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August 30, 2026 8:00am by Kokila Patel

General Debate 30 August 2026

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General Debate

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Yvette

Tikanga in itself is a religion or quasi-religion. There is no doubt about this. The tikanga experts who advised the Supreme Court in the statement of tikanga in the Ellis case, told the Court that tikanga, and I quote, “grew from and is very much embedded in our whenua.” They went on, “in some traditions, tikanga merged with that already present” when the ancestors of today’s Māori arrived in New Zealand.

The statement of tikanga says that knowledge of tikanga is passed down through sources such as institutions of learning, oratory, call, waiata, traditional chants or laments, whakapapa recitations, proverbial sayings and stories. It is also learnt through exposure to practice in everyday life. Some tikanga cannot be known to the ordinary person because it is tapu and kept confined to certain expert people.

The New Zealand Law Society is at the forefront of this movement. Lawyers are being forced to fund a body which wishes to enslave lawyers’ minds. NZLS is just one of the institutions captured by idealogues with these aims.

The institutions which act in this way exhibit the mindset of the Mullahs of Iran. They force their beliefs on members not by machine guns and public hangings, but by the ability to prevent members carrying on the profession of their choice if they do not become a member of the cult or bow to its demands. In the advancement of the cult’s objectives the leaders of these institutions are the Mullahs of mumbo-jumbo.

The cult’s objectives are alien to our values and way of life. It is almost unbelievable that the profession I was once proud to be a member of should be spawning within its own ranks and the judiciary drawn from those ranks persons who demand obedience to a creed of racist superiority.
https://www.brashandmitchell.com/post/gary-judd-kc-mumbo-jumbo-and-all-that

The Ellis case, where no-one involved was Maori, rather than boost itself with tikanga should have recognised the corollary that common law failed to preserve a reputation destroyed by a vast miscarriage of justice.To prove itself worthy the Law should have put right what it had ruined.

The other tikanga case was the te Papa Museum Treaty panel vandalism which was apparently dismissed (can never be trailed again) because the perpetrator would likely have been exonerated as Not Guilty under tikanga considerations, which would not have been “in public interests” – raising the Question: Would ‘tikanga’ itself and the ‘Treaty’ have required court examination to establish the validity of such a verdict.

Lawyers are being forced to fund a body which wishes to enslave lawyers’ minds.
Rather that ‘enslave,’ is a more appropriate word in fact ‘colonise’?
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August 30, 2026 8:01am
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  “ Some tikanga cannot be known to the ordinary person because it is tapu and kept confined to certain expert people”.
  
  How can a body of law exist where some bits are unknown to people subject to that law?
  
  This one comment alone should discount tikanga as a source of law.
  
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  August 30, 2026 8:23am
  - Yvette
    
    Some tikanga cannot be known to the ordinary person because it is tapu and kept confined to certain expert people.
    NeverMindTheBollocks, as you say “… because it is tapu and kept confined to certain expert people” must make it unaccessible, and since a jury is supposed to be ordinary peers, should these principles be even presented to them. The other point of course is that the most telling of tikanga’s virtuous attributes, its Holy Grail, are likely to be those most protected as sacred and to be kept pure from the sullying of general knowledge.
    
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    August 30, 2026 11:00am
- leoj
  
  Attention voters:
  
  If you are wanting this mumbo-jumbo nonsense stopped, voting National will NOT achieve it.
  
  Maori sympathatiser Luxon is not interested so you might think about the weak, woke Nats’ coalition partners.
  
  If you fail, the country is headed down a racist road even faster than it is currently.
  
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  August 30, 2026 8:25am
- mandk
  
  All that stuff in the second paragraph sounds like the Roman Catholic church.
  
  I grew up with litanies, repetitious prayers, unscriptural traditions, and priests who positioned themselves as being the gatekeepers of biblical truth.
  
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  August 30, 2026 8:34am
- Tomtoddy
  
  There are a number of issues that make tikanga problematic. One is that it varies from tribe to tribe and even iwi to iwi. Two it cannot be codified and therefore be clearly understood before during and after any event. If I get caught speeding I know anything over 100kph is trouble. 99 is OK 101 is not. Indistinct concepts make for trouble.
  
  The acceptance of any position in a caught is largely determined by an elder who makes a submission to the judge. There is no fixed yardstick to determine whether the elder is misusing his/her position, adding elements, withholding some aspects or a dozen other possibilities. Uncertainty is always the enemy of jurisprudence.
  
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  August 30, 2026 8:52am
  - Scott
    
    Tomtoddy, I agree there are a number of problems. But the first problem is that tikanga, accepted Maori practices dating back to pre 1840, is incompatible with western civilisation. As Yvette correctly points out, it is like having sharia law as the basis of our legal system.
    
    Prior to 1840 it was accepted practice to have slaves, eat your enemies and wage incessant war against other tribes. There was no law between tribes. Indeed we have records of young Maori asking the missionaries for law. For example, what should I do if my neighbour’s pig gets into my garden and eats everything? Can I kill the pig?
    
    The result of tikanga was that the Maori were dying out and they knew they had to try something different. Hence they signed the Treaty of Waitangi.
    
    Let’s not go back to 1839. And we already have a religion for those that want to practice one.
    
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    August 30, 2026 9:09am
  - David Garrett
    
    Tom: “it varies from tribe to tribe and even iwi to iwi”
    As far as I know, an iwi IS a tribe. I think you might have meant hapu (sub-tribe) in there somewhere?
    
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    August 30, 2026 9:27am
  - R
    
    Yes! I have pondered for some time the thought that; should I fail to stop for a Compulsory Stop, would the police officer accept my explantation that not stopping is ‘part of my tikanga’ and I should be exonerated of any crime…….
    
    Thought not!
    
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    August 30, 2026 10:09am
    - David Garrett
      
      R: Have you seen any of those “Sovereign citizens ” interactions with US cops on YouTube? I find it incredible how tolerant most cops are with a torrent of utter bullshit
      
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      August 30, 2026 11:26am
    - PurplePen
      
      Maori cultural practices where they restrict or can excuse someone only apply on Maori land. That was made very clear by Section 71 of the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 that applied specifically to Māori.
      
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      August 30, 2026 12:34pm
  - Benedict Yu
    
    Apologies if this is a naive question but is it not open to parliament to remove tikanga from New Zealand law?
    
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    August 30, 2026 10:39am
    - Flossie
      
      I don’t know the answer to that, but if it is how likely is that to happen! Under whoever wins.
      
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      August 30, 2026 10:44am
    - imalwaysright
      
      I didn’t realise it was actually in the Law, I assumed it was used as an attempt at mitigation, along with the other usual excuses, rather than it being a legal defense.
      
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      August 30, 2026 11:11am
    - Paulus
      
      Yes,, But what is Tikanga first before getting rid of it !
      
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      August 30, 2026 3:20pm
  - waikatosinger
    
    Tikanga is like the “sovereign citizen” thing in the US. People claiming the laws which apply to everyone else don’t apply to them because … reasons.
    
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    August 30, 2026 10:41am
    - imalwaysright
      
      Tikanga means the Maori is always right.
      
      No other definition can account for its meaning being otherwise.
      
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      August 30, 2026 11:55am
  - Gussy
    
    Tikanga’s indeterminate nature makes it highly profitable for legal and cultural specialists.
    It’ll be off- limits to AI too.
    Follow the money.
    
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    August 30, 2026 12:43pm
    - Hard Cheese
      
      And you won’t be able to keep records of what tikanga actually means because of some Maori data sovereignty BS
      
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      August 30, 2026 1:08pm
- PurplePen
  
  Tikanga translates to “customary practice” or “the right way,”. If you’re speaking Māori, you can say:Tikanga Pākehā: Western / European customs or protocols.Tikanga Iapanī: Japanese customs or etiquette.Tikanga Hāhi: Church or religious protocols.
  
  As is often the case the vocabulary word is conflated with the cultural system. Tikanga is a general noun. Just like the English word “tradition” can describe Italian traditions, Navajo traditions, or corporate traditions, the Māori word tikanga can describe the traditions of any group.
  
  The system (Tikanga Māori): When people discuss tikanga in New Zealand politics, law, or education, they seem to use it as a shorthand for Tikanga Māori which just so happens to be the specific, unique framework of practices rooted in Māori culture. But they, as is usual, put it on a pedestal and call it Maori world view. But it has no more standing nor uniqueness than any other culture’s world view and traditions such as the European world view, the Japanese world view, etc.
  
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  August 30, 2026 12:28pm
artemisia

Damien Grant takes a look at proposed tax policies, painting fences and surfing: Higher taxes can leave jobs undone, firms without work and investment on the sidelines.

Who is asking the proposers if they have attached numbers to those three possibilities. Or if they have just decided to ignore them because, for example, voters will love 3 free GP visits a year more than jobs undone, firms without work and capital flight. Until ….

https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/361026062/tax-lesson-starts-surf-trip-and-ends-warning-labour
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August 30, 2026 8:08am
- peterwn
  
  The proposers think that things will just stay the same with more taxes rather than the significant changes to the economy the extra taxes will cause. One party indicated it would impose restrictions on capital leaving the country in a desperate effort to protect the tax base. As much as socialists find it galling the wealthy (and Maori thanks to the Treaty) have options to minimise their tax obligations and no amount of regulation would counteract this.
  
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  August 30, 2026 8:18am
- pdm
  
  Another outstanding Opinion Piece by Damien Grant as he critiques and shows the folly of tax increases proposed by the lefty Coalition shambles.
  
  The only line he could have included but did not was this one:
  
  `No country has ever taxed its way to prosperity’!!!
  
  He sure as hell implied it though.
  
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  August 30, 2026 10:06am
  - Ian Boag
    
    He went on – in his usual entertaining fashion about the downside of tax increases. He didn’t go as far as endorsing serious tax cuts.
    
    Gummint did some of that in 2023 – and in 2026 are running large deficits and continuing to borrow at increasing levels. Both the deficit and the borrowing are more than the gummint they replaced. Arguably the cuts were not really affordable ….
    
    Not a good look. The reality is that adjustment of the tax take is one of the tools that governments use to balance the books. Fiscal drag helps which is one of the reasons no government is ever serious about tackling it. ACT rabbit on about it, but it’s not a bottom line.
    
    `No country has ever taxed its way to prosperity’
    
    Has any country ever tax-cut its way to prosperity?
    
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    August 30, 2026 11:00am
    - slijmbal
      
      “Has any country ever tax-cut its way to prosperity?”
      
      Ireland.
      
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      August 30, 2026 12:04pm
      - Ian Boag
        
        Sorta, maybe, kind of …. their whole path is not necessarily one we would want to follow.
        
        https://chatgpt.com/share/6a937dd2-4de4-83ec-b945-c63e0b6ae28e
        
        Mod – feel free to trash my earlier one with the duff link 🙁
        
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        August 30, 2026 12:51pm
    - EssenX
      
      Ireland is the best example that’s similar to NZ. Went from one of the poorest countries in Europe in the 80s to one of the richest. The question is how you fund the tax cuts.
      
      Similarly, you can also get economic growth with increased taxes – it depends what you spend the money on. Tax take post 2017 increased dramatically but we have little to show for it because of the COVID lolly scramble. Unfortunately, the parties pushing for higher taxes seem to be repeating the same mistakes.
      
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      August 30, 2026 12:33pm
      - imalwaysright
        
        Ireland had, and has, an educated workforce. NZ doesn’t.
        
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        August 30, 2026 3:05pm
      - kowtow
        
        I think Ireland is a very bad example.
        
        From what I’ve read , there may be huge tax revenues acruing due to their morally corrupt activity of having lower comapny tax rates for the big tech , pharma companies ( morally as they insist they are good EU partners , but are actually big spongersas they have undercut their EU “partners who resent that greatly))and they also attract “artists” etc with tax exemptions ……but the ordinary Paddy sees very little of that , services aren’t great , there’s actually an awful lot of resentment to the extent that their politics are very fractured , the two main historical governing , opposing parties have formed a grand coaltion to keep the even crazier socilaist republicans ( IRA ) out of power and there’s an awful lot of “independent MPs ( TDs) as localism takes hold.
        
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        August 30, 2026 3:09pm
      - EssenX
        
        kowtow, I think you raise some really valuable points. Ireland has created some problems for other countries too as international tax competition can be a race to the bottom and the positive effects of economic growth aren’t distributed equally. But the question was has anyone tax cut themselves to prosperity and plainly the Irish have. As I mentioned, the critical question is what funds those cuts. I think this is where Luxon’s government could have done better by making quicker harsher cuts to paper pushers in Wellington.
        
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        August 30, 2026 3:43pm
    - Yabster
      
      as opposed to LIEMORE – at least this time they have said they will increase spending yet again by $15b, and think CGT will raise $1.5b – a slight shortfall -so how are they paying for it- more Tax if their previous playbook is anything to go by.
      
      And yes, the Nats should have cut way harder into the public service and saved in other places as they are also spending too much, but they did inherit a fucking mess which includes a interest bill of around $8b pa.
      
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      August 30, 2026 1:20pm
      - Ian Boag
        
        They’ve had 2.5 years to do something about it – deficit is up and borrowing is up. They seem to be running off the end of “we inherited a mess yadda yadda yadda” ….
        
        At some stage it would be good to see some tangible result from whatever they are doing – or not doing – to fix things. Just saying. \
        
        The national finances are not even vaguely similar to the predictions made when they came into office. Asmittedly the world did go a bit south on them.
        
        $8bn is not exactly chump change, but measured against income of $150bn it isn’t a hugely scary number.
        
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        August 30, 2026 3:07pm
      - Yabster
        
        firstly, crown revenue is $134b not $150b, secondly currently crown spending is around 32% of GDP, it would be 30% if they didn’t have to pay the 8.9b in interest they inherited from chippy and the worst finance manager in NZ history. So it is a huge amount- more than we spend on law and order per year.
        
        The extent of the huge fuck up by Liemore will take more than 2.5 years to fix. Lastly the tax reduction reduced crown revenue by $3.7b -a much less scary number than $8.9b I am sure you will agree after all that is your whole premise…
        
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        August 30, 2026 3:32pm
      - Ian Boag
        
        The extent of the huge fuck up by Liemore will take more than 2.5 years to fix.
        
        Obviously. 2.5 years have gone with not a lot of “fixing” based on current numbers.
        
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        August 30, 2026 3:45pm
      - Yabster
        
        Yes, they should have gutted the public “service” way more, (glad you agree,,,,), ie reducing ministries- of course all the lefties would be squealing even more than they were when they tinkered with that. Obviously, we would be over $25b better off over that time if we didn’t have such a huge debt- not such and insignificant amount……..
        
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        August 30, 2026 3:53pm
- Ian
  
  Funnily enough, Grant’s opinion pieces were always published in the Sunday Star Times, but they aren’t there anymore. Maybe they got out of whack with SST’s political leanings…
  
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  August 30, 2026 4:19pm
artemisia

Union calls for continuity of care, as 1200 support workers face losing their jobs

There was at least one ‘challenge’ from a provider. Health NZ did an internal review and concluded the procurement process was valid. That is Health NZ’s accountability. Proposals had been assessed against a range of criteria to ensure services were sustainable, of high quality and able to meet the needs of people in need of support to continue living independently in their homes.

Providers could do their own review to figure out why they were not considered best options to meet those pretty basic criteria. Because losing huge contracts based on those criteria has to be seen as a very hard lesson, and one it seems they did not see coming.

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/health/1171197/union-calls-for-continuity-of-care-as-1200-support-workers-face-losing-their-jobs
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August 30, 2026 8:11am
- Inandout
  
  arte, when the term ‘calls’ is used it reminds me of when my wife is baking and the recipe ‘calls’ for a certain action or ingredient. We find this amusing but one term that really grates is ‘reach out’. When speaking to a help line the other party will often say ‘I will reach out’ to get further advice. In effect this implies the other party is within touching distance.
  
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  August 30, 2026 10:21am
- Ian
  
  The hit piece on last night’s TV1 news made it appear that all the people who these 1200 looked after would not receive any care anymore. No mentioned that the contracts were probably picked up by other providers – and maybe those 1200 workers may be redeployed there…
  
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  August 30, 2026 4:23pm
tknorriss

Surely polsters could make more sense of the “undecided” group when they report poll results.

I am not sure whether I am going to vote ACT or National. So, I guess I would be “undecided”. But no way would I vote for any of the left leaning parties. So, my “undecided” position isn’t politically neutral, but rather supporting the right.

So, wouldn’t it be useful if pollsters asked voters who describe themselves as “undecided”, which parties they definitely wouldn’t vote for. This then would give much better idea which way the undecided voters were leaning.
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August 30, 2026 8:16am
- Philview
  
  I am a long term National voter and I am swaying this time. It sounds like a centre right Government is more likely if we party vote ACT. I lean towards the social conservative side which ACT isn’t. However ACT has taken a strong stance against Treaty extremism. David Seymour didn’t make the Treaty Principles Bill a bottom line in 2023. NZ First didn’t back it and probably will not this time. If no push back against Treaty extremism is likely then does voting ACT serve any other useful purpose, except they can prop up a National led government.
  
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  August 30, 2026 8:55am
  - Cantabrian
    
    So if you dont give your party vote to one of – any of – the coalition parties you WILL get the left monster and with it enforced Maorification.
    
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    August 30, 2026 11:07am
  - AitchW
    
    We must vote tactically. Electorate vote National, party vote ACT.
    
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    August 30, 2026 12:18pm
    - Hard Cheese
      
      I voted National last time (including the excreable Simon Watts in my electorate. I apologise to everyone) on the basis that they’d cut the size of the public service and get rid of co-governance and Maorification. They’ve done neither, in fact outside maybe Education I struggle to think what they have actually done in 3 years. So both my votes are going to ACT – National don’t even deserve a tactical vote. You lose, you get nothing. Good day, sir.
      
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      August 30, 2026 1:27pm
      - leoj
        
        Correct. National equals more of the same.
        
        They have not reduced the public service and they have not reduced maorification.
        
        Clearly, they are not interested so vote for someone who is.
        
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        August 30, 2026 2:57pm
    - Bobba Fret
      
      I’m in Brooke Van V’s electorate. Last time I electorate voted for her (ACT) but I can’t remember if I party voted Nat or Act (as I was a bit annoyed with Nats).
      Should I electorate vote Act again?
      
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      August 30, 2026 4:22pm
- David Garrett
  
  Tk: You raise a very good point.
  
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  August 30, 2026 9:18am
- Ghost
  
  when you select undecided, you are then asked what party you are leaning towards voting for. One pollsters asks which parties you would vote, may vote for, leading right down to wont vote for.
  
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  August 30, 2026 9:44am
  - David Garrett
    
    Ghost: Obviously it would depend on the pollster…and the question(s) asked.
    
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    August 30, 2026 9:55am
    - Ghost
      
      I have never come across a poll yet that doesn’t ask a follow up question to try narrow down an answer before giving up and accepting undecided.
      
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      August 30, 2026 10:03am
      - Steve Todd
        
        I think you have showed, Ghost, that tknorriss has never participated in a poll.
        
        Mind you, I have only ever participated in one poll, two or three months ago. It was an automated poll, restricted just to the Wellington Bays electorate.
        
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        August 30, 2026 10:16am
      - Ghost
        
        I found out ages ago the polling companies use paid survey sites. I get polled often; I just let the money build up and donate it to charity.
        
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        August 30, 2026 10:25am
      - David Garrett
        
        Ghost: I have never been polled…on anything. Interesting that it seems to happen to you often
        
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        August 30, 2026 10:34am
      - Steve Todd
        
        @Ghost @ 10:25AM
        
        Gosh, that’s news to me. Shows you how much I know.
        
        The only reason I kept pressing the buttons on the recent occasion, was because I wasn’t dealing with a pushy human being.
        
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        August 30, 2026 10:36am
      - NZer In Exile
        
        Most scam-aware people these days do not answer calls from unknown numbers. Calls from unknown numbers are almost always calls from scammers or spammers.
        
        So if market researchers are going to people who are paid online “survey surfers” so to speak, that doesn’t sound like a good cross section of society. I’m also wondering if those paid survey surfer people are likely to be more sloppy in their answers just to rush through the exercise.
        
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        August 31, 2026 1:13pm
  - Inandout
    
    Ghost, oh to be given the chance of being ‘polled’. Are you on the ‘frequently called’ list?
    
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    August 30, 2026 10:26am
    - Ghost
      
      https://account.pureprofile.com/
      https://www.valuedopinions.co.nz/
      
      They run the main polls.
      
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      August 30, 2026 11:00am
NeverMindTheBollocks

For those who think China is just another trading partner.

There is very little media (and no social media) covering the recent glacial flash flooding in the Himalayas, despite it impacting both Nepal and China. Why? Because it’s not China. It’s Tibet.

http://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2z415w2gpo
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August 30, 2026 8:17am
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  Edit:
  
  There is very little media (and no social media) in China
  
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  August 30, 2026 1:57pm
  - septic skeptic
    
    You ever been there? Just talking about Facebook and Google perhaps?
    
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    August 30, 2026 3:52pm
  - sungsamning
    
    There is Weibo. Its censored of course.
    
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    August 30, 2026 5:14pm
Yvette

Te Pāti Māori weighs no-list strategy that could reshape Parliament
Te Pāti Māori is considering an election tactic that could affect the balance of Parliament even if its nationwide party vote remains very small: not submitting a party list at all.

Daalder said that outcome would actually be “more disproportionate” than an overhang.
The choice could also affect who forms the next government

Editor’s note: In Daalder’s example, the no-list strategy has the effect of reducing Labour, the Greens and Opportunity from 62 seats to 60. With a Te Pāti Māori list, those parties could form a majority without it.

Without a list, they would need Te Pāti Māori’s support. In that scenario, the tactic effectively produces a two-seat swing in the coalition arithmetic, despite Te Pāti Māori still having the same four electorate MPs. The exact effect would depend on the final election results.
https://centrist.nz/te-pti-mori-weighs-no-list-strategy-that-could-reshape-parliament-1787964212802?

In terms of Parliament rules and Election legislation, the Maori Party’s proposed tactics seem legitimate, but under the supposed Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi do they honour partnership: that Māori act toward the Crown with good faith, reasonableness, and mutual respect; participation: non-Māori have the right to be involved in decision-making processes and governance at all levels; and protection: Maori must actively protect non-Māori interests, rights, and taonga (treasures) – like democracy?

“The difference with the Māori seats is that only Māori voters enrolled on the Māori roll can vote in those electorates. Te Pati Māori doesn’t need to care about how the rest of the country feels about this move it’s made” – or that it breaches the Treaty.
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August 30, 2026 8:22am
Steve Todd

Yvette: yesterday afternoon I attempted to answer your question, “So if the Maori Party doesn’t submit a Party List, what does that do to the allocation of seats for other parties?”

As well as not being happy with my answer, my totals added to 114, rather than 120, so I’m going to try again.

Scenario 1: at the 2023 general election, Te Pāti Māori submitted a Party List, but ran an Electorate vote-only campaign. Consequently, their Party vote collapsed to (say) 5,000.

Excluding Port Waikato, that would have produced a 126-seat parliament, with all six of Te Pāti Māori’s seats being overhang seats. The seats would have been allocated, as follows:

National 50 (43 Electorate; 7 List), Labour 36 (17E; 19L). Greens 15 (3E; 12L), ACT NZ 11 (2E; 9L), NZ First 8 (0E; 8L), Te Pāti Māori 6 (6E; 0L).

Scenario 2: Te Pāti Māori did not submit a Party List. Their six seats would have been folded back into the total of 120 seats, with only 114 seats being allocated to the other successful parties.

The seats would have been allocated, as follows:

National 47 (43 Electorate; 4 List), Labour 34 (17E; 17L), Greens 14 (3E; 11L), ACT NZ 11 (2E; 9L), NZ First 8 (0E; 8L), Te Pāti Māori 6 (6E; 0L).

National would have lost three seats, missing out on seat allocation Nos. 115, 117, and 119.

Labour would have lost two seats, missing out on seat allocation Nos. 118 and 120.

The Greens would have lost one seat, missing out on seat allocation No. 116.

With the inclusion of Port Waikato, the current parliament would comprise the governing parties, still with 67 seats, but the opposition parties would be down one, to 54, for a total of 121.

Nomination Day is Thursday, 8 October. Party Lists must be submitted to the Electoral Commission by midday the day before.
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August 30, 2026 8:22am
- Yvette
  
  Had Te Pāti Māorinot submitted a party list in the 2023 General Election, the electoral rules under the Electoral Act 1993 would dictate the following outcomes:
  
  ⚬ Seats Won by Te Pāti Māori: 6 seats. Electorate seats are awarded directly via local candidate votes under first-past-the-post, which operates independently of party list submissions. Because Te Pāti Māori candidates won six Māori electorates (Te Tai Hauāuru, Waiariki, Hauraki-Waikato, Te Tai Tonga, Tāmaki Makaurau, and Te Tai Tokerau), all six would still have been elected directly as electorate MPs.
  
  ⚬ Seats Available for List Allocation to Other Parties: 114 seats. Under Section 191(8) of the Electoral Act 1993, when electorate seats are won by independent candidates or candidates representing a party that did not submit a party list, the Electoral Commission must deduct those seats from the standard 120-seat base before calculating list seat entitlements for qualifying parties. The pool used for the Sainte-Laguë allocation calculation among all list-submitting parties would therefore be $120 – 6 = 114 seats.
  
  AI searches may be wrong, but can’t anything be wrong. Garbage in, garbage out. Check what’s out.
  
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  August 30, 2026 8:48am
  - Yvette
    
    Oops – sorry about the shouty bold typeface – you can get this sort of crap when you attempt things in the morning before either medication or coffee, or both. And when “Edit” isn’t working.
    
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    August 30, 2026 8:52am
    - pdm
      
      There are some that could include:
      
      having got up at 3am to watch a rugby game the All Blacks lost.
      
      as well Yvette.
      
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      August 30, 2026 10:15am
kowtow

Today’s Herald editorial blames CO2 emissions for the glacier disaster in Nepal.It extols the abiding bond between “Aotearoa ” NZ and Nepal, basically cos of Hilary and all the subsequent stuff relating thereto.
What we do next , it states , will make a diffference for generations ( this in the climate change context)

Ironic then that the very feat of scaling the mountain triggered a huge fad in mountian tourism and environmental trashing there that brought much wealth to the region and indeed generated huge CO2 emissions itself.

So stay at home , save up for your ever increasing power bills and don’t forget Sun cycles have nothing to do with climate change because Greta , the Greens and the msm never mention the true driver of climate change.

I suppose NZME will now stop accepting airline and tourism advertising revenue , there is a precedent , they refused other “controversial’ advertising.

They need to put up or shut up.
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August 30, 2026 8:45am
- NZer In Exile
  
  Please tell me you are not still paying these clowns money.
  
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  August 31, 2026 1:18pm
Boy Geoff

Election time is always fascinating. I always enjoy it when Aotearoa’s biggest virtue signalers come out to play.

I didn’t realize that the command & control philosophy of the Green Party was so compatible with the creative endeavors and direction of people such as Miranda Harcourt, Robyn Malcolm, Lucy Lawless, etc., etc…

As an aside, I wonder if those individuals are aware of the carbon footprint that the film & entertainment industry creates?
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August 30, 2026 8:56am
- Paulus
  
  First Cruise Liner of the year in Auckland yesterday.
  
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  August 30, 2026 3:28pm
Scooter

I’ve been binge watching the Lindsay Clancy trial, she killed her 3 young children in Jan 2023 and it’s all down to her suffering postpartum psychosis/ being over medicated verses her knowing what she was doing and being guilty of 1st degree murder. What’s interesting is the TV coverage of it, not only is it great for openness but also an insight into the investigations even down to the very sad autopsy accounts. I think this openness is good for everyone, it helps people understand how criminal proceeding work and gives people an insight into others problems and maybe help to resolve them. The jury is still out until next week.
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August 30, 2026 9:25am
David Garrett

“Before either medication or coffee…”
Brilliant!
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August 30, 2026 9:30am
Maggy Wassilieff

Bob Edlin ponders on why the media sometimes tells us of the tribal links of folks, but not at other times.

https://breakingviewsnz.blogspot.com/2026/08/bob-edlin-media-and-matter-of-maori.html

It’s an issue noted here on KB from time to time…and its pretty clear that the media omits tribal links when an offender is the subject of the article.
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August 30, 2026 10:30am
- David Garrett
  
  Maggs: Of course we all know why tribal affiliations are never mentioned in the crime reports.
  
  Maori criminals are victims too!
  
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  August 30, 2026 10:45am
  - Scooter
    
    DG you’ve got that round the wrong way, it should be “too many victims are by Maori criminals”
    
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    August 30, 2026 11:48am
- Nukuleka
  
  I challenged a court reporter once about the omission of a criminal’s tribal affiliation from her newspaper article. Her answer was that the court didn’t supply it and she could only report on the facts supplied. Disengenuous or not?
  
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  August 30, 2026 12:43pm
Flossie

I wonder when we are going to grow up. Stuff has a headline “Erasmus drops f-bomb…” For goodness sake it is quarter through the 21st century and people have been saying that forever. I do it myself on an appropriate occasion and I’m an elderly (respectable) grandma! Might be worthy of a headline if the King dropped it at a state dinner maybe!
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August 30, 2026 11:07am
- graham
  
  … and their own reporter Andrea Vance dropped the C-word just 15 months ago. And Stuff defended it.
  
  What point are they trying to make?
  
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  August 30, 2026 11:22am
- Benedict Yu
  
  The problem is that they are not serious journalists. A good example is their determination to catastrophise aviation incidents. An airplane returning to its departure airport because a passenger is sick is not a news story.
  https://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/361026605/passenger-flight-new-zealand-turns-around-after-customer-situation
  
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  August 30, 2026 11:40am
Swifty

The wonderful Melanie Phillips knocks it out of the park once again:

https://x.com/Martyupnorth/status/2036441090358997292/video/1?s=46
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August 30, 2026 11:37am
Swifty

These people are not us:

https://x.com/shariakill/status/2093727844232822987?s=46
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August 30, 2026 11:57am
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  I’ve always thought that the UK rock on which the Islamic wave will break is the latter’s dislike of dogs.
  
  You will take Fido’s lead only out of my cold, dead hands.
  
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  August 30, 2026 2:02pm
- Yabster
  
  I have two dogs- thinking about getting a third…..
  
  hopefully not coming to NZ: – mass prayer events in public places- it is about trying to assert dominance, not religious practice (it is happening in the UK/Europe), No call to prayer over loudspeakers, 5 times a day -(happening in some US states)
  
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  August 30, 2026 3:46pm
Ghost

The First Amendment protects an individual’s right to privately possess images or videos of child sexual abuse created using artificial intelligence — if the material does not depict a real person and remains in the home, a federal appeals court judge ruled Tuesday. The decision came in a case that tested the scope of laws implemented before advances in AI made it easy to create realistic-looking fake images of children.

Article

I expect, or would hope there is work quickly done on this
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August 30, 2026 2:27pm
NZer In Exile

The 2026 New Zealand election is shaping up to be a battle of strategic voting. What can YOU do to keep the lefty haters and wreckers out?

The answer from The Anglo Saxon Show:

Vote like this in the 2026 New Zealand General Election:

https://youtu.be/N6C-jItlSTI
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August 30, 2026 5:52pm
Ghost

Interesting to see one of the things that was cancelled under trump’s dodge

“Among the victims: a collab between USAID and NASA for flood prediction, early warning, disaster readiness, glacier inventories, and mapping dangerous glacial lakes… in Nepal.”

Article
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August 30, 2026 6:42pm
- NZer In Exile
  
  Best not to trust MSN and “RawStory” at face value. You do realise NASA have been heavily involved in pushing climate alarmism?
  
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  August 31, 2026 1:25pm

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