General Debate 17 June 2026

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Gussy

Proxy war.
Russian warship fires warning shot at British-flagged vessel in the English Channel.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c20yzm84r7lo
This is a big deal (more than the BBC admit). Any response by the Royal Navy is limited by its shocking lack of capacity. And you won’t see any choreographed footage of Royal Marine Commandos boarding the Admiral Grigorovich.

The only aggression Britain can show Russia is on the fields of Eastern Europe, with Ukrainian bodies.
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June 17, 2026 8:08am
- Ghost
  
  No big deal. A yacht drifted near the warship, it ignored several warnings, as it got closer, they sent a warning shot. yacht then changed course.
  
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  June 17, 2026 8:47am
- Damocles11
  
  Vladimir Putin himself wouldn’t have put it any better.
  
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  June 17, 2026 8:57am
- David Garrett
  
  Gussy: Bullshit…the UK government has released a statement which is largely identical to the Russian account. The whole incident is down to poor watch keeping on the yacht…nothing more nothing less.
  
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  June 17, 2026 8:59am
  - Cassandra
    
    A bit extreme to fire shots, however.
    
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    June 17, 2026 9:21am
- Philview
  
  I have read before that the British SAS have been operating in Russia/Ukraine assisting the Ukrainians. I have always been on the side of Ukraine but if the British Government involves itself in a war it seems logical that there will be consequences for Britain.
  
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  June 17, 2026 9:00am
Scooter

I see The Platform have pay walled most of their content all of a sudden this week, very disappointing. I think this is a bad move, they will lose viewers and especially in an election year when the so called right need a voice (not that Luxon will ever go on it).
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June 17, 2026 8:11am
- imalwaysright
  
  The oily rag is rapidly becoming a rag and Plunket is trying to sign up new members.
  
  Laws just had a half hour interview with Erica Stanford about MBIE and child testing.
  Worth a listen.
  
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  June 17, 2026 8:32am
- Notsofast
  
  It seems to run for 15 seconds and switch off, it’s been like that for weeks.
  
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  June 17, 2026 8:54am
- Philview
  
  I thought it had been paywalled for a long time. I just listen to the shorts on YouTube but understand that the Platform has costs and lost its benefactor last year much to the delight of the MSM.
  
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  June 17, 2026 9:06am
Yvette

Ivan Barnett: Why enforcement collapsed – the vacuum of leadership since 1990
https://www.brashandmitchell.com/post/ivan-barnett-why-enforcement-collapsed-the-vacuum-of-leadership-since-1990
AI précis – Since 1990, successive New Zealand governments have abdicated their leadership by refusing to enforce statutory law, creating a constitutional vacuum. Rather than altering the constitution through Parliament, institutions have simply stopped defending it, choosing to avoid legal confrontation with iwi corporations and declining to challenge the judicial expansion of Treaty “principles.”

Consequently, public agencies, universities, and HR departments have stepped into this vacuum. They enforce un-legislated cultural obligations—such as te reo proficiency and tikanga compliance—as conditions of employment, despite lacking statutory authority.

This drift persists because institutions fear accusations of racism and prioritize risk-avoidance over legal clarity. Ultimately, this crisis is not driven by “iwi power,” but by systemic political self-preservation. When Parliament and ministers abandon their oversight, the most assertive groups naturally set the rules.
_________

Public institutions fear cultural criticism more than legal breach.
In such an environment, any organized group would fill the vacuum.
The problem is not ethnicity. The problem is constitutional abandonment.
… Iwi corporations are not the cause.
They are the beneficiaries of a system where Parliament refuses to assert its authority.

So, one can see why the iwi corporations and élite don’t mind – they benefit.
But why exactly do the public service engage with ‘Maorification’? What is in it for them?

Is ‘Maorification’ another quasi-religion like ‘global warming / weather change’ was?
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June 17, 2026 8:19am
- Pope Punctilious II
  
  The Nats are the chief villains of this story, repeatedly allowing activist judges, bureaucrats, university administrators and iwi to undermine our laws and our institutions. But are Erica Stanford and Simeon Brown a sign of renewal?
  
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  June 17, 2026 8:48am
  - Nigel Kearney
    
    The Nats don’t have enough principles or values to be considered heroes or villains. They do things if they think there are votes in it. Creating a situation where this issue matters to undecided voters is our job.
    
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    June 17, 2026 9:20am
greybeard

https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360993853/greens-surge-lifts-left-bloc-projected-majority-latest-political-poll
Hard to believe that TOP has more support than TPM.
Hard to believe that one in 10 voters would like Chloe Swarbrick to be PM !
Hard to believe this whole poll.
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June 17, 2026 8:30am
- Boy Geoff
  
  Two words: Talbot and Mills…
  
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  June 17, 2026 8:39am
  - slijmbal
    
    @Boy
    
    must agree – Talbot and Mills have long standing deep connections to the Labour party and their polls tend to skew left compared to others, especially between elections. It’s difficult to avoid what they call house effects, typically a mix of sample bias and experimenter’s bias that can lead to small skews. One could say similar about our host BTW but to the right. I suspect that’s one driver behind DF’s Curia Poll Average he publishes.
    
    Having said that, it’s clear that this year’s election will be tight and as our host keeps pointing out Labour need the Maori Party to rule.
    
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    June 17, 2026 9:19am
- Yvette
  
  Greybeard
  Hard to believe that if TMP end up with more Special Maori Seats than the Election result difference between ‘right’ and ‘left’ blocks, TMP will hold the power of Kingmaker.
  
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  June 17, 2026 8:40am
  - pdm
    
    Don’t panic Yvette.
    
    New Zealand Politic’s sole saviour since 1996 – Winston Peters – will come to the party and go with Labour to save the day.
    
    The rest of us will pay the price.
    
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    June 17, 2026 8:51am
  - R
    
    Not hard to believe at all!. This possibility is exactly what the MSM and activists have been pushing for, ever since the current coalition government was enthroned.
    
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    June 17, 2026 9:05am
- pdm
  
  `Hard to believe that TOP has more support than TPM.’
  
  Not at all gb.
  Quilae Wong Top Leader appears completely rational and sane compared to the Maori Party Leaders.
  
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  June 17, 2026 8:48am
  - Gravelroad
    
    Have you had a look at their policies, pdm?
    Ms Wong likes tax – and plenty of it.
    She also advocates for policy making via consultation at “citizens assemblies”.
    AKA : working groups.
    She comes across as a bit too authoritarian for me.
    At least with TPM you know what they stand for – themselves.
    TOP? Wolves in sheeps’ clothing.
    
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    June 17, 2026 9:13am
- Damocles11
  
  What’s so hard to believe?
  This is still the same country where over half the electorate voted for Labour in 2020. 🤮
  
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  June 17, 2026 8:59am
NeverMindTheBollocks

Shell Lane (The Terrace) bike rack report:

At 8.41am, just the three bikes today.

A rather cool winter morning in the Capital, calm and dry, just the thing for pedalling to the office and not arriving with a glow – absolutely ideal for cycling.
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June 17, 2026 8:37am
Gravelroad

The Maori corporations are laughing all the way to the bank/s.
The government is is not running the country for all citizens. It has been captured by a minority.
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June 17, 2026 8:41am
- Damocles11
  
  And still the Port of Tauranga cannot get any progress on their desperately needed wharf extension. All Shane Jones and Sam Uffindell can do is impotently fulminate about local hapu attempting to grift $450 million from the Port; I say ‘impotently fulminate’ because Fast-track is looking like a very slow track indeed. Hopeless!
  
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  June 17, 2026 9:04am
Nūhaka Native

Is it feasible that the Greens have doubled their appeal since April?

“The latest Talbot Mills poll for Anacta has the Green Party on 13%, up four points from last month and nearly double the 7% the party recorded in April – a relative low point for the party. Talbot Mills also does internal polling for the Labour Party.”

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/election-2026-green-party-surge-in-new-poll-puts-left-bloc-ahead-of-coalition/JG6D25ESWRBAXBGCYWOGY77BPI/
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June 17, 2026 9:06am
Damocles11

How come Sir Brian Roche does not know about disasters in the public service that are happening on his watch? $33 million of taxpayers money is flushed down the dunny over a period of several years, and he is oblivious. The buck stops with him; I’m sick of hearing how everyone elses head must roll while this oily chameleon apparatchik carries on presiding over the circus.
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June 17, 2026 9:11am
Tomtoddy

Today is our 59th wedding anniversary. I do not wish to boast and, ‘no’ please dont rush in with typical positive comments, I write because one of the kids asked us “what is the recipe, Pop”.

It is partly all the usual things of love and caring but for us it boils down to “intentionality”. We decided long ago that we needed to take deliberate steps rather than spontaneous or normal everyday happenings. We do things that are planned, out of the ordinary, different in small and quite large ways. Beware of the mundane, the normal and expected.

If you are in the early days of your partnership or marriage – work on it, plan it, be deliberate and intentional. It doesn’t cost much but it works for us.
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June 17, 2026 9:14am

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