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April 12, 2026 8:00am by Kokila Patel

General Debate 12 April 2026

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General Debate

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NeverMindTheBollocks

More cycle lane madness. A cycling path from Eastbourne to Pt Howard has just opened; 4.4km, costing $80m (up from the business case’s $30m). Nigh on $20m per km – I kid you not. All for recreational pedalling.

To be sure, there’s some associated rising sea level gubbins bundled in, but make no mistake, it’s another project driven by the cyclist lobby. You know this, because that’s what the press releases lead with.

https://www.thepost.co.nz/nz-news/360980904/eastbournes-80m-shared-pathway-opens-next-week
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April 12, 2026 8:01am
- Handyman
  
  Odd for a mayor to celebrate spending $80m for a new way for residents to leave his city.
  Another mayor might have celebrated the beautiful bays as a fabulous destination for cyclists from other parts of Lower Hutt City and Wellington.
  
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  April 12, 2026 1:34pm
- AitchW
  
  20k per metre. $200 per centimetre.
  What a farce. How much of that was traffic planning bollocks? How much to get permission from local iwi?
  50 million over budget.
  What a shame they didn’t spend that money on their sewerage system.
  
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  April 12, 2026 2:28pm
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  I should add that Transmission Gully cost $46.5m per km. Now, that’s a few years ago; but on the other hand it’s also a fully fledged four lane motorway.
  
  How is it that a cycleway’s costs come in at $20m per km?
  
  How can anyone think that this cycleway is the next best thing on which to spend $80m of (borrowed) public money?
  
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  April 12, 2026 2:29pm
- NZer In Exile
  
  Possibly would be justifiable if NZ was very rich.
  
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  April 12, 2026 6:42pm
CJames

See the latest excuse for why people aren’t learning Maori is that they suffer from “reo trauma” https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/te-manu-korihi/592077/is-reo-trauma-holding-back-the-revitalisation-of-te-reo
Yeah – right! What happened to all the kohanga reo, kura and wananga students that are supposed to be revitalising the language? Iwi radio and Maori TV haven’t helped? The Maori Language Commission inventing new words? Are they now saying the millions spent promoting the Maori language was wasted? No doubt the solution will be seen as needing a lot more taxpayer money. That and academics’ study grants.
Could not Occam’s Razor be invoked to say most people cannot see any value in bothering to learn something that is of little or no use to them. Better for the government to cut its losses, stop funding and save money. If te reo speakers want to save their language, they will. The same way migrants to NZ keep their language skills and pass on to the next generations.
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April 12, 2026 8:01am
- surfing
  
  Payouts is the obvious answer here.
  
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  April 12, 2026 8:07am
- Nikola Donatello
  
  Indeed. I am learning Spanish. What could give me a richer life experience? Te reo or Spanish? There are 500 million Spanish speakers with 20 nations having it as an official language.
  
  Now what should I choose?
  
  Despite RNZ, simple explanations are often the most likely.
  
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  April 12, 2026 8:16am
  - fightingtemeraire
    
    If you can speak Spanish you can make yourself understood in French and Italian, the 3 Romance Languages.
    
    I was Cargo Officer on a ship in S America and we went to Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina. I could speak reasonable French and if the locals spoke to me slowly or wrote it down I could understand what they were saying.
    
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    April 12, 2026 8:50am
    - MCōs
      
      Your studies can be put to use
      https://x.com/radio_formula/status/2042789944079335433?s=61
      
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      April 12, 2026 12:03pm
    - Ian Boag
      
      I did French at High School up to Year 11. I was quite good at it by school standards – 90+% in 1961 School Cert. 35 years later I was off to Argie for a holiday and picked up a Spanish phrasebook in the airport. Good Lord – same three verb families as French – same idioms (“I have cold” for [I’m feeling cold] and “it makes cold” for [it’s a cold day]). Big advantage over French is that how it’s written is how you say it. I can read a Spanish sentence nore or less correctly without having a clue what it means.
      
      Given there are oodles more Spanish speakers that French (Maori? ha!) it would be useful to teach it in schools here if one must do a language. Chinese/Japanese are real hard and founder on tones/kanji. I have grandchildren with a Japanese mother who sends them off to Japanese school but the real intelligent 12 year old is choking on kanji …
      
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      April 12, 2026 5:42pm
  - Paulus
    
    A huge problem with so called Maori Language is that it has people employed who spend all day making up words, and calling them translation.
    It is not a language in fact but a jumble of made up words which we are expected just to accept.
    
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    April 12, 2026 9:48am
    - Cassandra
      
      Maosperanto.
      
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      April 12, 2026 9:54am
      - Jack5
        
        😃The Whackadoodle Language Method.
        
        With so much talk about how kids were once strapped for speaking Te Reo at school, maybe the answer is whack kids speaking English.
        
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        April 12, 2026 10:47am
      - rouppe
        
        @Jack I’d just like to point out that it wasn’t just maori who were punished for speaking Te Reo.
        
        My elder sister got the edge of a steel ruler for speaking Dutch. Which is why my parents stopped speaking it at home and I never learned it.
        
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        April 12, 2026 12:06pm
    - imalwaysright
      
      Wood pidgeon english.
      
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      April 12, 2026 10:00am
    - PeterTrentham
      
      Mumbo jumbo then.
      
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      April 12, 2026 12:00pm
  - Quail
    
    Interesting comment re Maorification and Te Reo trauma .
    It raises the questions :
    who were / are the politicians who are trying to force use of the above on the NZ population?
    Have NZ the elected politicians ever had a vote on this, ?
    Or is it simply NZ bureaucracy knowing what is good for NZ ?
    And where does the cost of all this appear in public Governance budgets ?
    How much has funding this cost?
    
    And finally where was the referendum agreeing to a language change in NZ ?
    Push back and trauma is inevitable if something is forced on the populace without proper consultation and transparent process.!
    
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    April 12, 2026 9:55am
    - Simon
      
      Maorification is core National party. They are utter garbage. A lot of this got underway during the Key govt. National are vicious clowns.
      
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      April 12, 2026 12:08pm
      - NZer In Exile
        
        Trying to please everybody and so end up pissing off everybody?
        
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        April 12, 2026 6:44pm
- Scott
  
  CJames – I would suggest that listening to radio NZ isn’t helping you be better informed,in fact quite the opposite.
  
  The supposed trauma appears to come from Maori being given corporal punishment at school if they spoke Maori.
  Although this is true, this did happen, it is a complete misrepresentation of the situation. However it is too delicious for the activists to let go.
  
  The truth is that in the 19th century and for most of the 20th century kids got corporal punishment for all types of reasons. Corporal punishment was not unusual. So Maori kids were not being singled out. Lots of kids got corporal punishment. And generally were better for it I might add.
  
  But the main point is this. This is important. In the 19th century the missionaries wanted to teach Maori kids in Maori. But the Maori elders said no. The Maori elders decreed they wanted the kids to speak English at school and Maori at home.
  So it was a decision by the Maori elders, not the missionaries, for the Maori children to speak English at school.
  
  This has been known for a long long time. There is no such thing as Te Reo trauma. It’s a coping mechanism because no one wants to learn a language whose time has passed.
  
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  April 12, 2026 9:12am
  - R
    
    Maori te reo, is, like Latin; a boutique language. Useful for research purposes, NOT international communication.
    
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    April 12, 2026 11:42am
  - CJames
    
    I wasn’t listening to them. I picked the article up when I scanned their News website. Occasionally they have very interesting articles. The same goes for the websites of the other news organisations I daily check. It is interesting to see not only how things are reported, but also what isn’t reported. Contrast NYT with NYPost for example – it can be hard to believe they are the same city.
    If one only goes to the ones with your political beliefs – that is an echo chamber isn’t it?
    
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    April 12, 2026 11:59am
    - Scott
      
      CJames – although it’s good you are referencing multiple sources, I’m just pointing out the low quality of Radio NZ journalism. That they are still hanging on to the “Maori kids getting corporal punishment for speaking Maori” shows how poor they are.
      
      The govt should put them up for sale IMHO along with TVNZ.
      
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      April 12, 2026 1:25pm
      - R
        
        The administration expense of putting them on the market, would never be recovered from the SALE proceeds.
        Who buys a dead horse?
        
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        April 12, 2026 2:20pm
      - AitchW
        
        No one would buy it.
        
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        April 12, 2026 2:30pm
      - CJames
        
        I have no problem reading stuff from advocacy sources. In a lot of ways, I prefer that as I know I need to check the veracity of statements. With MSM sources, one gets lazy. The article was quoting others, not the journalists’ opinion, though that could have influenced the word choice.
        As the last Native School closed in the late 50s, there can be very few pupils left who went to them. There are no significant memories of them and their policies. Corporal punishment was a fact of life at ALL schools right through to the late 60s. The fact that academics still trot out the punishment as if it only occurred to Maori and was only for speaking Maori shows how one dimensional bad their thought processes are. Ideology masquerading as research.
        
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        April 12, 2026 5:15pm
  - Paulus
    
    Usual Maori con trick !
    
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    April 12, 2026 3:00pm
- KH
  
  He fails to mention the distain many have for the Maori political antics. The superior pretentious attitudes Maori leaders try to impose.
  So who would want to join that crappy lot.
  
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  April 12, 2026 9:47am
- JackRabbit
  
  “Could not Occam’s Razor be invoked to say most people cannot see any value in bothering to learn something that is of little or no use to them.”
  
  I fully agree. It could be compared to showing up to a motor vehicle dealership looking for a job servicing cars in the workshop, with the only work experience being mucking out horse stables.
  
  There are zero jobs in the modern world that require and fully depend on Te Reo. Yes I know some bright spark in has translated an engineering manual into Te Reo, but all the units of measure are in English as are the values.
  
  It is a waste of time and money,
  
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  April 12, 2026 9:52am
- tavita
  
  My former partner arrived from Samoa aged 10. Her parents spoke only English at home and sent her to eleqution lessons so she spoke english properly. Contrast that with today when it seems a matter of pride to sound like your fresh off the boat.
  
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  April 12, 2026 10:03am
  - igm
    
    Or fresh out of the bush like many current entitled people . . . or announcers on radio/TV.
    
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    April 12, 2026 11:55am
- cmm (semi-retired edition)
  
  I am currently learning Morse code.
  
  I suggest that the reason Maori is as unpopular as it is is about the same as for Morse code: it is pretty damn useless – especially in the modern age.
  
  Yes, there will be a few people that get off on learning Maori – just as there are a few people who get off on learning Morse so that they can dit and dah to contacts thousands of miles away using a low power transmitter.
  
  No doubt Morse gives me far more people to talk to than Maori.
  
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  April 12, 2026 10:17am
  - Master Mariner
    
    Morse is an international language along with Interco, International code of signals.
    Many a moon spent trying to learn Morse. A real “dark art”, In being proficent in tapping / signalling Morse and deciphering it.
    
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    April 12, 2026 10:42am
    - cmm (semi-retired edition)
      
      “Morse is an international language ”
      
      I would say was more than is. The days when Morse was useful are now gone and people would now use SSB or sat phone if they have anything important to say.
      
      Yes, Morse can propagate further with less power but there are exceptionally few circumstances where that would matter.
      
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      April 12, 2026 2:42pm
      - Paulus
        
        .
        The vessels register is in Wellington New Zealand wher I got much information of the ships on which he served.My very late Father went to the Marconi School as a Cadet in 1916 and to sea after passing, and stayed employed by them for many years, and became a Senior Radio Officer under the Marconi scheme wherby the vessels employed from Marconi, people and equipment at the time. Mersey Maritime Museum sent me, when requested, copies of all my Father’s ships with him registered, which they have original sent to them by my wonderful Dad.
        He thought in Morse code.
        
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        April 12, 2026 3:08pm
  - Jack5
    
    “Talking” to other radio enthusiasts is only one of the benefits of learning Morse code, according to the source below.
    
    It’s good for the brain:
    
    https://verybigbrain.com/outside-influences/does-learning-morse-code-improve-brain-connectivity/
    
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    April 12, 2026 10:56am
    - cmm (semi-retired edition)
      
      Many activities are good for the brain – from doing crossword puzzles to learning a new language to carpentry and folk dancing.
      
      Ham radio (and Morse) was something I was a bit interested in in the 1970s but I couldn’t scrape together the $ for a transmitter and doing the license etc. Now a bottom-end Morse transceiver kit can be bought for less than $10 (and getting a Ham ticket costs a bit more).
      
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      April 12, 2026 2:46pm
- Notsofast
  
  Still trying to believe anyone could write or think like this, from the article:
  
  “One of the things that had her start research on this topic, which became the report Te Reo Māori Trauma Literature Review authored with Professor Tom Roa, was the fact that despite it being widely talked about on social media especially, there was no definition for Māori language trauma.”
  
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  April 12, 2026 10:24am
  - Charlotte Wells
    
    People with an eye for a busload of free taxpayer dollars will believe and say anything.
    
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    April 12, 2026 11:14am
  - david
    
    I’m sure there is a well remunerated (by the taxpayer) anonymous group in Wellington beavering away as we speak inventing a whole new raft of “traditional” early settler words to describe the condition, its origin and the preferred solutions. These will be delivered to the deserving population (peasants) via a bunch of faces hiding behind a shield of tattoo ink. Oh how they laugh when the camera is not on them.
    
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    April 13, 2026 1:41pm
- jacthecat
  
  Arguably the current Te Reo push commenced during the first Ardern term, beginning 2017. So in the following eight years only 27,000 people became fluent Te Reo speakers, 3500 per year. A pretty pathetic return for the millions of dollars invested.
  
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  April 12, 2026 12:53pm
  - NeverMindTheBollocks
    
    To be fair, that’s probably a better return than Kiwibuild.
    
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    April 12, 2026 1:28pm
    - AitchW
      
      Or light rail to the airport.
      Or a pedestrian bridge over the Waitemata.
      
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      April 12, 2026 2:31pm
  - cmm (semi-retired edition)
    
    27,000 people became fluent by redefining fluency.
    
    I doubt more than just extremely few people really are fluent.
    
    My definition of fluency would be:
    * Conduct all your day to day business in that language.
    * Attend a lecture at a university in that language – including reading text books and writing an exam.
    
    I expect there are tens of thousands who can parrot “the cat sat on the mat” level Maori.
    
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    April 12, 2026 2:52pm
    - Paulus
      
      But are not new words being translated daily so these people so cannot know thee language unlkless they get a daily email updating them.
      What a load of Bollocks.
      
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      April 12, 2026 3:11pm
- David Garrett
  
  CJ: The same way migrants to NZ keep their language skills and pass on to the next generations.
  
  Spot on. I guarantee that the children of every single Asian family in New Zealand have at least two languages – their parents’ and English. A Chinese family of my acquaintance have three: English, Mandarin, and Cantonese. And those families do it without $1 of gummint money.
  
  the reason is very simple: the parents value their native language(s). Maori by and large don’t, and haven’t for many years
  
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  April 12, 2026 1:29pm
  - R
    
    Personal pride and discipline, in the Chinese example.
    
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    April 12, 2026 2:23pm
- In Vino Veritas
  
  Maori were letting the language die. And still are. But it’s being forced on whities to save it for Maori who aren’t interested.
  
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  April 12, 2026 8:03pm
- Skottowe
  
  Reo trauma: ha! Now I’ve heard everything. It’s bollix, of course. The ineluctable rules of language apply to Maori, as to every other language. Which these people would know, if they had studied any linguistics.
  
  For survival, all languages need native speakers: people whose first language it is, and the only language they speak for the first four or five years of their lives. Bilingualism isn’t enough with endangered languages. Second language speakers – everyone whose first language is English or something other language – won’t save it.
  
  For survival and revival, languages need utility: they must be useable in daily life. Very clearly, that doesn’t apply to the Maori language. Absent the ability to use the language in daily life, people won’t acquire or retain it.
  
  “If te reo speakers want to save their language, they will.”
  
  Exactly. And the evidence suggests that they don’t wish to save it, or they think it’s other people’s job to do it.
  
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  April 12, 2026 9:20pm
  - david
    
    Classic comparator is Esperanto which AFAIK is fading into total obscurity for all those predictable reasons. A solution looking for a problem to fix.
    
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    April 13, 2026 1:43pm
Yvette

Storm track
RNZ is New Zealand’s statutory civil defence lifeline radio broadcaster. That means RNZ will provide vital information and updates as they come to hand on air and online during an emergency.

And they have everything down to the information of where regional fire bans apply – if you can light one at the moment.

But missing is a simple map with the position of the cyclone now, its rough dimensions, and where its future track is assumed to be.

It has been said ‘“Nothing in life is to be feared, only to be understood” – but that can be a little difficult without the most obvious information.
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April 12, 2026 8:05am
- Yvette
  
  I have since found –
  https://earth.nullschool.net/#current/wind/surface/level/orthographic=-188.19,-40.91,4162/loc=177.313,-36.243
  – which seems fairly accurate in showing where the eye of the storm is and the prevailing winds around it.
  
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  April 12, 2026 1:56pm
- AitchW
  
  The eye is over Rotorua about now.
  
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  April 12, 2026 2:31pm
Nikola Donatello

In the far north of New Zealand today it is sunny with a bit of a wind. There was about 40 mm of rain last night. There is also a State of Emergency here.

The detailed district forecasts were very accurate. I followed them for two days.

The problem is the criminally stupid reporting by the New Zealand media of all weather events.
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April 12, 2026 8:11am
- Dougal10
  
  The trouble for NZ this weather event happens to fall over a weekend , so predict the worst get lots of people on standby pay and if it fizzes out run around saying we were prepared and because we were it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. Then the media sensationalize the event . This is the way our country runs , y2k , peak oil , covid , current oil shortage and weather events bring clicks and clicks sell ads.
  
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  April 12, 2026 8:25am
- lifesgood
  
  Perfectly calm in Auckland. A lot of rain overnight, has eased off to just spitting now. All the hysteria was whipped up by idiots. Panic buying all day yesterday. Other parts of NZ may be hit though. Meanwhile I think I’ll head out for a walk.
  
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  April 12, 2026 8:43am
  - AitchW
    
    How could there be panic buying? We are in the depths of a cost of living crisis, the likes of which we’ve never seen before. It must be all the rich pricks trying to oppress someone. For some reason.
    Tangata whenua disproportionately affected.
    
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    April 12, 2026 11:38am
- pdm
  
  Gray day in Hastings with some rain and occasional wind gusts – temperature 20 degrees at 10am which is one short of todays predicted high..
  
  To summarise – a normal shitty Autumn day so far.
  
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  April 12, 2026 10:04am
- Notsofast
  
  Still the same prediction for Auckland unchanged for about 6 days.
  42km winds 2 to 4 pm.
  No wind and drizzling right now. Computers presumably take the data to generate this prediction, it feels unlikely right now, but no doubt the wind comes and dies away about 6pm. I see pictures of empty supermarket shelves, not due to my efforts.
  But people have talked of little else, and are taking crazy precautions to deal with what seems a non event.
  
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  April 12, 2026 10:11am
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  It’s resembling a Wellington winter’s day here in (coastal) Gizzy. Nasty squalls of N.E. wind & rain.
  
  The 19 mallards on my front lawn aren’t bothered.
  
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  April 12, 2026 10:20am
  - kowtow
    
    Mallards and lawns !
    
    Triggered!
    
    Please tell me you don’t have a playground.Or outdoor sound and sprinkler system.
    
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    April 12, 2026 12:43pm
  - NeverMindTheBollocks
    
    Hey! Here in the Capital, there was some steady vertical rain (no wind at all), ideal for traipsing with an umbrella around the fruit & vege market. The rain’s been gone for an hour, still no wind, somewhat humid.
    
    If I may be so bold, it sounds like we have Gizzy’s weather, and you have ours.
    
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    April 12, 2026 1:33pm
    - MCōs
      
      The Standard Wellington Dictionary doesn’t have a definition for humid
      
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      April 12, 2026 2:20pm
- yobi
  
  Last week here in Waipapa our boundary river flooded our lower fields by about half a meter. This morning the river is at normal levels. Admittedly it is a bit windy.
  It’s time that the metservice is disbanded, fear mongering to look relevant is not the way to run a government weather forecasting service.
  
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  April 12, 2026 10:26am
- imalwaysright
  
  The tv1 weather showed the cyclone predicted to traverse the North Island down to Wellington.
  
  Can’t remember that ever happening, usually they land over Auckland and bounce off to the east just as this one is currently doing.
  
  Have the weather forecasters faked this whole event?
  
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  April 12, 2026 10:57am
  - Don Beckett
    
    At the moment, the eye is about 100 kms. north of Tauranga, and moving toward us, with easterly winds around 35 kms p/h gusting to about 60. It is supposed to make landfall around 3 pm., when the wind will turn westerly & moderate, & will then move south & apparently cross the NI into the Taranaki bight. Let’s wait & see.
    Just a normal winter storm – fairly strong winds & rain, but not abnormally so.
    How to control a population – fear mongering.
    Covid, anybody ?
    
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    April 12, 2026 11:16am
    - Charlotte Wells
      
      I use this source.
      
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCuHLWsuD-Q
      
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      April 12, 2026 11:25am
    - Don Beckett
      
      Got the exit point wrong – it’s heading across the NI & leaving via Hawkes Bay.
      
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      April 12, 2026 12:53pm
      - Don Beckett
        
        The eye crossed the coast between Tauranga & Whakatane about half an hour ago. We are now getting moderate westerly winds, and things are reasonably calm. So am now practicing arse-flattening exercises, as I have been for most of the day.
        
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        April 12, 2026 2:50pm
    - NeverMindTheBollocks
      
      Certainly, the media don’t believe in letting a good crisis go to waste. Here’s an RNZ story about anxiety engendered by the very weather reports broadcast by RNZ.
      
      http://www.rnz.co.nz/life/wellbeing/what-to-do-if-the-weather-forecast-terrifies-you
      
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      April 12, 2026 1:53pm
    - Paulus
      
      Landed at about 2pm at Maketu close to Whakatane.
      
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      April 12, 2026 3:15pm
  - R
    
    NO! the media have faked ( misinformed the population) for their own AGENDA. This is election year, media looking to another generous PUBLIC (DIS)-INFORMATION journalism fund. From chippy, or maybe the Winston labour party coalition.
    
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    April 12, 2026 11:48am
- Tom Hunter
  
  The problem is the criminally stupid reporting by the New Zealand media of all weather events.
  
  The Shipping News:
  
  Billy: It’s finding the center of your story, the beating heart of it, that’s what makes a reporter. You have to start by making up some headlines. You know: short, punchy, dramatic headlines. Now, have a look, what do you see?
  [Points at dark clouds at the horizon]
  Tell me the headline.
  
  Quoyle: Horizon Fills With Dark Clouds?
  
  Billy: Imminent Storm Threatens Village.
  
  Quoyle: But what if no storm comes?
  
  Billy: Village Spared From Deadly Storm.
  
  I first used that dialog in a post on No Minister in April 2020 as I watched and listened to the MSM for likely the last time.
  
  Judging from the scenes I’ve witnessed in supermarkets and the like over the last few days it would appear that we have learned not a fucking thing from that time.
  
  They should just report it the way Marty Feldman did.
  
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  April 12, 2026 12:56pm
  - Handyman
    
    You are so right. Headline this morning in NZherald ex Northern Advocate:
    “Northland Spared the Worst From Cyclone”.
    
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    April 12, 2026 2:02pm
Souvlaki

This candidacy can only be ‘mud in
the eye’ to Nats, and especially Luxon & Goldsmith who are doing practically ZERO as far as their preelection promises in 2023 to ‘ deal effectively’ with the Maorification of every bloody facet of existance in NZ!😁

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/nationals-former-attorney-general-prospect-james-christmas-switches-allegiance-to-act/BPB7UOCRUBFPDAQ7FDMJHQMBWQ/
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April 12, 2026 8:13am
- Philview
  
  He has no chance of becoming a National MP based on recent polling. Is it opportunism?
  
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  April 12, 2026 8:26am
- Cassandra
  
  I’m not convinced ACT needs a disciple of Chris Finlayson!
  
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  April 12, 2026 8:40am
  - Notsofast
    
    The article reads as express independence from the Finlayson crooked little gravy train
    
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    April 12, 2026 10:19am
  - igm
    
    Yes, that seems a strange appointment to ACT lineup.
    
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    April 12, 2026 2:38pm
- pdm
  
  If he is selected for and wins Tamaki there is no reason why he could not be Attorney-General and Treaty Negotiations Minister.
  
  As Cass says the Finlayson connection may be a negative though – although the Woke PM Luxon (if he is still in the hot seat) might welcome the Finlayson connection to try and align Christmas with his `little helpers’ Potaka and Goldsmith.
  
  ACT might need to be careful here to make sure Christmas adheres to ACT principles.
  
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  April 12, 2026 9:00am
- MCōs
  
  My not being aware of this chap doesn’t of course mean that his jumping ship won’t be a dagger in the heart for the already floundering Nats.
  
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  April 12, 2026 9:08am
  - AitchW
    
    It doesn’t matter if National loses votes and or MPs to ACT. So long as the votes stay on the right. Preferably not NZF, I’m not convinced that you can call Peters’ party right wing, more rotary wing!
    God help us all if Peters accepts Labours baubles in November. Or December if he decides to go fishing again.
    
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    April 12, 2026 9:13am
    - pdm
      
      Bauble wings aitch.
      
      Has been the same since the day the party was created.
      
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      April 12, 2026 11:46am
    - Paulus
      
      Do you mean that you could not Trust W.Peters ?
      
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      April 12, 2026 3:17pm
  - R
    
    Christmas was never actually on the ship, he was still on the wharf; pending a reserved seat.
    
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    April 12, 2026 9:39am
- imalwaysright
  
  Maorification is a Centrist policy.
  It really doesn’t matter who wins the election. Its happening.
  NZ is fucked.
  
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  April 12, 2026 9:28am
  - sungsamning
    
    Yes, all this treaty stuff is a ball and chain. With a Labour led government, its a 32 pounder. And with a National led government its only an 18 pounder.
    
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    April 12, 2026 11:53am
    - David Garrett
      
      sung: An excellent metaphor…sadly spot on.
      
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      April 12, 2026 1:33pm
- Simon
  
  What kind of mug would believe anything the National party said especially during an election campaign
  
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  April 12, 2026 12:11pm
- Apteryx
  
  What a ridiculous headline. “Former Attorney-General prospect”? He’s never even been in parliament.
  
  So what is the basis for the headline? “In a profile published by the Herald in August that year, Christmas had been tipped for senior positions in Government, should he enter Parliament.” The Herald is interviewing its own keyboard in order to hype up the ‘loss’ to National from a young party activist standing for ACT. Pathetic.
  
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  April 12, 2026 12:37pm
Tomtoddy

We are being taken for idiots by the weather forecasters and the media. Anything remotely close to a problem is being blown up into something Frankenstein and meant to alarm us. In south Auckland right now there is no wind and no rain. It is heavily overcast. Nothing remotely like was forecast. There was a windy period late yesterday but quite normal and manageable.

It could be that other regions will cop some serious problems later but its right out of hand and beyond responsible. We even had a cellphone alert last night scaring the daylights out of us.
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April 12, 2026 8:21am
- David George
  
  I followed the lead up to “The Cyclone” (actually a subtropical depression) on windy.com It was clear that Northland and Auckland would only be moderately affected and that’s how it turned out.
  The media should get out their nursery books and read the story of The Boy Who Cried Wolf.
  
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  April 12, 2026 8:29am
  - R
    
    Questionable, from past dissertations by MSM, as to whether or not they could comprehend the message in that nursery story
    
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    April 12, 2026 9:10am
  - imalwaysright
    
    Windy is very good.
    Wonder what the $30 million computer the weather service bought says…
    
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    April 12, 2026 9:52am
  - Tomtoddy
    
    We are now being told that the worst time for Auckland is early afternoon – 2 – 3 hours away. As at 10.00am there is light rain and no wind in south Auckland.
    
    I do not want to seem ungrateful to those tasked with forecasting weather and those who are responsible for warning us if things are going to be bad but so much of the time it is over-hyped and nothing much ever happens as predicted which leads to the conclusion that there is another agenda behind the exaggeration.
    
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    April 12, 2026 10:05am
    - artemisia
      
      Follow the Money is always a good start to identifying an agenda.
      
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      April 12, 2026 10:11am
      - 70andstilllearning
        
        Art – I see that a short while ago TCWC Wellington finally referred to this weather system in their narrative as “Former Tropical Cyclone Vaianu ….” in their update this morning despite classifying it as a “low/depression” three days ago. So unless someone(s) have promised Met/NEMA a healthy little bonus for selling a narrative ( as against graphical metrics which need to match international equivalents) money ain’t the unstated agenda for this effort.
        
        If we look at what happened with Gabrielle and to a lesser extent Hale which were similarly subtropical lows/depressions on landfall the desired message didn’t get through using “ex ….” as a narrative descriptor, so joining the dots of whats happened this time the change in narrative has been deliberate with the intent of behaviour modification. In my view the use of mandatory evacuations and the response observed in supermarkets suggest the agenda has has been somewhat successful but somewhat clumsily communicated. Methink that someones’ with first initials S & M paw marks are all over this.
        
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        April 12, 2026 12:09pm
    - R
      
      If you take the time to view the excellent meteorological maps, produced by the real weathermen/ladies of the MET office; you would realise that the overhyped is purely political by journalists. Create fear amongst the plebs, and you can then control them; ah-lah COVID mismanagement indoctrination.
      The reported panic buying isn’t by accident, it is the direct result of MSM politicking. The MSM don’t want a population of people who can think for themselves, thus we get continual misinformation about everything; think fuel supply, Iranian war (?), education, health and hospitals. The list is endless.
      
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      April 12, 2026 10:19am
      - 70andstilllearning
        
        Suspect now that MSM have been the useful fools/tools this time.
        
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        April 12, 2026 12:35pm
    - David George
      
      Windy shows winds up to 25 knots sou’west and rain 2.5 to 4mm/3 hours for early and mid afternoon in Auckland.
      We’ll see who’s right
      
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      April 12, 2026 10:19am
  - rouppe
    
    Maybe there should be a complaint to the BSA over accuracy…
    
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    April 12, 2026 12:25pm
- SGA
  
  @TomToddy – “We are being taken for idiots by the weather forecasters and the media. Anything remotely close to a problem is being blown up into something Frankenstein and meant to alarm us.”
  
  I sort of agree and disagree. Weather forecasting with fine precision isn’t easy. On one hand, if Met services underestimate and people aren’t prepared for horrendous weather then afterwards they are condemned for not warning people. On the other hand, of they overestimate then they get criticized for “crying wolf”. Which way should their “bias” be? I do think that the media really like to ramp up concern because it gets “clicks”.
  
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  April 12, 2026 8:42am
- In Vino Veritas
  
  Watch Phillip Duncan at Weatherwatch Tom. He is excellent.
  
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  April 12, 2026 11:05am
- Apteryx
  
  As mentioned by others in this thread, Metservice has dropped the ‘ex’ from former cyclones that come to New Zealand to die:
  
  “Many of New Zealand’s most severe and impactful storms have been ex-tropical cyclones.”
  
  “Although these systems will no longer be classified as tropical cyclones, we will often still refer to them by their given name e.g. ‘Cyclone Gita’ for communication purposes,”
  
  https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/591859/explainer-what-is-a-tropical-cyclone-and-what-do-the-categories-mean
  
  For communication purposes. Right.
  
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  April 12, 2026 12:31pm
Yvette

ACT resurrecting Treaty change aspirations
National’s former Attorney-General prospect James Christmas switches allegiance to Act
While Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has vowed not to support something similar in a future coalition agreement with Act, Seymour has promised to continue pursuing reform in this area. He is yet to unveil how it will fit into his 2026 campaign.
Enter Christmas, whose experience in law and in Parliament makes him no stranger to the Treaty of Waitangi. He also co-authored a book with Christopher Finlayson, He Kupu Taurangi: Treaty Settlements and the Future of Aotearoa New Zealand.
Christmas said he supported Seymour’s desire to debate the Treaty’s place in modern New Zealand, arguing its principles had been “sprinkled like confetti” through legislation.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/nationals-former-attorney-general-prospect-james-christmas-switches-allegiance-to-act/BPB7UOCRUBFPDAQ7FDMJHQMBWQ/

ACT should to start with a simple law that re-states New Zealand government and all its services are secular or devoid of religion except where such considerations are direct needs.
Meaning all Christian, Islamic, and Judaism practices are public or individually organised with State funding as now arranged for education, but all other religious matters, including te Ao o Maori, Maori religious world view, are not otherwise any aspect of Government.

Start with what is there and accepted now but slowly being eroded by religious activists.
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April 12, 2026 8:25am
artemisia

THE ENERGY STORAGE ELEPHANT

Bryan Leyland and John Raine seem to be a couple of chaps who know rather a lot about that heffalump.

Conclusion following a fair amount of energy ground traversed – Our energy supply vulnerability is not fate, but the product of bad decisions. This can be fixed but requires honest accounting of what storage technologies can and cannot do, realistic pricing of the options, and the political will to act urgently on the answer. The sooner we start the better.

Link below but hat tip to Breaking Views that published earlier.

https://www.brashandmitchell.com/post/bryan-leyland-and-john-raine-the-energy-storage-elephant
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April 12, 2026 8:58am
- KH
  
  Written by folk whose experience is in huge generation and delivering to small captive consumers.
  They devalue distributed generation.
  Where my solar and battery destroy the evening peak at my house. And if you did it, it’s eliminated there too.
  On occasions we aren’t contributing, some else is. Not perfect, but remember, we have a system already providing. This assists.
  And what solution is perfect.
  
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  April 12, 2026 10:01am
  - CJames
    
    I answered the reason why you are fooling yourself in the post on A great Fast Track Decision.
    There are two daily power peaks. Your solar and batteries are useless for the winter morning peaks or those dreary afternoons in July.
    
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    April 12, 2026 12:06pm
    - KH
      
      Get rid of the old thinking CJ.
      There are things you have limited yourself from understanding.
      We are a connected country.
      Our system does for us now. But needs improvements. But the improvements are not stand alone. The work with the existing.
      The connected thing. Got it?
      Solar is one of those additions.
      Hint.
      “Excess solar means fuller dams.”
      “A single solar battery reduces peaks. Just a tiny bit. But at scale. More”
      “We are not switching off the current system”
      And again. Think what connected means.
      
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      April 12, 2026 4:00pm
      - KH
        
        Maybe CJames doesn’t think household dollars are not connected to the grid. That would explain the odd statement she made above.
        But actually the connection means the solar contribute and work in conjunction with the national system. Very helpful.
        
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        April 12, 2026 6:30pm
      - judith8409121
        
        fuller dams but on the back of a waste of money
        the same money could be spent on reliable useful power generation systems not this wasting useless tick tack brought in from china
        
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        April 12, 2026 7:18pm
- cmm (semi-retired edition)
  
  We don’t have an energy shortage. We have a shortage of getting off our arses and digging it up.
  
  There is enough lignite in Southland alone to provide all our energy needs for over 300 years. That includes:
  * Generation of all our electricity (though of course we would still use existing generation).
  * Generation of even more power for white elephant data centres etc.
  * Using coal to liquid fuel processes to make all our petrol, diesel and jet fuel needs.
  * Make methanol and other pre-cursors for plastics industries.
  * Make all the fertilizers we need.
  * Make all the tar we need to fix our roads.
  
  Costings have been done in the past that show we could have those fuels at about $1 per litre – a lot better than the current $4/l for diesel.
  
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  April 12, 2026 10:24am
  - kowtow
    
    Won’t happen ……for the simple reason that that’s just far too sensible. Oh and we’re beholden to the executives of Nestle Inc etc , because “climate catastrophe”/ trade .
    
    And therein the growing popularity of the anti globalist “populists” who the globalist , “progressive” feminist dominated legacy media have labelled “far right” , so that low information /thicko voters will shun their sane , economy saving policies without having to trouble their dormant brain cell or two.
    
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    April 12, 2026 10:33am
  - Master Mariner
    
    Exactly, I think the best technology and Plants are now in China which use CTL-CTG plants.
    Technology and efficiency has increased dramatically.
    “China’s Renewable Boom Masks a Quiet Coal-to-Liquids Expansion”
    https://oilprice.com/Energy/Coal/Chinas-Renewable-Boom-Masks-a-Quiet-Coal-to-Liquids-Expansion.html
    
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    April 12, 2026 10:47am
  - Souvlaki
    
    Indeed !
    According to my question just now to ChatGPT: “roughly 40-60% of German’s liquid fuel during World War 11 came from synthetic production, mainly from coal”.
    We may as well have Ed Milliband calling our energy ‘shots’ …totally useless really ! 🙁
    
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    April 12, 2026 10:59am
    - cmm (semi-retired edition)
      
      Yup, those processes were improved on and have been used in South Africa by Sasol since 1950s.
      
      Sasol also uses natural gas (ex. Mozambique) to produce liquid fuels.
      
      Of course Cindy stuffed the gas for us, but that’s another matter…
      
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      April 12, 2026 11:11am
    - Notsofast
      
      I recall being taught at school that coal was a wonder product.
      Gas tar and coke were the derivatives as I recall, all with major utility.
      
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      April 12, 2026 12:31pm
- Handyman
  
  Totally agree with the report. (Of course I would agree: I have been saying the same for years).
  The reluctance to do the obvious seems to be political. No problem. Consumers who don’t want coal generated electricity can register with their supplier to use smart meters to cut power to high load EV chargers.
  Cue the howls from the green/left zealots. They do not respond well to light shining on their hypocrisy.
  
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  April 12, 2026 12:32pm
sungsamning

Barbara Boyd argues Donald Trump’s Truth Social post—“World’s Most Powerful Reset”—signals a deliberate effort to dismantle the World Economic Forum’s COVID-era “Great Reset” and replace it with an opposite agenda: expanded U.S. energy production, lower global prices, and renewed American industrial growth. She contrasts net-zero finance and global governance—citing Klaus Schwab, King Charles, Mark Carney, and the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero—with Trump’s “drill, build, export” approach and the goal of keeping the Strait of Hormuz open. [So, with a bit of luck; you won’t have to eat ze bugs, own nothing, and be happy. It starts with oil.]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K922koQgbWI
DECODED: Trump Posted 4 Words — The Media Has No Idea What They Mean.
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April 12, 2026 9:19am
sungsamning

Footage emerges of citizens being stopped by Garda Síochána while attempting to deliver food supplies to a peaceful protest in Ireland.
The group claims they were exercising their constitutional right to protest, yet were turned away under instructions from Superintendent John Deasy.
Despite remaining calm and respectful, they repeatedly asked for a legal justification, one that was never clearly provided. [It could get tricky if the courts say no to the government. One day Protestants and Catholics might realize they’re up against the same enemy.]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FD2pdaV9BY4
Garda Block Peaceful Protesters Rights Questioned at Irish Checkpoint
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April 12, 2026 9:20am
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  As far as I can tell, the Irish are protesting at high fuel prices by blockading their refinery, thereby causing petrol stations running out of product.
  
  No, I don’t understand the logic either.
  
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  April 12, 2026 1:40pm
  - Don Beckett
    
    In that case, you can’t be Irish 😆
    
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    April 12, 2026 2:43pm
imalwaysright

Over 70 countries condemn Netanyahu murdering and injuring UN soldiers in Lebanon.
The world should be looking at a regime change in Israel along the lines of the one in 1945.
https://youtu.be/jweY6IQ99N0?si=HXMdzypSuf1SoaHA
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April 12, 2026 9:57am
- mandk
  
  Good to see you recognising that Israel existed pre-1948.
  
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  April 12, 2026 12:52pm
- Handyman
  
  What was the UN doing in Lebanon when Hazbullah were firing thousands of rockets into Israel? They only packed a sad when Israel started firing back.
  The UN should follow the EU advice and not go near any war zone.
  
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  April 12, 2026 1:48pm
- mogg
  
  The UN chose to put its troops/observers in the firing line when they stood back and watched Hezbollah terrorists constructing tunnels and missiles being stored for attacks on Israel. They also kept quiet about this, it’s been reported that UN observers were assisting with the tunnel construction.
  
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  April 12, 2026 3:26pm
notreadyet

Great article but how do we every expect politicians with an agenda and associated mindset to every let go of their thoughts and be guided by actual experts, to all our detriment this is an extremely rear event.
While feel goods, vanities, and vote catchers and crazy regulations prevail over serious discussions I can’t see us every getting out of a hole we appear to be digging deeper
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April 12, 2026 10:03am
Master Mariner

I have been digging a little deeper regarding How NZ got into this situation regarding Energy security and discussion on RCR radio.
In March 2020 and December 2020 , 2 Reports were commissioned by MBIE.
It is easier to compare both reports with AI, See Below,
“The reports commissioned by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) in 2020 represent two different stages of analyzing New Zealand’s fuel security as the Marsden Point refinery faced potential closure.The primary difference lies in their scope: the March report focuses on the logistical and operational impact of closing the refinery, while the December report provides a technical cost-benefit analysis of national fuel stockholding requirements.1. March 2020 ReportTitle: Refining NZ: Impact of Conversion to Fuels TerminalFocus: The physical and structural changes to the supply chain.Operational Changes: It detailed how the Refinery to Auckland Pipeline (RAP) would remain the primary route for Auckland’s fuel but noted the total loss of coastal shipping (tankers) and local crude processing.Inventory Reduction: It warned of a significant 25–30% drop in physical onshore fuel volumes because crude oil and intermediate stocks would no longer be held.By-product Risks: It was the first to sound the alarm on the loss of “incidental” products like food-grade CO2 and sulphur, which were refinery by-products.Context: This report was written just as COVID-19 began to crash global refining margins, making the conversion a “live” commercial possibility.2. December 2020 ReportTitle: Fuel Security and Fuel Stockholding Costs and BenefitsFocus: Economic modeling and policy recommendations for mandatory reserves.Stockholding Obligations: Unlike the March report, this one focused on the Minimum Stockholding Obligation (MSO). It modeled the exact number of days of cover (e.g., 20+ days) New Zealand should hold to mitigate supply shocks.Cost-Benefit Analysis: It quantified the cost to the economy of a supply disruption versus the cost to fuel companies (and consumers) of building new storage tanks to hold extra fuel.Refinement of Risks: While March identified that stocks would fall, December analyzed how much it would cost to fix that gap to meet International Energy Agency (IEA) 90-day requirements.Resilience Scenarios: It included more detailed modeling on how New Zealand would survive specific “black swan” events (like a major pipeline failure or global conflict) without a domestic refinery.

It was a “Political Decision” akin to Economic Sabotage. First report in March was not to shut it down for Security reasons and the Second Commisioned in DEC was too close it down.
How can they both be at odds with each report withing 8 months and commissioned by same “consultant” Hale & Twomey ?

Dunning Krugger effect runs strong in MBIE.
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April 12, 2026 10:37am
- cmm (semi-retired edition)
  
  Yes, how we got here is interesting. However what is far more important is what is going to be done to get out of it.
  
  Bottom line is that government “solutions” tend to screw things up and government involvement in anything should be limited to the very few cases where there really are no viable commercial options (eg. roads, courts, military etc.).
  
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  April 12, 2026 11:14am
- R
  
  Appears to me, that the quoted reports were far too complex, and involved a significant element of comprehension to understand the implications. Skills well beyond the Ardern, Hipkins, Robertson ‘s of the then govt.
  MBIE only provides the information and recommendations, upon which the govt of the day makes decisions.
  
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  April 12, 2026 12:01pm
- kowtow
  
  Even Ireland kept its only oil refinery going , after briefly closing it.
  
  Who’s the joke on .
  
  Whitegate.
  
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  April 12, 2026 12:52pm
  - Taieri
    
    Even Ireland kept its only oil refinery going
    —————
    
    NZ closed Marsden Pt because it was no longer economical. At least the Tiwai Pt aluminium smelter is still operating. With a small (?) gift from the taxpayer every year. Perhaps truck and tractor engines could be converted to run on aluminium ingots?
    
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    April 12, 2026 1:41pm
    - sungsamning
      
      America is real short on aluminium at the moment. I hope management there have made some phone calls, and laid on an extra shift.
      
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      April 12, 2026 3:53pm
    - Dougal10
      
      It was no longer economical to process the crude it was designed to take into the euro6 fuels that the nz government decided we needed to be using.
      
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      April 12, 2026 8:50pm
      - judith8409121
        
        it was no longer economical because of government shafting the economy wrt petroleum, gas, and coal in NZ – this was all done by its cult belief of co2 bad – while idiots in government still believe this fallacy NZ will slowly but surely go down the energy gurgler.
        
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        April 13, 2026 7:10am
Swifty

Even more movies I didn’t realise Chuck Norris was in:

https://x.com/drclownphd/status/2043095197739860186?s=46
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April 12, 2026 11:49am
rouppe

What happens in Whakatane and Ohope will be interesting.

The residents there are being urgently told to GET OUT by their mayor, Nandor Tanczos. Yes that one. Did anyone know that he’d been elected mayor?

Of course it springs to mind, that he’s been a climate alarmist for decades… I guess we’ll see by tomorrow…
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April 12, 2026 12:40pm
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  An open invitation to looters.
  
  I hope that Police are on the job.
  
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  April 12, 2026 1:42pm
- Don Beckett
  
  The worry is the storm surge. Storm surges are driven by strong winds which force the surge onto the shore.
  The problem here is that the strong winds are Easterly, which are blowing along the BoP coast – not onto the shore, so I doubt that there will be much of a storm surge in the BoP.
  Not so though for the East coast, and the Coromandel coast, where the Easterly winds will be blowing directly onshore.
  
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  April 12, 2026 1:59pm
  - NeverMindTheBollocks
    
    Despite the ‘keep away’ messages, the beach at Maunganui has the crowds out gawking at the surf.
    
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    April 12, 2026 3:05pm
- Paulus
  
  Landed at Maketu just along from Whaktane at about 2pm.
  
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  April 12, 2026 3:22pm
NeverMindTheBollocks

Canada has cut immigration significantly, especially for temporary migrants. Their housing problem (rents and purchase pricing) has decreased.

Maybe there’s a lesson there for NZ.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/apr/12/canada-migration-levels-housing-costs-australia-ntwnfb
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April 12, 2026 2:21pm
Tom Hunter

Brace for impact:

We have been at it now for 21 hours, and we’ve had a number of substantive discussions with the Iranians. That’s the good news. The bad news is that we have not reached an agreement, and I think that’s bad news for Iran much more than it’s bad news for the United States of America. So we go back to the United States having not come to an agreement. We’ve made very clear what our redlines are, what things we’re willing to accommodate them on, and what things we’re not willing to accommodate them on, and we’ve made that as clear as we possibly could. And they have chosen not to accept our terms.

That’s Vice President J D Vance.

The chilling calmness and finality of that simple declaration, though without the overtones of sadness, has reminded me very much of this.
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April 12, 2026 3:22pm
- mogg
  
  Whatever the outcome, Israel has had plenty of time to decimate Irans nuclear capabilities, which is by far the most important objective for them, and also the rest of the world.
  
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  April 12, 2026 3:36pm
  - Hard Cheese
    
    Obviously neither Israel nor the US have done any sort of “decimating” of Irans’s nuclear program, otherwise they wouldn’t be in talks with the primary stated objective of asking Iran not to make nuclear weapons. Listen to Vance’s speech – he gives the game away when he starts to talk of their nuclear program in present tense and then has to check himself and use the past tense for fear of revealing Trumps earlier “obliteration” drivel as lies.
    
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    April 12, 2026 10:17pm
- Don Beckett
  
  Frankly, I’m not surprised, and I’m sure neither is Trump. The ceasefire has – I think – 9 days to go. The required amount of time to get the next carrier task force in place.
  I don’t think there will be a land invasion, but I do think they will send in the marines to take a number of the small islands in the SoH that Iran currently controls.
  Presently the USN is clearing the SoH of mines & will be in control of it in a few days, & USAF & IDF are patrolling the skies to eliminate any further rocket & drone launches.
  
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  April 12, 2026 3:53pm
  - Wandering Star
    
    If they are moving another carrier etc. into place during the “ceasefire” period, then it’s quite obvious what their intentions are – escalation. Clearly Iran will recognise that the US are bad faith actors and will act accordingly themselves.
    
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    April 12, 2026 4:37pm
    - Don Beckett
      
      So what do you think Iran is doing ? Twiddling it’s thumbs ? It’s rebuilding, re-supplying etc.
      
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      April 12, 2026 7:25pm
      - Wandering Star
        
        So would I be if I was dealing with the Americans. Remember that Trump and Netanyahu initially started the war during “negotiations.”
        
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        April 12, 2026 7:42pm
- Wandering Star
  
  The US is not negotiating in good faith. For one thing, they are not in any position to propose “red lines” because they are on the back foot.
  
  What they’re doing is taking two weeks to regain their composure after none of their aims have been achieved in the first six weeks since they started the war, and to calm the economic turmoil somewhat, then they will continue to attack Iran once they’ve had a chance to regroup, and will try to claw back some gains in a face-saving exercise before pulling out and claiming a win.
  
  However, whether Israel will allow them to leave is the open question, and the answer is “probably not.” The Israelis may even perform some attack on US troops (or even a false flag on US civilians) and try to pin it on Iran so that the US stays in the war for months or years.
  
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  April 12, 2026 4:30pm
MCōs

Eight years ago a storm hit Auckland and power was out at our house for days
Trees down everywhere
I checked back to the general debates of the time expecting to see multiple comment critical of the accuracy of weather forecasts
Nothing.
Just the usual topics. Penny Bright. Jacinda’s inappropriate pregnancy. Useless judges. That ‘awful Muslim’ major of London. Bludging Maori elite getting all the handouts
Half of the stuff could be transposed with little alterations to the present day.
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April 12, 2026 3:45pm
- Northshoredoc
  
  Penny Bright – there’s a blast from the past.
  
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  April 12, 2026 4:38pm
waikatosinger

Wild weather. Big waves at Mt Maunganui. Driftwood on the beach. Strong wind to blow the cobwebs out. A bit of light rain. The apocalyptic coverage in the mainstream media is a bit ‘overblown’ though. It is just typical Easter weather, not the end of the world.
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April 12, 2026 8:10pm

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