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May 6, 2026 8:00am by Kokila Patel

General Debate 06 May 2026

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General Debate

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Murray

In defence of a “fair go”. Heart of the City
I advise that I have had no inside information on this matter and have gathered all this scenario from public internet sources. Any half decent member of the media could have discovered this in a couple of hours if they had only wanted to look.
I saw yesterday Auckland Central MP Chloe Swarbrick weigh in against HOTC CEO who as everyone knows has been stood down for as yet unspecified reasons.
I have watched this situation unfurl over recent times and think there is an orchestrated to get the CEO fired.
The CEO has been in situ for 10 years. But suddenly she has become an ogre to some.
HOTC is an incorporated society. It has a Board or Executive Committee. Board members are elected at an AGM. They stay in place for 3 years unless they resign earlier, but at the 3rd next AGM they have to retire but are able to restand.
Going into AGM 2025, there were nine 9 members of the Board. Three had come up to the 3- year mark – two of them restood and were elected since there were fewer nominations than vacancies. Of the other six, three resigned including Chair of nine years Martin Snedden. The other three automatically rolled over as they were not at the three-year limit.
So that meant five Board members continued.
Three candidates had been nominated by the due date and they were automatically elected. There were still some vacancies and two other candidates were nominated from the floor.
Candidates for election don’t seem to have to publish a statement on what they believe in of what they want to achieve if elected. I know nothing about any of them
Anyway the new Board was five oldies and five newbies. And my guess is this is where the real story begins.
One of the CEOs alleged sins seems to be that she published a survey HOTC had undertaken of members about the situation in Queen Street where there were a number of voluntary street tenants who were alleged to urinate defecate take drugs and deal drugs and even engage in public sex. An NZME website poll (sure not scientific) had a 91% vote against this antisocial behaviour.
That was released early October and its release and findings were not universally welcomed. However if that was such a big deal it is surprising CEO was not matted at the time (Phantom justice is swift but fair) , and even more surprising that it was not a hot topic at the late October HOTC AGM. It is not even mentioned in the draft Final Minutes published on the website. To help the lazy commentators, there is nothing sinister about them being draft because they won’t be confirmed until the 2026 AGM that has not yet been held.
Since Xmas the record shows an increasing whispering campaign against the CEO. It seems to have gained traction after the election of Michal McCracken as the new Chair.
The complaints seem to fall into two buckets – one that the CEO was too negative about her precincts her patch, and the other that she either wasn’t anti-car, or wasn’t anti-car enough.
For nine years she had been a passionate and fearless advocate for he members. But now she’s not. Or is it she’s not singing from the right hymnbook
It’s interesting to me that the stories seem to have been launched in The Post (Wellington) and followed up by Granny Heral a few days later.
The Mayor jumped in with an alleged letter to HOTC complaining about a number of things – he commented on the Board having had several Chairs since the AGM, and that HOTC had run three consecutive years of deficit. I don’t know in what universe the CEO is responsible for intra board machinations in the Board electing its Chair. And a very cursory examination of the Treasurers report to the AGM would show that the deficit had been planned to use up some of the accumulated funds, and that HOTC had not borrowed. In some of the chats there were aspersions that maybe the CEO had gone the same way as her predecessor who ended up behind bars for his financial misdeeds. No proof, and. not even any crumbs of doubt
The new Board has said it has undertaken lots of governance reviews.
I wonder how Snedden who had chaired the Board for nine years feels about all this happening at the end of his term? And how do the five continuing members of the Board feel about what they had done previously being dissected.Has any journalist thought to enquire of them?
It is clear at some stage the CEO was stood down The Post wrongly stated at the beginning she had been sacked. Mayor Brown couldn’t help himself into getting involved by taking questions but saying that it had nothing to do with him, ask the HOTC Board.
I’ve seen all the things the Board has supposedly done in the last few months – but their list is all governance matters which in my world has nothing to do with the CEO – she’s not on the Board, She is management. Governance is the bailiwick of the Board and the Board alone.
You would have to think that with the change in Board make-up, there is a change of Board strategy. That’s fine but if part of the strategy is that you don’t think the current CEO fits, you don’t just dump on them. Surely the Chair sits down with CEO and says “look we want to do things differently and we don’t think you’re the right fit…and they work out a process for exit that allows everyone to hold their head up.
How will this end. I don’t know. But f this was my movie, the way I see things have occurred, I would have the CEO bursting into the Boardroom, stand up and directly tell the Chair “This is how big the cheque you are going to write me!”
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May 6, 2026 8:05am
- lastmanstanding
  
  Craig Stobo has been forced to resign as Chair of the Financial Markets Authority (FMA). His crime? He made a personal submission I repeat personal submission in favour of the Treat Principles Bill. My understanding is that it was the imported CEO Samantha Barras who drove his resignation. She is a supporter of Maorification to the extent she conned the Board into adopting a whole raft of Maorification of a body that is supposed to regulate the financial markets. I have known Craig for many years. He is a former diplomat and highly respected business person. The Cult of Maorification has now become so imbedded that anyone who speaks out is caste out of the tribe. Thinking citizens should be afraid very afraid. Unless you are a retired citizen like my self your very employment is at risk.
  
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  May 6, 2026 9:13am
  - imalwaysright
    
    We used to mock the Russians for living under State control in their Orwellian society.
    
    (Correction…we still mock them!)
    
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    May 6, 2026 10:02am
  - R
    
    LMS, even as a retired person your lifestyle, and that of any motivated person is at serious risk.
    
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    May 6, 2026 11:02am
  - Phronesis
    
    Edgeler over on X has pointed out that submissions to parliament are protected speech. You can’t be disadvantaged for it or it is contempt of Parliament. I can see the logic of that.
    
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    May 6, 2026 12:40pm
  - wgtn_dude
    
    Regarding Craig Stobo. Yes he breached the rules of public commentary on government policy.
    
    The other allegations though and the findings, while not a sackable or resignation material on their own, they do add up to someone who displays a lack of judgement or a reasonable level of self awareness. Those are very necessary traits for someone wanting to hold those positions.
    
    He was right to resign, and in my view, is unfit for other public sector governance positions.
    
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    May 6, 2026 1:04pm
  - Ra Henare
    
    Barrass focuses on ensuring the financial system works for consumers, improving the Māori experience within the sector, and embedding tikanga Māori into FMA operations.
    
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    May 6, 2026 2:14pm
  - Jack5
    
    In a profile at the FMA web site (15 February 2022), Samantha Barrass says her appointment as chief executive is “also an opportunity for me to re-establish my links with Aotearoa New Zealand that were forged during the 20 formative years I spent growing up here”.
    
    She is quoted:
    
    “Another thing that’s very important to me is that I want to see we’ve worked well with Maori and that we can see tangible improvements in the Maori experience of the financial sector. I’m enjoying learning more about Maori tikanga and how the FMA can embed this into its operations. I started te reo lessons while in London and look forward to continuing these. Personal success will mean that I’ve done the mahi and can speak the reo!”
    
    https://www.fma.govt.nz/library/opinion/meet-samantha-barrass-fma-chief-executive/
    
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    May 6, 2026 8:07pm
Scott

People don’t realise how terrible the genocide in Gaza has been. There are new luxury cafes that ordinary people can’t afford to go to. Oh the horror!

https://nypost.com/2026/05/04/opinion/luxurious-gaza-cafes-poke-quite-the-hole-in-the-genocide-narrative?utm_source=nypost&utm_campaign=android_nyp&utm_medium=social

In the picture we see students on their laptops studying and chatting in a new cafe. The suffering certainly runs deep?
But apparently these new luxury cafes are part of the genocide and show the inequality that has happened because of the genocide. This from our good friends at Al Jazeera:
“These new establishments do not prove that normality is coming back to Gaza. They are a testament to its continuing genocidal abnormality.”

https://aje.news/huc02l

So luxury cafes that ordinary people can’t afford to go to is a consequence of continuing genocidal abnormality? Give me a break!
There never was a genocide in Gaza. Anyone still waving around a Gaza flag needs their head read.
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May 6, 2026 8:10am
- NothingLeft
  
  I saw a piece on a childish far left american woman who bought into the wonderful Gazans being mercilessly preyed upon by Israelis bullshit going to set up an art cafe in Gaza – and within a few months had been shaken down, thieved and extorted for everything and was leaving penniless to go back to her home country.
  
  Always nice to see abrasive idiots receiving an education
  
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  May 6, 2026 10:03am
  - Scott
    
    Nothing left, thanks for your comments. I think the average far left woman should go on a fact finding tour to Gaza and see how they get treated? Also the average far left rainbow person. I think they’d get a big surprise about how wonderful the people of Gaza under Hamas really are?
    
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    May 6, 2026 10:13am
    - kowtow
      
      The mutual contradictions of the whole far left , pro Gaza , kindly , eco thing is a sight to behold and has created the most extraordinary set of bedfellows seen in a long time.
      
      The UK local elections are something to watch as British Muslim voters ( now these won’t even be middle eastern origin for the most part but will be Bangladeshi , Pakistani ,kashmiri ) who normally vote 80% Labour , now switch to the Greens who’re heavily pro trans and other sexual politics matters and to Independents ( extremist Islam) ,by a margin of 6 in 10.
      
      The poll is also disturbing in that it showed a majority of these voters claim that their religious affiliation is more important to them than what we might call British values.
      
      “British Muslims in key battleground areas are on course to further distance themselves from the Labour Party, as well as having widely differing views from the general population on Gaza, blasphemy, and cultural issues such as gender segregation and the presence of dogs in public spaces.”
      
      https://policyexchange.org.uk/publication/understanding-islamopopulism/
      
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      May 6, 2026 12:02pm
- Taieri
  
  Former Mossad chief Tamir Pardo said he felt “ashamed to be a Jew” after touring Palestinian communities in the West Bank that have come under repeated attack from Israeli settlers, warning that current Israeli policy there is “planting the seeds for the next October 7.”
  
  https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2026-04-28/ty-article/former-mossad-chief-says-settler-violence-makes-him-ashamed-to-be-a-jew/0000019d-d4a9-dc2f-addf-fffbc9290000
  
  “I held up a mirror to the statements of many ministers and Knesset (parliament) members in the government,” Ya’alon said in a second interview, with Channel 12. “Under this title, ethnic cleansing is effectively being carried out; I don’t have another word for it.”
  
  https://edition.cnn.com/2024/12/02/middleeast/israel-idf-gaza-moshe-yaalon-palestinians-ethnic-cleansing-intl
  
  (Moshe Ya’alon is a retired Israeli politician and former Chief of the General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces. He served as Israel’s Defense Minister under Benjamin Netanyahu from 2013 to 2016.)
  
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  May 6, 2026 11:23am
  - Scott
    
    “planting the seeds for the next October 7.”
    
    Sure. Let’s recap shall we. Israel withdrew completely from Gaza. They even forcibly took away their own people out of Gaza. Israel allowed people from Gaza to come over and work in Israel. Gaza received millions and millions of dollars in overseas aid.
    
    In response to Israeli withdrawal and good will the people of Gaza attacked without warning on October 7th and slaughtered as many Jews as they could.
    
    So here’s the thing. The people of Gaza hate the Jews. They see it as their religious duty to hate the Jews.
    This is the fundamental fact that all western liberals and supporters of Gaza need to understand.
    
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    May 6, 2026 1:15pm
    - David Garrett
      
      Scott: Well Yes…but the former chief of the IDF is certainly not a “western liberal”…and I suspect he knows a damn sight more than you – and everyone else here – about what is going on over there…doncha think??
      
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      May 6, 2026 2:18pm
      - Scott
        
        Lots of reasons to turn against your own country. You get a platform on CNN and lots of admiration and attention.
        
        The people of Gaza started this war. And given the means they would destroy Israel. Israel wanted peace with their neighbours. Gaza wanted war and still wants war.
        
        Israel good. Gaza bad. It really is that simple.
        
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        May 6, 2026 2:31pm
      - Ghost
        
        What a completely stupid comment. If you had the ability to comprehend what he is saying, he is in no way turning against his country. So you obviously have no problem with what he is speaking against, the mob attacks that some settlers are carrying out. Do not for one moment come and pretend you care about Israel when you support these mobs assaulting Palestinians, torching cars, and damaging property. He is right to call this out and say it is an “existential threat” to Israel. He is also completely right to say that this “sows the seeds” for future uprisings. When someone of this calibre speaks, you should shut up and listen, instead of twist what he says
        
        Your last sentence just shows how idiotic people have become and twisted everything he is saying.
        
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        May 6, 2026 3:11pm
      - Scott
        
        Ghost, gosh you have got yourself in a twist. Gaza is bad. They hate Israel and they do not want to live in peace with them.
        Israel wants to live in peace and withdrew from every inch of Gaza to try and get peace. But it failed. October 7th was the tell. Gaza does not want peace.
        
        Given October 7th I am absolutely not exercised about settler attacks. I don’t expect perfection from Israel given thousands of people were slaughtered by monsters from Gaza.
        
        Gosh the right is hopeless. Pin pricks and persnickety comments while the West is facing an existential crisis.
        Stand up for your side! 😎
        
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        May 6, 2026 7:21pm
      - Ghost
        
        No it’s not that simple. It’s actually this kind of thought pattern that has kept this conflict so intractable. Neither side has the monopoly on righteousness or evil.
        
        I don’t think you have the intelligence for anything other than bumper sticker slogans. Especially when you write such a childish post claiming a man of the calibre of Tamir Pardo, who is standing up for his country is doing it for cnn admiration and attention and turning against his country.
        
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        May 6, 2026 7:53pm
      - Scott
        
        Yes they do. Good and evil are real. Gaza is evil. Almost all of them hate the Jews. Not one person in Gaza raised a finger to help any of the hostages held there.
        
        Israel wants to live in peace. Gaza doesn’t. That’s good and that’s evil.
        
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        May 6, 2026 8:24pm
      - Ghost
        
        no, but I’m not surprised you have no idea what you are talking about, as usual
        
        Before October 7th, polling showed high levels of frustration with Hamas’s governance, they wanted jobs and stability, not conflict. 73% wanted a peaceful, negotiated two-state solution
        
        you truly are ignorant.
        
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        May 6, 2026 8:55pm
      - Scott
        
        Ghost, what nonsense. The people of Gaza spat on captured Israeli women. None of them helped the hostages. The polling is BS.
        You have no idea what you’re talking about.
        The people of Gaza hate the Jews. And still do.
        If an election were held today Hamas would be reelected.
        Thank you for your attention to this matter. 😎
        
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        May 6, 2026 10:20pm
      - Ghost
        
        I cannot believe how ignorant you are. You really just are a sound bite who lacks any knowledge aren’t you. Your posts show you don’t even know what you are talking about with the what hostages have said, you just speak complete bullshit and believe the lies you tell.
        
        Yocheved Lifshitz
        
        “They treated us gently and met all our needs. They made sure we had medicine.”
        
        Alma Avraham Family
        
        “The doctor in Gaza saved her life. He treated her with devotion.”
        
        Danielle Aloni & her daughter Emilia
        
        “A woman in Gaza shared her food with Danielle and Emilia and treated them with warmth.”
        
        Eitan Yahalomi Mother
        
        “Some civilians were kind to him. They gave him food and tried to protect him.”
        
        Multiple hostages described being kept in civilian homes
        
        “The family gave us bread and fruit. They whispered that they were sorry and did not support Hamas.”
        
        Go educate yourself, you have no idea what you are talking about as usual.
        
        Oh, and the polling numbers I gave above are factual, unlike your posts.
        
        “Ignorance, the root and stem of all evil.”
        
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        May 6, 2026 11:10pm
      - Scott
        
        Ghost, educate yourself. Your actual post gives the situation away. The hostages were kept in the people’s homes. So that means they were the jailers! They were the jailers! Who is the ignorant fool?
        
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        May 7, 2026 8:07am
    - Taieri
      
      all western liberals and supporters of Gaza need to understand
      ————–
      
      Including the former chief of Mossad and the former Chief of Staff of the IDF no doubt.
      Are you sure you are able to understand anything other that primitive slogans ?
      
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      May 6, 2026 3:34pm
  - Taieri
    
    Ara you downticking me or downticking Tamir Pardo and Moshe Ya’alon? Just curious…
    
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    May 6, 2026 1:20pm
  - David George
    
    “The left does not hate Israel because Israel is a colonial project, an apartheid state, or any of the other charges that fall apart on five minutes of examination. The left hates Israel because Israel is the most visible, most successful refusal of the victim position. The Jews were supposed to remain a perpetual moral asset. They became a sovereign nation instead. The left cannot tolerate this, because if the Jews can do it, the model loses its theoretical prestige. If a group with the most credible historical claim to permanent victimhood instead built a country and prospered, the entire model is exposed as the political extortion racket it has been all along.”
    Dan Burmawi
    
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    May 6, 2026 3:10pm
- Ra Henare
  
  Another hit job(ie calling it a new luxury cafe…
  
  Some facts.
  Its NOT NEW.
  ITS NOT LUXURY
  
  The café is located in Al-Mawasi, a designated area housing hundreds of thousands of displaced people.
  
  Infrastructure: It operates using nylon walls for privacy, solar-powered fans, and generators to provide electricity and internet connectivity.
  
  Community Role: It serves as a rare sanctuary, for women, providing a space for studying, working, or simply seeking silence away from the war-torn environment.
  
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  May 6, 2026 2:18pm
  - Scott
    
    Look again at the second article :
    
    https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2026/5/2/the-dark-side-of-gazas-new-fancy-cafes-and-restaurants
    
    The article from Al Jazeera no less talks about the fancy cafes in Gaza.
    
    There is no genocide in Gaza. There never was.
    
    [Mod- just debate the topics]
    
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    May 6, 2026 7:15pm
    - Hard Cheese
      
      You didn’t even bother to read the article you linked. It’s staggering how you’ve twisted it to suit your brainwashed narrative.
      
      These new establishments do not prove that normality is coming back to Gaza. They are a testament to its continuing genocidal abnormality.
      
      Most people cannot even look at these new places, let alone enter them and order something. The vast majority of Gaza’s population lives in tents, has no electricity or potable water, and suffers from the loss of livelihoods. They are surviving on what little aid Israel is allowing through.
      […]
      The expensive new establishments reflect the deeply unjust social order that has emerged in Gaza – one where war profiteering has elevated a new privileged class and collapsed the vast majority into misery with no access to proper education, healthcare and even food. The genocide did not just kill and maim people and destroy homes and schools; it eliminated the prospect of a normal life for most people in Gaza.
      
      The genocide has devasted everyone – even those who have profiteered from it. No amount of time spent in shiny cafes and restaurants will ever erase this reality.
      
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      May 6, 2026 11:28pm
    - Ra Henare
      
      We understand Scott that you are very very pro ISrael.
      
      Funny how so many independant international organisations and thinkers agree that what is happening in Gaza is a genecide, slow but still a genocide.
      
      Of course you will disavow the Internation Court as being antisemtic when they convicted Netenyahu as a war criminal.
      
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      May 8, 2026 9:35pm
- Bullion
  
  Did you see the photo provided of the “luxurious” cafe. It’s a very temporary structure, akin to a tent nailed together. In any regards, I’m sure there were “luxurious” cafes in Armenia, Bosnia, Rwanda, Cambodia etc. It’s not really evidence of what you’re suggesting, other than people trying to make the most of a bad situation.
  
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  May 6, 2026 4:31pm
Simon

Wayne Brown states NZ is in terminal decline. His solution is a political union or joint government of Labour & National with rotating PM between the leaders of these parties

Also the side lining of the minor parties.

NZ is in steady state decline. Some mainstream is recognising this publicly.

National and Labour should fold. They are a disgrace. The 2 main parties opposing should be ACT & NZ First.
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May 6, 2026 8:10am
- Damocles11
  
  NZ First are not to be trusted. The party of regional slush funds and bombastic words in lieu of real action. And never forget or forgive the decision to put Ardern in power in 2017 in exchange for a truckload of baubles: that disgusting decision has well and truly stuffed this country.
  
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  May 6, 2026 8:52am
  - pdm
    
    Agreed D11.
    
    If they had achieved even 5% of all of their promises since the inception of MMP they would have something to show for all of the baubles they extorted.
    
    As a variation of the saying when I was a kid:
    `if bullshit was tarseal NZFirst would be the main road’.
    
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    May 6, 2026 9:10am
  - Im Right
    
    I agree Damocles11, I was in favour of NZF, up until they chose Ardern/Labour, but NOT because he chose Labour but because he wanted a 3billion fund to be run and operated by NZF and be used for regional development (I can understand National refusing as I’m assuming he asked same of them in the negotiations…not withstanding the fact Peters hated Bill English and highly unlikely to have gone with National)
    I shook my head and realised there and then Winston Peters is not for the betterment of NZ but only for NZF.
    The terrible stench of NZF being allowed the sole distributor and then the lack of real results from huge sums of cash handed over by Shane Jones to individual/organisations/companies, with little or no due diligence nor financial follow up auditing, showed me that money was never truly for what the fund was intended to do.
    IMHO, alot of people got very rich from that tax payers fund, and it seems no-one even seems to care.
    
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    May 6, 2026 9:17am
  - Notsofast
    
    John Key caused this by insulting Peters for nearly a decade. Bill English went along with it.
    I remember thinking he would never forgive, nor should he have.
    
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    May 6, 2026 9:50am
    - Ghost
      
      No, this happened because Winston blamed Paula for his pension being leaked, and Bill for his exit from national
      
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      May 6, 2026 9:57am
      - Nigel Kearney
        
        I don’t believe any of these explanations. It was all about the $3 billion ‘regional development fund’ allowing Winston and Shane to spray money as they saw fit. He was always going to go with whoever paid the biggest bribe and will do so again, regardless of personalities or history.
        
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        May 6, 2026 10:34am
      - Colville
        
        I doesn’t have to be a, b or c it can be d. All of the above.
        
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        May 6, 2026 10:54am
      - Notsofast
        
        That seems fair.
        This election is the first I recall Winston ruling out a party, so no labour for Winston.
        
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        May 6, 2026 11:09am
    - Prince
      
      Parliamentary debate requires vigorous debate. What ypu call insults is just a regular feature of debating. In fact Key and Peters got along quite well outside the chamber.
      
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      May 6, 2026 12:32pm
  - Nūhaka Native
    
    Putting Labour into power in 2017 has been a disaster for New Zealand. However, National did not play the MMP game very well in that election. In 2017, Winston Peters’ tension with National stemmed less from any single personal incident and more from their public questioning of his reliability, dismissal of his priorities, and assuming he would support them after the election, which he obviously resented. Regional development is good if done well. It can ease pressure on Auckland and help regional economies, which frankly need it. Either way, National need NZ First more than ever. Actually, New Zealand does.
    
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    May 6, 2026 10:08am
  - Ra Henare
    
    Some facts would be nice to offset your rabid hatred of NZF leader.
    
    Of course all the those on Superannuation will tell you about Winston’s SuperGold Card (ie your NZF has done nothing jibe). Tauranga residents will tell you he was the prime mover for the Tauranga Harbour Bridge (Part of agreement with Helen Clark).
    
    The 2017 was a personally derived decision, against Bill English. Both National and Labour offered Winston similar “”baubles””
    
    But of course nothing I say will remove any emotional driven belief you have.
    
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    May 6, 2026 2:26pm
    - Colville
      
      Ra.
      So 40? years sucking on a public salary and that is it?
      
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      May 6, 2026 7:50pm
- imalwaysright
  
  The Party system seems to be the problem.
  
  MMP is actually MPP where the proportion of the decision making is applied to Parties rather than Members. Individual elected MPs have virtually no choice but to vote according to the Party’s wishes.
  
  What about making every vote in Parliament a conscience vote?
  That would be true MMP.
  
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  May 6, 2026 8:57am
  - Quail
    
    IAR,
    Replace MMP now ,, preferably with STV (or even FPP could be considered ).
    This is the only way to save democracy in NZ.
    MMP is destroying New Zealand’s democracy
    
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    May 6, 2026 9:55am
    - imalwaysright
      
      Quail
      We have a House of Representatives who represent their Party.
      
      The public are therefore irrelevant.
      
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      May 6, 2026 10:06am
  - NothingLeft
    
    The problem is that half the parties in parliament are made up of tik-tok MP’s who got their roles on the basis of social media ‘likes’ and spouting emotive bullshit for clout, without ever having achieved anything substantive in life, managed capable people in a competitive industry, or even educated themselves in the basics of the economics or history.
    
    That is why the Ardern govt was so incompetent; it was a complete talent vacuum. Long gone are the days when the cream of the working class led the left, now it is the dregs of the middle class – those that lack brains or conscientiousness to measure up in elite competitively sought jobs or professions. Sadly adult-children fooled by virtue signaling still vote for them.
    
    And because the right have to win elections in the center they must chase after and pander to these same voting air-heads – putting an end to any pretense at long term planning, or fiscal restraint, or demands for personal responsibility and egalitarianism.
    
    Democracy is consequently failing as the vote-for-a-living (and Feelz) crowd have become electorally dominant.
    
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    May 6, 2026 10:16am
  - David Garrett
    
    Imalways: Your comments here are usually much more sensible than that one…Under FPP individual MP’S ALWAYS had to vote as directed by the whips (unless it was a conscience vote) MMP hasn’t changed that.
    
    What is HAS done is make parliament much more representative of society…that means ACT has become a voice on the right – sadly it also means the looney Greens also get a voice. It’s called representative democracy
    
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    May 6, 2026 11:15am
    - leoj
      
      MMP has created compromise in place of defined action.
      
      The country use to have defined action under FPP.
      
      Now, we are wallowing in namby-pamby.
      
      The watered-down Three Strikes law is a case in point. The old Three Strikes law worked great. Labour (idiots) decapitated it then under MMP the new law is toothless because the weak, woke Nats are too scared to upset anyone.
      
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      May 6, 2026 1:06pm
  - Nikola Donatello
    
    “What about making every vote in Parliament a conscience vote?”
    
    That is not realistic. You could constantly see the threat from a small number of MPs to being down the government by voting against Supply Bills.
    
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    May 6, 2026 1:48pm
- Tomtoddy
  
  It is obvious that there is an emerging strategy supported by many in the MSM to promote a coalition between National and Labour in an effort to get rid of both “extremes”. It is actually a trojan horse to get rid of ACT and NZFirst.
  
  It could be an attractive option for the soppy centre voters. It could even attract Luxon and Hipkins who seem to find their partners hard going. It would be a disaster for the country taking us back most of the way to harmful policies of the Ardern and Clark governments.
  
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  May 6, 2026 9:02am
  - waikatosinger
    
    The media loves the left. The rise of the smaller parties of the right has left Labour without a clear path to victory. Labour/TPM/Green probably isn’t going to do it. Winston has ruled out a repeat of 2017. Whether we trust him on that is another matter, but he has ruled it out. So up comes this absurd idea of a Labour/National coalition. This is just the product of a slow news cycle and some bored jourlaists. A moment of thought reveals that the idea is ridiculous.
    
    Why would National prefer Labour over its existing coalition partners? Why would Labour prefer this to a coalition with TPM and the Greens? I can conceive of no electoral outcome in which this would even make sense. Without Winston flip flopping in the middle, the coalition of the left or right is likely to win a clear victory.
    
    Furthermore it would be the death of both Labour and National. These parties define themselves in part by their opposition to the other. A lot of National voters are more like “anything but Labour” people. Those voters would immediately flip to ACT. A lot of Labour voters are “anything but National” people. Those voters would feel massively betrayed and would flip to the Greens. It would be a one term affair because both National and Labour would shrink to insignificance at the next election.
    
    So there is no electoral outcome that would make this possible, and no advantage to either National or labour in trying to make it happen. This is a silly idea floated by silly bored political journalists fantasising about how Labour can get into government.
    
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    May 6, 2026 9:37am
- MCōs
  
  I don’t think either of the two main parties are anywhere near ‘terminal decline’, but what is lacking is vision, which is hardly surprising when the so called leader of the free world is such a loose cannon
  
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  May 6, 2026 9:04am
  - David George
    
    “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; . . . who at best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly.”
    Theodore Roosevelt
    
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    May 6, 2026 9:23am
  - [email protected]
    
    “so called leader of the free world is such a loose cannon”.
    
    The president of the USA is paid US$400,000 per year plus some perks.
    
    The CEO’s of large companies in the USA are paid an average of US$23 million.
    
    If the president of the USA was paid US$20 million it would likely attract some intelligent people capable of running the country.
    
    Lee Iococca was president of Chrysler from 1978 to 1991. Obviously a capable man. When asked if he wanted to run for president he said he couldn’t afford the pay cut.
    
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    May 6, 2026 11:48am
    - David George
      
      President Trump doesn’t draw any salary.
      
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      May 6, 2026 1:08pm
      - MCōs
        
        What a man!
        
        4 2
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        May 6, 2026 1:38pm
    - Taieri
      
      The president of the USA is paid US$400,000 per year plus some perks
      ————–
      
      The job is not about the money…
      
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      May 6, 2026 1:22pm
    - Ra Henare
      
      Just an observation.
      Previous US Presidents have finished their terms. SIGNIFICANTLY wealthier than when the started. Except said Mr Trump.
      
      So its not the salary that is stopping “good”” candidates.
      
      I suspect its the relentless criticism and removal of personal freedom.
      
      Thats why in this day & age Narcicists run. I am thinking of Clinton, Obama and Bush Jnr
      
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      May 6, 2026 2:33pm
      - Nūhaka Native
        
        “Show me a man that gets rich by being a politician, and I’ll show you a crook.” Harry Truman (US President from 1945 to 1953).
        
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        May 6, 2026 5:15pm
  - leoj
    
    I am glad that Trump is a loose cannon. That way, the bat-shit crazy Iranians will never know what to do next.
    
    Also, Trump is the only loose cannon to get Iran sorted. Iran has caused so many problems in their region and throughout the world and Trump is the ONLY leader to actually do something.
    
    He is the greatest president in my lifetime and that includes Reagan.
    
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    May 6, 2026 1:23pm
    - Sacha
      
      I’m inclined to agree with you –
      
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      May 6, 2026 2:06pm
    - David Garrett
      
      Leoj: If you think the current situation in the Persian Gulf and the region generally is “sorted” I’d hate to see what chaos looks like!
      
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      May 6, 2026 2:23pm
      - leoj
        
        I find it difficult to believe how many people are so impatient. Wars are never easy and always include twists and turns. WW II took six years for the world to be rid of Nazi-ism. This one has been going two months, for Godsake!
        
        Have some patience man. Trump has got this.
        
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        May 6, 2026 4:34pm
    - Ra Henare
      
      Leoj.
      Keep drinking the cool aid I say.
      
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      May 6, 2026 2:34pm
      - leoj
        
        Best tasting.
        
        Let’s look back in another few months and see how this turns out.
        
        There will be only one winner and it won’t the Iran, who you seem to favour.
        
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        May 6, 2026 4:36pm
- Nūhaka Native
  
  The way things are going, the 2 main parties opposing the ‘crazy’ left will be ACT & NZ First.
  
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  May 6, 2026 9:16am
  - keepcalmcarryon
    
    They already are.
    
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    May 6, 2026 3:30pm
- Scott
  
  Actually this is why the right can’t gain any traction in NZ. We hate Winston, we hate Trump, we don’t actually honour or like any political figure. Just gloom and doom and venting your spleen every day.
  How about getting positive for a change?
  Write this down :
  – national has done brilliantly in rolling back the Labour legislative agenda
  – they are trying to turn around the health system and education system.
  – Winston chose labour as he was perfectly entitled to do with National doing its absolute best to alienate him
  – Winston is the only politician in NZ speaking against mass immigration, which is an existential threat to the West
  – Trump is the only world leader doing anything about mass immigration.
  – also he is fighting for western civilisation in Cuba and Iran and already won in Venezuela.
  
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  May 6, 2026 10:20am
  - Damocles11
    
    Here we go again: Winston is ‘speaking against’ mass immigration. ‘Speaking against’ does nothing, Winston has been part of coalition governments time and again yet the mass immigration continues & more over it is often low quality immigration to boot. Yet ACT propose to charge immigrants an infrastructure levy, deport criminal immigrants, and ensure the immigrants we do get are the highly skilled variety rather than the uber drivers. The are real policies rather than bombastic words such as ‘butter chicken tsunami’. Sadly, many New Zealanders seem to prefer the bombastic words rather than the effective policies, which is why NZ First keep getting mentioned in the same breath as ACT.
    
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    May 6, 2026 11:37am
  - Scott
    
    Speaking starts some thing. The communist revolution started with words and books. Christianity is about the word which for centuries was spoken to the congregation rather than them reading it.
    
    Winston is the only person who for years spoke against mass immigration. How can anyone do anything if no one will first speak of it? No one else would speak of it.
    
    I can’t see how you can’t understand this?
    
    Now he is part of a minor party that has never had the numbers to legislate. Especially with Labour and national being ideologically committed to mass immigration.
    
    Winston is the only one speaking against mass immigration. Still.
    
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    May 6, 2026 2:21pm
  - Ra Henare
    
    I was agreeing with you Scott until your last item.
    
    Trump was fighting for Oil in Venezuala not Western Civilisation.
    I have never understood the continued attack (economic) since 1960 on Cuba!
    
    Its obvioulsy not any attempt to improve the Cubans lifestyle or standard of living.
    
    It seems to me that Trump is just continuing the failed restrictions of the last ….65 years….. Because we have always done it!!
    
    Guess US Presidents(or the deep state) missed understanding Henry Fords advice.
    
    If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.”
    ― Henry Ford
    
    So, a thought might be.
    Lift all US export restrictions to Cuba.
    
    Maybe this would get Cubans to stop blaming the US for their woes, then incentivise them to push for more money(think more capitalism).
    
    Then Trump would get some alcolades that he so desperately desires.
    
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    May 6, 2026 2:44pm
- R
  
  ACT and NZFirst combined would be a disaster. Nothing would ever be achieved. They are as alike as chalk and cheese.
  
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  May 6, 2026 11:05am
- leoj
  
  It would be one hell of a gamble but if National and Labour did form a coalition (possible), after one term of three years the country would kick them out.
  
  Meanwhile, that coalition could do great damage.
  
  Don’t be surprised if Luxon and Hipkins shake hands on something. The Nats would then not have to work with pesky NZF or ACT. Labour could divest themselves of the embarrassment parties of Greens and Maori.
  
  Be prepared. I wouldn’t put it past Luxon and/or Hipkins. The Nats have done stuff all to undo Labour’s policies.
  
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  May 6, 2026 1:12pm
  - MCōs
    
    If it became known that either Labour or National were willing to form a coalition with the other their popular support would crash
    Both parties know this and it would never happen.
    I live in Mangere Bridge. Maybe the Minister of Health could put on his Warriors jersey and have a street corner meeting to explain the benefits the locals would see from such a coalition
    
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    May 6, 2026 2:46pm
    - leoj
      
      I hope you’re right about crashing but Luxon has not ruled anything out. I don’t trust him or the Nats anymore. Way too weak and woke.
      
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      May 6, 2026 4:38pm
pdm

Murray – this sounds like the Craig Stobo sacking mark 2.

Here is Michael Laws very good summary of how Stobo got shafted in a hatchet job by the CEO and Financial Markets Authority Board.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUgl_bMNkuU

There may not be any Maorification issues with the HOTC CEO situation but a hatchet job is still a hatchet job.
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May 6, 2026 8:40am
Yvette

Taranaki Maunga and its surrounding peaks, collectively known under the legal identity named Te Kāhui Tupua, will now have their voice heard with four iwi and four Crown representatives appointed to a board that will speak and act on their behalf.
Te Tōpuni Kōkōrangi statutory board is the human face and voice of Te Kāhui Tupua, and Te Atiawa iwi leader Liana Poutu has been appointed chair of the board.
She said it was important that they leave any prior allegiances outside of the room.
“We’re not there as representatives of iwi or the Crown. So, we need to take those hats off and leave them off our maunga, our ancestors, so we can focus on the aspirations of the maunga and its surrounding peaks.” [1]

So with those last two sentences, if the identity of the representative, of Crown or Maori, is dropped and presumably Maori or State tikanga which would still identify them as representing either Treaty partner, they are then just humans, so why am I or you not a spokesperson for Mt Egmont / Taranaki?
__________
[1] https://www.1news.co.nz/2025/08/22/taranaki-maunga-finds-its-human-voices/
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May 6, 2026 8:49am
- Dougal10
  
  And this is why we are in a serious spiral , when people start making up stuff for the nation to worship the end is nigh .
  
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  May 6, 2026 11:12am
  - KH
    
    I was having a chat with Taranaki Maungs the other day and she/he was expressing disgust at the maorification of everything.
    He/she wanted to get modern. Hotels, Gondolas and a decent cafe right on top.
    
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    May 6, 2026 7:44pm
Nūhaka Native

Pretty sure RNZ and TVNZ will do their best not to cover this.

The JUDICIAL REVIEW of the government’s ban on new prescriptions of “PUBERTY BLOCKERS” starts today in Wellington’s High Court (6 & 7 May).

In New Zealand : The answer to the pressing question as to why we have the highest rate by far of countries that prescribe a drug approved to treat prostate cancer in adult men to “treat” children who are confused about their “gender” won’t be answered in this week’s judicial review of the coalition’s ban on such drugs. But the life chances of these benighted kids will depend on it.

Lady DEBORAH CHAMBERS KC writes in The Herald:

“Three senior judges exposed the evidence gaps, consent problems and experimental nature of the treatment. Within days, the NHS acted. This opened the door for the Cass Review and, ultimately, for British Parliament itself. NHS whistleblowers had raised alarms for years, only to be dismissed as bigots intent on denying “trans kids life-saving treatment”. Such was the pitch of the debate: Query puberty blockers and you were cast as complicit in the death of trans kids. Questioning the use of experimental drugs on vulnerable children – including those with autism or same-sex attraction – was treated as heresy.”

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/puberty-blockers-ban-judicial-review-and-political-decisions-deborah-chambers/premium/BWN4EPOTYRENTFUXP7M3KM3HC4/

[Mod – just a brief paragraph and a link to the article]
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May 6, 2026 8:56am
- Notsofast
  
  The judicial review has been postponed until July, Singapore has just banned the drugs for under 18s, gender medication is on life support internationally.
  
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  May 6, 2026 12:49pm
  - Nūhaka Native
    
    Deborah Chambers points out in her article that:
    
    “The risk is that persistent pressure groups may effectively capture the judicial review process. A judge, properly attentive to the complainant’s legal arguments, may not have evidence produced of a broader public interest or the weight of international evidence. The temptation to align with an ideological cause that has captured many institutions can prove stronger than the duty to protect vulnerable children”
    
    Eventually, the medical evidence will pile up, the number of de-transitioners will be too large to ignore, and, of course, there are the massive malpractice lawsuits that are now happening in the US and Europe.
    
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    May 6, 2026 5:28pm
Swifty

US political ads are getting right out there:

https://x.com/robertlufkinmd/status/2051679582831391159?s=46
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May 6, 2026 9:07am
- Don Beckett
  
  Hollywierd for sure.
  
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  May 6, 2026 11:07am
- MCōs
  
  I took a look a that clip and came across this one
  https://x.com/PaulleyTicks/status/2051778846991790139/video/1?s=61
  
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  May 6, 2026 12:32pm
David George

From the “only in the UK” files:
“In July 2025, a 12-year-old girl in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, was abducted, raped, and assaulted. Two Afghan asylum seekers (Ahmad Mulakhil, 23, and another man) were charged. The perpetrators had arrived in the UK recently as asylum seekers.”

Green Councilor in Nuneaton says Illegal immigrant who raped 12 year old had his “life ruined”.
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May 6, 2026 9:14am
- Im Right
  
  Yes, David George….100% agree that the UK is fucked and the Greens (no matter which country) are a cancer in politics.
  
  UK has regional elections in the next day or two, Labour will be humiliated, Reform will win big… unfortunately because Labour and Conservatives are useless this means the Greens will pick up many seats, I have read in many articles the Muslim voters are choosing the Greens now and moving away from Labour.
  Seems the Green party are useful idiots irrespective of the country they infect.
  
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  May 6, 2026 9:27am
  - Charlotte Wells
    
    The Greens have always been idiots.
    
    The usefulness is dependant on what they can be used for.
    
    28 2
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    May 6, 2026 10:02am
  - mogg
    
    Will be interesting to see because Polanski’s polling has fallen off the cliff since he was critical of Golders Green terror suspect’s arrest. He has apologised but
    he is now being seen for what he really is.
    
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    May 6, 2026 10:21am
    - Im Right
      
      Yes Mogg, Polanski is not an MP, Polanski is not in parliament not a member of parliament yet he acts and talks like he is.
      He has indicated he intends to stand as an MP for a London seat….I will suspect it will be a Muslim dominated area he will choose.
      
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      May 6, 2026 10:39am
  - Inandout
    
    IR, the Muslims are biting their tongues and supporting the Greens as a temporary measure. The Greens are in favour of the very things that Islam despises. Gays, trans, same sex marriage and pretty much all Green liberal policies. It is commonly called ‘the long game’ being played and when Islam is firmly established it will take complete control.
    
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    May 6, 2026 11:17am
    - leoj
      
      Once the Muslims take over they will slaughter all those they supported.
      
      Islam is a death cult, based on nothing but fear.
      
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      May 6, 2026 1:27pm
- Tauhei Notts
  
  David, it has been written so often before but I will repeat it.
  “The Greens tell us repeatedly that they are so concerned with the planet yet they spend so little time on it.”
  
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  May 6, 2026 9:42am
Damocles11

Last night an items in the news about Maori running scared about a potential loss of Lotto funding for marae. This report amazed me: I would have thought that marae are so central to Maoridom that they would be at the heart of Maori financial considerations, and that Hapu and Iwi leadership and power-structures would prioritise marae funding. This is not the case. Marae are funded in the main by taxpayers and ratepayers, and community fundraising.
‘Many marae struggle for years to secure funding and rely on grants like the Oranga Marae program, which is a partnership between the Department of Internal Affairs, Te Puni Kōkiri, and the Ministry for Culture and Heritage.’
And apparently under the ‘Treaty partnership’, the Crown must ‘pay for’ Maori ‘taonga’, and a marae = a taonga.
‘Under Te Tiriti o Waitangi (the Treaty of Waitangi), the Crown has a responsibility to actively protect Māori interests, including their cultural treasures (taonga), of which marae are central.’
Anyway, the money flowing from taxpayers & ratepayers annually runs to many tens of millions of dollars, including the below fund:
‘Funding for marae in New Zealand for the 2025/2026 financial year comes from a mix of dedicated central government funds, specific regional infrastructure investments, and local council grants. Major funding includes $40.21 million per annum allocated to the Māori Development Fund from July 1, 2025, and new investments for regional infrastructure.’
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May 6, 2026 9:15am
- Tauhei Notts
  
  Lotto Funding for Marae?
  Nine years ago I got a District Sports Award for Volunteer of the Year. As a retired chartered accountant I had helped some groups with funding requests, and I did a good job.
  It became obvious to me that applications for Lotto funding were a “WOFTAM” unless the applicant was big into [Mod – deleted] or big into the Women’s movement.
  And for those who wonder what acronyms stand for; woftam is a waste of fucking time and money.
  
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  May 6, 2026 10:20am
  - David Garrett
    
    Taihei: I certainly hope the word deleted wasn’t Maorification.. [Mod – no]
    I believe former Nat adman John Ansell coined it, and it expresses the phenomenon perfectly
    
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    May 6, 2026 3:37pm
- Inandout
  
  During Covid Labour gifted Maori interests $900 million so they could ‘better cope with the virus’. But wait, a further $90 million was also gifted to refurbish marae kitchens and tidy up the surrounding land. Given there was little accounting, into whose pockets did much of this money end up?
  
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  May 6, 2026 11:24am
  - Ghost
    
    The $900 million was part of the governments 2020 $50 billion CRRF. It was for housing, education, Whānau Ora, business, employment, etc. so part of labours massive debt creating spending exercise to try put life back into the country they had closed.
    
    The funding for Marae, bit different, but still with the same purpose to bring the economy back online. Different as Marae are used during emergencies to feed and accommodate people: they have become part of our civil defence responses
    
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    May 6, 2026 11:59am
    - Cassandra
      
      Marae are a rort. Taxpayers don’t fund my family rec centre. I’d be happy to share it when there’s a disaster as long as somebody else pays for it. We’ll need 10 bedrooms and room for the boat.
      
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      May 6, 2026 12:10pm
      - Taieri
        
        Marae are a rort.
        ——–
        
        They are community centres. Are community centres a rort?
        
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        May 6, 2026 1:26pm
      - cmm (semi-retired edition)
        
        Taieri, that’s a bit like saying Mongrel Mob are a cultural organisation… just like Rotary.
        
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        May 6, 2026 2:03pm
      - Taieri
        
        that’s a bit like saying Mongrel Mob are a cultural organisation
        ————-
        
        Have you ever been to a marae?
        I have, and although I’m not particularly enamoured with all the Maori things that’s what a marae is. A community centre. Just like a community hall in Mossburn, Karamea or any other Wop-wops.
        
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        May 6, 2026 3:29pm
      - MCōs
        
        I’ve been to multiple Thai temples both here and in Thailand. The ones in NZ are like community centres for Thais or Lao far from home.
        The monks give everyone the good word.
        People bring food along and on any given day after the monks have eaten there’s plenty for anyone.
        For a number of years we had a house in Bangkok adjacent to a Muslim area.
        One year the Muslim houses were all flooded including their mosque. The houses were all two storey so they were able to move upstairs, but the mosque was waterlogged so they hung out at the Buddhist temple on the other side of the canal.
        
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        May 6, 2026 4:57pm
    - Hugh Jarse
      
      They may be used as a CD resource in some areas particularly in the North Island but certainly not universal or in the South Island. Most CD emergency centres I have been aware of have been one of the many hundreds of community halls sprinkled around rural areas or local council recreation facilities in larger towns.
      
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      May 6, 2026 1:09pm
      - Ghost
        
        The one in my town has been used a number of times for emergencies, flooding, power cuts, so, they are used in the south island.
        
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        May 6, 2026 1:35pm
      - wsk12345
        
        It would need to be a dire emergency before I’d go stay at the filthy cess pit that is my local marae. People really live like that????!!
        
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        May 6, 2026 2:18pm
      - Steve Todd
        
        @ wsk12345 @ 2:18PM
        
        Really, wsk12345?
        
        I find it difficult to believe that a Ngāi Tahu marae in Christchurch would be anything like as you describe. Perhaps you could give us some details.
        
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        May 6, 2026 2:57pm
      - Hugh Jarse
        
        Sorry Ghost meant to respond that there are no absolutes and accidentally reported you instead. But yes there will have been occasions or locations where marae are the best available, but lots of other places where they haven’t been used.
        
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        May 6, 2026 3:58pm
  - david
    
    Nah, the local Ford dealers got it. Why is everyone surprised that Rangers topped the list of popular motor vehicles?
    
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    May 6, 2026 10:06pm
Yvette

Auckland Harbour Bridge sways beneath crowds – protests curbed
… Monitoring found that the clip-on swayed by up to 100mm during the hīkoi, with attendees telling 1News at the time that the structure felt “really shaky” underfoot.
https://www.1news.co.nz/2026/05/06/auckland-harbour-bridge-sways-beneath-crowds-protests-curbed/

100mm is about 0.4 of an inch – less than half and inch, but both videos that accompany the above linked article would seem to show movement very much more than half an inch – compare the size of the hand at about 11 seconds in to the gap that appears – and I guess “… a “significant pinch point safety risk” that “could result in serious crushing injuries” would be sticking your pinky down that gap.
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May 6, 2026 9:33am
- PeterTrentham
  
  100mm is 4 inches.
  
  24 0
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  May 6, 2026 9:59am
  - Charlotte Wells
    
    Here’s a tip, a finger is about 1 inch or 25 mm wide.
    
    When assessing lumber a 4×2, 100×50, is 4 fingers by 2 fingers.
    
    4 2
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    May 6, 2026 10:05am
    - mogg
      
      You must have very big fingers.
      
      10 0
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      May 6, 2026 10:25am
    - Phronesis
      
      Charlotte – You’ve been lied to by a bloke who told you that he was packing 8 inches, when really it was only 5.
      
      11 0
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      May 6, 2026 12:59pm
- greybeard
  
  Back to school for you, Yvette.
  
  7 2
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  May 6, 2026 10:08am
  - R
    
    [Mod – drop the little personal attacks in your posts]
    
    0 1
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    May 6, 2026 11:12am
- Quail
  
  Y,
  FYI
  (100 mm is four inches approx, not point four of an inch)
  
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  May 6, 2026 10:10am
- Yvette
  
  Peter Trentham, Charlotte Wells, Greybeard, Quail and everyone else who has read my comment.
  I profoundly apologise for my mistake.
  Bugger!
  
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  May 6, 2026 10:42am
  - MCōs
    
    No problem
    It can be an easy mistake to make if you’re not familiar with the conversion rate like us old codgers.
    
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    May 6, 2026 12:36pm
    - leoj
      
      Yes, we learned both and can translate.
      
      2 2
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      May 6, 2026 1:29pm
    - Steve Todd
      
      Um, MCōs, Yvette is an old codgeress. As I recall, she would now be mid- to late-70s.
      
      As you suggest, she made a simple mistake: easy to do.
      
      3 0
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      May 6, 2026 2:02pm
    - Jack5
      
      We have a few engineers in the Kiwblogerati.
      
      Have any commented on whether a hundred or two Maori doing a vigorous haka on the Auckland Harbour Board might have the same effect as the soldiers marching on the Broughton suspension bridge in 1831?
      
      https://www.livescience.com/34608-break-stride-frequency-of-vibration.html
      
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      May 6, 2026 8:28pm
Taieri

There’s always someone else to blame…

“Her company had begun the liquidation process and she was facing personal bankruptcy.

She borrowed ‘‘as much as I possibly could from the bank’’ and her house was also security against the business loans.”

“Ms Ellis accepted she did not have the expertise nor experience to be a suitable licensee, she also took aim at the former owners for making what she claimed were ‘‘misrepresentations’’ before she bought the businesses”

https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/lowest-point-my-life-owner-abandons-two-dunedin-venues
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May 6, 2026 10:11am
- mandk
  
  “There’s always someone else to blame…”
  
  That’s a harsh comment, given you also quote her as saying she accepted she did not have the expertise or experience to be a suitable licensee.
  
  And how do you know her claim that the former owners made misrepresentations is not true?
  
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  May 6, 2026 1:35pm
- Steve Todd
  
  There’s always someone else to blame…
  
  That’s unfair, Taieri. The lady clearly accepts almost all of the “blame” for her predicament.
  
  Regardless, it’s still a sad story. I feel sorry for her.
  
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  May 6, 2026 2:22pm
  - Taieri
    
    I feel sorry for her.
    ————
    
    So do I. In a way…but…
    
    Would you borrow as much as you possibly could from the bank and put your house as a collateral against the business loans so that you could realise your dreams to run a business that you don’t know anything about, just because the former owners said that the business was profitable and well run? What’s happened to the due diligence? Not mentioning thinking?
    
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    May 6, 2026 3:14pm
    - Steve Todd
      
      I like to think I wouldn’t have.
      
      She was naïve and would appear not to have sought proper legal and financial advice. She is now paying the price.
      
      (I know nothing of this lady – she may have resources she can fall back on; who knows? – but I can’t help worrying about her future.)
      
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      May 6, 2026 3:32pm
    - Jack5
      
      Tens and tens of thousands of Kiwis put up their houses as security when borrowing to launch into business.
      
      A danger is the feeling when a bank financer gives you the nod. “If they think it’s okay it must be okay.”
      
      Lots learn from failure and bounce back.
      
      If this young woman was using something like Xero with a link to her accountant she should have picked up trouble signals early.
      
      If she can rebuild her capital, a mentor and a basic course in Internet book-keeping should give her a better chance next time.
      
      Some of the great bounce-backs from failure (you should be able to read this article as a one-off outside the paywall):
      
      https://www.forbes.com/sites/jodiecook/2024/10/09/how-wildly-successful-entrepreneurs-bounce-back-from-failure/
      
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      May 6, 2026 8:51pm
imalwaysright

Its nearly four months since the Mt Maunganui slip that caused the death of six people.

Mahe Drysdale wanted six months to investigate the 24 hours prior to the slip.

They should be up to hour 15 by now…
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May 6, 2026 10:54am
- MCōs
  
  The review is expected to be completed by the middle of the year
  https://www.tauranga.govt.nz/council/external-review-of-mount-beachside-holiday-park-landslide
  
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  May 6, 2026 1:57pm
- Jethrod
  
  They are nearly to the “write the excuses” 10 pages now.
  
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  May 6, 2026 3:47pm
greybeard

https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/360975012/auckland-man-used-dead-fathers-identity-100k-covid-19-subsidy-fraud

https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/360975037/auckland-couple-used-business-import-tens-thousands-illegal-weapons

Looks as though Auckland has some sort of a problem here: surely there is a case for deportation ?
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May 6, 2026 11:34am
- David Garrett
  
  Grey: There was a time when you could safely bet that a Chinese New Zealander was a hard working honest good guy…sadly no longer.
  
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  May 6, 2026 3:43pm
waikatosinger

There is an awful lot of AI generated political misinformation showing up on youtube right now. It is getting harder to tell the difference. You can no longer rely on the appearance to tell you whether a video is real.
9 1
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May 6, 2026 1:30pm
- imalwaysright
  
  Its going to become very difficult to know if anything is real.
  
  I had the unfortunate experience of migrating to fibre internet with One NZ.
  Same address, same bill payer.
  
  The chap on the phone had a thick Indian accent that was difficult to understand but he appeared to be doing his best so I kept my cool as he continually confirmed details multiple times over several calls.
  I lost my rag on the 4th call and swore and hung up.
  He sent me a very kind text that apologised for upsetting me and asked when it would be convenient for him to call me and….confirm my details!!
  
  It was an AI bot.
  
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  May 6, 2026 3:43pm
Ghost

This is just stupid. The company has no contracts with the council. The issue appears to be because sometimes Issac or Fulton hogan rent their trucks for council jobs

The Office of the Auditor-General is threatening to dismiss and prosecute a first-term Nelson city councillor over a conflict of interest.

But central ward councillor Lisa Austin insists she has done nothing wrong, and mayor Nick Smith is backing her up, labelling the law an “ass”, and saying Austin is a victim of a “daft” interpretation.

Article
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May 6, 2026 1:44pm
Swifty

A very good post outlining the NZ-India FTA:

https://x.com/ryanhendersonnz/status/2051776774967812228?s=46

It’s very favourable to India.
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May 6, 2026 2:24pm
mogg

Infratil are onto a nice little earner, they have just signed a 30 yr contract for storage at their CDC centres in aus. Share price up 10% on the day 24% on the year. Capitalism in action.
5 1
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May 6, 2026 2:40pm
MCōs

A fairly interesting, if predictable, summary of what Kiwis are most likely to die of at certain ages.
The oldest category is 80 and beyond, which by definition means everyone left.
The sample size for the graph is 100k. Therefore the numbers on each bar of the should add up to somewhere approaching that figure, which they don’t.
What does this all mean?
Either a huge number of people die from causes that can’t be characterized or the whole article is bullshit.
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May 6, 2026 4:22pm
Swifty

Our socialist HRC is going to the socialist UN and asking them for their view on the Coalition’s changes to pay equity laws – whether they breach international obligations and whether they are discriminatory against women.

https://x.com/thezeitgeistnz/status/2051884681935950173?s=46
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May 6, 2026 5:45pm
- Prince
  
  Perhaps the UN should be obliged to fund the resultant decision.
  
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  May 6, 2026 8:02pm
Swifty

Something for Maggy.

The mad Marxists have even hijacked our maths curriculum.

https://x.com/simonranderson/status/2051875084831469996?s=46

This is why I don’t trust anyone who claims ‘we should leave curriculum matters to the education experts.’

Why, to give them a clear unopposed run at poisoning the minds of our children?
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May 6, 2026 7:01pm
Ghost

Influential pastors are claiming that they have been told to prepare their followers for shocking revelations about UFOs which may upend belief in the Bible.

Article

I doubt religion would survive, but some will try to put fear into their flock
2 1
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May 6, 2026 7:28pm
Bullion

Not great economic figures out today for the March quarter. Unemployment is down 0.1 but that is people opting out of the labour force – employment rate is unchanged and labour force participation is down 0.1.

CPI has increased at a rate 50% higher than the Labour Cost Index over the past year. When you compare LCI to CPI over a 20yr period, cumulatively CPI has increased more than LCI!
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May 6, 2026 11:29pm

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