13am
      - RoboRob
        
        @Raphael
        
        I think most people in NZ are smart enough to understand that fuel prices are out of the governments control. They are smart enough to understand that borrowing money to hand out to some people (and not others) is a placebo that doesn’t actually fix the issues and might make them worse. The government would just need a good communicator to explain that. (Not Luxon)
        
        Sure lefties wont like that logic, ‘we need to help people and thats the governments job’. Those people wont vote National anyway.
        
        Many on the right have been calling National Labour lite. This sort of ‘solution’ is exactly what JA Ardern would have done. We thought JA was a terrible PM, why would we think National are good by doing the same thing JA would have done?
        
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        March 24, 2026 9:39am
      - Cassandra
        
        cmm: I think Willis is explaining it well, the media not so much. Difficult task, politics is not simple.
        
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        March 24, 2026 10:21am
      - Raphael
        
        @RoboRob
        
        I think most people in NZ are smart enough to understand that fuel prices are out of the governments control.
        
        I think you’re ascribing too much intelligence to most people, have you looked at the latest polls?
        
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        March 24, 2026 10:52am
      - cmm (semi-retired edition)
        
        Yup, Willis is indeed trying to communicate and the media is stuffing it up.
        
        But part of being good at the job is dealing with the situation on the ground as it is and that includes an incompetent media who have no interest in communicating.
        
        We have a media that has little interest in facts and who just go fishing for salacious gossip. But that’s just part of the package…
        
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        March 24, 2026 10:57am
    - Dudley Quaffquaff
      
      What time exactly has Luxon said or done that makes him seem “hell bent on reducing the costs issue”? All I’ve heard is that the Government is amending som standards to make it easier to import fuel. That’s addressing the supply issue. Are they reducing fuel tax, or price controlling?
      
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      March 24, 2026 9:02am
      - RoboRob
        
        Oh and ‘amending standards’ is just a smoke screen to be seen to do something. Australia is (apparently) in a worse situation then NZ. Changing our standards to their standards doesn’t free up more gas for us. Also note that we have changed to Australias OLD standards. As part of their response they have reduced their standards. We aren’t matching the new lowered stadards.
        
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        March 24, 2026 9:43am
      - RoboRob
        
        The downvoters might want to check the facts. They are as I explain. NZ has matched the old (pre crisis) AU standard. AU has a new lower standard that we haven’t matched.
        
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        March 24, 2026 10:37am
    - PaulP
      
      I totally agree @cmm. The price rocketing is the market reacting to the potential supply issues and should dampen demand.
      
      Artificially keeping the price down using some mechanism like removing fuel tax or reducing the impact by giving away taxpayers money means the demand doesn’t drop as fast or as much.
      
      Let the market do its job.
      
      Most cities in NZ have prefectly good, and heavily subsidised, public transport systems and those prices have remained the same so there are alternatives.
      
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      March 24, 2026 9:06am
      - RoboRob
        
        Why is it that our government isn’t calmly explaining this? Why are we instead handing out borrowed cash that helps break the markets natural response to a shortage.
        
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        March 24, 2026 9:44am
      - Ghost
        
        How about places that aren’t cities? We have one bus in the morning, one in the afternoon that goes to town. Today I’m going to town three times, public transport is not an option
        
        7 2
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        March 24, 2026 9:49am
      - RoboRob
        
        @Ghost
        
        That sucks. People without public transport options are in a harder place. In your case I guess the only option is to try and combine the goals or all three trips into one? Car pool?
        
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        March 24, 2026 10:14am
      - Ghost
        
        The only possible option is three different trips today
        
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        March 24, 2026 10:19am
    - jkt
      
      And: Increased cost of oil prompts producers to produce more.
      
      “Botter en gewere”. Demand Supply curve. Easiest concept … most misunderstood? I think it is understood by choice.
      
      This is the one industry that does not work on the principles of just in time.
      
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      March 24, 2026 9:07am
    - Blog-aholic
      
      IMHO ’emotional games’ is what defines Western Politics today.
      
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      March 24, 2026 9:13am
    - Taieri
      
      Diesel costs can double and that will have close to zero impact on the cost of transporting groceries to the supermarket.
      ————-
      
      Diesel costs do not impact just the “cost of transporting groceries to the supermarket”.
      The impact is far wider: land and sea transportation, agriculture, construction, manufacturing, mining, processing industries and so on. All these industries require stable supply at stable prices. Last but not least, there’s also a psychological factor at play. The impacts on the various parts of the economy tend to compound and create ripple effect affecting virtually EVERYTHING, not just your daily serve of Weetbix.
      
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      March 24, 2026 12:02pm
  - Paulus
    
    All they want to do is get rid of Luxon who is actually doing a good job, and destroy the current coalition Government in favour of little boy Hipkins and his cohorts.
    
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    March 24, 2026 9:13am
    - RoboRob
      
      Luxon is doing that for himself.
      
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      March 24, 2026 9:44am
      - mogg
        
        Rubbish to this and your earlier comment about Willis turning into Grant Robinson. Robinson and Ardern together with Hipkins were the architects of ‘magic money tree economics’. Willis and the taxpayer have to find the money for massive debt interest costs. I saw yesterday that Fitch are still warning about a NZ credit downgrade.
        
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        March 24, 2026 12:26pm
      - RoboRob
        
        @mogg
        
        Thanks for proving my piont. Fitch are looking at downgrading us becuase the financial trajectory of the country has gotten worse, not better as promised in 2023. Willis is borrowing more then GR ever did, National haven’t shrunk government at all and are now looking at financial handouts. In what way has Willis performed differently to GR?
        
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        March 24, 2026 1:19pm
      - mogg
        
        Robo;?Willis is in a financial straitjacket left by your namesake. She starts every financial year with a
        $10B bill for debt repayment, financial markets call it a doom loop when every year we are borrowing money to manage debt repayments.
        
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        March 24, 2026 2:21pm
- lastmanstanding
  
  Will it be a TACO or will Trump carry out his threat? All will be revealed as the actress said to the Bishop at 12.44pm.
  
  5 7
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  March 24, 2026 9:06am
  - septic skeptic
    
    The price of TACO’s has never been cheaper.
    
    3 3
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    March 24, 2026 11:42am
- imalwaysright
  
  Gravel,
  
  The reporter didn’t suggest a lockdown.
  
  She was relating the options described in a 2024 Government report into fuel security.
  
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  March 24, 2026 9:36am
  - Gravelroad
    
    She was asking via the click bait headline “Do we need a lock down to dampen diesel demand.”
    That implies that such a course of action might be discussed.
    Which is what commenters are doing here.
    
    7 1
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    March 24, 2026 10:30am
    - imalwaysright
      
      Yes, I agree, but the source of the idea of a lockdown came from the Government report.
      
      That’s a fair headline and is of a type that is often used where a pertinent point in the body of the article is used to headline it.
      
      I’m no fan of the media, but maybe we should be asking the Government to tell us under what conditions they would consider a lockdown feasible.
      
      Lets not shoot the messenger.
      
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      March 24, 2026 10:57am
- keepcalmcarryon
  
  Any party that wants to discuss “lockdowns” for anything short of Ebola is likely to not be in parliament after the next election thanks to massive overreach last time.
  Wait and see the size of the mob surrounding the castle next time.
  
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  March 24, 2026 9:44am
- david in Aus
  
  There is no need for lock down. The rationing will be by price for petrol. Let the markets do its work.
  
  However, diesel is the lifeblood of the transport economy. I would pay up for supplies. Even if you pay double the insurance is cheap relative to the loss of economic output.
  
  To the NZ government, please take advantage of the US government’s manipulation of the future’s market. You are getting a sweet opportunity to pass some of the costs to the Americans.
  
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  March 24, 2026 9:44am
  - imalwaysright
    
    That’s right diA,
    
    Fuel isn’t a discretionary purchase.
    
    We either have it or we stop the country and people will start to die.
    
    6 1
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    March 24, 2026 10:10am
  - david in Aus
    
    Buy the petrol and diesel from the Americas before they ban exports. I will take a while to arrive, but it will ensure supply. We may pay extra but we wouldn’t have to worry about supplies running out.
    
    3 2
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    March 24, 2026 10:37am
  - Ra Henare
    
    In the Kingdom of Wonder the government
    HAS NOT
    Given handouts to offset fuel prices(up by 50%)
    Restricted Fuel price increases.
    
    Funnily enough this government is not in the buying votes business.
    So the free market is left to sort itself out.
    
    My monthly bus ride from SIem Reap to Phnom Penh has gone up by 10%? ($17-19) bus still full.
    
    In the mean time the Government has told all its Government arms National & local to conserve energy
    https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501867175/national-assembly-issues-directives-to-reduce-fuel-consumption/
    
    Maybe the NZ government could follow Cambodia lead re Government Energy usage.
    5 will get you ten that Gummint bods are still flying around the country and using Limos and taxis regualarly.
    
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    March 24, 2026 9:39pm
cmm (semi-retired edition)

The Guardian is making a song and dance about a petri dish of human brain cells playing the computer game Doom.

Meh.

This seems just like a respin of the Florida university’s similar experiments in 2004 where they got rat brain cells to fly an F22 flight simulator.

The small-print says that in both cases the input signals are being pre-processed by neural networks which begs the question – what is actually doing the flying? Is it the neural network or the “brain”. The “brain” might just be a conduction pathway for decisions made, or partially made, in the external neural network. If so, then all the “brain” is doing is acting as wiring.

2004: https://www.theregister.com/2004/12/07/rat_brain_flies_jet/

Now: https://www.theguardian.com/games/2026/mar/16/petri-dish-brain-cells-playing-doom-cortical-labs
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March 24, 2026 8:29am
- imalwaysright
  
  The average reporter would see a petri dish of human brain cells as a threat…
  
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  March 24, 2026 9:04am
- Manu-Rau
  
  Thanks, but i stopped reading at ‘The Guardian’. I strongly suggest that you do the same. It will do wonders for your wellbeing.
  
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  March 24, 2026 7:15pm
Quail

How does Ms Lynch define a lockdown?
Are New Zealanders going to be forced to stay put at home,
That will never happen again!
New Zealanders won’t allow it.
What a bloody silly headline Stuff!
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March 24, 2026 8:29am
- R
  
  It was a STUFF headline, and reporter. Nuff said!
  
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  March 24, 2026 10:36am
- Paulus
  
  Many New Zealand workers (union led of course)where possible, particularly the Public Service are pushing hard again to Working from Home scenario.
  Best cushy number ever !
  
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  March 24, 2026 2:56pm
Sparrow

A political commentator who is unlikely to be a favourite of most bloggers on this site has described the present Coalition Government as having ” A Lack of Caring”. These simple four words sum up the Coalition Government and I would suggest a view held by many in the community.
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March 24, 2026 8:33am
- trout
  
  @sparrow; ‘caring’ in the political context is demonstrated by ‘hugs and kisses’ photo opportunities and giving out free stuff.
  More ‘caring’ will bankrupt the country.
  
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  March 24, 2026 9:43am
- amospicton
  
  I think we saw where ‘kindness’ got us with the previous lot. Kindness and caring just imply out of control spending.
  
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  March 24, 2026 9:43am
- kowtow
  
  What was the answer to that question you posed about the three leaders?
  
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  March 24, 2026 10:32am
  - Sparrow
    
    All are autocrats except Trump was democratically elected.
    
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    March 24, 2026 11:23am
    - Taieri
      
      The Respected Comrade, Marshal Kim Jong Un has just been democratically re-elected as the President of State Affairs of the DPRK. Almost unanimously, with 99.93% of support. Even the Belarus President Lukashenka can’t claim such a massive support and such impressive results.
      
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      March 24, 2026 12:10pm
- Manu-Rau
  
  I responded to that with $tuff’s “How did this article make you feel?” thingy.
  
  I’d share what I wrote, but my comments wouldn’t make it past the Mods here.
  
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  March 24, 2026 7:24pm
Cassandra

The media are spinning the fuel drama flat out. But it does show that successive governments have kicked the can on a meaningful strategic reserve for years. 21 days of diesel is grossly inadequate. And yet the Green Party solution is free buses and no infrastructure. Helen Clark obviously convinced the country that the benign environment was real and permanent yet any historian would tell you – and her – that is was an illusion. We might just struggle through this with a bit of luck but I hope this is a wake up call. But we might have to look at some sort of rationing. Cost of course is an effective handbrake but that will have consequences, not least of all political.
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March 24, 2026 8:33am
- kowtow
  
  Govts and the media are literally the problem.
  
  Due to doom mongering media / leftwing govts the ecoloons have basically dictated the gradual decline of industrialisation and the associated decarbonising of , well everything.
  
  How is it we sit on the Pacific Rim where Canada and the US are oil powerhouses who could supply us across the ocean and yet we’re dependent on the”dirty” Gulf and Asia .
  
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  March 24, 2026 8:43am
  - Nikola Donatello
    
    That does not make sense. How would it ever be cost effective to ship petroleum products all the way across the Pacific from the USA?
    
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    March 24, 2026 10:25am
    - kowtow
      
      Much shorter than from the unstable Persian Gulf.
      
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      March 24, 2026 10:35am
      - Nikola Donatello
        
        AFAIK our fuel comes from Singapore.
        
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        March 24, 2026 10:44am
      - imalwaysright
        
        Yep Kowtow, 10k from LA and 8.5k from singapore. Not a big difference from refinery, but the american source is much closer than the source for the singapore fuel.
        
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        March 24, 2026 11:05am
      - kowtow
        
        ND
        
        And where are those ‘Singaporean’ oil wells.
        
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        March 24, 2026 11:20am
      - Colville
        
        ND.
        Does it?
        Or Indonesia?
        
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        March 24, 2026 11:29am
      - Taieri
        
        AFAIK our fuel comes from Singapore.
        ————
        
        South Korea 48%
        Singapore 33%
        Other 19%
        
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        March 24, 2026 12:13pm
    - NothingLeft
      
      A tanker contains about $1-300million in fuel. shipping adds a few % to the price. It’s not that much further to America than to South East Asia.
      
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      March 24, 2026 10:56am
  - Ra Henare
    
    Dependant on the Oil refineries that process Gulf Oil would be more correct.
    
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    March 24, 2026 9:44pm
- RoboRob
  
  Ja turned Covid into a vote winning proposition for Labour, winning an historic MMP majority. National has the same opportunity but they dont have the compliant media and most importantly they dont have the personalities.
  
  I think JA is the worst PM we have ever had and an intellectual weakling BUT you can gaurantee if she was in power now her ratings would be going up.
  
  p.s. As I say in a post below, National are likely toast becuase they put everything on an economic recovery this year. Winston is stealing right wing voters while the middle is floating back to Labour.
  
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  March 24, 2026 9:05am
  - jkt
    
    It will be an interesting election.
    
    I think the approach taken to deal with this issue through targeted assistance will give licence to future governments to decouple government decision making from the universality fixation.
    
    Teaching moment .. contrast this response with Covid response. Two things can be true or untrue at the same time.
    
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    March 24, 2026 9:22am
  - septic skeptic
    
    National have but one bullet left in the chamber. They will surely roll Luxon – to do otherwise will end too many parliamentary careers in November. My pick is that the change will be for Stanford and wont come for a while yet. They will hope for an Ardern like surge in the honeymoon period. That would allow them to bribe Winston into continuing the current coalition.
    
    It may not work though – consider how quickly those revelations about Hipkins vanished from the news cycles. National will probably pay the price for leaving the msm propaganda machine in place for the left.
    
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    March 24, 2026 11:51am
    - RoboRob
      
      I thought they should have rolled Luxon January 2025. I’m not sure that rolling him now or closer to the election will make any positive difference. If I was Stanford (or any other leadership option) would I want the poison chalice?
      
      Putting Stanford in as a leader who loses in 2026 might end the career of their best performing MP.
      
      Last year ‘R’ (I believe) posted in response to one of my posts that the Nats had a pile of exciting policy poised to light up the election and would be released in 2026. I dont / didn’t believe him but would be very happy to be proven wrong. As I have frequently said, I want a right wing government and my posts around Nationals performance relate to my frustration that they seem to be working hard for a Labour government in 2027.
      
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      March 24, 2026 1:12pm
      - imalwaysright
        
        Matt Doocey told a meeting lat week that National are a centre party.
        Not many of the attendees were happy about it.
        
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        March 24, 2026 3:22pm
      - Ghost
        
        Welcome to MMP. The votes needed to govern are in the center
        
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        March 24, 2026 4:04pm
- Flossie
  
  In our neck of the woods we’d appreciate a bus – even if it wasn’t free. Obviously Green party people live in big cities.
  
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  March 24, 2026 9:10am
- imalwaysright
  
  This is a prime opportunity for the Government to roll out a plan for NZ’s energy self sufficiency.
  
  Put a refinery on the south island coalfields.
  Drill more geothermal wells.
  A north island hydro dam etc.
  
  We can’t be a country whose only game plan is to manage crises.
  
  We have to plan and build infrastructure that gives us immunity from dependence on the decisions of foreigners.
  
  We won’t.
  
  12 3
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  March 24, 2026 10:35am
  - Nikola Donatello
    
    Why would any company build an oil refinery, let alone in the South Island?
    
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    March 24, 2026 10:45am
    - imalwaysright
      
      That’s where the coal is.
      It can be refined into fuel.
      
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      March 24, 2026 11:10am
      - septic skeptic
        
        Yeah great, then we could be self sufficient at $10 per litre.
        
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        March 24, 2026 11:56am
      - imalwaysright
        
        I don’t think you will be running it septic, they will probably hire someone who knows roughly what they are doing.
        Where did you get the $10/l price?
        
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        March 24, 2026 12:40pm
  - RoboRob
    
    Hmmm A plan for energy resiliance. What a good idea. Which minister would be responsible for that again? Watts?
    
    This government flagged an energy crisis on day one. They have had the opportunity to make major structural change. They chose not to. Interestingly Winston is now talking about splitting up the energy companies. I dont know that thats the right move but at least he is raising the issue.
    
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    March 24, 2026 11:53am
    - septic skeptic
      
      Winston is talking grand plans in election year. In other news the sun rose in the East this morning.
      
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      March 24, 2026 11:58am
      - RoboRob
        
        Very true indeed. How did his ‘name all departments in english’ and ‘remove the treaty principles from laws’* go 🙂
        
        * I know this one is supposedly still going to happen (2.5yrs in) but a) it has been greatly reduced from what was understood pre election and b) it isn’t going to happen in my opinion.
        
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        March 24, 2026 1:23pm
      - Ghost
        
        Only public servicing departments, not all. In a few months we will know if they accomplished the treaty principles or not, as it was stated to be completed before the 2026 election
        
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        March 24, 2026 1:33pm
      - septic skeptic
        
        Not too much progress on moving ports of Auckland to Northland either. 😕
        Still, I guess in a few months I can take the ferry to Waiheke FOC so thanks for that Winston.
        
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        March 24, 2026 1:56pm
  - Taieri
    
    Put a refinery on the south island coalfields.
    ————–
    
    These SI coalfields would have to be developed first. Most of the SI coal in Southland is lignite (brown coal). It requires open cast mining. Some preliminary work has been done on lignite conversion projects, but, as far as I know, not much has ever been put into practice. Can just imagine all the screams coming from the “environmental” circles if something concrete was to start emerging there…
    
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    March 24, 2026 12:22pm
    - imalwaysright
      
      We need a politician who isn’t scared of people screaming.
      
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      March 24, 2026 12:49pm
    - Jack5
      
      Germany during World War 2, and South Africa during trade embargos, both made petrol from lignite coal.
      
      I think one of the South African-origin posters here, perhaps CMM, had experience working with Sasol, the South African producer of petrol from lignite.
      
      This link refers to Germany re-opening lignite-fuelled power plants:
      
      https://www.live-eo.com/blog/largest-brown-coal-power-plants
      
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      March 24, 2026 1:03pm
      - virtualmark
        
        Yep, it’s technologically do-able. But it’s uneconomic.
        
        So you only do it if, like Germany and South Africa, you are cut off from the other cheaper options.
        
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        March 24, 2026 3:15pm
      - kowtow
        
        vm
        
        AI says economic at $70 – 100 a barrel.
        
        Another point is given how many “oil crises” there have been and the possibility of major disruption in the future ( see Chinese prez tells his miltary to prepare for war ) ( See Ukr and Russia destroying each others oil infrastructure etc)
        
        And if farmers can’t operate and transport can’t tarnsport ; economic simply don’t cut it.
        
        We do need to rely on our own coal though . Imported lng is stupid too .
        
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        March 24, 2026 4:58pm
  - MCōs
    
    NZ used to have a synthetic petrol plant at Motunui late last century. It supplied a third of our petrol, but became uneconomical when the world oil prices dropped and ceased production in 1997.
    
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    March 24, 2026 2:56pm
    - Ian Boag
      
      The technology came from Esso/Mobil. Convert natural gas to methanol then run it through some catalyst that turns it into petrol. It was the first (and only) plant worldwide using the technology. When the petrol price went bad, the end (methanol-petrol) bit was turned off and the whole thing became a methanol plant owned by Methanex. It’s not all that efficient as a way to use gas.
      
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      March 24, 2026 6:46pm
  - virtualmark
    
    The cheapest fastest most-future-proofed way to energy independence is solar+wind+batteries.
    
    That transition is already happening, albeit slower than might be sensible.
    
    In 20 years time NZ’s energy mix will tilt to have a lot more electricity, and a lot less fossil fuels. Baseload electricity will be primarily geothermal + hydro run-of-river. But the mix will include a lot of solar + wind linked to grid-scale batteries. There will be next to no thermal generation. More than 50% of the vehicle fleet will be EV, including most heavy vehicles.
    
    That’s just the inexorable direction both technology and economics is heading in.
    
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    March 24, 2026 3:14pm
    - Taieri
      
      including most heavy vehicles
      ———–
      
      Not with the current technology. Power density is not there.
      
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      March 24, 2026 5:57pm
    - Ian Boag
      
      One has to wonder about Lake Onslow ….
      
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      March 24, 2026 6:47pm
      - Dougal10
        
        No you don’t , it is a pipe dream that would make australia’s snowy 2.0 look cheap.
        
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        March 24, 2026 8:26pm
      - Ian Boag
        
        Batteries on the scale we are talking about aren’t all that cheap either …. would be good to see a comparison – although I have no clue about how to generate it …
        
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        March 24, 2026 8:28pm
      - Ian Boag
        
        A thoughtful analysis … nothing is ever simple 🙂
        https://chatgpt.com/share/69c23f59-83b4-800d-b5d0-2e22e1680a69
        
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        March 24, 2026 8:40pm
- R
  
  ‘and her’ ….very difficult to tell an ideological driven person anything factually accurate!
  
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  March 24, 2026 10:39am
Maggy Wassilieff

Colinxy pops the Colonisation oppresses Maori bubble:

If the New Zealand Left’s favourite mantra is correct—if Māori are structurally, permanently disadvantaged because of British colonisation—then Māori who move from one British colony (NZ) to another (Australia) should remain trapped in the same relative position.

But they don’t.

https://breakingviewsnz.blogspot.com/2026/03/colinxy-popping-maori-are-oppressed-by.html#more
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March 24, 2026 8:35am
- cmm (semi-retired edition)
  
  That’s because ultimately Maori, like everyone else, are individuals who can self select according to their behaviour.
  
  Individual form themselves into groups by self-selection. One of he mechanisms is going to Australia, but there are many others such as starting a business, getting an education, moving to a city,…
  
  Moving to Australia (or just about any other major self selection act) requires some ability and motivation to get off your arse, organise paperwork, move etc. People who get off their arses are generally going to be more successful that don’t. They also likely have better skills, be better organised (can fill out forms, get passports etc) and generally more employable and have better skills to sell.
  
  Pretty soon, moving (be that from the country to the city or to another country) selects the people into two groups: those that are motivated to change and put in effort, those that are not and take the default option. Guess which group is going to perform better?
  
  We see that in any migrant people:
  * People who went through the effort of relocation from Europe during many of the migrant waves through history.
  * People who moved here from South Africa (such as myself) have more get-off-your-arse than the people we left behind.
  * The Polynesians/Punjabis/Somalis moving from the third world have more get-off-your-arse than the people they left behind.
  
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  March 24, 2026 9:04am
  - Paulus
    
    But nobody, not even Maori, can get to Australia, even for a visit, if they have a criminal conviction.
    Those already there do not want many more of them also as they took their families away from the gangs and drugs.
    
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    March 24, 2026 9:17am
    - Ian Boag
      
      They get interviewed about the conviction and most convicted people are let in if it was non-violent, non-custodial and a while ago. Got a mate in that category ….
      
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      March 24, 2026 6:49pm
- Nigel Kearney
  
  Singapore was colonised much longer. Tonga was not colonised at all. Colonisation is an advantage not a disadvantage.
  
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  March 24, 2026 9:11am
- Blog-aholic
  
  Maybe it is more that once in Australia they have broken the Iwi chain of command?
  
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  March 24, 2026 9:15am
Master Mariner

High margins for refined petroleum products in Asia. Europe exporting Refined products to Asia.
https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Europes-Gasoline-Exports-Shift-to-Asia-as-War-Roils-Fuel-Markets.html
And Australia secures Refined Fuel from US.
https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Exxon-Ships-US-Gasoline-to-Australia.html
So is the death Kneel of the Petro dollar ?
Part of the deal was US security of the Gulf States. Not working out too well. Iran is looking at allowing Ships to transit SOH if they sell in Chinese Yuan.
For latest unfiltered news, Worth a listen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cg_IFXiCNLM
Alistair Crooke with as always an honest update.
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March 24, 2026 8:38am
jkt

The stay calm message follows direct links by journalists made to the Iran War being referred to as a crisis by government.

Calling this a fuel crisis is a tenuous link to government calling the Iran conflict a crisis.
Until oil companies cannot maintain the statutory levels of storage the assurances by government should be taken on face value.

Therefore, an appropriate headline would be that “government says there is adequate fuel”. “The government assures public that there is adequate fuel to keep the economy going and that the situation is monitored continuously.

Cabinet has considered the economic impact on individual families and will announce targeted assistance for those most in need.”

But … alarmism rules. Therefore the headlines and reporting.

I doubt that this type of reporting is caused by the covid Royal Commission report, it is clearly not based on any evidence provided by the fuel industry. Mere speculation, at this point and very little in depth investigation. (Journalism) If there was any dissenting voice from the fuel industry or economic analysts they would have been quoted in the reporting, surely!
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March 24, 2026 8:49am
RoboRob

I note more bad news for the government in the latest Roy Morgan poll yesterday. Of interest was the fact that RNZ reported on it. That was a bit of a surprise as generally the MSM ignore that poll.

Unfortunately for the right, Nationals gamble of ignoring the polls and hoping for an economic rebound in time for the election has been screwed by Trump. An easy excuse for them but they really shouldn’t have ignored their base and put all their eggs in one basket.

Remember we dont vote governments in, we vote them out. Labour may be shit but if people are unhappy with National they will be voted out.
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March 24, 2026 9:01am
- jkt
  
  Good point … but memory is a bitch!
  
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  March 24, 2026 9:25am
- MCōs
  
  The latest Roy Morgan poll was weeks ago, unless I’m missing something
  https://www.roymorgan.com/findings/10141-nz-national-voting-intention-february-2026
  
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  March 24, 2026 9:49am
  - RoboRob
    
    Hmm, maybe but RNZ were writing about it yesterday…
    
    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/590348/rnz-reid-research-poll-bleak-numbers-for-luxon-but-no-obvious-successors
    
    ‘Christopher Luxon’s personal performance and that of his party is worse, and more people think the country is headed in the wrong direction under his government.
    
    Those are the bleak messages being sent by voters in the latest RNZ-Reid Research poll.
    
    The poll has National on just 30.8 – only just scraping above the death knell threshold of anything with a 2 at the start of it.’
    
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    March 24, 2026 10:10am
    - MCōs
      
      Reid Research ain’t Roy Morgan
      
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      March 24, 2026 10:11am
      - Ghost
        
        Roy Morgan in drag 😜
        
        2 4
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        March 24, 2026 10:12am
      - RoboRob
        
        Oops, my bad!
        
        4 0
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        March 24, 2026 10:35am
    - greybeard
      
      I thought it was a new poll too, and couldn’t understand why so few people were talking about it !
      
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      March 24, 2026 10:21am
      - R
        
        RNZ were hoping that people wouldn’t notice.
        
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        March 24, 2026 10:44am
      - Ghost
        
        It is a new poll, it’s just not Roy Morgan.
        
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        March 24, 2026 10:50am
- pdm
  
  Is that the Roy Morgan Poll of 2 March?
  
  I don’t see a new one – usually published early in each month so next one due at the end of next week at the earliest.
  
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  March 24, 2026 10:37am
Yvette

The Crown has dropped its case against a man accused of damaging a Treaty of Waitangi exhibit at Te Papa Tongarewa in December 2023.

Until I saw the photograph accompanying the linked Post article –
https://www.thepost.co.nz/nz-news/360964230/charges-against-treaty-protester-dropped
– I had not understood the other media’s reference to “ration the Queen’s veges”

And other photos (Google > panel defaced in te Papa display > images) show the damage to the complete panel.

The time that would have been required to mask words before spray painting the rest of the Article 3 and then removing those masks except for one, would then to support the reported lack of urgent action on the part of Te Papa management.
________

Spelman told The Post after the hearing that the defence had been proposing to call evidence from Te Ururoa Flavell, former educator and co-leader of the Māori Party, as well as having been Minister of Māori Development and Minister for Whānau Ora

He was expected to speak about tīkanga, including the way the Supreme Court had considered the issue in the case of Peter Ellis whose child abuse convictions were quashed after his death.

Flavell’s evidence would have included tīkanga on issues of mana, whakapapa, whānau, and transgressions..
________

A reasonable conclusion may be that the combination of tikanga, te Papa attitude, and Supreme Court precedent, that the Crown would loose the case.
Unfortunately, if the is the case {sorry}, Ratana and all others involved in a tikanga defence will be a little pissed they can’t shout this one from the roof-tops even although being ‘dismissed’ legally apparently means the case cannot he reheard.
The only hope is that Winston or David Seymour will say more.

Meanwhile …

The group wanted an “an accurate translation for all New Zealanders to be able to read and understand”.
At the time of the incident, Te Papa said the purpose of the exhibition – which had been up in some form since the museum opened in 1998 – was to provide a space for conversations about the Treaty.
But it said that conversation needed to change to meet the needs of the day, and made the decision to renew and reimagine the display.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/514626/controversial-treaty-of-waitangi-exhibition-at-te-papa-to-be-taken-down-soon

I am yet to see a version of the Treaty in English, which wording Maori fully approve of.
The Late Maori King said “The Treaty is written. That is it”. He seemed OK with it, as is.
He didn’t say “But it needs better translation”
Perhaps his Daughter, the Maori Queen could say what is an acceptable translation, even if we end up with what has lasted over 185 years, and the needed now corrections in red (in brackets)

Or will defacing the English panel become an annual te Papa ab-sailing angle grinding event?
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March 24, 2026 9:09am
MCōs

Re Trump’s back down

Never give yourself an ultimatum
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March 24, 2026 9:36am
- RoboRob
  
  Never make a threat if you aren’t willing to follow through. Good advice for parents and also apparently also world leaders.
  
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  March 24, 2026 9:47am
- kowtow
  
  Great advice .
  
  He’s “taken out” Chavez and closed the open US border to illegal immigration.
  
  On that bsais alone I’d say the score is;
  
  Orange Man Bad ; 2 (Bigly ).
  
  MCos ; not much .
  
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  March 24, 2026 11:14am
  - septic skeptic
    
    Did he exhume Chavez? I must have missed that. After all he died in 2013.
    I guess we know what you mean 😆
    
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    March 24, 2026 2:05pm
    - kowtow
      
      Good point I do get confused with all these minime goon clones who all look the same.
      
      The Kims in NK and the Mullahs all look the same too.
      
      Look on the bright side . Orange Man is unique!
      
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      March 24, 2026 4:51pm
      - Taieri
        
        Orange Man is unique!
        ———-
        
        Thanks f..k!
        
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        March 24, 2026 5:58pm
- mogg
  
  According to the Telegraph there are secret talks being held through third parties countries like Pakistan and Turkey. These talks started about the same time as Trump’s threatened invasion and destruction of power generation in Iran. Your ‘backdown’ talk could all be in your imagination.
  
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  March 24, 2026 3:25pm
BeaB

The kids need fruit. Can you get them some?
It’s not my week.
There’s a fuel crisis. Kiwis need help.
We’re not the government.
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March 24, 2026 9:43am
mogg

Four ambulances which were owned by a Jewish charitable trust called Hatzola were deliberately burned out in an Anti Semetic hate/arson attack. This happened in the car park outside a synagogue in Golders Green NW London. The charity set up a Give a Little request asking for £65,000, in just a few hours more than £500,000 has been donated and still rising.
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March 24, 2026 9:54am
- MCōs
  
  In NZ a new ambulance costs in the region of $300k
  Years ago in Masterton a family won Lotto and donated two to the Wellington Free Ambulance
  https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/family-gifts-its-second-ambulance/GXBLB6MPVJPKEY5EMLCUAJOKEQ/
  
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  March 24, 2026 10:24am
  - imalwaysright
    
    Probably the cheapest vehicle on the planet, Mcos, if we go by how many lives they help the brilliant New Zealand paramedics to save over their lifespan.
    God bless them.
    
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    March 24, 2026 10:42am
- kowtow
  
  ‘Progressives” call it the diversity dividend .
  
  Have a look at the appalling anti semitic trope laden cartoon that Sky Oz is reporting from a publication there called Australian Financial Review.
  
  We’re plumbing some very frightening depths.
  
  https://www.skynews.com.au/opinion/sharri-markson/sharri-markson-reacts-to-antisemitic-cartoon-released-by-the-australian-financial-review/video/5d46f394c89019df42e6a30bccc189df
  
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  March 24, 2026 10:24am
  - imalwaysright
    
    What about it is anti Semitic?
    
    Is it that its someone being manipulated by the Israeli PM and saying Torah three times?
    
    Or is it that a relatively minor world leader has used the Jewish religion as a cloak to manipulate another country to do its bidding?
    
    Where is the antisemitism?
    
    Is any criticism of the Israeli government automatically antisemitic?
    
    If the Italian government are criticised, is that anticatholicism ?
    
    I’m starting to not give two fucks about what the Israeli government wants.
    
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    March 24, 2026 12:22pm
    - imalwaysright
      
      Is Nettanyahu the antisemite?
      
      In the context of the cartoon that is the only rational interpretation.
      
      In which case, I agree with you. He is antisemitic.
      
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      March 24, 2026 12:44pm
  - Graeme Hall
    
    The cartoonist for the AFR, David Rowe, draws the most appallingly biased crap for his readers. I am a subscriber and have long learnt to skip any of his efforts and any of the political opinion pieces.
    
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    March 24, 2026 2:13pm
- sungsamning
  
  Antisemitism is on the rise. I’m glad to see the appeal target was substansially exceeded.
  
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  March 24, 2026 12:04pm
  - mogg
    
    That subject is very much like “don’t mention the war, I mentioned it earlier but I think I got away with it”
    
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    March 24, 2026 12:34pm
Bobba Fret

Looks like the left have just lost one of their voters.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/360955035/man-dies-christchurch-transformer-suspected-copper-theft-attempt
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March 24, 2026 11:09am
- Swifty
  
  Shocking.
  
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  March 24, 2026 11:54am
sungsamning

Election results confirm that One Nation’s polling surge is genuine, with support now translating into seats and influence. [The polls were accurate. They got a lot of support from the former blue collar Labor voters. Albo’s government is One Nations biggest asset.]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V29A1D3xUWc
One Nation Result Confirms Surge and Growing Momentum.
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March 24, 2026 11:39am
sungsamning

Riverside County Sheriff and California gubernatorial candidate Chad Bianco has seized more than 650,000 ballots from last November’s election as part of an investigation into potential discrepancies in the county’s vote count. [Ballot harvesting, and boosting population numbers with illegal aliens are two key Democrat election strategies. ]

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/03/democrats-rattled-after-california-sheriff-seizes-650000-ballots/
Democrats Rattled After California Sheriff Seizes 650,000 Ballots in Election Integrity Crackdown.
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March 24, 2026 11:40am
lifesgood

Why does the govt think families need money to drive their kids to school? Why can’t the little darlings walk or catch the bus or train as I did all through my schooling. For heavens sake, do people have to be so coddled.
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March 24, 2026 11:56am
- MCōs
  
  Times might have changed since your day
  I know when I was a kid Mum didn’t have either a license or a car.
  Fortunately Timaru is very dry too, so we walked – one weary step in front of the other.
  I don’t recall school being very inspirational in those days and a lot of not unintelligent kids left at 15 who were probably regretful in later life.
  
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  March 24, 2026 3:39pm
Flossie

Once again government help is directed at families. We may be old but we are still families, and some of us have people in care homes which necessitates car journeys to visit. Some of us have medical appointments in far away cities. And dental appointments elsewhere as we don’t have dentists in our wee town. And we sure as heck don’t have bus services. I could go on but you get the idea.
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March 24, 2026 1:16pm
- Damocles11
  
  The flip floppers in the middle are those working age families, mum and dad in their 30’s and 40’s with a couple of kids and a big mortgage, who will vote for whoever gives them the most to keep their heads above water. That’s the battle ground where our elections are won and lost, and fairness or lack thereof probably doesn’t even enter the politicians conversations.
  
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  March 24, 2026 1:21pm
- RoboRob
  
  A great example of why I posted yesterday that this was a bad idea from a political perspective. A lot of people are going to be unhappy they were excluded.
  
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  March 24, 2026 1:37pm
Damocles11

About 140,000 families with children will receive an extra $50 per week through a boost to the In-Work Tax Credit as the Government seeks to provide relief amid increasing fuel prices.
The added payment would last for one year or until the price of 91-octane petrol drops below $3 a litre for four consecutive weeks.
It was estimated to cost $373 million for the year. Willis has promised the cost would be met within the Government’s operating allowance.
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March 24, 2026 1:16pm
- MCōs
  
  NZ uses twenty four million litres of fuel daily for which say $0.70 x 24,000k x 15% gst extra is paid x 365 days. That’s $919.8mil extra revenue
  Surely I’ve made a mistake with my arithmetic?
  
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  March 24, 2026 2:31pm
  - Damocles11
    
    Not sure about your arithmetic but I have no reason to dismiss your numbers out of hand. Invariably even stating bald facts results in downticks around here.
    
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    March 24, 2026 3:05pm
    - MCōs
      
      Refer to my comment below
      
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      March 24, 2026 3:41pm
Ghost

Going to be a lot of unhappy people

$50 a week cost of living relief for 143,000 families in fuel crisis response

Article

How about these families have to supply evidence their children regularly attend class….
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March 24, 2026 1:18pm
- Damocles11
  
  Whatever they announced, it’s a given that people would be unhappy.
  
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  March 24, 2026 1:22pm
- RoboRob
  
  Thoughts..
  
  a) Its only $50 for those receiving the max IWTC. $50 is a lot of gas. These people might be better off then before the crisis, especially if they have a fuel efficient car.
  
  b) People get this money even if they dont have a car or have an EV. Yes I know there might be general inflation at work too.
  
  c) There are a shit ton of people who might be worse off then the IWTC people who will get nothing.
  
  d) Remember when Labour gave students an exta $50 to cover rent price rises. The outcome was rents rocketed up. Will we see this with petrol? Will prices stay above $3 for longer then if this fund wasn’t present?
  
  e) I assume the $3 per litre relates to 91 octane.
  
  f) Good on IRD for being on the ball with their website 🙂
  
  https://www.ird.govt.nz/working-for-families/types/in-work-tax-credit
  
  The in-work tax credit may reduce back to $97 if the cost of petrol drops below $3 a litre for four weeks. After 31 March 2027, the maximum entitlement will return to $97 a week, $5,070 a year.
  
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  March 24, 2026 1:34pm
- cmm (semi-retired edition)
  
  They are putting a noose around their own necks for many reasons:
  
  1) Those that don’t get this will bitch and moan. “Unfair” etc etc.
  2) When the justification is finished, try take this off people once they have got used to having it.
  
  $50 per week is a huge amount of relief for increased fuel costs and for most people this is just going to end up being extra money in the pocket.
  
  The average NZ car does about 1000km/month or about 220km/week, using about 17 litres/week. At a $1/litre increase in fuel cost that’s an extra $17/week (call it $20), so if you’re giving them $50 then $30 is going straight into handouts.
  
  Currently the fuel price is up 70c a litre or about $12/week so a $50 hand out is $38 of extra hand out.
  
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  March 24, 2026 2:23pm
  - grumpy
    
    Totally predictable response on the Red Radio Facebook page. Beneficiaries moaning that they are not getting it – how much do they expect us to pay them for contributing nothing.
    Predictable in that no matter what free money the taxpayer dishes out it will not be enough. If you are unemployed why are you driving a car?
    Even worse is the total inability of these people to cope with even a tiny adversity without demanding the taxpayer gives them money. The lack of resilience together with a paucity of intelligence or self awareness is frightening. Is this what New Zealand has become?
    
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    March 24, 2026 4:01pm
    - RoboRob
      
      Again, this was predictable and is why National shouldn’t have done it. More people will be unhappy then will receive it. Even some that do receive it may not be happy.
      
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      March 24, 2026 4:34pm
    - MCōs
      
      “If you are unemployed why are you driving a car?”
      To go to job interviews maybe?
      To go to the supermarket, doctor, just get out of the house occasionally, maybe do a bit of volunteer work
      I see Watties and now McCains are closing down. Do you think jobs are miraculously going to appear for the various workers now or shortly without employment?
      
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      March 24, 2026 5:46pm
      - Quail
        
        Mcos,
        This is a real worry for NZ.
        Primary producers of vegetables will be badly hurt as well if these iconic manufacturers close down.
        Like to know why off shore vegetables are more attractive.Subsidised perhaps?
        Not really a good idea to put more grapes in,so where do these producers go now??
        
        1 0
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        March 24, 2026 6:51pm
- imalwaysright
  
  The Government would have been better off buying fuel.
  
  They could subsidise the price to poor people by 100% and it wouldn’t matter a bit if there was no fuel at the pump.
  
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  March 24, 2026 3:36pm
Ghost

Interesting, I’m sure David Garrett will find this interesting

Prospecting for oil and gas could start off the Canterbury coast as the the nation’s fuel prices hit record highs.

CBX Energy Ltd, a newly formed New Zealand-based company with a 50% United Arab Emirates shareholding, has applied for a prospecting permit for the Canterbury Basin.

Article
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March 24, 2026 1:24pm
- RoboRob
  
  Great news !
  
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  March 24, 2026 1:35pm
Swifty

Hipkins is either a liar or a moron:

https://x.com/benthomasnz/status/2036169804500062209?s=46

I genuinely can’t make up my mind which.
6 0
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March 24, 2026 2:08pm
- Ghost
  
  Huh? I thought he was both, and so much more.
  
  13 0
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  March 24, 2026 2:13pm
Damocles11

‘Iran has denied targeting a joint military base of the United States and the United Kingdom on the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia with missiles, dismissing the claim as an “Israeli false flag” attack.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said on Monday that the accusations reflected a pattern of “disinformation” after NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said the alliance could not confirm Israel’s claim that the projectiles used were Iranian intercontinental ballistic missiles.’
3 2
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March 24, 2026 2:12pm
Scooter

Already a handout from this govt and it’s only been a month into this. Boo hoo petrol has gone up and so need the govt to come to our rescue but only those with kids, forget those without, you’re on your own.
7 1
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March 24, 2026 2:48pm
- Damocles11
  
  Without doubt they are damned if they do, damned if they don’t. It really is a hopeless situation and you always have Labour further out to the Left with an open chequebook and ready to fire-hose huge quantities of borrowed money into the economy. Again, it is a hopeless situation.
  
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  March 24, 2026 3:36pm
MCōs

If Nicole McKee becomes Deputy Leader of Act and she seems to be #3 in their team, that would mean 7/8 of the Leaders or Deputies of the minor parties would be Maori.
7 1
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March 24, 2026 3:23pm
- graham
  
  Phew, thank goodness for those Maori seats, right? Otherwise none of them would have stood a chance.
  
  10 0
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  March 24, 2026 4:05pm
Rumblestrip

A man was found unresponsive and on fire about midnight in Christchurch, at an electrical substation. Evidently he had been attempting to steal copper from a live electrical transformer and joined the ranks of Darwin Award nominees.

According to Stuff and the Herald, the man may have been trying to “retrieve” copper from the transformer. Two media outlets used the same weird wording to euphemise the obvious…

Maybe the journos need to look up the word “retrieve” in their dictionaries.

They have since updated their articles to describe his actions as “suspected theft,” suggesting that someone realised how stupid it looked!
8 1
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March 24, 2026 4:28pm
- kowtow
  
  I sincerely hope no one in the area lost power on account of this .
  
  2 1
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  March 24, 2026 6:59pm
Ghost

A timely reminder for people to check their emergency supplies

A 7.6 magnitude earthquake has struck near Tonga.

The quake was recorded at 5.38pm NZ time, with a depth of 237km.

Article
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March 24, 2026 7:06pm
Swifty

Auslander Raus!

https://x.com/1776general_/status/2036164445706084776?s=46

Changes afoot in Germany.
0 1
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March 24, 2026 9:00pm

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