About
Contact
Advertise

Facebook
Twitter

April 18, 2026 8:00am by Kokila Patel

General Debate 18 April 2026

Like this:

Like Loading…

Email
Facebook
Twitter
Comment216

Uncategorized
General Debate

Comments (216)

Login to comment or vote

NeverMindTheBollocks

I do not condone the graffiti inciting racist violence painted on the footpath near Papatoetoe Central School, but some context is important.

Jaspreet Kandhari, general secretary of the NZ Indian Business Association, said
“One alarming trend was that many New Zealanders still do not like to see New Zealand as a diverse, migrant country.”

Papatoetoe Central School principal Raj Dullabh was really worried about his students. … He said 78 percent of his students are from the Indian community”.

78%? Even allowing for clustering, that’s huge.

Perhaps Kandhari should reflect that New Zealanders have never been directly asked whether they wanted a situation where 78% of pupils in an NZ school would be Asian. He should also reflect that had a referendum been held in 2000 on that question, the answer would have been a resounding “no”.

http://www.rnz.co.nz/news/indonz/592704/papatoetoe-s-indian-community-vents-anger-over-growing-anti-indian-sentiment
28 3
Log in to Reply
Report
April 18, 2026 8:05am
- Nigel Kearney
  
  I’m pleased that there are all these well-raised children with good values who will work hard, obey the law, and provide the income needed to fund my future superannuation.
  
  14 0
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  April 18, 2026 9:24am
  - kowtow
    
    How’s that local board election shenanigan there working out.
    
    Almost unprecedented in NZ electoral , constitutional terms.
    
    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/indonz/588859/high-court-upholds-decision-voiding-papatoetoe-local-election
    
    11 0
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    April 18, 2026 10:24am
- Simon
  
  Papatoetoe has really gone to the dogs. Not sure if the Indians can turn it around
  
  5 6
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  April 18, 2026 9:45am
- gravedodger
  
  Not just “Asian” but asians of likely one national origin, allowing for some via Fiji that indicates a worrying clustering that inhibits assimilation to an independent national iodentity.
  
  11 1
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  April 18, 2026 10:26am
- ChristopherW2
  
  Indians were part of the British Empire, and fought bravely and loyally for the freedom of all of us when it really mattered; they work hard, obey the law, are very often religious and generally have good conservative values. They’re very welcome in NZ as far as I’m concerned.
  
  11 1
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  April 18, 2026 10:45am
  - Wandering Star
    
    “They’re very welcome in NZ as far as I’m concerned.”
    
    Oh, how very generous of you. How many Indians live in your neighbourhood?
    
    Don’t conflate the presence of one or two Indians (so to speak) with the presence of perhaps one or two million Indians (so to speak) on current trends by 2100.
    
    Just because we can welcome some minorities happily doesn’t mean we should allow ourselves to eventually become a minority. There’s a vast gulf between these two propositions.
    
    2 7
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    April 18, 2026 12:37pm
    - Paulus
      
      Tauranga has a large number of Indian families emanating from the fact that nearly all the Dairies are owned and run for many open hours by well mannered Indian families.
      We are told there is plenty of money available for them to but up businesses.
      The only local one to me is a booze shop which is now closed, do not know why !
      
      4 1
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      April 18, 2026 2:01pm
    - ChristopherW2
      
      Firstly, your views are so uniformly vile that I’m not at all sure you’re a real person, but if you are…
      
      I’d much rather live as a minority in a society of good, principled people from elsewhere, than in a monoculture of boors, bullies, atheists and bludgers that make up far too much of ‘White’ NZ society.
      
      1 2
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      April 18, 2026 3:18pm
- Southern Raider
  
  Have you driven through the area? It’s an Indian enclave. Every shop, restaurant etc caters for Indians.
  
  If you also look at the election placards they are all Indian candidates.
  
  No different to Mt Roskill which is basically a Muslim enclave.
  
  4 3
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  April 18, 2026 11:51am
  - Paulus
    
    And we love Indian food too !
    
    2 2
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    April 18, 2026 2:03pm
David Garrett

Good morning from the Kingdom…a very pleasant 24C after a “duvet needed” night
28 6
Log in to Reply
Report
April 18, 2026 8:17am
- Cassandra
  
  The mindless red tick surprises me. It’s a greeting, ffs. Good morning, David.
  
  35 6
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  April 18, 2026 8:22am
  - Biscuit
    
    Cassandra, that downticker is such a sad sap that I swear, were I to declare here and now that I had found the cure for cancer, he/she would mutter ‘I want CHOCOLATE with that, too’ and downtick me to oblivion.
    
    31 5
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    April 18, 2026 8:59am
    - pdm
      
      Sometimes even I get tempted to downtick you Biscuit because I don’t want you to feel left out when the downticker comes along and then bypasses your efforts here.
      
      11 1
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      April 18, 2026 9:06am
    - AitchW
      
      And whine mindlessly that you have endangered the income and well being of cancer surgeons….
      
      10 3
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      April 18, 2026 9:10am
      - pdm
        
        Aitch – are you implying Biscuit is doing cancer surgery in his garage or garden shed – if he has such buildings?
        
        He may be many things, including being a raconteur, but a surgeon I am sure he is not.
        
        4 1
        Report
        April 18, 2026 11:47am
  - David Garrett
    
    Cass: Good morning to you Sir…re the “mindless red tick(s)” when I see someone’s comment getting 30 or more upticks – and one sad lone down, I often wonder what the lone down ticker thinks of him or herself…a bit foolish? Proud of being the only brave individual to swim against the tide? Who knows…
    As an aside, I have noticed a distinct reduction in the one down tick phenomenon since Mikey Many Names left us
    
    16 5
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    April 18, 2026 9:02am
    - redeye
      
      FYI David, Milky has said previously that he uses the downtick as a bookmark, so he can see which comments he has read previously.
      
      8 1
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      April 18, 2026 9:09am
      - kowtow
        
        But then he would say that , wouldn’t he.
        
        10 3
        Report
        April 18, 2026 9:46am
    - Gravelroad
      
      Recall that some time ago, Mike/s said that he routinely downticked comments to ensure he had read them.
      Wasn’t necessarily a matter of disagreeing with the content -allegedly.
      There are others who downtick no matter what the commenter has to offer, because it has become personal.
      
      9 2
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      April 18, 2026 9:21am
      - David Garrett
        
        Gravel: “…to ensure he had read them”?? Perhaps he had/has dementia? I have no problem remembering what I have read
        
        16 4
        Report
        April 18, 2026 9:34am
  - G the giant from Dunedin
    
    Hahahaha, then you receive 6 by 12.14 bizarre
    
    0 2
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    April 18, 2026 12:14pm
- Ra Henare
  
  Good morning from the Kingdom of Wonder.
  A very pleasant 27c (low humidity) and sunny(yet again)
  The 3(official) days of New Years celebrations and partying have concluded.
  
  3 1
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  April 18, 2026 12:37pm
Simon

Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
Iran calling the shots. Good for the world, good for NZ. Iran backed by China of course.

There will be a reset but the world should never be held hostage by the vile Israeli govt again
5 47
Log in to Reply
Report
April 18, 2026 8:18am
- David George
  
  Of course, Simon, Iran is winning big time.
  Perhaps this was part of their cunning plan all along?
  Get your leaders killed, the people to despise you, the economy in ruins, military and nukes largely destroyed and make enemies of the entire region.
  Genius!
  
  34 2
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  April 18, 2026 9:34am
  - Simon
    
    Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
    You remain in denial. It’s been a heavily censored war with large amounts of disinformation. However just compare war aims of Israel/ Trump Admin vs outcomes.
    
    Iran has got this.
    
    6 38
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    April 18, 2026 9:48am
    - Don Beckett
      
      Thanks for the daily laugh, Simon. I know you are stupid, but you can’t be so stupid that you believe what you say in you comments, so it has to be to give us our daily dose of entertainment. Thanks. 😆 😆
      
      19 5
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      April 18, 2026 10:26am
      - imalwaysright
        
        Why is he stupid?
        Everyone knows the media are untrustworthy, especially when reporting on behalf of governments.
        Do you have a reliable truthful source?
        
        4 7
        Report
        April 18, 2026 10:38am
    - G the giant from Dunedin
      
      So are you saying videos of Iran sinking all US aircraft carriers is true but being hidden, even though they are patrolling the strait? Ghez, I knew you were on the edge with your ramblings about Nats, but this, I am shocked, do pressure from China and US did not make them open the strait
      
      9 1
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      April 18, 2026 12:18pm
- Cassandra
  
  And speaking of downticks…………………
  
  8 3
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  April 18, 2026 9:39am
- Charlotte Wells
  
  The only thing Iran is calling is President Trump and begging for forgiveness and promising to open the straits and aksing for peace.
  
  12 9
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  April 18, 2026 10:14am
  - Paulus
    
    Hormuz Straits are currently open now !
    
    4 1
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    April 18, 2026 11:18am
    - Drone
      
      Open but blockade by the USA despite the ceasefire and supposedly ongoing negotiations. Trump continues to manipulate the world via his insane Truth Social posts.
      
      4 5
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      April 18, 2026 11:49am
      - Don Beckett
        
        US blockade of Iranian ports & ships only – free passage to other ships going to Arabian ports – Kuwait, Bahrein, UAE etc.
        You are right about Trump manipulating things, but they are not insane, they are deliberate – keep the enemy distracted.
        Take him seriously, but not literally.
        
        6 4
        Report
        April 18, 2026 1:08pm
      - G the giant from Dunedin
        
        No, Iranian ports are blocked, their oil is already embargoed, but a couple of rouge nations China and a couple of others can now not get oil. Pressure has gone on, and China said to Iran on Tuesday that you can no longer block the strait
        
        0 0
        Report
        April 18, 2026 8:02pm
    - Ra Henare
      
      Only open by Iran to Merchant ships while ceasefire in effect(ie until Tuesday)
      
      3 2
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      April 18, 2026 12:39pm
      - G the giant from Dunedin
        
        Rubbish, and now other countries are coming to help there will be no issues with transit, anyone thinking that Iran will have huge bombardments of those US ships U.S. bollocks, I don’t think US will fire in them, but have threatened Cargue island, but that is a tool to force them into submission
        
        0 0
        Report
        April 18, 2026 8:06pm
- gravedodger
  
  @Simon?
  At least those Israelis get a chance to democratically change their nations leadership regularly, the nice Iranians not so much and that covers 47 years and counting.
  
  22 1
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  April 18, 2026 10:31am
  - Drone
    
    How long has Bibi been there ??. He has a clone waiting in the wings.
    
    2 6
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    April 18, 2026 11:51am
    - G the giant from Dunedin
      
      Don’t think so, he has been there probably there for 15 years, he was voted out one term
      
      0 0
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      April 18, 2026 8:08pm
  - Jethrod
    
    No downtick from Si there!
    
    2 0
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    April 18, 2026 12:22pm
- Northshoredoc
  
  There have been no ‘winners’ in this war except maybe for some cunning investors and those supplying the tools of destruction.
  
  Certainly the population of the region are no better off than they were prior to hostilities.
  
  4 5
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  April 18, 2026 10:56am
  - Don Beckett
    
    Let’s see what it’s like at the end of hostilities.
    
    5 4
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    April 18, 2026 1:10pm
- G the giant from Dunedin
  
  China told Iran the strait should never be closed when all hopeful idiots we’re expecting China to enter the war
  
  7 0
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  April 18, 2026 12:15pm
  - Ra Henare
    
    Keeping in mind that China has always been allowed thru the Strait by Iran. Its the yanks who decided to stop Chinese ships
    
    4 1
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    April 18, 2026 12:41pm
    - Don Beckett
      
      Yes, but the Chinese also buy from other Persian Gulf states, & now it appears that Trump is happy to sell them American oil, with Chinese tankers on the way.
      Time will tell.
      
      3 2
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      April 18, 2026 3:38pm
    - G the giant from Dunedin
      
      Exactly
      
      0 0
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      April 18, 2026 8:08pm
  - Vory v zakone
    
    So today, Donald Trump posted that the Strait of Hormuz is completely open for business. At the exact same hour, Keir Starmer flew to Paris to co-host a forty-nation virtual summit with Emmanuel Macron about how to, and, no kidding, reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
    
    AND they did not invite the US Navy. The Navy that cleared the mines, turned back the tankers, and actually reopened the strait.
    
    Forty flags. Zero destroyers. Zero mines cleared.
    
    One (1) excellent buffet, probably.
    
    This is forty guys showing up to a house fire three hours late with a PowerPoint titled “Fire Response Coordination Initiative,” while the homeowner is already back inside watching TV.
    
    Meanwhile, Iran’s foreign minister fully capitulated on camera today. Oil crashed 11% in minutes. Iran has reportedly agreed to suspend its nuclear program indefinitely and will not receive any frozen funds. Trump says the deal is mostly done.
    
    And the S&P 500 is at an all-time high. That is the market, which has no feelings and no podcast, looking at all of this and saying: yeah, this is working. Where are all the Panicans now?
    
    However none of this is really about Iran, though. It is about Xi.
    
    Panama is out of Belt and Road. Venezuela is cut off from Chinese oil. Indonesia just signed a defense deal with the US. The Philippines is in. Iran just folded. That is Hormuz, Malacca, and the Luzon Strait. Roughly 80% of China’s seaborne oil, all within one phone call of being squeezed.
    
    When Trump sits down with Xi, there is no real negotiation left.
    
    Xi is already picking which hand to lose first.
    
    0 1
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    April 18, 2026 3:49pm
Cassandra

Incoming Hungarian PM Peter Magyar re State TV and radio ie TVNZ and RNZ: “Every Hungarian deserves a public service media that broadcasts the truth,” explaining he was not after personal revenge, even though he and his family had been insulted “morning, noon and night”. He plans to replace the broadcasters with a new, honest, body. How we wish Luxon would do the same.

Although this isn’t a parallel with NZ. In Hungary’s case oligarchs with close ties to Orban had bought much of the media. In NZ the State already owns it. What’s needed here is a clean out so it reverts to doing its job properly.
44 4
Log in to Reply
Report
April 18, 2026 8:20am
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  State owned media need to revert to reporting the facts. I’m not interested in the opinions of their staff, or their mindless chatter – looking at you, Ingrid. You’re not my friend.
  
  With Stuff, it’s more nuanced. As long as Harvey Norman wants to fund them, they can do what they like – though for basic decency, they should be explicit about their political bias.
  
  23 1
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  April 18, 2026 8:34am
  - Paulus
    
    I have this morning in the BOP Times Harvey Norman edition, an article by St Thomas Couglan, of Irish desent I assume after nearly finishing what he said.
    I also assume that he had kissed the Blarney Stone after half a bottle of Bushmills.
    He is a dreamer, but only doing what his Employer’s want to do, is denigrate by lies, Luxon first and New Zealand second.
    I do not suppose he will sober up and realistically look honestly, if possible, at the next say twelve months, but assume he wants Winston as Prime Minister in a once again Left wing/Maori/Green Government.
    Within NZME I would like to see the true, not lies, results for the Newspaper division, without Harvey Norman, keeping it afloat.
    
    22 1
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    April 18, 2026 9:45am
- Dudley Quaffquaff
  
  I suggest we come back after Magyar has actually succeeded in delivering a media that “does its job properly”. Anybody can state their intention to bring about a good thing, and honest, high-quality news reporting undoubtedly is a good thing.
  
  However.
  
  Making it actually happen – in a world where the money to pay for it has to come from a public which has the alternative of free access to more titillating stuff from sources that rapidly learn and line up with, rather than challenging, their audience’s established preferences – is a lot more difficult than saying you want it to happen.
  
  3 2
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  April 18, 2026 8:35am
- grumpy
  
  Totally true! What we need is a government with enough courage to do what is urgently needed. Public trust in the state media has never been so low. Luxon refusing to protect state assets!
  
  27 3
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  April 18, 2026 8:38am
- CJames
  
  The critical action for judging politicians is not their words but their actions. This includes the effects, both intended and unintended, though the latter is easily predictable by all bar biased observers.
  For Hungary, lets wait and see.
  
  17 0
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  April 18, 2026 8:38am
- Philview
  
  Sadly much of the NZ media has become an ideological propaganda tool for a political Maori grouping. The media report ethno nationalist balkanisation as some of centrist position.
  
  34 2
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  April 18, 2026 8:42am
  - AitchW
    
    Many of our “reporters” are Maori and may well have been indoctrinated at journalism school into the colonialist oppressor bad mindset.
    It’s a shame the editors don’t pull them up on their biased and inaccurate coverage.
    Clearly even handed reporting isn’t important to our MSM any more.
    
    16 1
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    April 18, 2026 9:38am
    - gravedodger
      
      @ AitchW, Editors, surely you jest, The Editors went to the same training institutions LoL.
      
      12 0
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      April 18, 2026 10:34am
      - AitchW
        
        And quite possibly moonlight as lecturers there.
        
        5 0
        Report
        April 18, 2026 10:48am
    - R
      
      Even handed reporting hasn’t been important to MSM since the 1980’s, if not earlier.
      How do you think that we got Clarke and Ardern?
      
      4 0
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      April 18, 2026 11:18am
    - Ra Henare
      
      Just a bit racist Aitch, dont you think?
      
      2 2
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      April 18, 2026 12:44pm
      - Charlotte Wells
        
        A statement of fact isn’t racist.
        
        0 0
        Report
        April 18, 2026 7:51pm
- AitchW
  
  I freely admit that I know nothing about Hungarian politics, but is this new guy really the saviour some are making him out to be? He says he’s going to clean out the state broadcaster and replace it with a body which tells the truth.
  Is that the sole podium? Will there be a PIJF?
  I guess we’ll see.
  
  7 1
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  April 18, 2026 8:50am
- David George
  
  Victor Oban was defeated; the great and the good celebrated. Obama called it “a victory for democracy”, Soros’s kid and Ursula von der Leyen were delighted.
  Turns out the new guy, Péter Magyar, is every bit as determined as Orban to ensure the safety and prosperity of the Hungarian people.
  Magyar made clear there will be no softening on borders: He pledged to strengthen the southern border fence and continue rejecting the EU’s Migration and Asylum Pact.
  
  “We really want to protect our country and Europe from illegal immigration” and that Tisza “will pursue a strict illegal immigration policy.”
  
  He supports the physical border barriers, opposes EU migrant quotas, and has signaled he wants even less immigration than the previous government.
  So basically Orban II.
  Some are saying Orban and Magyar engineered the whole thing, I don’t know if that’s true but fair to say Orban is not unhappy with the result.
  
  19 3
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  April 18, 2026 9:15am
  - Taieri
    
    fair to say Orban is not unhappy with the result
    —————
    
    Indeed…
    
    Speaking to the Patrióta YouTube channel, Orbán admitted the result had taken a toll on him, describing the past few days as an “emotional rollercoaster”.
    
    https://dailynewshungary.com/orban-fidesz-rebuild-after-election-defeat/
    
    Orbán, who has led Hungary for 16 years straight, took a somber tone throughout the interview, describing the aftermath of the election in personal terms. “I felt pain and emptiness,” he said, adding that he has been throwing himself into his work as “occupational therapy” to cope with the shock. “Even I thought we were going to win,” he admitted.
    
    https://www.politico.eu/article/political-era-ended-orban-breaks-silence-hungary-election-defeat/
    
    2 0
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    April 18, 2026 12:00pm
- G the giant from Dunedin
  
  So you want Luxon to put dictate to the people?
  
  For what it’s worth, his training is working, he handled the media very well yesterday, his question of who is leaking, and who is complying is something he would not have said last week
  
  4 2
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  April 18, 2026 12:22pm
Im Right

Indeed Cassandra….The state owning a broadcaster is not only a waste of money, they never remain neutral in reporting and inevitably they become political, usually for the left!
UK – BBC
Australia- ABC
NZ – TVNZ
All three are leftist in their reporting and their bias is not hidden, and cost the taxpayer’s a fortune.
28 0
Log in to Reply
Report
April 18, 2026 8:25am
- AitchW
  
  Not only are they politically biased, but they also enthusiastically embrace liberal causes such as men in women’s spaces and men competing in women’s sport.
  And let’s not forget their unbalanced reporting on Islamic terrorists.
  With the availability of news from multiple sources it’s time that the government took a long hard look at state owned broadcasters.
  
  14 0
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  April 18, 2026 9:49am
- Swifty
  
  Add to that PBS in the US, raging socialists.
  
  7 0
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  April 18, 2026 10:04am
grumpy

In other news, West Texas and Brent crude oil down 10% yesterday. No change at the pump in NZ. Maybe the oil companies have not read the newspaper this morning.
29 2
Log in to Reply
Report
April 18, 2026 8:35am
- mandk
  
  91 in Upper Hutt was down 5% yesterday from the day before: $3.17/ltr.
  
  I only pumped 10 litres in the expectation that it will fall a bit further in the coming days / week.
  
  7 1
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  April 18, 2026 8:50am
- MCōs
  
  The last time I bought 91 it was $3.355 on 1-April
  Same place today it’s $3.235.
  Btw
  I read this morning that Oil company shares took a hit when then price of oil dropped, but Brent Crude is on the way back up again. Earlier in the week it was around $95. Now it’s $91.30 after being as low as $86.09
  
  5 1
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  April 18, 2026 9:00am
- david in Aus
  
  Very weird statements by both sides that make no logical sense.
  Iranians report -Straits open to all, but subject to conditions. Trump reports blockade to Iranian ports to remain. Those two statements are incongruent.
  And I find it hard to believe the Iranians would give up nuclear material for nothing.
  
  I note ships trying to leave the Straits have turned back, perhaps that is why the oil price is going back up.
  
  I hope the Straits will be open. But something smells. Perhaps the Americans and the Iranians know another attack is coming, involving limited ground troops. That is why the US is still blockading Iranian ports. The Iranians are saying politically that the Straits are open, but in reality it is not.
  
  Weekends are when attacks happen. Perhaps the Iranian are front-running the blame for escalation.
  
  7 5
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  April 18, 2026 9:31am
  - Taieri
    
    I note ships trying to leave the Straits have turned back
    ————-
    
    It looks like there might be a start to some traffic on the Gulf side approaches, mainly by French, Indian and Chinese related shipping interests.
    
    https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/centerx:56.9/centery:26.1/zoom:9
    
    We’ll see whether it will last. The next few days will be very interesting. But not much will really happen until the JWLA 033-Iran circular is rescinded or amended. This document, issued by the Joint War Committee of the International Underwriters Association, lists areas considered to have enhanced risks related to hull war, piracy, terrorism, and related perils.
    
    Currently, the following waters in the Middle East are affected:
    
    Persian/Arabian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, Indian Ocean, Gulf of Aden and Southern Red Sea
    
    The waters enclosed by the following boundaries:
    
    a) On the northwest, by the Red Sea, south of Latitude 18°N;
    
    b) on the northeast, from Pakistan coastline at 25°19’15”N, 65°E;
    
    c) on the east, by a line to high seas point 10°48’N, 65°E, thence to high seas point 10°48’N, 60°15’E, thence to high seas point 6°45’S, 48°45’E; and
    
    d) on the southwest, by the Somalia border at 1°40’S, 41°34’E, to high seas point at 6°45’S, 48°45’E.
    
    6 1
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    April 18, 2026 10:22am
- G the giant from Dunedin
  
  Really, 95 was $3.65 2 weeks ago, it’s $2.42 in Dunedin today, now oil is at 82 for west Texas then it may well be at $3.19 before long
  
  2 0
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  April 18, 2026 12:24pm
  - NeverMindTheBollocks
    
    $2.42 in Dunedin? Are you sure that’s not $3.42?
    
    2 0
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    April 18, 2026 1:22pm
- Ra Henare
  
  Grumpy, you do realise that the Oil prices quoted by media are 30 day prices.ie for delivery to Tanker in 30 days.
  
  Spot prices are way way higher.
  
  So 30 days away then trip to refinery, then refining, then delivery to NZ.
  
  So dont expect a pump price dropping any time soon.
  
  https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/First-Crude-Cargo-Clears-Hormuz-Since-US-Blockade-Began.html
  
  3 0
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  April 18, 2026 12:51pm
Maggy Wassilieff

Well, who could have guessed that cultural knowledge doesn’t always carry great sway in healthcare settings?

we found nurses with higher levels of cultural knowledge (cognitive cultural intelligence) actually performed worse and reported lower job satisfaction.

In other words, knowing more about cultural differences does not automatically translate to better care and may even get in the way.

https://theconversation.com/nurses-with-higher-cultural-competence-dont-always-perform-better-new-study-279846
42 0
Log in to Reply
Report
April 18, 2026 8:38am
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  “cognitive cultural intelligence”
  
  It’s just babble.
  
  26 0
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  April 18, 2026 8:54am
  - R
    
    Just plain mindless, impractical, ideology!
    
    12 0
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    April 18, 2026 10:19am
  - Paulus
    
    In what invented Language do you think ?
    
    7 1
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    April 18, 2026 11:21am
- rouppe
  
  I don’t care how many languages you speak. I don’t care about your understanding of history, or your version of history. I don’t care if you leave work, go into half way houses and cure cancer with the laying of hands.
  
  I care that:
  1a) you can work effectively in a team of people many of whom will be different, and hold different views, to you and
  1b) you have the necessary skills to do your job properly.
  
  The order is deliberate, because you can be a genius, but if you’re a prick the team won’t be effective.
  
  17 0
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  April 18, 2026 8:56am
  - Master Mariner
    
    Yep, Does not matter whether the cat is black or white, As long as it catches the mice.
    Cornerstone of Singapore employment Policy.
    
    10 2
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    April 18, 2026 10:48am
  - Paulus
    
    Many years ago in the UK we employed primarily people who fitted in well with the teams, and their current colleagues.
    There was no such thing as DEI.
    
    8 0
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    April 18, 2026 11:23am
- rouppe
  
  The huge omission in that piece is that in reality, cultural competence training here is limited to one culture. And it’s expected to only be in one direction. There is no expectation to learn cultural competence of any other culture than Maori culture.
  
  That’s not competence, that’s indoctrination.
  
  33 0
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  April 18, 2026 9:05am
  - Paulus
    
    So what are you going to do about it, Sweet FA !
    
    0 7
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    April 18, 2026 11:23am
    - rouppe
      
      Well I’m retired so can’t influence a particular workplace. My most recent workplace already valued competence over ideology.
      
      But to your question:
      
      1. Vote
      2. When, inevitably, the socialists gain the government benches,
      a) sell everything and move to SE Asia.
      b) invest in a global ETF from somewhere stable, such as Singapore.
      
      That way the socialists get no tax income from me as I’ll no longer be tax resident.
      
      As an aside, I added up the property rates and house and contents insurance for the house I currently live in. With that money I can rent a small, fully furnished, comfortable, air conditioned condo in Thailand. Add NZ super and I can live like a king.
      
      Financially, it’s an easy decision to move. Emotionally, more difficult, but not insurmountable.
      
      6 0
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      April 18, 2026 12:44pm
- Pope Punctilious II
  
  Ok, so funding for the cultural competency stuff will be gone by next week, seeing it doesn’t work. Yeah right!
  
  1 0
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  April 18, 2026 2:21pm
Cassandra

Ani O’Brien this morning: “Luxon chases votes he will never get while New Zealand First robs the nest where neglected and increasingly frustrated National voters languish.”

Good summary. I wish it wasn’t so but Luxon is hopeless.
42 7
Log in to Reply
Report
April 18, 2026 8:41am
- Philview
  
  The next question is what is NZ First going to do with this support? NZ First is in the current Government and could have applied pressure to policy but seems happy not to do so.
  
  10 0
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  April 18, 2026 8:47am
  - pdm
    
    Apart from Foreign Affairs Peters as a history of talking big in the lead up to elections and then coasting after the Government is formed.
    
    He is the `white elephant’ of New Zealand politics or as my late father in law used to say”
    
    Like the barbers cat – all piss and wind!!
    
    8 1
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    April 18, 2026 9:54am
  - R
    
    NZFirst has only one policy,…Winston first!
    
    13 0
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    April 18, 2026 10:20am
- NothingLeft
  
  Elections are won in the middle not on the wings. Only swing voters matter, Sadly.
  
  7 0
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  April 18, 2026 8:53am
  - Cassandra
    
    Define the middle.
    
    3 1
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    April 18, 2026 9:44am
    - imalwaysright
      
      The Left call the Middle the Far Right.
      
      10 1
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      April 18, 2026 9:53am
  - Paulus
    
    And if we accept wht we are hearing the women are swinging sweet and low !
    They do not like bald men !
    
    1 0
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    April 18, 2026 2:09pm
  - Pope Punctilious II
    
    Meaningless statement. What exactly is “the centre”?
    
    0 0
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    April 18, 2026 2:22pm
- Im Right
  
  Luxon, like most right wing PMs never go far enough in policy and try to fence sit and court votes he was never going to get.
  Thank goodness Peters and Seymour have put through policies that needed to be done, not far enough in my opinion, but when it’s a 3 way partnership you gotta take the wins, even if small.
  As much as I do not like Luxon, the time to roll him was over Christmas, rolling him now 6mths or so out from the election will cost National
  
  30 2
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  April 18, 2026 9:00am
  - David Garrett
    
    I’m: Spot on Sir…
    
    9 5
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    April 18, 2026 9:26am
  - Ipanema69
    
    I agree with the sentiment that Luxon is trying to court votes that he is never going to get.
    
    Winston however talks a good game but never actually gets around to delivering (Shane Jones is exactly the same). Furthermore if Winston holds the balance of power he will go with whoever offers the best deal.
    
    Unfortunately this is likely to be Labour.
    
    13 5
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    April 18, 2026 9:37am
    - Paulus
      
      Labour, Maori and Greens are the new Coalition with Winston as what he always wanted as PM.
      
      4 1
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      April 18, 2026 11:26am
    - Bobba Fret
      
      Labour will always offer more as they are more desperate for power at any cost. Bill English rightly decided not to give Winston whatever he demanded, unfortunately that gave us six years of Ardern.
      
      0 0
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      April 19, 2026 8:05am
  - imalwaysright
    
    I get the sense that Luxon is still a middle manager. Who does he answer to?
    
    9 5
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    April 18, 2026 9:55am
    - R
      
      The public, unlike the other parties leaders.
      
      5 0
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      April 18, 2026 10:22am
      - imalwaysright
        
        Maybe he’s deaf, if he listened to the public we wouldn’t be in the final stages of becoming an apartheid society.
        
        6 0
        Report
        April 18, 2026 10:44am
    - kowtow
      
      That would be his jump masters, the people who gave him the parachute.
      
      2 3
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      April 18, 2026 10:29am
  - pdm
    
    `Thank goodness Peters and Seymour have put through policies that needed to be done………………’
    
    Seymour yes.
    
    Peters almost not at all
    
    13 2
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    April 18, 2026 9:56am
    - R
      
      Seymour tried, but confused the drafting; probably trying to make the legislation simple, for the simple minded.
      
      3 0
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      April 18, 2026 10:23am
    - JackRabbit
      
      “In March 2026, New Zealand’s government, led by Foreign Minister Winston Peters, officially rejected recent amendments to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) International Health Regulations (IHR). While not withdrawing from the WHO entirely, this move keeps New Zealand from being bound by new, tightened global rules on pandemic management.”
      
      [1] Given excess deaths since the vaccines rollout is over 0.3% of the population (15,000);
      AND
      [2] Ardern cow-tailing to and enforcing WHO lockdown mandates which rooted NZ and ran up $100 billion in debt, Winston getting that across the line is a MASSIVE achievement.
      
      0 0
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      April 18, 2026 1:29pm
  - Charlotte Wells
    
    You lost me when you said Luxon was a right-wing PM.
    
    13 4
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    April 18, 2026 10:19am
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  I think Luxon is a good people and organisation manager; despite predictions to the contrary, the Coalition hasn’t even looked like flying apart.
  
  It’s true that his media instincts are not of the best, but I can give him a pass on that.
  
  The central problem, as others have stated, is that he isn’t the man to stand up for conservative values. What National need is a leader who can articulate and defend the central planks of its own tenets.
  
  To remind him, here they are.
  
  http://www.national.org.nz/values
  
  22 2
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  April 18, 2026 9:02am
  - R
    
    What PM Luxon needs, is the same as the rest of the country needs. A MSM composed of competent english comprehendable reporting and factual accuracy of events, and political comments.
    
    5 0
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    April 18, 2026 10:30am
    - Pope Punctilious II
      
      Very lame to blame the media. Luxon needs to handle the media better. And why is the government still funding the media?
      
      0 1
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      April 18, 2026 2:25pm
  - Ra Henare
    
    Needless to say I have a contrarian view. 🙂
    
    Luxon is doing what he was hired to do. Settle the coalition down. Obviously he has no political nounce. But thats not what he was hired for!!!.
    
    As an experienced Manager! (Not a leader)
    His job is to steer the ship of state in to calm waters, no matter that he avoids the rough seas.
    
    The job of his Coalition partners is to stir the pot and do public announcements with some small political wins. (Peters, Greyhound racing?).
    
    I would NOT be the least surprised if the coalition is r-elected but this time with National not holding the Veto power (eg stopping Semours Prinicples bill).
    
    Personally I think those promoting that Winston will go with Labour are not doing serious analysis of the state of NZ Politics.
    
    0 1
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    April 18, 2026 1:07pm
- Boy Geoff
  
  Would it also be true to say that Hipkins is gifted votes from disaffected greenies?
  
  12 0
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  April 18, 2026 9:04am
- pdm
  
  Ele Ludemann (Homepaddock) has a good message for National MP’s this morning. Here is is in full.
  Open letter to National MPs
  17/04/2026
  Dear National MPs,
  
  Your party members, the ones who support events, fundraising and you, hate disloyalty and leaks.
  
  Voters punish both.
  
  Internal sabotage isn’t just bad for the party, it’s bad for the country. Global instability and looming recession make it even more important than usual to have stable government.
  
  If the leadership changes the coalition will falter.
  
  If the election gives Winston Peters the choice of a three party coalition with Act and a weakened National Party, or a two-party coalition with Labour, New Zealand First will go left.
  
  Support for our party doesn’t just depend on the leader. It depends on all of you, working hard and staying loyal.
  
  Put national current and future wellbeing, governing well, and the party before your personal concerns and ambitions.
  
  Yours sincerely,
  
  Ele Ludemann
  
  25 2
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  April 18, 2026 9:09am
  - nathie
    
    Well said by Ele, those “disloyal” MP’s need to focus on their Party attracting voter support, not themselves.
    
    After all that is the best way to retain one’s job!
    
    3 0
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    April 18, 2026 10:43am
  - Jethrod
    
    There is also the fact of disloyal voters, those swayed by the pronouncements of the “media”. They think , golly they may be right, so I better vote for Winnie, rather than the dastardly Liebour party.
    When push comes to shove, Winnie with circa 15% vote will be loyal only to one!
    Just remember that you , the great and the good!
    
    1 1
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    April 18, 2026 12:56pm
    - Bobba Fret
      
      Many of the list only candidates are thinking of themselves not having a job after the election so I think the leak would likely be one of them.
      
      0 0
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      April 19, 2026 8:10am
- Southern Raider
  
  The issue for NZ is that we have finally made some great progress in Education and Law & Order. But that’s down to only two National MPs.
  
  What have the rest of the National MPs achieved.
  
  Of course the biggest red mark is the economy and that comes back to Willis and Luxon
  
  9 4
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  April 18, 2026 9:36am
  - David Garrett
    
    Southern: Please define “good progress ” in law and order. Surely you don’t mean the defanged bad joke three strikes 2.0?? It is worse than useless
    
    9 2
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    April 18, 2026 10:32am
    - pdm
      
      Hugely watered down by National is the reason it is so bad.
      
      3 3
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      April 18, 2026 11:53am
    - imalwaysright
      
      Three strikes is three more ‘second’ chances and another three judges telling the scumbag that we have failed him.
      
      3 0
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      April 18, 2026 1:39pm
  - R
    
    The economy problem goes back to, Lange/Douglas, Comrade Clark and Ardern Hipkins Robertson eras. Simple to understand and comprehend. Just requires THINKING SKILLS. Probable need pre 1980’s education though.
    
    5 0
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    April 18, 2026 10:35am
  - Taieri
    
    Of course the biggest red mark is the economy and that comes back to Willis and Luxon
    ———-
    
    I think you overstate their realistic capability to make significant changes in 2 and half years of their time in office. Don’t forget that Luxon and Willis are just a part of the jigsaw puzzle. This is a coalition government, with parts of it not necessarily seeing eye to eye with each other. The dynamics between the coalition partners are not always visible to the public and much of what actually happens may not be easily evident.
    
    The economy was hardly in a great shape when they took over, with the ballast of Labour’s spending and the electorate expectations. In addition, the mercurial US president’s approach to the international trade and the current wars in the Middle East didn’t make things any easier.
    
    Other domestic issues could have been addressed better, but again, it takes time to overcome the inertia of the grossly inflated public sector and to win the hostile media over. And the latter have seen the government as an enemy from the day one.
    
    The mistake that we, the commentators on the KB make, is thinking that a major part of NZ population shares our views. This is not necessarily true. Yes, we are a part of the vox populi, but only a relatively small part.
    
    5 0
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    April 18, 2026 12:19pm
- Nūhaka Native
  
  The latest polling gives some insights.
  NZ First on 15%
  National on 29%
  Act on 8%
  Greens on 7%
  Labour on 36%
  Top on 2.3
  TPM 1.9%
  
  NZ first can attract disaffected National voters and disaffected Labour voters (like me). Latest recruit Taine Randal (who Labour were courting). NZ First has Matua Shane (previously a Labour Cabinet minister). Also note a high proportion of Māori in the party. All things which can be a foil to the left’s arguments of right wing racism in the centre right, by the way.
  
  Act is essentially the libertarian wing of the National Party, and there is no shame in saying that or supporting them either.
  
  Greens drop to 7% (if only it went below 5!) While Labour got to 36%, showing the left is eating itself. TPM dropped to 1.9%, showing they are bleeding support to Labour as well.
  
  The Opportunity party, despite saying they are centrists, is just Greens in teal clothing. Nobody is falling for their spin.
  
  One point. I was actually a Green Party member for 25 years. I thought the environment needed a voice. But since the Greens are happy to throw my wife and my daughters’ female sex based rights under the bus, I left. NZ First is getting support (Olympic great Lorraine Molller for example) because they know a woman is an adult human female.
  
  18 1
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  April 18, 2026 9:40am
  - slijmbal
    
    That is a Talbot Mills poll – Labour’s polling company ran by at least one ex Labour staffer. They do generally overstate Labour and understate National.
    
    I would also be very surprised if NZ1st’s numbers don’t drop coming into the election.
    
    Having said that it is clear that it’s close to a coin toss who will get in and like so many elections Winston will be kingmaker.
    
    0 0
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    April 18, 2026 4:22pm
    - Ian Boag
      
      All polling companies run by basically the same rules. Curia duly reported Labour ahead of Nats. That’s because they do their polling using accepted standards. There is no percentage for any of them to slant stuff.
      
      1 2
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      April 18, 2026 5:30pm
      - slijmbal
        
        @Ian – the methodologies used to determine the sample and the framing of the questions can and do systematically affect the polling results. All the polls have issues with trying to avoid skewed samples and all of them have skewed samples to some degree. That and the sample size add to the inaccuracies we see in polling.
        
        For simple voting preferences it’s unusual for the questions to be framed in a way that pushes towards particular answers so we should discount that.
        
        I don’t know how Talbot Mills select their samples. … but they consistently end up with Labour being better than National when compared to other polls.
        
        I look at the numbers.
        
        I didn’t make your strawman comment around suggesting Labour weren’t ahead of National rather that there is a likelihood it being overstated. Though I think you might know that is what I meant.
        
        0 0
        Report
        April 18, 2026 8:54pm
      - Graeme Hall
        
        NZ Polling companies these days ignore statistically accepted sample methods that require a randomly selected sample of the entire voting population. Instead polling companies sample a pre-selected pool of voters because for equal sized samples it is cheaper and quicker and all the others do it. Computer science has an applicable acronym GIGO (Garbage In, Garbage Out).
        
        0 0
        Report
        April 18, 2026 9:11pm
- rjay
  
  If National changes leader now, then any coalition agreement will depend on the new leader and Winston coming to an arrangement. There will have to be a snap election as Winston does agreements with leaders not parties.
  Likewise if the leadership changes after the election then Winston can simply choose to renegotiate and/or pull the plug and change the government or sit on cross benches
  Any leadership change depends on Winston. It may be Winston who is leaking leadership spills.
  
  10 0
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  April 18, 2026 9:50am
  - Paulus
    
    What leaks – you mean the so called media with nothing to do but waste time on the destruction of New Zealand.
    Why – or just Hypocrites !
    
    8 1
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    April 18, 2026 11:29am
  - Jethrod
    
    Any leadership change for the Nats now, will see an early election because of no majority anywhere.
    Winnies 15% is crucial.
    
    0 2
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    April 18, 2026 1:00pm
- mogg
  
  This latest polling will not be trustworthy.
  Replying to polling question is very easy, but actually ticking the boxes will require a lot more thought.
  Will centre voters want to bring TPM into government with Labour, or will other centre voters trust Winston’s deceitful record of using their vote to his own personal advantage.
  
  4 1
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  April 18, 2026 11:48am
  - Paulus
    
    But Winston has always wanted to be Prime Minister and that is final.
    
    7 0
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    April 18, 2026 2:13pm
    - Ian Boag
      
      Sorry to repeat myself – an 80 year old Muldoon clone. Wot?
      
      0 4
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      April 18, 2026 5:31pm
- G the giant from Dunedin
  
  When you think that Peter’s has before promised a referendum on Māori seats, then pulls the pin as soon as he delivered a Marxist government, then in early 2000’s he was part of Clark’s cabinet that agreed to the introduction of an Indian immigration pathway, no won’t sign an Indian trade agreement because immigration which is already possible to them thanks to him.
  
  Anyone voting for a hypocrite is an idiot
  
  7 0
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  April 18, 2026 12:28pm
sungsamning

The Henry Jackson Society is a registered British charity — charity number 1140489 — that has spent 20 years briefing Members of Parliament on foreign policy, producing the legal arguments used to vote for airstrikes, and at one point receiving approximately £10,000 per month from the Japanese embassy in London to plant anti-China stories in British newspapers. Its founding patrons include a former Director of the CIA, the co-founder of the Project for the New American Century (the group that lobbied hardest for the invasion of Iraq), and a former US Assistant Secretary of Defense known in Washington as the “Prince of Darkness.” It has 11 employees. Most people in this country have never heard its name. [I’d never heard of it. More secret squirrel stuff from the donor class. Sunlight is the best disinfectant.]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtAgFG7HRZI
Britain’s Most Influential Political Organisation Nobody Has Heard Of.
5 2
Log in to Reply
Report
April 18, 2026 8:41am
- Swifty
  
  Douglas Murray was a spokesperson for many years.
  
  5 1
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  April 18, 2026 10:08am
  - Ra Henare
    
    haha say no more. Murray has turned in to a shill for Israel..ie opinion for hire.
    
    Years ago I used to enjoy his perspective. Now I find him an arrogant, self opinionated prat.
    
    1 7
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    April 18, 2026 1:15pm
    - Graeme Hall
      
      Good luck debating him, if you ever get a chance.
      
      0 0
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      April 18, 2026 9:14pm
  - sungsamning
    
    Yes, and I’d never heard of the HJS. Hope they didn’t get burned on oil futures.
    
    0 0
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    April 18, 2026 5:56pm
- Cassandra
  
  The HJ Society has been around for aeons. He was a senator from NW. Washington state?
  
  2 1
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  April 18, 2026 11:06am
sungsamning

Trump: Iran ‘Agreed to Everything’ Including Reopening the Strait of Hormuz and Not Enriching Uranium
President Donald Trump said Friday that Iran “agreed to everything” in negotiations with the United States following a news-packed morning that included the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump made the comments to NewsNation’s Kellie Meyer, who called the president after he announced the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, declaring that the United States will retrieve enriched uranium from sites bombed in Operation Midnight Hammer last June. [If this holds; brace for a tsunami of liberal tears. Then a gradual downward trend in oil prices. and finally, peace in the Middle East.]
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2026/04/17/trump-iran-agreed-to-everything-including-reopening-the-strait-of-hormuz-and-not-enriching-uranium/
Trump: Iran ‘Agreed to Everything’ Including Reopening the Strait of Hormuz and Not Enriching Uranium.
11 4
Log in to Reply
Report
April 18, 2026 8:41am
- Southern Raider
  
  Is Trump up for the Nobel Peace Prize now?
  
  Looks like putting a dozen battleships outside the Gulf to stop Iran earning money was a smart move.
  
  16 4
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  April 18, 2026 9:13am
  - sungsamning
    
    Nah, wrong party, wrong color. Too much winning, and no whining.
    
    1 0
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    April 18, 2026 5:56pm
- Scott
  
  Yes I strongly suspect that Iran has gone. We know Venezuela has gone. Cuba appears to be only a matter of time. The communists gone in Cuba, the socialists gone in Venezuela, the Ayatollahs gone in Iran.
  
  Could it be that Trump will succeed and be right about everything? The world would be a much better place because of Trump!
  
  If that happens I will expect full bowing and scraping from his many detractors on kiwiblog. You know who you are. 😎
  
  22 8
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  April 18, 2026 9:29am
  - kowtow
    
    It won’t be long before the ‘TACO’ crowd get going , again.
    
    5 2
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    April 18, 2026 10:39am
  - R
    
    ‘full blown bowing and scraping’…….Would make for a very long edition of KB.
    Swallowing dead rats will be painfull and embarrassing for many activist commentators.
    
    6 2
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    April 18, 2026 10:40am
  - mogg
    
    Trump’s blockade of Hormuz has got the
    Theo-Fascists by the balls, the pressure will now come from inside Iran.
    
    6 4
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    April 18, 2026 11:56am
    - Paulus
      
      No, it will continue to be controlled by violence of the secret police as in the past 40 years.
      
      2 4
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      April 18, 2026 2:14pm
  - MCōs
    
    Regime change in Cuba has appeared to be only a matter of time for the last sixty six years
    There’s been all sorts of pressure and the place, we’re told, is a mess, but there it is
    
    3 3
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    April 18, 2026 4:30pm
    - Don Beckett
      
      I have a suspicion that this time its different.
      
      3 1
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      April 18, 2026 5:20pm
  - Hard Cheese
    
    How about that uprising by the Iranian people you promised, has it happened yet?
    
    1 1
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    April 18, 2026 4:31pm
- MCōs
  
  The big print
  The Strait of Hormuz is open
  The small print
  For the remaining period of ceasefire. (which finishes in four days)
  https://aje.news/zo0udq
  
  13 8
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  April 18, 2026 9:32am
  - Ghost
    
    The even smaller print, it’s closed until insurance companies feel it is safe.
    
    11 10
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    April 18, 2026 9:34am
    - kowtow
      
      Lots of ships on the move though.
      
      9 5
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      April 18, 2026 10:03am
      - Taieri
        
        Not really.
        
        https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/centerx:56.9/centery:26.1/zoom:9
        
        5 3
        Report
        April 18, 2026 10:24am
    - Taieri
      
      And that will not happen until Persian Gulf and Hormuz are no longer designated as the War Risk Zone.
      
      https://azure-risk.com/insights/war-risk-zones-and-how-they-affect-global-shipping/
      
      7 6
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      April 18, 2026 10:03am
    - sungsamning
      
      ‘Insurance companies’ shot themselves in the foot. The city miscalculated badly.
      
      0 0
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      April 18, 2026 5:59pm
- Dudley Quaffquaff
  
  Yeah, nah. “Trump said” is nothing like good enough for credence.
  
  And even if it were true – this is better than where we were last week, but how far is it better than where we were two months ago? Is it billions of dollars, fifteen (at least) US lives, 180 schoolgirls’ lives, thousands of civilians’ lives and the opinion and trust of the rest of the world’s worth of better?
  
  7 10
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  April 18, 2026 9:39am
  - Charlotte Wells
    
    Thousands of civilians?
    
    Yeah, na.
    
    7 4
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    April 18, 2026 10:36am
  - David George
    
    Thanks Dud, you didn’t know that there are a hell of a lot less Iranians getting killed in the war than were killed by the Islamists before it even started?
    
    They’re still executing protestors though; protestors like 19 year old Iranian woman Saghar Gholami. Because she is a virgin she will be pack raped* by the prison guards before being subject to death by hanging.
    
    *The Ayatollahs insist this is necessary to ensure she doesn’t get to heaven. Not sure why it has to be multiple rapes though. Very thorough people I guess.
    
    7 4
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    April 18, 2026 11:25am
    - Drone
      
      David George you have no evidence for any of these claims. You merely parrot anti Iranian propaganda.
      
      4 8
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      April 18, 2026 12:16pm
    - Dudley Quaffquaff
      
      If you’re going to rest your case on Iran being the bad guys, you need to at least to pretend to at least want to at least behave like good guys. The US is not reaching that bar.
      
      Again: Is the situation now better than it was two months ago? In what ways, by how much and for whom? And has it been worth the cost, even if we leave out all the dead and wounded Iranians, even the schoolgirls?
      
      3 8
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      April 18, 2026 12:21pm
- Taieri
  
  President Donald Trump said Friday
  ———
  
  President Trump says many things. Sometimes many things in one sentence. Sometimes contradicting things he’s said in the previous sentence.
  
  7 8
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  April 18, 2026 10:27am
- Paulus
  
  And would you trust the Iranian hierarchy, or what is left ?
  As a physically violent over masters still there
  – No Blood Fear !
  
  8 1
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  April 18, 2026 11:32am
- Ra Henare
  
  Yep believe EVERYTHING Trump says.
  /sarc
  
  1 4
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  April 18, 2026 1:17pm
AitchW

Now that support for the Green Party has plummeted, falling by 50%, will Maiki Sherman chase Swarbrick and Davidson through Wellington arrivals shrieking questions about when they plan to resign?
Of course not.
Our media are a sad joke.
45 0
Log in to Reply
Report
April 18, 2026 9:15am
- Ghost
  
  I wouldn’t put much into a poll having the greens drop 4 points. Their core base will never leave them like that. They will still be around 10 -11%
  
  5 8
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  April 18, 2026 9:27am
  - AitchW
    
    I wouldn’t be so sure. They are becoming more and more batshit crazy and more and more a “Wahine Maori toa” party with a handful of recent immigrants thrown in for good measure.
    True conservationists and ladies who lunch will not be happy with either of those developments.
    
    28 0
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    April 18, 2026 9:32am
    - David Garrett
      
      Aitch: They now have ONE spokesperson for the environment…I my day that was their primary focus…not any more
      
      18 0
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      April 18, 2026 10:43am
      - AitchW
        
        You’d have thought that their spokesperson for the environment would be one of the co-leaders or at the very least a deputy co-leader.
        Without Google I couldn’t say who their environment spokesperson is!
        
        5 0
        Report
        April 18, 2026 10:55am
  - Ian
    
    Maybe the 4 point drop is the chardonnay greens leaving because the Greens tax/wealth policies may cripple them so much that they can’t afford chardonnay anymore. As for the remaining core, they will be the ones out to tax the rich…
    
    19 1
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    April 18, 2026 9:49am
  - pdm
    
    That core base though is possibly now as few as 3% and a maximum of 8%.
    
    I see this morning one of their selected candidates has walked away from them and will stand as an Independent.
    
    Citing his initial low list placing and that the leadership is impossible to talk to.
    
    11 1
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    April 18, 2026 9:59am
  - Nūhaka Native
    
    For context, here are their results over the last 25 years. That 7% in the latest poll could be real. Where else is Labour getting its 36% support?
    Year result seats
    2002 7.0% 9 Growth phase under MMP
    2005 5.3% 6 Slight drop, stayed in Parliament
    2008 6.7% 9 Recovery in support
    2011 11.1% 14 Strong surge
    2014 10.7% 14 Stable high support
    2017 6.3% 8 Drop after peak years
    2020 7.9% 10 Moderate recovery
    2023 11.6% 15 Strongest result to date
    
    7 0
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    April 18, 2026 10:31am
    - kowtow
      
      ‘Where else is Labour getting its 36% support?’
      
      Nathan Guy said there’s 300,000 Indian voters busting a gut to vote for the FTA .
      
      I suspect mass immigration has a decided effect on party voting intentions , esp in terms of voters looking for lolly scramble policies which are a favourite of the left.
      
      3 2
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      April 18, 2026 11:53am
- Paulus
  
  No, no, no, Tova is back to lead the media recovery !
  
  5 1
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  April 18, 2026 11:33am
- Southern Raider
  
  Also need to factor in no more walk ups on election day.
  
  3 0
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  April 18, 2026 11:55am
- Paulus
  
  Somebody said that Maiki is considering standing for Labour as Maori spokesperson Miniter.
  She get plenty of practice currently.
  
  4 0
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  April 18, 2026 2:17pm
- pb
  
  Greens are the High Fuel Price Party.
  
  0 0
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  April 18, 2026 4:29pm
Ian Boag

NZ about to relax WOF frequencies. Cue MTA about how we can expect more accidents etc from increase of clunkers etc etc

In Australia only NSW has a WOF-like system with regular inspections. The other states inspect cars that are imported from out of state, when ownership changes and when pulled off the road for being unsafe. Aus road deaths per 10,000 are about 40% less than ours. Go figure.

In the US, about 30 states have systems similar to the non-NSW Australian states. The ones with WOF-like systems are generally looser than NZ rules.

If you dig around with a bot you will find that lots of countries do not have regular vehicle inspections and generally have significantly lower road deaths per 10,000 than NZ.

The conclusion one might draw is that mechanical decay is not a major factor in road deaths. Sounds odd, but numbers do not lie. Ask chatgpt or claude if you want details ….
17 4
Log in to Reply
Report
April 18, 2026 9:46am
- R
  
  We would have even lower road death rates; if the traffic policing concentrated on dangerous driving practices, instead of REVENUE GATHERING
  
  12 2
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  April 18, 2026 10:46am
  - Ghost
    
    Don’t like the police doing their job, drug/alcohol stops, speeding, people on their phones, don’t break the law. Seems to be that some people do not believe in police upholding the law when they are breaking the laws you agreed to abide by when driving.
    
    2 11
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    April 18, 2026 10:57am
    - kowtow
      
      Do unlicensed drivers agree to anything other than their own selfish wants and desires.
      
      7 2
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      April 18, 2026 11:07am
      - Ghost
        
        they are already breaking the law. unfortunately in NZ we don’t take vehicle crimes serious, speeding, drunk driving, driving without a license, etc so they will be given a chance to get a license instead of punished for the crimes they commit
        
        2 3
        Report
        April 18, 2026 12:17pm
    - Ra Henare
      
      Ghost, maybe its the PPPP making the rediculous laws that is the problem???
      
      1 1
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      April 18, 2026 1:20pm
  - Taieri
    
    I like driving fast and have been fined a few times. But, I’ve never complained about receiving a speeding ticket. Easy to avoid, just lift your foot a little bit off the accelerator pedal.
    
    9 0
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    April 18, 2026 12:25pm
  - Paulus
    
    Remember that Aussie has its own state Police forces dealing only with Motorists, harshly.
    
    2 1
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    April 18, 2026 2:19pm
    - Ian Boag
      
      And you can get points from a camera in NSW – ask how I know 🙂
      
      1 1
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      April 18, 2026 5:19pm
      - Don Beckett
        
        Yes, I saw that last time I was over there, but wasn’t a victim. 🙂
        
        1 1
        Report
        April 18, 2026 5:21pm
  - Ian Boag
    
    My point was that if we binned annual WOF stuff we would be no worse off. So maybe we should just bin it and be like a whole lot of other places in the world who have lower road death rates than we do ….
    
    5 2
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    April 18, 2026 6:45pm
    - jonno1
      
      I totally agree, however it needs to be a gradual change (as is proposed), as NZers are inclined to rely on the WoF and not do their own checks.
      
      0 0
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      April 18, 2026 9:20pm
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  Aussie spends more on its roads, across country that is much flatter and less bendy than NZ.
  
  Might have something to do with the numbers, eh.
  
  1 0
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  April 18, 2026 1:33pm
- Charlotte Wells
  
  Correlation is not causation.
  
  There could be other factors that need to be identified.
  
  0 0
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  April 18, 2026 7:59pm
MCōs

The two NZ cricket teams had great days in the tropics yesterday
The #1 Blackcaps team which was really a 2nd XI beat a full strength Bangladesh team in an ODI in 35° heat and the A team, which is just about whoever is left is holding its own against Sri Lanka A
5 2
Log in to Reply
Report
April 18, 2026 9:52am
- Swifty
  
  Yes, quite a few players having their crack at the top level for the first time.
  
  Good on them.
  
  7 0
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  April 18, 2026 10:10am
surfing

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/media-insider/media-insider-broadcasting-standards-authority-v-the-platforms-sean-plunket-bsa-opens-investigation-into-new-complaints/premium/2EX5EY3DBBHYFKCSAZ7HBKWUIY/

Anyone should have the right to refer to “Māori tikanga as “mumbo jumbo”.

On air, in public, in private, wherever. It’s free speech, the BSA belongs in North Korea, not New Zealand.

Sean Plunket deserves a medal!
44 0
Log in to Reply
Report
April 18, 2026 10:02am
- pb
  
  Time to subscribe to the platform.
  
  2 0
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  April 18, 2026 4:30pm
imalwaysright

Spare a thought for all of those school children in NZ who haven’t eaten for the last two weeks.
Hopefully the schools will start them off on some light soup until their stomachs adjust to solids again…
36 1
Log in to Reply
Report
April 18, 2026 10:03am
- Ian
  
  There will be some genuine cases where a school lunch is required upon return to school, but to ban parents from sending their child to school with a lunch so that the school orders lunches for everyone to spare the feelings of those that need a lunch is absolutely ridiculous….
  
  17 0
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  April 18, 2026 11:05am
  - imalwaysright
    
    Maybe we should ban parents from sending their child to school WITHOUT a lunch Ian.
    
    If we eliminate the problem then we don’t need a solution..
    
    2 0
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    April 18, 2026 1:46pm
- sungsamning
  
  And some of that oral rehydration stuff, just in case. //
  
  0 0
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  April 18, 2026 6:04pm
grumpy

I see hard done by EV drivers complaining that their “off peak” electricity prices have gone up. That is what happens when all the EV owners thrash the “off peak” until it becomes the “peak”.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/meridian-ev-power-plan-hawkes-bay-man-shocked-at-60-offpeak-hike/premium/5ZYDKU42LRG6LCGNVR2WE6N44A/
19 0
Log in to Reply
Report
April 18, 2026 10:32am
- kowtow
  
  The media played this “fuel crisis” on behalf of their paymasters ( advertisers) for all it was worth .
  
  Panicked quite a few folk to rush out and buy EVs .
  
  Now it’s over , I suspect there’ll be huge ,bigly waves of buyer’s remorse.
  
  11 2
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  April 18, 2026 11:05am
  - Albie
    
    kowtow, I worked with a guy who bought a new Peugeot 5008 and at around 20,000k traded it in to a wholesaler as he said it was using too much fuel to run to work and back. His round trip was 24km a day. He then bought a new Tesla Model 3 and was jubilant at how much money he was no longer spending on fuel! Plenty of people like him around! Go figure.
    
    0 0
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    April 18, 2026 4:43pm
- [email protected]
  
  Time to get solar panels on the roof.
  
  2 1
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  April 18, 2026 11:19am
  - Ian
    
    I have them, not for an EV though. Absolutely overcast and raining where I am. Currently the panels are producing six 100w light bulbs worth of energy of which one light bulbs worth is being exported to the grid. On a good day, production is 50KW, of which most goes to the grid…
    
    4 0
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    April 18, 2026 1:03pm
Swifty

Some important food for thought regarding mining in NZ:

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1BG1TRwzTG

We must get this country going!
4 0
Log in to Reply
Report
April 18, 2026 10:39am
Charlotte Wells

The how and why Jacinda Adern ruined our country.

A commitment to kindness makes relationshsips functional and systems dysfunctional.

A commitment to the truth (facts and reality) makes relationships dysfunctional but systems functional.
13 2
Log in to Reply
Report
April 18, 2026 11:14am
imalwaysright

Are the Police now investigating minor crimes because they are fashionable?

Its great that they are investigating any theft, but why is $800 of diesel worthy of their time when burglaries, vehicle thefts, shoplifting etc only get a case number?

Police cut off escape after theft of 200L of diesel from business https://share.google/umhBymSLZ4YQ2vscz
11 0
Log in to Reply
Report
April 18, 2026 12:22pm
- Charlotte Wells
  
  When the shout goes up ‘burglars on’ cops love it.
  
  A chance to nab some offenders when the eveidence is obvious and the conviction assured.
  
  It’s like a plumber unblocking a drain, instant success and validation.
  
  6 1
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  April 18, 2026 1:04pm
  - MCōs
    
    I know exactly what you mean with regard to the feeling of instant validation that can be achieved by the unblocking of a “drain”
    
    1 1
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    April 18, 2026 4:01pm
Swifty

My god!

“Under this coalition, taxpayer funding of my private business interests has fallen sharply, so I am standing for the NZ Labour Party to correct this terrible state of affairs! This injustice!”

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/592732/labour-selects-kingi-kiriona-to-contest-hauraki-waikato

“While I have sucked heavily on the taxpayer teat for decades through my private interests, and through board memberships of the Waitangi Tribunal, Maori TV and the Maori Health Service, it is not enough and I demand more taxpayer milk to keep me and my family in the lives we have become accustomed to!

The NZ Labour Party will give me that taxpayer milk – they’ve told me so and that’s why I’ve agreed to stand for them.”
7 0
Log in to Reply
Report
April 18, 2026 1:45pm
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  Goodness, so folks aren’t queuing to pay for Maori kaupapa education.
  
  Who would have guessed?
  
  4 0
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  April 18, 2026 7:58pm
Swifty

Flooding in Stokes Valley:

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/15iWvA3HCJ7
1 0
Log in to Reply
Report
April 18, 2026 5:05pm

Add a Comment Cancel reply

Login to comment or vote

« Tony Blair on anti-semitism

Guest Post: Twyford, Davidson and Socialist Aotearoa give comfort to Iran’s regime »

Donations

You can now donate to Kiwiblog

Exclusive content from DPF on Patreon

Become a Patron!

Never miss a post

Email Address

Join 13K other subscribers

Highlights

Target achieved II
Good progress on attendance
Health Target 5 – elective treatments
Health Target 4 – Specialist appointments

Links

"For 40 years, NZers have been told that fewer councils mean better government. For 40 years, the evidence has refused to oblige."
Not PC
The beat up about so called NZ freeloading
Point of Order
Word of the day
Hompaddock
Saturday’s Quick Hits
No Minister
Should Kiwis dream of Electric Sheep?
The Standard
If we were honest, Trump perfectly represents 250 years of America
The Daily Blog
Fourth Shale Revolution = Hydrocarbon Abundance
Utopia
Parliament fails to defend transparency
No Right Turn
Playing with numbers.
Kiwipolitico
Another non-tariff barrier
Offsetting Behaviour
Rugby Premiership Predictions for Round 18
Stats Chat
Budget 2026
NZCPR
UK Conversion Therapy Ban, Digital ID, Rallies, Elections
Bob McCoskrie's McBlog
A central banker’s fiction
Croaking Cassandra
THE WORKING FROM HOME RACKET BY PUBLIC SERVANTS
No Punches Pulled (Bob Jones)
Tory Whanau may have to sell Wellington mayoralty to make ends meet
The Civilian
The Accidental Engagement
Imperator Fish
Legal Beagle: Election '23: The Special Votes
Public Address
Get Vaccinated Tomorrow Or Shut Your Pie Hole
Cactus Kate
Making this movie might have been a mistake
Liam Hehir
Why I am retiring from political blogging
Kiwi FireWalker

[email protected]

PO Box 12270, Thorndon, Wellington 6144

Facebook
Twitter
FourSquare
Instagram
LinkedIn
Google+

Archives
Disclosure Statement
Editorial Policy
Privacy Policy
Complaints Policy
Comments Policy

Design by cre8d

%d

Share this:

Like this: