General Debate 12 August 2026

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General Debate

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Notsofast

A couple of interesting points.
1. Erica Stanford stopped using Twitter/X shortly after the branding change July 2023.
2. Ladbrokes has been blocked in New Zealand from yesterday.

We are heading for restricted access to global information is my conclusion. I hope the FSU checks this.
Ladbrokes is a useful source for political polling, and other activities etc without necessarily betting.
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August 12, 2026 8:08am
- lastmanstanding
  
  A divided team is a lossing team.
  
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  August 12, 2026 9:04am
- Nikola Donatello
  
  I wonder if Ladbrokes has stopped the service to New Zealand? I just checked and I can’t even defeat the block by using a VPN. So that usually happens when the provider has invested serious effort in the regional block.
  
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  August 12, 2026 9:06am
  - imalwaysright
    
    Ladbrokes seem to have odds on the election only.
    PM Hipkins 47%
    PM Luxon 14%
    
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    August 12, 2026 9:08am
kowtow

Fool me once …….

I see Pakistan has announced , for the 15th time , an Iran deal is close.
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August 12, 2026 8:13am
- Simon
  
  Saudi done a nuke deal with Pakistan. US retreat from Gulf.
  
  Iran backed by China. Iran has got this.
  
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  August 12, 2026 8:54am
gorse

The media have got what they wanted. National appearing as in disarray just before the elections. Almost no room on various news websites for real news, all filled up with articles on PM Luxon.

I hope that in spite of them the day will be ours in November.
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August 12, 2026 8:14am
- kowtow
  
  NZME ,Du Plessis Allan and Coughlan have been very much involved .
  Without them this would have no legs.
  
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  August 12, 2026 8:32am
- MCōs
  
  The commentators on this blog constantly derides the leadership of Mr Luxon. Same people turn around and grizzle about the media doing the same thing.
  
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  August 12, 2026 8:59am
- kowtow
  
  In today’s Herald next to a very uncomplimentary cartoon of a beat up , crippled Luxon with one foot in a bucket, the other heavily bandaged is a list of 14 “gaffes , speculation and apologies “
  
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  August 12, 2026 9:05am
Taipan Pete

Et tu, Erica?
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August 12, 2026 8:18am
rouppe

Good win by the All Blacks this morning.

Poor game plan from National back benchers.
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August 12, 2026 8:19am
- nathie
  
  “Poor game plan from National back benchers”.
  
  Well I suppose you could say they have found the “winning formula” for National (and therefore the Coalition) to lose the next election to Labour and the looney left! /s
  
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  August 12, 2026 9:06am
imalwaysright

National support will go up.

The people who left because of Luxon will come back.
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August 12, 2026 8:22am
Damocles11

If you can bring in a stronger and more capable leader & dump Dunning-Kruger effect poster-boy Luxon, then that’s not disarray – it’s actually improvement.
All the hand-wringing over getting rid of woke corporate flop Luxon is everything that is wrong with National. He hung his hat on an economic recovery, and it hasn’t happened, so the buck stops at the top. The guy just is not the corporate hot-shot that he thinks he is. He hasn’t connected with the public, is prone to gaffes, and hasn’t got National out of the early 30’s. If the caucus believes there is someone in their midst that can do much better, bring it on. Rather than hiding behind the couch and accepting utter mediocrity and woeful leadership, National supporters should have been braying for better. Relish the chance that someone will come to the fore that can do better from the party than what we’ve experienced over the last 3 years.
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August 12, 2026 8:35am
- Ghost
  
  gee, why is out economy not recovering, could it have anything to do with a man overseas who put tariffs on us, and then wrecked global economy with his war. Problem is some of you have had it in for him for a long, so it really doesn’t matter what he does or says you have your daily little beat off over him. The difference between the left and the right I the left unites when in government, hell even in opposition, the right rip each party apart and cannibalise.
  
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  August 12, 2026 9:08am
kowtow

Very good article about food production and prices in today’s Herald by Dr J Rowarth , a regular guest on The Country.

Power ,fuel, fertiliser , transport as well as rates and interest rates.

Much of this is down to govt ( climate) policies , taxes and regulations.
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August 12, 2026 8:36am
grumpy

Why I can never vote for ACT
https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-16039063/christian-grandmother-maid-canada-religioon-euthanized.html
Already trying to extend the scope of legal murder I’m New Zealand…..
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August 12, 2026 8:37am
- Yvette
  
  In Canada
  The family of 83-year-old Canadian Brigitte “GG” Stegemann alleges she was euthanized against her will and religious beliefs, on July 10, 2026, at a long-term care home in Belleville, Ontario, under Canada’s Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) program, her relatives claim she lacked cognitive capacity and did not give final verbal consent.
  
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  August 12, 2026 8:45am
- Damocles11
  
  Haven’t heard anything like this happening here. We probably have stricter parameters than the Canadians.
  I understand that some religious people won’t vote for ACT because of a democratic referendum that the majority of New Zealanders supported, and I think that is a great pity. Effectively it’s punishing the only genuine right wing party we have for giving people a democratic choice.
  
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  August 12, 2026 8:59am
Simon

National party gated boomers = harden up small business. Gated boomers safe space think Luxon telling small business to harden up is great governance

Hard man gated boomers.
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August 12, 2026 8:58am
Northshoredoc

In Wellington today for meetings, may wander down to parliament and throw some tomatoes at the media jackals.

I really do hope that Nat/Act win the election and serve some very serious utu on government funded media during the next parliamentary term.
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August 12, 2026 8:58am
Damocles11

Unbelievably naive and stupid from Grigg. Luxon wasn’t anointed by God to be our PM and he doesn’t have the job for life.
‘Minister for Women Nicola Grigg says she is “absolutely” backing Christopher Luxon, and does not believe Erica Stanford is capable of leading the National Party or being prime minister.
“She’s a good friend of mine, but she’s not a prime minister,” Grigg told Stuff, after landing in Wellington.
She said Chris Penk, rumoured to be Stanford’s “numbers man”, had never called her to get support for a leadership change.
She reiterated that Stanford was not prime minister material.
“I don’t believe she’s a prime minister. She’s a good friend of mine, but I don’t believe she’s a prime minister,” Grigg said.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/361017190/live-christopher-luxon-leadership-vote
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August 12, 2026 9:01am
artemisia

Seems some agreement has been reached between Uber and its drivers. Potentially wide implications for the ‘gig’ economy.

The deal establishes a framework for Uber to start making individual financial offers to these drivers. Once a driver accepts their offer, it would settle their claims on a full and final basis.

According to Workers First Union – “In New Zealand, there is more and more exploitative ‘gig’ work that erodes workers’ rights.”

Interesting to see what offers are made, and which are accepted. Confidential if accepted, but if not?

https://wellington.scoop.co.nz/?p=182413
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August 12, 2026 9:01am
Nūhaka Native

Over in the USA.

“The World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) has essentially admitted that their acclaimed “Standards of Care, Version 8” (SOC-8) is not the definitive standard of care that it is conventionally treated as in its motion to dismiss the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)’s lawsuit – co-sponsored by a group of states – dated July 28, 2022. In WPATH’s own words, they have merely been presenting SOC-8 as their free-speech opinion: a source to reference in a field which they now characterise as “medical and scientific uncertainty.”

WPATH’s filing matters because it describes SOC-8 as non binding, opinion based guidance in an unsettled field, making it harder for doctors to argue they “followed WPATH” and were therefore acting ‘appropriately’.

Meanwhile, U.S. litigation involving minors and former minors is growing. The $2 million Fox Varian verdict in New York was reported as the first U.S. malpractice verdict involving gender-transition surgery on a minor. Chloe Cole’s lawsuit against Kaiser and her doctors remains pending, while the Texas Supreme Court allowed Soren Aldaco’s detransitioner lawsuit to proceed. Together, these cases point to increasing legal scrutiny of ‘gender’ treatment of minors.

Given the U.S. legal challenges to WPATH/SOC-8, what could this mean for New Zealand’s Ministry of Health and ACC? Could it strengthen the case for the Government’s more cautious approach to puberty blockers and gender-related care for minors, and lead ACC to take a closer look at clinical judgment, informed consent and treatment related injuries?

New Zealand’s cautious government approach looks justified as concern grows overseas about the evidence and WPATH’s non-binding guidance. The Government moved to restrict new puberty-blocker prescriptions, but the court’s decision to pause the ban during the judicial review raises the question of whether the courts have been too soft, and whether the Government’s original precautionary approach was actually the wiser one.

https://williamaferguson.substack.com/p/wpath-just-told-a-court-its-standards
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August 12, 2026 9:06am
Southern Raider

A trans Green MP in the UK has stated “rape exists on a spectrum” and there has been a “demonisation of rape”.

This is the kind of people that the Green political movement is enabling globally.
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August 12, 2026 9:07am
- Yvette
  
  Southern Raider – This is the kind of people that the Green political movement is enabling globally.
  
  while here …
  A Green Waitangi Tribunal
  Green Party would reinstate historical recommendations enabling the Tribunal to make binding or direct recommendations regarding privately-held land wrongfully alienated from Māori, opposies National-led coalition legislative actions and reviews that seek to restrict or narrow the focus of Tribunal inquiries. Rejecting attempts to curtail kaupapa (topic-based) inquiries and broader accountability mechanisms tied to Te Tiriti o Waitangi, the Greens ropose broader redress frameworks, including revisiting past settlements and addressing contemporary policy conflicts highlighted by urgent tribunal findings.
  
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  August 12, 2026 9:12am
MCōs

This is the second time the PM has felt the need to shore up his leadership
I expect he’ll come through like a plane landing in Wellington in a severe gale, but how long before another storm hits the capital.
That could be when Mr Luxon has to sit down with Winston and Seymour to negotiate a new coalition agreement from a weakened, but still dominant position.
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August 12, 2026 9:12am

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