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May 29, 2026 8:00am by Kokila Patel

General Debate 29 May 2026

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General Debate

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Damocles11

Crystal ball gazing from the Treasury in coming up with their rosy forecasts regarding the economy.

‘Treasury said as the oil price shock was assumed to be relatively short-lived, Treasury did not expect it to impact on the level of economic activity in the latter part of the forecast period. ’
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May 29, 2026 8:02am
- Damocles11
  
  More on the Treasury forecasts. Ultimately the bulk of the ‘economic growth’ is expected to come out of the pockets of taxpayers and ratepayers. Two ways that can / will happen: tax increases & rate rises, and more borrowing.
  ‘As domestic demand recovers from the effects of previous high interest rates, employment levels are projected to improve, with Treasury forecasting 240,000 new jobs over the coming years.
  Rebuild and Infrastructure: Growth is specifically being bolstered by residential and commercial rebuild activity (following recent extreme weather events) as well as sustained local and central government infrastructure investments.
  Private Sector Demand: Increased business investment and a more stable global trade environment are anticipated to stimulate job creation across various productive sectors.’
  
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  May 29, 2026 9:14am
  - Paulus
    
    Sounds as though different thinking is coming presumably as Iain Rennie has taken over.
    
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    May 29, 2026 10:49am
- Master Mariner
  
  “Everything is Just transitory”.
  Tui Ad.
  Remember Covid Inflation, Seems De ja Vue all over again.
  Black Swan event, Note to everyone, Swans are Black in NZ. ie Not Rare.
  
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  May 29, 2026 10:12am
  - Damocles11
    
    Black Swans aren’t really the ‘this appeared from nowhere’ unforeseeable phenomenon they are made out to be: major wars, economic crashes, inflation spikes, pandemics – they’ve all occurred regularly throughout modern history. ‘History doesn’t repeat, but it does rhyme.’ The world is now more unstable geopolitically than it was in the preceding decades of this century. There is usually something around the corner that will upset the apple-cart of cosy assumptions.
    
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    May 29, 2026 10:57am
    - Master Mariner
      
      That’s the point really, Yep agree. Totally foreseeable.
      
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      May 29, 2026 1:56pm
    - NeverMindTheBollocks
      
      People have short memories. The interweb is not helping.
      
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      May 29, 2026 5:30pm
  - imalwaysright
    
    MM,
    Yep, everything is just transitory, but inflation is the grift that keeps on giving…
    
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    May 29, 2026 1:31pm
    - Master Mariner
      
      Yep, Trump will make a deal and everything will be fine and Dandy and all forgotten about.
      The question I Guess is, Why?
      
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      May 29, 2026 2:00pm
artemisia

Construction and hospo liquidation numbers reported as spiking in the last year or so. Why?

Headlines talk of the cost-of-living-crisis, too much regulation, fuel / power prices. Just maybe there could be other reasons. Like IRD getting tough on unpaid tax, too many eateries, minimum wage, undercapitalised, interest rates up and not planned for …..

When was this heffalump in the room in the headlines? Incompetent management that fails on business basics. An opportunity for well run businesses to step up and fill gaps. And they will. Might even pay their tax.
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May 29, 2026 8:09am
- Damocles11
  
  People just don’t have the money to spend in an economy. Many New Zealanders are now loaded up with huge debt which has to be paid back with interest. That debt is a claim on future earnings. You can’t spend on coffees, clothes, fine dining etc that which you are committed to paying to the Aussie retail banks. Add in the rising cost of council rates, insurance, fuel, food, power etc and something has to give.
  
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  May 29, 2026 8:24am
  - Simon
    
    Rubbish. Plenty of civil people who businesses failed trade until creditors were paid. Used their own money.
    
    It’s the scum who walked away leaving a trail of debt. It’s the feeble minded who go on about the economy. But walk away is becoming the norm as NZ becomes Aotearoa.
    
    Paid your taxes? The IRD / National treated you like mugs as they let walk away happen.
    
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    May 29, 2026 9:35am
    - Damocles11
      
      You’ve fundamentally misunderstood my comment Simon.
      
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      May 29, 2026 10:59am
  - imalwaysright
    
    Damocles
    
    That’s right, there is so much onerous regulation and associared costs that it is hindering existing businesses and deterring start-ups.
    
    Just hiring a junior means that you have to pay them more than they are worth whilst having so many legal obligations to them that you may as well have adopted them and given them half the business…
    
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    May 29, 2026 10:21am
  - kowtow
    
    Blame the Ozzie banks?
    
    Covid response ( best in the world) , environmentalism , regulation ,race divisions, NZ owned power company rorters ,councils are the folk screwing the ordinary NZ battler.
    
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    May 29, 2026 10:33am
    - NZer In Exile
      
      Councils need to be replaced with non-woke AI with perhaps some govt quality control to make sure it hasn’t gone nuts. The vast majority are worse than a waste of space. They are a menace to the country.
      
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      May 29, 2026 7:21pm
  - Paulus
    
    As far as I and many of our very mature friends are concerned we worked hard and saved for our own retirement and can still afford with our daily coffee, and a decent Saturday Dinner, whatever the cost as we worked for it.
    ps.
    we are not in any Debt either as we were prudent thinkers and doers.
    
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    May 29, 2026 10:54am
    - Damocles11
      
      Good on you. 👍 Our superannuation costs will rise to $30 billion annually by 2030 and the people expected to pay for that are definitely not debt-free. So we have debt-free ‘doers’ enjoying coffees who saved for their retirement and are (presumably) on superannuation – and of course they are entitled to it and good on them – and a dwindling taxpayer base of indebted younger people who are (also) getting hammered by the rising cost of everything. That’s the problem and the paradox.
      Not sure if you’ve done well out of the property boom that happened since the GFC and the era of ultra-low interest rates and high immigration…if you did then ‘great’ I guess. 👍
      
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      May 29, 2026 11:07am
      - Taieri
        
        Not sure if you’ve done well out of the property boom
        ————
        
        If you own a single house the property boom is neither here nor there.
        I bought my house nearly 40 years ago for $64K. It is supposedly worth multiple times more now. On the paper anyway, as I have to live somewhere. So “doing well” doesn’t really come into it. And when I finally depart to the greener pastures I’m not going to take it with me.
        
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        May 29, 2026 1:33pm
- BarryB
  
  Here in the Waikato the reason why Hospo is in trouble is that when costs went up they decided to reduce food quality rather than hold quality and up the price.
  What the common thing now is heaps and heaps of carbohydrate – buns and wraps and pastry and chips. Its cheap but to me its crap. Whats more, all carbohydrate is converted to sugar in the body. They take white sugar off the table and replace it with so-called raw sugar (which it isnt) becuase ‘sugar is bad for you’ guess what – pastry and all that stuff is even worse.
  I had a chicken Ceasar salad at the cafe on Carters flat the other day . Never been there before – will never go back. I think the closest a chicken got to it was when a chicken was held over it…. All lettuce and gallons of dressing so that you really couldnt see what it was made of.
  There are only two places in Cambridge I will eat at – NOSH and the Italian outfit in the old post office. Youve heard of AI Slop – well there is also Hospo Slop.
  
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  May 29, 2026 10:04am
  - Raphael
    
    Clementine Cafe at the Amber Garden Centre in Cambridge isn’t too bad.
    
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    May 29, 2026 11:41am
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  Wellington City Council recently moved from their temporary home on The Terrace down to a new building (for them) on the waterfront. The Mojo on the ground floor shut up shop the same day, and other cafes nearby are noticeably emptier.
  
  Make of that what you will.
  
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  May 29, 2026 10:16am
  - Paulus
    
    Years ago I worked on the Terrace in Wellington near Treasury and the great Italian runncafe next door, which was a hive of activity as the early morning taxis called, and the gossip followed, including some salacious affairs of the mighty along the road.
    Stayed in busines for years great coffee.
    
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    May 29, 2026 11:00am
  - wsk12345
    
    Don’t councils spend 500 k pa on coffee machines and beans so staff don’t need to go out? I doubt that’s only Tauranga.
    
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    May 29, 2026 11:09am
    - GCA1
      
      This is an often misquoted number.
      If you review the publicly available LGOIMA responses you will find the average cost of the coffees are $0.70.
      
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      May 29, 2026 2:28pm
    - Ra Henare
      
      Oh dear,Wsk, been reading clickbait headlines instead of facts.
      
      It was a total price contract for supply over 10 years.
      1200+ employees
      
      use AI if you are unable to do the simple math
      $500,000 divided by 10 years
      $50,000 divided by 1200 workers
      $41.66 pa divided by 1440 (46? weeks)
      0.28 cents per day
      Looks like a hell of a deal to me.
      
      Why people are incapabe of thinking and just regurgitate crap click bait headlines is beyond me.
      
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      May 29, 2026 3:14pm
      - wsk12345
        
        I wasnt wuoting thr cist per coffee bit the cost incurred by the council. $500 k. And likely the reason nearby cafes are not peofitable.
        
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        May 29, 2026 6:13pm
      - leoj
        
        AI
        
        Does the “A” stand for articial?
        
        Yes.
        
        What is the definition of artificial?
        
        How about fake?
        
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        May 29, 2026 7:54pm
- Southern Raider
  
  IRD previously took a hands off approach and even now doesn’t act fast enough. If you haven’t paid your GST within 2 months should be a formal notice and then in another month liquidation claim is filed (unless there is an agreed payment plan)
  
  Too many suppliers get wiped out because business owners use GST as a slush account and dragging out enforcement makes the downstream impact even worse.
  
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  May 29, 2026 11:17am
- Bullion
  
  Lack of consumer confidence impacting demand.
  
  The number of jobs per working age population has decreased every year since 2024 (2024 worse than 2023, 2025 worse than 2024 and so far 2026 worse than 2025)
  
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  May 29, 2026 4:44pm
David Garrett

Good morning from the Kingdom…my last day here for a while. A cool 23C this morning, down to a very pleasant 16C last night. New Zealand is going to be a bit of a shock – especially since I will have to wear shorts, as I ripped the arse out of my one pair of long pants, and they are not repairable!

(In general, long pants are only worn to court up here)
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May 29, 2026 8:11am
- Nikola Donatello
  
  When you arrive in Auckland there are stores that sell long pants. 👖
  
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  May 29, 2026 8:15am
  - David Garrett
    
    Niko: thanks for that! Yes, a visit to Farmers is top of my list of “to do’s”. I do occasionally push the boat out and shop at Tarocash…
    
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    May 29, 2026 8:31am
    - NeverMindTheBollocks
      
      In your case, David, perhaps a trip to Macpac for a set of thermals might be advisable.
      
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      May 29, 2026 10:17am
    - NZer In Exile
      
      You will venture into the CBD feral zone?
      
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      May 29, 2026 7:39pm
  - Ghost
    
    Just wear the ones with the arse blown out, you will fit in with the locals….
    
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    May 29, 2026 3:31pm
- BarryB
  
  David, You will probably be aware of the new “stalking and Harassment” law. You may not know that the Police have been ‘contacting people over social media posts. Not criminal post but posts that upset people.
  The new law would mean that a post that causes someone ‘distress’ maybe the basis of a criminal charge.
  This morning here in Cambridge we have a very heavy fog and its 7C. I almost got lost in the fog going out to check the thermometer.
  I need to inform you that your mentioning things like “its 23C in the kingdom today” causes me distress because when I walk outside here in the Waikato I immediately suffer a series of hypothermic seizures and this causes me much distress and embarrassment -especially from the ‘iceman’ next door who wears shorts and sleeveless tops and he calls me pussy. Someone must be made responsible for this situation……..
  
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  May 29, 2026 8:21am
  - David Garrett
    
    BarryB: I am truly sorry to hear of your upset… If you wish to make a formal complaint, Rancho Garrett is situated at Kanohi Road, Kaukapakapa. Tell plod not to come at night though…uninvited visitors at night are frowned upon in the rural sector.
    
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    May 29, 2026 8:33am
  - NZer In Exile
    
    The cops are going to be besieged with complaints from bitter and unhinged people looking to besmirch/criminalise others over minor slights they can’t let go of. If the targets are white and male they’ll be thrown under the bus with gay abandon in order to tick boxes.
    
    Retiring to Thailand or Cambodia is looking ever more attractive, even though high humidity and heat [and all the nasty creatures/diseases that usually come with that] are not my thing.
    
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    May 29, 2026 7:52pm
- pdm
  
  DG – does Nuku’alofa not have a Tailor who could run you up a new pair of trousers in a couple of hours?
  
  Made to measure and don’t forget to tell them `on which side you dress’.
  
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  May 29, 2026 8:36am
  - David Garrett
    
    pdm: Yes, there are tailors…but linen is not included in their range of fabrics. You don’t wear 100% polyester up here if you can avoid it.
    
    I’ve never given much thought to which side I “dress”! Not a necessary distinction when one’s standard wear is a pair of cargo shorts.
    
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    May 29, 2026 8:45am
  - Jethrod
    
    Yes, bespoke is probably his best option!
    
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    May 29, 2026 10:54am
- Nukuleka
  
  DG: two points:
  1. Your sentence should have read: ‘In general only long pants are worn to court up here’. Watch the position of ‘only’, dear boy.
  
  2. I would have thought that IN GENERAL a shirt, tie, tupenu, ta’ovala and sandals were the usual male form of attire at a Tonga court. For males at least!
  
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  May 29, 2026 8:43am
  - David Garrett
    
    Nuku: Re your first point, my sentence makes sense as written – meaning in general, people only wear long pants if they have to go to court. But given some people wear long pants to a bar, that is not a strictly accurate statment – but it’s not a grammatical error.
    
    As for the second, you are quite right: as a palangi I can either wear a tupenu and a suitable taovala OR black long pants. We also need to wear wigs gowns and bands up here…A Chief Justice back in 1999 proposed doing away with wigs and bands, but local counsel with an LL.B degree were strongly against it.
    
    Locally qualified counsel are not entitled to wear a wig and bands, and the then few with LL.B degrees wish to retain that distinction. I would be quite happy just to gown up as in NZ; the present CJ is a very traditional Englishman, and he’s made it plain there will be no relaxing of standards while he is in office.
    
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    May 29, 2026 8:59am
  - Gary Benner
    
    Talking about grammar (“to court”), I’m not sure whether David is appearing before a magistrate, or a lovely young lady.
    
    I would have thought that if it was a magistrate, then it should have been spelt as “to Court” to avoid ambiguity.
    
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    May 29, 2026 9:10am
    - David Garrett
      
      Gary: Yes…Court is usually capitalized..mea culpa.
      
      How I wish I was courting “a lovely young lady!” I’d be just as happy with courting a 45 year old one – so long as she could speak good English and had a brain. Oh and the major final criterion: not the size of a house! That is the one most difficult to satisfy.
      
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      May 29, 2026 9:45am
- Ra Henare
  
  David, dont tell me you are crying poverty??
  …..Have to wear shorts….!!!
  
  I guess their are no Low low price, meanswear shops anywhere you visit that could provide a plethora of long pants.
  
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  May 29, 2026 3:18pm
BananaLlama

When your enemy says you are changing your mind, threaten peace then war – Don Tzu
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May 29, 2026 8:16am
- imalwaysright
  
  Very good Banana.
  Call the book:
  
  Don Tzu and the Art of War
  (Illustrations by B Netanyahu)
  
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  May 29, 2026 8:50am
wsk12345

Does the government remember that the South Island exists? Half the country’s tax revenue and from the budget overview it looks like we are getting 1x police station in Greymouth. Presumably we will also get some share of the schools upgrades etc. but seriously we still have one lane bridges on SH1 and the Waikato Expressway is a priority???

Perhaps it’s time the government invested in the productive part of the country!
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May 29, 2026 8:17am
- Poppax8
  
  Start a political party representing SI interest. Want a name? Southern Comfort!
  
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  May 29, 2026 8:36am
  - keepcalmcarryon
    
    Cut the Cable.
    
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    May 29, 2026 10:09am
- Southern Raider
  
  Have you been on the Waikato Expressway to see how many cars and trucks travel on it each day?
  
  Extending it is also part of a broader plan to eventually link the golden triangle of Auckland, Hamilton and Tauranga with modern infrastructure since half the countries population and a huge amount of GDP travels though those regions.
  
  Maybe the 1 lane bridges still exist because there is no high volume traffic on them?
  
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  May 29, 2026 8:39am
  - wsk12345
    
    This is on SH1 less north of Christchurch. There are a ton of vehicle movements on them. Most tourists to the SI go up or down the East Coast. All of our inter-island trucking. Not to mention that with chch being the second largest city in NZ it has a lot of everyday travel to and from.
    
    Have you been to the SI and seen how many vehicles use this road?
    
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    May 29, 2026 10:00am
    - keepcalmcarryon
      
      Nats widened the Kaikoura tunnels for their donors heavier trucks and look at the damage to roads since.
      It’s been a long time since National represented rural South Islanders.
      
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      May 29, 2026 10:13am
    - Sane Voice
      
      Not to forget the single lane bridge on SH 1 in North Canterbury.
      
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      May 29, 2026 10:52am
      - KH
        
        The Kawarau Gorge road is nose to tail these days. Almost urban. Needs two tunnels and the winding bits straightened.
        
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        May 29, 2026 11:58am
  - Tom Hunter
    
    They weren’t waiting on the budget. Just drove down through the Waikato the other day and saw all the downed trees, ripped up shrubs and fences on the Eastern side of SH1 from the end of the current expressway to a point about 5km’s further South.
    
    My guess is they’ll build two lanes, move the traffic onto it, then rip up old SH1 and rebuild, after which the whole thing opens up.
    
    A civil engineering mate in the region told us years ago – after Jacinda and company stopped the project – that they had all the plans just sitting around ready to be acted on and had even done some of the land purchases.
    
    He said the plan is for the expressway to climb up into the hills far above the existing lakeside SH1 and then down to the huge new roundabout at Piarere connecting SH1 with SH29 – which might explain some of the “for sale” signs seen recently for things like The Karapiro Lodge and also fits with where the current advance clearing work appears to end, just as SH1 drifts right to edge the lake.
    
    After that, my guess the expressway heads to Tauranga rather then extending further along SH1 because the former route is where the traffic is.
    
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    May 29, 2026 1:09pm
- RoboRob
  
  To be fair National have majorly increased the SI spend. There was a policy for decades where AK got the lions share of spending, the concept being it is the economic generator for the country. National, under Key broke that system and unlocked motorways in Christchurch that had been blocked by Helen for a decade. Those motorways are complete and life changing. JA / Hipkins Labour blocked all that infrastructure againg, which had to be restarted by the current government who have already authorised the Woodend bypass for state highway one, another major improvement.
  
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  May 29, 2026 9:19am
  - Southern Raider
    
    I think wsk may have missed the new 3km Ashburton bypass and bridge that’s just started being built as well
    
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    May 29, 2026 9:38am
    - wsk12345
      
      Was that in the budget?
      
      I know of the Woodend one as that’s going to be rolled so we pay for it twice. As I do that road every week I’ll keep going through town and save my $500 pa.
      
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      May 29, 2026 10:05am
      - Hugh Jarse
        
        They turned the first sod on the second Ashburton bridge earlier this week so I presume they have funded it. Now they can start on joining up the passing lanes between Rolleston and Ashburton and make it a four lane motorway. The work that Labour and the Greens canned in 2018.
        
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        May 29, 2026 10:54am
- MCōs
  
  National has 10/17 South Island electorate MPs, which is a sizeable chunk of their caucus although few of them of much importance.
  All the big shots are scattered around Auckland except Bishop.
  Maybe the government takes the frozen south vote for granted.
  
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  May 29, 2026 9:30am
  - Quail
    
    Mcos,
    Yes , the South Island does seem to be the poor relation in many areas, not just Government spending.
    Eg , It paid not to count your chickens in NZ rugby coaching .See Laurie Mains , Alec ( Grizz )Wyllie , Robbie Deans and now Razor Robertson !
    
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    May 29, 2026 9:58am
    - Sane Voice
      
      And Wayne Smith.
      
      How many of them were screwed over by Hart and the Dorklander rugby mafioso?
      
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      May 29, 2026 10:55am
- peterwn
  
  Where are the one lane bridges on SH1 in the South Island? I drove most of it (except Balclutha to Invercargill) in January and did not encounter any one lane bridges. The one lane Hurunui bridge and the double decker bridge near Seddon were replaced some years ago.
  
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  May 29, 2026 9:47am
  - Taieri
    
    (except Balclutha to Invercargill)
    ———
    
    There’re no one lane bridges between Balclutha and Invercargill.
    
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    May 29, 2026 9:55am
  - Hugh Jarse
    
    Yes Seddon has been replaced but the Hurunui River bridge on SH 1 is still one way Peter. The bridge on the Rakaia is a shocker but is two way, just. Plenty still on SH 73 to and through the Coast.
    
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    May 29, 2026 10:03am
    - peterwn
      
      Oops, but that is the only one. The implication was there were one way bridges all along SH1.
      
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      May 29, 2026 2:56pm
  - wsk12345
    
    Hurunui for one. That’s the big one south of Cheviot. There’s also a small one further south but I can’t think of where it is. I have realised that the others just feel like one way because of the constant roadworks they have been undergoing since the Kaikoura EQ in 2016. Which close one lane eg the one near Spring Creek is two way but has operated as one way for most of the past year as the road is resurfaced for the third? Forth? time in recent years. It’s not uncommon to have to wait at 6 sets of roadworks between Blenheim and Cheviot, for up to 20 mins at a time.
    
    My average for up over the 350 km route these days is 5 -5.5 hours. At times (weekday travel when the roadworks are in operation) it can take 6.5 hours. Travel at night with only trucks on the road (sitting dead steady at 90 kmh) is the quickest and I can sometimes do in just on 4 hours without exceeding any speed limit. 40 years ago in an old car it routinely took me 3.45 without speeding.
    
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    May 29, 2026 10:15am
  - MCōs
    
    The biggest problem I’m aware is the two lane Ashburton bridge, which is a huge bottleneck
    Fortunately work has finally begun on foundations for a new bridge a couple of ks to the east.
    The Rakaia, Ashburton & Rangitata bridges are all about a hundred years old and won’t last forever.
    A previous National administration promised a four lane highway from Chch clear through to Ashburton, but that idea seems to have disappeared into the ether.
    That would require doing something about the 1km long Rakaia Bridge and the Selwyn bridge just so the locals could drive even faster than the breakneck speeds they do now on those long straights
    
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    May 29, 2026 10:27am
    - Hugh Jarse
      
      The plan for the four landing disappeared because of Jacinda and Julie Anne who cancelled a large number of roading projects. The main purpose for four lanning would be to reduce the large number of head on fatal motor accidents, not usually caused by speed but more by foreign drivers inability to drive on what purports to be a state highway. In fact down here, slow drivers in camper vans and rental cars are probably a bigger menace than fast drivers.
      
      Speeding on this piece of road in its current state is virtually impossible because of the volume of motor cars, camper vans and trucks on it. The four lanning between Rolleston and Christchurch has saved a lot of lives due to the barriers between lanes.
      
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      May 29, 2026 12:32pm
  - Sane Voice
    
    Hurunui is still there.
    
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    May 29, 2026 10:56am
  - gravedodger
    
    OK peterwn , I will bite, where did they hide the replacement SH1 Hurunui bridge, I regularly travel SH1 and the single lane with a passing bay was still there as recently as two months ago.
    Yes there is a roughy two lane on SH7 at Hurunui on the south boundary of the Amuri plain.
    
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    May 29, 2026 12:25pm
- Damocles11
  
  A great slogan for Labour to go into the election with: ‘South Islanders: we will give you billions more!’
  It’ll have to be borrowed money mind you, as we can’t pay our way in the world and haven’t been able to for a while now.
  Anyone embarrassed by the fact that we are a debtor nation that cannot make ends meet anymore? That we spend over $8 billion annually on interest now?
  
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  May 29, 2026 11:11am
- RichardX
  
  Half the country’s tax revenue and from the budget overview it looks like we are getting 1x police station in Greymouth.
  
  Where did you get the “half the country’s tax revenue” stat?
  
  I can’t find anything to support that.
  
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  May 29, 2026 2:06pm
  - wsk12345
    
    Chat got gave some general figures. GDP from SI around 30% based on tax but noted that lots of tax is paid through corporate HQs in wlg and Akl
    
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    May 29, 2026 6:30pm
    - RichardX
      
      So no data to support your assetion.
      Thanks.
      
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      May 29, 2026 7:42pm
- nz_aj
  
  SH1 Hurunui River bridge, 2,270 to 2,960 vehicles per day.
  SH1 Cambridge 20,700 vehicles per day.
  Traffic very subjective.
  South Island 22.5% of NZ GDP.
  North Island 77.5% of NZ GDP.
  Auckland 37.5% of NZ GDP.
  
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  May 29, 2026 4:01pm
- Ghost
  
  And what extra do you want? Maybe a cake? Our hospitals are funded, our roads being repaired, education , police. Etc.
  
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  May 29, 2026 6:38pm
Nikola Donatello

This banner on the RNZ website is so revealing.

https://www.rnz.co.nz/

“Pressure now on Labour to find Budget answers.”

It is like they are cheering on THEIR team.

(Note this banner will disappear for later readers.)

EDIT it Just changed to “Watch live: Top economist casts doubt on Willis’ surplus”.

My point still stands.
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May 29, 2026 8:19am
- Ehlana
  
  Noticed something similar overnight. After Jannik Sinner dropped out of the French Open, the BBC brought a story about heat and the affect on tennis players to the top of their playlist.
  Except, on NZ radio this morning, was audio of the player himself saying that he had woken up feeling unwell. And he is quoted elsewhere saying it was not the heat – “It was warm, but not crazy warm,”.
  Which makes me wonder what agenda the BBC was pushing.
  
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  May 29, 2026 8:40am
- ObligatoryMarxist
  
  Perception is a funny old thing. I read that headline as anti-labour, basically saying they’ve presented zero alternative and the pressure is on for them to do even the most basic politics.
  
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  May 29, 2026 9:49am
  - RoboRob
    
    Me too 🙂
    
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    May 29, 2026 9:56am
Damocles11

A big-spending budget with more spending than last years budget. $7 billion for capital infrastructure, $1 billion for Winstons KiwiRail bottomless pit, $400 million transfer from taxpayers to councils to pay for the infrastructure needed to connect up the property developments being built to house immigrants, an increased contribution to the Super Fund ($3.1 billion over 4 years), $450 million slushing in reserve for hand-outs in case the fuel crisis worsens, $164.8 million to increase Early Childhood Education (ECE) sector subsidy rates by 1.5%, $48 million across the next four years for Te Māngai Pāho which funds Māori broadcasting, $275 million additional funding across the next four years for MFAT (Winston), $36 million over 4 years + a $6 million capital investment for an upgraded Super Gold Card (Winston)…….etc, etc, etc.
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May 29, 2026 8:20am
- David Garrett
  
  Damocles: You couldn’t ask for a more perfect expression of leftie ignorance than what was described as an “expletive laden” speech by Lynda Topp at some music do yesterday.
  
  She said – to loud applause: ” I had a look at the budget…I couldn’t see anything for music – but 2.1 billion for defence”
  
  She and her audience clearly believe that the long suffering taxpayer should be somehow subsiding her musical career, or “music” in general. Dumb leftie (albeit a fairly talented one. If you like that sort of thing).
  
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  May 29, 2026 8:38am
  - Ehlana
    
    It surprises me how so many artists are so certain that their work is so terrible that no one would voluntary purchase it. You’d think they’d have more faith in themselves – and if they don’t, why should I?
    
    I recall school careers advice explaining that if you weren’t able to make a living doing your favourite thing, there were lots of adjacent careers that might work well for you. Perhaps being a sound technician, or lighting engineer, or the accountant or lawyer who specialises in the industry.
    
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    May 29, 2026 8:44am
    - lifesgood
      
      Great comment, Ehlana. It was a huge mistake for Lynda Topp to speak. She is still angry and sad that her sister died and is taking it out on the government and, of course, she is a dyed in the wool lefty. I have no idea why the arts seem to think they need to be funded. If they don’t attract enough audience to make them viable they should take a lesson from that and do something else. BTW I enjoy some arts as much as anyone but not all of them.
      
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      May 29, 2026 9:40am
  - imalwaysright
    
    DG
    
    She, like every other comedian we used to have, sold her soul to the Ardern regime and is now looking for a Topp up from the people she slagged off.
    
    Good comedy and satire is very important to keep a perspective on politicians.
    It seems to have disappeared.
    
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    May 29, 2026 8:56am
    - Bobba Fret
      
      Jeremy Corbett seemed to be the only slightly right leaning comedian as the others always hassle him about being wealthy. I guess working hard and being successful makes you right leaning.
      
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      May 29, 2026 10:14am
      - imalwaysright
        
        Wealthy…
        The term Judas Goat springs to mind.
        
        McPhail and Gadsby were very good at political satire.
        They could crystalise the opinion of the country in a 30 second skit that no journalist or comentator could verbalise in an hour.
        
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        May 29, 2026 11:14am
  - Damocles11
    
    Someone should tell her that there is money in the big-spending budget for young musicians:
    ‘A one-off fund of $5.6 million will buy musical instruments for primary schools. The kits will be worth about $2000 each.
    The Government will also provide a small amount of funding to keep Rock Quest, the music competition for high school students, going. It will receive $50,000 each year.’
    
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    May 29, 2026 8:57am
    - NeverMindTheBollocks
      
      The wrong kind of musician, Damo. She means her chums.
      
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      May 29, 2026 5:39pm
  - rouppe
    
    She’s caught Bruce Springsteen’s disease. Mind you, most of the Arts community has…
    
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    May 29, 2026 8:57am
  - Gary Benner
    
    STAYING IN YOUR LANE!
    
    What a sad situation, not Lynda Topp getting political during her mourning period for her sister, but the NZ Herald putting the comment in the leading item of their website.
    
    We need a government that says the arts is more important than the defence budget,” Lynda said.
    
    Where the hell is discretion and helping people through their sadness by quietly relegating such an idiotic comment to the wastebin?
    
    And what is the worth of comment from an individual with no expertise in governance – it would be like getting Nichola Willis to comment on the musical worth of Lynda Topp – she may have a personal preference, but certainly not valid as the leading article of the supposed newspaper of record.
    
    In Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, what could be determined as ‘arts” comes in lowest at #5:
    
    1. Physiological (Basic biological requirements for survival: air, water, food, shelter, clothing, sleep, reproduction, homeostasis.)
    2. Safety (Security, stability, and protection from harm: personal/financial security, health, safety from violence, order, law.)
    3. Love & Belonging Needs (Social connections: friendship, intimacy, family, sense of connection, love, affection, acceptance.)
    4. Esteem Needs (Respect and recognition: self-esteem, confidence, achievement, respect from others, status, prestige.)
    5. Self-Actualization Needs (Realizing personal potential: personal growth, peak experiences, pursuing goals, creativity, morality, autonomy.)
    
    More and more this MSM media is showing itself to have lost the plot.
    
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    May 29, 2026 9:01am
    - David Garrett
      
      Gary B: I very much doubt Ms Topp is familar with Maslow’s hierarchy of needs…She’s even less likely to have any clue about China’s or Indonesia’s wishes in the South Pacific.
      
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      May 29, 2026 9:25am
      - Gary Benner
        
        My beef is more with the MSM who channel clickbait rather than informed comment.
        
        The Topp Twins have always been a quirky, fringe element in our entertainment landscape, cute, talented, off the scale at times, but ultimately they are only entertainers, and as my earlier comment stated “Stay in your lane”. Same for Bruce Springstein and such ilk!
        
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        May 29, 2026 9:33am
      - Boy Geoff
        
        DG, I’ve heard that a universal basic income for Rainbow artists is on the top of China & Indonesia’s agenda…
        
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        May 29, 2026 9:42am
      - NZer In Exile
        
        DG in my experience arty people are usually very much into the “therapeutic” pursuits and often see themselves as intellectuals, so I think most would very much be across Maslow’s hierarchy or at least have some idea of what it’s about.
        
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        May 29, 2026 8:00pm
  - Albie
    
    DG, although it is de rigueur for lefties to use what should be uplifting awards events to have a whinge, I do feel Lynda Topp does have an excuse: she WAS born and raised in Huntley!
    
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    May 29, 2026 9:09am
  - Ghost
    
    She got a point, we should spend more on arts than defence.
    
    In a war with china we could bomb them with some of our musicians. The bullshit they call music would be enough to make china surrender. show them our artists and they would feel so sorry for New Zealand we would be safe
    
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    May 29, 2026 9:31am
    - Gary Benner
      
      But Ghost, they would still part of the defence budget haha! Just a different form of ammunition.
      
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      May 29, 2026 9:35am
      - Gary Benner
        
        Reminds me of the old Trebuchets, that they used to hurl dead and diseased bodies into the castles to weaken the enemy!
        
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        May 29, 2026 12:09pm
    - RoboRob
      
      We could do what they did in the Southpark movie with black people, we could tape the musicians and artists to the outsides of our tanks to protect them* 🙂
      
      *them being the tanks!
      
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      May 29, 2026 9:58am
    - Hugh Jarse
      
      We could send Ayesha and the rest of the Labour concert party to sing to the invading troops. Hopefully that would reach them the error of their ways.
      
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      May 29, 2026 10:09am
  - MCōs
    
    Kiwi musicians, even the popular ones, have always struggled to make a buck in NZ.
    Same with all entertainers, including sportsmen, writers etc
    They often have to leave the country to get ahead.
    
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    May 29, 2026 9:47am
    - imalwaysright
      
      They may live in NZ but their audience has the rest of the world to choose from.
      
      Entertainers’ real problem is streaming platforms such as Spotify and Youtube where the customer can get whatever they want for free or small subscription.
      
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      May 29, 2026 10:06am
      - imalwaysright
        
        Just checked Spotify and found over 50 individual results for Topp Twins albums etc.
        
        Maybe she should be having a go at Spotify instead, they are notorious for how little they pay artists.
        
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        May 29, 2026 10:43am
    - Notsofast
      
      If they are good enough to be listened to, they should be teaching as well, where there is a living to be made.
      
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      May 29, 2026 10:52am
    - Jack5
      
      But think of the language advantage, Cossie.
      
      We use English, the dominant language of world entertainment.
      
      Think of the added difficulties of, say, those Estonians or Laotians who don’t speak English.
      
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      May 29, 2026 3:34pm
  - imalwaysright
    
    Would it be crass to suggest she has recently doubled her income…
    
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    May 29, 2026 10:59am
    - Sane Voice
      
      Yes, but worth it.
      
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      May 29, 2026 12:46pm
  - Paulus
    
    I dare not say, nor ever will, what I thought of Helen Clark’s close frinds, the Topp Twins.
    I would turn off when they ever came on.
    But I am an old prude !
    
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    May 29, 2026 12:50pm
- sungsamning
  
  I wouldn’t want to sound like a Democrat. But. Won’t any body think of the grandchildren? Or young cousins?
  
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  May 29, 2026 9:03am
peterwn

So the wowsers and their supporters in the Police and Health have lost their arguments against Woolworths being granted a liquor licence. Their argument was that Flaxmere was a deprived area and therefore people there would stock up from Woolworths and become alcoholics. The licensing authority did not buy that one and instead granted the licence. The question to ask is why there seems to be no balanced policy framework governing such applications and the way police and health respond to them rather than a no, no, no, fight, fight, fight attitude. It is just a waste of taxpayer’s money and an insult to the people lifting in Flaxmere. Anyone would thing they were second class citizens. It follows on from when the Council raided the flop house there and together with the police treated the residents with disdain – temporarily evicting them then refusing to let them return to get personal itens they needed for the day.
Seems to be potential cost savings that Nicola can make here.
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May 29, 2026 8:22am
- imalwaysright
  
  Peterwyn
  
  There seems to be an inherent bigotry in NZ and it is not just the well off who show it.
  
  Each strata of wealth, ability, intellect etc seem to exhibit it towards anyone they consider beneath them.
  
  Even on the roads there seems to be an unwritten rule that a newer car has to be in front of an older car.
  
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  May 29, 2026 8:42am
  - peterwn
    
    Re newer cars – I smashed that one years ago in Kilbirnie. I was approaching a red light in Kilbirnie in a Beetle and a more up-market car was stopped in the other lane. The light turned green and I glided through the intersection leaving the stopped car way behind. Could not have been good for his ego.
    
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    May 29, 2026 9:53am
    - imalwaysright
      
      Reverse bigotry…???
      
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      May 29, 2026 10:34am
  - Paulus
    
    When living in Devonport some years ago one day there were large vessels hooting and one kept up so we went to look and found that a large cruise Liner was hooting as it stopped in the fairway to let the QEII go first and the Queen always does.
    
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    May 29, 2026 12:54pm
    - imalwaysright
      
      Why didn’t they call it Queen Elizabeth the First then?
      There could have been a nasty accident…
      
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      May 29, 2026 1:08pm
      - NeverMindTheBollocks
        
        Perhaps the captain was aware of the fate of HMS Curacoa.
        
        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Curacoa_(D41)
        
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        May 29, 2026 6:31pm
Damocles11

‘𝐈𝐟 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐁𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐈𝐬 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞, 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐖𝐞 𝐁𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐞?
Despite branding this a “responsible Budget”, Nicola Willis has today confirmed the Government will have borrowed more by 2029/30 than Treasury forecast just five months ago.
Taxpayers’ Union spokesman James Ross said:
“The accounting tricks and fiscal illusions in Budget 2026 can’t hide the facts. Yes, surplus may have come forward a year, but over the forecast period we will still be borrowing almost a billion dollars more than Treasury forecast only five months ago.”
“Government debt is set to hit $364.1 billion by the end of the decade, or more than $162,000 per household. That’s up from $29,000 in 2008, and $116,000 in Grant Robertson’s last Budget. The trend is only going one way.”
“If this Budget is supposedly fiscally responsible, Nicola Willis needs to explain why debt will now be higher in 2028, 2029, and 2030 than Treasury previously forecast, and why the next generation is being left to pick up the tab.”’

https://x.com/TaxpayersUnion/status/2059845020987838746
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May 29, 2026 8:26am
- peterwn
  
  She has to balance such ‘responsibility’ with the need to win the forthcoming election. While this is not a perfect situation she has to consider the prospect that an excessively austere budget could cost the election which would leave NZ in a worse situation.
  
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  May 29, 2026 8:38am
  - pdm
    
    pw – keeping Winston happy and away from Labour was obviously a big priority too.
    
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    May 29, 2026 8:57am
    - peterwn
      
      Yes, and that has been one of Chris Luxon’s biggest successes – being chief ringmaster of a three ring circus and successfully maintaining order.
      
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      May 29, 2026 9:56am
    - Paulus
      
      Winston will only remain happy when he gets his own way !~
      
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      May 29, 2026 12:56pm
  - Damocles11
    
    How will giving more money to KiwiRail, Councils (to subsidise property developments), MFAT, Maori radio stations etc etc win me (or anyone else) over? But I do understand that the government is using Keynesian economics to keep the country afloat. Ultimately it is being done because we built a (Rockstar!) economy on the unstable foundations of mass immigration, ultra-low interest rates, and a property ponzi scheme & it’s all turned to custard. This is the late-stage rockstar economy where the rockstar has done too much heroin and drunk too much hard liquor and is now burnt out, dope-sick, and broke.
    
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    May 29, 2026 9:06am
    - David Garrett
      
      Damocles: Kiwirail…How much did we taxpayers pay to buy back the damn thing…was it $600 million?
      
      Rancho Garrett lies adjacent to the northern section of the Main trunk railway. The road to Helensville runs beside the road for some parts.
      
      A year or two ago, one of the old wooden bridges on the line was replaced with a new concrete one. I am no expert, but I would have thought given the amount of time it took it must have cost a million or two.
      
      Imagine how many thousands of old wooden railway bridges there must be throughout the country, each of which will require replacement in due course.
      
      Instead of the taxpayer forking out $600 million to buy this 19th century form of transport, the then owners should have had to pay to take the bloody thing off their hands.
      
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      May 29, 2026 9:40am
      - trout
        
        From memory I understand Toll was sold the business and the rolling stock but NZRail (the Govt.) retained responsibility for maintaining the infrastructure.
        
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        May 29, 2026 10:02am
    - RoboRob
      
      Lol KiwiRail. I understand the majority of Aucklands large rate rise is required to cover the subsidies on the new rail loop. Perhaps when councillors and MPs were doing their overseas junkets they could have spend some time looking at the Singapore MRT, a subway (and above ground) rail system that runs on time, frequently and is profitable! They could have also looked at the Japanese model.
      
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_Rapid_Transit_(Singapore)
      
      Yes I know that Singapore is 8m people in a small area but there are plenty of ‘learnings’ there to be taken. Such as how to build fit for purpose stations that are safe, clean, appealing. In Japan the stations are plain and utilitarian, but Japanese rail is also profitable. As opposed to the works of art we are paying for.
      
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      May 29, 2026 10:05am
      - David Garrett
        
        Robo: Oh NO…please don’t use “learnings”…even between speech marks…The vandals destroying our wonderful English language don’t need any encouragement.
        
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        May 29, 2026 10:10am
      - Interested Party
        
        Sir the correct spelling is “Learing” – (Minnesota Somali child care fraud scandal) 😄
        
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        May 29, 2026 10:58am
  - RoboRob
    
    Just a pity they didn’t do this stuff 2 years ago, when it wasn’t an election year. I find it hard to trust the promises of cuts when they failed to follow through on very similar (if not grander) promises in 2023.
    
    A great long term plan IF applied.
    
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    May 29, 2026 9:12am
    - pdm
      
      `Just a pity they didn’t do this stuff 2 years ago,……………………………….’
      
      Exactly what Economist Cameron Bagrie said to Jordan Williams, NZTU, yesterday.
      https://www.taxpayers.org.nz/taxpayer_talk_budget26
      
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      May 29, 2026 9:39am
      - RoboRob
        
        I am glad they agree with me 🙂
        
        I didn’t realise I had such high profile followers.
        
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        May 29, 2026 10:09am
      - pdm
        
        Sorry to burst your bubble RR.
        
        I saw that Bagrie video with Jordan Williams (which was in the lock up) late yesterday afternoon so you are about 20 hours behind him.
        
        Good try though.
        
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        May 29, 2026 11:49am
      - RoboRob
        
        @pdm I was kidding. However I never saw that so that was my independent idea.
        
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        May 29, 2026 1:49pm
    - pdm
      
      RR that is what makes this forum unique.
      
      Independent thinking and different points of view.
      
      Allied with acceptance of borax when thrown – mostly.
      
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      May 29, 2026 6:22pm
- sungsamning
  
  Well, it sounds better than a ‘relatively responsible budget. More of the spending is likely to be on things that produce results. Maybe assorted grandies, and Gen Z cousins will use less swear words over this one.
  
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  May 29, 2026 9:06am
Southern Raider

Alan Snackbar stabs multiple people in a Swiss city and confronts a group of school children at the train station. He yells out his name multiple times, but some media reporting “motive is unknown at this stage”.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cddpllqv49qo
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May 29, 2026 8:36am
- David Garrett
  
  Southern: Well, you can’t accuse that particular publication of willful blindness…It is quite clear from that piece that it is seen as an Islamist terrorist attack…albeit that the perp also had “mental health issues”
  
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  May 29, 2026 10:24am
  - imalwaysright
    
    Why don’t they call it “mental illness issues”?
    
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    May 29, 2026 10:45am
  - Southern Raider
    
    I think there comes a point when the West needs to collectively agree that being a Jihadist is an inherent mental health issue and stop applying that tag to these terrorists as an excuse for violent murderous behaviour.
    
    Anyone ever come across a Jihadist who wasn’t mentally ill??
    
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    May 29, 2026 11:25am
    - Gary Benner
      
      Sad result of consanguineous marriages.
      
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      May 29, 2026 12:16pm
      - Paulus
        
        Consanguinity over thousands of years throughout the whole word but prominent in Muslims currently.
        
        2 1
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        May 29, 2026 12:59pm
      - imalwaysright
        
        Shagging cousins is a sign of laziness…
        
        4 1
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        May 29, 2026 1:11pm
      - Jack5
        
        Imalwaysright:Where would you rate sororate marriage and levirate marriage?
        
        This is where a husband marries his wife’s sister, or, in levirate marriage, a brother marries his widowed sister-in-law.
        
        Seems mostly about preserving or strengthening a clan.
        
        Some of those Old-Mormon studs in Utah, might have all sorts of marriage in the household.
        
        Here’s a comparison of genetic defects among states, that may reflect “in-breeding” by groups like some Mormons, Amish, and Louisiana Cajuns:
        
        https://genadna.ai/resources/blog/states-with-highest-genomic-diseases
        
        And what is sororate marriage?
        
        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sororate_marriage
        
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        May 29, 2026 3:52pm
      - imalwaysright
        
        Jack5
        Haven’t got a clue.
        Would rather meet someone at random.
        Its not difficult.
        
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        May 29, 2026 5:17pm
    - RichardX
      
      Anyone ever come across a Jihadist who wasn’t mentally ill??
      
      What came first?
      
      The mental illness or the religious belief?
      
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      May 29, 2026 2:13pm
Swifty

“I demand that NZ families be forced to give us more of their money because it’ll be good for us!”

Cue massive whooping and cheering.

https://www.rnz.co.nz/life/music/dame-lynda-topp-blasts-governement-in-emotional-speech

Entitlement was off the charts at the largely taxpayer-funded Aotearoa Music Awards last night.

Bloody spoilt babies.
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May 29, 2026 8:37am
- Southern Raider
  
  OneNews managed to find all the anti Govt folk to interview last night including a solo mum in Dunedin and a grumpy grandma who was state housing tenant.
  
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  May 29, 2026 11:27am
rouppe

Lynda Topp complains at the music awards

“We need support for artists in this country. We need a government that says the arts is more important than the defence budget,” Lynda said.

Oh, OK Lynda, let’s do a thought experiment.

Next time there’s an eruption or tsunami in Tonga, and we don’t have a defence force to attend, what is it you are going to do?

Sing a fucking song?
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May 29, 2026 8:42am
- Gravelroad
  
  Probably Dame Lynda Topp would call up all her musician contacts and friends in Australia and other Pacifica countries and get them to organise a fund raising concert.
  Followed by a collection of unwanted musical instruments to be sent to Tonga so they could have a wonderful morale boosting singalong when the smoke and waves have cleared.
  What’s not to like about that?
  Be kind.
  
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  May 29, 2026 9:54am
  - RoboRob
    
    Those musical fundraisers always seem more about publicity and fame for the musicians and less about the cause to me.
    
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    May 29, 2026 10:11am
- Peter S
  
  Normally a view from the top signifies a clear high level perective.
  
  The view from the Topp, not so much.
  
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  May 29, 2026 10:06am
- Philview
  
  I am not bothered by her opinion just the way the media jump on it and excitedly report it.
  
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  May 29, 2026 11:13am
  - pdm
    
    TVi have excelled in that at 6pm today.
    
    Jack Tame was almost frothing at the mouth.
    
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    May 29, 2026 6:24pm
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  Sing a song? Works for the kauris, eh.
  
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  May 29, 2026 6:38pm
imalwaysright

So we now have Hate Speech legislation.
Can anyone name the Act?
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May 29, 2026 8:44am
sungsamning

The ruling reinforces the federal government’s jurisdiction over mail-in ballot regulations, with implications for the voter registration process across several states. Historical data indicates that the Democratic Party has built its voter mobilization efforts around mail-in voting, specifically targeting low-propensity voters. The implementation of a verified citizenship list could drastically alter voting demographics, threatening the Democratic Party’s electoral base. [Dems are a tad concerned that they can’t pull their usual reicks to cheat at election time. Citizenship lists would exclude Dem voters. As in illegals and dead people. The next step should be using the RICO Act ruthlessly as needed.]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JindkTzSMp0
Huge Court Decision Empowers Trump to Crush the Democrats!
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May 29, 2026 8:56am
- Hugh Jarse
  
  Police have a totally hands off operational approach to policing hotels now, seeming to leave the hotels to their own devices and then come down like a lump of lard through the licensing system if transgressions occur, totally reactive. In my view a more hands on approach like regular pub visits and liaison with the publicans may well better serve the community. They might even learn some things about the community and who’s doing what to whom that they don’t learn driving around in cars.
  
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  May 29, 2026 9:32am
  - Hugh Jarse
    
    I meant to post this under Peterwn’s 8.22 post, sorry for the confusion.
    
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    May 29, 2026 10:13am
sungsamning

California Assembly Bill 2624, dubbed by critics the “Stop Nick Shirley Act,” passed the California Assembly on Tuesday, raising concerns among opponents that undercover journalism and fraud investigations could be restricted—including investigations conducted by independent journalist Nick Shirley. [No, its not from The Onion, or The Babylon Bee. Dems don’t want their corruption exposed to the gaze of law enforcement, and the peasants.]
https://www.dailysignal.com/2026/05/27/california-advances-stop-nick-shirley-act/
California Advances Controversial ‘Stop Nick Shirley Act’.
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May 29, 2026 8:58am
Maggy Wassilieff

Will RNZ improve?

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/media-technology/596661/media-minister-paul-goldsmith-appoints-brent-impey-as-new-rnz-chair
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May 29, 2026 9:11am
- Swifty
  
  I confidently predict that we will still be discussing RNZ’s strong left bias in a decade’s time.
  
  I rate it as a 95% likelihood – that RNZ will still exist, that it will still be taxpayer-funded and that the strong left bias will still be present having proved impervious to any attempts to dislodge it.
  
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  May 29, 2026 9:39am
  - RoboRob
    
    Correct. I would add that the listener base will likely be about 1/4 of what it currently is.
    
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    May 29, 2026 10:13am
  - zulumonster
    
    Rust is very difficult to get rid of … it’s also red.
    
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    May 29, 2026 12:10pm
- BeaB
  
  Morning Report is now Gabble and Burble. The occasional half-decent interview but the begging for listeners to get in touch, the cringing, gushing ‘thank you so so much for listening’ show us they are desperate for a bigger audience. And then there’s the childish banter. Spare us.
  Worst of all is the predictability. Government announces something. We are given no information, background or elucidation but a string of naysayers will be brought on to do their usual self-interested grizzle. So boring.
  
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  May 29, 2026 10:32am
- Jack5
  
  Brent Impey’s got a strong record in the radio industry, but he regards television as a sunset industry. Perhaps that will block any Government moves to merge Radio NZ and TVNZ.
  
  He may lead RNZ further into digital (Internet) technology.
  
  In commercial radio, Impey was chief executive of Media Works.
  
  Do Kiwiblog rugby followers have opinions of his record as chairman of NZ Rugby from 2013 to 2022?
  
  Impey has exceedingly broad experience of business. His listings as present or former director or shareholder in the Companies Register run to more than 90.
  
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  May 29, 2026 10:36am
  - Gary Benner
    
    Brent Impey’s appointment as Chair at RNZ will not give him direct control of editorial policy, as that sits currently with Paul Thompson, who is slated to retire sometime soon. Hopefully Impey’s influence will be to select someone with a more balanced viewpoint on world affairs, and rescue this dying, lame duck.
    
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    May 29, 2026 12:29pm
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  To ask the question is to answer it, Comrade Maggy!
  
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  May 29, 2026 6:40pm
RoboRob

One minor but great change is upping the 50k cut in for FIF tax to 100k. Its been 50k for decades, when 50k was a lot. If we want people to invest and save we shouldn’t be making it hard for them, this is a good step.
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May 29, 2026 9:14am
- imalwaysright
  
  I thought Luxon announced this a couple of years ago. Maybe it was a policy announcement.
  
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  May 29, 2026 10:09am
  - RoboRob
    
    If he did I totally missed it. FIF tax has been the bane of my share trading existence. I stopped putting more funds directly into US shares to avoid the 50k bracket. That has probably cost me as my US shares have done stunningly well.
    
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    May 29, 2026 10:15am
    - imalwaysright
      
      Sorry, I thought it was the deposit guarantee of $100k.
      
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      May 29, 2026 10:48am
Yvette

“Give effect” to the Treaty
Fulfilling a coalition agreement between the National and New Zealand First parties, the government initiated a review to standardise and, in many cases, restrict the varying legal interpretations of “Treaty principles” or “give effect” to the Treaty across the statute books.

In an 2 April Letter, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith and Regional Development Minister Shane Jones wrote to the National Iwi Chairs Forum Pou Tikanga co-chairs to outline these Cabinet decisions, giving the forum 20 days to provide feedback on the proposed changes.

Cabinet agreed to repeal Treaty clauses in five specific acts—including the Education and Training Act 2020 and Energy Efficiency and Conservation Act 2000—and cap the strength of Treaty obligations to “take into account” in 10 other pieces of legislation.

Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has confirmed that the broader legislative changes to standardise and clear up Treaty references will be a major part of the government’s programme, and the rapid 20-day iwi feedback window indicates a strategy to swiftly push the draft Bill through its select committee phase and pass it into law ahead of the next election cycle.

Will we have another media-diverting vehicle-hikoi just prior to the Election or will the shouting all be over by then?
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May 29, 2026 9:30am
- rouppe
  
  “Take into account” is an incredibly weak term to put into legislation.
  
  It can mean absolutely anything.
  
  This part of the National/NZ First programme has been a failure in my opinion
  
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  May 29, 2026 9:59am
  - imalwaysright
    
    rouppe,
    
    General and weak terms seem to be more effective in these types of social engineering laws.
    
    That it is general and weak makes it easy to pass a law that , once it hits the activist courts, suddenly becomes of Ten Commandment level clarity and importance.
    
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    May 29, 2026 10:14am
  - RoboRob
    
    Yup and he is misleading people. While the coalition agreement was to initiate a review of legislation most people understood that to mean the review would happen and changes would be implemented based on that review this term. Goldsmith has warped it into ‘review this term’ & ‘implementation next term’.
    
    Considering the limited extent of the legislation looked at and the minor nature of the proposed changes, I think people have a right to be disappointed in the outcome.
    
    Ghost has been saying National will meet their coalition agreements, I thought he was wrong because there isn’t enough time left for law changes. Turns out we were both right. They wont remove the clauses this term and they have ‘met the terms of the coalition agreement’, its just not what most people understood to have been promised.
    
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    May 29, 2026 10:22am
    - Paulus
      
      Review is forming a Committee of poeple not forgetting te special effect people on it, and the daily allowances..
      
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      May 29, 2026 1:05pm
  - keepcalmcarryon
    
    Another failure.
    
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    May 29, 2026 10:35am
- AitchW
  
  I’d be astounded if Tamihere Corp doesn’t arrange a hikoi in the fortnight before the election. Lots of free TPM flags and placards and a good seasoning of kids skipping school for good measure.
  Throw in a rabble outside parliament for a day or two and the Maori party will get millions of dollars of free promotion.
  
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  May 29, 2026 3:21pm
Handyman

The biggest non-discretionary cost for most people is council rates, followed by interest payments (house, car, VISA).
Council rates rises have far exceeded food inflation in recent years, pushing the headline inflation above target which drives the up the OCR.
In Auckland, ALL of the 8% rise in rates is for running the rail tunnel. (Mayor Brown was explicit on this).
So,,, connecting these dots, the rapid increase in council rates has also led to increased interest rates. Elections have consequences.
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May 29, 2026 9:30am
- Paulus
  
  Easy, we have the second highest hourly rate in the OECD so when it goes up at the bottom all scales do like wise – hence for example Council rates for staff payments.
  
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  May 29, 2026 1:06pm
Wairoa Native

Time to wind back the alarmist rhetoric on ‘climate change’. Back in 2019 mainstream Climate scientist Zeke Hausfather, who works with Berkeley Earth, noted that RCP8.5 climate scenario was never intended to be treated as the central or “business-as-usual” pathway.

The problem is that in parts of media, education, politics, our judiciary and policy analysts, it was often framed that way as if it were the most likely outcome rather than an extreme scenario. That matters, because treating a high-end stress test as “business as usual” can distort public understanding of risk and how likely different futures actually are.

RCP8.5 or “Representative Concentration Pathway 8.5”, refers to a very high level of radiative forcing (8.5 W/m² by 2100). In most models it translates to roughly 4.5°C of warming by 2100, with significant sea level rise, but it sat at the extreme upper end of possible outcomes.

A lot of people still don’t realise that RCP8.5 was never meant to be a “likely future”. It was designed as a high-end thought experiment / stress-test scenario, not a prediction of where the world is actually headed. It is now being openly described as ‘implausible’.

This has also led to a debate about how worst case scenarios should be reported and communicated, so they are understood as ‘risk boundaries and thought experiments’, not default predictions of a future that scares everyone and wrecks people’s mental health.

I’m not holding my breath that our brilliant journalists at Radio PRAVDA, I mean Radio NZ, will change their tune any time soon or our gullible, or is that cynical, politicians in the Green Party, Te Pati Māori. Labour and TOP. Hopefully National (who let’s face it, are pretty woke) will wake up some more and smell the coffee. They seem to be heading in the right direction.

https://www.carbonbrief.org/explainer-the-high-emissions-rcp8-5-global-warming-scenario/
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May 29, 2026 9:31am
- Master Mariner
  
  I’m waiting for the Court cases against local Councils who swallowed the bait and declared Climate Emergencies and distributed Flood zones in an “Inplausabe” scenario whereby Houses become nearly uninsurable and sellable due to high Insurance costs.
  Meanwhile Green Nutter Chloe flies Business Class , Courtesy of the Insurers.
  Take the councils to court I say.
  
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  May 29, 2026 10:30am
- Ehlana
  
  Going to extremes gets action and attention in the short run. Everyone came running to the boy who cried wolf. Until, of course, they didn’t.
  People switch off when the proclaimed immediate disaster doesn’t happen. They become active opponents when confronted with ideological extremism.
  The harder but more useful path says, we know we’re having an impact, we’ve thought about some possible consequences, let’s talk about what it would make sense to do. It’s incremental, and compromising. But it’s also more likely to stick. And therefore, really save the planet.
  
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  May 29, 2026 11:44am
lifesgood

TV One did itself no favours choosing a dead beat state house tenant to comment on the budget. This utterly clueless woman clearly expected to be given a great big, fat, hand out. I would wager she has had a lifetime of sucking on the welfare tit, paid for by the long suffering tax payer, of course.
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May 29, 2026 9:43am
- RoboRob
  
  I just cant watch MSM coverage of budgets any more. The formula of going to hand picked families to hear their opinions, which are always ‘not enough for me’, just makes me sick.
  
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  May 29, 2026 10:24am
- Philview
  
  Yes the segment was set up in advance. TVNZ were running a critical report regardless of what was actually in the Budget.
  
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  May 29, 2026 11:17am
Libertarians are right

The Left complaining that “they cut money to the Arts” when in fact Arts money was moved from adults to children.
Basically, they don’t care about the kids and just want the Government to fund their lifestyles. What a surprise.
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May 29, 2026 9:47am
Ghost

The world awaits Trump

A senior Arab official directly involved in mediating peace talks between Washington and Tehran tells NBC News that American and Iranian negotiators agreed to the terms of a truce deal three days ago, but both sides have delayed finalizing and announcing it.

“It was already closed in Doha three days ago, now everyone is playing a game of chicken and egg,” the official said, describing the delays as “frustrating.”

Article
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May 29, 2026 9:59am
- RoboRob
  
  Clarification…
  
  The world awaits Trump AND whoever is running Iran. Neither leader has agreed yet. Your heading implies it is solely Trump holding things up.
  
  Personally, from what I have heard, I hope Trump turns it down. Another month of cease fire and opening the straight only seems to strengthen Irans position. They will be able to get some oil out and money in at the same time is pushing this all closer to the US mid terms where they hope Trump will give in to help Reps win their races.
  
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  May 29, 2026 10:28am
  - Ghost
    
    The U.S. officials claimed the Iranians later came back and said they had the necessary approvals and were prepared to sign.
    
    Article
    
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    May 29, 2026 10:38am
    - All_on_Red
      
      If they are ‘prepared to sign’ then why haven’t they?
      
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      May 29, 2026 11:00am
      - Ghost
        
        Perhaps both parties will sign together at a media event. But does it matter, we now have one side ready to end this, i would say the other side will agree
        
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        May 29, 2026 11:53am
    - RoboRob
      
      @Ghost Your axious link from 12hrs ago claims its a scoop but I cant read the link. Most other sites are saying neither side has confirmed.
      
      https://edition.cnn.com/2026/05/28/world/live-news/iran-war-us-news
      
      from an hour and a half ago says…
      
      ‘Potential deal: The US and Iran reached a tentative agreement to open the Strait of Hormuz and start nuclear talks, according to US officials — though President Donald Trump has not signed off on it yet. Iranian officials have not yet commented on a potential deal.’
      
      The negotiators have reached an agreement but it requires both heads of state to agree. I don’t understand why that is controversial here.
      
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      May 29, 2026 1:59pm
  - Paulus
    
    Seems biggest Iran problem is that the nefarious, cruel and vicious sector military units, believed now unpaid, are in control, even over the real Army and what is left of the Politicians.
    
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    May 29, 2026 1:11pm
    - RoboRob
      
      I suspect that is the major issue with negotiations. Whoever is politically in charge might want to come to agreement but the IRG may not agree.
      
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      May 29, 2026 2:00pm
      - MCōs
        
        I would suggest the biggest problem is Trump not wanting to be seen as a loser
        Right now America has been committed to a war with no positives eventuating except a whole lot of Iranian leaders killed off.
        
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        May 29, 2026 2:50pm
BeaB

The Herald tells us there is a ‘sneaky’ surplus in the Budget. Sneaky? Nicola Willis talked about it at length and it’s clearly laid out for us. Why would she want to ‘sneak’ it in?
Who writes this nonsense?
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May 29, 2026 10:33am
- Ehlana
  
  It identifies as sneaky. Your refusal to acknowledge its reality is genocidal, etc., etc., etc.
  
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  May 29, 2026 11:50am
Handyman

I see an entire Auckland school had to close early because 30 teachers were absent.
Odd that so many teachers were absent on the Friday before a long weekend. /
Normally there is a “teacher only day” the day before a long weekend but I guess someone forgot this time.
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May 29, 2026 10:55am
- zulumonster
  
  Looks like the teachers didn’t forget …
  
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  May 29, 2026 12:15pm
- greybeard
  
  “The school said 29 staff were absent on Friday alone — almost double the usual number of 10 to 15 staff needing cover on a normal day.
  Larger numbers of between 20 and 25 absences had become common over the past fortnight, leadership said.”
  So much for “leadership” if they can’t figure out why so many are regularly away.
  Even 10 to 15 absent on a “normal day” seems high: I suspect that there is something other than a cold or the flu at play here. Maybe staff/pupil relations are a problem.
  
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  May 29, 2026 12:28pm
  - rouppe
    
    The interesting thing is the phrase used to describe it: “sickness and events”.
    
    Events… Like a tangi? A hui? A birthday party?
    
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    May 29, 2026 1:43pm
  - pdm
    
    How many Teachers do you reckon will be away Tuesday next week?
    
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    May 29, 2026 6:32pm
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  “It’s a tricky bug”
  
  Long weekenditis can lie dormant through the week..and even for entire consecutive weeks, but once you’ve become ~~a public servant~~ infected, you’ll be laid low on a Thursday for 3-4 days.
  
  Best thing to avoid infecting others in your household and work-place is to take a few days r&r in a sunny/snowy location.
  
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  May 29, 2026 12:55pm
  - Ghost
    
    My gp has that, apparently there is no cure. It’s so bad he can only work one half day next week.
    
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    May 29, 2026 12:58pm
- MCōs
  
  Manurewa High School has one staff only day – in the middle of winter
  https://www.manurewa.school.nz/enrol-with-us/term-dates-2026
  You do realize schools must have a certain number of half days of instruction per year and staff only days don’t count towards that total.
  
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  May 29, 2026 1:31pm
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  Gosh, that IS bad luck!
  
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  May 29, 2026 1:44pm
Sane Voice

A bit of overdue comeuppance; E Jean Carroll is being investigated for perjury.

How much longer until the kangaroo court verdict is overturned?
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May 29, 2026 11:09am
- Philview
  
  She appears to have made plenty of money talking about the various times she was assaulted as a young woman, by a billionaire and also Trump.
  
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  May 29, 2026 12:53pm
- MCōs
  
  Why was it a kangaroo court verdict?
  
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  May 29, 2026 1:33pm
  - RoboRob
    
    Because it is a civil court with a much lower barrier of proof required. A number of the claims Carroll made conflict with public statements she made in the decades between the claimed offence. It really came down to he said / she said, and as the case was taking place in a state openly hostile to Trump the verdict was never in much doubt.
    
    Also this is the same woman that says ‘rape is sexy’.
    
    * I am not saying this didn’t happen, I am saying the civil verdict is somewhat dubious.
    
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    May 29, 2026 2:06pm
    - Charlotte Wells
      
      Somewhat dubious barely describes how rotten it was.
      
      If it was a criminal case not a cop with an ounce of integrity would have touched it.
      
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      May 29, 2026 6:03pm
- Ghost
  
  fake news perhaps
  
  On Thursday evening, after reporting from the Associated Press and other media organizations, Andrew Boutros, the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, issued a statement saying that his office “has not opened — and has never opened — a criminal investigation into E. Jean Carroll.”
  
  Article
  
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  May 29, 2026 2:10pm
  - Charlotte Wells
    
    It’s the US DOJ doing it.
    
    1 1
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    May 29, 2026 6:03pm
    - Ghost
      
      It’s fake news, it was originally reported
      
      The new investigation is being led by the US Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois, one source told CBS.
      
      Article
      
      She is not being investigated
      
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      May 29, 2026 6:08pm
Jack5

British police handcuffed a dying stab victim after believing the lies of his attacker, a 23-year-old Sikh who used an 8cm ceremonial knife that many Sikhs carry.

The victim, Henry Nowak, was an an 18-year-old finance student. He was knifed in a residential street in Southampton.

The Telegraph reports (probably behind its paywall):

“As the teenager, unable to breathe as his lungs filled with blood, begged officers for help, they ignored his pleas and placed him under arrest. He died less than an hour later.”

The attacker, Vickrum Digwa, aged 23, has been found guilty of murder.

Digwa told police who arrived on the scene that the teenager had shouted racist abuse at him before punching him and knocking his turban off.

The Telegraph says the trial has prompted serious questions about the impact anti-racism initiatives are having on the mindset of officers on the front line.

While the Telegraph report is likely behind the newspaper’s paywall, you can read another account of it here, at the Independent.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/vickrum-digwa-henry-novak-murder-knife-southampton-b2985200.html
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May 29, 2026 11:15am
- imalwaysright
  
  That is a travesty of justice and humanity.
  Its sad how indoctrinated the British police have become.
  
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  May 29, 2026 1:21pm
- mogg
  
  The dying Henry Nowak’s pleas for help were ignored by the police, they arrested and handcuffed him on the ground. They then took a statement claiming racial abuse from the Indian attacker, (which was a pack of lies), after which they went to the aid of the dying victim. It has become fairly obvious from recent events that UK police arebeing trained to practice anti-white racism.
  
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  May 29, 2026 1:47pm
- Eastlander
  
  The murderer’s family helped him hide the knife, incidentally.
  
  One hopes that this incident will be an object lesson to those who still think Sikhs are any better than any other set of clannish foreigners.
  
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  May 29, 2026 2:09pm
imalwaysright

Seems Barry Manilow fan Mallard is to be knighted.

I wish him all the luck he deserves…
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May 29, 2026 12:31pm
- Jethrod
  
  Was that the only way to get him out of the Emerald Isle?
  Incidently he got one in New Year 2024!
  
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  May 29, 2026 4:08pm
NothingLeft

Hannah Spiers is a real breath of fresh air no-bullshit psychiatrist with deep understanding of the field critiquing modern psychology and pop-mental health in age of social media. Here is her take on signs of Narcissism in women that likely a lot will find interesting as it relates to people they know:

https://youtu.be/BmKNfSV0m3Q
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May 29, 2026 1:03pm
Ghost

Exxon Mobil warned Thursday that oil inventories will fall to record low levels in coming weeks, forcing prices to spike and curbing demand.

“We’re approaching unheard of inventory levels,” said Exxon Senior Vice President Neil Chapman at a conference hosted by Bernstein in New York.

“I mean really, really low levels,” Chapman warned. “You can debate whether that’s going to hit, those really low levels, in two weeks or three weeks. Once you get to that point, then you’ll see price shoot up.”

Article

sounds like fun times ahead……
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May 29, 2026 2:00pm
- RoboRob
  
  Or an oil barron trying to pump up prices while the going is good.
  
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  May 29, 2026 2:09pm
- [email protected]
  
  Love that my only car is an EV. High fuel prices will only accelerate EV purchases.
  
  But, it will cost me more to mow my lawn.
  
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  May 29, 2026 7:45pm
Ghost

The final trailer for Disclosure Day. It looks like it will be a good movie. I see it is being called Spielberg’s best movie in the last two decades.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icDuEHSxE-w
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May 29, 2026 2:03pm
mandk

Man with 55 previous convictions guilty of GBH and receives 5 years 10 months sentence for an offence that carries a maximum of 15 years.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/crime/siaosi-meleisea-jailed-for-brutal-south-auckland-gang-patch-attack/Z3HPHWEQIVHFFASQJ54WX6HKSY/

If he doesn’t deserve the maximum, who does?

I suspect there would be extremely short odds on him offending again when he gets out.
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May 29, 2026 2:31pm
MCōs

Peter Thiel has relocated in Argentina
I wonder which passport he used at immigration
He could be in line for Argentine citizenship
I suppose that’s the dilemma of being so rich – having to decide which is the best country for you.
For the rest of us
Remember New Zealand’s a cracker
We don’t know how lucky we are
We don’t know how fortunate we are to have this place
We don’t know how propitious are the circumstances
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/28/world/americas/peter-thiel-argentina.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share
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May 29, 2026 2:32pm
Ghost

Blue Origin New Glenn rocket explodes during launch pad test

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1O90WZJALYc

Damn, now that is an explosion.
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May 29, 2026 2:40pm
- RoboRob
  
  Wow. The damage to the launch pad must be huge. I am stunned one of the launch towers is still standing!
  
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  May 29, 2026 2:50pm
  - Ghost
    
    NASA confirmed Blue Origin have been selected for three uncrewed lunar missions this year. This might delay things a little
    
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    May 29, 2026 3:04pm
    - RoboRob
      
      Yup. Rocket science is hard.
      
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      May 29, 2026 3:48pm
- Eastlander
  
  In the wise words of Alan Shepard:
  
  ‘Glad they got that out of the way!’
  
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  May 29, 2026 4:23pm
- Swifty
  
  One third the power of Hiroshima they are saying:
  
  https://x.com/hunter_weiss/status/2060181594837553393?s=46
  
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  May 29, 2026 5:09pm
greybeard

https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/360985921/canterbury-business-owner-accused-dismantling-stolen-cars-and-shipping-parts-middle-east
Well bugger-me !
Who would have believed that there was a market for pieces of old Mazda 323s and Holden Astras in the oil-rich Middle-East !
Hey guys ! I’ve got an old Falcon in the back yard !
Come and get it !
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May 29, 2026 5:04pm
- Ghost
  
  Oh, interesting…… ummm, anyone out there, my hoarder neighbour has, hang on let me count…. 6 cars in the front, 3 and a small bus in the drive, 4 in the backyard. Free to anyone that will bloody take them, and a bonus if you take him with them.
  
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  May 29, 2026 5:42pm
- Ian Boag
  
  Not old 323s – much newer stuff. There is actually a roaring trade in stolen cars (Mercedes and stuff) in the UK. They go to the mideast and Africa. Customs don’t look all that hard at containers leaving the country. Possibly not all that different here.
  
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  May 29, 2026 6:11pm
Ghost

The best article of the week

Six animal welfare complaints have been lodged with the Ministry of Primary Industries after Shane Jones brought a live crayfish to Parliament.

No doubt there will be more

“I simply cradled the crayfish in its final hours,” Jones told Stuff on Friday.

Awww, what a compassionate man….

“I don’t want anyone feeling that I lack the necessary skills to prepare a crayfish for its final hīkoi from pot to puku,” he said.

“It’s truly extraordinary that so many people are upset. No, I don’t really want to hurt anyone’s feelings other than to say to the complainants: The meal was delicious.”

Article

Strangely, I’m hungry for some seafood
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May 29, 2026 5:39pm
greybeard

https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/360985980/construction-company-ordered-pay-thousands-after-worker-denied-pay-his-first-month-job

Interesting article.
What is MOST interesting is that there are no “Aurora Developments Limited” staff members mentioned or named: all we have is some ordinary guy in a confrontation with a company, not real people.
And there appears to be no attempt to put names to influential staff members and management and directors of ADL.

There is something a bit dodgy here.
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May 29, 2026 6:01pm
greybeard

https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360985854/iwi-leaders-furious-about-budget-2026-call-it-economic-apartheid

Translation:

Iwi Leaders who have been receiving all the Waitangi Tribunal Settlements for decades are pissed-off because someone may finally be turning-off their money tap.

Maori unemployment is high: why ? They are given special treatment, tax-free incomes, grants, generous welfare payments, lower standards than anyone else for entry to tertiary institutions, huge taxpayer investment in language and culture ( a culture which changes day-by-day ! ) etc etc.
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May 29, 2026 6:15pm
greybeard

https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/360986029/former-wellington-mayor-back-campaign-trail-australia
Good grief.
I’ve always had my doubts about Australians but this time they have really lost the plot.
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May 29, 2026 7:42pm
- Ghost
  
  surely you would want a campaign manager who could actually win a council seat.
  
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  May 29, 2026 8:52pm
Gravelroad

Oh no!!! The Crusaders have beaten the Hurricanes in the super rugby.
How will the shrill gabblers on The Breakdown TV programme cope with this?
They have studiously avoided mentioning the Crusaders for weeks.
How can they spin it that the Hurricanes actually won?
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May 29, 2026 9:00pm
- greybeard
  
  Nonsense: everyone knows that the Hurricanes fielded a makeshift team to rest their main players. The only thing the Hurricanes wanted was to have no injuries, and that was achieved. Nothing else counted for them although the Crusaders needed the points.
  
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  May 30, 2026 7:34am

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