General Debate 01 September 2026

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General Debate

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Yvette

If pigs could fly …
… Māori researchers Professor Amanda Black and Professor Phillip Wilcox told Our Changing World that Colossal Biosciences has not consulted properly with tangata whenua.
“We didn’t ask to have the moa back, whose decision was that?” asks Professor Black.
“The access and benefit sharing again, that’s our genome, why have you got it?”
Dr Andrew Pask explained the process of resurrecting the flightless bird after already taking DNA samples from moa bones.

“The plan is to do it across both Texas and New Zealand,” Dr Pask says.
“We’ve only just announced the project, we’re still sequencing the moa genome so there’s still lots of stuff to figure out.
“Where the genome engineering side would happen potentially at Dallas and then a lot of the assisted reproductive technology on different bird species, artifical egg technologies and things would all happen in New Zealand.”
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/science-and-technology/1202188/can-we-de-extinct-the-moa-and-more-importantly-should-we

“We didn’t ask to have the moa back, whose decision was that?” asks Professor Black.
Did Maori not indicate a decision on moa existence when they ate the last of them?
And would the programme here produce a moa or a modified emu?

Reminds one of the chook story of a farmer who developed a hen with three legs, which would have been a hit with KFC, when someone asked the farmer what these three-legged chooks tasted like, he said he didn’t know, because they hadn’t caught one yet.
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September 1, 2026 8:02am
- Cassandra
  
  Your last paragraph is a Reagan classic. See it on YouTube.
  
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  September 1, 2026 8:05am
- artemisia
  
  Follow the prospect of money, of course.
  
  (Can someone own the genome of an extinct species?)
  
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  September 1, 2026 8:23am
Cassandra

Luxon and the Paris Agreement: he shouldn’t draw a line in the sand quite so deep. Always have a bit in reserve.

The Nat position should be fudge “Yes we support it but it does need some fine tuning.” Luxon does not seem to have the political or communication skills to do that.
Peters criticism of him is valid.
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September 1, 2026 8:02am
Cassandra

Labour says it will ensure every nursing graduate gets a job. That’ll cost just over half a billion dollars. It’ll come from the Health Budget ie not new money, which means something – actually a lot of things – will not be funded.

This is not a joke. Better starts now is really worse starts now.

Promise less and deliver more has escaped Hipkins. Some people never learn.
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September 1, 2026 8:03am
Stephen Russell

For those following US politics:
I have for some time been thinking that the Dems are getting a little ahead of themselves in their expectations of what the November election will bring.
Yesterday, I found an excellent analysis that backs up this instinct:
DDHQ Podcast Ep. 41: Are Senate Polls Overrating Democrats’ Chances?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ee58f6vBL0&t=2042s

Key takeaways:
• Senate polls (over last 6 elections) always shift rightward in last 100 days. And especially so in mid-term elections;
• Final polls have been pretty accurate in mid-terms, but this is where that late polling shift is stronger;
• Overestimation of Dems’ chances is strongest in red states (such as Ohio, Alaska and Iowa),
More detail in the video…
While Democrats hold a lead in polls of many key Senate swing states, these leads are mostly very small – less than three percent. So even a small shift could see their hoped-for gains completely evaporate.
Of course, every election has its own unique character. History is not destiny. There is no guarantee that the pattern will repeat. Also, I present this as interesting data, not as endorsement of either side.
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September 1, 2026 8:11am

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