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July 7, 2026 8:00am by Kokila Patel

General Debate 07 July 2026

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General Debate

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Scott

While a hydration break was happening at the football I made the mistake of briefly switching over to TV1 breakfast. It was totally as one would expect. Tova was interviewing Chris Hipkins. Of course she was.

Tova asked Hipkins easy open questions, what do you think about the India free trade disagreements in the coalition? Chris could vent his opinions without any fear of interruption or disagreement.

For the record Chris is worried about the 500,000 Indians and Chinese in the country who are residents and not citizens and won’t be able to vote if Winston gets his way. He’s worried about the hurty feelings of Indian New Zealanders and the “not helpful look” as Indian leaders are due to visit NZ.

So two things stand out. Labour are always much more worried about immigrants and ethnic minorities and their feelings rather than the concerns of ordinary NZers.

Secondly they know they have a happy home at TVNZ who will on every occasion give them a very sympathetic platform to push their agenda.
Politicians on the right? Not so much. 🤔
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July 7, 2026 8:01am
- Nikola Donatello
  
  Did Tova tell him that China is a one party state and that only Indian citizens can vote in Indian elections?
  
  I don’t think that Hipkins is a serious person.
  
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  July 7, 2026 9:25am
  - Mr Nobody NZ
    
    You’re assuming Tova is a serious journalist and not a left wing propagandist.
    
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    July 7, 2026 9:40am
    - RoboRob
      
      She actually started well on Breakfast but has reverted to simple easy questions for Hipkins. She essentially gives him one question on each opposition policy and asks if he supports it or not (usually not). No significant follow up questions and no significant questions on Green, TPM or TOP policy.
      
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      July 7, 2026 10:33am
      - R
        
        Tova, was is long past her knowledge and comprehension of what constitutes NEWS; some time ago.
        
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        July 7, 2026 11:30am
  - kowtow
    
    Indians get to vote in democratic processes .
    
    Gosh , what an appalling colonial legacy they are forced to live with……….
    
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    July 7, 2026 9:47am
    - Paulus
      
      And Great Railways – one of the best in the World.
      
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      July 7, 2026 11:51am
  - Master Mariner
    
    And that all Indians are “Indigenous”.
    
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    July 7, 2026 1:42pm
  - Wayne1749
    
    The thing is I think Indians and Chinese tend now to vote National or Act. Even Chinese who appear pro PRC, tend to have conservative leanings (as far as the analogy holds)
    
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    July 7, 2026 7:59pm
- R
  
  Just remember, that during the Ardern-Hipkins era, Labour gave a significant sum of taxpayers money to the MSM to promote the Labour lead coalition in a good light. The amount was so large, and came with attached commitments for future support, that the honest(?) MSM are still honoring that commitment. The money has recently run out, but the ideological commitment still exists. Some people are very slow to recognise, and adapt to the new economic circumstances of the country.
  
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  July 7, 2026 9:27am
  - imalwaysright
    
    Along with the Ardern Regime bribery came the corollary of using it to employ people sympathetic to the Regime.
    
    They are largely still there on very good salaries and presumably they spend a lot of their time working on behalf of their benefactor.
    
    Same would be true of the Public service etc.
    
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    July 7, 2026 10:45am
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  India is not keen on dual citizenship. IIRC, an Indian taking NZ citizenship has to give up Indian citizenship (although there is some sort of second rate Overseas citizenship gimmick on offer).
  
  Why would PM Modi celebrate Indian citizens running away from the embrace of Mother India?
  
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  July 7, 2026 12:36pm
Tomtoddy

Climate change. The latest report on decarbonisation has been published.

There have been thousands of research papers written, there have been thousands (literally) of international meetings, there have been major international agreements signed, thousands of useless bureaucratic jobs created, taxpayers and ratepayers have funded thousands of expensive low-value projects, honest, hardworking scientists have lost their jobs, worthwhile industries that could have created employment have been refused – all in the name of saving the world from so-called disastrous, fossil-fuelled climate change.

Yet the rate of decarbonisation hasn’t change one whit since the climate brouhaha was launched in the early 1990’s. The high cost efforts have barely made a scratch on the surface. Decarbonisation at the present rate is hundreds of years away. Fossil fuel consumption keeps growing.
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July 7, 2026 8:13am
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  Just think how much “carbon” could have been saved if all of those international meetings hadn’t been held.
  
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  July 7, 2026 8:26am
- Local Miller
  
  But imagine how much worse it would have been if we had just let thing carry on the way it always was.
  Do I really need to add //sarc ?
  
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  July 7, 2026 8:27am
- Benedict Yu
  
  Could you please share this report?
  
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  July 7, 2026 8:28am
  - Tomtoddy
    
    https://www.energyinst.org/statistical-review?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
    
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    July 7, 2026 8:36am
- kowtow
  
  And for all that state waste directed at global warming , we ordinary folk find it increasingly hard to pay our bills to keep our homes warm.
  
  To all politicians involved ,but blue team particularly , who should know better , thanks for nothing.
  
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  July 7, 2026 8:36am
  - imalwaysright
    
    There are always more slaves than masters…
    
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    July 7, 2026 10:09am
  - NeverMindTheBollocks
    
    All that investment in unreliable power sources has to be duplicated to ensure security of supply. That means the generators have higher capital investment than they otherwise would, which filters down to their charges. Power bills are higher because of the unreliables.
    
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    July 7, 2026 12:39pm
- Wairoa Native
  
  For the record, the data from the New Zealand Department of Statistics hardly point to a climate emergency.
  
  Temperature:
  New Zealand’s annual average temperature has increased by 1.26 degrees Celsius, based on linear trend analysis assessed at the 95 percent confidence level.
  From 1909 to 2022:
  
  Rainfall:
  The annual maximum rainfall in a single day likely or very likely increased at 12 of 30 sites and decreased at 10 across Aotearoa New Zealand
  between 1960 and 2022.
  
  The increase or decrease is up to 4mm per decade. So no clear trend. About 30% of sites are increasing, 30% are decreasing and 30% show no trend.
  
  Windiness:
  The annual average of the daily maximum wind gust (windiness) likely or very likely decreased at 14 of 17 sites across Aotearoa New Zealand
  between 1980 and 2022
  
  So the extreme wind trend is down over most of New Zealand.
  
  Sea level:
  Sea level rise around Wellington increased from about 2mm per year in 1900 to 2.8mm per year 2020. Wellington is also slowly sinking due to tectonics.
  
  https://www.stats.govt.nz/indicators/extreme-wind/
  
  https://www.stats.govt.nz/indicators/extreme-rainfall/
  
  https://www.stats.govt.nz/indicators/coastal-sea-level-rise/
  
  https://www.stats.govt.nz/indicators/temperature/
  
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  July 7, 2026 10:01am
  - R
    
    tectonics…….and NZ is economically sinking due to ideological histrionics.
    
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    July 7, 2026 11:34am
  - Graeme Hall
    
    There are all sorts of questions about the accuracy of those temperature changes.
    1. There are only seven sites that provide the long-term record for NZ and there have been equipment changes which has led to corrections to the raw data. Corrections can induce errors.
    2. There have been changes over time to the environment where the sites are located which could have led to higher temperatures (asphalt and concrete vs grass for instance, changes in tree profiles & new higher buildings. It goes on.
    3. There is also the question about bias in the siting – usually convenient to work places rather than remote.
    4. Then there is the question of sample size and variance about the estimate. Used to be the variation about the mean exceeded any change over time.
    
    Otherwise, all good as gold.
    
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    July 7, 2026 4:33pm
- Master Mariner
  
  Got to keep those Data centres running.
  https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Big-Techs-3-Trillion-Struggle-to-Secure-Enough-Electricity.html
  And we gave our Power away for SFA.
  
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  July 7, 2026 2:00pm
slightlyrighty

In breaking news. Chris Hipkins promises that if he is the PM, he will lobby the IRB to overturn Sam Cane’s red card in the 2023 final and award the Rugby World Cup to NZ.

See how ridiculous that sounds? So can any Trump supporters actually make a cogent argument in support of his lobbying of FIFA to overturn the Red Card for Balogun?
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July 7, 2026 8:18am
- Gary Benner
  
  Re the red card, as a once soccer player, it was a nothing to see there event, other than a ref who apparently had been up on charges for bribery in recent times. hmmmm….
  
  Too many partisan views colouring a sensible outcome.
  
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  July 7, 2026 9:32am
  - imalwaysright
    
    Some referees make the game unwatcheable.
    
    Saw a player take a mark in plenty of space.
    Wayne Barnes sprinted towards him, with his arms waving, yelling “You can play on if you want!!!!”
    
    Bizarre
    
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    July 7, 2026 10:11am
  - slijmbal
    
    @Gary
    
    “…..a ref who apparently had been up on charges for bribery in recent times…”
    
    Incorrect. There was an investigation into player bet fixing eg deliberately getting yellow cards for betting syndicates. They looked at the officials of matches were this was thought to have occurred and no evidence was found relating to him. There is no evidence of any sort he did anything invalid. It was player corruption. Typical Trump distortion.
    
    I agree that it was never a red card but the stupid review system only allowed him to ask red or not red AFAIK and not yellow or yellow and as it was an offence the VAR said yes to a red. Bad decision.
    
    AFAIK there has never been an automatic red card one match suspension undone. A very bad look for FIFA but it is a corrupt organisation.
    
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    July 7, 2026 12:16pm
- kowtow
  
  While I consider Trump to be a megalomaniac narcissist ( who is doing good work domestically) I’m not sure if that makes me a supporter;
  
  if Hipkins phoned IRB , they’d say “who’s this?” and then tell him to foxtrot oscar .
  
  Now if you’re really concerned about political influence ( corruption) in sports then look at the power sporting bodies have been given by domestic govts to literally have people arrested and detained for essentially private civil matters.
  
  See the ‘beer girls’ in South Africa .
  
  ‘Under South African laws brought in after it was chosen to host the football tournament, the women could have been sentenced to prison terms by special World Cup courts.’
  
  And ‘lil ole NZ isn’t exempt from those legal shenanigans either.
  
  https://www.bbc.com/news/10377074
  
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  July 7, 2026 9:59am
- Bloody Dago
  
  [Mod – use correct names] is grasping at straws, his heads spinning like a top and flicking lefty drool everywhere. His toxicity is on display. Best he wombles off into oblivion.
  
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  July 7, 2026 10:31am
- Philview
  
  We have more pressing issues at home with the current dispute over the 1988 Maadi Cup victory by Christ’s College.
  
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  July 7, 2026 11:25am
nathie

Guess who is not condemning the Chinese Govt’s ballistic missile test yesterday into the South Pacific Nuclear Weapon Free Zone?

The same South Pacific Nuclear Weapon Free Zone that New Zealand’s Labour Party helped establish? It’s known as the Treaty of Rarotonga and is a cornerstone for South Pacific Island Govt’s as well as Australia and New Zealand Govt unity speaking out against nuclear proliferation in the South West Pacific.

Yes it is Helen Clark of course, according to her X account. Instead of condemning the CCP for violating the South Pacific Nuclear Weapon Free Zone and standing united with South Pacific Govts speaking out against this hostile act of aggression, Helen Clark is instead posting and/or reposting far-left wing commentators attacking the USA Govt and berating a NZ journalist for using the “wrong words” as a “beat up” against her beloved CCP.

Now to be clear, “whataboutisim” false narratives of USA nuclear testing is not a violation of the South Pacific Nuclear Weapon Free Zone because the US uses its own northern Pacific territories which are NOT covered by the Treaty of Rarotonga. Helen Clark knows this and her far-left a**licking fanboi posters know this too … so why do they continue to spread disinformation?

And will the MSM have the courage to call “commie marxist” Helen Clark out and ask her why her loyalties appear to lie with a totalitarian Communalist Regime (is she on their “payroll” or doing this for her love of anti-Americanism or something?) and why she isn’t siding with those deeply concerned South Pacific nations that the once proud Labour Party (and National Party) stood up for, as yet another CCP ballistic nuclear missile goes whizzing past then landing near them?
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July 7, 2026 8:20am
- Gary Benner
  
  Nathie, you beat me to this topic this morning. The silence was deafening, NO Green Party outrage from the champions against nuclear weapons and even propulsion.
  
  “Former Prime Minister Helen Clark pushed back against the New Zealand government’s strong reaction to China’s ballistic missile test in the South Pacific, urging the public and media to avoid “exaggerating” the situation.”
  
  At least the Te Pati fellas have an excuse … they just don’t have a clue on anything.
  
  I remember reading the book “Spycatcher” on a technique for gaining intelligence – by creating an event and the looking for the reactions to that event. They were able to ascertain who knew what, who communicated with whom etc, all by monitoring the radio communications and announcements.
  
  What we learn from the lack of any or a pro China response is:
  
  1. The Green Party do not actually care about nuclear proliferation
  2. Helen Clark is compromised and should lose any security clearances she may retain, and be placed on an observation list
  
  With both tacit and expressed support for China, it is obvious where the rot exists inside our country.
  
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  July 7, 2026 9:45am
  - Cassandra
    
    Don Brash statement coming soon…………… //
    
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    July 7, 2026 9:54am
    - mike
      
      Gone by lunchtime?
      
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      July 7, 2026 10:18am
  - R
    
    It has been obvious for a very long time where the ‘rot came from’, and who is actively promoting the dissemination of this AGENDA
    
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    July 7, 2026 11:39am
- rouppe
  
  Same. In all their caterwauling over nuclear, they’ve said nothing about a nuclear powered submarine launching a nuclear capable missile in our back yard.
  
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  July 7, 2026 9:59am
  - Steve Otto N Shore
    
    Sssshhhhh, ssshhhhhhh.
    We are still making up news on that————
    
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    July 7, 2026 2:35pm
- Ra Henare
  
  And now to a bit of fact checking.
  
  China did NOT break the Rarotonga Treaty.
  
  Just for a start, it is not a signatory (Note: the USA has not ratified the treaty).
  
  Even if it was a party.
  Prohibition of Testing and Stationing: Parties must prevent the testing and stationing of any nuclear explosive device
  
  China sent a dummy, not a nuclear device.
  
  Again, may I remind readers?
  IT’S ELECTION YEAR
  
  and hysteria will abound.
  
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  July 7, 2026 10:29am
- Philview
  
  I read an article yesterday and I am not sure which media site but the comments underneath were generally supportive of China’s right to defend itself against US aggression. China obviously has a lot of friends in NZ.
  
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  July 7, 2026 11:30am
- NoCash
  
  Let’s be honest, the test using a dummy warhead was not for sending us South Pacific nations a message but a message to the US that China has the capability to launch ICBMs from nuclear powered subs as an counter to first strikes on China.
  
  I think our politicians can stay calm.
  
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  July 7, 2026 11:34am
NeverMindTheBollocks

The ugly truth about cycleways: it’s cyclists uber alles, and to hell with everyone else.

Here’s a sad tale of elderly people having to park briefly across the cycleway so they can get in and out of cars. The grief they get from [Mod – no reason for insults] is only exceeded by the indifference they receive from the cycling advocates that make up the relevant Council teams.

The Mayor needs to instruct the CEO to clean the roads department of people with a pro cycling bias.

http://www.rnz.co.nz/news/community/682852/woman-forced-to-park-across-bike-lane-so-disabled-husband-can-get-into-home
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July 7, 2026 8:25am
- R
  
  Auckland badly needs a Mayor who has the interests of GREATER AUCKLAND at heart. I don’t really recall any Mayor who exhibited such a quality; and not only in Auckland
  
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  July 7, 2026 11:43am
Cassandra

Christchurch man Matthew Horncastle has been referred to the Police by the Electoral Commission because he posted a political billboard which didn’t contain his address.

Quite right too, you can’t have people actually expressing an opinion in public, particularly when it’s telling readers not to vote for Labour.

I must confess that I said, in public, the other day, at our retirement village happy hour, that the Maori Party leader is an idiot. My name tag does not contain my address. I’m expecting plod any minute.
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July 7, 2026 8:27am
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  In the interest of equity:
  
  “the Maori Party leaders are idiots”
  
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  July 7, 2026 8:33am
- Benedict Yu
  
  The Electoral Commission had no choice. It simply administers the law.
  
  In my opinion electoral law should be minimal. Parties should disclose large donations. Voters should not be harassed or bribed. The police investigating the absence of an address on a billboard is insane. So why has the Government not thrown out all these stupid laws? Presumably the Government supports the status quo.
  
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  July 7, 2026 8:33am
  - imalwaysright
    
    “The Electoral Commission had no choice. It simply administers the law.”
    
    Which law are they “administering” in this matter?
    
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    July 7, 2026 8:39am
    - Nikola Donatello
      
      The Electoral Act.
      
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      July 7, 2026 9:27am
      - imalwaysright
        
        No, they administer the elections and referenda. They don’t administer any laws.
        
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        July 7, 2026 11:20am
      - Nikola Donatello
        
        You are making it up. The Electoral Act specifies the functions of the Commission. Its principal function is to administer the Act.
        
        “The functions of the Electoral Commission are to—
        (a) carry the provisions of this Act into effect…”
        
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        July 7, 2026 1:21pm
      - Ghost
        
        they administer the law, when their is a breach, they continue to follow the law and report that to the police or are legislated to conduct investigations.
        
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        July 7, 2026 2:20pm
    - rouppe
      
      The Electoral Act.
      
      S3A defines what an election advertisement is.
      
      S204F of the Electoral Act defines that a promoter statement is required for an election advertisement and the form it takes.
      
      There was probably an easy way to comply.
      
      But the real surprise is the number of election advertisement breaches by MPs that have occurred in the past resulting in prosecution. I don’t have hard data but I’m pretty sure it is, or very close to, zero.
      
      So why are they going hard on this guy?
      
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      July 7, 2026 9:42am
      - imalwaysright
        
        Is it an advertisement or is it personal expression?
        
        What if others want to put a sign in their yard.
        What if the sign slags off ALL political parties and candidates?
        
        This is a freedom of speech issue and the EC are trying to extend their reach as the BSA did.
        
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        July 7, 2026 9:56am
      - pdm
        
        Guessing somewhat but, don’t Electoral ACT rules start 3 months before the election date?
        
        This would therefore be outside that timeframe.
        
        Happy to be corrected by someone who knows these things.
        
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        July 7, 2026 10:40am
      - rouppe
        
        To both:
        
        I think anything saying “vote for” or “don’t vote for” a political party is a political advertisement.
        
        It then has to be within three months (pdm) and have a promoter statement (imalwaysright).
        
        It would still be a tragedy if this were prosecuted when all the other breaches were not
        
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        July 7, 2026 3:13pm
      - pdm
        
        Thanks rouppe.
        
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        July 7, 2026 5:25pm
  - RoboRob
    
    The electoral commission is joke. There have been far more serious breaches of electoral law then this that have either not been prosecuted or have been with zero penalty. Every election actual politicians and political parties break far more serious rules without consequence. When a labour MP advertises on election day, hands out brochures near a polling both and then wins, what penalty does the commission give? If it isn’t invalidating the results, which it wasn’t, then the carrot of a win far out ways any penalty. if I recall correctly there was no penalty.
    
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    July 7, 2026 8:56am
    - Blog-aholic
      
      2 words
      1. Manurewa
      2. Marae
      
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      July 7, 2026 8:59am
      - RoboRob
        
        Boom!
        
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        July 7, 2026 10:37am
    - Benedict Yu
      
      I was reading some Australian political history. In 1975 the Australian Labor Party was caught seeking a donation of $US 500,000 from Saddam Hussein.
      
      https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/the-real-word-about-whitlam-20130408-2hh5k.html
      
      Those were the days.
      
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      July 7, 2026 9:04am
      - Steve Todd
        
        […] caught seeking a donation of $US 500,000 from Saddam Hussein.
        
        No, not quite true, Benedict. The article says, “from Saddam Hussein’s Baath [sic] Party in Iraq.”
        
        Hussein was No. 2 in the Iraqi hierarchy in 1975. Who knows whether or not he would have been in any way involved in approving a Ba’ath Party loan to the Australian Federal Labor Party in 1975?
        
        For the record, he did not seize power until July 1979.
        
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        July 7, 2026 4:47pm
      - Master Mariner
        
        You have to ask yourself how much has been “Donated” to the Clinton Foundation by whom and why ?
        
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        July 7, 2026 5:45pm
    - Albie
      
      The Commission’s investigation of John Tamahere and the Wairarapa Trust comes to mind. Far worse than not putting an address on a poster.
      
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      July 7, 2026 9:15am
  - Cassandra
    
    Ben: does the law actually say that? No address must be reported to the police?
    
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    July 7, 2026 9:15am
    - Cassandra
      
      I’ve just read it, section 204F. Did the promoter act wilfully? Or did he just not know that he was supposed to have his name and address on the billboard?
      
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      July 7, 2026 9:24am
      - rouppe
        
        But it’s so easy to comply. Just one of:
        
        Set up an email address: [email protected]
        Buy a prepay sim: 02x-xxx-xxxx
        
        Then all the hate you get via either email or voicemail is evidence.
        
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        July 7, 2026 9:52am
- imalwaysright
  
  Karl LeQuesne runs the Electoral Commission which asks all employment candidates their view on the Treaty.
  
  Why does an organisation whose prime purpose is based on political impartiality interrogate potential employees on their politics?
  
  I don’t trust him, and I believe he is the wrong person to be running such a crucial and tight election.
  
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  July 7, 2026 8:36am
  - Nikola Donatello
    
    I agree on his suitability. However you would not get any job in the public service if you failed to support the three principles of the Treaty. Nothing unusual about what the Electoral Commission is doing.
    
    If you want a job you must rote learn the Treaty Principles and tell them that you are committed.
    
    This stuff is way, way, more entrenched than what most folk realise. This entrenchment has occurred under the current government.
    
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    July 7, 2026 9:31am
    - mike
      
      Nonsense. I’ve never heard that raised in interviews.
      
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      July 7, 2026 10:17am
      - RoboRob
        
        Its in many of the government job descriptions posted here. They usually have a line such as ‘A commitment and understanding of te Trete o Waitangi’.
        
        You must have must the dozens of obnoxious job applications posted here.
        
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        July 7, 2026 10:40am
      - Nikola Donatello
        
        Good grief. Look at some requirements in job advertisements.
        
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        July 7, 2026 10:44am
      - mike
        
        All I’m saying is I’ve never heard reference to in any job interview.
        
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        July 7, 2026 10:44am
      - Spam
        
        Maybe they’d already decided you were “not suitable” before they got to that part?
        
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        July 7, 2026 11:22am
    - imalwaysright
      
      “This entrenchment has occurred under the current government.”
      
      Correct. We are closer to becoming an Apartheid state than when this Government was formed.
      
      That’s not because the Government didn’t see it happening, or that the Government had other priorities, or were overworked.
      Its because it is intentional.
      
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      July 7, 2026 10:24am
    - R
      
      WRONG…..this ideological nonsense had its foundation back in the days of the late Norm Kirk; and subsequent Labour governments have enhanced the virus. Unfortunately political reality, and the ideology of the MSM, has prevented the rooting out of the virus.
      
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      July 7, 2026 11:52am
    - wsk12345
      
      The THREE treaty principles? Where are they defined? I thought the TPB was going to define something bc at present the principles are undefined in number and scope?
      
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      July 7, 2026 1:13pm
  - RoboRob
    
    Goldsmith should have removed LeQuesne. He had the opportunity and chose instead to reinstate him and tell him not to do it again.
    
    Gutless and useless. Whilst I would be somewhat sad if Willis lost her list seat, I would be over the moon to see the backs of the likes of Goldsmith and Watts. It would make the National party a better and stronger party.
    
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    July 7, 2026 10:42am
    - mike
      
      He doesn’t have that power.
      
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      July 7, 2026 10:47am
    - Nikola Donatello
      
      You are making that up. The Minister has zero power to remove the head of the Electoral Commission from office. It is an independent Crown Entity.
      
      What caused you to think that Goldsmith could do such a thing?
      
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      July 7, 2026 11:24am
      - RoboRob
        
        Articles like…
        
        https://www.thepost.co.nz/politics/360586601/all-options-table-over-electoral-commission-probe
        
        ‘Goldsmith said he did have confidence in Chief Electoral Officer Karl Le Quesne, “but I’ve given him a very clear message that we expect a better performance right across the board at the …’
        
        Confidence in election prep: chair – PressReader
        ODT
        22 Feb 2025 · Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is seeking advice on whether the commission should be investigated, following a scathing inquiry by the Public Services Commission into the handling of …
        
        Hard to find the articles now, many seem paywalled.
        
        As I have said MANY MANY times, the government can remove these people if desired.
        
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        July 7, 2026 11:53am
      - Ghost
        
        you can rattle it off a million times, doesn’t change the fact that it is an Independent Crown Entity and that the minister cannot remove him.
        
        The ONLY way for him to be removed is for just cause, that then goes before the whole house for debate and a vote. If a vote is passed, then it is up to the governor general to remove him
        
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        July 7, 2026 12:02pm
      - RoboRob
        
        @Ghost
        
        The Minister controls the board, if they wont remove the CEO he can replace the board. Ministers have the power if they chose to use it. AFAIK the only government agency where that may not be the case is the reserve bank. Even then if the government wanted a change at the reserve bank they could legislate. The government of NZ is very powerful, it just pretends not to be.
        
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        July 7, 2026 1:14pm
      - Nikola Donatello
        
        You are making it up again. Tell me with reference to the law how the Minister can remove this guy from office.
        
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        July 7, 2026 1:23pm
      - Ghost
        
        The minister cannot replace the board. The only one that can is the governor general and their must be just cause. It mut go before the house for debate and vote. If the house vote to remove a board member or the board it is then up to the governor general to remove them
        
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        July 7, 2026 1:25pm
      - Nikola Donatello
        
        No the Board cannot remove the CE of the Electoral Commission. Read the law. It would require a House of Representatives resolution. The Governor General would need to remove him if she was satisfied that the narrow reasons for such removal had been met.
        
        It takes 5 minutes to check these things rather than just make it up.
        
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        July 7, 2026 1:25pm
      - RoboRob
        
        @Nikola Donatello
        
        Well done on looking it up. So yes there are ways to remove him. A vote in the house (which the government normally wins) and going to the GG.
        
        Alternatively they could change the legislation.
        
        I don’t know why people insist on believing the government is powerless.
        
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        July 7, 2026 3:07pm
      - Ghost
        
        oh gawd, here we go again, Rob making up more stories, again
        
        you claimed the minister could fire him, he cannot
        you claimed he could fire the board, he cannot
        
        Now we have that the government could change legislation.
        
        The Representation Commission is the independent body responsible for drawing up NZ’s voting boundaries (electorates).
        
        By law, the Chief Electoral Officer of the Electoral Commission is legally required to sit on that board. If a government tries to pass a law giving themselves the power to sack the CEO or the Board of the Electoral Commission, they are indirectly interfering with the Representation Commission. Opponents would immediately challenge this in court, arguing that the government is trying to sneak around the 75% entrenchment rule to control how voting boundaries are drawn.
        
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        July 7, 2026 3:37pm
- pdm
  
  Cass if you are incarcerated at His Majesties pleasure you may not be able to vote on 7 November.
  
  Be very careful out there!!!!
  
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  July 7, 2026 8:51am
- peterwn
  
  Since when has Mr Plod ever taken up any such case referred to it by the Electoral Commission?
  
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  July 7, 2026 10:19am
  - RoboRob
    
    Never. Reason 1024345 that the electoral commission is a joke.
    
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    July 7, 2026 10:43am
  - Nikola Donatello
    
    I can recall a couple.
    
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    July 7, 2026 10:49am
    - RoboRob
      
      According to gemini
      
      For a pure Electoral Act prosecution handled directly by the Police (rather than being escalated to the SFO), you have to look further back to cases like the local body electoral fraud tracking in 2014, where candidate Daljit Singh was convicted of Crimes Act forgery charges after an audit of fraudulent voter enrolments was flagged and referred to the authorities.
      
      So the last time was 12 years ago, there have been plenty or referrals in that time. The police have essentially taken a policy of not becoming involved in electoral cases.
      
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      July 7, 2026 11:57am
- imalwaysright
  
  Hornecastle will be interviewed by Michael Laws on the Platform after 11am.
  https://theplatform.kiwi/live-on-air#
  
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  July 7, 2026 10:28am
- Gary Benner
  
  What I see is ridicuous is that Mr Horncastle was not promoting himself or on behalf of a party in which he was a participant in the electioneering process.
  
  He was, and is a member of the public expressing an opinion.
  
  So if Sean Plunkett tells people on The Platform to not vote for the Maori Party, he is doing exactly the same thing – just using a different medium.
  
  I agree that if you are promoting a party or it’s policy during the official election period (is it 3 months prior to the election) then a statement is required – for no other reason as to provide authenticity for the reader / viewer / listener.
  
  But to just express and opinion should not require an address, whether than be on a street corner, billboard, or electronic media. Otherwise we all here would be in trouble.
  
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  July 7, 2026 12:42pm
  - Ghost
    
    there is a huge difference between a radio personality talking politics, or people on this blog and a person putting up an electoral sign. The laws are pretty clean cut on this issue.
    
    https://elections.nz/guidance-and-rules/for-third-party-promoters
    
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    July 7, 2026 12:53pm
    - RoboRob
      
      Don’t the electoral guidelines only apply during election time?
      
      The regulated period for the 2026 General Election will run from Friday 7 August to Friday 6 November 2026
      
      If I wanted to put a sign on my house saying ‘Labour Sux’ I could, I would just need to take it down on 7 Aug.
      
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      July 7, 2026 1:17pm
    - pdm
      
      I have just watched the Laws/Horncastle interview.
      
      Unless Horncastle lied in that interview which I have just watched he is an `a political’ Private Person placing a sign on his own property outside of the period covered by Electoral Law requirements.
      
      Quite within his rights from what I see and hear.
      
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      July 7, 2026 5:34pm
      - Ghost
        
        he is a third-party promoter, that is the law. He put up a political billboard to try to influence votes.
        
        The regulated period is simply when certain rules come into play. There is no outside period with political advertising. Before august he is a third-party promoter who doesn’t have to follow the rules set out for the campaigns, after august he does. In the regulated period there are advertising rules and spending limits, that is all that means.
        
        Trying to claim he wasn’t a third-party promoter would essentially require proving that a giant political billboard wasn’t actually trying to influence anyone about politics, a notoriously tough sell to a judge.
        
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        July 7, 2026 6:12pm
mike

Very stable genius scores again:

“So I saw the play, and I’m a person that loves sports and was a good athlete. I understand sports really well. Really well.
“That wasn’t a foul. That wasn’t even an infraction. That was two guys running full speed that happened to crash into each other. You can’t take your foot and properly place it on somebody else’s foot when you’re going full speed. These were two great athletes that got tangled up.
“If he punched him in the face, if he did something wrong, I’d feel differently.”
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July 7, 2026 8:55am
- RoboRob
  
  He’s right. So many of the ‘fouls’ are pretty nothing and there is a lot of play acting.
  
  Yes Trump shouldn’t have gotten involved but that’s his MO, he always has something to say on everything. The real issue is the corrupt fools running FIFA went and acted on it. If you want to lay blame it is with the guys who pick up the bags of cash when deciding who hosts the world cup.
  
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  July 7, 2026 8:59am
  - kowtow
    
    Ronaldo precedent .
    
    People need to get their Trump derangements sorted out.
    
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    July 7, 2026 9:21am
    - mike
      
      Not the point. Classic Trump – petty, ignorant and unnecessary.
      
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      July 7, 2026 10:10am
    - Lance
      
      TDS…
      As in – one is deranged if you support Trump and his corrupt ways?
      
      Next event will be Trump attempting to cancel the midterms due to unprecedented domestic threats.
      I note anyone not 110% behind Trump is now being labelled a “Communist” FFS.
      You can’t make this shit up.
      
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      July 7, 2026 2:45pm
  - R
    
    Most of the so called ‘fouls’ would make a Hollywood actor PROUD
    
    7 2
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    July 7, 2026 11:55am
- MCōs
  
  Folarin Balogun is only American because his mother was too pregnant to fly home to the UK after a trip to New York.
  The family went home when he was 2mths and he was brought up in Britain. Subsequently he played for various European clubs and America because he wasn’t good enough for the England team.
  
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  July 7, 2026 9:32am
  - peterwn
    
    But why is Don Trump supporting him when he thinks the likes of him should not be 14th Amendment citizens.
    
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    July 7, 2026 10:22am
  - NeverMindTheBollocks
    
    Balogun would certainly have been in the frame for the England team, albeit perhaps not at this World Cup. There aren’t too many good young England strikers around at the moment. Kane, Toney and Watkins are all in/near their 30s.
    
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    July 7, 2026 9:35pm
RoboRob

Watching and listening to the news, NZFs voting policy is all over the media. With every source rolling out ‘experts’ to tell us how unfair it is on 100s of thousands if migrants. Especially those that would need to give up their original citizenship to become New Zealanders.

I don’t have a problem with this but i do think its a great example of the media bias that the media investigated itself over and decided it didn’t have.

1. All the coverage I have seen is one sided, only people opposed are invited to discuss it.

2. The negative coverage is huge, One breakfast for example probably spent 10 to 20 mins on it this morning.

3. They have picked a controversial policy to discuss, that’s great, but where is the coverage of the Green, TOP or TPMs controversial policy? Lots of discussion on voting changes but nothing on banning important types of fertiliser and what they might mean for the country?
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July 7, 2026 9:05am
- nathie
  
  “where is the coverage of the Green, TOP or TPMs controversial policy”.
  Yep, Marama Davidson on HDPA’s show yesterday, does not have a problem with sky-rocketing food prices further causing inequities for the poor and low income workers and their children going without, due to the Greens wanting to ban artificial fertiliser.
  
  No doubt the Greens also don’t support natural fertiliser extraction either. Nor haven’t learned the real world lessons when Sri Lanka banned fertiliser in favor of so-called “natural solutions”, resulting in food shortages, higher prices and the economy crashing putting people out of work.
  
  The Aotearoa Lunatic Green Party would be a better description for them!
  
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  July 7, 2026 9:38am
  - RoboRob
    
    I should have added ‘excluding NewsTalk ZB’ who have become the only MSM media source willing to provide a right wing perspective. Easily the best media outlet in the country, backup up by the listenership numbers.
    
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    July 7, 2026 10:47am
    - R
      
      The only news source, of any value for accuracy during the week, is the Mike Hosking 6 am To 9 am breakfast segment.
      
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      July 7, 2026 12:00pm
      - Bobba Fret
        
        Heather DPA is normally ok.
        Larry Williams her predecessor was actually better.
        
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        July 7, 2026 1:09pm
- MCōs
  
  NZF seem to have an agenda to push these catchy, but trite, populist talking points that fade away to be replaced by the next populist talking points.
  
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  July 7, 2026 9:52am
  - Cassandra
    
    No. They are onto a winner this time. Citizens only is absolutely right.
    
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    July 7, 2026 9:59am
    - RoboRob
      
      It might be right but the reason they are pushing it is less about fair law and more about signalling their anti immigrant views. They know this is a vote winner.
      
      Ironically I wonder how many Indian votes they lose with this? I think Winston is struggling to move past being a 5% party that scrambles of niche voters, which is a shame as NZF has the opportunity to be much more then that now.
      
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      July 7, 2026 10:50am
      - R
        
        much more!……not really. NZF has always been a ‘has beens’ activist style party
        
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        July 7, 2026 12:03pm
  - kowtow
    
    Be kind.
    
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    July 7, 2026 10:00am
  - mike
    
    They’ll be happy to drop this one when convenient, as per usual.
    
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    July 7, 2026 10:16am
    - RoboRob
      
      For once we agree 🙂
      
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      July 7, 2026 10:51am
- Blog-aholic
  
  I do not see the policy as controversial. It is more an alignment of common sense like requiring to be enrolled at 18. If you are a long term resident sans citizenship then you are either lazy, disconnected to the country or hold less stock in NZ than people born ‘in-country’. If this is the case then that is a case for excluding you from voting IMO.
  
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  July 7, 2026 10:09am
  - R
    
    Exactly!
    
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    July 7, 2026 12:05pm
  - MCōs
    
    I’m not sure what you mean by “hold less stock in NZ than people born ‘in-country’.”
    After all there are about a million people with NZ citizenship by way of birth who choose not to live here.
    
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    July 7, 2026 3:50pm
Ian Boag

Apropos of nothing re AI.

I am a member of U3A and go to a monthly book group (today). I had forgotten whether it was a 10 or 10.30. So I asked chatgpt “what time is Fred Smith’s U3A book group today?”. It told me and reminded me what book we are looking at ….. 🙂
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July 7, 2026 9:19am
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  Sounds great…
  
  In another year or 2 when you’ve completely forgotten to turn up, you can ask “chatgpt” what you would have said about the book you forgot to read.
  
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  July 7, 2026 9:33am
  - imalwaysright
    
    That’s funny because it will probably soon be true.
    
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    July 7, 2026 9:45am
    - R
      
      The whole purpose of Chatgpt seems to be overcoming the need for people thinking for themselves.
      
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      July 7, 2026 12:07pm
      - Ian Boag
        
        Chatgpt, claude, gemini, copilot – all do the same stuff. Have you noticed – when you get an email (I’m a Chrome user) some bot or other does a pretty good job of summarising it?
        
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        July 7, 2026 7:31pm
  - pdm
    
    Now that is thinking outside of the square Maggy.
    
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    July 7, 2026 10:46am
  - rouppe
    
    A friend of mine is conducting job interviews. Some of them happen by video.
    
    He says he can see people reading the screen before answering questions.
    
    He reckons they have an AI client listening to the interview questions and coming up with answers.
    
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    July 7, 2026 11:05am
    - imalwaysright
      
      A KB poster recently said their GP had AI listening to the consultation and supplying diagnoses.
      When the doctor agreed with the diagnosis he pressed a button and AI sent the prescription directly to the pharmacist.
      
      Realistically, the average GP is making diagnoses on a ‘best guess’ basis.
      It won’t be long until AI is making ‘better guesses’.
      
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      July 7, 2026 11:28am
      - Gary Benner
        
        This is very common now, and in fact very beneficial. The Doctor is still acting as the gatekeeper, but has access to the vast knowledgebase provided by the AI system in use. Literally you get to be diagnosed by the best doctors in the world. All at once.
        
        In software development we know that the AI acts like a very intelligent teenager, who sometimes smokes a little too much weed, and has little life experience. So it has to be monitored and managed. But as with teenagers, we know that in time they will grow up and be better than us. The same will happen in all fields.
        
        As long as this technology is managed and not allowed to dominate, let it roll on.
        
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        July 7, 2026 1:10pm
      - imalwaysright
        
        GB
        I agree, its a great tool.
        
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        July 7, 2026 1:25pm
  - Ian Boag
    
    I’d probably ask it for a summary of chapters 8 and 9 that we were doing today …. 🙂
    
    My point was just that this stuff is kind of all-pervasive. Those who say it increases productivity have a point – in this trivial example – what I got back in 30 seconds would have taken me a couple of minutes to dig up off the U3A manawatu site once I had found where I needed to be on it ….
    
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    July 7, 2026 7:28pm
- rouppe
  
  I’m going overseas shortly. I always carry some passport size photos, because, you never know.
  
  Yesterday I had a friend take a suitable photo and give me the image.
  
  I opened Copilot, added the image and typed “resize this photo to passport size and arrange four copies into a 4×6 photo sheet so I can print it at a photo shop”
  
  Up comes the result, load it into Harvey Norman photos, all done for 29c instead of the $25 they charge at a pharmacy
  
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  July 7, 2026 11:02am
- Steve Todd
  
  @Ian Boag @ 9:19AM
  
  In Wellington, U3A meetings at the Embassy Theatre start at 10:30AM.
  
  Also apropos of nothing, I was in attendance on Tuesday 16 June when DPF was the guest speaker. His subject was, “Is polling bad for democracy”?
  
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  July 7, 2026 5:25pm
Quail

For your amusement, the idiocy of advertising knows few bounds.
The Kiwibank advert featuring a sheep with “lovely green wool called Buck .”
Totally misses the fact that green wool is by far the worst product that comes off the sheep. It is usually not sound or able to be processed. Even dags are of higher value.
Maybe a bit like the political party!
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July 7, 2026 9:44am
- Blog-aholic
  
  It is one of the worst adverts I have seen. The incongruencies, the intersectionalised ethos and the lack of creative hook is astonishing.
  Kiwi Bank are doomed by whoever, firstly thought it up and secondly gave it the green light to produce.
  
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  July 7, 2026 10:12am
  - greybeard
    
    And they could have chosen a better name than “Buck”. Maybe Rambo.
    Or Lambert.
    
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    July 7, 2026 10:36am
    - mike
      
      Ewen
      
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      July 7, 2026 10:48am
    - imalwaysright
      
      Why didn’t they use a kiwi?
      Maybe they couldn’t afford the ‘gifting’ payments scheme to the local Iwi…
      
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      July 7, 2026 11:31am
      - Gravelroad
        
        “Why didn’t they use a kiwi?”
        Imagine if Kiwibank had mocked up a cartoonish kiwi with vivid green feathers and a stupid name.
        There would be outraged submissions to the Waitangi Tribunal about it.
        
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        July 7, 2026 12:12pm
  - pdm
    
    Kiwibank should have been doomed when Jim Anderton first spoke of creating it.
    
    It is a `black hole’ for taxpayers money.
    
    11 1
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    July 7, 2026 10:48am
    - Jack5
      
      Jim Bolger was a big supporter of Kiwibank.
      
      From the link that follows, Farmer Jim speaking:
      
      “I agreed with the proposition that bank could be established …”
      
      https://management.co.nz/archive/governance-management-bank-it-kiwibanks-jim-bolger-sam-knowles
      
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      July 7, 2026 11:28am
  - RoboRob
    
    Dunno, Spark and Skinny seam to be duelling it out for the worst adds at the moment.
    
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    July 7, 2026 10:54am
- imalwaysright
  
  As an aside, it appears that all, bar one, of our city’s Post Shop affiliates have been closed.
  If you need to send a courier package you have to go into town to a chemist shop.
  Long queues.
  
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  July 7, 2026 11:09am
- Gravelroad
  
  It is almost as bad as the on-going “story” about the guy travelling around the world in search of his birth family.
  Think that is what it is about, but not totally sure.
  Internet provider advert which is rather boring.
  Gets turned off at every opportunity.
  
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  July 7, 2026 11:45am
- Gravelroad
  
  Quail: Yes, if you are a farmer who breeds sheep for wool and takes a pride in the quality of that wool (as the majority of sheep farmers do) , it must be galling to see your valued product treated like an infantile joke.
  And why did they name it Buck? I thought a Buck was a young male deer.
  Kiwibank way out of touch with farming, apparently.
  
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  July 7, 2026 12:01pm
  - R
    
    Kiwibank have been out of touch with reality since inception.
    
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    July 7, 2026 12:11pm
  - Flossie
    
    That name, Buck, ties nicely to their slogan… “Bucking the system” – or something close to that. At first I thought it started with “F”.
    
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    July 7, 2026 12:50pm
    - NeverMindTheBollocks
      
      Naughty Flossie!
      
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      July 7, 2026 9:46pm
rouppe

I was thinking about Winston Peters citizen only voting proposal.

Labour have outright opposed it. The Greens want more migrant rights, not less. National have opposed it.

All generally on the grounds that it is in various forms undemocratic.

Has anyone asked what India’s voting conditions are? Turns out it is only Indian citizens over 18.

Same in Canada.

UK is a bit more broad: “be either a British citizen, a qualifying Commonwealth citizen or a citizen of the Republic of Ireland”

So, regardless of what you think about nz first, this policy isn’t globally out of step.
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July 7, 2026 10:09am
- mike
  
  Correct. NZ is an outlier on this. I’d go further and exclude citizens from voting if they have been out of the country for 2 years.
  
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  July 7, 2026 10:14am
  - greybeard
    
    Or maybe if they have been out of the country since before the last General Election ?
    
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    July 7, 2026 10:23am
    - Cassandra
      
      Paying income tax should be part of it.
      
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      July 7, 2026 10:49am
  - rouppe
    
    We could call it the SLOPE bill. Save Local Or Parliamentary Elections.
    
    Or
    
    COVID. Citizen only voting identification.
    
    This could be fun!
    
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    July 7, 2026 10:36am
  - RoboRob
    
    Agree. Ironically the current law allows for a resident who has lived in NZ for at least 12mths (which I think is all of them) to vote forever. So if I come here at 18 and get residency while I study and prepare to move to Australia, move to Australia and live there for 30+ years I can still vote in NZ elections. Stupid, not that many people in that situation would even bother to vote.
    
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    July 7, 2026 10:57am
  - Paulus
    
    Unkess like now they are on Government Secondment eg Military or Diplomatic.
    
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    July 7, 2026 12:04pm
- Wairoa Native
  
  Very, very few countries allow non citizens to vote in national elections. New Zealand, Chile, and Uruguay allow some non citizen residents to vote, while the United Kingdom allows qualifying Commonwealth and Irish citizens resident in the UK to vote. A lot of Caribbean Commonwealth countries including Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Mauritius, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago allow qualifying Commonwealth citizens to vote. In almost every other country, national voting is reserved for citizens only. Does this make NZ a banana republic?
  
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  July 7, 2026 10:30am
- Flossie
  
  You have to be a citizen to vote in Australia. Obviously not causing trauma to the many thousands of New Zealanders happy to be there.
  
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  July 7, 2026 10:36am
  - rouppe
    
    Actually I didn’t check Australia, I assumed they’d let permanent residents vote…
    
    8 1
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    July 7, 2026 10:39am
    - RoboRob
      
      It is only citizens. My sister who has two kids to an great aussie guy and has lived and paid tax there for decades, cant vote. That’s her own stupid fault for not marrying the bloke and becoming a citizen.
      
      9 1
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      July 7, 2026 11:01am
      - Flossie
        
        Marrying an Aussie doesn’t change a thing.
        
        5 0
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        July 7, 2026 12:52pm
      - RoboRob
        
        @Flossie
        
        Thought it would speed up the citizenship process.
        
        3 1
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        July 7, 2026 1:51pm
      - Don Beckett
        
        When I lived in Oz from 1979 to 1988, I voted in all their elections – Federal, State & local. Even got prosecuted once for failing to vote because I was called out unexpectedly to an urgent job out in central NSW & didn’t get to a polling station. Got let off with a letter of explanation.
        
        3 1
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        July 7, 2026 3:03pm
  - MCōs
    
    I would imagine if you were moving to Australia on the perception it improved your lot in life the inability to partake in their democratic process would be low in the minus column.
    
    1 1
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    July 7, 2026 4:02pm
- Nikola Donatello
  
  The current New Zealand law is highly unusual globally.
  
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  July 7, 2026 11:52am
- Ian
  
  Why would a citizen of the Republic of Ireland (a country completely divorced from the UK) be allowed to vote in UK elections? Those of Northern Ireland, certainly….
  
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  July 7, 2026 12:40pm
  - kowtow
    
    ian
    
    Both countries have longstanding historical very close and reciprocal arrangements.
    
    from UK govt website
    
    “The Common Travel Area (CTA) is a long-standing arrangement between the UK, the Crown Dependencies (Bailiwick of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Isle of Man) and Ireland that pre-dates both British and Irish membership of the EU and is not dependent on it.
    
    Under the CTA, British and Irish citizens can move freely and reside in either jurisdiction and enjoy associated rights and privileges, including the right to work, study and vote in certain elections, as well as to access social welfare benefits and health services.”
    
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    July 7, 2026 2:30pm
  - NeverMindTheBollocks
    
    Dates back to the post Partition settlement.
    
    As an aside, it makes the Irish passport one of the more valuable for Kiwis, since it gives the right to live & work in both the UK and the EU.
    
    2 0
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    July 7, 2026 9:49pm
- imalwaysright
  
  We don’t have a voter problem, we have a candidate problem.
  
  Most capable people wouldn’t be caught dead within a hundred miles of Parliament.
  
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  July 7, 2026 1:32pm
NeverMindTheBollocks

Today’s instalment of migrants exploring other migrants – this time from Sri Lanka.

To repeat, these are not isolated incidents, they are systemic arising from the source culture.

MBIE needs to be auditing businesses owned by migrants that largely or completely employ migrants, because clearly that’s a risk factor for modern slavery.

NZ needs to check people with Residency very hard before granting them citizenship, or if that’s too difficult then retain the right to strip them of citizenship if they offend.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/361003222/employer-sentenced-after-demanding-nearly-60000-migrant-worker
11 2
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July 7, 2026 10:24am
- Cassandra
  
  Exploiting? Auto strikes again!
  
  5 2
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  July 7, 2026 10:51am
- Swifty
  
  I’ve never understood nor agreed with the notion, advanced by some, that as soon as immigrants hop off the plane they instantly adopt the values, standards and behaviours held by most of us already here.
  
  If I went to live in rural India would I instantly start crapping on the beaches, throw my rubbish in the local river, rort the local election or pay off the cops so my illegal business can proceed unmolested?
  
  Not on your Nellie. I would retain the values and behaviours I grew up with and considered correct or appropriate.
  
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  July 7, 2026 12:01pm
Rusty

I wonder if Dame Jacinda Ardern will vote in this year’s elections even though she doesn’t live here?
8 1
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July 7, 2026 10:37am
- MCōs
  
  Jacinda Ardern is well within her rights to vote.
  I voted a couple of times when I was living offshore.
  About 78k offshore votes were received at the last election
  
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  July 7, 2026 4:39pm
Maggy Wassilieff

Reworked myths ….

How our media prefers to propagate nonsense over empirical evidence.

https://yvonnevandongen.substack.com/p/frozen-myths
11 4
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July 7, 2026 10:50am
- greybeard
  
  Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke’s claim about her endless prison visits pales into insignificance when you read that Antarctica tripe !
  
  8 2
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  July 7, 2026 1:38pm
- Jethrod
  
  Very interesting comment and contribution from you Maggy.!
  
  7 0
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  July 7, 2026 2:06pm
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    I think Yvonne Van Dongen has provided a very readable account of how a very obscure pacific myth begins to morph into a Maori claim for Antarctic representation.
    
    https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/2154896X.2022.2058222#d1e228
    
    9 1
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    July 7, 2026 4:18pm
- imalwaysright
  
  There seem to be a lot of Maori doctors(PhD) and professors. Why do they need special entry to med school?
  
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  July 7, 2026 2:38pm
- mandk
  
  I would happily chip in towards funding an expedition by Maori by sea towards Antarctica using only technology, including clothing, that was available to pre-colonial tribes.
  
  I say ‘towards Antarctica’ because I would be amazed if they got further than 50 degrees south.
  
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  July 7, 2026 4:44pm
  - NeverMindTheBollocks
    
    Per Maggy’s link, there is evidence of a Maori presence on Enderby Is, which is just past 50 degrees South.
    
    Whether they got home afterwards is not recorded.
    
    3 0
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    July 7, 2026 9:59pm
Mod88

Hmmm Erica Stanford has had to walk back/deny she was going to ban VPNs this morning but her Office had no such denial yesterday. I suggest strongly they have been caught out and that is the only reason despite Act calling it a red line and I suspect NZ First will too. I think they would have gone begging to Labour had Henry Cooke/Post not broken the story.
6 2
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July 7, 2026 12:15pm
Ghost

Time will tell if the rumours are true that following a heart attack Mitch McConnell is brain dead

https://x.com/Cheering4Change/status/2074216771830116772
5 3
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July 7, 2026 12:23pm
- Cassandra
  
  Almost certainly true. He was unconscious following a heart attack. Three weeks in hospital, his office won’t say why.
  
  4 1
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  July 7, 2026 12:42pm
- imalwaysright
  
  Now we know who the next Dem Presidential candidate is….
  
  7 2
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  July 7, 2026 1:40pm
mogg

This is not exaggeration or scaremongering but a very real threat facing us at the election; Chris Trotter on the woke establishment and shut down of free speech in NZ.
https://youtu.be/OsyIaKKaOgA
6 2
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July 7, 2026 1:55pm
mike

FIFA orders replay of USA/Belgium match//
10 6
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July 7, 2026 2:03pm
- Jethrod
  
  Was gob-smacked , until I saw the // marks!!
  
  3 0
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  July 7, 2026 2:07pm
- mike
  
  Trump phones Infantino and demands he find four uncounted goals.
  
  9 7
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  July 7, 2026 2:13pm
  - Lance
    
    Maybe ‘refs’ who make non Trump approved decisions, could be charged with damaging the reflecting pool and be sentenced to 10 years in Federal Prision.
    There was a time when such a rediculous idea would have been nonsense, now , not so much.
    
    3 4
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    July 7, 2026 2:50pm
1st Violin

Birds of a feather….

The Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi
The Protocols of the Elders of Zion
4 1
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July 7, 2026 5:22pm
soothsayer99

So with State highway 1 closed or ferries not running how will The Post get to Wellington?

Fly? Email?
7 0
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July 7, 2026 6:34pm

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