General Debate 08 August 2026

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CJames

I note the excitable Mr Bradbury has turned the outrage back to 11 again. The reason this time is the Taxpayer poll that was done by DPF. This was the one that showed Labour below 30% and the right just ahead of the left. Some parties up a bit, others a bit down. The trends since 2024 other that TOP appearing and Maori Party disappearing don’t show anything unusual. In other words, no big change.
The thing that seems to upset Martin Martyn isn’t Labour going down below the magic 30% – maybe their lack of any policies or even competency is being noticed. No – Curia is denounced as a fake company because it is not part of the polling industry charter. IIRC, this was the organisation that DPF helped found, then he left because activists kept on putting in complaints about because they didn’t like the polling results. Maybe Martin is so upset because he can’t put in a complaint about this result.
But don’t worry. Martin reassures his three followers that Labour’s internal polling shows Labour well ahead of National. He denounces the Taxpayer’s Union result as a trick to rob the left’s voters of victory. Yeah – right
What is worrying is that National can’t pull way ahead of such a disorganised Labour with its rabid supporters. I suspect those on the right are not looking for charismatic leadership, just competency and ability to both express and follow a coherent vision. That isn’t there.
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August 8, 2026 8:00am
- David Garrett
  
  CJ: Well said..and as the country starts to move into campaign mode, Luxon’s limitations become even more obvious. Take the remark about “numpties in the cabinet ” you don’t say that 90 days before an election- when you will need to negotiate with said numpties.
  
  John Key would have said something like ” of course we have a talented cabinet – but it would be even better if most them were members of the National Party “…everyone would get a chuckle, with no real opportunity for The Great Charlatan to collapse the coalition
  
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  August 8, 2026 8:13am
- Southern Raider
  
  Is that the poll that TVNZ OneNews completely ignored last night because it didn’t set the right narrative?
  
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  August 8, 2026 8:54am
  - lastmanstanding
    
    The recent incident in Auckland that left several school boys with life threatening injuries a dog dead and vehicles damaged is yet again an illustration of the Government and its agencies playing Russian Roulette with the lives if citizens. I bet the person responsible was well known to the authorities.
    Nothing has changed.
    In 2000 my dear mother in law was suffering from dementia. My wife and I pleaded for her to be placed in a secure unit and foretold the consequences if she wasnt. Even after she attacked two caregivers with knives we still had to plead to have her placed. A good Governments first duty is to protect their citizens. Bad Government fail to do so.
    
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    August 8, 2026 9:10am
    - pdm
      
      lastman – I am sure Police have said that the perp is known to them.
      
      I guess how well known will come out over time.
      
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      August 8, 2026 9:37am
Tomtoddy

Jason Arday is a handsome, young academic fraudster – yet another DEI casualty. In 2023, at age 37, he became the youngest black, full professor in the history of Cambridge University. He is one of the youngest people of any race to ever hold a chair professorship at Oxbridge. He apparently was autistic, mute for years and couldn’t read or write till he was 18 years old.

In his spare time, Arday claimed to have run 30 marathons in 35 days and 300 miles in three days. He said he had worked with more than 70 charities and raised more than 5 million pounds.
He was an ideal DEI poster boy for the growing numbers of ‘woke’ in academia. They put him on the highest pedestal.

In reality it’s an embarrassing litany of lies, exaggerations, plagiarism, deceit on Arday’s part and crass, childish fawning by leaders in education who overlooked clearly fraudulent claims and indulged themselves in obsequious and cringing behaviour. Cambridge’s once prestigious reputation is in tatters.

There is a chapter of claims that Arday made about degrees, scholarships, awards, tenure that were almost all fabricated. So are other claims of charitable work, sporting achievements and made up stories of harassment, persecution, bullying. He used his sheltered position to silence critics and those checking his claims.

It is hard to think how much more fraud, fanaticism and deception could have been packed into one short life. It is even harder to understand how many so-called intelligent, responsible establishment-types stood around and cheered on the king with no clothes, choosing to turn a blind eye to obvious inconsistencies.

When truth becomes a casualty and values slide any attempt to retain standards is not just ignored, it is derided. The mix of stupidity, pride and progressive, left wing ideology is toxic and ugly.
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August 8, 2026 8:03am
- Souvlaki
  
  Yes….and the same lack of objectivity has infected NZ Universitys in a similar fashion imo, wrt ” Maoritanga’s wonderfulness”….stand out examples being Auckland and Otago!
  
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  August 8, 2026 8:09am
  - David Garrett
    
    Souv: It’s also infected Canterbury…despite Maori making up less than 5% of the student body…many more Asian students than Maori
    
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    August 8, 2026 9:11am
- mike
  
  If born is the US, he could have blustered his way to the presidency.
  
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  August 8, 2026 8:16am
  - Pope Punctilious II
    
    Maybe, but he’d have to head off Harvard’s own Claudine Gay.
    
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    August 8, 2026 8:51am
- artemisia
  
  Mr Arday’s ‘memoir’ is about to be published. It will probably sell very well.
  
  Icarus in the Faculty Lounge – The Atlantic this week.
  
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  August 8, 2026 8:17am
Yvette

Waitangi Tribunal Report – to be, or not to be
Cabinet agreed on April 9, 2025, to establish a Ministerial Advisory Group (comprising Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka as Chair, Attorney-General Judith Collins, Minister of Justice Paul Goldsmith, Minister for Resources Shane Jones, and Associate Minister of Justice David Seymour) to oversee the review and appoint the Independent Technical Advisory Group on the Review of the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975.

The Report of the Independent Technical Advisory Group on the Review of the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975 was submitted to the Ministerial Advisory Group / Cabinet in September 2025. So the government has had the report for approximately one year.

The Labour Coalition sat on He Puapua for quite a while before being forced to release it, so what is the current National Coalition doing with the Independent Technical Advisory Group on the Review of the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975 Report.?

Perhaps Winston Peters or Shane Jones could tell us.
A little puzzle may be Why has Associate Minister of Justice David Seymour, one of the Ministerial Advisory Group not pushed a release?

And what of Winston’s racist remarks? – did they provoke Luxon’s ‘brain petard’ on MMP, when he may have realised suddenly it could dump Winston again. “I don’t need some yahoo or numpty from some other party around that table” – Luxon

There is obviously more to come:
• NZF to review who can be an MP
• NZF could drop the above Report if it casts Luxon in an pro-Tribunal trait.
In fact ACT could also release it if they thought it would cause Luxon to have to pin his colours to the mast and reveal his true position on ‘Maorification’
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August 8, 2026 8:06am
rouppe

Ended up taking the free sky sport day pass to watch the All Blacks game.

Flattering score. Three yellow cards is something they should be embarrassed about, along with the multitude of handling errors.

The TMO really influenced the game. Again.

I’ll take the win, but there sure is a lot of scope for improvement.

Not least the sky sport now platform. The stream seized up three times on me. Yes I’m on cellular but I seem to be able to stream Prime video and tvnz+ without that problem
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August 8, 2026 8:28am
- Tomtoddy
  
  @rouppe. Agreed the Blacks looked very amateurish. The big mobile SA forwards and the fast-running backs will massacre them if they don’t up their game and fast. Very poor display except for a few flashes of strong play.
  
  I have no use for no-look passes. Why coaches don’t kill them off beats me. Might look stylish but it is a very sure way of handing possession to the opposition.
  
  Beudan Barrett had a reasonable game and kicked well. The rest were pretty ordinary.
  
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  August 8, 2026 8:50am
  - David Garrett
    
    Tom: They need to bring back Buck…
    
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    August 8, 2026 9:03am
  - MCōs
    
    It will be an almost an entirely different fifteen on the paddock for the first test.
    For that matter it’ll be a different team for the next game in a few days time.
    The influence of the TMO was ridiculous, particularly with the disallowing Stormers try. They scored straight afterwards anyway.
    Btw
    The original try was awarded under advantage, conversion kicked, blokes back at halfway and no sign of a yellow card, which was dished out for repeat offending.
    The first yellow card looked dodgy
    
    Signed
    Dyed in the wool AB Supporter
    
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    August 8, 2026 9:25am

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