General Debate 17 August 2026

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General Debate

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artemisia

A third of Harvard’s social sciences staff laid off last week. Not the first wave of recent layoffs due to budget deficits. Aka running out of money bigly. The affected roles are non-faculty like admin, HR, support being restructured to consolidate functions.

Harvard non-faculty staffing numbers are much bigger than any New Zealand government department total FTEs. If they can do it,why can’t New Zealand?
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August 17, 2026 8:14am
- Cassandra
  
  And Harvard doesn’t owe money lenders billions either. It’s foundation is the largest in the world.
  
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  August 17, 2026 8:17am
Cassandra

A retired UK policeman reposted two items. The first: “Mohammed recently arrived at Dover. Please donate to help him move from a three-star to a five-star hotel which has a better halal menu, free wifi and Sky and is nearer to a girls’ school”.

The second was a picture of a rasher of bacon and a man in a turban alongside the caption “Fun facts about Bacon! People who eat bacon have a lower chance of marrying a 9-year-old!”.

He has been prosecuted. Not guilty re the first, guilty and fined £1,000 on the second. He is appealing, supported by the FSU.

I wonder if he’d have been prosecuted if the image showed a kippah instead of a turban?
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August 17, 2026 8:15am
Yvette

David Seymour: Implementing ONE LAW for ALL in the public service

ACT will reset the public service around the basic principles of equal treatment, individual freedom, political and religious neutrality, and accountability for results. …

There is already a Cabinet expectation that services should be delivered according to need rather than race. ACT will give that principle real teeth by writing it into the Public Service Act.
Third, ACT will separate spiritual practices from public service work. …

ACT will prohibit public service employers from initiating or resourcing cultural or spiritual practices as part of the workplace.
Public servants will remain free to practise their own religion, culture, or traditions in their own time, with reasonable accommodation where appropriate.
Fourth, ACT will remove irrelevant cultural requirements from public service jobs.
A person applying to work for the Government should be judged on whether they can do the job, not their knowledge of particular cultural concepts, values, or worldviews unless there is a genuine occupational reason for doing so.

ACT will direct public service agencies to remove those requirements from job advertisements and position descriptions where they are not relevant to the role, through a clear letter of expectations to the Public Service Commissioner and a Cabinet circular.

We will ensure a public service capable of unlocking the potential of all New Zealanders. It will be neutral, professional, focused on results, and treat every person as an individual.” – David Seymour
https://www.brashandmitchell.com/post/david-seymour-implementing-one-law-for-all-in-the-public-service

• It may be revealing how “main-stream media” handle this, if indeed they handle it at all.

• And further it maybe intriguing if Willie Jackson can defend Maori spirituality encroaching primary school teaching, when he, as an example, is a man who uses an expression like “dirty, filthy mongrels” quite readily.
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August 17, 2026 8:18am
Tomtoddy

Jack Tame deserves credit for exposing some of the horrifying gaps in Opportunity’s policies on yesterday morning’s TV. Qiulae Wong looked quite ill at ease as he pressed her on some issues where their ideas are plain nuts and would end in disaster.

The thought that they might be in some mix with Labour, Greens and TPM is unthinkable and would do major harm to the economy. I just wish the Coalition would stop making the pathway so easy for Hipkins and his c0-bandits.
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August 17, 2026 8:23am
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  Interview here:
  
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9YV3hc6cVk
  
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  August 17, 2026 8:33am

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