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April 22, 2026 8:00am by Kokila Patel

General Debate 22 April 2026

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General Debate

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Simon

National party: you just can’t change out lemons during election year. It just doesn’t work.

Luxon the lemon.

Party vote National
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April 22, 2026 8:09am
- lastmanstanding
  
  I agree with you Simon. Unless we want the Toxic Trio we must vote the Nats. Alas the Fourth Opposition Party aka the MSM wont let this go. They will keep on working to undermine Luxon and the Nats. The only hope as I have posted is that fringe Nat voters go to NZF or ACT. One other Party to watch is TOP. they are polling 3.3% and are a natural partner for the Left. If they can grow their vote to 5% then its all other for the Centre Right.
  
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  April 22, 2026 9:28am
  - Cassandra
    
    If. TOP will cannibalise Labour.
    
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    April 22, 2026 9:30am
    - Ghost
      
      Will it? The last one news polls had nz first and greens stable. Labour up 5%, national down 4%, act down 2%. TOP on 3%, doesn’t look like they are taking voters from the left.
      
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      April 22, 2026 9:36am
    - Nūhaka Native
      
      TOP could, and can take a few per cent of Labour and get to the magic 5 per cent number, and Labour will be happy enough to lose a few per cent but get their MMP coalition partner into parliament. TOP are just Labour dressed up in teal colours anyway. Ex Labour Party cabinet minister Iain Lees-Galloway is now their general manager.
      
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      April 22, 2026 9:56am
      - Gravelroad
        
        From what I have read about TOP , they are way to the left of Labour. They might dress it up a bit to disguise their intent and true colours.
        TOP? No thanks. Bottom more like it.
        
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        April 22, 2026 11:44am
  - Gary Benner
    
    Lastman, suggest electorate vote National and Party Vote NZF or ACT. That will perserve the current coalition, and ensure that NZF & ACT can swing the team back to the right.
    
    No lost votes, as would happen with TOP and Outdoors etc.
    
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    April 22, 2026 12:50pm
sungsamning

https://issuesinsights.com/2026/04/21/trump-puts-colleges-on-notice-no-more-taxpayer-subsidies-for-worthless-degrees/
Trump Puts Colleges On Notice: No More Taxpayer Subsidies For Worthless Degrees.

The only thing more surprising about the Education Department’s proposed rule on college loans is that it took this long for common sense to prevail over the interests of Big College.
On Friday, the department issued a “notice of proposed rulemaking” that would, if implemented, block taxpayer-subsidized student loans for worthless degrees. To say that this is needed is a vast understatement.

[Mod – a paragraph is all you need to paste]
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April 22, 2026 8:14am
- Wandering Star
  
  Trump doesn’t need the fees for “worthless degrees” for Americans when his student visa policies bring in hundreds of thousands of Chinse and Indians paying international fees to prop up Big College and provide a pathway to citizenship, and to then fill up all the Big Tech jobs. You’d have to seriously ask, is MAGA is tired of winning yet?
  
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  April 22, 2026 2:07pm
  - sungsamning
    
    Good point. Those numbers should be minimized.
    
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    April 22, 2026 4:12pm
cas

A reason not to move to Otaki.

According to Aaron Smale in a column in the latest Listener, Otaki has ‘ a commitment to te reo as the official language of the township.’
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April 22, 2026 8:15am
- Nikola Donatello
  
  I think that you will find similar commitments elsewhere. Northland in particular.
  
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  April 22, 2026 9:47am
- Hugh Jarse
  
  It certainly has a commitment to growing gang member numbers and gang homicides.
  
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  April 22, 2026 10:40am
- igm
  
  It is good not needing to drive through the maori dump when travelling north and south. Lost me when referred to as maori capital of some weird sounding pre-historic country.
  
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  April 22, 2026 10:47am
  - MCōs
    
    What were you doing up North?
    
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    April 22, 2026 12:07pm
    - igm
      
      Working
      
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      April 22, 2026 4:25pm
sungsamning

Reform UK councillors are quitting Nigel Farage’s party to join the newly formed Restore Britain, led by MP Rupert Lowe. This video covers the latest defections in Wales, where councillors Owain Clatworthy and Brandon Dodd have officially jumped ship. These moves follow a massive exodus in Kent, where a seven-councillor “Restore bloc” recently made the party the third-largest group on the council. [Restore Britain has only been a party for two weeks. They’re already on 9%. Is Reform just a retirement home for ex-Tories. Is it mostly performative. The fake news are giving reform air time. Is Reform the UKs version of the ‘fake moon landings’?]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTuSrDS_PvM
BETRAYAL? Two More Reform UK Councillors ABANDON Farage for Restore Britain.
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April 22, 2026 8:18am
Maggy Wassilieff

Will anything change now that Christopher Luxon is still the boss?

1.
Simon O’Connor suggests not, because MPs live in a bubble and are surrounded by sycophants:
https://onpointnz.substack.com/p/rinse-and-repeat

and
2. Lindsay Mitchell realises Luxon isn’t chasing her vote:
https://www.brashandmitchell.com/post/lindsay-mitchell-luxon-isn-t-talking-to-me
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April 22, 2026 8:19am
- Quail
  
  MW,,
  O ‘ Connor certainly sums up MMP and its damage to democracy.
  Well worth the read!
  
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  April 22, 2026 9:31am
Master Mariner

https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/IEA-Strait-of-Hormuz-Has-Lost-Its-Status-as-Reliable-Energy-Route.html

“It will be a very difficult period for energy-importing countries. There is no magic wand that will immediately normalize the markets,” Birol said this week in the remarks to the Turkish outlet Dünya.

The Asian economies are in for the biggest Hit and currently there is no light at the end of the tunnel. NZ is at the very end of these Supply chains with refined fuels with a limited “Shelf Life” and now limited storage.

There is no magic bullet in the near term, ie Oil/Gas exploration, Possibly Coal to Liquid Plants but we need to have this serious and honest conversation soon and look at how we got here in the first place starting with why Marsden Point went from a Strategic Asset to Privatisation to Banning of Oil Gas New exploration permits.
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April 22, 2026 8:22am
- Dudley Quaffquaff
  
  What exactly would be the point of rehashing how we got here? All that will achieve is to delay the start of the conversation about where we’re going and how to get there, as well as ensuring that that conversation starts in the most acrimonious way possible.
  
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  April 22, 2026 9:46am
  - Master Mariner
    
    Its called an honest discussion / Conversation. Basically a No Blame but just the facts.
    What an Idiotic reply.
    
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    April 22, 2026 10:54am
- Phronesis
  
  Did you see this post by Joseph Mooney MP a few weeks back explaining what actually happened with Marsden Point -https://x.com/JosephMooneyMP/status/2041067813700518365?s=20
  
  Basically it’s ETS exemption ended making it unprofitable
  
  “Refining NZ’s Negotiated Greenhouse Agreement – protecting it from full ETS exposure since 2003 – expired 31 December 2022. Under government policy settings it would then receive zero industrial allocation and face the full cost of its emissions. The ministry’s own analysis said this would “nearly halve the profitability of the refining business” – at 2019 prices of just $18 per NZU, it would produce an annual ETS bill of ~$20 million.’
  
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  April 22, 2026 10:40am
  - kowtow
    
    Climate hysteria is killing the economy , indeed , western society .
    
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    April 22, 2026 1:23pm
  - Master Mariner
    
    That would be a good place to start.
    Yep , An explanation of why we signed this in the first place would open people’s eyes.
    Unfortunately it goes a lot deeper than that.
    
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    April 22, 2026 2:12pm
- Dudley Quaffquaff
  
  Whether the issue is an impending shortage of fossil fuels, the geopolitical vulnerability of international fossil fuel supply chains or the environmental cost of fossil fuels – the broad direction of travel must be to move towards reduced use of fossil fuels. Alternatives are already available. A continuing high fossil fuel price will encourage those on the demand side who are most readily able, to shift to those alternatives; and those on the supply side who are most readily able, to develop and increase provision of those alternatives. Fiddling with levies and taxes to try to drag the fossil fuel price back down, is likely only to slow down that overall process.
  
  There’s your honest conversation about the way forward. How does spending as long as it takes to get to agreement about that what’s already happened, affect that?
  
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  April 22, 2026 2:51pm
Scott

“They’re eating the dogs, they’re eating the cats.”
This horrific report came out from Italy a few days ago:
“After locals reported a Nigerian man for killing a cat and trying to cook it in the middle of the day, police intervened in the town of Sarzana. A photo of the man has been published by Italian news media, with the blurred remains of the cat still visible in front of a children’s playground.
Responding to the incident, Councilor for Security in the province of La Spezia, Stefano Torri, called the act “atrocious that cannot and has no place in a civilized society.”
The man was stopped by Italian police after multiple calls from witnesses in the Crociata neighborhood, in a park dedicated to the Italian partisan commander Flavio “Walter” Bertone, according to Italian news outlet Il Messaggero. It remains unclear if the man was arrested.”

https://rmx.news/article/italy-nigerian-man-photographed-killing-cat-and-trying-to-cook-it-in-front-of-childrens-playground-leaving-town-of-sarzana-in-shock/

They are eating the dogs and the cats. That’s what Trump said the Haitians were doing in Springfield, Ohio.

It became a meme, it became a song.
But the good and the great rubbished Trump. “Baseless claims” they said:

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c77l28myezko

But now we find out they’re doing it in Italy. Apparently, according to the report, cat meat is popular in Nigeria and Ghana and Liberia.
Who knew?

Well Trump knew. The media didn’t know because knowing would mean they were “racist” and also would mean they would be siding with Trump. And they would do anything rather than side with Trump.

But Trump was right again. They’re eating the dogs and the cats. They really are:

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/04/trump-right-locals-horrified-nigerian-immigrant-kills-cooks/
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April 22, 2026 8:22am
- cmm (semi-retired edition)
  
  Dogs and cats are a delicacy in many parts of Africa.
  
  In Nigeria there are dog meat markets. Of course such rich diversity must be brought to Europe.
  
  https://youtu.be/uv2UWtsn8HM?t=2057
  
  Or if you are a bit more sensitive, then start at the beginning:
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uv2UWtsn8HM
  
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  April 22, 2026 9:30am
  - Taieri
    
    In Nigeria there are dog meat markets
    ————-
    
    In the 1970’s it was possible to buy monkey meat in Nigerian markets. I tasted it and it was quite good.
    
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    April 22, 2026 10:08am
    - Master Mariner
      
      Same in China with Dog Markets, Bloody good.
      Real delicacy to boot.
      
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      April 22, 2026 10:55am
    - cmm (semi-retired edition)
      
      Good old bush meat – all through Africa.
      
      Vervet monkeys were a pest where I grew up and they all ended up in the pot.
      
      I knew a guy who had a meal in some village and was served a bowl with a monkey hand on top. Apparently that’s quite an honour because the hands are considered a delicacy. The head had been eaten the previous day so he didn’t get that.
      
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      April 22, 2026 11:07am
      - Master Mariner
        
        Didn’t Idi Amen serve human brains in Uganda to visiting Dignatories?
        
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        April 22, 2026 2:14pm
  - Drone
    
    The French eat horse meat. Every country has their own culinary traditions that have been shaped by the country’s history. The Koreans eat dog meat.
    
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    April 22, 2026 11:32am
    - Jack5
      
      Tongan Aucklanders have long had a taste for horse meat. Lo‘i hoosi (or “horsey”) is eaten in their culture. This is coconut cream and diced onion mixed with shredded horse meat.
      
      Kiwiblog’s own Consul in Nukuʻalofa might have an opinion on the dish.
      
      It surely wouldn’t be profitable in NZ to raise horses for meat. Tongan Kiwis must have been eating slow gallopers and slow harness racers.
      
      If we’re going to meet traditional-culture meats in NZ there’s another type closer to home, but there’s no way it will get into restaurants.
      
      https://kanivatonga.co.nz/2026/01/time-for-new-zealand-to-face-reality-on-tongan-horse-meat-traditions/
      
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      April 22, 2026 9:31pm
- cmm (semi-retired edition)
  
  I must say I never quite understand why people have a problem eating dogs and cats when they have no problem eating pigs or cows.
  
  Similarly many people would feel squeamish about eating a cockroach but have no problem chomping on an equally bug-like prawn.
  
  The species we do and don’t eat is just driven by convention – like choosing which side of the road we drive on. It is perfectly logical that some people choose to eat different species or drive on a different side of the road.
  
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  April 22, 2026 9:36am
  - Inandout
    
    cmm, when in Rome do as the Romans do goes the saying. Pigs, sheep and cows are very well controlled from farm to abbatoirs, wild cats and dogs are not tested for diseases. The hordes of invaders who have flowed into Italy (and much of Europe) are slowly killing the tourist trade.
    
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    April 22, 2026 9:53am
  - Ian Boag
    
    I did hear a story one time about a tourist in China who was eating local – saw dog on the menu – asked what it tasted like. Answer “a bit like cat ….”.
    
    Guinea pigs (cuy) are regularly raised for food in Peru. Dunno if there are government approved abbatoirs and stuff. Chatgpt will tell you how they are prepared and what they look like on a plate ….
    
    We were at a retaurant in Lima – fellow Kiwi tourists were disgusted when I ordered it. IIRC it wasn’t cheap. Everyone wanted a photo and several asked for a taste …. 🙂
    
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    April 22, 2026 10:04am
  - Flossie
    
    We normally don’t consume carnivores just herbivores. Pigs may be the exception, but possibly that’s the reason some religions don’t eat pork?
    
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    April 22, 2026 10:07am
    - Taieri
      
      We normally don’t consume carnivores just herbivores
      ————
      
      That’s because meat from carnivores can taste a bit strange. I tasted bear meat in Estonia and it wasn’t something that I’ll ever want to repeat. May be it was from an animal that had the taste for a roadkill, who knows. It is sold legally over there.
      
      As for pigs, they are omnivores, or more accurately opportunity feeders, but generally they prefer vegetation, roots and such like and they can be quite destructive on the agricultural crops and other plants. Pigs don’t like heat and need plenty of water, both were not readily available in the Middle East, where Judaism and Islam originated.
      
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      April 22, 2026 10:22am
      - Countrygirl
        
        And of course, pigs just taste so damned delicious.
        
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        April 22, 2026 5:25pm
    - Phronesis
      
      In the case of NZ the only mammals that were historically consumed were bats, rats, dogs, and long pig. Not sure they actually ate the bats.
      
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      April 22, 2026 10:46am
  - AitchW
    
    Cats and dogs are carnivorous. I can’t imagine them tasting great…
    
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    April 22, 2026 10:12am
    - cmm (semi-retired edition)
      
      Have you ever seen what crayfish eat?
      
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      April 22, 2026 11:10am
      - Mod88
        
        Rats of the sea them critters.
        
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        April 22, 2026 11:25am
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  Hell, have you seen the price of cat food lately?
  
  Tiddles had better start foraging for herself soon if she doesn’t want to end up as a nibbles entree.
  
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  April 22, 2026 9:46am
- RichardX
  
  But Trump was right again. They’re eating the dogs and the cats. They really are:
  
  Who is “They” in your statement?
  
  For you to believe that to be true you must believe Haitians in Minnesota are identical to, and interchangeable with, Nigerians in Italy.
  
  Is that a rational position to hold?
  
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  April 22, 2026 10:08am
  - cmm (semi-retired edition)
    
    Well not far off. Both are West Africans.
    
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    April 22, 2026 11:11am
    - RichardX
      
      There is nothing about the behaviour of African immigrants in Italy that can be used to prove anything about the behaviour of Caribbean immigrants in the US.
      
      It is a logical impossibility.
      
      Maybe you believe Haiti is in West Africa and maybe you believe all West African immigrants eat cats & dogs but even if Haiti was in West Africa rather than the Caribbean, it would still be an unjustified conclusion to accept “Trump was right again. They’re eating the dogs and the cats.” as fact from the actions of Nigerians in Italy.
      
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      April 22, 2026 11:50am
      - Don Beckett
        
        Did you think about where the black people in Haiti came from? Slaves from Nigeria & environs in 18th & 19th century maybe?
        
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        April 22, 2026 4:11pm
      - RichardX
        
        Did you miss the bit where I said “but even if Haiti was in West Africa rather than the Caribbean, it would still be an unjustified conclusion to accept “Trump was right again. They’re eating the dogs and the cats.” as fact from the actions of Nigerians in Italy.” or do you not care about sound reasoning either?
        
        Not all Haitians are descendants of slaves from West Africa so you’re happy with sweeping assumptions at all levels.
        
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        April 22, 2026 4:45pm
- virtualmark
  
  Not sure that one data point from Italy proves that the Haitians in Ohio were eating the cats and the dogs.
  
  All evidence at the time said the Haitians *weren’t* eating the cats and dogs, or the geese.
  
  And this whole “They’re eating the cats and the dogs” thing went away as soon as the election was held … which makes me think it was a convenient lie to tell during the election and couldn’t/didn’t stand up to subsequent inquiry.
  
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  April 22, 2026 12:23pm
  - Scott
    
    It’s not one data point. It’s one example of an immigrant from a 3rd world country slaughtering someone’s cat. And the same article points out that cat meat is popular in several west African countries. Which is apparently from comments above where Haitians came from originally.
    
    So here’s the thing. Could it be that a hungry Haitian in Springfield saw a cat and ate it? Especially when eating cats is normal in parts of the 3rd world. I would imagine Haiti because it is a backward place, full of voodoo and Lord knows what else?
    
    And the point is that is what the west is importing, people who are not fit to live in a civilised country.
    Trump has a point. 😎
    
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    April 22, 2026 4:40pm
- Wandering Star
  
  Good point: whatever happened to those pet-eating Haitians in Ohio? My guess is absolutely nothing. Like so much of what Trump cynically says to get the idiots to vote for him, he’ll throw them red meat like this and then do zero about it once he’s elected and what his base wants can be safely ignored again.
  
  Thank you for your attention in this matter.
  
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  April 22, 2026 2:15pm
  - Scott
    
    My guess is absolutely nothing? 🙄
    
    This from the Guardian –
    
    “While many live in Florida, thousands of Haitians moved to Springfield beginning around 2018, attracted by the large number of entry-level jobs, affordable housing and a general environment of safety.
    
    Thousands of Haitians are thought to have since left the Ohio city following the furor prompted by false claims from Donald Trump in September 2024 that immigrants in Springfield were eating pets, marches by neo-Nazi groups on Springfield’s streets and Trump’s election to the White House the following November. Still, about 10,000 to 15,000 Haitians are believed to have remained in Springfield, nearly all of whose immigration status involves TPS or asylum, or both.”
    
    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/03/ohio-ice-raids-haitian-community
    
    Unfortunately the courts and the Democrats and some rogue Republicans are doing their best to block the deportation of more Haitian immigrants.
    
    But Trump is doing his best. 👍
    
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    April 22, 2026 4:44pm
    - Wandering Star
      
      You’re coping hard. It’s not “the courts, the Democrats and some rogue Republicans” that are the problem, it’s Donald Trump. The President. Wake up and smell the coffee, Trump’s all talk and no action, except for wars for Israel. Tired of Making America Great Again yet?
      
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      April 22, 2026 8:28pm
      - Scott
        
        No. You said nothing has happened. I’ve shown from the Guardian, no less, that thousands of Haitians have gone. So what you said, as far as we can tell, is not accurate.
        Trump is the best president in our lifetime. The only one at that time prepared to take on the sacred cow of mass immigration.
        
        You may not get 100% of what you want. But under the democrats you get 100% of what don’t want.
        
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        April 23, 2026 7:32am
Gravelroad

“Will anything change now that Christopher Luxon is still the boss?”
Perhaps another relevant question would be:
“Would anything change if C. Luxon was no longer the boss?”
And no, it wouldn’t.
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April 22, 2026 8:27am
- Boy Geoff
  
  Isn’t it great the Aotearoa’s media is about to run a series on the many compelling reasons to vote for Chris Hipkins…
  
  Heh
  
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  April 22, 2026 8:34am
  - G152
    
    Thats what ‘our’ media does when the truth doesn’t pay
    
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    April 22, 2026 9:51am
  - R
    
    Yes!, but will the NZ MSM run a similar series for the pending NZ election in November.
    
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    April 22, 2026 10:19am
  - Nobby2
    
    Boy Geoff, Where is this mythical place aotearoa you referred to ?
    
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    April 22, 2026 11:56am
- MCōs
  
  That’s a lot of hypotheticals
  
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  April 22, 2026 1:14pm
imalwaysright

Looks like more extortion.

Ngai Tahu are objecting to the proposed Bendigo gold mine.
Apparently the objection will go away if they get a share of the mine, or $100 million plus.

How long does it take for news of this State sanctioned extortion industry to travel the world and destroy investor/immigrant interest?
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April 22, 2026 8:32am
- Philview
  
  It troubles me with the scale of input on Dunedin’s new hospital. If everything becomes a partnership negotiation it explains why it takes 15 years and counting to build a new hospital.
  The taxpayers of New Zealand are paying for this.
  
  https://aukaha.co.nz/story/whakatuputupu-the-dunedin-hospital/
  
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  April 22, 2026 10:08am
Yvette

Luxon
On Tuesday morning ahead of the caucus vote [Senior Whip Stuart] Smith, via the prime minister’s office, provided a written statement saying he wouldn’t be at the caucus meeting due to a “longstanding personal appointment”.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/593006/analysis-luxon-puts-even-more-pressure-on-himself-with-confidence-gamble

Can anyone suggest a “longstanding personal appointment” that would prevent a Party member from attending an expected vote a the Party Leader, and a meeting that could last only 2 – 3 hours?

The relationship between the senior whip and the prime minister, and by extension his office, is pivotal. It’s Smith’s job to keep Luxon and his chief of staff abreast of caucus morale and any issues that crop up.
Luxon confirmed on Monday neither he nor his office had contacted Smith since the story broke on Friday morning, which shows the traditional closeness of that relationship doesn’t exist in this caucus.
… The next caucus vote could end up being for a replacement senior whip.

Will Smith attend or have a “longstanding personal appointment”?
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April 22, 2026 8:35am
- Bobba Fret
  
  I agree. I think Luxon needs a new part whip.
  
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  April 22, 2026 9:25am
  - rouppe
    
    Wasn’t Chris Bishop the party whip until recently?
    
    If so, the recent cabinet shuffle has backfired.
    
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    April 22, 2026 9:59am
    - Ghost
      
      No, he’s never been whip. He was Leader of the house.
      
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      April 22, 2026 10:08am
- Phronesis
  
  I’d guess elective surgery, particularly if done in public and off a waiting list.
  
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  April 22, 2026 10:50am
- rjay
  
  Any appointment in the health system
  
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  April 22, 2026 11:02am
- Observer of Life
  
  Any specialist appointment these days. They’re like hens teeth. And once you secure one, you don’t want to give it away.
  
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  April 22, 2026 11:18am
- wsk12345
  
  A wedding or maybe a big birthday of a close family member. Could even be a funeral if the person died some weeks ago, a memorial or a graduation of son/ daughter. An appt in the health system or with an oral surgeon. An exam, overseas trip.,,,, could be anything.
  
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  April 22, 2026 3:53pm
pdm

Google tells me it is Earth day today.

Is this the day we are supposed to turn all of the lights in the house on once it gets dark?
13 2
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April 22, 2026 8:37am
- Cassandra
  
  A day celebrating peace and climate. The 56th. One would hope that after 56 years of hysteria and BS we might have some honesty. The climate is changing. It always has. Oil and coal is a tiny part of the cause, if any. There’s very little we can do about it. Cleaning up the planet is a good idea. Wind and solar isn’t the answer. The Greens are nuts. Gaza isn’t changing our weather.
  
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  April 22, 2026 8:52am
  - Nikola Donatello
    
    Indeed. Think of the great things that were done by rich countries. Like getting lead out of petrol. Now everyone is distracted by terror of carbon dioxide.
    
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    April 22, 2026 8:54am
    - cmm (semi-retired edition)
      
      Quite. It is only rich people that can afford to bother about such things. If you want the luxury of looking after the ecosystem then first take care of the economy.
      
      There are some serious ecological issues to worry about, but the CO2 hysteria is, to pardon a pun, taking all the oxygen.
      
      400ppm is a tiny amount. 400ppm is less than 1 part in 2000. Scaled to something as tall as a doorway (approximately 2 metres), it is less than 1mm.
      
      We have a generation of hysterical youngsters, and another generation of their woke parents, that believe we’re on the verge of choking to death on atmospheric CO2.
      
      Few seem to understand that the CO2 levels in expired air breathed out by a person (ie. the lifesaving breath of CPR) is around 2 to 4% – ie 20,000 to 40,000 ppm, 50 to 100x as much.
      
      Still, that 400ppm looks like a feast to the plants that need CO2 to survive. That is why we’re now seeing regeneration of desert regions as plants can now grow in more marginal areas.
      
      23 1
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      April 22, 2026 9:16am
      - Notsofast
        
        Fron chatgpt:
        
        [Mod – this is a blog to debate on, not to paste ChatGPT conversations, a link to the ChatGPT conversation is all that is needed]
        
        2 2
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        April 22, 2026 9:33am
      - Notsofast
        
        Carl Sagan predicted before congress in 1985 the exact path for CO2 increase and its effect on global temperature. This shows that cmm is mistaken in the method of analyzing the issue, it is a mistake I made many years ago to a climate scientist, who clarified in the same way as Sagan.
        
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        April 22, 2026 9:57am
      - Interested Party
        
        I don’t know how they work it out, but apparently 95% of the CO2 in the atmosphere is NOT man made
        
        7 0
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        April 22, 2026 10:30am
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    And of course the Earth Day Foundation likes to forget one of its founding fathers….
    
    Earth Day co-founder killed, composted girlfriend
    
    https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna42711922
    
    16 1
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    April 22, 2026 9:10am
  - Nūhaka Native
    
    We are adding CO2 to the atmosphere. We know the extra CO₂ in the atmosphere is human-made because measurements show a clear rise in CO₂ that matches fossil fuel emissions, and the carbon “fingerprint” (isotopes and declining oxygen levels) confirms it comes from burning coal, oil, and gas rather than natural sources.
    
    We know temperature is going up because we can measure it. Global average temperature has risen by about 1.2°C since pre-industrial times.
    
    We can’t say what the effect of this is with any certainty. The IPCC says climate change is making some storms more intense, especially by increasing heavy rainfall and flooding, and may be increasing the strength of tropical cyclones, but it does not show that storms are becoming more frequent overall.
    
    What does the NZ Department of Statistics say?
    
    “The annual maximum rainfall in a single day likely or very likely increased at 12 of 30 sites and decreased at 10 across Aotearoa New Zealand. Between 1960 and 2022.” So, no clear trend. The increase or decrease is about 4mm per decade.
    
    “The annual average of the daily maximum wind gust (windiness) likely or very likely decreased at 14 of 17 sites across Aotearoa New Zealand. Between 1980 and 2022. ” So, the trend is actually decreasing extreme wind.
    
    We do have fewer frosts though, and plants are growing better due to extra CO2. Satellite data shows that the Earth has been generally greening in many regions, partly due to increased CO₂ boosting plant growth.
    
    https://www.stats.govt.nz/indicators/extreme-wind/
    
    https://www.stats.govt.nz/indicators/extreme-rainfall/
    
    4 2
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    April 22, 2026 1:17pm
- Nikola Donatello
  
  No everyone turns off all the lights. It is practice for daily life in New Zealand in 2040.
  
  15 2
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  April 22, 2026 8:52am
  - artemisia
    
    There are several satellite pics of North Korea and South Korea at night, together. Widely published, easy to find. One country is brightly lit, one country is not. Save the Planet advocates will for sure prefer one over the other. So a perfect place for them to move to.
    
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    April 22, 2026 9:05am
kowtow

ODT has a story ( behind paywall) on how Ngai Tahu want $180 million from Santana .

This follows their “shakedown” of Meridian and attempt at another miner Oceania Gold .

All this under a govt elected to stop this .

Michael Laws discusses all this on the Platform this morning. Hopefully will be available on podcast at some stage.
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April 22, 2026 8:43am
- Nikola Donatello
  
  Honestly, Chris Luxon will go down as the PM who missed so many opportunities to change the nation for the better.
  
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  April 22, 2026 9:24am
  - R
    
    NO! ……PM Luxon may well go down as the PM who saved NZ from descending in to Communisim; but was thwarted by a MARXIST MSM, and an equally marxist bureacracy, where some elements thought that promoting their own ideology was the aim of a good days productive work
    
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    April 22, 2026 10:25am
    - RoboRob
      
      Yeah the MSM have been drugging Luxon and thats why he cant answer a straight question (unless its about leadership).
      
      When he couldn’t answer Tova about National Maori MPs in caucus that wasn’t his fault, that was electronic probes forced into his brain by the MSM with the help of the Jews.
      
      The MSM are woke and biased but Luxon has some blame for his actions or lack thereof as well. Take the blinkers off R and stop trying to spin everything as the MSMs fault.
      
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      April 22, 2026 1:40pm
  - sungsamning
    
    And so many of them were easily done in the first year.
    
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    April 22, 2026 4:23pm
- RoboRob
  
  Brown mail. Apparently Santana isn’t meeting its treaty obligations. I guess thats the treaty clause #4 that says if Maori dont own something that makes money they get a cut from whoever does.
  
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  April 22, 2026 9:31am
- Clyde
  
  This is nothing other than cultural blackmail. Government – owners of Meridian – should have stamped down really hard on the extortion when Ngai Tahu – who don’t pay tax in the main – demanded $186m to withdraw their objection to the renewal of the consents to operate the dams on the Waitaki. Meridian folded and Ngai Tahu rapidly learned that they can do exactly the same with Santana. All these concerns, but easily overcome by opening up the cash registers. I say enough. Time for the rorts to stop. Who has the gumption and the will to do it?
  
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  April 22, 2026 10:50am
  - RoboRob
    
    Nobody in the current parliament. Perhaps Act but even then they aren’t that strong on this stuff.
    
    Re Merridian, they are wokesters anyway so would never kick up a stink. It is up to the government to fix this stuff and they aint up to much.
    
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    April 22, 2026 1:37pm
  - KH
    
    Santana ain’t folding apparently.
    Great to see. But the powers of evil are still there and hard to contend with.
    
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    April 22, 2026 2:29pm
- NothingLeft
  
  Simple solution:
  
  Have a govt maintained register of all NZer’s who want to support Maori wonderfulness and TOW linked payouts etc – simply sign up with IRD. Add the cost of those parts of govt budget on a per-capita basis to their yearly tax bills. Allow all private sector Maori brownmail demands for koha etc to be billed to this same fund for those who don’t want to participate in funding the grift.
  
  People who feel strongly about supporting TOW and other race based shake-downs can have their wish, but will have to put their money where their mouth is.
  
  Other’s who think it is negative and destructive to NZ won’t then be forced to bear the cost.
  
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  April 22, 2026 7:04pm
KH

My wife said. “What’s all this money from Santana Mining to Ngai Tahu? What’s that about?”
( It’s $180 million)
I said “There are huge cultural problems with the Tarras mine. But if Santana forks over $180 million, the problems magically disappear.”
(Otago daily times. But pay walled)
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April 22, 2026 8:51am
- R
  
  Magically disappear…..FOR THIS WEEK. Rust never sleeps!
  
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  April 22, 2026 9:26am
- Notsofast
  
  This model is set in stone now.
  It cost a colleague $500 times 9 to get approval from 9 iwi as distant as Kaitaia to replace an existing water bore in Coatesville.
  The Hikoi was a triumph for the kids and now they reap the whirlwind.
  Tough but they were warned. It amused me Chris Martin was all across the Hikoi, quelle surprise.
  
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  April 22, 2026 9:44am
- cmm (semi-retired edition)
  
  Taniwha kibble doesn’t come from Pak ‘n Save.
  
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  April 22, 2026 9:48am
  - sungsamning
    
    Of course not. It comes from an exclusive store in Cashel Mall. Or from the Timaru branch of same.
    
    3 1
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    April 22, 2026 4:25pm
Paulus

Arn’t Ngai Tahu lookng at Molesworth Station too currently ?
14 2
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April 22, 2026 9:23am
- Jethrod
  
  Imagine…. Google AI translates it as Mōlesawaha or Mōlesawā !
  
  Yes , I know, no “s” in Maori. Minor consideration
  
  5 1
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  April 22, 2026 11:09am
- Jack5
  
  Not just Molesworth, Paulus.
  
  The tribe has first rights to buy all State assets in the South Island at the time of its Treaty settlement.
  
  The tribal settlement was negotiated for Ngai Tahu by Chris Finlayson in his pre-MP days and agreed to by National.
  
  If the State decides to sell the minority stake it holds in Christchurch Airport, guess who gets first right to buy.
  
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  April 22, 2026 4:45pm
cmm (semi-retired edition)

Welcome to NZ where the cost of living is high and the cost of killing is low…

OK, I have a real problem with this…

Stabbing someone multiple times should not be treated as wounding with intent to cause GBH. It should be treated as attempted murder.

Still, they carry the same pathetic sentence of 14 years, so I should probably just get over it.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/360968244/bus-passenger-stabbed-multiple-times-failed-robbery-south-auckland-train-station
20 1
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April 22, 2026 9:47am
- Cassandra
  
  One of our problems is that judges (and a lot of politicians) can’t get their heads around a simple fact: people in prison do not commit crimes. They do of course but you know what I mean. There was a report recently about some bloke with 200 convictions and the judge expressed the hope that he’d go straight if given one last chance. Ffs.
  
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  April 22, 2026 10:34am
- BananaLlama
  
  No joke, Public Transport is becoming very unsafe.
  
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  April 22, 2026 2:15pm
Yvette

Yesterday Saw An Unprecedented Use Of The Word ‘Unprecedented’

Even : “I mean, this is unprecedented… there are going to be consequences.” – Winston Peters
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April 22, 2026 11:02am
- Jethrod
  
  Winston is now angling for a snap ELECTION!
  
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  April 22, 2026 11:12am
imalwaysright

NZ electoral cycle:

Six months of promises.
Thirty months of excuses.

Repeat…
10 1
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April 22, 2026 11:23am
Phronesis

The US Department of Justice today announced it is charging the SPLC, perhaps the world’s preeminent anti racism institution, with directly funding the activities of the Klu Klux Klan. It seems it’s hard to stay relevant and fundraise when there is no actual anti-black racism, so they have been funding the Klan for years so that they can “keep on fighting”. Bizarre but also entirely logical.

https://www.npr.org/2026/04/21/g-s1-118275/southern-poverty-law-center-fraud-charges-paid-informants
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April 22, 2026 11:54am
Swifty

The Southern Poverty Law Centre formally charged with serious criminal activity:

https://x.com/kanekoathegreat/status/2046723825774289375?s=46

Secret funding of hate groups, allegedly.
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April 22, 2026 11:58am
- sungsamning
  
  That couldn’t happen to a nicer bunch of people. I hope the prosecutions are in a red state so some Obama appointed judge can’t throw it out.
  
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  April 22, 2026 4:27pm
MCōs

An interesting article about the personal abuse a prominent local has received from Shane Jones (not a local) and others because he opposed open cast gold mining in his neighbourhood.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/sir-sam-neill-says-he-received-violent-threats-over-central-otago-gold-mine/6LMRH2JJVNHIJH7NC3477XMRKY/
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April 22, 2026 1:24pm
- MCōs
  
  https://www.instagram.com/reel/DU2Ag0hE5IE/?igsh=bDdkNXJwbzh5MW5v
  
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  April 22, 2026 1:29pm
  - Jack5
    
    Political dynamite on gold mine …
    
    Cossie, brave Sam Neill’s a side issue on the gold mine project.
    
    The miner, Santana, alleges Ngai Tahu want a $180 million payout if the project continues, the Otago Daily Times reports in a front-page article today.
    
    Mary Williams reports the claim is made in documents with Santana’s submission to the “Fast Track” panel considering its plan.
    
    She says it’s in a letter from Santana chairman Peter Cook to the four Ngai Tahu runanga (collectively the Ka Runaka) who have objected to the project.
    
    Williams writes: “Santana had offered to set up an ‘annual iwi’ capability and participation fund of $500,000 for every year of sustainable gold production, but Ka Runaka had referred Santana to a larger amount paid out as compensation for the re-consenting of the Waitaki hydro power scheme.”
    
    Ka Runaka said it expected a similar amount – in the order of $180 million.
    
    Mary Williams’s article is behind the ODT paywall, but it’s so hot it might very well be worth a subscription.
    
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    April 22, 2026 3:09pm
    - NothingLeft
      
      The already sparse South Island Maori population about 90 on whole of west coast in early 19th century) almost never went into interior of Otago, after they wiped out Moas. It was too cold, with little in the way of food sources for people who needed sustenance year round without ability to store food. Recent northern conquerors Ngai Tahu in particular would have next to zero knowledge of area.
      
      How that translates into a big payout is beyond me. NZ seriously needs to tell these race-grifters to fuck off.
      
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      April 22, 2026 6:38pm
Jack5

Australians are talking of building a $3 billion plant in Southland to make 1.5 million tonnes of urea fertiliser a year from the region’s lignite.

A spokesman, Allan Blood, is reported in the Otago Daily Times as saying lignite would be turned into gas used to produce urea.

The technology based on coal is used in a plant commissioned in Zambia late in 2025. It aims to produce 300,000 tonnes of ammonia year and half a million tonnes of urea.

Victorian Hydrogen & Ammonia Industries Ltd, the Southland scheme proposer, also has ambitions of making products from lignite in the Latrobe Valley in south-eastern Victoria.

That Australian project is described at this web site:

https://victorianhydrogen.com.au/

The Zambian project is described here:

https://millingmea.com/zambia-launches-us641m-urea-plant-in-chilanga/
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April 22, 2026 2:35pm
- MCōs
  
  Years ago as part of Muldoon’s Think Big experience an Ammonia/Urea plant was built in the Taranaki and commissioned in 1982.
  This continues to produce about a third of our urea consumption, but not much longer as gas supplies dwindle.
  The rest of the urea comes from you know where.
  So that’s fuel, lpg and urea supplies to worry about
  In fact there’s nothing to worry about according to Minister Willis in the House today.
  And it’s all Labour’s fault for closing the Marsden Point refinery according to Minister Jones anyway
  
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  April 22, 2026 4:06pm
Ghost

Hmm, interesting, once again mr hipkins lacks the ability to apologise, just says he is happy too.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360968634/willis-asks-hipkins-would-you-apologise-awkward-exchange
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April 22, 2026 5:12pm
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  What a nasty, nasty man.
  
  Labour respecting females since never!!
  
  6 0
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  April 22, 2026 8:55pm
  - Ghost
    
    A nice little election ad with Chris Hipkins photo and someone singing “sorry seems to be the hardest word”
    
    2 0
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    April 22, 2026 10:19pm
- Prince
  
  Combine this with the way he treated his first wife and you get a clear picture of the sort of ‘man’ he is.
  
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  April 22, 2026 9:54pm
Ghost

Winston Peters facebook post

Four years ago in 2022, a full year before the last election, we ruled out working with the Labour Party.

We did that because the left are full of woke self confessed communists who would turn our country into a basket case.

Nothing has changed. In fact they are even worse. No, we won’t do a deal with Labour or their Marxist and separatist mates.

It is astounding the amount of time this has been spent living rent free in some people’s heads – including media who keep asking the same stupid question that I have already answered multiple times.

Anyone who says anything otherwise is ‘mischief making’ and ‘scaremongering’ who need to start focussing on things that kiwis care about most instead of personal petty rekons.

https://www.facebook.com/winstonpeters/
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April 22, 2026 9:40pm

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