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August 20, 2026 8:00am by Kokila Patel

General Debate 20 August 2026

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Yvette

The mourning after over-hang
Te Pāti Māori confirmed the strategy at its campaign launch on Sunday, but Jackson had warned it would risk the legitimacy of the Māori seats in Parliament, saying that “when you start working the system like that” it could lead to backlash and the seats’ possible abolition.

As this could risk the Maori Seats, it becomes a ‘con’
What then are the ‘pros’ for keeping these now out-dated seats?
Oh …

_______________

Where Rawiri Waititi gets his 13 Maori Members from –
All 7 Maori Special Electorates [really?] and then Party Votes going elsewhere would help get in Green and Labour List Maori –

The Labour Party announced its candidate list in June 2026, promoting several senior Māori MPs and introducing new candidates:
⚬ #4 Willie Jackson (Labour Māori Development spokesperson)
⚬ #7 Willow-Jean Prime (Te Tai Tokerau candidate) – the limit of Waititi’s example

The Māori candidates ranked within the Green Party’s top 20 for the 2026 General Election list are:
⚬ #1 Marama Davidson
⚬ #3 Teanau Tuiono
⚬ #4 Tamatha Paul
⚬ #7 Hūhana Lyndon – the other limit of Waititi’s example

Well, if Waititi believes that, he can be sold a volcanic-fault seawater-filled Waitematā Harbour-crossing tunnel

But it would be nice to let Willie know he may have been voted in by Te Pati Maori supporters.

Ardern stated an adviser from the public health community calculated that early pandemic measures prevented around 5,000 deaths.
Then she remarked that the protected individuals do not know who they are, but knowing how many were saved helped her cope with the stress of stringent restrictions. [1]

Note the switch from calculation to actual numbers saved.
Applying this logic to Jackson, he won’t know who actually voted him in, willie?

________________
[1] https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/covid-19-response-prime-minister-jacinda-ardern-interview-on-what-government-got-right-and-wrong/PKKLCAAF6DCTUCH3AIRIP4W6TU/ [subscription-walled]
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August 20, 2026 8:01am
- Quail
  
  The disaster that is MMP,
  The only certainty is democracy being abused!
  Luxon was right to suggest a review ,,but suspect that his comment was all hooey but no doey
  
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  August 20, 2026 8:13am
- rouppe
  
  5000 lives saved? That’s a made up number but let’s use it.
  
  $60,000,000,000 spend on “COVID measures”. That’s $12,000,000 per life putatively saved.
  
  Could it have been done another way?
  
  How about $1,000,000,000 on focused support for aged residence and hospitals. $1,000,000,000 on some hotels to be isolation facilities for those that have caught COVID.
  
  Let most people get on with it, allowing wfh where possible. That’s $58,000,000,000 available to flex the operations that need it. More isolation facilities, or use more hotels for less urgent outpatient care…
  
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  August 20, 2026 8:37am
  - surfing
    
    What was the average increase in lifesspan?
    
    Of those 5000 , how many died within 6 months anyway? I have a feeling it would be 70% or more. These were people at end of life anyway.
    
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    August 20, 2026 8:53am
    - Nikola Donatello
      
      “These were people at end of life anyway.”
      
      The average additional life of an 85 year old is about 6 years.
      
      Anyway all your questions are covered in the Royal Commission report. You are asking these questions as though they are new.
      
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      August 20, 2026 10:46am
      - Gussy
        
        Average 6 years of additional life from 85 – that seems an extraordinary statistic! How many examples of this do you personally know of?
        Appears to check out though, with, coincidentally, UK and NZ being identical.
        
        Consider too, quality of life at that point, and the ongoing impact on everyone else, including many not yet born.
        
        We go to war for less.
        
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        August 20, 2026 11:19am
      - Handyman
        
        The comparison of 85 year olds living to 91 is the wrong comparison.
        The point is that a bunch of 85 year-olds die every year – of something- more in winter of a respiratory illness. If not directly of flu then it weakens them to die of the next thing. The Grim Reaper calls them “dry timber”.
        During the covid era, the restrictions probably postponed the death of many of those until flu got them the following year.
        Also remember every time someone claims Ardern saved lives… The New Zealand death rate from Covid was in the bottom half of countries worldwide. She did worse than average and significantly worse taking into account the lockdowns and financial harm.
        
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        August 20, 2026 5:04pm
  - Nikola Donatello
    
    Writing $60 billion as $60,000,000,000 is very annoying.
    
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    August 20, 2026 10:41am
    - imalwaysright
      
      …so is paying the interest on it.
      
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      August 20, 2026 11:45am
    - NeverMindTheBollocks
      
      In general, I agree, but on occasion, showing the numbers brings home just how big $60,000,000,000 really is.
      
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      August 20, 2026 12:27pm
    - R
      
      But it has far more impact, than writing ‘billion’. Such a presentation may, just may, get the idea of magnitude through to the plebs.
      
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      August 20, 2026 1:23pm
    - rouppe
      
      It’s for emphasis
      
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      August 20, 2026 1:41pm
- SGA
  
  @ Yvette “Te Pāti Māori confirmed the strategy at its campaign launch on Sunday, but Jackson had warned it would risk the legitimacy of the Māori seats in Parliament, saying that “when you start working the system like that” it could lead to backlash and the seats’ possible abolition.”
  
  Huh, Jackson says “start working the system”? One need only look at the difference between the voting for candidates and the voting for parties across the Maori seats at the last election to realise this is nothing new. To be fair, it’s a perfectly logical approach to maximise Maori “representation” in Parliament – I don’t like it in principle, but there is nothing nefarious about it.
  
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  August 20, 2026 9:27am
  - Beach Haven expat
    
    Willie Jackson warning about working the system? Wasn’t he the one in Government bellowing at Jack tame about the tyranny of democracy and us white fellas were going to have to get used to a new system?
    
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    August 21, 2026 12:08am
- Positan
  
  As to utterances of depth, practical intelligence or even basic reasoning, I’ve yet to hear ANYTHING that even vaguely relates to such virtues emanate from Willie Jackson.
  I can only think that those who don’t choose to dismiss his usually absurd or threatening postures outright have their own serious mental deficiencies.
  In addition to being incontestably rude, inconsiderate and overbearing, I’ve never heard Jackson come across as anything more than a big mouth and trousers.
  
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  August 20, 2026 9:33am
- Damocles11
  
  The Right can create an overhang as well.
  Vote National with your electorate vote.
  Vote ACT with your party vote.
  But only do the above if you want the Right to win the election.
  
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  August 20, 2026 11:28am
Cassandra

The report into the Mount landslide reveals that warnings were given 27 years go. A landslide from the mountain hit a campground at its base, killing 6 people.

The Mount is owned by a Maori tribe. The campground is leased by Tauranga City Council.

There’s been no mention in any of the news reports about the involvement or any actions of the owners of the land.

A casual reader would think that the Mount was the Council’s.
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August 20, 2026 8:01am
- pdm
  
  I too noticed that there was no mention of Maori responsibility Cass.
  
  Wasn’t it the Iwi that insisted on removal of various trees that was the main reason for that part of the hill becoming unstable?
  
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  August 20, 2026 8:09am
  - Cassandra
    
    That was posited. It may have been a factor but the main cause was geological. There had been 40 slips over the years.
    
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    August 20, 2026 8:25am
    - imalwaysright
      
      Yes, the Mount is a pile of rock and soil on the edge of the Pacific. You don’t need to be Einstein to work out that it will succumb to water, wind, and gravity.
      
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      August 20, 2026 9:13am
      - Maggy Wassilieff
        
        Indeed, but this pile of rock and soil grows in a climate zone where it would have originally been clothed in forest. After 600+ years of total forest clearance, repeated fires , landscape engineering (terraces, pits, tracks, paths, etc), the pile turns to a sodden mess in heavy and sustained periods of rain.
        
        https://manucaddie540258.substack.com/p/a-brief-history-of-vegetation-on
        
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        August 20, 2026 11:39am
    - Maggy Wassilieff
      
      The 3 large pines and macrocarpa that were removed in 2019 were growing on the site of a historic slip directly above the camp ground.
      
      No geotechnical report was undertaken when they were removed, even though 2 sets of geotech advisors – Dr Richards 1999 and McHugh (Avalon) had told TCC that no earthworks or drainage works should be carried out on the slopes above the campground without considering the serious consequences.
      
      Davison writes in the report [438], p.188…
      “I make no finding that the removal of the trees caused or contributed to the 22 January 2026 landslide. I nevertheless note the removal took place 6 years and 5 months before the landslide – a period “uncomfortably within the window of instability during which loss of root strength can elevate landslide risk”….
      
      https://www.tauranga.govt.nz/council/external-review-into-mount-beachside-holiday-park-landslide
      
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      August 20, 2026 9:49am
  - keepcalmcarryon
    
    First report has found the tree removal didn’t contribute.
    
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    August 20, 2026 8:31am
    - Maggy Wassilieff
      
      That’s how the media has interpreted things…
      
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      August 20, 2026 11:00am
      - pdm
        
        As they would Maggy.
        
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        August 20, 2026 11:36am
  - mike
    
    Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
    No. The slip risk there was evident for 30 years. The report provides no fodder for the racists.
    
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    August 20, 2026 8:53am
    - Cassandra
      
      It’s owned by the tribe, mike. Are they not involved? It’s long standing common law, a semi La case.
      
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      August 20, 2026 9:23am
      - HalfFull
        
        White Island owner was taken to court.
        
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        August 20, 2026 9:33am
      - Ghost
        
        The council is in charge of the mount, not iwi
        
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        August 20, 2026 10:31am
      - mike
        
        No, it’s not.
        
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        August 20, 2026 9:37am
      - Cassandra
        
        semi La was actually typed as seminal.
        
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        August 20, 2026 9:42am
      - Cassandra
        
        mike: what is not? Maori don’t own the Mount? It’s not a seminal case?
        
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        August 20, 2026 9:45am
      - Cassandra
        
        Have a look at Rylands v Fletcher.
        
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        August 20, 2026 9:46am
      - pdm
        
        Ghost says:
        `The council is in charge of The Mount, not iwi’.
        
        So Iwi Ownership is `ALL CARE AND NO RESPONSIBILITY?’
        
        Is that the same for:
        The bed of Lake Taupo?
        The Waikato River?
        Mount Egmont/Taranaki?
        etc etc etc
        
        Let ratepayers and Taxpayers carry the financial burdens.
        
        That does not sound fair and reasonable to me.
        
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        August 20, 2026 11:39am
      - Colville
        
        pdm.
        If I lease a farm from you and then I on-lease some of that land to a company to run a parachuting school , are you responsible for a death at the parachute school?
        
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        August 20, 2026 12:25pm
      - Ghost
        
        Here we go pdm
        
        https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2026/08/general_debate_20_august_2026.html/comment-page-1#comment-3872348
        
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        August 20, 2026 7:25pm
    - Inandout
      
      mike, the racist card simply doesn’t work any more, overused and meaningless twaddle.
      
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      August 20, 2026 9:39am
      - Yabster
        
        yep “racist” is meaningless when the left try to shut down and argument- maybe you can let that through mod -third attempt… why the first two where moderator is not obvious……
        
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        August 20, 2026 11:54am
  - Paulus
    
    The trees were cultural blight on their land so out they came.
    
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    August 20, 2026 10:23am
- kowtow
  
  Councils, across the country , have neglected their core roles and adopted mumbo jumbo as their top public policy.
  
  Disaster , actual , financial and societal was bound to follow.
  
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  August 20, 2026 8:16am
  - keepcalmcarryon
    
    Incompetence is the norm.
    
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    August 20, 2026 11:20am
- Simon
  
  Happens a lot in third world. Something preventable but some natural disaster kills people.
  
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  August 20, 2026 8:35am
- plc
  
  Looks sideways at Buttles being convicted in Worksafe prosecution related to White Island eruption in 2019.
  
  Conviction found they had responsibilities under HSAW Act.
  
  Looking forward to the owners receiving the same treatment here.
  
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  August 20, 2026 8:37am
  - Ghost
    
    The Tauranga City Council are the ones legally responsible for the mount
    
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    August 20, 2026 10:46am
    - plc
      
      On that basis Nainia Mahuta as Internal Affairs Minister responsible for Offshore Islands should have been in the White Island dock.
      
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      August 20, 2026 11:17am
      - Ghost
        
        Tauranga City Council as the operators of the camping ground are legally required to maintain the safety of staff and guests under a known hazard zone.
        
        Mauao Historic Reserve Vesting Act 2008 and Reserves Act 1977 makes the Tauranga City Council legally the administrating body whose job is to manage, maintain and protect the mount. The Mauao Historic Reserve Vesting Act 2008 included that the iwi owners do not hold any liabilities, they remained with the council
        
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        August 20, 2026 11:34am
      - Ra Henare
        
        So much emotional claptrap here.!!!
        Sorry, Ghost, but your facts are being downticked by the emotionally confused.
        
        It seems some are totally confused comparing White Island (privately owned) and subject to legal action
        
        And the Mount, which Ghost has pointed out, is the responsibility of the Council under NZ Law.
        
        The GOOD NEWS of my morning. NZD is up against the USD (59.37) makes cost of living in the Big Kindom even cheaper for Kiwis.
        
        Oh and the sun is out and a balmy 26c
        
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        August 20, 2026 1:53pm
    - pdm
      
      This is what AI says:
      
      The Owners: “Ownership was officially returned to the three Tauranga Moana iwi by the New Zealand government in 2008”.
      
      It also says that Iwi and the Council share Administration which I gues means the Council/Ratepayers bear any financial costs.
      
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      August 20, 2026 11:47am
      - Ra Henare
        
        Can’t always rely on AI.
        
        Reread Ghosts legal bits from 2008!!!
        
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        August 20, 2026 1:58pm
      - Jethrod
        
        The ducking and diving has commenced.
        
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        August 20, 2026 5:24pm
    - Paulus
      
      But not as Owners.
      Only Ratepayers pay everything too !
      
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      August 20, 2026 12:58pm
    - graham71
      
      No they are not.
      If the owners of White Island have to pay 6 million
      Because they licensed someone else to do yours
      The owners of the mount are also responsible
      
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      August 20, 2026 5:55pm
      - Ghost
        
        White Island was private property it was not a reserve, you cannot compare the two.
        
        Section 7 of the bill should explain that to you
        
        Unless and until the reservation of Mauao historic reserve as a reserve is revoked under the Reserves Act 1977, the Crown continues to have, in relation to the reserve, the rights and obligations of the holder of the fee simple estate (including any obligations in respect of occupational health and safety, building, or rating liability legislation).
        
        When iwi complained about this it was explained to them, as stated in This article
        
        The Bill specifies how the conservation minister would continue to hold all the powers under the Reserves Act over Mauao, including the power to appoint people on to the board set up to control and manage the reserve.
        
        It also gives the minister the final say on granting concessions and licences, although the vesting document made it clear the public would continue to have freedom of access without payment to Mauao.
        
        Colin Bidois, the chairman of the joint iwi council that has spent six years negotiating the return of Mauao, said that although the Bill could be construed as a clayton’s agreement, the Crown had said that retaining responsibilities under the Reserves Act protected trustees from liability if, for instance, someone was killed by a falling rock.
        
        So to sum it up, the settlement protected the owners and liability remained with the crown and council
        
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        August 20, 2026 6:37pm
- mike
  
  The One News report covered this aspect. I don’t know why less-than-aware Kiwibloggers keep claiming the ‘MSM’ doesn’t cover stuff which has, in fact, been covered.
  
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  August 20, 2026 8:51am
  - igm
    
    One News, spreaders of mis/disinformation . . . but that suits left narrative!
    
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    August 20, 2026 8:56am
  - Cassandra
    
    One News? No thanks. If that’s your best then you are seriously ill-informed.
    
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    August 20, 2026 9:24am
    - mike
      
      So you will be limiting your claims about media coverage?
      
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      August 20, 2026 9:39am
      - Cassandra
        
        I don’t recall making any claims about media coverage.
        
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        August 20, 2026 9:43am
      - Ra Henare
        
        Cass. Short-term memory lost??
        9:24
        One News? No thanks. If that’s your best then you are seriously ill-informed.
        
        9:43
        I don’t recall making any claims about media coverage.
        
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        August 20, 2026 2:01pm
  - Positan
    
    I’ve got a bridge I can sell you, Mike.
    
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    August 20, 2026 9:36am
- surfing
  
  This is the maori model though – Maori like to reap the benefits of ownership but not pay the costs. Where they can get someone else to pay, they do just that.
  
  I sometimes wonder where tribes get their money from . How much is the government still giving to the tribes? How do we find out?
  
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  August 20, 2026 8:56am
  - Paulus
    
    The expansion of the Port of Tauranga has been agreed in principle after 7 years of Maori objecting and blocking to everything.
    Same Iwi as Maoui of course.
    What we do not know is hidden in the Port case as its secret we are told a commercialy confidential.
    No doubt our local Beemer and Merc dealers are rubbing their hands.
    
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    August 20, 2026 4:26pm
- RoboRob
  
  What has happened to personal responsibility in New Zealand?
  
  Prior to the 2000s when people cocked up, or those under them did, they would take responsibility and resign. Now we have a situation where the council CEO who oversaw these issues for for 8 years, refuses to step down. They guy was at least partially responsible for actual deaths, if that is not a reason to resign what is?
  
  In the UK people still resign, why does no one here do the same? My theory is that governments (national and local) move to remove the powers of elected officials to remove employees is to blame. This CEO knows that the council cant get rid of him because a massive payout would be required. There is no threat of being sacked and so people dont resign. The council chose to employ this guy under such a contract.
  
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  August 20, 2026 9:10am
  - kowtow
    
    Radio last night , he’s on $600 k plus !
    
    Who’d resign from that.
    
    Besides the likes of these people are on a crusade , a long march through the institutions, now let’s have that karakia and emply more officials on top $ for Maori “engagement” and saving the planet.
    
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    August 20, 2026 9:17am
    - imalwaysright
      
      The Mayor should sack him.
      
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      August 20, 2026 10:41am
      - RoboRob
        
        I suspect he has a contract that practically prevents that.
        
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        August 20, 2026 11:25am
      - imalwaysright
        
        RR
        Yes he surely will have a very secure contract, however contracts by their nature obligate both parties to perform.
        
        Six dead people is a pretty clear indication that Grenfell may have fallen short.
        
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        August 20, 2026 11:43am
    - Nikola Donatello
      
      600 k to run a medium size council in New Zealand. That is insane. 250 k fair enough.
      
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      August 20, 2026 10:48am
      - Yabster
        
        yep, there is a list of council ceos- some are so over-paid it’s not funny- pigs at the public trough -same for the heads of a lot of public services.
        
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        August 20, 2026 11:58am
    - Ra Henare
      
      The current chief executive of Tauranga City Council, Marty Grenfell, was reappointed for a five-year term starting 4 September 2023, meaning his contract is due to expire in early September 2028 (specifically, around 3–4 September 2028) unless renewed or extended.
      
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      August 20, 2026 2:03pm
  - imalwaysright
    
    As an aside, the report into the Moa Point sewage debacle could be allowed to be amended by the Council and the Company who managed it.
    
    This is beyond a joke.
    
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    August 20, 2026 9:17am
  - Tomtoddy
    
    Agreed RR. There has been an observable shift from individual responsibility to the collective being blamed or no one person or group accepting responsibility. This partly due to the greater complexity of much of what happens around us but it is also the framing that occurs when safety becomes the great god demanding obeisance.
    
    Doing a repainting of a sign on the road outside home yesterday took eight people plus four expensive vehicles and a huge number of cones. If something had gone wrong the ‘system’ would have been blamed because a simple job has been turned into an unnecessarily complicated procedure where pinpointing a single individual’s role is masked.
    
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    August 20, 2026 9:37am
    - mike
      
      This has certainly been the case in the public sector after 40 years of ‘reforms’ to improve accountability.
      
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      August 20, 2026 9:41am
    - R
      
      System blamed……..that is the beauty and attraction of SOCIALISM. No sense of personal responsibility, nor acceptance of consequences for one actions(inaction)
      
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      August 20, 2026 9:44am
      - RoboRob
        
        Whilst you are right re socialism, I would argue that the issue we are dealing with is the Rights desire to remove accountability from elected officials. Over the years the right have purposely rescinded their control over the governments own agencies so that if anything goes wrong it is not their fault.
        
        The best recent example is Nationals fast track system where the minister in charge chose not to give themselves a veto. This was a clever move as then pesky continuants couldn’t appeal to the minister to override an unpopular decision. They would not look bad for denying the will of the people, smart politics. But from a what is best for the country, a terrible move. The irony is that the fast track board gave the OK to Meridian to rise lake levels, which the minister opposed but couldn’t do anything about.
        
        We see these structures all through our government. I regularly call for heads to roll and posters with more knowledge of government structures point out that x or y cannot be removed by the minister because of x and y structures. Our right wing governments imposed this crap on us, not the left who would prefer more power not less.
        
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        August 20, 2026 10:45am
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    I do advise a careful reading of Paul Davison’s report.
    
    It will make you weep…So many people running in their own lanes with no idea what was going on elsewhere in the council.
    
    It appears the TCC had a highly qualified natural-hazards expert on staff and no-one had ever bothered to inform (him/her) on the Commissioned Geotech work that HD-Geo had just taken on warning of landslide susceptibility of the Holiday Park.
    
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    August 20, 2026 9:57am
  - Taieri
    
    They guy was at least partially responsible for actual deaths, if that is not a reason to resign what is?
    ———-
    
    I’m not a great fan of CEOs but…
    How is a CEO responsible for locating camping ground in the area of a possible landslide? Does he/she verify whether the place is suitable or not? Does he/she sign off the resource consent? Does a CEO take the responsibility for the actions of every council employee?
    If so, is the Prime Minister responsible for every action of his/her underlings and every lethal accident in NZ? Should he/she resign when, for example, a tourist bus crashes on the SH67 because of a deep pothole and 12 people get killed?
    
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    August 20, 2026 9:59am
    - Don Beckett
      
      I have lived in this area (Tauranga-Te Puke – Mt. Maunganui ) for most of my 84 years, and regularly visited & holidayed at The Mount from my years as an infant – that is, since 1947. All that time, there has been a camping ground at the foot of The Mount . The council facilities were put in – from memory – some time in the early 1960’s & developed over the years. There is evidence of slips around the Mount before & after that time. Maybe the council engineering archives should have been consulted with each development.
      Maybe they were – I don’t know – but some people must have ignored them.
      
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      August 20, 2026 10:43am
      - Maggy Wassilieff
        
        Maybe the council engineering archives should have been consulted with each development.
        Maybe they were – I don’t know – but some people must have ignored them.
        
        Read Davison’s report…..
        There were staff members who had no idea that TCC held a large body of Geotech information relating to the Camp ground from at least 1999.
        
        There were staff members (with responsibilities relevant to the slips) who didn’t even know that a spaces and places risk register existed.
        
        There were staff members who couldn’t figure out that rockfall risks were not the same thing as landslip risks.
        
        etc, etc.
        
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        August 20, 2026 11:08am
    - RoboRob
      
      Because the council was formally alerted to the potential issue multiple times over a number of decades. The structures and systems of the council did not correctly respond to those alerts and no systems were implemented to deal with potential issues. When warnings came of an imminent slip the council was alerted hours in advance but there was no system in place to alert the camp site.
      
      The council CEO is responsible to the systems and structure of the organisation, head said so himself on TV this morning.
      
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      August 20, 2026 10:50am
    - imalwaysright
      
      Yes, perish the thought that the person in charge should be expected to bear the blame….
      
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      August 20, 2026 10:56am
    - NeverMindTheBollocks
      
      Why should the CEO resign?
      
      The buck stops with the guy at the top, Taieri. It’s as simple as that.
      
      With great power comes great responsibility. That’s why the CEO is paid the big bucks, and is why he should now walk the plank.
      
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      August 20, 2026 12:37pm
    - KH
      
      The CEO is responsible for the organisation to run effectively. And plainly it was not effective. His responsibility.
      
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      August 20, 2026 1:35pm
  - Paulus
    
    The most important thing for the Tauranga Council CEO is how much will it cost ratepayers when he goes, as he will.
    Tauranga Council CEO is a figurehead as the top echelons are run by a coterie of women who have done that for many years and changes of CEO.
    They will just carry on.
    
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    August 20, 2026 10:27am
    - RoboRob
      
      If these woman are pulling the strings, as you imply, the CEO has the option to sacrifice them.
      
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      August 20, 2026 10:51am
      - Paulus
        
        You Try !
        
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        August 20, 2026 1:02pm
  - keepcalmcarryon
    
    Work safe prosecuted the hero helicopter pilot at White Island, but grossly negligent councils like Tauranga have no accountability for slip deaths they should have prevented.
    What happened to the rule of law in this country?
    
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    August 20, 2026 11:22am
  - Beach Haven expat
    
    In the UK people do resign but only after kicking the screaming first as they hang on.
    Rayner – wouldn’t quit over false declaration over where she was shacked up so she could play the capital gains market, or when it emerged she used the trust fund set up for her disabled son to pay for her shag pad down on the south coast to be near her latest squeeze, or indeed having a shag pad 300 miles from her constituents, and when she finally did over the stamp duty she then took the ministers’ pay-off when saying Tories shouldn’t;
    Siddiq – the anti corruption minister facing a jail sentence in Bangladesh for, err, corruption
    Insert Labour MP name here – for taking cash for glasses, the wife’s dresses, a shagging holiday in NY, a 40th birthday party, etc from a donor who was then given a No10 pass
    Starmer – over Mandelson
    Starmer’s aide – over Mandelson, who then claimed his phone containing unfortunate messages with Mandelson had, errrr, been stolen and not, errr, immediately reported to No10 for security purposes
    The West Midlands police chief after banning Jews from Birmingham and then lying about it
    The Hampshire chief constable for protecting his officers who let Henry Nowak die, then in the aftermath seeing his officers arrest a man just standing in the street, rain several strikes with a shield on his head while being restrained (only for him to be not charged with any crime)
    Another West Midlands chief for authorising the force to lie about the white victim of assault nicked by his officers while the attackers wandered off (again, charges dropped)
    The Herts chief for sending around six officers to arrest and hold a couple who had complained about their child’s school in a WhatsApp group (again no charges)
    Met chief Sir Mark Rowley for officers investigating a journalist asking questions of serial fantasist and fraudster Jason Arday and then, after finding no crime, still saying not to contact serial fantasist and fraudster Jason Arday because it might make him feel sad.
    Sir Mark Rowley for being unable to buy the correct size hat for his tiny, tiny head.
    And finally serial fantasist and fraudster Jason Arday over his plagiarism and various other claims, instead sending in notorious bully-boy law firm Carter Ruck and the plod for anyone asking questions and getting the bizarre Good Law Project to get a letter of support. And when he did finally succumb to the shame, was found dead and now has led to thousands of morons demanding a state funeral because he was “lynched” to death.
    
    No, accountability and personal pride is not alive and well in the UK.
    
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    August 21, 2026 12:35am
- Paulus
  
  The only thing that the Council, meaning Ratepayers do is pay for it all.
  A few year ago a large portion of the flat land near the Hot Pools was concepted with designs to be a Cultural Centre, and I can now see that coming together along with everything else but it will be many years before anything happens as Maori never wanted people on its land when it was gifted for free to them.
  
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  August 20, 2026 10:22am
- Groggy
  
  Not true, the Mountain was jointly administered by the Council and Iwi. The news report I saw interviewed an Iwi representative and they advised that the council had never shared any reports on risks with them, The council did not dispute that statement.
  
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  August 20, 2026 11:01am
  - In Vino Veritas
    
    Ignorance is no defence Groggy.
    
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    August 20, 2026 6:34pm
Cassandra

NZ Rail assembles wagons at its Hillside Dunedin workshop. It’s done 1,000 of a 1,300 order. The workshop was resurrected by Labour a few years ago. It was to be closed because it was hopelessly uneconomic.

It’d cost $23,000 less per wagon to import them already assembled.

Hillside employs 200 people. It’s estimated that 199 vote Labour.
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August 20, 2026 8:02am
- Ghost
  
  while on the topic of rail, and slightly hijacking your post. A great video of the new locomotives being unloaded in Timaru
  
  https://www.thepress.co.nz/nz-news/361064939/locomotive-unloading-operation-timarus-port-complete
  
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  August 20, 2026 8:08am
  - Cassandra
    
    And there may well be a case for resurrection of Hillside. The 200 workers all contribute in many ways to their community and economy.
    
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    August 20, 2026 8:32am
    - Notsofast
      
      A bit like Marsden Point, not always pure economics, but retained skills and assets for security and resilience.
      I see the argument.
      
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      August 20, 2026 9:03am
    - kowtow
      
      You could say that about any subsidised or public type ’employment”
      
      Recall the party vote at one time in the People’s Republic of Dunedin was slipping away from the Comrade’s Party , that must have worried the number crunchers at Party HQ .So spend more to keep the place “faithful’ , comrade.
      
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      August 20, 2026 9:20am
    - the deity formerly known as nigel6888
      
      At a cost of only $149,000 per employee. Let us hope that wages and other employment costs are included in that $23,000 figure.
      
      Wonder what they will all do when the wagons are finished?
      
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      August 20, 2026 9:42am
    - Tomtoddy
      
      Sure, Cass, there is an argument but it is a very poor one. Why not make the locomotives at Hillside too and employ a couple of thousand additional workers who would transform Dunedin’s struggling economy?
      
      The reason is that it forces resources into low return activities that could be deployed in much more efficient sectors.
      
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      August 20, 2026 9:43am
      - Cassandra
        
        I was pre-emptying, Tom. Hillside is a make work Labour vote catcher. It should be run as a business.
        
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        August 20, 2026 9:49am
      - Cassandra
        
        Pre-empting. Autocorrect plus my eyesight are contributing to a potential bollocking from Tonga.
        
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        August 20, 2026 10:08am
      - Swifty
        
        What will the workforce have to do when this order is complete?
        
        Is KiwiRail their only customer?
        
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        August 20, 2026 10:36am
- Simon
  
  NZ Rail 5,000 employees, countless private contractors. Loses $ 1 billion in cash pa. It’s probably more as they put cash onto the balance sheet.
  
  Labour blah blah blah. National will do nothing.
  NZ can’t carry National anymore
  
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  August 20, 2026 8:38am
  - virtualmark
    
    KiwiRail is basically two separate businesses stuck inside one corporate structure.
    
    The “above rail” business runs the trains and the ferries. It’s basically a freight & logistics company. It makes good profits.
    
    The “below rail” business is the rail network, which has a huge capex bill every year to (a) maintain the network, (b) catch up on years of under-maintenance and (c) extend the network. This has little direct revenue, but huge costs.
    
    The profits from the above-rail business are not enough to fund the below-rail investment and so the overall business appears to make a loss.
    
    Just like Mainfreight would make a loss if it had to build and maintain its own road network.
    
    However, repeated analysis shows that the benefits of the rail network (i) moving tens of thousands of commuter cars off the road and (ii) displacing thousands of trucks off the road, outweighs the net cost of keeping KiwiRail.
    
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    August 20, 2026 5:23pm
- virtualmark
  
  There’s a really difficult piece of public policy regarding to what extent a country needs to maintain some floor level of self-sufficiency in areas like manufacturing, metal refining and other critical areas of the economy.
  
  The pure capitalist approach is that you let those jobs go to the lowest cost provider. But, as we’ve seen, that means many of those jobs go overseas, key skills and capabilities get lost, and you become dependent on countries that may not be permanent friends or allies.
  
  I don’t know enough about Hillside specifically to know the merits of Government support there. But I could see a broad argument for the Government to want to retain some level of local NZ capability in things like large scale castings, forgings and machining. Maybe Hillside, certainly A&G Price in Thames (as an example). In fact I suspect even with those two we don’t have enough domestic capability.
  
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  August 20, 2026 8:49am
BarryB

Following the release of the mount Maunganui Council report it has struck me that its time that there were some criminal actions taken against personal at organizations like Councils and local government bodies.

You domt have to activate much your memory to recall similar actions around the country.
Hastings with the contaminated water.
Hastings with Cyclone Gabrielle (when they went home knowing that the water level alarms had stopped reporting due to being washed away)
Auckland anniversary floods.
Gisborne area Gabrielle .
Nelson area flood damage.
Recent Kaikoura area floods.
Etc, etc
In All cases councils were very slow or totally absent in taking action to reduce damage as they knew that rain or storm were coming.
One of the things that all areas are suffering from is action to control water flow. I think Im right in saying that one cannot take shingle from all rivers. It used to be a regular thing to take river shingle to make concrete or use for farm tracks. But the environmental idiots got it all stopped and when you do this the river bed fills up with shingle (which is constantly coming down from the hills ). This caused widespread damage in floods like Gabrielle (where the Tukituki and Waipawa rivers broke their banks and washed out bridges), in Nelson flood and in the recent Kaikoura flood. Rivers that are full of shingle spread out over the ‘Flood Plain’ – and councils know this.

But the day after the floods council staff are really quick to get out and stick red and yellow stickers one damaged properties – the very properties that their incompetence caused to be damaged.
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August 20, 2026 8:04am
- kowtow
  
  They are also very quick to shove the blame for all this neglect of river beds , banks and bridges ( which get blocked with debris and themselves create flooding) on climate change .
  
  Back in the day there used to be river boards .Now there’s nothing but hot air about climate /environment from councils and no action.
  
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  August 20, 2026 12:31pm
Yvette

The Dirty Dozen + 1

Rawiri Waititi – “so the strategy for us is the candidate vote, Te Part Maori for the seven, that allows 13 Maori to enter Parliament” – YouTube video

During Te Pāti Māori’s campaign launch, co-leader Rāwiri Waititi presented an explicit vote-splitting strategy aimed at maximizing overall Māori representation across progressive parties in Parliament, as detailed in Waatea News Coverage.

The “Political Mathematics” Behind the Figures
Waititi used the electorate of Te Tai Tokerau as a key case study to explain the mathematics of how strategic candidate voting can deliver 13 (or more) Māori MPs to Parliament:
• The Local Electorate Dynamics: In Te Tai Tokerau, Te Pāti Māori candidate Aperahama Edwards contests the seat against Labour’s Willow-Jean Prime and Green candidate Hūhana Lyndon.
• High List Rankings: Both Willow-Jean Prime and Hūhana Lyndon occupy high spots [both are 7th] on their respective parties’ nationwide list allocations, meaning they are likely to be elected as List MPs if their parties achieve standard Party Vote thresholds.

The Strategic Candidate Vote: Waititi argued that if voters give their candidate vote to Te Pāti Māori’s candidate (Edwards) while directing their party vote to Labour or the Greens:
Aperahama Edwards wins the local Māori electorate seat for Te Pāti Māori.
Willow-Jean Prime and Hūhana Lyndon still enter Parliament via their parties’ list vote allocations.
Outcome: All 3 candidates enter Parliament from that single region rather than knocking one another out.

Scaling Nationwide to 13+ MPs
Applying this arithmetic across all 7 Māori electorates creates the expanded total:
• 7 Electorate MPs: Te Pāti Māori wins the 7 Māori electorate seats through strategic candidate voting.
• 6+ List MPs: High-ranking Māori candidates on Labour and Green Party lists gain seats via party votes re-routed to those parties.
Total Combined Force: This strategy produces 13 or more Māori MPs across progressive parties, while creating overhang seats that increase the total seat count for that voting bloc.

Exploitation of the overhang loophole has always been possible, but no party has tried it because the expectation is that voters will not put up with it. If Te Pāti Māori decides it’s worth the risk to try to deliberately undermine the proportionality of the election result, and this affects who governs, there will be a response. It could be bad news for the Māori seats, or for MMP generally. Or they could fail in their attempt because voters punish their candidate for attempting to play games with democracy.
https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/19-08-2026/te-pati-maori-will-be-in-risky-territory-if-it-tries-to-engineer-an-overhang
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August 20, 2026 8:25am
- KKNZ2025
  
  There are twice that many Maori in the current Parliament – perhaps many are Kelvin Davis’s “the wrong sort of Maori”
  
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  August 20, 2026 8:35am
- Cassandra
  
  Let’s hope it works and we finally conclude that Maori seats should go. And by a natural progression so should Maori everything. No Maori deputy vice chancellors, Maori All Blacks or anything else.
  
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  August 20, 2026 8:36am
  - Scott
    
    I’m OK with the Maori All Blacks. That’s a very traditional team with a long and proud history so I’m happy to have an exception there.
    But I would get rid of the Maori seats. Also the Maori party is on its face a very questionable concept? Would we be allowed to form a white party? A European kiwi party? Of course not.
    But somehow a Maori party is OK because of colonialism or institutional racism or something? 🤔
    
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    August 20, 2026 8:47am
    - Northshoredoc
      
      Pretty sure there is nothing to prevent a white party, european kiwi party or virtually any other party flavour you come up with.
      
      As per the the Maori Party I can’t see much point in any of them apart from the enrichment of their members of parliament and the higher ups in their organisations.
      
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      August 20, 2026 11:47am
    - Yabster
      
      or a white only rugby team Scott?
      
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      August 20, 2026 12:04pm
    - Ra Henare
      
      Call it
      The Recent Immigrant party
      
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      August 20, 2026 2:07pm
  - kowtow
    
    Most of the South Island has appointed Maori committee members with varying voting rights in local govt .
    
    That is contrary to the principles of democracy.
    
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    August 20, 2026 9:24am
- pdm
  
  Yvette I thought Mariameno Kapa-Kingi was representing her party in that Maori electorate as well. Making it a four way contest.
  
  If she is that will further split and maybe even distort the outcome if she makes big inroads into the Maori Party Vote.
  
  The Vet -who used to be a regular commenter on here and a blogger at No Minister Blog lives in the area and says it is the number one Electorate to watch this election.
  
  He still has his ear close to the ground on Political matters in the North even if he does not post these days so I give his view a lot of respect.
  
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  August 20, 2026 8:38am
  - Steve Todd
    
    The Vet […] lives in the area and says it is the number one Electorate to watch this election.
    
    I agree. A genuine four-way contest. The winner might well be elected to parliament with less than 30% of the vote.*
    
    * The Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party candidate, Maki Herbert (who is standing again) received 1,923 votes (7.15%) at the 2023 election. [202]
    
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    August 20, 2026 9:51am
    - gravedodger
      
      That is, in a nutshell, why I support single transferable vote eventually getting an MP who has nominal support of half the voters, and no list leeches.
      Hence the ongoing references to Preferences in pre election positioning
      
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      August 20, 2026 10:38am
      - Steve Todd
        
        @gravedodger @ 10:38AM
        
        Oh, no, no, no! gravedodger!
        
        You’re referring to the single-seat majority-preferential vote (PV) system, as used to elect the Australian House of Representatives, not to PR/STV. PV is basically FPP with a knob on, being, as you say, the winner is required to receive 50% + of the votes. Hardly worth the bother.
        
        Just to repeat, for the record, again, I advocate STV in large multimember electoral districts. I say no more — for now — because it’s all so hopelessly irrelevant, at least for the time being.
        
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        August 20, 2026 11:04am
- Prince
  
  The ‘six Maori MP’s from Labour or Greens’ is of course a nonsense, and shows a lack of maths. It is highly inlikely the next 6 list MP’s will all be Maori.
  
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  August 20, 2026 8:50am
  - Yvette
    
    Prince, please see the first comment this morning.
    In neither Labour or the Greens are the first List Members Maori as you rightly say.
    What te Parti Maori claim is they would net 6 MPs who are Maori but at positions on Labour’s List of #4 and #7, and from the Green’s List #1, #3, #4 and #7.
    
    Labour
    #4 Willie Jackson (Labour Māori Development spokesperson) 
    #7 Willow-Jean Prime (Te Tai Tokerau candidate) – the limit of Waititi’s example
    
    Green
    #1 Marama Davidson 
    #3 Teanau Tuiono 
    #4 Tamatha Paul
     #7 Hūhana Lyndon – the other limit of Waititi’s example
    
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    August 20, 2026 1:24pm
- Flossie
  
  Quite an arrogant idea that because an MP is Maori they will have the same narrow view of the future of New Zealand as the Maori party. Not all people of a particular race have the same mindset.
  
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  August 20, 2026 9:08am
  - Phronesis
    
    I’m tempted to make a large donation to the ACT party contingent on David Seymour prefacing everything that he says with “As a maori I ….”
    
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    August 20, 2026 9:16am
  - Yvette
    
    Flossie, Winston Peters and David Seymour would most likely agree with you
    
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    August 20, 2026 9:30am
  - leoj
    
    Arrogance won’t stop them.
    
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    August 20, 2026 1:43pm
- Tomtoddy
  
  I am interested in the moral and political arguments around using MMP strategically – splitting votes – to deliberately create an overhang.
  
  Is it a legitimate use of the system we voted in or a jack up, manipulating voters through a loophole.
  
  So few people understand MMP it is difficult to get the idea adopted particularly on the centre right where there are less number who are willing to be directed form above.
  
  The Coalition could, if they chose to swallow rats, use it to get a dozen or more extra seats but should they?
  
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  August 20, 2026 9:52am
  - Steve Todd
    
    @Tomtoddy @ 9:52AM
    
    […] but should they?
    
    I say No. See Graeme Edgeler’s article that Yvette has linked to, at 8:25AM, above.
    
    As I have said several times in the last few months (particularly to do with Katrina Smit’s abortive campaign — see, for example, my comment last Thursday, here: https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2026/08/general_debate_13_august_2026.html#comment-3869964 —) people are simply not interested in being manipulated in such ways.
    
    That is why Murray McCully’s ridiculous plan in 1993 (similar to the nonsense cmm (semi-retired edition) continues to put up occasionally: his National List party and directly aligned Blue Electorate party scheme), although highly amusing to Nat supporters at the time, was immediately shot down.
    
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    August 20, 2026 10:22am
    - Quail
      
      ST
      “But should they” ?
      Politicians don’t do should!
      Anything that gets them into Parliament is OK .
      If it is beneficial to game a system they will , and MMP gives them options.
      Yet another reason MMP must go!
      
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      August 20, 2026 1:46pm
      - Steve Todd
        
        It was Tomtoddy who asked that question, Quail. I merely gave him an answer, which was No.
        
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        August 20, 2026 8:39pm
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    I am interested in the moral and political arguments around using MMP strategically – splitting votes – to deliberately create an overhang.
    
    I can’t get my head around why you are considering the morality of this action.
    
    We are given a choice with MMP – 2 ticks to one party /or split our vote.
    
    It could be considered that it is design fault of MMP that it can lead to overhangs, but it could also be considered that this is the system NZers have voted for and they use it in a manner that supports their political wishes.
    
    (I’ve always favoured STV… but you gotta play with the cards in your hand).
    
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    August 20, 2026 10:48am
    - I remember when
      
      I don’t remember any great debate/discussion about the ability to use MMP strategically – splitting votes – to deliberately creat an overhang.
      Was the overhang seriously discussed when arguing the pros and cons of FFP/MMP?
      In fact, a lot of what now happens was not even considered in the FFP/MMP debates.
      As I have already mentioned, lets have an electorate, FFP, vote.
      Also, a seperate MMP vote which is only for the List seats and doesn’t consider the electorate seats in any way.
      A vote for a Party.
      
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      August 20, 2026 2:44pm
Simon

National’s interests don’t match wider NZ’s interests. This is what happens in a managerial state. National as part of the managerial state has different interests to NZ.
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August 20, 2026 8:40am
I remember when

Green flashing lights, Pureple flashing lights….

Who knew?
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August 20, 2026 8:42am
I remember when

Burgen bread’s withdrawl from the New Zealand market.
As Ploughmans cover very much the same range, does this suggest there is not really room for two companies to operate successfully in the same segment of the market?
Incidently, I find that Burgen is often the cheaper of the two.
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August 20, 2026 8:48am
- Jethrod
  
  I used to eat Ploughmans , but they increased the thickness of the slices. I then found them unmanageable so left them entirely alone and went to Molenberg.
  
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  August 20, 2026 6:18pm
rouppe

Public meeting in Christchurch last night.

As Mike Thorpe said, “an orchestrated protest event interrupted the Prime Minister on six separate occasions”.

Orchestrated. Sounding more and more like SoA, which for clarity means the group “Socialists of America”, the Mandami aligned activist group.

How long before it’s appropriated here as “Socialists of Aotearoa” I wonder…
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August 20, 2026 8:48am
- virtualmark
  
  Given it was in Christchurch I suspect it has a lot more to do with Minto than with Mandami.
  
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  August 20, 2026 8:50am
- Prince
  
  Buried in that report you will find the fact that his speech was also interrupted several times by standing ovations.
  
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  August 20, 2026 8:57am
- Cassandra
  
  Paul Henry is speaking in Tauranga on Monday evening. Because Act has 700 requests for a seat they’ve shifted to the Classic Flyers auditorium. I wonder how many of the 700 are intending to protest?
  
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  August 20, 2026 9:28am
  - RoboRob
    
    I suspect the majority will be there to see Henry, he is a very entertaining speaker. Wouldn’t be surprised if left wing fans were there too.
    
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    August 20, 2026 10:09am
  - SWIM
    
    When the Toitu Treaty wan*kers interrupted the Seymour/ACT meeting in Hastings (were you there pdm?) the protesters were heckled by Seymour and the crowd before being escorted out.
    A contingent of the crowd (myself included) wished to “assist” in the escorting but were warned not to make a fuss.
    All the protesters were escorted off the Racing Club grounds by police.
    I would hope ACT have the good sense to hire a private so there is no possible argument that protesters can be thrown off the property in future.
    
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    August 20, 2026 11:31am
- kowtow
  
  Thanks for the post.
  
  What people need to realise , this sort of behaviour is anti democratic and unkiwi , perhaps borderline criminal , imho , as they are interupting someone the public want to hear , they didn’t come to have their evening and political right to hear out the speaker interupted .
  
  It’s actually fascist . Thuggish.
  
  And the fact that their behaviour leads at least some in the crowd to become angry and possibly want to retaliate means their behaviour is “disorderly” and should perhaps merit police , not just security attention.
  
  Any legal expert here?
  
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  August 20, 2026 9:33am
Colville

NZF are on a winner here.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/361022465/poll-majority-kiwis-support-limiting-general-election-voting-citizens
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August 20, 2026 9:28am
- RoboRob
  
  I find it ironic that much of NZFs ‘policy’ seems to come directly from Trump.
  
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  August 20, 2026 10:56am
  - virtualmark
    
    US law already restricts voting to citizens. Permanent residents (green card holders) aren’t allowed to vote in federal or state elections. That’s always been the case since, and isn’t due to Trump.
    
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    August 20, 2026 11:08am
    - Flossie
      
      Don’t know why you call it as Trump like. Non-citizens are not able to vote in Australia either. And both of those countries have had that rule way back beyond their current administrations.
      
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      August 20, 2026 12:21pm
Yvette

Overhang seats count fully in Parliamentary votes – including legislation, select committees, motions of no confidence, and the Budget (Confidence and Supply).
Every MP elected to an overhang seat holds identical voting rights, privileges, and duties as any other Member of Parliament, whether they are an electorate MP or a list MP.

Because overhang seats expand the total size of Parliament beyond the standard 120 seats, the number of votes required to secure a governing majority increases accordingly

When an even total number of seats (eg: 122 or 124) results in a tie (61 for, 61 against), the motion or bill fails. The Speaker of the House apparently does not have a tie-breaking “casting vote.” The Speaker only votes as an ordinary MP, included within their political party’s standard vote count.

Jackson said it threatened a backlash against the Māori seats that could lead to their abolition “when you start working the system like that”.
He thanked the party for giving Labour more party votes, but made it clear Labour wouldn’t be reciprocating in terms of the candidate vote.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/politics/1052259/te-pati-maori-warned-election-strategy-could-put-maori-seats-at-risk

Ngarewa-Packer said the reality was “we needed to be smarter if we’re really intentional of getting this government out”.

As a firm believer that love does not make the world go round, but irony does, may Ngarewa-Packer’s lust to gain extra seats for Labour, the Greens and Opportunity Party see the Special Maori Seats actually abolished soon after.
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August 20, 2026 9:33am
- RoboRob
  
  Packer has no lust to gain extra seats for labour. TPM have publicly exploded and the party is a laughing stock. Packer wants he high paid job in opposition where she doesn’t even need to show up at work. The best way to get her job back to to convince local voters that voting her back in helps Labour. This is purely self interest.
  
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  August 20, 2026 10:12am
  - Yvette
    
    RoboRob – Packer has no lust to gain extra seats for labour.
    
    Please see Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi interviewed in front of a display of C Company war heroes and claim a similar sacrifice in asking voters to Party Vote other than for te Pati Maori.
    
    Te Pāti Māori is asking Māori voters to make a major election choice: give the party their candidate vote, while trusting them to decide their party vote.
    Te Pāti Māori co-leaders Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi tell The Hui why they believe the strategy could help deliver a change of government and increase Māori representation in Parliament.
    They discuss the power of the Māori electorates under MMP, their push for a one-term government, entrenching Te Tiriti o Waitangi, taxing the wealthy, abolishing prisons, and what they believe Te Pāti Māori has achieved – and got wrong – over the past three years.
    With the election looming, Julian Wilcox puts the tough questions to the Te Pāti Māori leaders about their strategy, their relationship with Labour, and whether their plan will work.
    
    Te Pāti Māori’s election gamble: “Give us your candidate vote” | The Hui 2026
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvYwhzh50pg
    
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    August 20, 2026 10:44am
    - RoboRob
      
      Oh, I know she has said they are sacrificing for the benefit of Maori and a change of government. I just dont believe her and find it much more likely that this is the best way to get herself back on the payroll.
      
      Lets face it of TPM gets 7 seats and 3.08% (2023 TPM party vote) or 7 seats and 0% party vote, how is Packer and her friends any worse off?
      
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      August 20, 2026 10:59am
- Steve Todd
  
  @Yvette @ 9:33AM
  
  […], may Ngarewa-Packer’s lust […] see the Special Maori Seats actually abolished soon after.
  
  That will be up to Winston Peters and/or David Seymour. If one or both are needed to help form the next government, how determined will they be to secure a binding referendum on the Māori seats, to take place at some point during the next term?
  
  Quite frankly, in my opinion, the Nat negotiators would say “No, that’s not happening”, and they would say, “Oh. Okay. Moving on.”
  
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  August 20, 2026 10:46am
  - RoboRob
    
    Well at least Act are keen, probably NZF are too.
    
    However didn’t you prove to me that it is almost impossible for the Maori seats to be removed. It would need 75% + support?
    
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    August 20, 2026 11:01am
    - Steve Todd
      
      Yes, I certainly did, RoboRob, but we’re talking here about a possible binding referendum, following the enactment of a dedicated Act of Parliament providing for such.
      
      If The People voted by simple majority vote to remove the Māori seats, the other necessary consequential amendments to the Electoral Act 1993 — that I have been banging on about for well over a year now — would automatically follow, which would not be the case following a simple majority vote of MPs to abolish the seats. In that latter circumstance, a 75% majority of MPs would be required to effect those necessary consequential amendments.
      
      I laid all this out very carefully yesterday.
      
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      August 20, 2026 11:38am
      - RoboRob
        
        Sorry, must have missed you post yesterday. Thanks for the clarification 🙂
        
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        August 20, 2026 11:50am
      - Steve Todd
        
        Oh, Robo! I’m shattered. I spent much of the day on Kiwiblog yesterday, and it looks like I’m going to be doing the same again today.
        
        To catch up, mate, start here: https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2026/08/general_debate_19_august_2026.html/comment-page-1#comment-3871943.
        
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        August 20, 2026 12:02pm
  - Yvette
    
    It may depend on what Pati Maori’s ploy precipitates.
    It may present Maori Seat Abolitionists with the best ammunition ever, and the non-existence now of the original reason for establishing them will only be the coup de grâce.
    
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    August 20, 2026 11:06am
    - Steve Todd
      
      It may depend on what Pati Maori’s ploy precipitates.
      
      Indeed it may, but I’m talking about a situation whereby National, NZ First and ACT NZ, together, have a majority of the seats (whether or not there are overhang seats), and those parties are negotiating a governing agreement.
      
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      August 20, 2026 11:53am
Gary Benner

I have a theory about the rise of the Opportunity Party. I now believe that it is a construct of the Labour Party to develop a better looking coalition partner.

Currently the Greens and Te Pati Maori have devolved into ridiculous looking cardboard cutouts of what they could/should be. This makes it difficult for Labour to build a solid and reputable opposition to the current right leaning coalition.

It appears that former Labour Minister Ian Lees Galloway and his former business partner Toni Grace and her bedroom partner Chris Hipkins are all linked in this arrangement.

If you look at the Board, and the Candidates, they all appear to be Civil (or ex) Servants, and very left leaning – NOT the center-right that they claimed to be – and the leader is not someone with a history in politics, but a paid appointee.

This makes the Opportunity Party just like the music group THE MONKEES, who were created as a business venture – the members all auditioned, didn’t play the instruments for at least a couple of years, and sang other people’s songs. Unlike the BEATLES (whom the Monkees were created in the USA to contend with) who started playing and writing songs in their bedrooms as teenagers, and built a career over many years with their own work.

It appears that the elected Opportunity Party Candidates are beholden to their Board, who under the Constitution can override the (if elected) Caucus at any time.

There is significant money behind them – a really flash website, infrastructure, and candidates from all around the Country. That does not happen without significant planning and costs. I would love to find out more about that!
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August 20, 2026 9:58am
- Ghost
  
  Toni isn’t connected to the party, neither is Hipkins
  
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  August 20, 2026 10:11am
  - RoboRob
    
    Sure, there is no official link. But since Toni is friends with Galloway and also (we assume) friends with Hipkins we can assume there have been informal discussions. If my mate decides to make a hard left party for red headed step children you and be assured I would discuss it with him. I am sure that Hipkins has discussed the ramifications of TOP with relationship to Labour.
    
    We cant know that TOP is a vessel created by Labour, personally I don’t believe it is, but we shouldn’t pretend that ex Labour MPs wouldn’t talk to their Labour mates.
    
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    August 20, 2026 10:17am
    - Ghost
      
      Assuming, aka, just making shit up again that you can’t back up. Let’s just lie and hope it sticks
      
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      August 20, 2026 10:26am
      - RoboRob
        
        There are no lies in my post. I said there was no official link between the parties. I said that they are friends, also true, and that they have likely talked about the two organisations.
        
        But sure be rude and make snide comments.
        
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        August 20, 2026 11:05am
      - Groggy
        
        Sadly that seems to be the National Party strategy for this election. They have no successes to campaign on so have resorted to just making shit up.
        
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        August 20, 2026 11:12am
      - Ghost
        
        Sadly lying seems to be accepted now days and people just upvote the lies and accept them. If you want to support people making shit up that there is zero evidence to support then you are as bad as the left who push lies in the campaign.
        
        Yesterday hipkins claimed luxon made a comment with zero evidence. Today Rob and the original poster are doing the same. It’s lying, and it’s dirty. We should demand better from the right
        
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        August 20, 2026 11:40am
      - Ghost
        
        Sure is a lie in your post, but it’s normal for you to make false claims then claim you didn’t.
        
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        August 20, 2026 11:36am
      - rouppe
        
        There are links from one to the other, links much closer than the links between industry lobbyists and the government which many declare have an undue influence on government policy.
        
        It’s something possible, not definite, but the goose is as good as the gander.
        
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        August 20, 2026 11:38am
      - RoboRob
        
        @Ghost
        
        You are the one who is lying here. Anyone can see my post and determine if they think I am lying or not. But as usual you come here and rudely attack people.
        
        If I am wrong I admit it and move on, I never see you doing such things. When I posted concerns that the treaty principles removal stuff wouldn’t be passed this term you point blank guaranteed me it would be passed and rudely implied I was impatient. I don’t see you admitting you were wrong or apologising for ‘lying’ to me.
        
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        August 20, 2026 11:56am
      - Yabster
        
        lol @ Groggy, National has done some good things like dismantling the Maori Health authority- they haven’t gone far enough in my opinion and others- so if you apply your comment of “no success to campaign on” Liemore may as well not turn up the campaign trail…
        
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        August 20, 2026 12:11pm
      - Gary Benner
        
        Ghost, please go easy on the “lying and make shit up”. This is a forum for debate. I prefaced my post with “I have a theory …”, an introduction to debate, not a shit fight that you seem to make it.
        
        If you have proof that the theory is wrong, then please raise that in the debate. Or if you have an alternative “theory” as to the phenomenon we see as the Opportunity Party, then please share with us .
        
        As to the relationships between Hipkins, Lees-Galloway, and Toni Grace, these are all well documented, and have been given credence by many commentators beyond this forum in relationship to the Oppotunity Party.
        
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        August 20, 2026 1:16pm
      - Ghost
        
        Don’t repost lies that have already been disproved. It’s that simple, be responsible for what you post, be honest. They had a business a few years ago that closed within the year. So now because of the lie spread by slatter we have people continuing to push lies.
        
        The right should be better than this. Instead it’s becoming just as dirty then people excusing that dirty lying byllshit behavior. And for people who want to support this behavior or pitch your lying is pinted out, go for it, but i expect better from the right.
        
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        August 20, 2026 1:26pm
      - Gary Benner
        
        Ghost, you seem to have lost a grip on the real details here.
        
        1. Iain Lees-Galloway according to Wikipedia was a minister in the Labour Government 2017 – 200 – during which time he was Deputy Leader of the House. Obvously VERY high up the pecking order. However on 22 July 2020 he was dismissed from his immigration, workplace relations and ACC ministerial portfolios by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern after admitting an inappropriate but consensual relationship with a person working in one of his agencies. I doubt that would have converted him into a rabid “center-right” advocate. Entering Parliament in 2008 he would have had 12+ years to be tightly bonded into the Labour Party.
        
        2. After leaving Parliament he started a business venture called “Here’s Good” in conjunction with Toni Grace, currently Chris Hipkins partner. Having had involvement with various such ventures, I know that you get very close to your partners, you become friends, and become part of their trust circle (as in the movie Meet the Fockers!). Lees-Galloway by that association wouldhave still been in the close circle around Hipkins and fellow Labour Party persons.
        
        About Iain and Toni – in their own words
        
        “We’re two mates who are studying at Massey University on the side of our jobs. Toni is studying towards a Master of Sustainable Development Goals (MSDG) and Iain is doing a Master of Business Administration (MBA).”
        …
        “What started as an idea over a couple of beers became a last minute shot at Innovate 2020 – next thing you know, we’re in the finals! Please come join us on our journey as we work, hustle, learn, stumble and tweak to gradually turn this idea into a solid social enterprise.”
        
        https://web.archive.org/web/20210120073958/https://www.heresgood.nz/about-us
        
        So in their own words “two mates”.
        
        3. Move ahead to 2024 Lees-Galloway made the announcement he was joining TOP / Opportunities (now Opportunity) Party and in 2025 became it’s General Manager. And the rest is in recent history.
        
        All the above is in the public domain, no lies, no exaggeration, in other words, the reality.
        
        Now 2 other issues bring one to raise questions:
        
        1. The current form of the TOP / Opportunity Party is of a manufactured entity, with signifcant funding to make happen what we see:
        a. well presented website
        b. very fast growth of a well structured organisation with ~30 canddiates
        
        2. With the very close background and association between Lees-Galloway and the Labour Party, one can begin to think that it’s current incarnation is an attempt to create a more palatable coalition partner, not cobbled with the craziness of the Greens and TPM. Well that’s the theory. A theory is not a lie, it is a logical conclusion based on available data (as above).
        
        So Ghost, debate the theory if you want to, but please desist with the “lies and shit” comments you throw about with regular alacrity.
        
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        August 20, 2026 6:38pm
      - Ghost
        
        You’ve written a pile of shit, and again, there is nothing to debate, you’ve invented something that only exists in the minds of stupid people trying to push a conspiracy. Oh no they were mates and several years ago ran a website that lasted for a year…. Quick let’s twist that into a moronic conspiracy. You have nothing worth debating but a bullshit that was long disproved after well known liar slater spread it with his tweet.
        
        Next up Gerry Brownlee had lunch with a former green mp, quick come up with a stupid conspiracy around that, oh wait you were probably one of the ones that did
        
        How about instead of inventing bullshit, deal with the facts
        
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        August 20, 2026 6:55pm
  - Jethrod
    
    According to Google, Ian Lees-Galloway is the General Manager of TOP, but Toni Grace has no formal role withTOP, the only connection between the 2 of them is through a private business start-up venture called “Here’ Good”.
    Having said all that it does appear rather a Cosy arrangement.
    
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    August 20, 2026 7:07pm
    - Ghost
      
      MP’s form friendships in the house with mp’s from opposing parties. It happens, doesn’t mean they then tell their friend what is going on in their party. Andrew Ketels obviously never rolled over in bed and said to Jenna Lynch do you want some gossip on national when he worked for Barry, or gossip on act when he worked for them. What slater pushed out in his tweet was very easily proved wrong, and it was. But people cannot get over that and still want to push this bullshit.
      
      We like to call out the left when they lie, but some are no better than that, and the right should be trying to show they don’t sink to those levels
      
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      August 20, 2026 7:20pm
- sungsamning
  
  Their leader worked for the HSBC in the City of London. Just think of a new brand of biscuits appearing in your supermarket. The packaging is great. So is the ad campaign. However they’re full of GMO cocoa, sugar, and palm oil. And the taste leaves a lot to be desired.
  
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  August 20, 2026 10:25am
- artemisia
  
  That’s a useful theory Gary. And a theory that can continue to be tested against events and party statements in the election run up. Scrutiny is always next level at this time in the cycle, poorly considered words or actions will be noticed. Including in headlines.
  
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  August 20, 2026 10:58am
  - Gary Benner
    
    I see this as a means to game the MMP system, as already seen in Te Pati Maori suggesting strategic voting. For Labour to have a tame (controlled by it’s board) partner, they could then safely suggest vote Labour for your electorate, and Opportunity for your List.
    
    Now this also works for National viz a viz either ACT or NZFirst. Although I’d posit that National won’t say that out loud. But if the others get into it, they’ll be forced to.
    
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    August 20, 2026 1:22pm
- Colville
  
  Gary.
  If anything I think its more likely TOP was stood up to steal voters from Greens seeing Hipkins as a weakness for Labour so giving lefties an alternative place to go.
  Probably not silly either.
  
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  August 20, 2026 11:58am
sungsamning

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJgphnjdx6Q
THE OUTLAW LEDGER: Canada Is Not a Partner — It’s an Empire.
President Trump announced a three-day pause on planned 50% tariffs against Canada, citing a pending deal and suggesting Keystone XL could be revived. Susan Kokinda argues the dispute is larger than USMCA negotiations, portraying Canada as an “outlaw” that enables transshipment “smuggling,” fails to enforce forced-labor bans, and facilitates “snow-washing” through weak corporate transparency and money laundering documented in British Columbia’s Cullen Commission. [‘Green Party’ Elizabeth May wants the US ambassodor. There’s snow washing of terrorist, and cartel money. Then, there’s Ms Jolies recent Chatham House speech.]
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August 20, 2026 10:09am
- virtualmark
  
  That is totally detached from reality. You would have to be painfully stupid to believe any of that about Canada.
  
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  August 20, 2026 11:10am
  - sungsamning
    
    Which parts are detached from reality. Was the speech not made? Does Ms. May not want the US ambassador gone?
    
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    August 20, 2026 12:56pm
sungsamning

https://hotair.com/ed-morrissey/2026/08/18/whoa-us-violent-crime-rate-drops-dramatically-in-trumps-first-year-n3818107
Whoa: US Violent Crime Rate Drops Dramatically in Trump’s First Year.
And it’s still dropping in his second year. So say Axios as well as the FBI, whose crime statistics have looked like roller coasters over the last decade or so.

Not only has crime dropped, but violent crime has also fallen in record amounts. So have thefts and other property crimes. The places where these declines have taken place also seem surprising: [Big cities had the largest decrease. Rapes and murders are down. The border is secure. Liberals and criminals are not neing pandered to. ]
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August 20, 2026 10:10am
- virtualmark
  
  US crime rates fell steeply through the 1990s, fell very slowly through the 2000s and 2010s, and then spiked up during Covid years and are now falling back to their 2010s levels.
  
  You are correct that the big cities have had the largest decreases. But the big cities tend to be run by the liberals. So I’m not sure that aligns with the point you’re trying to make.
  
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  August 20, 2026 11:15am
  - sungsamning
    
    The number of illegals present in the US is down. Most went to blue cities. Crime is down there.
    
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    August 20, 2026 12:52pm
Nūhaka Native

Quelle surprise!

A majority of New Zealanders support restricting voting in general elections to citizens, according to new polling.

The poll, conducted by Curia Market Research for the Taxpayers’ Union and obtained by the NZ Herald, surveyed 1000 people between August 1 and 4.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/361022465/poll-majority-kiwis-support-limiting-general-election-voting-citizens?
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August 20, 2026 11:07am
- Colville
  
  Some of the comments are good too. Even allowing for the limit on whet Stuffed will allow to be said.
  
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  August 20, 2026 11:55am
- AitchW
  
  I’m inclined to agree. When we had a relatively small number of permanent residents perhaps it made sense to allow them to vote. However we now have a large population or PRs, I think its time they made the commitment to citizenship.
  
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  August 20, 2026 12:19pm
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  It wasn’t clear from the report whether those surveyed were NZ citizens, or whether visa holders & those with PR were also questioned.
  
  If the latter then the results were even more remarkable than the headline suggests.
  
  And, National voters are even more in favour of the policy than NZ First voters (albeit by just 1%).
  
  Christopher Luxon – take note!
  
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  August 20, 2026 8:45pm
Nikola Donatello

Stuff has themed its breathless election coverage as “Aotearoa Decides”. 😕 New Zealand has effectivity been renamed by stealth and spite.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/361022518/two-leaders-debates-interactive-multichannel-election-night-special-stuff-group-launches-aotearoa

Must stay away from them.
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August 20, 2026 11:09am
- greybeard
  
  As you can see from my comment below at about the same time as yours, at least two of us had an allergic reaction to Stuff’s constant use of stone-age rubbish.
  
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  August 20, 2026 11:33am
  - graham
    
    I stopped reading Stuff some years ago, probably around 2020 or 2021. I got fed up with their shifting from being primarily a news organisation to being more interested in pursuing various agendas and crusades.
    
    Since then I have occasionally wondered if they have changed and whether it’s worth my taking a look – but inevitably something pops up either here or on social media that reaffirms my decision to steer clear of Stuff.
    
    I think the last time I considered re-evaluating Stuff was shortly before Andrea Vance wrote a certain column accusing Nicola Willis of “girl-math” before going completely unhinged and calling her the C-word.
    
    https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2025/05/willis_responds_to_vance_celling_her_a_ct.html
    
    Stuff seem to be intent on pursuing their own various agendas and crusades, while simultaneously displaying an almost breath-taking lack of moral and ethical values. There’s been other examples since the one above which serve to reinforce that Stuff really are an utterly reprehensible organisation.
    
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    August 20, 2026 12:37pm
  - sungsamning
    
    Make that three. I live in New Zealand, not Aoteoroa. and, I never read stuff unless there is a link from here.
    
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    August 20, 2026 12:58pm
  - Nikola Donatello
    
    What gets me is the arrogance. Polls over the last 5 years show nowhere near majority support for changing the name of the nation. Yet we have this arrogant elite in the media, the left, and in the public service that press on with the agenda. Like so many other things the government could have acted. Not against the media but certainly with the public service. Yet nothing. In fact the public service doubled down.
    
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    August 20, 2026 2:40pm
greybeard

https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/361022518/two-leaders-debates-interactive-multichannel-election-night-special-stuff-group-launches-aotearoa
I won’t be watching: they lost me immediately at “Aotearoa”.
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August 20, 2026 11:10am
- MCōs
  
  No country for old men
  
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  August 20, 2026 5:28pm
Jack5

Confusion from our news media’s adoption of gender-neutral pronouns.

“They” for “him” or “her” may mask gender, but them’s can make English less clear. Consider this today in the Hooerald:

A police officer is being assessed in hospital after a ute allegedly rammed their patrol car twice during an early morning pursuit on Auckland’s Hibiscus Coast.

The report also mentions a “patrol unit,” but does not establish whether the police officer was alone in the patrol car. “Their,” in obscuring the gender of the officer clouds whether the officer was patrolling alone.

It’s too soon whether the Woke have made gender-free pronouns standard in our language, but it will be decided in America, now the mainstream of English use despite India probably having more English speakers.

Promoting the inanimate “it” to gender-free human use has never been on the Woke’s Tarot cards, but them Woke have offered some other words that haven’t been taken up: hu (for he, she, it and they); hum (for him, her,it); hus (for his, hers, theirs, its). More radical genderists have put forward pronoun sets such as ze/hir and ey/em/eir.

Perhaps all will fade away, as the slang “you’se” for plural you seems to have disappeared in NZ. “Ute” meanwhile persists, at least at the Hooerald.
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August 20, 2026 11:16am
- kowtow
  
  The Cops can’t decide whether they’re singular or plural.
  
  Have you noticed they refer to themselves as follows;
  
  “Police is……”
  
  Where the hell did that come from.
  
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  August 20, 2026 12:19pm
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  “you’se” for plural you seems to have disappeared in NZ. “
  
  Still standard Kiwi lingo in Gisborne.
  
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  August 20, 2026 1:21pm
- MCōs
  
  What/who is Hooerald?
  Is that a childish put down of the Herald?
  
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  August 20, 2026 5:20pm
  - Jack5
    
    Cossie, as a mature-age person originally from the South Island, and if my memory’s right, also a person of Irish descent, it’s odd you don’t understand the name.
    
    Here, from the site, dictal, see the relevant third meaning of “hooer,” the meaning used in our rural south:
    
    Shrewd or Crafty Person (Hiberno-English): In Irish slang, a shrewd, resourceful, or crafty person who is adept at manipulating situations for personal or political gain. While sometimes used negatively, it can be a backhanded compliment for someone’s cleverness.
    
    Synonyms: schemer, fox, trickster, operator, wheeler-dealer, sharpie, conniver, dodger, strategist, chancer.
    
    Examples:
    
    At: He’s a total hooer at getting the government grants he doesn’t deserve.
    
    In: You have to be a bit of a hooer in this business if you want to survive.
    
    General: Don’t trust his smile; he’s a right cute hooer.
    
    Sources: Wiktionary (under “cute hoor”), Green’s Dictionary of Slang, Various Irish Dialect Guides.
    
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    August 20, 2026 5:31pm
    - Tauhei Notts
      
      Jack5, you are magic.
      I always thought Hua was a Maori term for an unsavoury charcter.
      
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      August 20, 2026 10:02pm
SWIM

Earlier today people have been talking about the culpability of the Tauranga CEO for the camp ground deaths.

A couple of examples from Hastings.

Nigel Bickle CEO of Hastings recently decided to check out. He had been on forced leave for approx 3 months and council wont tell anyone why. But he decided not to come back to work and face the music.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/hawkes-bay-today/news/hastings-district-council-chief-executive-toosavili-nigel-bickle-dies-suddenly/UVWFAGRQYVEP5D7G5K5MKATSNQ/

Approx 10 years ago a Hastings council engineer , Brent Chapman who was responsible for looking after the water assets for Hastings failed spectacularly to look after a bore resulting in the deaths of 3 people from campylobacteriosis with some 8,000 becoming ill and 60 in hospital.
Brent got a promotion and is still working there.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/havelock-north-campylobacter-outbreak-new-data-from-hawkes-bay-towns-deadly-water-crisis/TEB7453CARFUTLBFSUBUZ3DXNQ/
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August 20, 2026 11:43am
surfing

I noticed the US hit the 40 trillion debt mark.

It sounds like a lot but the US is big. Did a little investigation , the US can probably keep increasing their debt at current rates for another 15 years or so.

If they slow the rate of increases, maybe they could go another 30.

It’ll be an interesting period.
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August 20, 2026 12:21pm
- Colville
  
  15 years before China implodes because they can’t feed or fuel themselves?
  
  Who owns USA debt?
  
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  August 20, 2026 8:17pm
Ghost

Congratulations to stuff on going to new lows writing an article about the PM in Christchurch, protesters disrupting the meetig. They then put a edited meme from the house wives of Beverly hills in the article with the text, “It is unsure if this image was taken at the Christchurch event”.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/361022600/get-your-hands-me-says-luxon-protester-she-was-one-six

Screenshot
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August 20, 2026 1:10pm
- Philview
  
  Some of the comments underneath are hysterical as well. It appears Chris Luxon has the blood of Palestinians on his hands!
  
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  August 20, 2026 1:58pm
- graham
  
  Sigh. The term “gutter press” comes to mind for some reason …
  
  It’s as if they’re well aware that many people do not consider them to be a reputable media organisation, and rather than try to rise above that with proper grown-up journalism they’ve decided to prove those people right.
  
  I personally stopped reading Stuff around five years ago. I see I’m not missing anything.
  
  (Thanks for supplying the screenshot Ghost, so we don’t have to click on the article)
  
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  August 20, 2026 3:31pm
- Jack5
  
  Did any Christchurch readers here recognise the big bloke who was thrown out of the meeting?
  
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  August 20, 2026 5:40pm
I remember when

An ongoing local poll, of over 600 voters so far, suggests that over half of respondents have already decided on both their votes.
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August 20, 2026 2:14pm
Ian

So Harry and Meghan are moving back to the UK. How will Meghan cope with that – nothing good comes from royalty marrying American divorcees…
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August 20, 2026 3:26pm
Yabster

mod any reason you aren’t posting any of my comments- bit pointless having a blog if comments just sit in awaiting moderation?

[Mod – this mod had no internet for most of the day and is now trying to clear over 100 posts]
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August 20, 2026 7:23pm
greybeard

Several years ago ( 2023 or before ) I posted an article here on KB. I know this may seem a bit far-fetched, but this whole business involving Harry and Meghan seems to be contrived, and if so has a purpose.

Harry as a 12-year old suffered the violent , sudden and tragic loss of his mother , the fantastically popular Princess Diana. A mighty sad event for anyone, of any age.

He then had to endure years of speculation regarding her relationship with Charles, and her reported relationships with other men , especially the one who is reputed to be his actual father, James Hewitt. Not to mention the endless comparisons between himself and William in the looks department.

The worst thing he and his brother William had to endure were the rumours regarding the possible involvement of the senior members of the Royal Family in the calculated death of his mother, due to her relationship with Middle Eastern tycoons of doubtful character.

This is what I suggest: I would not be surprised if Harry decided to exact revenge for this in a most apposite way: before this happened probably the most infamous event regarding the Royal Family was the abdication of King Edward VIII th when he chose Wallis Simpson over the Monarchy.
For “love”.

Wallis Simpson, divorced more than once, American, high-society profile.
Meghan Markle: divorced, American, film-star celebrity.
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August 20, 2026 7:26pm

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