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May 28, 2026 8:00am by Kokila Patel

General Debate 28 May 2026

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General Debate

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Yvette

A test for politicians, journalists and the public service –
Who added the UNDRIP section to the India FTA?
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May 28, 2026 8:01am
- R
  
  A political activist 5th columnist, of whom there seem to be too many in the Public Service.
  
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  May 28, 2026 8:41am
  - imalwaysright
    
    It makes you wonder if the Left ever relinquished governance.
    
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    May 28, 2026 10:29am
- Daisy
  
  Why would someone downvote this?
  
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  May 28, 2026 8:51am
  - lastmanstanding
    
    At a Parliament Committee the Australian Sex Discrimination Commissioner a woman on $400,00k told the Committee in answer to a question that a trans woman could potentially get pregnant. Yes you heard that right. 50 years ago a person believing that would be locked away in a lunatic asylum but now it is mainstream thinking for the Left. No doubt the same thinking applies here.
    
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    May 28, 2026 9:11am
    - Flossie
      
      While I agree the whole scenario is a waste of time and money, my interpretation of what the commissioner was saying is that a transperson could be perceived to be, or become, pregnant.
      
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      May 28, 2026 10:23am
      - alphabeatrium
        
        Great postmodern mental gymnastics.
        
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        May 28, 2026 11:48am
      - R
        
        The sooner our schools start teaching real world science, in particular BIOLOGY, the sooner the country will come to its senses.
        
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        May 28, 2026 12:18pm
      - Flossie
        
        I will try to explain what I mean. (I do actually understand how biology works with special regard to procreation.)
        A person presenting as female at a job interview could be perceived to potentially be, or become, pregnant, and thus be disadvantaged for the position. The rights and wrongs of the fairness of this is another issue and affects all women both cis and trans. The interviewer has no knowledge that this is a physical impossibility for the interviewee, and is certainly not allowed to ask.
        As I said earlier, I also think the whole situation is an enormous waste of time and money but that’s just the way it is these days.
        
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        May 28, 2026 2:10pm
    - cmm (semi-retired edition)
      
      This is when you ask for proof.
      
      Feelz are not evidence.
      
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      May 28, 2026 10:32am
  - Notsofast
    
    Remember you cant undo a tick, a reasonable number would be an inaccurate stab, I know from experience.
    
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    May 28, 2026 11:59am
- imalwaysright
  
  Seems to be the new party trick that they add clauses after select committee/cabinet etc.
  
  Mahuta did it with 3+ Waters.
  Mr/s X did it with the India FTA.
  And now the change to the Home Schooling legislation.
  
  These are the ones that have been discovered, how many more haven’t?
  
  Is this subversion?
  
  At the very least it is tampering with an official document.
  
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  May 28, 2026 9:07am
  - Paulus
    
    Appears to have probably been quite normal for years.
    
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    May 28, 2026 1:42pm
    - imalwaysright
      
      Unfortunately…
      
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      May 28, 2026 3:52pm
  - Ghost
    
    its normal, nothing new, been the way since the 1980s overhaul of the Select Committee system and Standing Orders. It then becomes part of the Committee of the Whole House and is debated and voted on. Nothing to discover, its all upfront and before the public in the Comittiee of the Whole House.
    
    How can it be tampering? seriously? it has not passed into law, it is debated clause by clause in the committee of the whole house where changes can and are made during the committee of the whole house or before
    
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    May 28, 2026 1:58pm
- pdm
  
  It is well known that Peters does not bother to read his Cabinet Papers so why would The Fine Print on the India Free Trade Agreement?
  
  I say someone in MFAT slipped UNDRIP past their supposed keeper knowing there was no chance Peters would spot it.
  
  Easy as.
  
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  May 28, 2026 9:18am
  - Burtland
    
    the FTA was 1400 pages – no MP is going to read it
    
    https://www.mfat.govt.nz/en/trade/free-trade-agreements/free-trade-agreements-concluded-but-not-in-force/new-zealand-india-free-trade-agreement/text-of-the-agreement
    
    the equivalent one with the EU was 4000 pages
    
    tools of obfuscation – Yes Minister 101
    
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    May 28, 2026 9:33am
    - cmm (semi-retired edition)
      
      ” no MP is going to read it”
      
      No single MP needs to read the whole thing. Divide it up into 20×70 pages and hand it out.
      
      Surely half the problem is having a 1400 page FTA in the first place. How can a document possibly get that complex?
      
      The Free Trade portion must surely need no more than 10 pages to capture the “spirit” of the Free Tradre Agreement. The other 1390 pages are submarine clauses.
      
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      May 28, 2026 10:34am
      - Master Mariner
        
        Run it through AI for pertinent headings and liabilities. 10 pages max.
        
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        May 28, 2026 10:49am
      - Ghost
        
        Minister is given a 100 page briefing on the 1300 page document. The minister read the briefing
        
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        May 28, 2026 10:53am
      - sungsamning
        
        All pending legislation should be on the governments website. That way the peasants can find out what the mandarins have in store for them, and act accordingly.
        
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        May 28, 2026 12:44pm
      - cmm (semi-retired edition)
        
        sungsamning: Excellent idea.
        
        Better yet, the peasants can read through it all and dig out the fish hooks.
        
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        May 28, 2026 2:03pm
      - Jack5
        
        On National-ACT’s deal with India….
        
        PDM’s …there was no chance Peters would spot it.
        
        Peters? Still trying to divert the India FTA blame away from National, PDM?
        
        Look no further than Todd McClay, Trade and Investment Minister (and Associate Foreign Minister). In fact, we might call it the McClay FTA. Or better still, the McLay Give-away FTA.
        
        McClay signed the agreement. He announced it alongside PM Luxon (link below).
        
        What you suggest, PDM, that McClay didn’t know contentions points like indigenous rights were in the deal, reveals McClay as grossly incompetent as well as grossly wrong on the NZ-India FTA.
        
        https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/historic-nz-india-fta-signed-new-delhi
        
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        May 28, 2026 2:45pm
      - Ghost
        
        No, what it points to is on a political blog a growing number of people who have no idea what they are talking about.
        
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        May 28, 2026 2:54pm
      - cmm (semi-retired edition)
        
        Master Mariner: If running it through AI can generate a useful 10 page summary then I put it to you that the document only needed to be 10 pages.
        
        ie. 1390 pages of bullshit.
        
        I am certain that far more complex agreements in the past only needed a few pages.
        
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        May 28, 2026 4:11pm
    - pdm
      
      Burtl – I bet that Hernandez (do I have the right one or is it Xu-nan) fellow from the Greens that initiates all of those thousands of written Parliamentary Questions has.
      
      Obviously he has no family, friends or other interests – poor sod. Then again he is in the Green Party so maybe that explains all.
      
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      May 28, 2026 11:56am
    - Ra Henare
      
      1400 pages.
      
      I asked AI (gemini) to summarise the treaty and point out what and why indigenous was used
      
      The result. (17 seconds later)
      
      Why Indigenous Items are Included in an FTA Sovereignty and the “Treaty Exception” (Legal Shield)New Zealand trade policy requires a standard legal mechanism known as the Treaty of Waitangi Exception.
      
      Without this specific clause, an FTA could accidentally restrict a government’s right to pass domestic laws that favor indigenous citizens (such as targeted funding, economic grants, or cultural protections).
      International trade law dictates that governments must treat foreign entities the same as domestic ones; this clause acts as a legal shield, ensuring domestic obligations to Māori override the commercial rules of the FTA.Protecting Unique Intellectual Property and Commercial AssetsIndigenous products represent high-value economic sectors.
      In this specific agreement, New Zealand sought to protect commercial terms like Mānuka honey and traditional concepts from being copied or exploited without permission.
      
      Conversely, India sought global recognition and market access for its own traditional sectors, directly aligning with New Zealand’s traditional frameworks.
      
      Blather blather
      
      So seems foreign policy dictates that our Treaty be included in all international treaties….
      etc etc
      
      All the other indigenous fluff is just that IMHO and points out that our Marification goes against International law.
      
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      May 28, 2026 5:02pm
  - Yvette
    
    Winston, via the Coalition Agreement with National, has a swag of legislation to remove Treaty ‘so-called’ principles from, so why is he not fixing this reference before it becomes law?
    Or will Winston see eye to eye with Willie Jackson, if Winston goes with Labour?
    
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    May 28, 2026 10:05am
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  Gary Judd reveals that the Government’s commitment to UNDRIP is stronger than he first thought.
  
  It reveals that the situation is worse than first appeared.
  
  The two previous FTAs, the UK (clause 26.3) and the EU (clause 20.3), recorded that the parties “note” UNDRIP and “further note” New Zealand’s position on UNDRIP.
  
  The India agreement changes “note” to “affirm” in respect of both UNDRIP itself and New Zealand’s position. As I noted in The Sting, that is a significant escalation.
  
  https://www.brashandmitchell.com/post/gary-judd-india-fta-the-sting-beneath-the-sting
  
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  May 28, 2026 9:38am
  - R
    
    These sureptitious inserted clause events, would seem to explain why Comrade Clark was so keen to remove the Sedition/ subversion legislation; when she became PM.
    Long term future planning clearing the trenches!
    
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    May 28, 2026 10:41am
- cmm (semi-retired edition)
  
  Who actually added it is not the point.
  The Minsiter is responsible for reading every document and signing off.
  And then we’re responsible because we keep electing these muppets.
  
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  May 28, 2026 9:52am
  - imalwaysright
    
    Exactly.
    The Indians seem to have managed to read it.
    
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    May 28, 2026 10:05am
    - Master Mariner
      
      Yep, They are all “Indiginous”, No need to comply.
      NZ ?
      
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      May 28, 2026 10:51am
      - imalwaysright
        
        Yes, can you imagine the Indian reaction to this:
        
        “These suckers are on the one hand trying to sell us their gear while simultaneously socially dividing and weakening their own country that is producing the gear.
        Never mind, next time we query their prices we will ask them if the gear was produced in accordance with the principles of UNDRIP…kaching!”
        
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        May 28, 2026 11:14am
    - Jethrod
      
      But they have 1.5 billion to do that!
      
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      May 28, 2026 11:00am
  - Ghost
    
    Ministers have never read trade agreements, nor would they understand it all. It’s the officials job to brief the minister, the brief did not include it. That the brief didnt include shows they had no intention of informing the minister. At the end of the day a side letter will correct it. The actual question is why this was added without the ministers approval or even without the minister being briefed. That is the real issue, staff placing into this something they were not told to include
    
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    May 28, 2026 10:50am
    - Master Mariner
      
      If they cant get this basic fact right then the question is what else have they signed NZ too ?
      Honest question,
      How many Indian ( indigenous ) workers have you seen in Fishing Industry, forestry, Farming, Mines in NZ ?
      How will this help productivity ?
      
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      May 28, 2026 10:55am
    - Scooter
      
      Surely if the minister responsible for signing the treaty wasn’t aware of the Undrip clause then is the treaty still valid?
      
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      May 28, 2026 12:05pm
      - Ghost
        
        the UNDRIP is really minor, a side letter will deal to it, do you want to throw out the agreement over something so minor and simple to correct? By the time the government pass this agreement there are already 6 side letters
        
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        May 28, 2026 1:08pm
    - keepcalmcarryon
      
      Can we use this defense next time we sign a legal document with our name on it? “It had too many words so i didn’t read it but my brother in law said it was sweet as.”
      It’s not like it’s actually his job or anything.
      
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      May 28, 2026 12:47pm
      - Ghost
        
        can you understand how things are done? The officials whose job it is to negotiate, draft the agreement, brief the minister, they supply a briefing to the minister on what is in the agreement on what both sides have agreed to. This deal was negotiated between the team in MFAT and for India their negotiators came from the Department of Commerce. Each chapter of the document then includes the relevant team from the department on what is being negotiated. The minister is there to sign the deal that the officials whose job it is to negotiate and create the deal have made. They typically advise the minister through the briefing document of the relevant points in it, they didn’t include the UNDRIP in that briefing. Seems after so long you still lack any basic understanding of how this process is done and has been done for a long time.
        
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        May 28, 2026 12:59pm
      - keepcalmcarryon
        
        Yes I can understand , it’s just pathetic.
        
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        May 28, 2026 1:11pm
      - Jack5
        
        Ghost’s …basic understanding of how this process is done and has been done for a long time …
        
        Not just about whose job in the process, but also about whose responsibility. From Crown Law:
        
        “Under the constitutional convention of individual ministerial responsibility, Ministers are accountable to the House for ensuring that the agencies for which they are responsible carry out their functions properly and efficiently. This accountability extends to errors made by public servants in administering a Minister’s portfolio responsibilities, even where the Minister has had no knowledge of, or involvement in, the matter at issue.” — (Cabinet Manual para 3.31)
        
        https://www.crownlaw.govt.nz/assets/Uploads/GuidlinesProtocolsArticles/No-Surprises-Guidance-updated-Oct-2023.pdf
        
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        May 28, 2026 5:11pm
    - keepcalmcarryon
      
      The person who signs it is responsible, or has the legal profession gone post modern as well and no one is responsible for anything?
      
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      May 28, 2026 12:49pm
      - Ghost
        
        yeah, you really do not have any idea of how the worlds governments do free trade agreements.
        
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        May 28, 2026 1:09pm
      - keepcalmcarryon
        
        We are seeing clearly how it’s done, and it’s dangerously open to manipulation. Pathetic level of oversight.
        I wonder if the rest of the world still has sedition offenses?
        
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        May 28, 2026 1:13pm
    - imalwaysright
      
      “Ministers have never read trade agreements, nor would they understand it all.”
      
      Thanks for that…
      
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      May 28, 2026 3:58pm
- NothingLeft
  
  It has become clear that most national and international NGOs exist primarily as a money laundering scheme for left wing politicians to fund their parties at taxpayers expense. The politicians take a cut and NGOs use a large portion of rest to pay for media and other propagandists to keep the gravy train going, as well as keeping them in champagne and private jets and million-a-year NGO directorships.
  
  The ‘good causes’ funded are just a fig leaf for the rampant corruption feeding awful exploitative parasitical Narcissists in charge. So surprise that that is where a lot of left wing polis go after retirement from govt
  
  Which is why the Democrat party in the US is deep in debt – after DOGE cut off govt funding to a lot of the NGOs that were providing the money laundering services to Democrats.
  
  Current NZ govt would do well to similarly cut the funding of many NGOs, they are left wing parasites and fundamentally enemies of our countries economic interests,
  
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  May 28, 2026 10:52am
  - Taieri
    
    It has become clear that most national and international NGOs exist primarily as a money laundering scheme for left wing politicians to fund their parties at taxpayers expense
    ————–
    
    This is just as applicable to the right wing politicians and their parties. The political outlook has nothing to do with it. Most NGOs, regardless of their political persuasion, are just lobby groups for furthering various political interests, be it “left” or “right”.
    
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    May 28, 2026 11:49am
    - NothingLeft
      
      O’Sullivans 1st law:
      “All organizations that are not actually right-wing will over time become left-wing”
      
      Almost all large non-commercial organizations, NGOs, Universities, Charities, Media groups, national or international, are left to extreme-left wing. The left offers grifters with only soft-skills far more opportunity for self-advancement and enrichment and so grows inexorably. Anything new tends to be quickly captured by exclusionary left wing interests who want only compatriots that will boost them and their tribe and their personal agendas – reliable conspirators if you will, and so won’t accommodate disparate political viewpoints.
      
      Only a few industry bodies are right wing.
      
      Right wing political patronage does occur, but it is a tiny fraction of the left. Eg the impacts of Trump’s cuts to taxpayer funding has weakened left wing US and international politics the world over to a remarkable degree.
      
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      May 28, 2026 1:19pm
- Scooter
  
  David Seymour was getting pissy with Michael Laws over this, about how a clause can be added to a treaty without ministers knowing about it. Seymour’s response was it happened nothing we can do about it. Not good enough. Winston was against the treaty and he needs to follow through and ask who put this in.
  
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  May 28, 2026 11:58am
- Ra Henare
  
  and of course the ultimate question.
  Why didnt the politicians pick it up and chuck it out as irrelevant.>
  
  oh dear, you expect our elected representatives to read proposed legislation/agreement before they approve them
  /sarc
  
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  May 28, 2026 4:30pm
- crikey
  
  A very important question. It’s hard to see why India would insist on this being part of the FTA. I point the finger at National.
  
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  May 29, 2026 7:04pm
Scott

Yesterday we had a debate on this proposed piece of legislation :
“Residential Tenancies (Requiring Landlords to Provide Curtains) Amendment Bill”

https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2026/05/six_bills_drawn.html

I argued let the market work. That the market will provide basic housing for basic tenants. Some people are bad tenants, I visited one of them. She was a former street kid who didn’t wash, had cats and never had a job. Her landlord provided her very basic accommodation at a price she could afford.

Some people think I’m terrible for advocating letting the market provide, minimal regulations, we need slums for people at the end of the line.

I’ve lived in basic accommodation, no insulation, no heat pumps, no insulated curtains, just a two bar heater we huddled around in the evening wearing our dressing gowns. But we were students, didn’t feel the cold particularly and the flat was cheap. Six students at $10 per week each. That’s the market. At the end of my studies I left with no debt.

Let the market provide. I’d rather live in a free market society than a country where the govt dictated your type of curtains.

That’s how Labour members of parliament think. We will tell you for your own good the curtains you will hang in your own property! And what you actually end up with is homelessness because people can’t afford properties that have had the expensive upgrades.

I know they think of themselves as wonderful humanitarians. What I see are socialist control freaks.
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May 28, 2026 8:01am
- Chris2
  
  Remeber when Aunty Helen wanted to dictate the type of shower head we could have in our homes!
  
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  May 28, 2026 8:59am
  - pdm
    
    I could be wrong but didn’t Shane Jones front that in fact it may even have been been his idea.
    
    Another good reason not to give NZFirst a Party Vote if I am right.
    
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    May 28, 2026 9:23am
    - imalwaysright
      
      Helens great idea was to make it illegal to criticise politicians in election year.
      
      Another was for her to have editorial control over the news….some might say she achieved that one.
      
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      May 28, 2026 9:42am
    - David Garrett
      
      pdm: No…Jones indicated his disapproval of the idea….when I mentioned the proposal in debate once he hit his forehead several times as if to say “Fucking stupid idea…cost us heaps of votes”
      
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      May 28, 2026 9:42am
    - kowtow
      
      I too recall it was Jonsey fronting that .
      
      He’s now re invented himself ( again) .
      
      Now it’s drill baby drill ……..back then it was drip baby drip.
      
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      May 28, 2026 11:52am
  - Taieri
    
    Aunty Helen wanted to dictate the type of shower head
    ————-
    
    And doing away with incandescent light bulbs…
    
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    May 28, 2026 11:50am
  - Nobby2
    
    It wasn’t aunty helen it was the loopy’s in the green party.
    
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    May 28, 2026 3:49pm
- Handyman
  
  All of Labour’s anti landlord impositions excluded state houses. The aim was to have fewer private or NGO tenancies and drive up demand for state houses.
  Just change the name of the bill to “requiring all state houses to provide insulated curtains”.
  
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  May 28, 2026 9:07am
  - Nikola Donatello
    
    Where did you get that information from? All Kaianga Ora homes were required to comply with the healthy homes standards.
    
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    May 28, 2026 10:59am
    - KKNZ2025
      
      …several years later than private landlords
      
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      May 28, 2026 11:09am
      - Nikola Donatello
        
        No. Kaianga Ora had an earlier compliance deadline than private landlords.
        
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        May 28, 2026 12:28pm
- RoboRob
  
  I have always argued this. If there is demand for low cost ‘shit holes’ we should allow it. The market works, if people want to save money and live in these places, landlords should be able to provide them. As you rightly point out, university students have relied on these places for years. Removing the ability to buy cheap just means society will be burdened with the need to support those that no longer can afford accommodation. People already complain about the homeless, shortage of state housing and the government accommodation supplement is not enough.
  
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  May 28, 2026 9:24am
- Taieri
  
  I argued let the market work. That the market will provide basic housing for basic tenants.
  ————–
  
  Not very often that I agree with you. This time I do.
  There used to be all sorts of accommodations in pubs, rooming houses, boarding houses and so on. They provided a roof over the heads of our less fortunate compatriots. Then someone decided that those places were not fit for human habitation and their cruel landlords mercilessly exploited tenants. Various standard have been created and enforced. And all those places disappeared and their inhabitants ended up in the tents or under the lovely southern sky.
  
  Stories like this are very touching (and quite extreme), but is living on the streets really an improvement?:
  
  https://odt.shorthandstories.com/no-safe-shelter/index.html
  
  https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/govt-looking-dunedin-boarding-houses
  
  And was the state of those places due only to the landlords’ greed…?
  
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  May 28, 2026 9:28am
  - R
    
    Being a landlord in the past, I can assure you that most of the ‘slumness’ of these tenants’ houses is solely due to the attitude and low standards of the tenants.
    There are many tidy tenanted houses, which the activist MSM never mention.
    
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    May 28, 2026 10:48am
- Neebone
  
  “…no insulation, no heat pumps, no insulated curtains, just a two bar heater…”
  
  Until relatively recently the entire country lived like this.
  
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  May 28, 2026 10:20am
  - Nikola Donatello
    
    Yes. And it was absurd.
    
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    May 28, 2026 12:30pm
    - NothingLeft
      
      Traditional Japanese houses are cold – they have to flow a lot of outside air through them to stop condensation and mold on paper, tatami mats and untreated wood. And yet somehow they had highest life expectancy in the world.
      
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      May 28, 2026 1:26pm
    - Ra Henare
      
      Nikol
      You should be a politicaian
      Then you can get on the pandering bandwagon.
      
      Free market capitalism is fast dissapering in theh land of the long white cloud(which I suggest is changing to a black cloud)
      
      Where freedom of choice is being throttled by facist style decisions by government decree. ie the housing rules/ regulations BS.
      
      I do wish they would but out of peoples lives.
      
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      May 28, 2026 4:37pm
  - OlderChas
    
    But they probably had a fireplace as well Neebone. And they were allowed to use it!
    
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    May 28, 2026 12:37pm
  - Burtland
    
    heating was via fire place and then the monster log burner – we all sat around them roasting
    
    think Marion Hobbs created clean air zones and they got banned
    
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    May 28, 2026 1:30pm
- artemisia
  
  Not sure if Helen White has worked out that her Bill will require millions of perfectly good curtains and blinds to be removed and probably sent to landfills, followed by millions of new insulated curtains and blinds to be made and installed. Whatever ‘insulated’ turns out to mean in her Bill.
  
  Yes millions. Then take those numbers and multiply by the number of windows in the average rental and average cost of the new coverings to calculate the potential cost.
  
  Actually very funny (and stupid).
  
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  May 28, 2026 10:38am
  - imalwaysright
    
    Insulated curtains are those of more than one layer. The air gap between the layers is the insulator.
    Standard curtains with a lining would probably qualify.
    
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    May 28, 2026 10:52am
    - artemisia
      
      Still millions. And of course Helen White will provide the range of implementation options in the cost / benefit analysis supporting her Bill.
      
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      May 28, 2026 11:58am
      - imalwaysright
        
        Yes, there’s the issue.
        
        MPs may be able to identify a problem, but they should never be trusted with solving the problem.
        
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        May 28, 2026 12:07pm
  - NothingLeft
    
    Cost of double glazing in a house is higher than electricity bill for several decades of winter heating in top half on North Island.
    
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    May 28, 2026 1:28pm
  - Ra Henare
    
    Keeping mind that the Curtain charade is about pandering to low value renters(who she hopes will become votes for her Labour Party
    
    So no need to worry. It wont pass IMHO.
    do the Math.
    
    There are roughly 40 to 45 actual sitting days left on the parliamentary calendar between now and when the House rises in late September.
    
    Given the budget debates reduce that by a couple of days.
    
    The standard timeframe for a select committee to scrutinize a bill, hear public submissions, and report back to Parliament is 6 months.
    
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    May 28, 2026 4:45pm
Benedict Yu

This is a good example of the nonsense that we often get from our politicians and the media.

The Minister of Education backs down on some regulations she was proposing to govern home schooling.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360984651/labour-labels-it-humiliating-day-erica-stanford-she-u-turns-bill-day-after-introducing-it

Mr Hipkins says it is “humiliating”.😅

Winston says ‘we made her back down’.

David Seymour says ‘no we made her do it.’

Winston says David Seymour is full of “pretentious mimicry”. 😂

Chloe says “This is a win for public scrutiny.”

Then Te Pāti Māori says ‘Maori were not respected.’🤡 🤡

…. yet after reading this article the reader has no information on the proposed regulations, or what they were supposed to achieve. Or why so many folk were unhappy with them. It is all about the drama.
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May 28, 2026 8:07am
- AitchW
  
  I love how the opposition carp on endlessly about pretty much any new legislation or regulations proposed by the government then, when the government listens to feedback and changes direction, it carps on about an “embarrassing back down”.
  Oh for some adults in parliament…
  
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  May 28, 2026 8:16am
- graham
  
  Well said Benedict. Your last paragraph nails it for me – far too often, we are fed a load of rubbish about how people react to something, but with absolutely no information or context around the underlying issue.
  
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  May 28, 2026 8:46am
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  Personally, I’m pleased that a politician will change her mind when the evidence supports a change of direction.
  
  Sure, the policy wonks in Min of Ed should have carried out consultation with Home-schooling families before the legislation went to first reading.
  
  But how often are we likely to see a Labour or Green MP reverse their thinking?
  
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  May 28, 2026 9:25am
  - KKNZ2025
    
    “When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?” attr. JM Keynes
    
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    May 28, 2026 9:47am
    - David Garrett
      
      KKN: Yes, I recall reading that quote…Always liked it (and several variants thereof)
      
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      May 28, 2026 12:14pm
      - Ra Henare
        
        What happened to your daily weather report David?
        Or you busy responding to others comments.
        
        In the Big Kingdom. Another sunny day with a gentle cooling breeze 8km/h
        
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        May 28, 2026 4:49pm
  - cmm (semi-retired edition)
    
    “ure, the policy wonks in Min of Ed should have carried out consultation with Home-schooling families before the legislation went to first reading.”
    
    Well to an extent, yes, but how does one carry out such consultation? The homeschoolers are not a “community”. They do not have representatives or anyone to talk on their behalf.
    
    The bottom line with homeschooling is that most homeschoolers perform at a higher level than schools and the ERO has very few issues with them (compared to normal schools).
    
    Yes, there are a few ferals who call themselves homeschoolers but are not. The real homeschoolers don’t want them either.
    
    IMHO the level of oversight that was in place in the 1990s/2000s when we homeschooled was just right – sufficiently complex and regulated to keep out the ferals, but not overly cumbersome.
    
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    May 28, 2026 10:00am
  - R
    
    Labour and greens don’t have thoughts; so there is never anything to chance.
    
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    May 28, 2026 1:01pm
David Garrett

Good morning from the Kingdom…a cool 23C this morning…looking forward to coming back to the homeland on Saturday – but not looking forward to the cold.
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May 28, 2026 8:12am
- Michael Sommerville
  
  Yes, it is cold DG in comparison, but I was out on the Waitemata fishing with a friend yesterday. Two snapper; one 51 cm and one 38 cm. Dinner for each of us. A lovely outing and a great time to chat.
  
  Life is what you make it. Enjoy your time back in the land of the long white shroud.
  
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  May 28, 2026 8:28am
  - David Garrett
    
    Hey Michael: Snapper of any size is good for this time of year – and a 51cm specimen is a great catch!
    
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    May 28, 2026 9:44am
sungsamning

Judy Shelton argues that productive growth and rising wages are not inflationary, challenging the Federal Reserve’s Keynesian framework and calling for a New Bretton Woods of low rates, stable exchange rates, and credit aimed at physical productivity. [Roosevelt wanted the British Empire gone after WW2. Keynes was their man. The rest is history.]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fzRpbUU2GM
Trump’s New Bretton Woods: Why Judy Shelton Just Took a Sledgehammer to the Fed.
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May 28, 2026 8:29am
- cmm (semi-retired edition)
  
  “that productive growth and rising wages are not inflationary”
  
  That would be correct, so long as the productivity increases are greater than the wage increases.
  
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  May 28, 2026 10:02am
  - R
    
    Unfortunately for NZ, Labour only believe in THE QUANTITY, not the quality of any increase.
    
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    May 28, 2026 10:57am
  - sungsamning
    
    Yes, you’re right. Those measures have to be done the right way.
    
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    May 28, 2026 12:51pm
sungsamning

Putin walked away [from his meeting with Xi] with more than 40 agreements, but he did not leave with the prize he has long sought.
“When you look at all the ‘agreements,’ they are only memoranda of understanding. In other words, they are merely invitations to talk more.” — Dmitri Alperovitch, chairman of Silverado Policy Accelerator and co-author of World on the Brink: How America Can Beat China in the Race for the Twenty-First Century, to Gatestone Institute, May 22, 2026. [russia is short of capital for major projects. Especially the Power 2 Siberia pipeline. The pipeline is especially important to Russia because it will replace sales to Europe, lost because of its 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Well, at least Putin doesn’t have environmental wackos disrupting his building projects. The Chinese think they have Putin over a barrel, but they are overestimating their strength. They need Russian energy as fast as they can get it.]
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/22544/russia-china-gas-pipeline
While Xi and Putin Argue Over Pipeline, U.S. Keeps Chokehold on China’s Energy.
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May 28, 2026 8:29am
- kowtow
  
  Yep , and hot on the heals of those summits , Rubio was at Quad ( US ,India ,Oz , japan)
  Designed to constrain China.
  
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  May 28, 2026 11:57am
  - sungsamning
    
    Yes, the City and the Fourth Reich are beginning to feel a tad left out. Couldn’t happen to a nicer pair.
    
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    May 28, 2026 12:53pm
- NothingLeft
  
  Putin is in dire shit in Ukraine:
  
  Ukraine is producing about 500 a day medium and long range drones that are hammering logistics out to about 200km from front line as well as rear Russian bases and within Russia; oil pumping, refining, storage and shipping infrastructure. Russia can’t support offensive operations to take land, can’t get materiel (like all important FPV drones) reliably to the front, and have not taken any significant territory since start of year (Some small Russian gains, some small Ukrainian gains, mostly balancing out).
  
  Critically the 100km wide strip of occupied land north of the Azov sea that provides much logistical access to Crimea as well as the Zaporizhian front is now under constant Ukrainian fire from long range drones that take out trucks and trains in large numbers. Russian logistics in the region are collapsing as a result.
  
  And their troop losses are skyrocketing, at start of war you had several wounded for every death, lots of mechanized assaults in large numbers, now it is 1-4 scared, bullied, ill-equiped and frequently elderly or crippled soldiers trying to sneak up to front on foot from drop off points 10’s of km back, and >90% taken out before they get there with far more dead than wounded – FPVs are used to ensure no survivors.
  
  Russian $10-100million apiece air defense systems are being destroyed at a rate of about one per day, many times higher than production, meaning that more and more holes in their defenses are opening up for Ukraines long range strike drones.
  
  And Ukrainian production is only increasing, with more and more capable, jam proof or AI-targeting, longer range and bigger drone and missile systems coming on line. They also have ballistic missiles about to enter production that are very hard to defend against and will make even most heavily defended and hardened targets vulnerable.
  
  Russia have started a quiet mobilization to make up for falling troop numbers as their losses generally exceed 1000/day, but without some major change in drone tech – some means of defense that doesn’t yet exist – it won’t help them. Attacking troops have near zero chance of survival, given Ukrainian saturation surveillance and FPV drone coverage.
  
  I doubt Russia keeps this up for another year. The Russians are sick of it, their economy is collapsing, oil revenues falling, budgets deep in red and private sector rapidly shrinking. Unpopular Putin will probably be deposed by unhappy oligarchs
  
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  May 28, 2026 1:56pm
  - Jethrod
    
    I suspected as much.
    This is a very good summary of the progress of this forgotten war.
    I hope Chris Penk is taking note of the efficacy of drones.
    
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    May 28, 2026 2:36pm
    - Jethrod
      
      In fact, so good I sent a screenshot to him!
      
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      May 28, 2026 3:53pm
NeverMindTheBollocks

Shell Lane (The Terrace) bike rack report:

At 8.34am, just the three bikes today.

A cool, calm, clear & dry morning in the Capital, ideal for cycling.
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May 28, 2026 8:34am
- alex Masterley
  
  Is there a, slight, uptick in usage or is 3 bikes par for the course?
  
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  May 28, 2026 9:15am
- rouppe
  
  I’m sure a year ago it was either one or zero bikes, so I guess three is an improvement.
  
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  May 28, 2026 9:17am
- pdm
  
  Were they the same 3 as the last time you reported Bollocks?
  
  There could be a pattern emerging if they were.
  
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  May 28, 2026 9:26am
  - Jethrod
    
    Or perhaps check at 1734, maybe they have been dumped!
    
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    May 28, 2026 11:17am
RoboRob

Christchurch city council votes to give another $15m to the cathedral rebuild.

Prior to this vote I emailed David Cartwright, my local right wing councillor, voicing my strong opposition to giving them any more then the one off payment of $10m the council previously provided. It turns out I was not the only one, with ~86% of respondents against the rebuild. None the less 12 councillors, including the mayor and Cartwright, voted for it. Only two opposed. I listened to some of the meeting and was stunned by the paucity of the arguments in favour, most boiling down to ‘we cant leave the square like this’, ‘we have to value history’ and ‘we started funding this so we need to see it finished’. Cartwright himself was pathetic, arguing ‘we just need to move forward’.

Well as I promised Cartwright and Mauger (the mayor), they have lost my vote. I will actively encourage others to not vote for them either. I pray that someone else that is decent is available to vote for as mayor as last time I reluctantly voted for Mauger to keep out the crazy lefty. Never again. I refuse to vote for incompetent people just because they claim to have my political alignment. You reap what you sow.
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May 28, 2026 9:13am
- septic skeptic
  
  IMO “leave the square like this” is by far the best outcome. A salutary reminder of the importance of accurate costing and the sunk cost fallacy.
  
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  May 28, 2026 2:06pm
  - RoboRob
    
    It is highly ironic that many in Christchurch seem to have lost the ‘learnings’ from the earthquake.
    
    The council wants to build in the red zone again. The much worked on city plan, with max 6 story low rise buildings is forgotten as they plan to build a 10 story apartment building.
    
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    May 28, 2026 2:53pm
rouppe

Interest rate shock!
Someone is “shocked” that the loan they got at 2.5% during the vivid stimulus isn’t staying at that level seemingly forever! The long term average has got to be about 6%, what did he think was going to happen?
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May 28, 2026 9:15am
- imalwaysright
  
  I think in the US you could sign a mortgage and the initial rate was the rate for the entire term of the mortgage.
  Makes sense.
  Also, werent their mortgage interest charges tax deductible for owner occupiers?
  
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  May 28, 2026 12:12pm
  - RoboRob
    
    I believe they do 30yr mortgages, with a fixed rate. The amazing thing is that you can refinance your mortgage during that term if you want (i.e. rates drop). At the moment sluggish house sales are primarily due to people being on very low rates (from covid) and while they may want to move they don’t want to sell and refinance at today’s much higher rates.
    
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    May 28, 2026 1:06pm
  - crash
    
    Depends on what part of the USA you are in, what tax year, state or federal tax.
    
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    May 28, 2026 1:08pm
  - rouppe
    
    The other big difference in the USA is that (I think) if you default, you can just walk away and the bank gets the house. There (seems to be) are no consequences for the homeowner.
    
    Here, you still owe any shortfall after a mortgage sale, and have to declare bankruptcy in the worst case
    
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    May 28, 2026 4:39pm
Ian Boag

A bit of reflection on the “cut public service” and “introduce AI” ideas …. in particular the latter. It should not just mean signing everyone up to chatgpt or claude or gemini or whatever and telling them to go for it.

These LLMs soak up whatever they are told and it becomes part of their unrestricted knowledge bases ie essentially public information. There are LLMs with walls around them eg the one being pushed for medics to handle note taking. Confidentiality obviously matters here. There may at some later time be a data leak where some or all of this info enters the public domain – however the benefits are such that this risk must be taken.

Personally I would like to see a trial run – pick a department – any department. Pick an LLM and work through the ways it might be used. Try it out – carefully. Might even be worth putting a working group on the job. Might even try two departments and two LLMs. This is pretty important stuff and needs to be done right.

I can believe that sensibly deployed use of LLMs will increase productivity and if that is used to decrease headcount (rather than do more things) so be it.
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May 28, 2026 9:18am
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  We’re not all computer wonks…..
  
  Appears LLM is an acronym of Large Language Model
  
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  May 28, 2026 9:31am
  - imalwaysright
    
    I thought it was about flash lawyers…
    
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    May 28, 2026 9:46am
- KKNZ2025
  
  a lesson from the private sector: cut the staff in half, provide the tools, tell them to get on with it & that failure is not an option.
  
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  May 28, 2026 9:51am
  - Taieri
    
    cut the staff in half, provide the tools, tell them to get on with it & that failure is not an option
    ———
    
    It might work in clerical field, but not necessarily in production or services. The proof is in the pudding – try to get an appointment with a GP, to give you a simple example, and see how long you will have to wait.
    
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    May 28, 2026 11:54am
- Burtland
  
  the introduction of agentic AI wont go well in Government Depts
  
  “This is pretty important stuff and needs to be done right”
  
  The mindset in the public service will create the worst outcome imaginable – their best efforts in the last 40years of computerisation have resulted in a shambles. DEI management will continue to ensure this.
  
  management consultants will make a fortune by employing the smartest and brightest
  
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  May 28, 2026 10:33am
- Jigsaw
  
  Why doesn’t it occur to you to explain what LLM means – are we all suppoed to know? How?
  
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  May 28, 2026 11:56am
  - Ian Boag
    
    If you ask Google “what is an LLM?” it tells you.
    Sorry.
    
    My point was the issue of confidentiality. If you just fire up Claude and start asking it to do things – it will suck in everything you asked it – and told it – and that will become part of its general knowledge base that could be passed on to others by them just asking the right questions. That’s why medics don’t use the generic LLMs for note-taking. They use custom ones with a wall around them – I don’t know how it works. Lawyers would face similar issues. I’m sure there are matters handled in the public service that are not for widespread consumption …..
    
    So – it can undoubtedly be done – but there is a case for introducing it in a considered and careful fashion. That’s why I think a “pilot” operation on one or two departments might be a good idea.
    
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    May 28, 2026 12:19pm
- crash
  
  Our political masters understand cutting down the civil service headcount as a principle, but not actually how it is done. Ministers (except Winston) in particular need to scrutinise headcount reduction proposals from their CEO to ensure the focus is where the Government wants it to be, because the initial proposal will not meet that criteria – it will be where the CEO wants the focus to be.
  
  The mention of AI and any other form of productivity enhancement is probably just for show rather than substance. I would be very surprised if any research into actually using various AI tools has been done – but it looks good to say so.
  
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  May 28, 2026 2:02pm
RoboRob

Winston and Rugby.

WTF is going on with Winston? He appears to perform really well for a term and then come election time, even though he has more popularity then ever before, he feels the need to go and try and buy votes. His proposal, for the NZ government to prop up / buy a failing islander rugby team is batshit crazy. Sure he might get 10s of votes from NZ based ex islanders that are rugby fans, but the policy is stupid and likely to put off more voters then it will win. I wouldn’t be surprised to see National up in the next set of polls and NZ first down.

Its just crazy politics and Winston should know better. Is he losing his marbles?

Whilst many here will know I am no fan of Winston, his votes are the thing keeping the right in power right now. If he loses voters back to Labour the right is screwed.
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May 28, 2026 9:19am
- greybeard
  
  If he loses votes due to this idea of his then it won’t be to Labour, it will be to National or ACT.
  I doubt whether many National or ACT voters want Moana Pasifica funded or supported by taxpayer money.
  I can however see some support for this from the Left.
  
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  May 28, 2026 9:28am
  - sungsamning
    
    You’re right. This team shouldn’t get a cent. More wasted money for grandies, and young cousins to pay back.
    
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    May 28, 2026 12:57pm
    - Quail
      
      SS,
      Neither should the Americas Cup, Film makers , cycleways etc etc!
      
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      May 28, 2026 5:25pm
- pdm
  
  Dementia setting in do you think RR?
  
  The craziness is growing by the day – well the week anyway.
  
  Last week – Buy back the BNZ which is not for sale and cost at around $25/30Billion is not viable in any way.
  This week – Fund or perhaps even buy Moana Pacific Rugby Franchise which is in Liquidation. Makes no sense at all.
  
  Watch for next weeks Winston brain explosion.
  
  Winston should watch out for `the people (used to be men) in White Coats’.
  
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  May 28, 2026 9:32am
  - Im Right
    
    6 months to the election PDM, this is where Winnie gets his bargaining chips post election.
    Crazy ideas, false ‘bottom lines’, give as many promises and ideas to the media as possible to fill up column inches and stay in the media spotlight.
    He has been doing this for decades, making statements without consulting his coalition partners, then they are asked to comment and haven’t got an answer as nothing was discussed and makes them look like Winnie is in control/running the coalition.
    It’s Winston Peters politics 101, why any of the other coalition parties are surprised at this move, it’s his MO, is the most baffling thing.
    
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    May 28, 2026 9:49am
  - RoboRob
    
    Before the BNZ it was $15m for the Christchurch Cathedral. Notice the trend, its spend other peoples money to make small groups happy.
    
    I begin to wonder whether National really did want to make cuts and it was Winston blocking them? Certainly it felt the opposite, like Nationals heart wasn’t in it, but perhaps it was Winston. I note we recently discovered that the free year of uni on the tax payer was kept at NZF insistence, which was a surprise to me too. Perhaps National, in its efforts to maintain a coalition, gave the appearance the NZF policy was its own?
    
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    May 28, 2026 10:46am
  - sungsamning
    
    Hopefully not a Red October Tractor Factory in every provincial town; or a fur bearing trout farm in Lyttelton Harbour.
    
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    May 28, 2026 12:58pm
- cmm (semi-retired edition)
  
  Winston is the cat with nine political lives.
  But even 9 runs out eventually.
  
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  May 28, 2026 10:06am
  - R
    
    Having observed Winston (the 9 lives cat) for many many years, I would respectfully suggest that said cat may only have 4 or 5 lives left.
    
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    May 28, 2026 9:26pm
- keepcalmcarryon
  
  He’s old school and thinks kiwis are guaranteed to still care about rugby union.
  It’s a dying sport since it ruined play with stupid rules and inconsistent refs, most don’t care.
  
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  May 28, 2026 10:18am
  - imalwaysright
    
    Watching modern rugby is like watching a Far North Council meeting…
    Sporadic periods of violence interrupted by people getting sent off, and nobody knows the rules.
    
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    May 28, 2026 11:00am
    - Charlotte Wells
      
      What about the send off in State of O last night?
      
      Talk about inconsistent refs and stupid rules!
      
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      May 28, 2026 11:57am
      - septic skeptic
        
        Origin has certainly changed. I like Mark Geyer’s story about how a couple of games into his first series the coach called him in for a private chat:
        “You’re going OK Mark, but to be honest we expected a bit more from you. If you don’t show a bit more mongrel in the next game we’re gonna have to replace you.”
        “OK, but what if I get sent off?”
        “What do you mean? You can’t get sent off in BLOODY ORIGIN!!”
        “Oh, OK boss.”
        
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        May 28, 2026 2:16pm
MCōs

The first term NZ First list MP and former very long term Wellington resident, city councilor and one term mayor, Andy Foster, claims about a seven hundred and fifty dollars a week subsidy from the taxpayer to continue living in his house.
He has another house in the Wairarapa, which is now his official residence
These immigrants know all the tricks
https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/27-05-2026/nz-first-mp-andy-foster-claims-36k-top-up-to-rent-his-own-wellington-home?utm_source=ActiveCampaign&utm_medium=email&utm_content=The%20cost%20of%20owning%20a%20home%20in%20Wellington%20is%20not%20cheap&utm_campaign=The%20Spinoff%20Daily%20-%20May%2027&vgo_ee=x6JRglCITPx%2FPv%2FxlMQlKUg70KBzXPNNZzzbOduulFC5yg%3D%3D%3AX0KLtGnSgU8dmI0%2BkqXLS89jQ3Z0Xf%2Bh
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May 28, 2026 9:33am
- KKNZ2025
  
  They learned them from long experience on both sides of the house, a fact you again neglected to mention.
  cf. Willie Jackson, Kieran McAnulty
  
  https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/596367/prime-minister-showing-no-interest-in-changing-housing-allowance-for-mps
  
  https://www.thepost.co.nz/politics/350088591/more-20-mps-rent-back-their-own-homes-taxpayers-expense
  
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  May 28, 2026 9:57am
  - MCōs
    
    Willie Jackson lives down the road from me somewhere in Mangere Bridge.
    I believe he also has an apartment in Wellington, which he’s entitled to claim for because it’s not his primary residence.
    A Wellington MP cannot claim an allowance for living in their own residence in Wellington, which makes sense.
    
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    May 28, 2026 3:02pm
- Hugh Jarse
  
  Just a few more using the same scheme, Kieran McAnulty rents his wife’s apartment, Jan Tinetti and Jenny Salesa both rent their own apartments. There are others who I am sure someone on here will be able to post to provide balance.
  
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  May 28, 2026 10:18am
  - Taieri
    
    Louise Upton.
    
    https://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/minister-comfortable-getting-1000-week-home-allowance-rnz
    
    Left or right, if it’s there, they will take it…
    
    4 0
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    May 28, 2026 11:56am
    - Hugh Jarse
      
      Yes that’s the one that’s had all the publicity, I think the media have it programmed as an annual event when the right are in. The programme obviously has cross party support so nothing changes, so it’s a guaranteed beat up for them.
      
      5 0
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      May 28, 2026 12:50pm
- nigel2010
  
  didn’t the Greens a few years back own a building but rented it back to the party at the maximum allowed rate as a fund raiser for the party?
  
  4 1
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  May 28, 2026 2:38pm
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    Ginny Anderson _Labour
    
    https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300098040/taxpayer-foots-bill-for-labour-electorate-funds-in-decadesold-subletting-arrangement
    
    6 0
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    May 28, 2026 3:00pm
  - stuarts-burgers
    
    Green MPs use MP Super schemes that are matched at $2.50 Govenernment contribution to $1 contribution from MP, up to 20% of their base salary
    
    The Super Scheme then purchased ” a house” as an investment and then rented it back to the MP, who then claimed the out-of-Wellington MP accommodation allowance against the rent paid.
    
    2 0
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    May 28, 2026 7:10pm
    - Ian Boag
      
      This is illegal? Did I miss something? Exploiting holes in the rules is largely a righty thing but I suppose some lefties might get into it anyway. Although – relative to the claiming of $50k tax-free for living in your own flat seems to be also quite OK in the KB world ….
      
      1 2
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      May 28, 2026 8:16pm
Damocles11

Wasn’t a deal ‘imminent’? 🤔 I thought he said that Iran was “begging to make a deal”?

‘Donald Trump has accused Iran of trying to stall on making a peace agreement by running down the clock before November’s US midterm elections in the hope of getting better terms.
“They thought they were going to outwait me, you know, ‘we’ll outwait him, he’s got the midterms’,” the US president told a meeting of his cabinet at the White House.”
6 5
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May 28, 2026 9:45am
- David Garrett
  
  Damocles: Yes…Trump is forever claiming this or that will happen “soon”…soon never seems to arrive.
  
  My bet? This war will still be stuttering along at the end of the year. And the Strait of Hormuz won’t be fully open.
  
  6 6
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  May 28, 2026 12:17pm
  - Charlotte Wells
    
    I will take a piece of that action.
    
    If I win you have to refer to Trump as the Greatest President of all Time for the rest of his term.
    
    If you win I will refer to Trump as the deranged toddler in the Whitehouse until his term finishes.
    
    Deal or No Deal?
    
    12 1
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    May 28, 2026 1:11pm
    - NeverMindTheBollocks
      
      Excellent offer!
      
      0 0
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      May 28, 2026 7:29pm
  - imalwaysright
    
    DG
    Banks and oil companies are happy. No reason to end the party early…
    
    4 3
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    May 28, 2026 1:38pm
    - septic skeptic
      
      More US “self defence” bombing raids today 🙄
      
      4 3
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      May 28, 2026 2:20pm
pdm

It looks like a large pile of excrement is going to land on Hipkins and by association Ardern, Robertson, Little and probably Bloomfield.

That is if Aly Cook in this Duncan Garner Podcast yesterday is correct re when they knew of the Vaccine’s possible/probable affects on teenagers..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVDbhQiq45M
14 1
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May 28, 2026 9:59am
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  I think “The Budget” will form an effective cover-up for this bit of news.
  
  11 0
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  May 28, 2026 10:06am
- imalwaysright
  
  Especially Bloomfield.
  He was running the show and should have informed the public.
  It wasn’t as if he were camera shy…
  
  14 0
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  May 28, 2026 10:10am
- cmm (semi-retired edition)
  
  Naah, nothing will happen and they will give you the normal bullshit lines:
  * They were using the best science at the time.
  * OK, you do better as a mother with a toddler on your hip.
  * etc etc
  
  On the flip side we had “Get Boosted” Bishop cheerleading the jab from National, so they can hardly claim the higher ground.
  
  Naah, the only people who will get incensed are those that were not voting Labour anyway.
  
  16 1
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  May 28, 2026 10:14am
  - sungsamning
    
    And ACT; the ‘freedom party’ going along with all the Covid measures.
    
    6 1
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    May 28, 2026 1:02pm
- NZer In Exile
  
  I imagine they will say they just took advice from the WHO or similar. You think they individually had any clue about what was really going on???
  
  2 0
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  May 28, 2026 6:04pm
G152

Any-one want a real look at funny on Wednesday at 8 pm go to TV1 and watch the Clarkson bungle on his socalled farm….
He really should have stuck with cars
3 2
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May 28, 2026 10:05am
- Ian
  
  I watched this on Prime – three series so far. TVNZ aren’t broadcasting anything new. However, as you watch through the programme series, you will note how the UK govt basically tells farmers what they can and cannot do – to the extent that farming is hardly worth being involved in. Such that the UK will be importing all its food. Some of this over regulation is creeping in here. Clarkson is now unofficially recognised as the UK farmers spokesperson…
  
  10 0
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  May 28, 2026 10:56am
  - imalwaysright
    
    Ian,
    The series currently on tv1 is the latest series and isn’t due on Prime until June.
    Strange, but true.
    Series 5.
    
    6 0
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    May 28, 2026 12:17pm
    - Ian
      
      We watched the first one of the TVNZ broadcast and noted we had seen it before – remembered the bit about the grain being harvested and it raining. My wife watched the start of the second episode and said “seen it before.” Why would a giant like Prime fund and produce a show there’re going to make coin on and milking it (no pun) for all its worth before selling the rights onto a free to air broadcaster to show before they’ve premiered it? I’ll be watching the first episode of Season 5 on Prime 3rd of June, and if I’m wrong, I’ll eat my hat – and I’ll keep you posted…
      
      5 0
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      May 28, 2026 2:34pm
      - imalwaysright
        
        Will check it out tonight Ian.
        Tvnz were billing it as the new series.
        Thanks for the heads up.
        
        0 0
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        May 28, 2026 4:21pm
      - imalwaysright
        
        I will eat your hat Ian.
        You are right.
        Cheers
        
        0 0
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        May 29, 2026 7:47am
    - Raphael
      
      Season 2 is what’s on TVNZ
      
      https://tvnz.co.nz/tvseries/clarksons-farm
      
      2 0
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      May 28, 2026 4:38pm
  - Charlotte Wells
    
    “the UK govt basically tells farmers what they can and cannot do – to the extent that farming is hardly worth being involved in. Such that the UK will be importing all its food”
    
    The crazy government interference would send me postal.
    
    Having to report what you are growing per 10 meter block. Not allowed to spray for bugs destroying your crop. Being paid to NOT grow stuff.
    
    11 1
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    May 28, 2026 1:07pm
    - imalwaysright
      
      Farmers being told what to do by people who hate them, but love their product.
      
      11 0
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      May 28, 2026 1:30pm
      - Ian Boag
        
        Not allowed to kill badgers despite them carrying bovine TB …. madness.
        
        3 2
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        May 28, 2026 4:01pm
- Charlotte Wells
  
  Save me the effort, what series and what episode?
  
  What happened?
  
  Series 5 on Netflix in a few weeks. That is where I watch it.
  
  6 1
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  May 28, 2026 11:59am
  - Bernard Black
    
    One of the best shows available at the moment.
    My teenage son absolutely loves it, as do I.
    We are eagerly awaiting season 5 arrival, 3rd of June I believe
    
    7 0
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    May 28, 2026 12:10pm
    - MCōs
      
      It’s crap
      Farming is heavily subsidized in the UK otherwise people would be walking off the land.
      My nephew has a 50 acre farm handed down through I don’t know how many generations, which is too small to be productive without handouts
      
      6 5
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      May 28, 2026 2:48pm
      - Bernard Black
        
        It’s crap is it?
        Amazon don’t seem to think so, now in to its fifth season and they want more, a huge money spinner for them.
        Caleb Cooper, Gerald Cooper and Charlie Ireland have become stars in their own right too.
        
        Just as well you don’t run Amazon, they would have missed out on a fortune, and you wouldn’t have time to be on kiwiblog all day everyday.
        
        1 0
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        May 28, 2026 4:35pm
  - Charlotte Wells
    
    Not Netflix, Prime.
    
    Forehead slapped.
    
    TV1 8 pm last night, Season 2 Episode 2. The one with the mad cows.
    
    It’s not a ‘so-called’ farm. A lot we don’t see is serious farming. What we see is entertainment around the edges of farming.
    
    7 0
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    May 28, 2026 12:55pm
    - Bernard Black
      
      I suspect My teenage son secretly has a crush on Lisa.
      I know I do 😁
      
      4 0
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      May 28, 2026 2:08pm
Master Mariner

https://www.interest.co.nz/economy/138716/although-reserve-bank-caught-between-rock-and-hard-place-its-priority-should-be-not

“The key uncertainty, of course, is how long the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed and therefore how close we are to moving from what is so far a price shock to physical shortages of transport fuels”

No, The SOH opening is not the issue.
It is the confidence lost in Supply and to a lesser extend the timeframe to get all terminals up and running, likely in years “when” the SOH officially opens.

I am amazed how everyone seems to get this wrong. Meanwhile all of Asia is scrambling for refined Fuels. Inflation is here to stay and is not “Transitory”.
12 2
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May 28, 2026 10:45am
greybeard

https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/360985044/radio-host-roman-travers-keeps-job-after-calling-israeli-people-genocidal-maniacs-during-broadcast
Just as well the BSA is to go: they are wimps.
This Roman Travers crossed the line here and should have been sacked immediately. He comes across as an immature wokester.
14 2
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May 28, 2026 12:10pm
- lifesgood
  
  Travers has a really deep seated hatred for Israelis. I don’t listen to him anymore, it became too much to bear. He is a complete loser, has had dozens of jobs, doesn’t seem to be able to stick with any, and is always crying poor. As far as I’m concerned his opinions are worthless. He should be sacked.
  
  14 2
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  May 28, 2026 1:02pm
- septic skeptic
  
  I think he has a point in regard to the Zionists.
  
  3 10
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  May 28, 2026 2:24pm
rouppe

Further to the short exchange on Stuff banning contributors, this morning I saw a comment from someone saying national doesn’t mind if brown people die.

Talk about double standards
11 0
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May 28, 2026 12:16pm
- Philview
  
  I probably have a quick peruse of Stuff once a day. There is so much better analysis on podcasts and substacks that I just dip in and see what the headlines are.
  
  5 0
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  May 28, 2026 1:18pm
Ghost

The war goes on for now

The US has carried out new strikes in Iran, reports say, with explosions heard east of Bandar Abbas, on the Strait of Hormuz.

Article
7 2
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May 28, 2026 12:24pm
- septic skeptic
  
  Yup. If you bought into the “conspiracy theory” that Netanyahu has Trump over a barrel and will derail the peace negotiations – you might be feeling even more convinced.
  
  2 7
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  May 28, 2026 2:26pm
  - Don Beckett
    
    The peace negotiations are a sham. Trump is keeping the IRGC/Mullahs on the hook to let them choke themselves, which they are doing. The non-islamic citizens are rising up gradually, & guerilla warfare will become more noticeable over the coming weeks.
    
    4 2
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    May 28, 2026 3:43pm
- Don Beckett
  
  They are defensive strikes against drone & missile lannching sites that have been used by Iran to attack US ships in the Gulf of Oman.
  They have also taken out the new head honcho of the IRGC Navy.
  
  6 3
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  May 28, 2026 2:27pm
rouppe

Seems like illegal immigration isn’t just a redneck white supremacist problem in the USA.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy0269pwxg3o
Africans don’t like it either.

Ghana’s government chartered a flight from Johannesburg following a wave of protests against illegal immigration in South Africa.
6 1
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May 28, 2026 12:53pm
Swifty

What in the Punjabi is going on here?

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/indonz-featured/596598/manurewa-local-board-member-referred-to-serious-fraud-office
7 1
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May 28, 2026 1:18pm
- greybeard
  
  Well Goodness Gracious Me !
  
  0 0
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  May 29, 2026 7:45am
rouppe

Crikey. How brazen is this?

“Giz us some gold bars, bro, to grease some work related palms. ”

Nek minnit, 303 1kg gold bars found at his home.
2 0
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May 28, 2026 5:20pm
- Ghost
  
  Surely a cia person would know to not hide the gold in his home
  
  3 0
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  May 28, 2026 6:18pm
Swifty

I knew it! Hipkins is actually a Nazi!

https://x.com/bobmccoskrienz/status/2059834819476074868?s=46

Just like Elon and Kellie-Jay Keen! Isn’t that right NZ media, and Helen Clark?
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May 28, 2026 7:27pm

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