About
Contact
Advertise

Facebook
Twitter

May 4, 2026 8:00am by Kokila Patel

General Debate 04 May 2026

Like this:

Like Loading…

Email
Facebook
Twitter
Comment178

Uncategorized
General Debate

Comments (178)

Login to comment or vote

NeverMindTheBollocks

Predictably, teachers don’t like the new draft curricula. The complaints from the PE department are my favourite.

Physical Education NZ said the draft health and physical education curriculum weakened “the bicultural foundations that underpin learning in Aotearoa New Zealand” – the “how”, not to mention the “why”, is missing.

They also said that it would drive PE back to the 1950s & 60s with an emphasis on skills and drills. Apparently, these days the idea in vogue is that “our bodies are moving, we move in the world with others, we move in different environments and we all have a different experience” – that’s just babble.

Well, I don’t know about you but I recall the 1950s & 60s as being a period where kids were physically fit and fat kids were a rarity.

It’s not just school PE, of course. Parents have a role in providing junk food only as a treat, enrolling their kids in local schools, making them walk there & back, and actually being at home for kids when they are young.

http://www.rnz.co.nz/news/education/594130/teachers-blast-draft-curriculums-shortage-of-waitangi-treaty-influence
43 1
Log in to Reply
Report
May 4, 2026 8:01am
- Nikola Donatello
  
  Parents should never supply “junk food”.
  
  Yes those comments are just gibberish. The only way to stop it would be for the Minister to name the author and to publicly shame the person for gibberish.
  
  As far as I know, children are biologically the same today as in the 1950s. They need regular exercise. It can just be walking and some ball games. If the kid hates gymnastics, as I did, there are lots of alternatives.
  
  I can’t be bothered looking but I bet there is a te ao Maori version of exercise classes for school children. 😩
  
  32 2
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  May 4, 2026 9:24am
  - OlderChas
    
    Could it be called Maori PT?
    
    10 0
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    May 4, 2026 11:40am
    - R
      
      That version of sport as an activity leads to OBESITY. Can’t imagine that our well paid teachers whose ‘only interests’ are that of their pupils; would be countenancing sloth as a PE goal in schools!
      
      7 0
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      May 4, 2026 12:53pm
- M.Solvent
  
  Teachers (at least those who are quoted in media) are some of the most politically extreme people in the country. Most of them have little awareness of this and view the Marxist babble that they live and breathe in teacher training as centrist.
  
  “A submission from Bay of Plenty science teachers said the curriculum’s “guiding kaupapa of ‘excellent equitable outcomes, reflecting the Treaty of Waitangi/Te Tiriti o Waitangi’ is not evident anywhere in the science draft”.”
  This roughly translates to “Bay of Plenty science teachers are concerned that capable pupils will not be held down to the level of the least capable, and there isn’t enough maori political opinion included in the science courses”.
  
  24 0
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  May 4, 2026 11:04am
  - Pope Punctilious II
    
    Anyone who is silly enough to believe there’s such a thing as “excellent and equitable outcomes” shouldn’t be teaching kids.
    
    9 0
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    May 4, 2026 1:30pm
- sungsamning
  
  If the ‘teachers’ hate it; it must be the right idea. Just think. Six munths ago i couldnt even spel teecher. Now I are one. //
  
  8 0
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  May 4, 2026 2:41pm
Ghost

Have to wonder what goes through someone’s head to punch a doctor for refusing to give a medical certificate. Poor guy, barely in the country and he is assualted.

Article

A 31-year-old man has been charged with assault after he allegedly punched his GP in the face on Wednesday. Sergeant Warwick Worth said the man was believed to have been aggressive towards the doctor during a medical appointment and punched them in the face before leaving the practice. Worth said the man turned himself in at Timaru’s police station about 15 minutes later. He was charged with common assault and police bailed to appear in court on May 5.

I’m guessing he realised he was screwed the moment he found out it was caught on security camera.
41 0
Log in to Reply
Report
May 4, 2026 8:02am
- RoboRob
  
  Wait for the court case…. Troubled upbringing and drug issues. Get out of jail free card issued.
  
  Hang on a sec, didn’t the Nats put through a law that specifically upped the punishement for assualting police and ambulance staff? Does that extend to doctors? Did they actually pass the law?
  
  37 0
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  May 4, 2026 8:40am
  - septic skeptic
    
    It’s a bad law if they did. All victims should be equal in status. Obviously there will be aggravating factors such as ability to defend and vulnerable status. But punching say a doctor should be no different to punching a road worker or anyone else.
    
    8 15
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    May 4, 2026 9:11am
    - gravedodger
      
      Some people are able to manage their personal security by choice.
      That choice is not available for say Police, Fire, Ambulance and in this case the Doctor at a surgery where he was confronted and assaulted.
      Do not forget the many Fire personal who entered the Twin towers and did not go home at shifts end??
      
      14 4
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      May 4, 2026 9:42am
      - cmm (semi-retired edition)
        
        Whether it was a doctor or the guy pushing trolleys at the supermarket is rather irrelevant.
        
        People should be able to go about their business and provide services in the community without thugs smashing them.
        
        Common assault seems a bit light (max sentence 6 months therefore X-box leave at the worst). A punch with a fist is potentially fatal and should be classed as a serious assault (and attract a multi-year sentence).
        
        Aotearoa – where life is cheap, but living is expensive…
        
        17 1
        Report
        May 4, 2026 11:16am
      - OlderChas
        
        Gravedodger – re the Twin Towers Firies – had it been in NZ the Health and Safety in the workplace wonks probably would have charged the FENZ leaders for wilful endangerment or something.
        
        7 1
        Report
        May 4, 2026 11:43am
    - septic skeptic
      
      I genuinely don’t get this folks. Case 1, someone gets pissed at a doctor and hooks him. Case 2, someone gets pissed at a stop/go man and hooks him. Case 3, someone gets pissed at you “taking their carpark” at a supermarket and hooks you. Exact circumstances might vary but I don’t see any victim as being more deserving of justice and protection than any other. Please explain.
      
      15 4
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      May 4, 2026 10:51am
      - Centrist
        
        GPs, many of whom are female or males nearing retirement, are usually alone in a consult room with a patient and as well as giving emotionally distressing health news sometimes have to tell someone they won’t be approved for a driving/firearms license or accepted for a sickness benefit etc. They may have patients with severe anger/violence/pyschiatric/drug etc. risks and as well as GPs working under terrible conditions work wise and studywise (ongoing professional development/learning about new drug availabilities, interactions etc.) we don’t want them feeling unsafe as we don’t have enough as it is
        
        7 0
        Report
        May 4, 2026 12:48pm
      - R
        
        The Judges won’t be able to justify these sentences until after their next conference.
        
        6 1
        Report
        May 4, 2026 12:57pm
      - NothingLeft
        
        people generally react emotionally rather than intellectually/rationally with consideration of downsides etc to posed hypotheticals. Leading to all sorts of bad law created on back of appeals to emotion – like ‘hate speech’ or plastic bag+straw bans etc.
        
        This used to be a benefit of representative democracy, politicians doing a little more filtering of issues to consider consequences etc, but advent of social media has dumbed down a lot of law making to ‘won’t someone think of the children’ infantile emotive idiocy. Greens, Te Racists and Winston First being biggest offenders.
        
        3 1
        Report
        May 4, 2026 4:39pm
- Simon
  
  Newbe mistake. GP didn’t know how welfare feral NZ works.
  
  Overseas GP the hoops they would have had to jump through to become a GP in NZ. But for the welfare ferals there are no standards, in NZ you just don’t say no to a welfare feral.
  
  The state backs the welfare feral every time. This guy has been arrested, just another conviction to his name and nothing will happen to him. Consequence free assault of a lawful member of society.
  
  National created the welfare ferals, who are totally free from obligation to wilder society, while the lawful are heavily regulated.
  
  9 19
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  May 4, 2026 8:41am
  - Mr Nobody NZ
    
    “Consequence free assault of a lawful member of society.”
    
    And how long before New Zealand looses the skills of a Doctor who feels they and their family are safer in their country of origin or elsewhere?
    
    22 0
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    May 4, 2026 9:16am
  - Cassandra
    
    National didn’t create the welfare ferals. Labour is even more to blame.
    
    25 2
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    May 4, 2026 9:18am
    - Taieri
      
      Our society created them.
      
      7 3
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      May 4, 2026 10:09am
      - imalwaysright
        
        No. The courts protect them from society, but they fail to protect society from them.
        
        13 1
        Report
        May 4, 2026 12:01pm
    - sungsamning
      
      National did nothing to reverse it though. That’d be ‘raycist’, or beneficiary ‘bashing’. Or maybe the telly wouldn’t like it.
      
      5 2
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      May 4, 2026 2:45pm
  - Ghost
    
    From what I gathered, it was a man off work due to an injury
    
    5 0
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    May 4, 2026 11:31am
    - OlderChas
      
      So – patient was told he should go back to work and didn’t want to?
      
      8 0
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      May 4, 2026 11:46am
      - MCōs
        
        Why do you jump to conclusions like that?
        
        0 5
        Report
        May 4, 2026 4:45pm
- David Garrett
  
  “Punched THEM …” when clearly only one doctor was assaulted.
  
  I didn’t bother reading the whole article…rubbish writing is bad for my blood pressure.
  
  20 8
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  May 4, 2026 9:54am
  - Ghost
    
    That’s all there is, no more than is pasted above
    
    5 0
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    May 4, 2026 10:05am
  - slightlyrighty
    
    you do realise that the gender of the Doc is unknown so the use of “Them” in this instance is correct.
    
    13 5
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    May 4, 2026 10:12am
    - David Garrett
      
      slightly: Having looked at the article, I guess you are right.
      
      My real gripe is the use of “them” when it is quite clear from earlier in a story that the person is either a man or a woman. I guess when you start inventing new genders it becomes difficult…
      
      As an aside, outside my office in Tonga their is a woman operating a digger…that would never have been seen here 25 years ago.
      
      10 4
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      May 4, 2026 11:35am
      - OlderChas
        
        DG Dear Boy – there is the correct word in your last sentence.
        
        11 0
        Report
        May 4, 2026 11:47am
      - R
        
        25 years ago…..that would have been before FEMINISM subsumed the employment roles of men then?
        
        3 1
        Report
        May 4, 2026 1:02pm
      - NZer In Exile
        
        After school detention for DG today. 😛
        
        0 0
        Report
        May 6, 2026 5:14pm
    - Wairoa Native
      
      In this story the ‘sex’ of the Dr is unknown. In English, the noun “doctor” has no ‘gender’ and is used in a neutral way for any person in that role. But I do get your point!
      
      7 0
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      May 4, 2026 11:45am
      - Ra Henare
        
        In this story the gender…..
        
        4 1
        Report
        May 4, 2026 12:37pm
      - alphabeatrium
        
        The journalist omitted it. Is it truly unknown?
        
        4 0
        Report
        May 4, 2026 1:50pm
    - alloytoo
      
      Or to avoid confusion simply saying:
      
      “Punched the doctor” would have been the best way to go with risking the plural confusion.
      
      Journalists are supposed to be communicators.
      
      8 0
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      May 4, 2026 2:39pm
  - cmm (semi-retired edition)
    
    DG: “Them” has become the replacement for the more awkward “him or her”/”he or she”.
    
    Just take a breath and get used to it. You won’t win this one.
    
    BTW: Have you encountered the new abuse of “whenever” in USA? “whenever” has replaced “when”.
    
    6 5
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    May 4, 2026 11:20am
    - alphabeatrium
      
      Using the noun almost always avaoids the confusion. “Punched the doctor” is clearer than “punched them” because the question in the latter case becomes one of unstated gender or number.
      
      5 0
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      May 4, 2026 5:01pm
NeverMindTheBollocks

I feel sorry for this woman. But, the lesson is that if you have serious medical issues and require on-going care then living rurally is a poor choice. It’s unreasonable for you to expect other New Zealanders to fund the care you need where you live while opting to live away from where suitable care is provided.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/360972800/sitting-duck-cancer-patient-warns-cost-rural-care-cutbacks-could-be-deadly
13 1
Log in to Reply
Report
May 4, 2026 8:04am
- David Garrett
  
  Nevermind: Katikati I’d not exactly “living rurally”…it’s a little bigger than Helensville, which is the closest town to me…Kaukapakapa- 12 ks away from Helensville – IS living rurally
  
  4 4
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  May 4, 2026 10:03am
  - David Garrett
    
    Fuck…Katikati IS not I’d
    
    5 1
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    May 4, 2026 10:18am
  - Don Beckett
    
    Katikati is a half hour drive from Tauranga. It is a good town with all services. Hardly rural, unless she is living on a farm 10 mins out of town.
    
    7 1
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    May 4, 2026 10:47am
    - Paulus
      
      With current roads and traffic 30 minutes would be a wonder, almost any time of the day as many find daily.
      
      6 0
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      May 4, 2026 11:11am
      - Don Beckett
        
        True, but mainly morning & afternoon work traffic both ways – 10am. till 3 pm. is pretty good.
        
        1 1
        Report
        May 4, 2026 1:23pm
- Northshoredoc
  
  It is almost always easier and cheaper to triage and treat people at the local GP surgery rather than secondary care (hospital).
  
  The article is pushing for funding that is alreday in place for the general practice o be maintained.
  
  5 0
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  May 4, 2026 11:00am
- Ghost
  
  She is getting the medical care in her town, the problem is her practice are getting their funding cut.this will be a huge blow to everyone there
  
  4 1
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  May 4, 2026 11:06am
- wsk12345
  
  There are much bigger problems than this. Marlborough hospital for instance – and thus the whole province – does not have a urologist on staff. One comes over from Nelson every few weeks and all other patients – the ones who can’t book in because it’s unexpected- have to go and see him in Nelson, mostly driving over or going in an ambo. Frequently, however, it involves airlifting patients to Nelson for procedures as simple as a slightly difficult catheter insertion that a junior doctor can’t manage. This affects hundreds of people not the occasional cancer sufferer who frankly needs to grow up and move closer to the urgent care they KNOW they need.
  
  Similarly I know a middle aged man who travels to Nelson for cardiac issues. He really should not be driving but they don’t ambo you for appointments.
  
  8 1
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  May 4, 2026 11:17am
  - Ghost
    
    I believe Timaru doesn’t either. Some things have been shifted to the GP clinics. Just small things though like catheter placements.
    
    3 0
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    May 4, 2026 11:26am
  - pdm
    
    In early January I had minor (day) eye surgery at Hastings Hospital.
    
    In the lead up I was told the surgeon would come from either Palmerston North or Wellington.
    
    The surgeon actually came from Gisborne and I saw him 3 times – once pre, the operation and the 6 week check up.
    
    It is not only the smaller centers that cannot get specialist medical staff.
    
    7 0
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    May 4, 2026 11:51am
- MCōs
  
  I have friends in Thames who are there rather than Auckland, where they’d rather be, because at the time housing was too expensive
  In the interim both two of us developed cancer
  I’m 17min from Middlemore; they are 90min from Waikato Hospital because there are limits to the treatment available at Thames Hospital
  
  3 2
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  May 4, 2026 11:48am
  - MCōs
    
    Why the doubts?
    You disagree?
    I’m just laying out a problem with living some distance from one of our main hospitals.
    
    1 1
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    May 4, 2026 4:55pm
greybeard

https://www.stuff.co.nz/money/360973018/reverse-mortgage-fish-hooks-you-need-avoid

This article from Stuff is actually quite well-timed, as recently there have been many Heartland Bank ads on NewstalkZB extolling the “virtues” of reverse mortgages.
These ads paint a very positive picture, appealing to a certain demographic and totally lacking in any important details.
In my opinion they are bordering on being a scam.
37 5
Log in to Reply
Report
May 4, 2026 8:08am
- artemisia
  
  Not everyone has potential heirs. And even if they do, there may be good reasons not to leave them anything. If it’s a choice between the cats home or the undertaker’s cheque bouncing, why wouldn’t they?
  
  The applicant is required to obtain independent legal advice.
  
  Time to time hear of so-called rorts in retirement villages, also independent advice required. Strangely the loudest complainants usually seem to be potential heirs.
  
  23 0
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  May 4, 2026 8:25am
  - RoboRob
    
    Yup, if my parents lived in a million dollar home (as many do) and lived in relative poverty I would much prefer they took out a reverse mortgage and lived well in retirement. The expectation that we should win lotto when our parents die, and the reverse that we need to leave an inheritance, is a little weird.
    
    My parents passed away a few years ago, not a million dollar home, I passed much of my inheritance directly to my kids (17 and 19 at the time). It will be much more help for them then me.
    
    21 1
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    May 4, 2026 8:45am
- peterwn
  
  What ‘important details’ should be mentioned? That if you live to a ripe old age the repayment value will swamp the value of the house? Or there may be nothing left for the kids? Anyway why should the elderly not whoop it up. If they do not fly Business Class, their kids will.
  
  22 0
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  May 4, 2026 8:33am
  - MCōs
    
    The problem is there is now a rapidly increasing mortgage on the house. Fine if you both die before needing to sell, but if the house becomes unsuitable years down the track the remaining equity might not finance something that is.
    Btw
    What happens when the mortgage eventually exceeds the value of the house because the borrower refuses to die?
    
    12 2
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    May 4, 2026 8:58am
    - RoboRob
      
      Apparently thats a problem for the bank. Their job is to limit the reverse mortgage such that debt cannot exceed the value of the home. If it does, thats on them.
      
      Also, if you need to sell to go to care, the mortgage reduces the value of your home such that you are elligible for government support, rather then having to sell and live off the proceeds until its all gone.
      
      6 0
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      May 4, 2026 9:01am
      - MCōs
        
        I was thinking more of have to move somewhere with better access. For example someone like me who suddenly has a problem with steps or stairs, but is fine with a flat access and doesn’t need to move to rest home situation.
        
        4 0
        Report
        May 4, 2026 9:10am
      - Phronesis
        
        It’s always hard to know the future but your second para is going to be true for a lot of people. The money borrowed against the house now is essentially free if you are ever going to end up in care. The taxpayer will pickup the difference with the residential care subsidy. The heirs were never going to see the money from the house anyway.
        
        7 0
        Report
        May 4, 2026 9:30am
    - peterwn
      
      Heartland just takes that situation on the nose and does not bill the estate for any shortfall. Something that the prospective lender should ask.
      
      9 0
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      May 4, 2026 9:06am
- pdm
  
  `In my opinion they are bordering on being a scam.’
  
  I don’t go quite that far gb.
  
  But, I do remember this saying by Einstein:
  `Compound Interest is the 8th Wonder of the Modern World’!!!
  
  Compound interest also works against you with Reverse Annuity Mortgages – so be very careful with them.
  
  20 1
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  May 4, 2026 8:50am
  - mogg
    
    Did Einstein happen to say anything about the power of compound interest after tax and inflation.
    
    4 0
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    May 4, 2026 1:45pm
  - Jack5
    
    PDM’s …. saying by Einstein …
    
    There’s a history about this saying:
    https://quoteinvestigator.com/2019/09/09/interest/
    
    4 0
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    May 4, 2026 2:00pm
- Nigel Kearney
  
  It’s not a scam. Normal mortgage lending is relatively low risk for the lender so they can operate on tight margins and still do ok.
  
  Reverse mortgages have many more unknowns such as inflation, property prices, mortality. Much higher margins are needed to cater to all that extra risk.
  
  10 0
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  May 4, 2026 9:06am
- cmm (semi-retired edition)
  
  Reverse mortgages are not a scam per se, but some of the structures around them are.
  
  If you go into reverse mortgaging with your eyes fully open then they can make a lot of sense for many people.
  
  Even if you do have potential heirs, leaving them half a house vs a full house is still a nice wee windfall these days.
  
  That said, I don’t think we’d live our lives vastly differently if we unlocked another 750k.
  
  5 0
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  May 4, 2026 11:05am
  - Jack5
    
    An alternative name for reverse mortgages highlights why users have to be prudent: home-equity release loans.
    
    The link that follows is to a web site that explains risks as well as the benefits.
    
    In a nutshell: “It really is like taking out a big loan and not paying it back for years and years.”
    
    https://www.moneyhub.co.nz/reverse-mortgage.html
    
    6 0
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    May 4, 2026 2:10pm
sungsamning

They can get the clerics and politicians to agree to about anything, but the IRGC will never agree to a nuclear deal or compromise their ballistic missile program. Not going to happen. The regime will have to collapse first. The IRGC will always want nukes. They’ll try to wait things out until theres a Democrat in the Whitehouse.]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQq47swa-i0
Iran just Capitulated Offers to Dilute and SURRENDER Nuclear.
11 5
Log in to Reply
Report
May 4, 2026 8:12am
- Ra Henare
  
  I have to laugh when people reference a Youtube video (and its hysteria in an attempt to get clicks/views) as fact.
  
  As a small fact check.
  1. The Iranians had included a dilute the Uranium, offer in the talks back on 26th February. Which were torpedoed by Netenyahu who didnt want a settlement in his lifes aim to destroy the Iranian system(ie he wants to turn it into another Libya disfunctional state.)
  
  2. Both the International Atomic Energy commision and the 17 US intelligence agencies reported that Iran was NOT working on building a bomb.
  
  3. The first official reference to Iran reaching the 60% enrichment level occurred in April 2021. The 60% level is used as a bargaining chip as 90% would trigger responses as having crossed a red line.
  
  4. Experts and international monitoring bodies generally estimate that a state with a sufficient stockpile of 60% enriched uranium could reach weapons-grade levels in as little as one to three weeks.
  
  In summary.
  Iran offered to dilute their 60% before Netenyahu convinced Trump to scuttle the talks and attack Iran.
  
  Iran has had the ability to go to 90% since 2021
  
  Iran has NOT been developing a bomb. A rational thought would have said they could have had a bomb in 2021 if they so wanted.
  
  My comments should not be taken as my support for any Iran actions. Just laying out some facts amongst all the emotional claptrap.
  
  2 11
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  May 4, 2026 1:03pm
  - mogg
    
    Sometimes the emotional claptrap is in the eye of the beholder.
    
    4 2
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    May 4, 2026 1:51pm
    - Ra Henare
      
      Mogg. Of course. That is the definition of emotional opinions.
      
      1 1
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      May 4, 2026 2:25pm
  - Ra Henare
    
    I am reminded of Winston Churchills quote.
    
    In wartime, truth is so precious that she should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies.
    
    In todays world that bodyguard includes youtube clips.
    
    2 2
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    May 4, 2026 2:24pm
  - sungsamning
    
    Shiite Mullahs shouldn’t have access to enriched uranium at all. It can be enriched later. Or it can be used in a dirty bomb. They think no nukes, no 12th Imam.
    
    6 4
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    May 4, 2026 2:53pm
    - Hard Cheese
      
      Enriched uranium isn’t radioactive enough nor dispersible enough to be useful in a dirty bomb – you want highly radioactive isotopes, usually sourced from nuclear waste. Enriched uranium is useless for dirty bombs.
      
      1 0
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      May 4, 2026 7:01pm
sungsamning

This week, the Supreme Court, in an opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito, ended decades of race-engineering in how congressional districts are drawn. [The equivalent here is the Waitangi Tribunal, and racially appointed seats on councils. We don’t have SCOTUS. Maybe ACT, or NZ First could do something post-election. The uni-party won’t]
https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2026/05/scotus_tolls_the_bell_on_racial_gerrymandering.html
SCOTUS Tolls the Bell on Racial Gerrymandering.
10 4
Log in to Reply
Report
May 4, 2026 8:12am
peterwn

Chris Luxon now in Singapore. Maiki Sherman, TVNZ’s political editor was supposed to join him but was replaced. She must have been quietly told that if you are currently banned from the Parliament precinct, you cannot really join the Prime Minister on his trade, etc trip. That is her real punishment.
50 0
Log in to Reply
Report
May 4, 2026 8:13am
- Cassandra
  
  She should be looking for a new job.
  
  51 0
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  May 4, 2026 8:30am
  - Bobba Fret
    
    She is probably checking her employment contract and/or talking to an employment lawyer to see how she can get money out of TVNZ in the off chance that they do terminate her contract / employment.
    
    8 0
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    May 4, 2026 12:18pm
  - Steve Otto N Shore
    
    I suggest ‘The Warehouse” for her. They sell shit too!!
    
    6 2
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    May 4, 2026 2:59pm
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  It’s not difficult to watch/listen to Mei Heron…a sensible replacement for the Singapore trip.
  
  24 0
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  May 4, 2026 8:37am
  - RoboRob
    
    Reporting outside a hotel at 3:22am, 28 degrees.
    
    Love Singapore.
    
    15 0
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    May 4, 2026 8:47am
- RoboRob
  
  Apparently she has been in hiding anyway 🙂
  
  I note the interview with Seymour on TVNZ was damn near cordial this morning. Perhaps something has been said by management?
  
  32 0
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  May 4, 2026 8:48am
  - pdm
    
    Then again Seymour is more than a `step up’ when compared to Luxon in one on one interviews.
    
    28 2
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    May 4, 2026 8:54am
    - RoboRob
      
      Oh I know, but they didn’t even make him sweat this morning. They joked with him as well. It was a very Hipkins style interview.
      
      21 0
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      May 4, 2026 9:02am
      - imalwaysright
        
        They have realised that they have started their election year hit job on the Government too early.
        August would be about right.
        
        10 1
        Report
        May 4, 2026 10:36am
      - Don Beckett
        
        Watching Seymour with the press, I don’t think any of them could make him sweat – he is very logical and reasonable with his answers, and doesn’t hesitate to call them out.
        
        6 3
        Report
        May 4, 2026 1:28pm
    - G the giant from Dunedin
      
      Oh ffs, he is not a step up, he is not the pm, yes Luxon may not do TV too well, but if we are now voting on the bullshit from TV then left it will be
      
      1 5
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      May 4, 2026 1:17pm
- Paulus
  
  Replaced by a sensible intelligent Business person Mei Heron.
  
  Cass
  who do think would employ her – Te Karere daily full of Mumbo Jumo nothing less
  – maybe !
  
  17 2
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  May 4, 2026 9:03am
  - pdm
    
    Harsh Paulus.
    
    Mei Heron has almost always come across as being far more balanced than anything Sherman could manage. She also probably has a wider world view having been Correspondent in the UK and possibly the States.
    
    20 1
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    May 4, 2026 9:10am
    - imalwaysright
      
      Again we are judging people against the worst.
      
      Heron is better than Sherman, but lets not forget that there aren’t many who aren’t…
      
      11 0
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      May 4, 2026 10:49am
      - Steve Otto N Shore
        
        Ouch! That will piss Sherman off!
        
        4 1
        Report
        May 4, 2026 3:10pm
- R
  
  ‘real punishment’….
  .yep! No taxpayer funded flight, and no doubt accommodation, to the upmarket shopping boutiques of Singapore. How sad, too bad
  
  17 1
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  May 4, 2026 9:04am
  - MCōs
    
    I was talking to an old school friend who later traveled the world as a rugby commentator.
    When I suggested that must be pretty good going here, going there he said, not really. He spent all his time in his hotel room reporting back to various media outlets, commentating, back on the plane again
    I expect for those reporters who traipse around after Luxon it’s just another day at the office
    
    1 1
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    May 4, 2026 5:08pm
- G the giant from Dunedin
  
  Pretty sure it will keep her away from any government infrastructure including the plane
  
  3 0
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  May 4, 2026 1:14pm
- sungsamning
  
  ACT should make them defund TVNZs and RNZs ‘news and current affairs’ branch. Wait six months, and watch National rise in the polls. And forbid any funds going to Stuff, The Herald, and whatever TV3 is called this week.
  
  4 1
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  May 4, 2026 2:55pm
Damocles11

NZ is controlled by a loose coalition of the corporate, banking, property industry, public service, and ivory tower powers-that-be who are all committed to maorification, the (invented) ‘principles of Te Tiriti’, DEI and ‘equity’, mass immigration, and the corporate welfare & social welfare that sees us borrowing like no tomorrow and running huge deficits. They are committed to always bailing out asset owners at the expense of taxpayers through high government spending and interest rate manipulation, and therefore committed to using government spending as a gigantic slush fund to keep their own lights on. With Labour and National both beholden to this loose coalition of powerful vested interests, we are in huge trouble as a nation. They have a vice-like grip on the tiller and are steering us straight into an iceberg.
12 6
Log in to Reply
Report
May 4, 2026 8:29am
Swifty

A public service announcement from Stuff:

KBers, please do be careful when travelling internationally with your sex toy collection.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/360972265/pack-caution-dil-dos-and-dil-donts-travelling-sex-toys

I just thought you all should know.
18 0
Log in to Reply
Report
May 4, 2026 9:00am
- PeterTrentham
  
  Was Rachael Tanne compensating for what her husband, singer songwriter Tiki Taane lacks?
  
  8 2
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  May 4, 2026 9:25am
- peterwn
  
  And this follows on from a warning that Hong Kong authorities have the power to ask for PIN’s and passwords for your devices as if it was something completely new. Many countries including have legislated that power so people need to be careful what is on their devices when going overseas. Ron Brierley learned the hard way when about to go to Fiji – a lovely holiday turned into a nightmare.
  
  8 0
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  May 4, 2026 10:27am
  - David Garrett
    
    Peter: Brierley…his close business associates must have know for years what his sexual proclivities are…Anyone of them who knew but did nothing is/are almost as guilty as him.
    
    5 3
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    May 4, 2026 12:10pm
    - Ghost
      
      why would they know? I watched a video yesterday. A pedophile who created hurtcore websites on the darknet. Police finally got a break and tracked the man down. raided his home in Australia. Problem was the suspect was a mechanic who had very limited computer knowledge. Turned out it was their son. they had no idea what he was doing when they thought he was just gaming
      
      https://www.smh.com.au/national/lux-captured-the-simple-error-that-brought-down-the-worlds-worst-hurtcore-paedophile-20160513-goum54.html
      
      6 0
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      May 4, 2026 12:22pm
      - David Garrett
        
        Ghost: Yes, fair point. For many years it was a supposedly open secret that Brierley was gay…Few people had any problem with that…Children is another matter entirely.
        
        2 1
        Report
        May 4, 2026 1:48pm
      - David Garrett
        
        OMG…I should have known I wouldn’t want to know what “hurtcore porn” was.
        
        The scary thing is that treatment of these miswired humans is extremely difficult if not impossible. And treatment under Rule 303 is no longer possible.
        
        2 1
        Report
        May 4, 2026 1:54pm
      - peterwn
        
        Cops in Wellington busted a young guy for having pix he should not have had. He was communicating with a guy in the USA not realising he was a Secret Service agent. The agent kept him communicating while the Secret Service asked the local cops to nab him before he could unplug his computer.
        
        3 0
        Report
        May 4, 2026 2:29pm
      - Ghost
        
        I’m not sure if it was in the article but this 22 year old, he was also instructing people on how to kill children for the videos.
        
        All he got was 15 years.
        
        2 0
        Report
        May 4, 2026 2:31pm
      - Swifty
        
        DG, I think you’re quite wrong about Brierley being gay.
        
        And the pictures he was caught with were young girls – widely publicised at the time and with his interest in women widely documented.
        
        I remember Bob Jones talking about it.
        
        3 0
        Report
        May 4, 2026 2:32pm
- Ra Henare
  
  My question is. What caused the Customs officer to search their bags?
  
  I have travelled international many times annually over the last 5 decades.
  The only time I have had a bag search is when I have declared commercial goods(ie samples).
  
  Oh and one time I made a stupid joke to a customs guy.
  
  3 1
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  May 4, 2026 1:10pm
  - peterwn
    
    Nowadays they would generally only search bags if the xrays show something, the doggies react or if they had a tip-off. In one case customs/police knew a guy had drugs but decided not to bust him until he arrived home.
    
    4 0
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    May 4, 2026 2:34pm
  - PeterTrentham
    
    The smell.
    
    2 0
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    May 4, 2026 4:57pm
  - MCōs
    
    I’ve traveled internationally since 1972 and never had an issue except when the office back in Wellington booked my flights to Jakarta for a couple of days longer than the visa they’d arranged
    A burly bloke took me off to a small side room
    Here’s a go, I thought
    I weaseled my way out of a tight situation by paying a small *ahem* fine.
    
    3 0
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    May 4, 2026 5:21pm
Maggy Wassilieff

So the primary school teachers are not in favour of the new curricula for various subjects…

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/education/594130/teachers-blast-draft-curriculums-shortage-of-waitangi-treaty-influence

I haven’t looked them over, so I’ll confine myself to the comment about Theophrastus

while mention of Greek scientist Theophrastus for Year 1 students was labelled “just silly” and “ridiculous”.

1. Why shouldn’t the teacher mention the name of an early naturalist? It’s not as if 5-6 year olds are going to be expected to spell or pronounce the name in an exam.

2. How is knowing something about Theophrastus any sillier or ridiculous than hearing the name of some mythical demigod or legendary ancestor?

3. Surely telling youngsters that science has foundations thousands of years old, and that people wrote down their observations is a good introduction to the subject.

4. Is the teachers’ problem with the mention of Theophrastus really the fact that so many primary teachers in NZ lack any knowledge of the foundations of Science?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theophrastus
28 0
Log in to Reply
Report
May 4, 2026 9:07am
- RoboRob
  
  Drama New Zealand said: “There is very little, if any, indigenous knowledge in ‘performing arts’ and what is there is tokenistic.”
  
  A submission from Bay of Plenty science teachers said the curriculum’s “guiding kaupapa of ‘excellent equitable outcomes, reflecting the Treaty of Waitangi/Te Tiriti o Waitangi’ is not evident anywhere in the science draft”.
  
  The New Zealand History Teachers Association said the social sciences draft breached principles derived from Te Tiriti o Waitangi, while Physical Education NZ said the draft health and physical education curriculum weakened “the bicultural foundations that underpin learning in Aotearoa New Zealand”.
  
  Really says it all doesn’t it.
  
  22 0
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  May 4, 2026 10:08am
  - David Garrett
    
    “…principles derived from te tiriti…”
    
    There’s absolutely nothing about PE in that accursed 400 word document…or indeed about education of any kind..Seymour’s Principles Bill would have been a great help…but the dishcloth currently occupying Premier House wouldn’t have it,
    
    23 3
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    May 4, 2026 10:26am
  - peterwn
    
    Probably the less said about pre 1840 ‘performing arts’ the better.
    
    16 0
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    May 4, 2026 10:29am
  - NeverMindTheBollocks
    
    Maori performing arts are very well funded through the National Kapa Haka competition. In addition, you’d expect local hapu to step up on a voluntary basis, eh.
    
    6 0
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    May 4, 2026 12:57pm
  - Jack5
    
    The teachers can’t do maths, so they divert attention towards indigenous stuff.
    
    Did the rot begin when teacher training was taken out of specialised colleges and incorporated into universities?
    
    8 2
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    May 4, 2026 1:06pm
    - sungsamning
      
      No, it began when teaching was feminized. The only profession that can survive having the majority of its staff being female is nursing. Any other profession loses credibility when that happens.
      
      7 2
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      May 4, 2026 3:04pm
      - Sacha
        
        I think you may be right . . . . .
        
        0 0
        Report
        May 4, 2026 7:16pm
- Positan
  
  Teaching in NZ has become REALLY REALLY bad. A friend’s grandchild started at college this year and her parents attended a meeting with the teachers. In the course of covering the curriculum, the child’s father asked whether the teaching of English included the works of Shakespeare.
  
  The teacher’s reply? Shakespeare was not relevant.
  
  Surely, anyone who had so little understanding of literature as to claim that Shakespeare was not relevant should not have been teaching at all – let alone masquerading as a teacher of English.
  
  32 1
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  May 4, 2026 10:21am
  - Master Mariner
    
    Shakespeare was the catalyst in going to sea and leaving school in the first place.
    Never looked back.
    Maybe a lesson there.
    
    8 0
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    May 4, 2026 10:56am
    - NeverMindTheBollocks
      
      Inspired by The Tempest, MM? Or running away from it?
      
      5 0
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      May 4, 2026 12:58pm
    - Jack5
      
      Your teacher obviously didn’t concentrate on the history plays, ⚓Skipper. They have blood and guts and action to keep any boy from nodding off at his desk.
      
      For example, these plays: Henry V, Richard II, Henry IV, Julius Caesar, and, a bit more intricate, Coriolanus wishing the mob of plebs had one neck so he could cut it off.
      
      4 1
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      May 4, 2026 1:19pm
      - Pope Punctilious II
        
        400-yr old drama’s not going to appeal to every schoolkid. But yes it will depend on which plays are chosen, and how they’re handled.
        
        1 0
        Report
        May 4, 2026 5:46pm
    - David Garrett
      
      MM: I can identify with that. I took English Lit 101 at uni…it had a couple of the bard’s works on the reading list. I borrowed vinyl records of both, and really really tried to “get it”. I didn’t, and recorded my lowest pass mark in my five years at uni.
      
      4 1
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      May 4, 2026 2:12pm
      - MCōs
        
        We ploughed through King Lear, McBeth, maybe another one with an enthusiastic teacher and found them quite interesting, but left to my own devices I quickly flounder.
        Lord of the Rings wasn’t on any syllabus, but everyone read it plus Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by Shirer.
        WWII was only recent history at the time and I read numerous heroic war memoirs of prison escapes and fighter pilots. They never mentioned the shattered post war lives.
        We had a mate whose father was an RAF fighter pilot, but he couldn’t cope became an alcoholic and deserted the family.
        
        1 0
        Report
        May 4, 2026 5:46pm
  - David Garrett
    
    Positan: About ten years ago my very bright daughter came home from high school as asked if it was true that Hitler only invaded Poland because the Poles had executed 50,000 ethnic Germans – which is of course complete rubbish.
    
    Long story short, her teacher – who was old enough to know better – had shown the class a YouTube vid which made this claim, and allegedly showed American soldiers summarily executing concentration camp guards. One of the said American soldiers was Leonardo di Capprio.
    
    My daughter – then aged 14 – said something I have never forgotten: “Dad, I only knew this was wrong because you have taught me stuff about WW II. None of the rest of the kids in the class would have had a clue.”
    
    6 1
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    May 4, 2026 1:59pm
    - Positan
      
      Yes, DG, I can relate to all of that.
      
      Back in the day it used to be said “Those who can, do – those who can’t, teach. My then teacher wife used to add, “and those who can’t teach, teach teachers.
      
      God knows who or what today is responsible for inflicting what passes for “education” on our young and innocent – but one thing is absolutely certain. They wouldn’t remotely qualify as “teachers” under the system we had 50 years ago.
      
      The fact Grant Robertson could gain a degree with his submitted “thesis” almost certainly validates the Maori claim of frequent pre-coloniser travel to and from Antarctica.
      
      4 1
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      May 4, 2026 3:22pm
      - MCōs
        
        Your claim that Robertson wrote a thesis claiming Maori went to Antarctica is bullshit unless you can come up with compelling evidence
        
        1 1
        Report
        May 4, 2026 5:58pm
    - Charlotte Wells
      
      There is some evidence that US soldiers did execute guards.
      
      I put that in the category of “who gives a shit”.
      
      1 2
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      May 4, 2026 4:36pm
  - mogg
    
    Sometime back now, but at an after hours teachers get together in a local boat club, the Head made a negative comment about his work responsibilities. Light heartedly I replied “Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown”, he looked puzzled and said what do you mean by that.
    
    8 1
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    May 4, 2026 2:03pm
  - NothingLeft
    
    Tend to agree. Most english lit has lost utility. Used to be that knowledge of a relatively small number of books/plays marked one out as ‘educated’ and provided common references for all. But explosion of information since advent of internet has made that no longer true.
    
    Better to spend the time once devoted to english lit to just about anything else now that books are no longer a significant part of our culture – like study of history, economics, politics of last 150 years.
    
    Anything to save and guard young minds from the indoctrination of far left ‘educators’ and social media.
    
    0 0
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    May 4, 2026 5:24pm
- R
  
  Would seem, ‘that so many teachers in NZ lack knowledge in anything’..listening to their representatives bleatings!
  
  4 0
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  May 4, 2026 1:14pm
rouppe

Some time ago I said that the new water entity in Wellington Tiaki Wai was going to be staffed by the same people from the old Wellington Water, the people that paid 300% more for water repairs than other councils. That I though nothing would change, other than the name.

Now I hear that the non-solution to the water infrastructure problems, namely water meters, are set to cost us 600 MILLION dollars to install, up from the original estimate of $144M.

Sound familiar? That whole entity should be burned to the ground.
20 0
Log in to Reply
Report
May 4, 2026 9:23am
- Prince
  
  Why is it that Kapiti Council, just up the road, could introduce water meters in 2014, and overall reduce rates to ensure there was no additional charge to households.
  Could it be that Wellington Council debt is so high there is no capacity to borrow for the infrastructure of water meters ?
  Will the water charges be balanced by rates reduction ?
  Why is Wellington Council so incapable of doing anything without absurd cost blowouts and poor quality results ?
  
  7 0
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  May 4, 2026 12:58pm
  - peterwn
    
    All politics. Kapiti District was faced with a difficult situation since they were taking all the water from local rivers they were allowed. The next step was a very expensive pipeline from the Wellington water network. Installing water meters in Kapiti dampened consumption sufficiently that future supplies will last some years to come. Wellington area was not faced with this, although there will be a time in the future when enormous capital expenditure on headworks will be required and this would force the issue on water metering.
    Lefties and Greenies just hate water metering since it is ‘regressive’ ie the poor man at the gate pays the same for water as the rich man in the castle, whereas the rich man should be paying more per 1000 litres than the poor man.
    
    7 0
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    May 4, 2026 2:46pm
    - artemisia
      
      Large households will pay more for metered water than small households. That can be very significant. Large households are more likely to be lower income and get bigger bills. An incentive to conserve water though.
      
      4 0
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      May 4, 2026 3:13pm
    - greybeard
      
      I am a Kapiti Coast resident.
      Since the introduction of water meters we have never had any water restrictions, regardless of dry years etc.
      Since buying our property here in 1988 it would be the single most important and successful action that KCDC has ever done, in my opinion.
      
      4 0
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      May 4, 2026 3:45pm
      - MCōs
        
        As I recall the idea was distinctly unpopular with residents prior to their introduction and the mayor who promoted the concept lost her job.
        Next minute
        Overall consumption down 25% as people cut down wasteful usage and repaired leaks.
        
        2 0
        Report
        May 4, 2026 7:16pm
  - rouppe
    
    The water charges are initially being removed from the city rates Bill. Currently about $2500pa.
    
    But then, we hear Tiaki Wai expect the water charges to rise to more than $6800 a year by 2036. And the city rates are going to go up to the maximum in the furore as well.
    
    It’s crushing
    
    0 0
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    May 4, 2026 6:15pm
amospicton

In my experience of a primary school in the so-called “leafy” suburbs of Auckland the vast majority of primary teachers lack any knowledge of science full stop. And maths…..but are experts on the Green Party manifesto.
30 1
Log in to Reply
Report
May 4, 2026 9:49am
- RoboRob
  
  Thats what they teach at teachers colledge / Uni. It is ‘woven’ through all courses, unlike maths and science.
  
  17 1
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  May 4, 2026 11:07am
- MCōs
  
  My experience of St Joseph’s in Timaru in the fifties was the nuns favoured the girls and were mean to the boys
  My sisters who were at the same school at that time tell me the nuns favoured the boys and were mean to the girls.
  
  2 1
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  May 4, 2026 7:27pm
rouppe

An opinion piece on “reparations” for minorities (ie anyone not white) in the USA.

It actually has correlation here when you think about all the programmes here for special interest groups.

The vast majority of Black and Brown people do not benefit from a small number getting cheap forgivable loans to sling weed, only the people who take that money do.

Something more applicable here

Nobody has ever been brought out of poverty as a result of a DEI workplace training requirement, but those providing the services live high on the hog.
9 1
Log in to Reply
Report
May 4, 2026 10:50am
- Swifty
  
  Quite right.
  
  Long-standing studies in the States show, on average, 70% of the benefits of such programmes flow directly to the service providers, in the form of salaries, fees, dividends and profits – and not the intended recipients.
  
  10 1
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  May 4, 2026 11:30am
  - Swifty
    
    Case in point – the Tamihere family.
    
    But to be fair, there are plenty more like them.
    
    3 1
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    May 4, 2026 3:50pm
imalwaysright

There has been very little coverage of the stabbing to death of a 3 month old, her 17 month old sister, and their mother just over two weeks ago in Hastings.

If it were a labrador and two puppies stabbed to death the country would be in an uproar.
13 3
Log in to Reply
Report
May 4, 2026 11:58am
- Ghost
  
  Been decent coverage on it, but what else do you want? The man has been charged, so it is now before the courts. The family have asked for privacy. There is also a non-publication order on the victims’ names.
  
  6 2
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  May 4, 2026 12:14pm
  - imalwaysright
    
    Sounds like a procedural matter.
    Welcome to NZ, kill some infants and their mum and say nothing because the remainder of the family have presumably asked for privacy?
    Fuck the privacy.
    Put up the photos of the stabbed corpses of the babies and their mum, and put up the photo of the scumbag.
    This happens too often here and now we are sweeping it under a carpet because some feel uncomfortable? Well too fucking bad.
    Look at the people in Alice Springs trying to get hold of the scumbag that murdered a five year old. The place is in anarchy.
    But here in little old NZ we have to consider privacy!!
    No wonder babies are murdered here.
    Fucking shameful.
    
    8 3
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    May 4, 2026 12:58pm
    - Ghost
      
      So basically you don’t give a stuff about this case and would rather jeopardise it than see the person sentenced for the crime. What kind of sick person wants to see photos of the deceased bodies? The person has been charged, despite your blood lust for entertainment it hasn’t been swept under the carpet.
      
      3 13
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      May 4, 2026 1:23pm
MCōs

A headline flashed across the ticker
“Kids TV is broken – Can Suzy Cato fix it?”
It seems to me that anything that doesn’t quite hit the mark is described as *broken*
A dripped tap isn’t broken. It just needs a replacement washer.
The kid’s tv is broken when the cat knocks it off the wall and it smashes on the floor
3 1
Log in to Reply
Report
May 4, 2026 12:24pm
- Ghost
  
  Bring back Olly Ohlson
  
  3 0
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  May 4, 2026 12:27pm
- M.Solvent
  
  Fortunately all the classic shows from the ‘90s are available on YouTube – there is no reason to watch the shallow rubbish that is produced today.
  
  6 0
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  May 4, 2026 1:47pm
- alphabeatrium
  
  It’s broken because they watch too much of it. Almost doesn’t matter what it is.
  
  2 0
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  May 4, 2026 5:11pm
Jack5

Some advocate drones as a key defence weapon for New Zealand, and a drone-manufacturing business has emerged in this country.

The Wall Street Journal today outlines how dependent drone manufacture is on Chinese parts. It says China makes 90 per cent of brushless motors; dominates assembly of image sensors; dominates the supply chain for drone batteries; and communication protocols for sending data to drones are typically designed to work with Chinese electronics.

A Russian “first-person-view” quadcopter in an analysis by the Bulava unit of Ukraine found numerous parts manufactured at least partly in China: batteries, motors and an unmarked central “brain” chip that Bulava traced to a Chinese supplier.

“Like Bulava’s own similar drones, the Russian version couldn’t have been built without China’s supply chain, according to the unit’s chief drone specialist,” the newspaper said.

It cites defence and drone industry specialists as saying Iran likely is as dependent as Russia and Urkaine on Chinese systems for drones.

The US is seeking to break Chinese dominance in drones. It has budgeted $US1.1 billion to encourage purchases from American drone-part suppliers.
5 1
Log in to Reply
Report
May 4, 2026 12:58pm
- NothingLeft
  
  The advent of cheap drone weapons is scary as hell. $500-50,000 to anonymously murder just about anyone from up to several 1000 km away.
  
  I suspect that there will be a need to move a lot of utilities and infrastructure underground to guard against this form of attack – and blackmail using the threat.
  
  And there is no way to protect shipping as Houthis, Ukrainians and Iranians are demonstrating.
  
  0 0
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  May 4, 2026 5:30pm
Swifty

Watch ‘The People’s Economist’, recently here in New Zealand and feted and lauded by our news media as some sort of Messiah.

https://x.com/glinner/status/2051045688193040765?s=46

It’s just excruciating.
6 1
Log in to Reply
Report
May 4, 2026 2:26pm
- NothingLeft
  
  Gary is beloved by Marxists (like NZ’s own chief fool Chloe who flew to UK on taxpayer’s dime to do a podcast with him) as an apologist for high tax policies – that have failed to deliver everywhere they have been tried. Another of the ‘but that’s wasn’t proper communism’ tribe.
  
  2 0
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  May 4, 2026 5:42pm
Swifty

Not a good look for DEI in the police:

https://x.com/abogadodijo/status/2050958633928642756?s=46

Coverage of the recent Trump attack.
5 1
Log in to Reply
Report
May 4, 2026 2:39pm
- Ghost
  
  Aren’t they paramedics? Standing on the wall, wearing latex gloves, ones has what looks like a medical bag.
  
  3 1
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  May 4, 2026 2:48pm
  - Charlotte Wells
    
    Indeed they are, unarmed too.
    
    Here is hi-res and colour.
    
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QffelLO63gw
    
    3 1
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    May 4, 2026 4:37pm
  - Swifty
    
    Fair points everyone, I stand corrected.
    
    1 0
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    May 4, 2026 5:12pm
- imalwaysright
  
  The women in the video are TSA agents in charge of screening passengers with scanners; they do not carry weapons nor are they part of the armed protection team against threats.
  
  If you see the video, the police dog handler’s dog reacts to the bad guy in the room a few metres to the left.
  The handler looks in and decides the bad guy is safe and pulls the dog away. A few seconds later the bad guy rushes out with a weapon.
  Looks like the handler missed the signal.
  https://youtu.be/b2dnU2FJmEs?si=NNhDQ6hO3_7NuGWF
  
  (2 minute high def video)
  
  2 1
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  May 4, 2026 3:33pm
Swifty

A few truth bombs from a young guy on the negative effects of technology:

https://x.com/steveskojec/status/2050598780144124330?s=46

Much food for thought.
2 1
Log in to Reply
Report
May 4, 2026 3:48pm
- NZer In Exile
  
  Sadly one of the few actually awake.
  
  Others either have their heads in the sand because they think “it’s all too complicated” to personally address, or they simply do not give a crap and blindly rush into exposing themselves and everyone they digitally connect with to this malignant rubbish.
  
  0 0
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  May 6, 2026 6:02pm
Paul

I received three identical letters from IRD today for different accounts that I manage. All three asked me to enter a new email address because it “is no longer valid, or the inbox is full.”
My email is working normally – IRD are the only people in the world who cannot send me an email.
This is presumably another IT mess-up; it will be the third this year that I have personally encountered involving IRD (so there must be lots more in other parts of the tax system).
The root cause, I suspect, is National’s decision to tell the public service to cut staff without any supervision of what was to be cut. So instead of cutting the people who organise Maori prayers or impede official information requests, sensible Chief Executives have cut staff providing essential IT and other critical services. Then when things fall over, the CEO can demand more money because more staff are obviously needed.
Apparently nobody in the Cabinet has ever read the works of C Northcote Parkinson, who discussed this sort of behavior decades ago.
7 1
Log in to Reply
Report
May 4, 2026 3:51pm
- Don Beckett
  
  Are you sure its not a scam?
  
  2 1
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  May 4, 2026 5:41pm
  - Paul
    
    Yeah, these are paper letters sent through NZ Post on IRD letterhead, with the correct account numbers and everything. They are genuine.
    
    3 0
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    May 4, 2026 6:11pm
    - Ghost
      
      It happens automatically when they have sent you an email and it’s bounced back to them
      
      2 0
      Log in to Reply
      Report
      May 4, 2026 6:18pm
- Individual Responsibility
  
  Paul – I was caught out by the same ineptitude at IRD approx 18 mths ago.
  
  The irony for me was, when they advised me by TEXT (no reply) they couldn’t access my email, I was regularly receiving up to 15 emails per day, so it wasn’t difficult for me to deduce it was an XTRA receiving from IRD issue. More fool me!
  Accordingly, I requested a new password from IRD, which undid my original password, which meant I couldn’t receive their new Password procedure either!!!
  I attended their local office to be advised verbally the same as they’d originally text me!
  
  So, I ignored it all, certain in the knowledge thay’d write me a letter outlining what they were after. That letter took approx 8 months and I dealt with it inside a week.
  
  The net effect is they can continue to write to me, as I’m not going down the “My Ird” path again.
  
  0 0
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  May 5, 2026 4:23pm
Ra Henare

Reading some Oscar Wilde and came across this.

Whenever a man does a thoroughly stupid thing, it is always from the noblest motives.

I immediately thought of Trump and the Iranian war.
0 5
Log in to Reply
Report
May 4, 2026 4:09pm
- Swifty
  
  That’s funny, because as soon as I read that Wilde quote I didn’t think of you.
  
  7 1
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  May 4, 2026 5:10pm
greybeard

Listening to HDPA as usual at this time of day: Soper was discussing “strong women in politics”, and mentioned Helen Clark.
I always admired Helen Clark, and thought he was one of the strongest MPs NZ has ever produced.
5 2
Log in to Reply
Report
May 4, 2026 5:02pm
- Individual Responsibility
  
  greybeard – I used always to refer to her as “UNCLE HELEN”.
  
  0 0
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  May 5, 2026 4:27pm
greybeard

https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/360974105/kiwirail-fined-400000-over-2024-grounding-aratere-cook-strait
Who gets the $400,000 ?
5 1
Log in to Reply
Report
May 4, 2026 5:03pm
- Steve Otto N Shore
  
  The Govt do. Creative accounting.
  
  3 2
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  May 4, 2026 5:44pm
  - Jethrod
    
    But the Wairua has been upset!
    
    0 0
    Log in to Reply
    Report
    May 4, 2026 5:53pm
- OlderChas
  
  OOOOhhhh. Can’t wait to see what they fine the Royal New Zealand Navy!
  
  2 0
  Log in to Reply
  Report
  May 4, 2026 5:48pm
Sparrow

The Prime Minister has shown his lack of street smarts as far as politics are concerned and lacks resonance with the public. Put this down to his lack of political experience becoming the Prime Minister just after three years in Parliament. Lately he has shown an amazing naivety regarding foreign affairs. This is not unexpected as he has spent more time outside of New Zealand than in it. Since he started working for Unilever NZ in 1993 and left for Sydney in 1995 he did not return until 2013 to be the boss of AirNZ. Thus overseas for 18 years. During his business career only worked for two corporates. Pretty unusual. So we have ended up with a PM who frankly is a beginner in politics coupled with a serious lack of feelings for what makes Kiwi’s and New Zealand tick. Totally unsuited to be our Prime Minister.
3 2
Log in to Reply
Report
May 4, 2026 6:34pm

Add a Comment Cancel reply

Login to comment or vote

« Pay us off or we’ll oppose it

Betting on success »

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

"The principal view of human laws is, or ought always to be, to explain, protect, and enforce such rights as are absolute, which in themselves are few and simple."
Not PC
The response to Budget 2026 has been unusually muted
Point of Order
You know what “does not pass the sniff test”? Labour’s incremental response to blatant corruption – this is why they plunged 7.5%
The Daily Blog
When is a Free Speech Union not a Free Speech Union?
The Standard
We Are a Country That Decided Housing Was The Economy
No Minister
My Opening Statement for the UATX Caplan-Jones Immigration Rematch
Utopia
Woman of the day
Hompaddock
Playing with numbers.
Kiwipolitico
A crime
No Right Turn
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: