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July 18, 2026 8:00am by Kokila Patel

General Debate 18 July 2026

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General Debate

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mike

Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
Trump and his cronies get ready to ‘protect’ the elections.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jul/17/trump-speech-midterm-election-voting
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July 18, 2026 8:03am
- Cassandra
  
  That’s the Guardian’s view. The Telegraph has a different take. Chinese dark arts are apparently very active.
  
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  July 18, 2026 8:07am
  - mike
    
    Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
    It must be nice to pretend ravings in the Torygraph are actual journalism.
    
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    July 18, 2026 8:11am
    - Nukuleka
      
      Cheer up mike. Whatever it is that prevents you from sleeping at night might just never happen.
      
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      July 18, 2026 8:17am
      - mike
        
        Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
        While the USA’s descent into authoritarianism doesn’t keep me awake, it should be of concern to those who believe democracy still has a future.
        
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        July 18, 2026 8:33am
      - rouppe
        
        Can you enlighten me as to the actions that are a descent into authoritarianism?
        
        As opposed to say, suspending the operation of Parliament, like Jacinda did.
        
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        July 18, 2026 10:27am
    - AitchW
      
      You mean reportage with which you disagree.
      Free speech, Labour style.
      
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      July 18, 2026 8:39am
    - Cassandra
      
      And the Guardian is not biased? Somewhere between the two lies the truth. The Times, for example.
      
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      July 18, 2026 8:42am
      - mike
        
        Sure. From The Times:
        
        Trump’s speech on ‘catastrophic election fraud’: five key claims
        The president made a slew of claims about election interference and voter fraud in a live address. His declassified files fell short of evidence to support them
        
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        July 18, 2026 8:53am
      - Cassandra
        
        And read the whole article. It’s quite clear that China and Russia are active, as you’d expect.
        
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        July 18, 2026 8:59am
      - mike
        
        Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
        Well, it’s been clear for many years that the Russkies try t help Trump, both covertly and overtly.
        
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        July 18, 2026 9:44am
      - Paulus
        
        Same as the most open paper in the UK is the Daily Mail I have been told, albeit sad about the one time News of the World.
        
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        July 18, 2026 2:36pm
      - NZer In Exile
        
        The Guardian is not only biased it is truly pathetic. Best avoid to keep blood pressure healthy.
        
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        July 18, 2026 6:31pm
    - Gary Benner
      
      Mike, I fail to see how VoterID is “authoritarian”. You may wish to elucidate your point of view beyond a typical one-liner. Some background logic as to your thinking and viewpoint would be appreciated, even if not agreed.
      
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      July 18, 2026 8:54am
      - RichardX
        
        ”I fail to see how VoterID is “authoritarian” “ is a somewhat simplistic view of the issue.
        
        Most state IDs will be insufficient to register to vote and not everyone has easy access to the “approved” forms of ID required, of which a passport is an example.
        
        Less than 50% of Americans have a passport and see if you can guess if holding a passport bears any correlation to income or race.
        
        Another form of approved ID is a birth certificate but it turns out that there is a bunch of people who no longer use the name on their birth certificate. The vast majority of those are female, due to taking their husband’s name.
        
        The data available in the link can be extrapolated to show how many eligible voters could be excluded.
        https://www.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/01/SAVEact-tables.pdf
        
        If you want to disenfranchise the poor, minorities or females, the Save Act is a good way to do it.
        
        https://www.usatoday.com/story/graphics/2026/03/17/save-america-act-what-to-know/89062933007/
        
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        July 18, 2026 9:04am
      - Dudley Quaffquaff
        
        Mike hasn’t said specifically that voter ID is authoritarian. The problem with it is rather that the proposed definition of what’s acceptable as ID for voting purposes, makes it more difficult for some people to vote than for others. If you’re going to demand ID to vote, issue everybody who’s eligible with a voter ID card free of charge
        
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        July 18, 2026 9:10am
      - Inandout
        
        GB, that is the weird way of the left by isolating a hill to die on. A US citizen, regardless of State, needs ID for a host of licenses most of which IMO are necessary for an orderly society. Voting would be near the top of the list.
        
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        July 18, 2026 9:20am
      - Vory v zakone
        
        Make no mistake. This speech was the opening salvo in a much bigger plan. President Trump just called out the CIA & the Deep State.
        
        Here are the targets he laid out in his speech:
        
        1) China
        2) Deep state
        3) The lying media to include journalists paid by China.
        4) Corporations paid by China.
        5) Rogue bureaucrats.
        6) Traitors inside Intelligence.
        7) Traitors inside the FBI.
        8) Traitors inside the DOJ.
        9) Barack Hussein Obama.
        10) Corrupt election infrastructure like centralized electronic voting org ERIC.
        11) The cover-up of election fraud.
        12) Corrupt NGO “Get out the Vote” in Michigan.
        13) Biden DOJ.
        14) Blue states who refuse to share voter files.
        15) Voter rolls.
        16) Mail-in ballots.
        17) Fraud in L.A..
        18) NBC & ABC News.
        19) Rest of the media.
        20) States whose election data has been compromised.
        21) Electronic voting systems – ie: machines
        22) Non-citizens & all illegible voters on voter rolls.
        23) Congress – to pass the Save America Act.
        
        #thebestisyettocome 😉
        
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        July 18, 2026 9:34am
      - kowtow
        
        Extraordinary really.
        
        These days you can’t open a bank account , get any form of license , even travel internationally without verifying who you are but you can determine the ruler of one’s country , willy nilly.
        
        Voter verification is simple common sense.
        
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        July 18, 2026 9:58am
      - rouppe
        
        @RichardX: You keep saying that but the list of “primary id” in the USA includes:
        * Valid or expired, undamaged U.S. passport book or passport card 
        * In-state, fully valid driver’s license or enhanced driver’s license with photo
        * Certificate of Naturalization 
        * Certificate of Citizenship 
        * Government employee ID (city, county, state, or federal)
        * U.S. military or military dependent ID
        * Current, valid foreign passport
        * Matricula Consular (Mexican Consular ID) – commonly used by a parent of a U.S. citizen child applicant
        * U.S. Permanent Resident Card (Green Card) - commonly used by a parent of a U.S. citizen child applicant
        * Trusted Traveler IDs (including valid Global Entry, FAST, SENTRI, and NEXUS cards)
        * Enhanced Tribal Cards and Native American tribal photo IDs
        
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        July 18, 2026 10:34am
      - RichardX
        
        rouppe..…Have you looked at the ID requirements laid out in the Save Act?
        
        Your list is about applying for a passport.
        Why do you think it matches what is specified in the Save Act?
        
        If you had read to article linked you would have seen information like;
        An Enhanced Driver’s License shows you’re a U.S. citizen. Only five states, New York, Vermont, Michigan, Minnesota, and Washington, offer this at present. (REAL ID-driver’s licenses, which allow holders to fly domestically without a passport, do not qualify under the SAVE Act.)
        
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        July 18, 2026 10:45am
      - Dudley Quaffquaff
        
        rouppe: many of these documents are not available to everybody and even if you’re qualified, all of them require pro-active effort and most of them require actual expense for a person to obtain. It is simply wrong to require it in exchange for a constitutional right
        
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        July 18, 2026 10:48am
      - peterwn
        
        Seems ID is weaponised to ‘gerrymander’ voting – that is to stop poorer sectors of society from voting by limiting the types of ID that can be used. For example if you cannot afford a passport you are not guaranteed a vote. Surprising USA has not gone the way of many European countries (not UK) and require everyone to carry a passport or state issued ID.
        
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        July 18, 2026 11:04am
      - rouppe
        
        RichardX.
        
        Your usa today link lists EXACTLY the same things as I did.
        
        I think you’re over egging how difficult it would be to get satisfactory id.
        
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        July 18, 2026 11:46am
      - rouppe
        
        @Dudley
        
        all of them require pro-active effort
        
        Oh, my GOD! It requires EFFORT?
        
        The HORROR!
        
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        July 18, 2026 11:48am
      - AitchW
        
        DQ can you not hear the Greek chorus of outrage from the left and the tinfoil hat wearers if they tried to issue an ID card to allow voting in the absence of a passport or birth certificate?
        Look at the storm of conspiracy theories here over a voluntary electronic driver’s licence!
        
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        July 18, 2026 12:14pm
      - Drone
        
        So Gary, you are obviously in favour of NZ introducing ID cards for all New Zealanders, because it’s not authoritarian…
        
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        July 18, 2026 12:20pm
      - RichardX
        
        ”Your usa today link lists EXACTLY the same things as I did. “
        
        So it is just a reading comprehension issue for you.
        
        ”In-state, fully valid driver’s license” is not valid for Save, even it it is valid under the Real ID Act.
        
        ’Valid or expired, undamaged U.S. passport’ is not EXACTLY the same as ’A valid signed, unexpired and non-revoked U.S. passport”
        
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        July 18, 2026 12:45pm
      - leoj
        
        Even 75% of Democrats favour voter ID.
        
        If Biden had introduced the measure, the Dems would all be in favour. It is ONLY because Trump is calling for it, plain and simple.
        
        TDS is alive and well among the left.
        
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        July 18, 2026 12:58pm
      - Dudley Quaffquaff
        
        Yes, it is absolutely horrifying that anybody should be required to go through hoops in exchange for a constitutional right. It is even more horrifying that those hoops are more difficult for some people than they are for others.
        
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        July 18, 2026 1:51pm
      - slijmbal
        
        US voting ID requirements vary by state. Some are actually quite tight and left leaning states tend towards laxer requirements. There are also significant roll ‘hygiene’ issues with duplicates, dead people etc but despite massive efforts to find significant voter fraud by the current Republican incumbents they’ve failed. It’s highly unlikely that voter fraud materially affected the results.
        
        However, US voter ID requirements are, on the whole, lighter than comparable democracies. Obviously, tightening them will fix a non-existent fraud problem and probably reduce the Democrat vote. There is value in having a voting system that people trust as the US already has a reasonably poor turnout but this isn’t what this is about it’s about Trump trying to extend his authority and influence voting results.
        
        But … it’s clear that this is an area under the US’s complicated matrix of authorities and responsibilities that the Federal authorities have minimal ability to change. Even if he got his act passed I expect it would get stopped by Judges. Notice that even Congress (controlled by Republicans) has NOT passed the Act despite the usual Trump exhortations as they see it as a dead dog.
        
        I suspect that Trump had more in mind than just getting his act passed. They’ve lost a huge number of cases in the courts where they have attempted to obtain local voting data and that includes an awful lot of Trump appointed judges. I suspect he hopes to try and do something similar to the way he used Federal forces in Washington at voting time. I hope I’m wrong.
        
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        July 18, 2026 2:13pm
      - NZer In Exile
        
        peterwn: “Seems ID is weaponised to ‘gerrymander’ voting – that is to stop poorer sectors of society from voting by limiting the types of ID that can be used.”
        
        No it’s to stop bloody cheating FFS. If one is too retarded to get an ID doc that person is probably not in a fit mental state to vote.
        
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        July 18, 2026 6:42pm
  - Northshoredoc
    
    The chinese government should be indebted to Trump.
    
    No other President has done more to improve the regard that the Chinese communist party is held in around the world.
    
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    July 18, 2026 10:35am
- lastmanstanding
  
  I bet 90% of TOP supporters have no idea of their policies and how they will impact them. Mind you that applies to the other Parties. And thats why we should require a political knowledge test and an IQ test before a ballot paper is provided. Otherwise we have the dumb and the ignorant are voting. And thats a real danger.
  
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  July 18, 2026 9:23am
  - Cassandra
    
    Listening to Parliament sometimes you’d think that “the dumb and the ignorant”might be those elected. Not on the Coalition side of course!
    
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    July 18, 2026 9:42am
  - David Garrett
    
    Lastman: what you suggest would happen in Utopia…as you well know, it’s never going to happen in the real world
    
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    July 18, 2026 10:19am
    - peterwn
      
      Labour and Greens are also dangling promises and warm fuzzies (eg ‘Life does not have to be that hard’) out there knowing they do not need to account for them (unlike Chris L and Nicola).
      
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      July 18, 2026 11:07am
- Philview
  
  The covid virus escapes from a lab in China and kills 20 million people worldwide and leaves economic carnage. Any criticism of China is minimal outside of the USA. I think Trump has a point to raise concerns about China.
  
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  July 18, 2026 9:59am
- Nūhaka Native
  
  It’s ridiculous to say voter ID will create a barrier to voters.
  
  Most U.S. benefits require identity verification. A government photo ID plus a Social Security number is the easiest path, but exact rules vary by program and state.
  
  If you don’t have a photo ID, many agencies accept alternatives (birth certificate, immigration papers, benefit letters, school/medical records) or do in‑person verification.
  
  Some programs can grant temporary coverage in emergencies. Bottom line: a photo ID isn’t always mandatory, but you still must prove who you are with documents the state’s program accepts.
  
  Virtually all major U.S. public benefits require you to prove your identity. Here’s a Googled list by program family:
  
  Federal programs
  • Social Security retirement, survivors, disability (SSDI)
  • Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
  • Medicare (initial enrollment/appeals)
  • SNAP (food stamps)
  • WIC (Women, Infants, and Children)
  • FAFSA/ federal student aid (identity verification when flagged)
  • VA benefits (disability, pensions, health enrollment)
  • Federal housing assistance (Section 8/HCV, Public Housing)
  
  State-administered programs
  • Medicaid and CHIP
  • TANF (cash assistance)
  • Unemployment insurance
  • State General Assistance or emergency assistance programs
  • State disability or paid family/medical leave programs (in states that have them)
  
  Housing and local aid
  • State/local rental assistance and emergency rental assistance
  • Utility assistance (LIHEAP and state/local energy programs)
  • Homelessness services where eligibility is determined (coordinated entry, shelter placements that verify)
  
  Other common areas
  • State child care assistance
  • Child support services (case establishment/modification)
  • State ID/driver’s license issuance and replacements (to obtain the ID itself)
  
  What is the barrier to proving who you are so you can vote in a US election? You would need to do it for everything else the government provides in the US.
  
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  July 19, 2026 9:24pm
Cassandra

A Gazan mother of three, who had arrived in the UK as a refugee, was refused permission to bring her extended family by the Home Office.
However, an immigration tribunal has overturned that decision and ruled that the woman can bring her relatives to Britain, claiming that refusing to do so would breach her rights to a family life under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

The woman’s extended family includes her parents, her brother, his wife and four children, her sister and her four children, and another sister, her husband and three children.

There are two million people in Gaza. The UK could keep Trump happy (his son in law can develop it into a Riviera) and recruit a lot of new Labour voters by allowing them all in.
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July 18, 2026 8:04am
- Im Right
  
  It’s headlines/stories like this Cassandra, that have seen the demise of Labour and Tories and the rise of the anti-immigration parties…it’s about 20yrs too late, but better late than never.
  Plus….ECHR, didn’t the UK leave the EU, why are they still playing by its rules.
  
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  July 18, 2026 8:26am
  - Taieri
    
    ECHR, didn’t the UK leave the EU, why are they still playing by its rules
    ————
    
    Because the UK is a party to the ECHR; it has nothing to do with the UK being or not being a member of the EU.
    The ECHR was produced by the Council of Europe, of which the UK is a founding member, in the early 1950s. One of the leading members of the Council’s Legislative Assembly drafting the Convention, was British MP Sir David Maxwell-Fyfe.
    The EU did not even exist at the time.
    
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    July 18, 2026 10:14am
  - Interested Party
    
    They haven’t removed it from their laws as yet
    
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    July 18, 2026 10:51am
  - kowtow
    
    20 years too late?
    
    Enoch Powell’s speech was nearly sixty years ago and merely repeated what was established Tory party policy of the time ………and they basically unpersoned him , for publicly stating their own party policies!
    
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    July 18, 2026 11:48am
    - David Garrett
      
      Kowtow: Not quite…Powell warned of “rivers of blood” flowing as a result of West Indian immigration….aside from some pretty serious riots in the 70’s and 80’s that catastrophe didn’t happen…but if you substitute Islamic immigration for West Indian, he was right on the money.. and it’s only going to get worse…much much worse
      
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      July 18, 2026 4:15pm
- kevn
  
  Cass… The side of that coin.
  https://dailysceptic.org/2026/07/17/the-narrow-focus-on-babies-explains-britains-birth-rate-collapse/
  
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  July 18, 2026 8:59am
  - Dudley Quaffquaff
    
    I have no idea what light that article is supposed to shed on the story of the Gazan mother.
    
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    July 18, 2026 9:12am
    - kevn
      
      Dud… Easy.
      Illegal migrants able to bring in large extended family.
      Native Brits population growth diminishing.
      Scenario? ummm
      Illegal migrants rule the UK.
      
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      July 18, 2026 2:51pm
      - David Garrett
        
        Kevn: Don’t waste ur time mate…he knows exactly what you mean
        
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        July 18, 2026 6:43pm
- R
  
  Given time the UK government WILL let them all in. Past behavior of UK Labour governments
  
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  July 18, 2026 9:15am
  - Drone
    
    Somebody has to let them in, or the IDF will kill them all !!
    
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    July 18, 2026 12:24pm
    - NZer In Exile
      
      How about one of those wonderful Muslim paradises? Should be a good fit. No?
      
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      July 18, 2026 6:45pm
- mogg
  
  Andy Burnham has now given his first big speech, turns out he is full of Jacinda like visions and dreams with no further details other than he wants more taxes and to ‘destroy the Margaret Thatcher’s legacy’. Using taxpayer money to support re-nationalisation of industry and expanding the welfare state. Not once did he mention cost or where the money will come from..
  
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  July 18, 2026 11:05am
  - Inandout
    
    mogg, some independent commenters have given the Manchester lad a ‘gone by Christmas’ label. He is a fill in to save a by election and the establishment will resume power. No way are the public servants going to move or commute to Manchester.
    
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    July 18, 2026 12:06pm
    - mogg
      
      He will be yet another unelected PM, there has been no manifesto no scrutiny, he is an economic illiterate.
      
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      July 18, 2026 1:04pm
Centrist

A sad day for cricket fans: the great Sir Garfield Sobers has passed away.
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July 18, 2026 8:05am
- pdm
  
  Best all rounder in my lifetime.
  
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  July 18, 2026 11:39am
greybeard

https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/361007810/former-all-blacks-hospitality-venture-leaves-455k-trail-debt
$201,500 owed to IRD: how many more times will we read such things ? There must be some really bad auditors and managers in IRD. No matter, the rest of us will pay up.
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July 18, 2026 8:17am
- mike
  
  It would be nice to see some statistics about IR’s performance in this regard.
  
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  July 18, 2026 8:24am
  - NeverMindTheBollocks
    
    Good point, Mike. Knock yourself out.
    
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    July 18, 2026 8:27am
  - mike
    
    Such as this:
    https://www.ird.govt.nz/-/media/project/ir/home/documents/about-us/publications/managing-overdue-tax-debt/managing-overdue-tax-debt/managing-overdue-tax-debt—january-to-march-2026.pdf?modified=20260603234405
    
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    July 18, 2026 8:35am
    - NeverMindTheBollocks
      
      Uptick from me, Mike – I withdraw and apologise.
      
      I do note from the linked document that the current government is coming to grips with the problem caused by and left to them by the Jacinda government. I’m glad you’re highlighting this success.
      
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      July 18, 2026 8:51am
    - Simon
      
      Genie is out of the bottle, Mike.
      
      That report is 3 mths to March. Dont think much tax falls due during this time.
      
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      July 18, 2026 9:27am
- Simon
  
  Its just walk away. IRD operating as if NZ society was 1990s 2000s based. NZ has changed, just walk away.
  
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  July 18, 2026 9:02am
- peterwn
  
  There are plenty of call centres which IRD could hire to phone taxpayers immediately after they miss a deadline.
  
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  July 18, 2026 11:14am
  - AitchW
    
    You get a message on your MyIR app when you miss a deadline. You also get reminders of due dates both on MyIR and by email.
    
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    July 18, 2026 12:16pm
    - wsk12345
      
      Do you? I never have. I sometimes get a reminder my gst return is “available” to . I have never had a reminder say a week before nor after I missed the date (which I have several times when I wasn’t earning). It’s actually annoying, the inconsistency – and yes I’ve checked my spam folder. Never had a reminder for other tax types either and o don’t routinely log into my IR just to see if there’s a reminder for something I’ve forgotten!!!
      
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      July 18, 2026 2:26pm
  - Quail
    
    Yes , understand ,allegedly ,Somalia and others could supply quite a few of those if required!
    
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    July 18, 2026 7:20pm
- Ra Henare
  
  Here’s your opportunity to us AI and know how IRD works in assessing and recovering tax.
  
  Can I suggest that IRD wouldn’t have known the total debt was owed until well into the meltdown?
  
  Ie tax assessment starts as a voluntary process, ie filling in VALID tax returns.
  
  If IRD suspects all is not well, they do an audit. Which takes time and requires honest replies from the baddies.
  
  and so on and so on.
  
  Keeping in mind that it may have been IRD who called in the liquidators.
  
  Not defending some errors by IRD but I suggets you have no idea how the system works and just slinging out an emotional tantrum
  
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  July 18, 2026 3:01pm
NeverMindTheBollocks

Doncha just love Winnie! I don’t trust him as far as I can throw him, but he has a way with words that cuts through the dross.

http://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/731338/kupe-and-cook-names-of-new-cook-strait-ferries-announced
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July 18, 2026 8:32am
- R
  
  Sensible pragmatic choices really. Winnie sometimes speaks sense these days.
  
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  July 18, 2026 9:19am
  - Paulus
    
    But I am sjure the next Lab0ur/Maori MMP Government will make sure that both vessels have a Maori name -votes needed.
    
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    July 18, 2026 2:46pm
- BananaLlama
  
  Good names that will really have wokesters foaming at the mouth.
  
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  July 18, 2026 9:25am
- Notsofast
  
  Great news, will the left make election pledges to rename Cook?
  How triggering.
  Gauntlet thrown down with aplomb.
  
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  July 18, 2026 9:42am
- mike
  
  Is it true that he mispronounced the names and the ferries are named after the Act and NZ First leaders – U-pay and Crook?
  
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  July 18, 2026 10:13am
  - Cassandra
    
    Very good, mike! For a change.
    
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    July 18, 2026 11:49am
    - David Garrett
      
      Cass: Very good?? If he was a primary school boy maybe…
      
      12 3
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      July 18, 2026 12:56pm
  - pdm
    
    No he said Kupe as coopay which is how I have known it and not as coopee as Jack Tame said at 6pm.
    
    Got me Mike.
    
    5 2
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    July 18, 2026 11:54am
- imalwaysright
  
  They should have called them Endeavour and Resolution–they are traversing Cook’s Strait after all.
  
  Resolution as tribute to the ancient Maori Antarctic expeditions perhaps….??
  
  8 3
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  July 18, 2026 11:50am
NeverMindTheBollocks

Curriculum writers at MinEd claim that other people wrote the latest curriculum, not them.

Ok, then we should fire them all, since they clearly are not doing anything of value.

http://www.thepost.co.nz/politics/361038107/ministry-education-curriculum-writers-claim-exclusion-writing-process
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July 18, 2026 8:37am
- artemisia
  
  According to that link the minister and the ministry don’t agree with the complaining curriculum experts. So were the experts included or excluded? Perhaps the paywalled part of the article explains why the bosses are happy but the experts are not happy.
  
  Because to the ‘uneducated’ eye, looks like the complainers just don’t like the new curriculum though their opinions are not likely to be that simple.
  
  What was that classic definition of ‘expert’ again?
  
  8 1
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  July 18, 2026 10:10am
  - BeaB
    
    We can comfort ourselves with the knowledge that, when this new supposedly controversial curriculum comes up for revision, similar interest groups will howl with outrage at its passing and roundly criticise the new. Just as the haters of NCEA now desperately try to preserve it.
    Teachers need to be constant learners not just custodians of the past.
    
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    July 18, 2026 10:25am
- imalwaysright
  
  “Curriculum writers at MinEd claim that other people wrote the latest curriculum, not them.”
  
  Not another rogue UNDRIP clause….?
  
  3 0
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  July 18, 2026 11:55am
NeverMindTheBollocks

I had to laugh about the CD tsunami warning broadcast on RNZ the other night, for any number of reasons.

Firstly, it covered an area from Milford Sound to Puyseger Pt. No one lives there. It would have been quicker to ring DOC than to broadcast.

Secondly, the epicentre was on land. How is that going to give rise to a seaborne tidal wave? Perhaps a slab of Milford could have fallen into the Sound (which depending on volume could be catastrophic), but …

Thirdly, the warning was issued approximately 30 minutes after the earthquake. A tsunami generated by a rock collapse in Milford Sound would have hit the accommodation there within a couple of minutes at the outside.

All in all, CD are going to have to reflect on what they did the other night.
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July 18, 2026 8:47am
- kowtow
  
  There’ll be any number of fishermen and hunters in the region.
  
  6 2
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  July 18, 2026 10:02am
- Taieri
  
  it covered an area from Milford Sound
  ————–
  
  There’re about 100 people living in the Milford Sound village.
  
  5 0
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  July 18, 2026 10:18am
- Quail
  
  NMT B,
  Wonder if the warnings were AI generated?
  
  3 1
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  July 18, 2026 10:29am
- keepcalmcarryon
  
  I thought the same but it’s worse than that, they cancelled the warning pretty much as soon as they told people to evacuate.
  They sowed absolute confusion.
  In the Kaikoura earthquake they initially said no risk of Tsunami, then when people were moving about later they changed their minds. Could have been fatal. (Was a small tsunami down the coast).
  Bad information is worse than no information, civil defense clearly hasn’t gotten better – maybe because their consultants are in the UK.
  A complete clown show.
  They’ve shown we can’t trust them at their one job in a natural disaster (hawkes bay people have stories here too). Use your own common sense not theirs, they have none.
  
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  July 18, 2026 10:30am
- BeaB
  
  RNZ once again falls short when we need a credible civil defence bulletin. The announcer was all at sea. She had heard of Preservation Inlet but had never stayed there. Well, barely anyone ever has. Then she asked where Puyseger Point was.
  We need official bulletins read by an authoritative voice with factual and succinct information. These should be done at CD HQ and sent to RNZ and other media for broadcasting.
  
  9 1
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  July 18, 2026 10:30am
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    Then she asked where Puyseger Point was.
    
    Incredible!
    Clearly has never heard a Marine Weather Report from RNZ.
    
    7 1
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    July 18, 2026 2:40pm
  - fightingtemeraire
    
    Went round Puysegur Point on a voyage from Newcastle NSW to Bluff. Rolling 40 degrees + each way.
    
    4 0
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    July 18, 2026 3:10pm
Maggy Wassilieff

Goodness…

old politicians recycling themselves at NZ First

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/former-labour-minister-rino-tirikatene-joins-nz-first/Y7PIEBVNH5DSZF66WK6GTNODMI/
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July 18, 2026 8:52am
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  To quote Mae West … “Goodness had nuthing to do with it”.
  
  8 0
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  July 18, 2026 9:19am
- BeaB
  
  Just like the recycling at RNZ with John Campbell who I think still sees himself as a fresh young voice.
  
  14 1
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  July 18, 2026 10:31am
  - imalwaysright
    
    Is he still rolling up the cuffs on his jeans…
    
    5 0
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    July 18, 2026 1:06pm
    - AitchW
      
      I suspect his mum does it for him.
      
      4 0
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      July 18, 2026 5:36pm
    - NeverMindTheBollocks
      
      Harsh!
      
      1 0
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      July 18, 2026 6:19pm
- Philview
  
  The media reported last month that NZ First tried to recruit Kiri Allan. I can’t see myself trusting a vote to NZ First.
  
  7 2
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  July 18, 2026 11:40am
  - Paulus
    
    I doubt it – media fantasy !
    
    4 1
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    July 18, 2026 2:50pm
  - Tauhei Notts
    
    Yes, I heard that they had tried to recruit Kiri Allan. Apparently they were going to offer her to the Opportunity Party as a driver.
    
    6 1
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    July 18, 2026 3:25pm
  - AitchW
    
    I saw a post on X today reporting that the Hosk is standing for the Greens at the election.
    That’s only a little less likely than NZF courting Allan.
    
    4 2
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    July 18, 2026 5:38pm
    - Boy Geoff
      
      Gosh! Are you telling me that Hosking got through the Greens’ rigorous candidate selection process…?
      
      3 0
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      July 18, 2026 6:40pm
- Boy Geoff
  
  Maybe Winston’s realised the media will be much kinder to him if he can prove he’s got a party that can work with both National and Labour…?
  
  4 1
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  July 18, 2026 12:17pm
- leoj
  
  NZF is looking more like the Labour Party every day.
  
  No wonder Winnie screwed the country in 2017 by siding with them.
  
  Winnie is untrustworthy.
  
  Two ticks ACT.
  
  16 7
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  July 18, 2026 1:05pm
  - NZer In Exile
    
    I don’t think he realised they were was wacko as they turned out to be once installed. National also screwed the pooch there by playing hardball with him.
    
    1 3
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    July 18, 2026 6:50pm
Simon

“Train services across much of Auckland have been disrupted after an emergency services incident near Waitematā Station.”

Incident. So much censorship.
4 18
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July 18, 2026 9:05am
- Ghost
  
  Censorship, no. It’s actually called a scrub fire.
  
  16 2
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  July 18, 2026 9:40am
  - OlderChas
    
    A scrub fire causes rail disruptions??? How??
    
    1 1
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    July 18, 2026 5:36pm
  - NZer In Exile
    
    Saying “something happened” is also strictly not censorship, but it IS bloody stupid obfuscation.
    
    2 1
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    July 18, 2026 6:52pm
Simon

Pauline Hanson’s One Nation has seen the fastest polling rise in modern Australian politics. What is going on?

“I take [it] as a sign the fact that you see people voting for parties that are often on the fringes of the mainstream,” she said.

[Mod – a small paragraph and a link to the article is all that’s needed]
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July 18, 2026 9:10am
TripeWryter

I read last evening a story in The Once-Royal New Zealand Herald about how some bureaucrats warned the Guv’mint that reversing to English names first would damage relations with Maori.
Have these bureaucrats not been reading the room lately?
They should be concerned more about how the ‘Maorification’ of New Zealand’s public services class was pissing off people including, I should say, some Maoris.
21 1
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July 18, 2026 9:39am
- Hugh Jarse
  
  The misinformed or deliberately misleading media seem to consider that the unelected officials advice to democratically elected Ministers is a direction that Ministers need to implement forthwith rather than varying options for the Minister to consider. Perhaps their How to implement socialism so it works didn’t cover How democracy works ?
  
  8 1
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  July 18, 2026 12:48pm
- Kaiser Wilhelm
  
  Mr Hosking nails it: https://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/on-air/mike-hosking-breakfast/opinion/mikes-minute-is-this-why-the-national-vote-is-soft/
  
  5 2
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  July 18, 2026 12:50pm
TripeWryter

I have just been listening to the 10am news on NewstalkZB.
The newsreader’s pronunciation of Rino Tirikatene’s ‘Tirikatene’ was, well, different.
I’ve never heard it said that way before.
8 1
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July 18, 2026 10:05am
Rusty

Any picks for ABs v Ireland tonight? Ireland might just do it.
0 4
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July 18, 2026 10:50am
- Cassandra
  
  ABs all the way!!
  
  6 1
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  July 18, 2026 11:52am
- imalwaysright
  
  Ireland to win 43–12
  
  0 5
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  July 18, 2026 11:56am
  - Colville
    
    20 to go as I write this. With Ireland running out of bench it could be messy.
    
    1 0
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    July 18, 2026 8:53pm
- pdm
  
  I have seen fleeter of foot AB loose forward units picked. I hope we don’t pay a price for that.
  
  2 2
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  July 18, 2026 12:03pm
  - Colville
    
    Vaaii at 6 is a bruiser. I like him.
    
    1 0
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    July 18, 2026 8:51pm
- AitchW
  
  Much has been made of the run of unbeaten games at Eden Park.
  The law of averages says it has to end some time.
  The Irish are good enough to do it tonight.
  I’m not completely confident of an ABs win.
  
  4 1
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  July 18, 2026 12:19pm
- Gravelroad
  
  Sport-mad young Grandson was here yesterday.
  We came across on TV the replay of the Ireland v All Blacks game which took place in Dublin on November 24, 2013.
  Grandson watched until half time, but then went outside as the score was Ireland 22- All Blacks 7.
  Game over he reckoned.
  Final score was All Blacks 24 – Ireland 22.
  It was a remarkable come back full of determination, skill and leadership.
  Grandson said he hoped todays team has watched that replay.
  (Beauden Barrett came on as a reserve in that game).
  
  5 0
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  July 18, 2026 1:00pm
  - greybeard
    
    The final ABs try and the ensuing conversion ( two attempts ) were pure drama. It’s a wonder the ABs made it safely off the park !
    
    5 0
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    July 18, 2026 1:23pm
I remember when

Nearly 1.2 billion people worldwide are living with mental disorders. The number has been growing: CNN. 22 May.
“A 95.5% increase since 1990, a new study has found.”
The study, pulished in the Lancet, also revealed how trends concerning 12 mental disorders differed by age, sex, location and sociodemographic factors among 204 countries and teritories –
The largest increases were in anxiety and depression, in third place a residual category of personality disorders, bipolar disorder, schizophenia, autism spectrum disorder, anorexia, bulimia, dysthymia (long term depression), conduct disorder (affects children and teens), and developmental intellectual disability from unknown causes.
There was an 158% rise in anxiety and 131% in depression compared with 1990.

How much is the result of mental disorders getting greater attention?
Once one person in a family gets diagnosed everyone questions their own behavour.
No doubt “climate change” rhetoric has had some bearing.
8 1
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July 18, 2026 10:50am
- Cassandra
  
  Increase is directly related to the increase in Green and TOP support. I got this from an authoritative source at happy hour last night.
  
  10 3
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  July 18, 2026 11:55am
- imalwaysright
  
  I would guess that most of these people are attention seekers who have hopped on the Mental Health Initialism Express, and are consciously trying to work their way up to the First Class carriage.
  
  Great fun, and great drugs, for these halfwits, but the ones who suffer are the genuinely ill people who struggle to get appointments and treatment.
  
  ( Note that they call it ‘mental health issues’. They never call it mental illness. That’s a stigma they aren’t willing to embrace.)
  
  4 1
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  July 18, 2026 4:46pm
- NZer In Exile
  
  Climate change lies amplified by the bedlam known as social media. Throw in loony-left hyper-fragility and self-loathing grooming in education and you have children groomed into being fragile and dependent. Girls are trained to see males as garbage who are defined as walking pathologies. Throw in luxury beliefs and suicidal empathy and you have very mixed up people coming into adulthood.
  
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  July 18, 2026 7:05pm
Swifty

RIP Siva Afi Taogaga.

A household name back in the 70s.

As a kid we used to watch him wrestle up in the Wellington Show buildings.
4 0
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July 18, 2026 11:36am
rouppe

Nz first party convention kicks off.

Headline:
‘We are going to turn this country’s democracy upside down’

But a look at the “remits to be voted on” seem to be pretty thin.

“Investigate the removal of tax exemptions for iwi or religious institutions and their commercial ventures”. Investigate? That means do nothing, just like what they’ve done with treaty principles removal from legislation.
15 0
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July 18, 2026 11:40am
- pdm
  
  Do nothing but make a big noise.
  
  Sadly tis the NZFirst way.
  
  Tirikatne-Sullivan won’t change that.
  
  9 2
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  July 18, 2026 12:05pm
  - Jethrod
    
    Just plain Tirikatene.
    
    2 0
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    July 18, 2026 5:00pm
Southern Raider

When is a Govt going to legally direct Councils and Govt Departments on a universal approach to dual language signs.

We have all the nice pictures being promoted about the new CRL link stations and they clearly show all the informational and direction signs are in larger font and first in Te Reo and then second and smaller in English.
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July 18, 2026 1:55pm
- Paulus
  
  All Schools in New Zealand now have a sign before the school with Kura being prominent of course.
  We have one primary near us who say no way but they still did it.
  
  3 3
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  July 18, 2026 2:54pm
  - David Garrett
    
    Paulus: As I have ever said here before, although the lingua franca of Tonga is Tongan, schools are are all called Schools…no Tongan translation necessary…perhaps they are more secure than what we used to derisively call “white Maoris”…people as white as me who thought speaking English with a Maori accent was…fuck knows what they thought
    
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    July 18, 2026 4:46pm
    - imalwaysright
      
      The Maorification of the names of the ‘Colonial’ services and functions of the country is, in fact, their explicit acceptance of the legitimacy and importance of those.
      
      Why would they complain of colonisation and then, in many cases, bastardise their own language in order to name the inherent features of the colonisation?
      
      Can’t have it both ways…
      
      4 2
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      July 18, 2026 5:10pm
- lifesgood
  
  The language spoken by the majority of NZers should come first. I am sick to death of this bullshit. Hardly anybody speaks Maori.
  
  12 1
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  July 18, 2026 3:53pm
  - greybeard
    
    Since this Govt came into power hardly anyone greets Mike Hosking with “Morena” or “Kia Ora”. Only the die-hard education people, or those whose organisations have “Aotearoa” in their names ( these are invariably funded wholly or partially by the taxpayer ).
    
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    July 18, 2026 5:45pm
Crafty

It concerns me that NZ First are becoming more extreme, we’ve seen this kind of shit overseas and we don’t need it here. They are clearly selecting divisive candidates and talking in a much more extreme way to stir up more division. It’s even worse on the left with tie Greens and TPM. Why do people see the damage more extreme views cause overseas and then go down the same route here?
4 2
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July 18, 2026 3:19pm
- RichardX
  
  It’s almost like there is an example somewhere that shows devisive politics works.
  
  3 0
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  July 18, 2026 4:58pm
- Jethrod
  
  I think what Winston would say is that NZ First values are what the country had before all the radicals and extremists developed and started talking garbage.
  
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  July 18, 2026 5:05pm
- greybeard
  
  NZF is trying to pick up support from any group they can: their choice of candidates covers all sorts of political, economic and social views and in this respect they are being very clever. Lots of disparate groups are being sucked into the NZF fold. Together they make up the numbers, but Winston & Co. have no intention of satisfying their various requirements if elected.
  It is purely a numbers game at present.
  
  6 2
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  July 18, 2026 5:42pm
- NZer In Exile
  
  Crafty we’ve tried the uniparty and they’ve failed, over and over and over again. That’s why.
  
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  July 18, 2026 7:07pm
Tauhei Notts

I have been on this site for 15 years and here is a first;
May I congratulate Dave Rennie on his All Blacks coaching job.
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July 18, 2026 9:25pm
- Colville
  
  Agree.
  A bit of new blood and a few old lads but some great combos.
  We have the tight 5 and outside backs to beat anyone. Hopefully Love etc can carry the midfield.
  
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  July 18, 2026 9:55pm
- AitchW
  
  X is overwhelmed with Irish rugby pundits whining endlessly that the ref was biased. Of course the armchair referees are in complete agreement. The sour grapes are manifold!
  
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  July 19, 2026 4:58pm
Inandout

There is some fascinating stuff on YT and this one on the life of Yves Saint Laurent is one of those. I smiled at the noise the eternally offended made when Yves introduced a perfume named ‘Black Opium’. He simply ignored the outcries and the product sold like hot cakes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TfM9MHVgME
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July 18, 2026 11:03pm

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