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September 14, 2026 8:00am by Kokila Patel

General Debate 14 September 2026

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General Debate

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greybeard

DPF: it looks as though we can submit multiple entries of your questionnaire. Is that a bug or a feature ?
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September 14, 2026 8:07am
- MCōs
  
  Maybe you can, but why should you unless you want to skew the results, which is pointless, unless you filled out the questionnaire a couple of hundred times
  
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  September 14, 2026 9:23am
  - David Garrett
    
    MCos: Good point…I will be most interested in how many readers KB gets daily on average. I suspect we already know the demographic answers: Mostly over 45, mostly male…but then who knows? I was astounded when Curia’s poll on approval of three strikes showed 48% in favour among Green voters. So surprised that I thought it was a typo, and should have been 18%… DPF assured me it was not a typo.
    
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    September 14, 2026 9:33am
    - zulumonster
      
      Can’t trust Curia polling though DG, according to newsroom – https://newsroom.co.nz/2026/09/14/campaign-cut-through-political-polls-have-a-science-problem/#Echobox=1789326424
      I thought the specific reference to Curia early in the article was a pretty deliberate attempt to skew the message. Especially after the post here last week rating the accuracy of the various pollsters!
      
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      September 14, 2026 11:44am
  - greybeard
    
    Chill out man: I am simply bringing it to someone’s attention.
    
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    September 14, 2026 9:36am
    - MCōs
      
      Its not something I’m unchill about
      
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      September 14, 2026 11:39am
- Colville
  
  greybeard.
  Vote early, vote often!
  
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  September 14, 2026 10:48am
NeverMindTheBollocks

In all of the extensive and celebratory coverage of the new CRL carried across various media, I haven’t seen a single comment from anyone saying

– great, the CRL is a game changer, I’m going to leave the car at home now and my daily commute will be by train.
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September 14, 2026 8:10am
- septic skeptic
  
  Listened to part of an interview with Len Brown on red radio. He was waxing lyrical about what immense benefits it would bring and what an achievement it was for him to get this started. Then qualified it all by saying it was not a silver bullet! More likely a gold plated white elephant IMO. Ludicrous cost to benefit ratio.
  
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  September 14, 2026 9:10am
  - David Garrett
    
    septic: You have to admire the gall of “pants down Brown”. If I had been caught fucking a much younger employee in a Council meeting room I would have completely disappeared from public life…or gone to Australia.
    
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    September 14, 2026 9:34am
    - Happy1
      
      If I was caught bonking a younger woman my friends would think very differently about me
      
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      September 14, 2026 1:21pm
      - Ra Henare
        
        I do and they dont…
        Maybe reassess your friends, or are they just judgemental acquaintances?
        
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        September 14, 2026 6:24pm
      - R
        
        What would your wife think?
        
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        September 14, 2026 8:17pm
      - Ra Henare
        
        I am single after 45 years of marriage; we remain good friends and she doesnt mind(now)
        
        But nice try at a put down. R
        
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        September 15, 2026 4:51pm
    - Ra Henare
      
      Pants Down gets my vote. Big ups for him getting his end away at all, even more so with a younger person.
      
      I would expect his business card to say old but virile.
      
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      September 14, 2026 1:59pm
- R
  
  Reason! The CRL is of NO benefit to probably 80% of the Auckland commuting population , it doesn’t serve the travel needs of the majority. Gold plated Art gallery as it may be.
  
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  September 14, 2026 9:40am
  - Flossie
    
    Never mind 80% of Auckland – zero of the rest of the country.
    
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    September 14, 2026 10:00am
    - NeonTeepee
      
      Does it even run to the Airport?
      
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      September 14, 2026 2:17pm
  - Bullion
    
    I would imagine the increased patronage would take people off the roads – so people that love driving will have fewer people driving on the roads. win-win.
    
    You can’t one more lane your way out of congestion forever.
    
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    September 14, 2026 11:42am
    - NeverMindTheBollocks
      
      “I would imagine …” – chortle!
      
      You go, you evidence-free zone, you!
      
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      September 14, 2026 8:37pm
    - David Garrett
      
      Bullion: Quite so…the north western has already been expanded as far as it can be…ditto the northern. Auckland is an unfixable fuckup transport wise.
      
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      September 15, 2026 7:10am
  - MCōs
    
    Public facilities aren’t built anywhere in larger cities to directly improve the life of more than 20% of the citizens
    
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    September 14, 2026 11:49am
  - david in Aus
    
    The same for the Harbour Bridge. Most Aucklanders don’t use it.
    
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    September 14, 2026 11:49am
    - amospicton
      
      True, but I guarantee all Aucklanders would notice if it wasn’t working for a period of time.
      
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      September 14, 2026 3:46pm
  - OlderChas
    
    I am one of the 80% R. Living in North Rodney (as it was). I very, very rarely go any closer than the harbour bridge to the City on my way south. If for some reason I was forced to go to the CBD I would certainly not park my car somewhere and find a station to get on a train (with how many yobbos and scrotes locked in the carriage with me?) to get around the city. (And I’m a gold card holder so it would be free! )
    
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    September 14, 2026 5:30pm
- alex Masterley
  
  Some comments.
  My daily commute is 10 minutes from home to office. Public transport took about 45 minutes pre- CRL. Havent tried public transport post CRL as no opportunity but am unlikley to change my commuting habit.
  I am waiting to see the effect of the CRL after the initial excitment fades and there have been a few stoppages mid route. Getting to Grafton/Newmarket will be a pain in the backside.
  My wife and I tested the CRL yesterday. we went into town from Kingsland got off midtown and wandered down to Britomart and returned to Kingsland. All I can say is it was a train ride. Quicker to town but that is all.
  
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  September 14, 2026 9:43am
  - David Garrett
    
    Alex: I’m sorry, but 10 minutes by car but 45 minutes by public transport just doesn’t add up…Unless you are comparing apples with pears, and travelling to your workplace by car at a totally different time from when you are trying public transport.
    
    When I last worked in Auckland city – 11 years ago – taking the bus from Albany Park’n’Ride to the city was WAAAAY faster than driving it on the same day and at a similar time. But that was on the North Shore busway, so that might explain it.
    
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    September 14, 2026 10:42am
    - Ehlana
      
      It does if you’re going cross-town. It’s 20mins in uncongested traffic from home to work for me; 40 – 45 minutes when I need to travel, during rush hours. The CRL cuts my public transport journey time by 6 minutes, from just over 1.5 hours one way to just under.
      Needless to say, I will continue to commute by car.
      
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      September 14, 2026 10:52am
    - alex Masterley
      
      David,
      Mine is a cross town commute from Morningside to Epsom.
      And I can confirm the numbers as I tested them by rail (on and off peak) and by bus.
      
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      September 14, 2026 11:28am
  - Handyman
    
    You are right about getting to Grafton.
    It is now closed during commuting times, but is open after hours when no one needs it.
    In rail PR speak, the station is open 90 per cent of the time.
    
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    September 14, 2026 11:35am
- kowtow
  
  Photo in todays herald showed a sign board showing “way out” but in maori first !
  
  The rest of the text on the board featured only English .
  Putting pointless virtue signalling ahead of safety and effective communication is dangerous , but illustrates where our “betters” have brought us today.
  
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  September 14, 2026 10:32am
  - Ghost
    
    you would have to be pretty stupid to see this sign and not know where the way out is
    
    https://au-img-cdn.livecenter.com/lc-aus-images/lc-img-afb15ec8-7f28-4a7a-bdb3-0e61aa55855b.jpeg
    
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    September 14, 2026 10:37am
    - Cassandra
      
      You’d have to be even more stupid not to see that the complaint is that it’s Maori first. Or even at all.
      
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      September 14, 2026 10:44am
    - David Garrett
      
      Ghost: Not the point – as I’m sure you know.
      
      Kowtow’s (obvious) point is the use of Maori FIRST…and I would add that “Putanga” is obviously one of those new words made up at great – taxpayer – expense by the Maori language commission.
      
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      September 14, 2026 10:45am
      - Ghost
        
        Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
        actually, it is the point. it’s very obvious where the way out is, and it has been shown that people will view the language first that they know when looking at a sign. There is nothing wrong with this sign. We are in NZ, you are going to have Māori incorporated into things, that is just the way the country is going and will go. You would have to be bloody stupid to look at that sign and not know the way out, so no, it isn’t a safety issue
        
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        September 14, 2026 10:49am
      - David Garrett
        
        Ghost: And again…Are you happy for the country to be called “Aotearoa/New Zealand”? ..If you are, get ready for the “New Zealand” to disappear within 10 years…if not fewer.
        
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        September 14, 2026 10:51am
      - Ghost
        
        I think your fantasy is a long way off David
        
        https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXc5nT91OQdYNNV78Bh5MJiUhxOvMUVR-h45fuZftFmNPA2fBL0AEwwoWsSNwiYx0-txPtIPDlxvAdqInVH5poED73HIDCFtf5thrJd10837Uh3DPDwiV-FN_nAhIBsqOmv3EcG6?key=BUQD0I6-hxvPGeIf9arCBg
        
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        September 14, 2026 10:58am
      - Bullion
        
        DG, when you travel to Ireland or Wales – you will see signage in native languages and English, with the native languages being displayed first.
        
        For Ireland for instance regulations state:
        
        Stationery and Signage
        Text in the Irish Language
         Shall appear first
         Shall not be less prominent, visible or legible
         Lettering shall not be smaller in size
         Shall communicate the same information
         Shall not be abbreviated unless a word in English is abbreviated
        Recorded oral announcements, stationery and signage
         Will be in Irish or in Irish and English
        
        https://assets.gov.ie/static/documents/achtanna-na-dteangacha-oifigiula-official-languages-acts.pdf
        
        Why do we have to be so precious about this in NZ?
        
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        September 14, 2026 12:00pm
      - kowtow
        
        bullion
        
        Ireland and Wales .
        
        And again , apart from a couple of isolated , fringe places no one speaks their “native” languages there and the politicians are the ones pushing it , not the natives …….for the most part.
        
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        September 14, 2026 4:17pm
      - David Lenny
        
        “Why do we have to be so precious about this in NZ?”
        
        Perhaps we might learn something to our advantage from overseas.
        
        For a century Irish governments have promoted Irish as the preferred language with petty regulations such as these, yet for a century the Irish have preferred English. Just 40% say they can speak Irish, but more than half of this 40% also say they never use the language, or use it only in education, where it is a compulsory subject. Only 4% use it daily, 2% speak it fluently, less than 2% use it as the primary home language.
        
        But keep spending taxpayers’ money flogging that dead horse.
        
        If it’s ‘precious’ to object to a particular minority language coming first what word should we use for those who insist the majority language comes second?
        
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        September 14, 2026 5:50pm
    - Bullion
      
      Can I just say how cool that station looks. Like the inside of a Star Wars space ship.
      
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      September 14, 2026 11:52am
- G152
  
  Any London Underground excrew on here to remark upon the lightness and levity ???????????
  
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  September 14, 2026 10:42am
- Right of way is Way of Right
  
  As an Auckland Ratepayer who lives a considerable distance from the CRL, in the Hibiscus Coast, it does grate on me somewhat that while a considerable amount of my rates has gone to pay for this CRL, the likelyhood of me ever actually using it is approaching zero, considering I have to travel for 50 minutes by bus or by a fairly unreliable and expensive outer gulf ferry service before I even set foot on a train. Given that close to 400,000 ratepayers live north of the Harbour Bridge, they, as well as I, probably feel a bit ripped off.
  
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  September 14, 2026 1:24pm
  - Ra Henare
    
    What about taxpayers outside Auckland. !!!
    
    How do you think we feel about our money ($2.7 Billion) being invested in the CRL.
    
    So please stop moaning about something you could have access to if you chose.
    
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    September 14, 2026 2:08pm
  - Steve Otto N Shore
    
    The Shore has “ALWAYS” been ripped off by anyone who can get away with it!!!!
    
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    September 14, 2026 3:14pm
    - Ra Henare
      
      Oh dear, you poor thing.
      Hope this moan made you feel better
      
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      September 15, 2026 4:53pm
- Paulus
  
  I am a veritable veteran and have no chance whatsoever of travelling on this expensive monstrosity.
  No more that being on the North Shore
  
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  September 14, 2026 1:52pm
- RW Capitalist
  
  Some maths
  1. Cost $5.5 billion
  2. Lifetime 20 years
  3. Maintenance and running $250 million per year
  Therefore to pay for itself
  $520 million per year
  at $5 per trip (googled price)
  104 million trips per year.
  285000 per day
  142000 return trips per day, every day including weekends and holidays.
  How are we doing so far (at it’s most popular moment) or is it the white elephant I always thought it would be?
  
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  September 14, 2026 4:46pm
  - NeverMindTheBollocks
    
    Lifetime – 20 years
    ——————
    
    I don’t think so. I think the tunnels and stations will still be there in 100 years time.
    
    AI permitting, of course.
    
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    September 14, 2026 8:41pm
    - RW Capitalist
      
      But will anyone who paid for it, be alive?
      or ever get any benefit from it.
      Infrastructure lifetime is a fairly standard “lifetime” of 20 years.
      
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      September 15, 2026 7:51am
      - Ra Henare
        
        RW, you do realise that its paid for by loans which future generations are supposed to pay off.
        
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        September 15, 2026 4:54pm
artemisia

NZ’s largest electricity consumers seek bipartisanship on policy

A worthy aim. Is the subtext – no more Captain’s Calls. Please.

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/1360716/nz-s-largest-electricity-consumers-seek-bipartisanship-on-policy
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September 14, 2026 8:11am
- kowtow
  
  We need more “firming” capacity.
  
  Coal please.
  
  Local , cheap , proven , plentiful.
  
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  September 14, 2026 8:36am
  - imalwaysright
    
    Yes, coal.
    
    Then develop geothermal, and then search for gas.
    
    Or, here’s an idea, we could do all three at the same time…
    
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    September 14, 2026 9:17am
    - R
      
      ‘same time’………bit smbitious for the NZ bureacracy. No vote winning WELFARE in the idea.
      
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      September 14, 2026 9:42am
    - Raphael
      
      Then get to work on legislation to allow modern modular nuclear reactors (and flay the Greens every thime they try block it)
      
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      September 14, 2026 10:01am
      - Ian Boag
        
        Don’t bother waiting to see any working ones – get in quick and lead the world …. 🙂
        
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        September 14, 2026 10:35am
    - Bullion
      
      Did you know 50 wells have been drilled at a cost over $2b since the “ban” on oil and gas exploration – and nothing.
      
      Fossil fuels are also often more expensive than renewables – if they were cheaper genesis would be running huntly at max output 24/7 and making bank.
      
      As I type this, electricity production is 97% renewable with coal output only 13% of capacity and no gas production (which is mostly for peaking)
      
      Current Generation (MW)
      Power Generation (as at) 14 Sep 2026 11:00
      Battery 0 MW
      Co-Gen 47 MW
      Coal 100 MW
      Gas 0 MW
      Geothermal 1214 MW
      Hydro 3574 MW
      Diesel/Oil 0 MW
      Solar 256 MW
      Wind 113 MW
      
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      September 14, 2026 12:08pm
      - Ra Henare
        
        Nice cherry-picking, Bullion…… as at 11AM.
        Try the same at 8PM.
        
        Also, if its such a high amount of renewable. Why is energy so damn expensive in NZ.
        
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        September 14, 2026 2:12pm
      - Bullion
        
        It gets expensive when fossil fuels are required, prices rise on the spot market incentivising generators to turn on more fossil fuel production, which means that all electricity production, even by cheap renewables, is sold at the most expensive rate (the rate to get fossil fuels in the mix).
        
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        September 14, 2026 2:27pm
      - RW Capitalist
        
        Maths my boy.
        Gas cost $40 per MWhr
        Coal about the same
        Renewables about the same
        Cost to build per MWhr
        All much of a muchness.
        EXCEPT ….(and it’s a big but)
        Renewbales have to be replaced at TWICE the rate (last about 25years compared to 40-50 years.) Making renewable over their life TWICE the cost of fossil fuels.
        
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        September 14, 2026 4:57pm
      - CJames
        
        It gets expensive when fossil fuels are required because they need to cover their costs over a shorter generation period. At least they can be dispatched generation which the unreliables can’t do.
        When the fuel plants are on, the unreliables get little income. I discussed it in yesterdays GD how solar has become uneconomic and dragged all the others down too.
        India is now going to fore solar and wind to cover their generation at least partially with their own batteries. This is because of the big problems their unreliability causes. That change will be a big change in economics.
        
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        September 14, 2026 5:22pm
      - Bullion
        
        Then fossil fuels should be cheaper and generators are not doing right by their shareholders by not using fossil fuels as often as they can.
        
        When at 11 this morning no gas generation, 13% of coal, no diesel – why aren’t generators using the more profitable source?
        
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        September 14, 2026 5:25pm
      - Bullion
        
        CJ, when fossil fuels are being used all generation on the spot market generates the same income, no? If its night time, sure solar won’t be making anything but hydro, wind and geothermal will be selling at the max rate for the market at that time which is the same for fossil fuels.
        
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        September 14, 2026 5:30pm
      - CJames
        
        Because you don’t understand the market, Bullion. It actually makes sense if you know how it works.
        
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        September 14, 2026 5:58pm
      - Bullion
        
        In the New Zealand wholesale electricity market, the price paid to dispatched generators is the nodal ‘spot price’, which is priced to reflect the ‘marginal’ generation needed to meet demand.
        …
        The ‘marginal generator’ is the generator dispatched (required to generate) to meet the next MW of supply each time the electricity system is redispatched.
        …
        As wind, solar and geothermal generation have virtually no fuel cost, they are nearly always dispatched in each five-minute period1 when there is wind or sun available.
        
        Figure 1 shows an example of a generation stack, which represents all offers available in the market for a half-hour trading period in May 2025. Wind, solar and geothermal are priced near zero. Hydro and thermal generation are also priced low to cover existing contracts to meet minimum load or meet resource constraints.
        
        Since all low-cost electricity is usually used first, this often leaves only hydro or thermal higher in the offer stack and these generation types are often marginal and set the five-minute price.
        
        https://www.ea.govt.nz/news/eye-on-electricity/how-marginal-electricity-spot-pricing-reflects-cost/
        
        So its the marginal (highest priced) generator that sets the price. Fossil fuel generation only comes online when the marginal price is high enough (due to demand/supply) to be switched on (some forecasting is done to estimate demand/supply for coal boilers that take time to turn on, gas peakers are operational much, much quicker).
        
        I think I understand the market well enough.
        
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        September 14, 2026 8:39pm
      - CJames
        
        Anyone can do a copy and paste. That does not mean comprehension. Do you understand the must run market? The Dutch auction? The hedges? Or how about ~90% of the electricity isn’t actually on the spot price market?
        
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        September 14, 2026 9:14pm
      - David Garrett
        
        Bullion: 50 wells drilled since the ban? Utter bullshit. Source please.
        
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        September 15, 2026 7:17am
      - Bullion
        
        Sorry, not 50 actually 54.
        
        In the five years before the ban was introduced, the industry drilled 37 development wells at a cost of $1.4 billion. In the five years after the ban, the industry drilled 54 such wells at a cost of … $1.4 billion.
        
        That does not give the impression of a chilled market, by any means.
        
        Indeed, nearly $2 billion has been spent on drilling since the ban was imposed with relatively little to show for it.
        
        https://newsroom.co.nz/2026/05/15/the-mystery-of-the-disappearing-gas-reserves/
        
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        September 15, 2026 10:16am
      - Bullion
        
        CJ, I don’t think it matters if most generation is not on the spot market – contracts to supply are a hedge against low prices (to the benefit of generator) and high prices (to the benefit of the consumer) – the generator is still going to use the most profitable form of generation anyway which is renewables. The actions of generators show this.
        
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        September 15, 2026 10:40am
      - CJames
        
        Bullion
        That 54 exploration wells is just wrong. According to MBIE and the geological well log data, none have been drilled since 2016. All that has been drilled in O&G is a few infill wells. It seems the reporter (who did not source his number) just googled a variant of number of wells and picked up all the geothermal ones. They use the same permit.
        Artificial intelligence is no match for natural gullibility.
        
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        September 15, 2026 6:18pm
      - CJames
        
        Bullion with regards your pricing comments, you continue to show your ignorance as to how the electricity market functions. It generally is beyond penpusher lanyard class types, but the people in the industry understand it fully. You might think it is not right but it is – it has delivered new plant when needed – about 3GW.
        All it needs is a capacity market and it seems that is coming.
        
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        September 15, 2026 6:27pm
Master Mariner

An interesting development overnight and assumed it would of been evoked sooner.
https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/White-House-Weighs-Defense-Production-Act-as-US-Refineries-Maxed-Out.html
Summary is that they will sanction Petroleum products for the war machine.
Having recently visiited ( Anchored) the Singapore large refineries , The thing immediately obvious was the lack of production due to shortages there. This was confirmed by Pilot during Pilotage. In addition the amount of Tankers “Arrested” due to sanctions.
Here is a great summary from “Whats going on with Shipping”, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n76tCHtJfmQ
VLCC Tanker rates from Persian gulf to Asian refineries is hitting 1mill day rate.
How long before S.Korea restricts Petroleum Products ?
What is NZ Strategy / Plan on further restrictions / Costs.?
Is the Media asking Former leaders about the infamous “Captains Call” and it consequences which should be immediately obvious to all by now?
Jack Tame and Megan Woods interview ?
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September 14, 2026 8:18am
- David Garrett
  
  “… assumed it would HAVE been invoked sooner…”
  
  Shame on you MM! You being in the “senior” demographic on KB
  
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  September 14, 2026 9:55am
  - crikey
    
    You missed one DG in the same post. “ In addition the amount of Tankers “Arrested” due to sanctions” correctly is ‘In addition the number of….
    
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    September 14, 2026 11:44am
  - Master Mariner
    
    Bit lost on that reply David.
    It’s really in response to depleting SPR and finally getting close to not being able to dump on the market for price fixing / Gouging etc. Of future prices.
    Whoops got it.
    My spelling . I’ll blame to much misspent youth. And dodging the Duster.
    Interesting developments all the same.
    Incidently in my late 50-s
    
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    September 14, 2026 11:55am
    - Ra Henare
      
      Dont worry MM.
      DG is just trying to show off his ability to be a pendant by using old usgae English and ignoring the fact that the world has moved on in its use of the english? language.
      
      Your comment communicated the information well. After all, that is what language is for. Good communication.
      
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      September 14, 2026 2:29pm
      - imalwaysright
        
        It must be chaotic on the Master’s ship with all of those grammers and sintacks littering the decks….
        
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        September 14, 2026 4:29pm
      - David Garrett
        
        Ra: Yeah fuck correct usage! We all know what a sentence like “I never done none of them things” means.
        
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        September 15, 2026 7:21am
      - Ra Henare
        
        David, correct usage deemed by whom? The word Gay springs to mind overthe last 50 years.
        
        Then you resort to a childish example totally unrelated to your critique of MM
        
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        September 15, 2026 5:00pm
- Ehlana
  
  No, the media will not interview the former leader about her Captain’s call. She probably wouldn’t agree to the interview and doesn’t see herself as having any responsibility.
  
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  September 14, 2026 12:17pm
- Steve Otto N Shore
  
  Jack Tame interviews himself————-
  
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  September 14, 2026 3:23pm
Maggy Wassilieff

Richard Prebble is asking questions…

Once I would have dismissed as paranoia the idea that the public service might deliberately sabotage a government’s re-election.

https://www.brashandmitchell.com/post/richard-prebble-is-the-public-service-neutral
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September 14, 2026 8:18am
- Swifty
  
  Yes, and let it be known by future generations that, if our public service neutrality is destroyed, it was the New Zealand left which did it – like a parasite taking over and ultimately destroying its host.
  
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  September 14, 2026 8:30am
- Inandout
  
  Maggy, the PS has been Labour aligned for many decades but now the department bosses seem to have discovered their immense power. A $30 million computer cock up hidden from the Minister, and then crickets. The fault lies squarely with Luxon.
  
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  September 14, 2026 8:32am
  - RoboRob
    
    There need to be consequences when you stuff up or intentionally work against the government. Unfortunately in NZ we no longer remove or resign people regardless of their actions . Even actions that lead to death are not sufficient for a sacking and the managers don’t have the integrity* to resign.
    
    * Lets face it, a lot of the falling on swords that used to happen was to avoid being sacked. Since we don’t sack people any more the ‘integrity’ is also gone.
    
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    September 14, 2026 9:14am
    - imalwaysright
      
      Hate to break it to you Roborob, but there’s nothing in the treaties about ethics…
      
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      September 14, 2026 9:19am
  - Sacha
    
    @Inandout: are you saying that Luxon knew about the cock-up and the Minister didn’t?
    And who is the Minister?
    Why is their name not mentioned but the PM’s is?
    Are you, Inandout, a labour supporter?
    Hmmm.
    
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    September 14, 2026 9:27am
    - Inandout
      
      Sacha, you would have to be a tad dim not to realise Luxon sacks and moves MPs at will. In this case the Minister was misled but after expressing disappointment for being misled she faded. Luxon has been a huge disappointment and the axe should have fallen heavily on that public servant boss. This computer fiasco happened before Luxon’s second leadership challenge but we don’t know the real reasons for this. I am not by any means Labour, just bitterly disappointed in Luxon’s inaction on many issues.
      
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      September 14, 2026 10:04am
    - RoboRob
      
      Stanford, my favourite National MP, was strong on this right up to the point where she could ‘lose confidence’ in the CEO. Whether this was her choice or some sort of agreement with Roche, is unclear. Either way, Luxon is the top dog. He can talk to his Ministers and ‘help’ them with their decisions. It is highly unlikely that a minister makes this sort of decision without talking to the leader and cabinet.
      
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      September 14, 2026 10:24am
      - Paulus
        
        Roche’s previous career is that as an Accoutant with PWC.
        Therefore a straight forward decision is not the way !
        And I suspect that the senior executives of the PSC are of course as somthing well over 50% of the Public Services are now women,
        
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        September 14, 2026 1:58pm
  - R
    
    The FAULT lies squarely with the SENIOR management, who have some input to the calibre of staff recruited; and total responsibility for the attitude of said staff.
    PM Luxon has no part in the administration of departments.
    
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    September 14, 2026 11:16am
    - RoboRob
      
      And who are senior management accountable to?
      
      Thats the issue, senior management are unaccountable (by design).
      
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      September 14, 2026 2:11pm
- mike
  
  Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
  Richard Prebble should reflect on his own role in weakening and politicizing the public service.
  
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  September 14, 2026 8:33am
  - cmm (semi-retired edition)
    
    Perhaps he weakened it, but how did he politicise it?
    
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    September 14, 2026 8:39am
    - mike
      
      The state sector has been steadily politicized since the 1988 Act. Minister have been able to interfere in appointments and have their hench persons to interfere in day-to-day business. Departments are much less likely to provide neutral advice and much more likely to blindly acquiesce in political nonsense.
      
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      September 14, 2026 8:45am
      - RoboRob
        
        From where I am sitting the issue seems to be the reverse. Ministers are completely unable to interfere in staffing or remove people, this has led to a total lack of responsibility from underlings and a public service that ignores government policy.
        
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        September 14, 2026 9:16am
  - Benedict Yu
    
    Oh yes. The current situation is the fault of Richard Prebble. 40 years ago. 🙄 The Public Service in the 1990s was just fine. A fraction of its current size.
    
    Many things wrecked it. Notably Jacinda who repealed the State Services Act and enacted the Public Service Act. She then turned it into a bloated spiritual monstrosity.
    
    The public service union cannot be allowed to run a campaign called “change the government”. If necessary legislation should be passed under urgency to make that clear.
    
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    September 14, 2026 8:44am
    - mike
      
      Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
      The root of the problem is the ‘reforms’ of the 1980s and 1990s. The architects of that cannot escape blame because their successors failed to repair the damage.
      
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      September 14, 2026 8:48am
      - cmm (semi-retired edition)
        
        You missed an opportunity… The root of the problem is surely Captain Cook coming to mess up perfect Aotearoa.
        
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        September 14, 2026 8:59am
    - Tomtoddy
      
      Is that sarcasm Bene? About Prebble? The most damage was actually done by Helen Clark.
      
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      September 14, 2026 9:23am
      - David Garrett
        
        Tom T: I would have thought it was bloody obvious Bene was being sarcastic…His second sentence makes that clear – at least to me.
        
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        September 14, 2026 9:57am
    - MCōs
      
      The number of public servants at 1980 was about 72.5k
      This was reduced to about 32k by about 2000. However as well as mass redundancies the SOEs were established to get the numbers down and they are not public servants. For example Transpower, KiwiRail, New Zealand Post.
      Some people I knew were made redundant when the MWD shut down, had huge payouts and after a short holiday started working again doing the same stuff as consultants to the government.
      
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      September 14, 2026 9:56am
      - Jack5
        
        The “smart” core of the old Ministry of Works seems to have ended up as the NZ section of WSP Global, the Canadian multinational with around 67,000 staff.
        
        The old MOW wasn’t all the popular view of labourers “breast feeding their shovels”. It included very bright engineers.
        
        NZ’ers lacked the skill, the confidence, the brains, the capital, the ambition to turn it into an NZ based multinational like WSP Global.
        
        A Western-economy nation of mountainous islands on the Pacific “rim of fire,” with a climate that washes out roads, should be an international front-runner in civil engineering.
        
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        September 14, 2026 10:47am
      - Steve Otto N Shore
        
        Jack5,
        ‘Breast feeding shovels’?
        Come visit the North Shore. Some of those shovels are now walking sticks———-
        
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        September 14, 2026 3:47pm
- R
  
  If there was any doubt about the public servants’ credibility and political neutrality in the performance of their taxpayer paid performance; the last three years have highlighted that doubt very clearly
  
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  September 14, 2026 9:00am
  - RoboRob
    
    And yet, find a government minister that will say anything negative about the public service. Find a minister that doesn’t have faith in their CEO, even if the CEO has lied to their face.
    
    The issues stem from the head. Ministers have removed themselves from control and responsibility and now the departments are running wild.
    
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    September 14, 2026 9:19am
  - Paulus
    
    And they do not care either !
    
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    September 14, 2026 2:03pm
- R
  
  Richard Preeble, in govt 1980’s, was instrumental in establishing this problem . Consequences
  
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  September 14, 2026 9:48am
  - RoboRob
    
    And yet no government since has taken any steps to resolve the issue. This government, actively despised by the people who work for it, has taken no steps. As I have said before, ministers dont want to be responsible for their departments. See the weeks it took for Upston to accept any responsibility for the recent MSD stuff ups.
    
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    September 14, 2026 10:27am
- Dougal10
  
  Our local council staff activity help elect our new mayor who had once been inside the tent on the payroll.
  
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  September 14, 2026 8:51pm
Jethrod

Janet Dickson, the real estate agent who won’t take Te Reo lessons and has been really thrashed by the law system. So much so she won’t have her real estate licence renewed, effectively leading to a sacking from her real estate company.
From what I have seen, the company that employed her, Harcourts Howick, hasn’t taken a side in this dispute. Harcourts is one of the larger, if not the largest real estate companies in New Zealand and I would have thought they would have a position on this.
REINZ seems to have rolled over with the legislation that caused this very unfortunate incident, namely taking the knee to the Treaty of Waitangi.
What a turn up for the books if residential, commercial and industrial property buyers and sellers, just ignored this company for, mmmm, say a month. We wouldn’t want to completely destroy an NZ company, just enough to show a dent in their profits.
Check out the article on the Free Speech Union website.
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September 14, 2026 8:22am
- Paulus
  
  Easy, just do not employ Harcourts !
  If they will not support their employees.
  There are many other ones quite capable.
  
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  September 14, 2026 2:06pm
  - Flossie
    
    One hundred percent agree Paulus.
    
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    September 14, 2026 4:02pm
Yvette

Why has the Opposition not upheld the principle of a neutral public service and called on the PSA to abandon its political campaign?
And what about the strike?
Did the 10,000 strikers lose pay for the hours they were not working?
Or did we pay for the walkout?
Once I would have dismissed as paranoia the idea that the public service might deliberately sabotage a government’s re-election.
– Richard Prebble, on Brash and Mitchell
https://www.brashandmitchell.com/post/richard-prebble-is-the-public-service-neutral

Pity there is no “journalist” intestinally bold enough to ask Hipkins about a neutral public service.

Of course when the PSA has registered as a third-party election promoter. Its campaign is called “Change the Government”. It has distributed election material in government workplaces. and its slogan is “Change the Government”, only those in Opposition can benefit – supposedly
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September 14, 2026 8:27am
- imalwaysright
  
  “Did the 10,000 strikers lose pay for the hours they were not working?”
  
  I wonder if any of those at the strike had signed in as ‘working from home’?
  
  Certainly not, that would be fraud…
  
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  September 14, 2026 8:32am
- mike
  
  Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
  The PSA’ role is to support its members. Changing the government would be in the best interests of its members.
  
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  September 14, 2026 8:35am
  - cmm (semi-retired edition)
    
    No problems.
    But do it on their own time with their own resources.
    
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    September 14, 2026 8:40am
    - mike
      
      Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
      As they do.
      
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      September 14, 2026 8:49am
      - cmm (semi-retired edition)
        
        Now you’re just lying.
        Government workplaces are not their resources.
        
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        September 14, 2026 8:56am
      - Swifty
        
        I understand PSA members have been plastering their workplaces with ‘change the govt’ notices.
        
        Not on their own time and not their own resources.
        
        And we haven’t forgotten your regular claim that because the PSA doesn’t directly donate to the Labour Party that means they’re politically neutral. We all knew that was bullshit, as has been proven by recent events.
        
        I note too that the head of the CTU, Sandra Grey, when interviewed on Tame over the weekend, let the cat out of the bag. When asked about the CTU’s tax policy she replied “At this stage, WE are only looking at a capital gains tax” totally mirroring Labour’s position.
        
        Oops. Silly Sandra. I wonder when she’ll stand as a Labour candidate. Can’t be too far away.
        
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        September 14, 2026 9:13am
      - David Garrett
        
        Mike: Oh dear me…if the PSA is distributing “postcards” to their members’ desks telling their members to change the government, that is not on their own time.
        
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        September 14, 2026 9:59am
      - mike
        
        The PSA only does things in workplaces in accordance with collective agreements.
        
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        September 14, 2026 11:00am
  - Gravelroad
    
    So no moral outrage then if a farmers organisation (for instance) directed its members, workers and rural supporters to vote National/ACT to change the government – in their “best interests”?
    Different when the left does it, of course.
    
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    September 14, 2026 8:47am
    - mike
      
      Federated Farmers cannot ‘direct’ its members any more that the PSA can.
      
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      September 14, 2026 8:51am
      - Jethrod
        
        That is bollocks!
        Unions are renowned for stand over tactics, so much so in the union I belonged to for 6 years, secret ballots for things like strikes and other sensitive things, were always denied, so that a “UNITED” front could be shown.
        At a particularly important meeting , at which the renowned Bill Anderson attended, there was so much hooha at the denial of a ballot, that said Bill made a motion agreeing to a secret ballot.
        No united front on that one! Vote came in about 20% against the initial motion. So it was a lose for detectors, but a first for the Northern Pulp and Paper Workers Union. A SECRET BALLOT!!!
        
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        September 14, 2026 9:37am
      - Taieri
        
        Unions are renowned for stand over tactics
        —————
        
        I had been a member of two maritime unions for well over 30 years, one in Australia and one in NZ. I’m still a honorary member of the one in Oz. Don’t recall any standover tactics or ever being “directed” to do anything. Anyway, any “directing” wouldn’t work as I have been provided with a functioning brain and make my own decisions.
        (BTW: ballots were always secret.)
        
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        September 14, 2026 10:06am
    - cmm (semi-retired edition)
      
      The farmers organisations are using their own resources. Big difference.
      
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      September 14, 2026 8:57am
      - mike
        
        Snap. The PSA is well resourced from its members.
        
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        September 14, 2026 11:02am
    - Paulus
      
      Sandra Grey. President. Sandra was elected NZCTU President in 2025. Sandra has been active in unions for over 30 years of which two decades has centred on anarchy.
      
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      September 14, 2026 2:09pm
  - artemisia
    
    Some might consider changing the government to one led by David Seymour is in the best interests of taxpayers including public servants. Maybe there will be public servants on strike with ACT placards and handing out postcards.
    
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    September 14, 2026 9:04am
    - wsk12345
      
      I doubt that any ACT. Others have any desire to be a Wellington public servant.
      
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      September 14, 2026 10:04am
  - JJ56
    
    Unfortunately public servants sign on to be politically neutral, it’s an important constitutional check (the alternative is a complete clear out every time the government changes).
    
    It is a bit like an auditors’ union promoting a scheme that would allow shareholders to be ripped off.
    
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    September 14, 2026 9:22am
  - Yvette
    
    Mike, to some, the PSA restating that doing the core work they are officially assigned to do would be in the best interests of its members
    
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    September 14, 2026 9:27am
- cmm (semi-retired edition)
  
  We taxpaying turkeys are voting for Christmas.
  
  “It has distributed election material in government workplaces”
  
  Geez, when was the last time you were in a school staff room?
  
  For me it was around 2007 or so when I was asked/volunteered to tutor some kids on robotics. The union posters all over the wall definitely tilted strongly Left. I just bit my tongue and focused on the robotics.
  
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  September 14, 2026 8:37am
Maggy Wassilieff

Trust the polls?

You don’t need a pollster to tell you how to cast a pivotal vote. You just need to know what you want. It’s not that complicated.

https://www.clairerobinson.nz/blogs/my-advice-to-a-strategic-voter-is-dont?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
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September 14, 2026 8:37am
cmm (semi-retired edition)

This woman claims she was abused and that , at least partially, excuses her actions.

What nonsense. That is not a cause. All the people I know who admitted to being abused as kids have gone 100% the other way and are perhaps overly protective of their children.

If you need therapy, get therapy. Don’t take it out on kids.

10 years (no doubt to be reduced with parole) for this? Absurd.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/crime/selica-wright-auckland-house-of-horrors-abuser-seeks-reduced-sentence/74AP2WXVJFHPFEPC65VFBIU3JA/
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September 14, 2026 9:04am
- Bobba Fret
  
  She is a real POS.
  
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  September 14, 2026 9:49am
I remember when

An Unusual Plume of Dust Is Headed to Florida: NY Times.
“Saharan dust often reaches South Florida, but rarely this late in year.”

So its not an unusual plume of dust, it just doesn’t usually happen now.
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September 14, 2026 9:06am
- imalwaysright
  
  Apparently pollen from the Kaiangaroa Forest reaches the US west coast…
  
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  September 14, 2026 10:13am
- Raphael
  
  Probably happening because there has been no hurricanes in the Atlantic this season.
  
  https://x.com/ChrisMartzWX/status/2097361218998514161
  
  It looks like a lock.
  
  We are witnessing history in the making.
  
  There have been no hurricanes in the North Atlantic so far this year.
  
  September 10th (Thursday) marks the climatological peak of the Atlantic hurricane season. And if we make it through Friday without one forming, which appears to be a lock now, it will be the first time in the satellite era (since 1966) that we have gotten this far into the calendar year without one hurricane formations in the Atlantic basin.
  
  In fact, the last time that this happened was in 1941, but the lack of satellite observations mean that it is very likely we missed a hurricane or two out over open water that didn’t make landfall and/or come into contact with an unfortunate ship.
  [Continues]
  
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  September 14, 2026 10:21am
JJ56

For all the Chicken Littles running about over AI, there is a useful pretty dispassionate unpicking of what happened (unusually) at https://wattsupwiththat.com/2026/09/12/when-ai-agents-started-working-together/
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September 14, 2026 9:26am
- NZer In Exile
  
  Chicken Littles like three prominent AI founders and several lead developers who have walked away in protest?
  
  NY Post:
  AI CEOs demand industry ‘slow the pace’ of advancements after ex-Anthropic employee warned tech may ‘kill us all’
  
  https://nypost.com/2026/09/12/us-news/ai-ceos-demand-the-industry-slow-the-pace-of-advancements/
  
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  September 14, 2026 2:13pm
  - Ghost
    
    or perhaps professor Hinton
    
    https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/godfather-of-ai-backs-anthropic-chiefs-call-to-slow-down-development/ar-AA2c9U1p
    
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    September 14, 2026 4:00pm
  - JJ56
    
    So you didn’t bother to read it then
    
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    September 14, 2026 4:40pm
Handyman

What is really unusual is the lack of hurricanes. This year is the lowest hurricane activity since satellites have been able to measure them. There have been in preventative closures of oil platforms in the Gulf of America so far this hurricane season.
Experts are stumped but say there is still a chance of a catastrophic hurricane before the midterms.
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September 14, 2026 9:41am
- David Garrett
  
  Handyman: I have actually worked on platforms in the Gulf of MEXICO…so from your stupid comment, should I assume that you think it is totally sensible policy to attempt to buy Greenland? And what about making Canada the 51st state – whether they like it or not?
  
  Should I also assume that starting a war in the Middle East which shows no sign of ending is also a perfectly sensible thing to have done?
  
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  September 14, 2026 11:06am
  - imalwaysright
    
    Handyman is clearly taking the piss over the name of the Gulf, why would you extrapolate that into a rant that has little to do with his point?
    
    He raises a good question as to why are there fewer hurricanes this year.
    
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    September 14, 2026 11:57am
  - Gussy
    
    DG – Greenland is becoming more tatically significant – resources, shipping access as ice retreats, missile bases. The US can capitalise on that and, crucially limit Russia and China there, in a way that Grenland/Demark/EU can’t.
    
    Canada has allowed its once great military to wither on the vine, and they’re entirely dependent on the US in that regard.
    
    Iran’s belligerent, nihilistic death-cult stance wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon – a hard nut to crack. I don’t know if cutting off hundreds of millions of dollars of revenue per day will work, or how long it will take, but then, I’ve never worked on an oil rig.
    
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    September 14, 2026 12:00pm
  - rouppe
    
    Lol.
    
    The Gulf’s major coastline runs along Mexico – which happens to be in Central AMERICA – and the United States of America – which happens to be in North AMERICA.
    
    Your major problem with it being called the Gulf of America is who did it.
    
    And then extending the argument to be “you must therefore agree with…” is very much what’s wrong with modern thinking. You’re either fully against or fully for, and no nuance is allowed.
    
    That’s the kind of thinking that has led to tyranny.
    
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    September 14, 2026 7:48pm
    - NeverMindTheBollocks
      
      Geographically, Mexico is pretty much all in North America.
      
      It was fun poking the borax while in Mexico by insisting that I was not a gringo (North American) while they were. Luckily, I never met a Mexican lacking a sense of humour.
      
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      September 14, 2026 8:49pm
  - Handyman
    
    David,
    When you are travelling on the Eurostar, are you under the English Channel or La Manche?
    Different countries bordering a waterway can call it different things.
    I usually call it the Gulf of America for friends who go apoplectic with TDS but happily get on train at the Waitemata station in a country called Aotearoa.
    
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    September 14, 2026 11:06pm
- Nikola Donatello
  
  It is the Gulf of Mexico. Surely we don’t need this rubbish on Kiwiblog.
  
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  September 14, 2026 11:10am
Ghost

Bill Maher used the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks to say something that once required no courage at all: terrorists are terrorists

Maher then referred to a poll that showed that one in five young Americans now holds a positive view of Osama bin Laden (which would have been unthinkable 25 years ago) and compared it to how Luigi Mangione came to be seen as a folk hero; he assassinated Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare. In both cases, a killer becomes a symbol of grievance, and the actual victims become a footnote to a woke narrative about systemic injustice.

Article

video

1 in 5, strangely I’m not surprised.
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September 14, 2026 9:42am
- mike
  
  Possibly reflecting the truth that for victims there is no difference between being killed by a government or a ‘terrorist’.
  
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  September 14, 2026 11:07am
  - KKNZ2025
    
    You may very well think that. You would be completely wrong, again.
    
    4 2
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    September 14, 2026 12:37pm
- lifesgood
  
  Oh dear, Americans, who’s surprised? They must be among the most poorly educated people in the Western World.
  
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  September 14, 2026 11:10am
  - David Garrett
    
    lifesgood: Indeed they are…especially with regard to geography; your average Yank would struggle to name any other foreign country aside from Canada and Mexico…and perhaps England (they would have no idea that the UK is made up of THREE countries – England Scotland and Wales – plus northern Ireland).
    
    When I worked offshore Louisiana 45 years ago most of my fellow workers had never been out of state…a few had never been to New Orleans, 90 miles to the north.
    
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    September 14, 2026 11:27am
Bobba Fret

Anyone have an appointment this week at the Mt. Albert Medical Centre?
Is it even open?
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/medical-centre-refused-doctor-defibrillator-after-man-collapsed-outside-witness-claims/MWDONROZF5E7JAII27AIIXENF4/
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September 14, 2026 9:50am
- Nikola Donatello
  
  There needs to be an inquiry. Probably by the The Health and Disability Commissioner (HDC). Perhaps by the Medical Council.
  
  The question is did the staff at the medical centre refuse an urgent request by the person giving first aid for a defibrillator? I cannot imagine any justification. They are designed to be used by anyone who can read instructions.
  
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  September 14, 2026 11:07am
  - David Garrett
    
    Niko: Indeed. And if the decision not to make the defibrillator was made by the doctor at that clinic, on the face of it he should be struck off.
    
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    September 14, 2026 11:30am
  - imalwaysright
    
    I’m surprised they haven’t had a visit from the Police.
    
    Is it a law that everyone is obliged to give aid in an emergency?
    
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    September 14, 2026 12:02pm
- Jethrod
  
  Yes , the said doctor needs to revisit the Hippocratic Oath ; it has “do no harm” as one of the tenets
  
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  September 14, 2026 12:40pm
Ghost

I guess Ireland is off his Xmas Card list now

Irish President Catherine Connolly revealed the stern message she issued to President Donald Trump during their recent private meeting, sparking a chorus of cheers Sunday from critics.

“I conveyed the strong view of the Irish people that the normalisation of war and genocide can never be accepted,” Connolly said, referencing her meeting with Trump.

“As a country which has suffered famine, colonisation and the violence of the Troubles, but also the importance of the long and challenging road to peace, I emphasised the unique insight which Irish people can bring to the resolution of conflict.”

Article

She also gifted him Michael Longley’s poem ceasefire
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September 14, 2026 10:09am
- Cassandra
  
  The famine and the colonisation were 150 – 250 years ago and remembered in Ireland as if it was yesterday. And of course the Irish were a great help v Germany!
  
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  September 14, 2026 10:57am
  - Cassandra
    
    There’s a Times article this morning headed “There’s a reason God gave us a middle finger”. I hope Trump showed her his.
    
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    September 14, 2026 10:59am
    - Nikola Donatello
      
      Are you serious?
      
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      September 14, 2026 11:09am
  - I remember when
    
    Allowed the British to keep an eye on the German uboat fleet.
    
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    September 14, 2026 11:55am
  - kowtow
    
    cass
    
    Your last sentence .I assume sarcasm .If so ;
    
    D Day might have been a disaster had it not been for an Irish light house keeper.
    
    ‘The weather report from Belmullet ( in the south) was enough for the chief meteorological officer, Group Captain James Stagg, to advise that the invasion be postponed by 24 hours.’
    https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cyjj7dddvmjo
    
    As I understand it , this is not featured in the latest movie ‘Pressure” , nor is it in the great movie The Longest Day.
    
    btw the only regiment to land by both air and sea at Normandy was the Royal Ulster Rifles , both battalions .One infantry and one airborne infantry (gliders).
    
    Thousands of Irishmen who were in the irish army actually deserted to go north to volunteer in the British army , after the war the irish govt maintained a secret list that blacklisted them from ever getting state emplyment .
    
    I could go on.
    
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    September 14, 2026 12:36pm
    - Yabster
      
      all true but Ireland was officially Neutral as a country… which pissed the allies of -as it would.
      
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      September 14, 2026 2:48pm
    - imalwaysright
      
      Kowtow,
      My neighbour was a RSM in the Rifles.
      He gave me a photograph of him and his troops getting a pre D Day pep talk from Montgomery.
      He, along with most of his men, volunteered. Plenty came over the border to join them as you say.
      
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      September 14, 2026 4:45pm
- I remember when
  
  Good Lord.
  My Irish heritage makes me a kindred spirit with indiginous people.
  
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  September 14, 2026 11:58am
Nikola Donatello

https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/361032967/leopard-seal-attracted-crowds-petone-beach-dies

“The three-metre-long female, was located in the Te Awa Kairangi – Hutt River deceased late on Saturday afternoon.””

To be honest until today I had no clue that the Hutt River was called “Te Awa Kairangi”.

Channelling David Garrett, it is poor English grammar to refer to a seal as “deceased”. It is a word that emerged in the 15th century to describe someone who has “passed on”. It should not be used in relation to dead animals.

I assume that the public servant who uses this term is attempting to accord solemnity to the death of the seal. It is over reach.
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September 14, 2026 10:46am
- David Garrett
  
  Niko: Quite so…but even worse, there is – thankfully quite rare – the misuse of the word “murder”. A murder can only be the death of a human being by another human being or beings. For any other living thing the words are killed or killing.
  
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  September 14, 2026 11:14am
  - I remember when
    
    Except for a ‘murder of crows.’
    
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    September 14, 2026 11:51am
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  Perhaps channeling their inner Monty Python? It’s an ex Leopard Seal, etc?
  
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  September 14, 2026 12:17pm
lifesgood

So the new Auckland railway stations ALL have Maori names. What’s that all about and who chose them? As if anyone is ever going to say Karanga-a-hape? and that midtown one will very quickly become known by the much easier Victoria or Wellesly St. I was out with a group of people last week. When I asked some of them how they were getting home several said they were catching the train from Britomart. They will probably always call it Britomart.
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September 14, 2026 11:16am
- graham
  
  I was chatting to someone this morning, there’s no way he can even try to pronounce “Te Waihorotiu” – he said he’ll just call it “T” 😎.
  
  The CRL website has an audio clip on how to pronounce “Karanga-a-hape” which sounds very awkward. Surely that’ll just become known as “K-Road station”.
  
  “Maungawhau Station” – yeah, that’ll be “Mt Eden Station”.
  
  Of course, one does have to remember that the new stations are very much about showcasing New Zealand’s State Religion:
  
  The collective philosophy for the station designs is the Māori creation myth of Ranginui (the sky father) and Papatūānuku (the earth mother).
  
  https://www.cityraillink.co.nz/meet-your-stations
  
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  September 14, 2026 2:30pm
- kowtow
  
  I wonder how much rate payer/taxpayer money was wasted paying , cough cough , cultural advisers /committees to come up with those names.
  
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  September 14, 2026 4:33pm
I remember when

Is it time to ask Chloe how The Lucid Collective mark ups compared with those of the Supermarket duopoly?
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September 14, 2026 11:48am
Ghost

Are we forgetting the situation in Iran….

US President Donald Trump on Sunday (Monday NZT) called on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to halt strikes on Russian oil refineries and other infrastructure used to produce and distribute diesel, saying the attacks are causing a global shortage.

Article
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September 14, 2026 12:53pm
- mike
  
  Trump is having outstanding week: also promising to bribe voters, soliciting voter fraud, upsetting the Irish, etc…
  
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  September 14, 2026 1:04pm
imalwaysright

This should be worth watching:

Ngāti Kahungunu iwi will be conducting a horseback hikoi to Parliament tomorrow.

The last leg, from Petone to Parliament will be via the new $300 million bike track!

Only about 100 horses though…
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September 14, 2026 12:53pm
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  On Saturday they were in Waipawa.
  
  If they’re in Petone already, them’s pretty good hosses!
  
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  September 14, 2026 3:31pm
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  I do hope that the hikoi people will do the right thing and pick up the hoiho droppings.
  
  It wouldn’t be very nice for the cyclists to have to pedal through them on their way home.
  
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  September 14, 2026 3:33pm
  - imalwaysright
    
    The leader laughed when Michael Laws asked him about it on the Platform, and said the rain will take care of it.
    Then he said there will be people with shovels and buckets…
    
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    September 14, 2026 4:55pm
- Michael Johnston
  
  A hundred horses are enough to leave things quite messy…
  
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  September 14, 2026 3:36pm
- kowtow
  
  Horses?
  
  Surely cultural appropriation and/or a legacy of settler colonialism.
  
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  September 14, 2026 4:35pm
David Garrett

Another wonderful bit of drafting from Stuff:

Police have confirmed two people have died and a third hospitalised after a boat capsized near Tangimoana Beach on Monday morning have been accounted for.

It should of course have read thus:

Two people are dead and one hospitalized after a boat capsized near Tangimoana Beach. All persons on board are now accounted for.
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September 14, 2026 2:28pm
- David Garrett
  
  Now corrected to:
  
  Two dead, one hospitalized in boat capsize off Tangimoana Beach, Manawatu
  
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  September 14, 2026 3:04pm
  - Nikola Donatello
    
    The thing is this stuff is Shakespeare compared to what I encounter daily listening to groups of people talk. It is gibberish.
    
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    September 14, 2026 3:33pm
    - David Garrett
      
      Niko: Are you referring to the word “like” as a conjunction or preposition as in “And then I was like and she said , No, I’m like…”??
      
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      September 14, 2026 4:30pm
Ghost

Days after the former ACT Party President accepted, for the first time, he had sexually abused all his teenage victims, he appeared before the Parole Board and said he’d “grown out” of his attraction to young men.

This troubled the board.

Article

Bullshit. Good to see he was denied parole.
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September 14, 2026 3:29pm
- David Garrett
  
  Ghost: I couldn’t agree more
  
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  September 14, 2026 4:31pm
  - RW Capitalist
    
    All these criminal activities need to be weeded out.
    Labour:
    sexual assault in the PM’s office (at the time)
    Assault in the halls of parliament
    Suspected drink driving, hit and run and fleeing police. etc etc
    Greens:
    shop lifting
    I’m sure their are many, in the history of all parties.
    Better character checks on candidates.
    
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    September 15, 2026 8:00am
Jack5

Just read the Guardian’s multi-page blast on Britain’s historic links with the Atlantic slave traffic.

Didn’t see anything about the African slavers who sold the slaves to the Westerners.

Sickening. Apologies for something ancestors did centuries ago, and which nearer ancestors helped bring to an international halt.

Perhaps the real problem is the decline of Christianity in the West.

Where once the morbidly religious lashed themselves either physically or mentally with confessions and self-loathing, they now turn their character flaw to flailing Western history and culture. Nut cases.
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September 14, 2026 4:56pm
RW Capitalist

Are we done asking questions about Capital Gains Tax yet?
Given that the Australian version took about 5 years to collect any money.
Considering also it is more comprehensive (collects from more areas and from more people) than labour’s and their economy even in the 80’s was bigger than ours is now.
How is Hipkins going to pay for his $2billion per year of promises? From a CGT that won’t collect any money for at least 5 years?
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September 14, 2026 5:07pm
graham

I see the Green Party is promising to throw an extra $200 million into te reo Māori initiatives, if elected.

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/politics_election-2026/1364436/greens-promise-200m-into-te-reo-maori-initiatives

Presumably that’s in addition to the $2.4 billion funding package and permanent trust for “critical” marae. Wonder if they can get the total figure up to a nice round $3 billion?
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September 14, 2026 6:05pm
- Spam
  
  Oh yes – I’m so happy to pay a wealth tax for that!
  
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  September 14, 2026 8:30pm
Spam

So Stuff presents a PPTA video where the union is claiming that “Govt NCEA replacement sets thousands up for failure”. Free to watch on the website.

The counter, “‘Their defence of mediocrity is pretty disgusting’: Education Minister hits out at union” requires you to log-in to read.
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September 14, 2026 8:29pm
- Ghost
  
  No, you don’t have to log in to read it, but they do limit how many articles you can view without an account, when you hit that limit then they require you to log in to read articles. I read it before, i don’t have an account with them
  
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  September 14, 2026 8:33pm

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