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September 15, 2026 8:00am by Kokila Patel

General Debate 15 September 2026

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General Debate

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RW Capitalist

Well, well, well…
A new day and Hipkin’s still trying to justify his TAX and Spend policies.
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September 15, 2026 8:02am
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  I hear he’s now an expert on the future of AI.
  
  We should lucky to have such a man as PM!
  
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  September 15, 2026 8:14am
  - JJ56
    
    He has obviously been reading the NY Times that reports: “President Trump on Monday rejected calls from leading artificial intelligence executives for new limits on the technology, writing on social media that the only guardrail the industry needed it already had: ‘a STRONG AND SMART (High IQ!) PRESIDENT.'”
    
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    September 15, 2026 9:35am
- mike
  
  Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
  Perhaps you could provide examples of government policies that require neither taxation nor expenditure.
  
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  September 15, 2026 8:27am
  - imalwaysright
    
    That’s the problem, taxation and expenditure is seen as the only way to accomplish governance.
    
    Most of what would fix NZ involves only policy change and in fact would be cash positive to the taxpayer.
    
    The main one would be to abolish all payments based on race.
    Another would be to put all Public servants on fixed term contracts and cap the Dole.
    
    There are many things the Governments have no business being involved in, get them out of the way and let Kiwis have a fair go.
    
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    September 15, 2026 8:41am
    - AitchW
      
      What we need is a forensic grade analysis of every government department and ministry and of every job from the CE down to the tea persons.
      Then those results could be compared to find duplication of tasks and jobs and spending.
      Imagine the savings.
      Imagine the screams of outrage and anguish from the lanyard wearers and their unions.
      Maybe once Seymour gets his rationalisation of ministries something like this just might happen. Or even before to pave the way?
      
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      September 15, 2026 9:27am
  - Michael Johnston
    
    Implementing a policy to cut bloat out of the public service would reduce expenditure, which would potentially give scope to reduce taxation as well. Of course implementing such a policy well is easier said than done. If public service managers are simply told to save money, they will often cut the wrong programmes and employees.
    
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    September 15, 2026 8:55am
    - Pope Punctilious II
      
      Agreed, we need targeted specific cuts. Luxon’s “cut the dumb programs” exhortation is utterly useless. But of course he and most of his front bench are terrified of being branded “racist”. Bureaucrats should also be fired for straying from political neutrality – the Ministry of Education, for example, is infested with activists.
      
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      September 15, 2026 10:16am
  - KKNZ2025
    
    The shorter list is those that do
    
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    September 15, 2026 8:57am
  - Flossie
    
    Drastically reduce the public service numbers. Raise the age of pension entitlement.
    
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    September 15, 2026 9:35am
    - peterwn
      
      Raise superannuation age – won’t happen until Winston is pushing daisies. And he is pretty fit for his age despite a few potential health issues. Also he has never had a drink-drive.
      
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      September 15, 2026 10:56am
      - NeverMindTheBollocks
        
        That’s what chauffeurs are for
        
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        September 15, 2026 1:23pm
  - Simon
    
    mike
    
    “Perhaps you could provide examples of government policies that”
    
    Good eg of the sort or rubbish thinking to the left of National that National re elected
    
    They are all like this. If they were remotely competent they would tear National apart. No chance of that.
    
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    September 15, 2026 9:53am
  - judith8409121
    
    yep – get the fuck out of peoples lives, stop regulating, stop telling people what to do, let the market run without interference, let the market do what its suppose to do without meddling- and stop taking more money are redistributing
    
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    September 15, 2026 12:24pm
- R
  
  He doesn’t have any other policies to talk about. Labour are totally berift of any economically credible ideas.
  
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  September 15, 2026 9:14am
  - Simon
    
    Yep they are incompetent
    
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    September 15, 2026 9:54am
- cmm (semi-retired edition)
  
  Any justification is pointless.
  Tax and spend policies are based on emotion – not reason.
  And by emotion, I mean some of the worst aspects of human depravity: envy and greed.
  There is a reason Envy is a deadly sin. Labour exposes the worst of it.
  
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  September 15, 2026 11:23am
- KKNZ2025
  
  ACT now proposing policies Muldoon & Marx would be proud of.
  
  WTF are they thinking? How are a wage freeze & youth rates ever on a liberal / market party’s agenda?
  
  I remember wage freezes & youth rates. I also remember job title & job & employer changes to keep up with 1970s & 80s CoL inflation & doing a better & faster job as a teenager than the old f***s who’d been there for years (I’m 71 now).
  
  Just no.
  
  https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/act-to-campaign-on-three-year-minimum-wage-freeze/premium/PQGCBLJCAREJTFLSNPZNELBJK4/
  
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  September 15, 2026 11:47am
  - NeverMindTheBollocks
    
    What ACT proposes are minimums. There’s no prohibition on employers paying above the minimum for an efficient employee of any age.
    
    If a young employee feels that s/he is not being rewarded for the value s/he brings then the door is always open, for a conversation or for an exit.
    
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    September 15, 2026 1:27pm
  - cmm (semi-retired edition)
    
    How do you conflate a historic wage freeze with a minimum wage freeze?
    
    Of course that’s not a policy that will appeal to anyone who has the general career plan of getting minimum wage their whole life, but those people won’t voting Act anyway.
    
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    September 15, 2026 1:43pm
Yvette

Maori Language Weak
The Green Party is [saying they wish to be] committing $50 million a year to revitalise te reo Māori, funded through its proposed wealth tax, as political debate over the language heats up during Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/361033255/greens-pitch-50m-annual-te-reo-maori-injection-paid-wealth-tax

The New Zealand Government funds te reo Māori through Vote Māori Development and Vote Education. Funding for te reo Māori initiatives, including language entities, broadcasting, education, and cultural revitalization, has increased significantly in recent years.

Apparently the funding is divided into three periods: 2019-2021, 2022-2024, and 2025-2026.
The funding amounts are estimated to be $100m-$130m per year for the first period, $150m-$180m per year for the second period, and $130m-$160m per year for the third period.

If the Greens aspiration is realised it would raise yearly spending on the Maori language to $210 million a year?

That equates to roughly a $42 Maori language textbook each year for the entire New Zealand population – every woman, man and child, including those Maori who don’t speak Maori.
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September 15, 2026 8:05am
- BarryB
  
  There are 20 maori radio stations in this country (according to google) all paid for by you and me.
  I think its time to stop wasting money on trying to force everyone who is quite happy with the english language to learn Maori.
  
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  September 15, 2026 8:10am
- Colville
  
  every woman, man and child, including those Maori who don’t speak Maori
  
  …and 99% of whom have ZERO interest in speaking Maori…!!
  
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  September 15, 2026 8:10am
  - Notsofast
    
    Below zero is the case for most, extreme annoyance for the majority I encounter is the noble achievement of the left in this decivilising endeavour.
    In many cases where maori precedes the message, the message is missed, for example trains and planes.
    
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    September 15, 2026 9:38am
  - Simon
    
    Luxon wants you talking Maori
    
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    September 15, 2026 9:55am
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  If Maori is not spoken by Maori Mums and Dads to their kids while they are small, the language will not survive in the wild. End of.
  
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  September 15, 2026 8:16am
  - R
    
    The Asian communities around my suburb, don’t seem to have had any trouble teaching their children their ethnic language, as well as insisting that the child goes to school to learn ENGLIH; and become a productive member of the community.
    
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    September 15, 2026 9:42am
    - NeverMindTheBollocks
      
      Which is exactly what Sir Apirana Ngata and other Maori leaders of the early 20th century said.
      
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      September 15, 2026 1:29pm
  - cmm (semi-retired edition)
    
    Yup, but you don’t have to actually speak Maori to get the best out of it: using it as a trough and a guilt-stick to beat whitey.
    
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    September 15, 2026 11:25am
    - David George
      
      Our local supermarket changed their department signs to bi-lingual – presumably on the pretext that the non existent people that can read Maori, but not English, could find their way around.
      Of absolutely no use to the illiterate or foreign language speakers. A picture or graphic of the goods on offer would help those people but that is not what this is about.
      This is performative, an affectation, a weapon.
      
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      September 15, 2026 12:10pm
- Boy Geoff
  
  A $42 Maori language textbook for everyone would really just be a sop.
  
  To start with, what about online multimedia educational resources for all (first vetted by Maori IP and data governance professional tohanga, kaumatua and lawyers)? Then professional educational testing to ensure people are completing their Reo course requirements properly. And who’s going to determine whether te Ao principles are being correctly observed by all?
  
  The Greens’ proposal barely scratches the surface of what’s really required…
  
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  September 15, 2026 8:16am
  - Yvette
    
    Boy Geoff – A $42 Maori language textbook for everyone would really just be a sop.
    
    I did not mean that literally but hoped it may indicate that if any entity is serious about the population being advantaged (perhaps) by learning Maori the tax funding already given could be more usefully spent.
    Mihi, mahi, motu, kia ora, waka (for anything that moves people) whanua, tikanga, te Pati Maori, and korero is not much of a return for hundreds of millions of dollars, let alone a text that tells you where in a sentence Maori put a verb.
    
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    September 15, 2026 11:17am
- Cassandra
  
  What was property in 1840 has transformed into culture, language, beliefs and others. It’s nonsense but until someone develops courage it’ll continue.
  
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  September 15, 2026 8:18am
  - Boy Geoff
    
    The Greens’ policy is nothing more than neocolonialistic controlling, paternalistic, brown washing. Shame on them!
    
    Heh
    
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    September 15, 2026 8:25am
  - Yvette
    
    Cassandra, a lot of things have changed since 1840 –
    
    Journey home for Mao’s Maori cloak
    Asked whether he was happy to see the cloak return to China after its time on display in New Zealand, Sharples said treasures were never owned, and could be returned.
    “There is no permanency in Maori culture about taonga,” he said.
    “The idea is that they can be lent or given and we don’t have a word to own, our word is to be in possession of. That is why it is normal for very important taonga to be lent and to be returned at certain times.
    “I’m very happy that they’re lending it back to us, and then the people will decide whether they want to lend it back again.
    “A gift to us is, it’s a taonga, and nobody really owns a taonga.”
    Sharples said he did not want to agitate for a permanent return, but the iwi (Tainui) who made it might.
    “If the iwi want to do it they will trace down who made it and stuff, and if they want to get it back to that tribe then they’ll say so,” he said.
    “If it was at home it could be enjoyed, and that’s the reason why it’s being lent back.
    “It’s like many things, probably the term of lending isn’t decided.”
    – http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/national/8539102/Journey-home-for-Maos-Maori-cloak
    
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    September 15, 2026 8:28am
    - Im Right
      
      Wow Yvette….maori don’t have a word for own, according to Pita.
      Well it’s seems the new maori don’t see it that way and basically, in their eyes, own everything.
      I guess even Pita is the wrong kind of maori to this new generation of racist activists.
      (No one can ever pretend Tamahere doesn’t know what ‘owns’ is…even if it’s not in a maori dictionary!)
      
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      September 15, 2026 8:42am
      - pdm
        
        `Wow Yvette….maori don’t have a word for own, according to Pita.’
        
        Probably because ownership of anything was purely temporary depending on which tribe had control at any one time.
        
        Those in power were just holding on, or in hiding, waiting for a stronger force to emerge to take them over.
        
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        September 15, 2026 9:32am
    - gravedodger
      
      What’s yours is mine and what’s mine’s me own?
      
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      September 15, 2026 11:18am
  - R
    
    The electors have to develope the courage to vote for economic progress, not retrenchment into the stone age; before there will be any change in society
    
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    September 15, 2026 9:18am
    - pdm
      
      What you mean New Zealand has to do R is:
      
      `Unlock New Zealands Potential’ as ACT says.
      
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      September 15, 2026 9:34am
      - R
        
        pdm, past National governments; and more recent National lead Coalitions, have been endeavoring to unlock NZ’s potential long before ACT came into existence. Remember that ACT was created by disaffected Labour MP’s, following an in-party dispute.
        The obstacle to success has been Marxist indoctrination, and some ‘handbrake’ polititions
        
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        September 15, 2026 9:48am
      - pdm
        
        R – that is not in dispute.
        
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        September 15, 2026 2:13pm
- cas
  
  The Listener, which gets more left wing by the week, has an article in this week’s edition on non Maori who speak te reo.
  
  Alarmingly one of them says he has a Ph D in co-governance in education.
  
  Words fail me.
  
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  September 15, 2026 8:23am
  - pdm
    
    cas that is one PH D that could be immediately discontinued.
    
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    September 15, 2026 9:36am
    - Gussy
      
      Every PhD is unique.
      
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      September 15, 2026 3:33pm
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  No amount of money will revitalise a language.
  
  Language survives because people use it, and teach it to their children and grandchildren.
  
  If children fail to learn the language or choose not to use it in their daily communications, then no amount of coercion or $$$$$ will arrest the decline.
  
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  September 15, 2026 8:25am
  - kowtow
    
    ‘then no amount of coercion or $$$$$ will arrest the decline’
    
    Amazing though how many “mainstream” western politicians believe throwing taxpayer money ( and borrowed at that) can solve just about any problem…..even the weather.
    
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    September 15, 2026 8:51am
    - R
      
      Kowtow, it is not the Politician’s who generally believe this, well not the economically literate ones; but the electorate who vote. The Politician’s only provide the vehicle for such waste.
      
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      September 15, 2026 9:53am
      - lifesgood
        
        Have you ever stood near a group of young Maori? Not only are they unable to speak Maori they can’t speak English either. Their speech is appalling and what’s with this weird sort of “Maori” accent. Presumably they have been born. grown up and gone to school in NZ. It seems to be a deliberate “I am dumb, inarticulate and proud of it” attitude.
        
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        September 15, 2026 12:46pm
      - Martin
        
        This comment is for lifesgood: A great observation this one, and not highlighted often enough.
        “Being staunch” is the great Maori ideal, above all others. And staunchness can be shown even by the way you speak, hence “the Maori accent”.
        Knocking down reasoned multidimensional educated opinions in favour of dumbed down, “staunch”, anti-intellectualism is in their everyday environment.
        
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        September 15, 2026 1:36pm
  - Ian Boag
    
    Basque – a truly orphan language – survives in the Basque contry of Spain and France. According to Wikipedia there are 800,000 odd native speakers despite Franco’s efforts to get rid of it.
    
    Irish – a gaelic dialect – struggles to survive as does Welsh. Funnily enough there is a little bit of Argentina where Welsh is endemic ….
    
    A bit different to the status of the maori language …
    
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    September 15, 2026 9:16am
    - KKNZ2025
      
      I was in Wales for just a day a couple of months ago. I was pleasantly surprised that it was occasionally spoken in the street, all signage was multilingual etc. Seemed alive to me.
      
      Which is no reason for it to be supported outside of Wales.
      
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      September 15, 2026 10:17am
      - marcw
        
        The difference being that all born in Wales are generally, by definition, Welsh. In NZ, only around 20% of the population are born with Maori ethnicity – so already there is a minority who aspire to learn the language. English is by far the predominant language, to all intents 100% use it for communication.
        The same applies to Ireland and Gaelic as a common language.
        
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        September 15, 2026 11:35am
  - cmm (semi-retired edition)
    
    Maggy you need to zoom out a bit…
    
    The point is not to save the language.
    
    The point is to build a trough.
    
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    September 15, 2026 11:26am
    - judith8409121
      
      yes – spot on – a trough for troffers
      
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      September 15, 2026 4:05pm
  - Skottowe
    
    “Language survives because people use it, and teach it to their children and grandchildren.”
    
    Yup. A language must have utility. Without that, it’ll fade away. To survive, all languages need native speakers: people whose first and only language it is, for the first 4-5 years of their lives. No native speakers? A language is dead. Not extinct, but dead.
    
    We’d know that Maori language revival is successful, if a cohort of Maori children were to arrive at school as 5 year olds, unable to speak English. As far as I know, that hasn’t happened anywhere in NZ, at least not in recent years.
    
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    September 15, 2026 5:14pm
- Nikola Donatello
  
  To learn a new language requires effort and time. At the easy end conversational Spanish might take 350 hours. So at one hour per day 6 days per week, that is 12 months. Then a another 12 months to become proficient. You can double or triple those times for Japanese and mandarin.
  
  So if you had a teenager at school, would you encourage your child to learn 1. Maori or 2. German, Spanish or Mandarin?, If they are successful, the second road will open up a whole new world of work and culture. The first road will open up a job as a New Zealand public servant.
  
  I know that sounds harsh but it is 100 percent honest.
  
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  September 15, 2026 9:14am
  - Ian Boag
    
    I would nominate Spanish. Has the big advantage that you don’r have to learn any spelling rules – how it is written is how you say it. Not to mention that it works through most of the Americas ….
    
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    September 15, 2026 9:19am
  - Taieri
    
    So at one hour per day 6 days per week
    ———–
    
    Waste of time.
    You can’t learn a foreign language “at one hour per day per week”.
    And I say it as a someone who speaks, reads and writes four languages fluently and can read and understand (but not write or speak) one more.
    
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    September 15, 2026 9:20am
    - Nikola Donatello
      
      You need to explain. You are telling me that 350 hours of Spanish classes won’t achieve conversational Spanish, ie to get by well as a tourist? I’m not claiming that would be enough to make me effective as a professional in the language, ie working. But how can it possibly be a “waste of time”?
      
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      September 15, 2026 10:00am
      - Ian Boag
        
        350 hours of Spanish classes won’t achieve conversational Spanish
        
        It would certainly get you to a point where you could read a lot of it – reading being the easiest thing to pick up. Tourist-level “conversational” can be pretty basic – I was in Argie “talking” to a local the year the ABs lost 5 on the trot – “los All Blacks – cinco perdido” gave us all something to be sad about ….
        
        And of course this was long before Google translate was thought of ….
        
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        September 15, 2026 11:54am
      - rouppe
        
        My son did Spanish at school. Can’t remember if it was one year or two.
        
        He can’t understand a word of it now, and even at the time, if anyone spoke Spanish around us, he couldn’t follow it, because they spoke too fast.
        
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        September 15, 2026 4:45pm
      - Taieri
        
        What I am saying is that one hour per day per week is a total waste of time.
        Even 350 hours in the total immersion environment, say 12 hours every day, exclusively among the Spanish speakers will give you a very rudimentary knowledge – certainly not at the conversational level.
        I was lucky, growing up in a bi-lingual home and later having partners from different countries, but even then it took much, much longer than 350 hours. But then again, may be I’m just simply dumb…
        
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        September 15, 2026 5:48pm
      - Ian Boag
        
        Repeating myself. IELTs and the like split the language thing into reading, writing,speaking and listening.
        
        Reading is easiest because you have time to work everything out.
        
        Speaking is next because you have time to work out what you want to say and people are tolerant of bad grammar etc so long as you can be understood
        
        Listening is high speed reading – an order of magnitude harder.
        
        Writing is REAL hard because we are not as tolerant of grammar errors etc.
        
        350 hours would give you a reasonable handle on reading and speaking … IMHO
        
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        September 15, 2026 6:12pm
  - imalwaysright
    
    We would all be better off if they taught the children manners and etiquette.
    
    Language difficulties can be overcome, but social grace and politeness don’t require translation.
    
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    September 15, 2026 9:51am
    - Flossie
      
      Well said!
      
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      September 15, 2026 12:47pm
    - Jack5
      
      Etiquette is culturally relative.
      
      You need a smattering of a relevant language to learn local etiquette.
      
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      September 15, 2026 1:02pm
    - David Garrett
      
      Imalways: Some time ago my daughter- now 25 – thanked me for teaching her manners – and in particular table manners. She was brutally critical of many of her peers, who she said “have absolutely no idea. They eat like pigs”
      
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      September 15, 2026 4:23pm
      - imalwaysright
        
        DG
        I think manners are treated, by some, almost as a weakness.
        I hold doors for anyone following me, and either get heartfelt thanks, or a funny look, or ignored.
        Civilisation is sometimes short on civility.
        
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        September 15, 2026 7:33pm
  - judith8409121
    
    mathematics and science – physics and chemistry
    coding
    those are the languages i would get my kids to learn
    
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    September 15, 2026 4:06pm
  - Paulus
    
    My Public Service Granddaughter loves Languages as her English born mother,and speaks English perfectly (100% Cambridge).
    French, German, Mandarin speaker, and after over 10 years in Public Service of course is fluent in Te Maori.
    Gets paid very well too, and wants to change the world, ex University.
    
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    September 15, 2026 4:46pm
- judith8409121
  
  again – when did the government get involved in not only what we are allowed to say – but what language we should say it in – dreadful
  
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  September 15, 2026 12:30pm
- Ra Henare
  
  Yvette,
  Congratulations on opening the door to the usual anti Maori commenters. Who seem to have had a field day as I type this.
  
  I wouldn’t call them racists, as I am sure they have Maori mates.
  
  It has become tedious to read this emotional claptrap.
  
  Thank God for the ability to scroll past the dross.
  
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  September 15, 2026 1:24pm
  - David Garrett
    
    So scroll on…just as I avoid Alwyn Poole’s prolix posts on education…and self praise of his unique qualifications… a view sadly not shared by the government.
    
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    September 15, 2026 4:28pm
  - Hard Cheese
    
    I’d say most of the comments about attempting to preserve Maori are eminently sensible. Why invest time and money into the charade that New Zealand is or ever will be a truly bilingual society? It’s like using a corpse as a string puppet.
    
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    September 15, 2026 4:29pm
  - Skottowe
    
    “….opening the door to the usual anti Maori commenters.”
    
    Critique isn’t “anti-Maori”, you know. It’s just critique. And it intensely irritates many of us to be accused of “racism” – whatever that is – when we challenge what’s happening with regard to the Maori language at present.
    
    “I wouldn’t call them racists, as I am sure they have Maori mates.”
    
    What on earth has this to do with anything? Give it up with the racism thing: I don’t think you know what it is.
    
    In any event, please desist from using it in an attempt to shut down critique.
    
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    September 15, 2026 11:22pm
    - Ghost
      
      shouldn’t irritate you, it is as obvious as night and day many of you are racist. Own it. I’m sure you will have a chance in tomorrow’s general debate to have your little racist circle jerk off. That is the sad thing about some of you, you beat off on how racist Māori are, but don’t look in the mirror to realise you are just as bad as those you are complaining about.
      
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      September 15, 2026 11:56pm
    - Ra Henare
      
      Skot, I recommend reading comprehension 101 for those who seem to think I am attempting to shut down critique.
      
      PS. I also recommend reading the comments. Are they pro-Maori or anti-Maori or neither. Could find any pro-Maori ones myself.
      
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      September 16, 2026 6:21am
Cassandra

At the end of the Republican convention a few days ago, President Trump asked the crowd to raise their right hand and repeat after him: “I pledge to the greatest president in the history of the United States that loves us so much he can’t even breathe, that I will go out with my family, my friends. I’ll do it any way. I don’t care if I’m registered or not. I’m going to try and cheat like hell, like they do … And we are going to vote on November 3 or we are going to vote before that. So help me God.”

I’m not making this up. I copied it from the paywalled UK Times. But more comedian than evangelist?
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September 15, 2026 8:06am
- mike
  
  He’s ‘only joking’, of course.//
  
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  September 15, 2026 8:30am
  - Michael Johnston
    
    No, it’s a cunning ruse. To what end? Only he can say. He is playing chess in some high-dimension space. His genius knows no limits.
    
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    September 15, 2026 9:02am
    - SoloView
      
      @ Michael
      You forgot the //
      
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      September 15, 2026 1:50pm
    - David Garrett
      
      Michael: There are literally no limits to the man’s ability…his latest pronouncement being that the only check we need on AI is him…the man’s narcissism knows no bounds.
      
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      September 15, 2026 4:34pm
- Scott
  
  Yes I watched the speech on YouTube this morning. He’s having fun, he’s riffing, he’s trolling.
  Honestly he’s been in politics since what 2015? And people still don’t even try to understand what he’s doing?
  
  Still the best president in our lifetime. By a lot. 😎
  
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  September 15, 2026 8:30am
  - Taieri
    
    Still the best president in our lifetime.
    ———-
    
    Sure. If you are 12 years old…
    
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    September 15, 2026 9:16am
  - David Garrett
    
    Scott: surely you can’t be serious? Far from finishing wars as he claimed, he has started one with a massive effect on the rest of the world. His ridiculous tariffs have done absolutely nothing other than increase prices for American consumers – you do know they pay the tariff, not the exporters don’t you?
    
    Please list the wonderful achievements you attribute to Trump…in no particular order.
    
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    September 15, 2026 9:17am
    - Cassandra
      
      A biggie is awakening Europe. At last Europe has stopped bludging. It’s not all bad. Most of it but not all.
      
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      September 15, 2026 9:31am
      - mike
        
        Most people would say Putin has had a greater effect, but sure, Trump has managed to make the US an unreliable ally, at best, and a security threat, at worst.
        
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        September 15, 2026 9:45am
      - David Garrett
        
        Another up tick from me Mikey…this is becoming something of a habit – albeit confined to a very few subjects; The Child in the Whitehouse being the most common.
        
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        September 15, 2026 10:49am
    - Scott
      
      War in Iran is going well. The USA has had maybe 17 casualties? Iran regime could well fall. Which would be a good thing for the world.
      Tariffs I agree with. I’m sick of China making everything. We used to make things. Now we make nothing. The USA has had billions of dollars in investment because tariffs mean things have to be made in the USA.
      And he’s the guy who resists the Muslims. Which is your number 1 issue. You should be his greatest supporter.
      Plus the southern border is now closed. And ICE is deporting illegals…
      
      I better stop now. I could be here all day. 😎
      
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      September 15, 2026 9:53am
      - mike
        
        The TDS is strong with Scott.
        
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        September 15, 2026 11:19am
      - Ra Henare
        
        Scott just a small fact check and comment.
        
        As of September 8, 2026, the Pentagon reports 838 total U.S. military casualties in the Iran conflict, comprising 18 killed and 820 wounded.
        
        And what would the fall of the current regime mean in Iran (and to the rest of the world)?
        Going back to a US puppet state? Revisit why the Shah was overthrown.
        
        China(and now India, Vietnam etc) make stuff cheaper than the stuff “”we”” made. The local product was often not that good either.
        NZ citizens have freedom of choice on what they buy. They choose China. So you want to remove freedom of choice?
        
        ICE is NOT deporting illegals.
        That is the job of the Justice system. While ICE arrests have increased, deportation rates are static.
        
        Thanks for saving me the rest of my day.
        
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        September 15, 2026 1:39pm
      - Scott
        
        Ra, ok 18 dead, still a very small number for a war against a big country.
        The fall of the mullahs can’t come soon enough. Maybe there will be a democratic govt? It certainly doesn’t have to be a puppet of the USA as you call it.
        China has dumped stuff in NZ for years. Local businesses that were going well had to close because of rogernomics. Some of those people struggled to find a decent job again. It is not free trade. China doesn’t allow free trade.
        
        ICE has done tremendous work. At least 2 million people have been deported or left voluntarily in the last 2 years.
        
        Trump may be bombastic but I totally support his direction of travel.
        
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        September 15, 2026 3:16pm
      - kowtow
        
        Ra H
        The fall of the Mullah regime would , if the right folk took over mean a much safer ME and therefor world.
        
        For starters ; no more Houthis and perhaps a peaceful Yemen ( how many have died there)
        Lebanon being sovereign instead of Hezb running the palce into the ground.
        An end to the Mullah factions in Iraq . ( recent attack on Saudi pipelines launched from there)
        And yes Israel in a much more secure position ….that’s a bonus from demilitarising things .
        
        iran also helps to arm Putin against Ukr ( and that’s also against NATO)
        
        International terror will also take a hit .
        
        And perhaps the people of Iran could live a little bit more easily and wear what they like and listen to their own choice of music.
        
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        September 15, 2026 3:19pm
      - Ghost
        
        Ra, the regime wont fall. After the current one will be far worse. Mike is right, Scott is delusional. He fluffs off all Trump’s talking points but lacks the intelligence to realise what is going on, or how bad things have become in the US. What a friggin mess Trump has created globally and in the USA. Scott is like those people who defended the last president, despite it was obvious he was not well, was not doing the job and was a problem. Scott and the other Trump fluffers who rarely visit the USA recently are part of the problem and are just as bad as the demented old git in the white house, thank goodness that problem will soon be gone.
        
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        September 15, 2026 3:30pm
      - Scott
        
        Ghost, how do your comments get past moderation? You liken me to a demented Trump fluffer and that gets through? If I said one tenth of the things against you that you say against me, my comments would never be published from one year to the next.
        And mods publish this comment. There’s a good chap.
        
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        September 15, 2026 3:34pm
      - Hard Cheese
        
        Where’s that uprising by the Iranian people you were claiming would happen? Still waiting….
        
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        September 15, 2026 4:34pm
      - Ghost
        
        Actually Scott, I realise you live in a fantasy land and make things up that aren’t there, most trump fluffers do. I said you are as bad as the demented old git in the white house, if you want to turn that around to liken to a demented old git, that is purely on you. Do pay attention. BTW, maybe when you people stop claiming those who don’t live in your deranged fantasy land suffer from derangement then moderators might care.
        
        Hard Cheese, there is no uprising, and there is no end to this war or the damage that the demented Epstein lister is doing to the world
        
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        September 15, 2026 8:42pm
    - rouppe
      
      Asking that question of AI resulted in over a dozen examples.
      
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      September 15, 2026 4:52pm
  - kowtow
    
    scott
    
    The problem is he runs his mouth off and one can’t tell whether he is “riffing” or not.
    
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    September 15, 2026 10:55am
    - Scott
      
      Kowtow, I watched the clip about raise your right hand. It was total riffing and done in a very humorous fashion and the crowd loved it. Hilarious in my opinion 😊
      
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      September 15, 2026 12:11pm
      - kowtow
        
        I’m not disagreeing that there’s more than a little trolling and a huge amount of ‘carnival’ going on with him and yes his followers love it.
        
        But in all seriousness surely there’s much more to politics and diplomacy than the constant bluster , apparent changes of tack , rudeness to allies and friends and quite honestly the bewildering array of very strange behaviour , including appearing to be friendly with the likes of Putin , Rocketman and even though his big schtick is America first and anti China rhetoric , he blows hot and cold on that too and no doubt when he meets Xi soon , he’s going to be his best buddy too.
        
        A bit of consistency and some genuine conservativism would be nice.
        
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        September 15, 2026 1:07pm
- crash
  
  How many raised their right hand?
  
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  September 15, 2026 8:47am
BarryB

I see a few people getting a exercised about the name of ‘The Gulf of Mexico’.
I think it would be better to get exercised about the name of New Zealand.
Its been my understanding that the best communication is to stick to one language –ie: when speaking French you use only French words. Same for Urdu or English – use only words of that language. You don’t mix words like RNZ does with ‘Motu’. Use it when speaking Maori but not when speaking English. Motu is an area in the eastern BOP – the area being named after the river Motu. There used to be a railway from Gisborne to Motu – It was used to bring out logs.

A bit of googling brings up plenty of different names for the Gulf of Mexico. Its been called the Seno Mexicano (trans- Mexican sound), the Mar Del Norte (Sea of the north),
The Chactemal (the Red Place) and the Sinus Mexicanus (Gulf of New Spain).
And now – at least in the USA – it is legally called the Gulf of America. Its been legally named that in the USA since Jan 2025. In the rest of the world its still known as the Gulf of Mexico, but if I were reliant on some US aid or help in getting to an oil rig in the Gulf it would be self defeating to call it the Gulf of Mexico.
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September 15, 2026 8:06am
- David Garrett
  
  Barry: I am extremely “exercised” about the name of our country. The MSM and others are actively seeking to change the name of the country- first to Aotearoa/New Zealand, and then sooner rather than later the “New Zealand” will disappear…just as the mountain officially called “Mt Egmont/Taranaki ” – in that order – is now simply Mt Taranaki.
  
  I have been trying in vain to convince Don Brash to get Hobson’s Pledge behind a CIR on the issue. As things presently stand there would be a massive vote AGAINST any change…the longer nothing is done to resist a change the sooner it will be changed by stealth by woke forces.
  
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  September 15, 2026 8:24am
  - Scott
    
    David – totally agree with you. I grew up with Mount Egmont, now known in liberal circles as Taranaki Maunga. A total abomination.
    
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    September 15, 2026 8:32am
    - Ian Boag
      
      We could rename Ngaruhoe as “Mt Doom” perhaps?
      
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      September 15, 2026 9:20am
    - David Garrett
      
      For the benefit of new readers, in the early 80’s there was a proposal to change the name of “the Mountain” – as it was affectionately known in Taranaki – from Egmont to Taranaki. There was huge opposition to that change.
      
      I became part of a group lobbying against the proposed change. Our slogan – for want of a better word – was “the province is Taranaki; the mountain is Egmont”
      
      Eventually a compromise was reached, and the mountain’s official name was “Mt Egmont/ Taranaki” – in that order. Without any notice or consultation, the “Egmont” was quietly dropped, and now no-one under 50 has ever heard of Mt Egmont.
      
      Unless “something is done”, the very same thing will happen to the name of our country. At present, polls show massive support for retaining the name of our country. That will slowly change as the percentage of woke in the population increases – as it surely will.
      
      A CIR would kill the proposed change – just as the flag referendum did. When did anyone last hear anything about changing the flag?
      
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      September 15, 2026 9:26am
      - Hapuku
        
        Don’t know why there is all this angst over a few name changes. I grew up in Hamilton…couldn’t give a flying whether it is called Hamilton or Kirikiriroa, although Hamilton is a bit easier to say. They say don’t sweat the small stuff and this is the small stuff. Focus on the big issues like democratic representation, co-governance and race-based policies. The rest is minutiae and gives respect to the first settlers of this land.
        
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        September 15, 2026 3:06pm
    - R
      
      Taranaki Maunga…sounds like you’re describing some form of skin infection!
      
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      September 15, 2026 10:04am
      - David Garrett
        
        R: Indeed…like “blackwater fever” or “amoebic dysentery”.
        
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        September 15, 2026 10:38am
      - slijmbal
        
        wound up a few by repeatedly calling Auckland ‘hakuna matata’ rather than the Maori name I can never remember.
        
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        September 15, 2026 5:22pm
  - Nikola Donatello
    
    You are correct.
    
    What grinds my gears…. I am currently working with migrants from the USA, the UK and South Africa. All nice people and technically very competent. I’m pleased they are here.
    
    But two things. They are frequently telling me what they are doing in their work to “consult our Treaty partners”. And it is “Aotearoa” all the way.
    
    One thing the state sector does well. It indoctrinates the new folk fresh off the plane.
    
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    September 15, 2026 8:32am
    - kowtow
      
      Are they working on govt contracts?
      
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      September 15, 2026 8:55am
      - Nikola Donatello
        
        No they are public servants.
        
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        September 15, 2026 10:01am
      - kowtow
        
        Public servants .
        Well there’s your answer .Go along to get along.
        
        I’d suggest they , like everyone else ,can see where the pay is coming from and are afraid of losing their jobs .
        Frightening .
        
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        September 15, 2026 10:58am
    - cmm (semi-retired edition)
      
      Something that I find irksome is how organisations like Aerospace New Zealand have jumped onto the Aoteroa bandwagon to the extent they have.
      
      The major purpose of this organisation is to build connections with the international space industry. One would think that to make this happen, the primary focus would be clear communications.
      
      Instead they sling around Aotearo and virtue signaling Maori slang a lot. This is surely confusing to foreigners.
      
      Lat month I was invited to attend an online “Europe Space Kōrero”. Hard enough dealing with English, Italian and French speakers. Why not just throw in some gratuitous Maori?
      
      This can only work against collaboration. The Europeans will be looking at this and thinking: great, If we deal with these people we will have to learn another language.
      
      It is difficult to be taken seriously when you do shit like this.
      
      https://www.aerospace.org.nz/events/europe-space-krero-5
      
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      September 15, 2026 11:46am
      - Jack5
        
        Maori, specifically Ngai Tahu, negotiated a $15 million investment from a Labour government into a “space port” on the Kaitoerete Spit on Banks Peninsula. The State investment under Labour seems to have risen to $30 million, half going on buying the spit land, which had old cultural links to Ngai Tahu.
        
        This was going to parallel Rocket Lab’s Mahia launch pad as a foothold in the international space industry.
        
        In August 20024, Cabinet Minister Judith Collins rejected further Government cash for this space centre, which had been named Tawhaki.
        
        Aerospace New Zealand’s last report filed at the incorporated societies register is for the year ended 31 March 2024, that is, two and a half years ago.
        
        It included “Government and local authority grants” of $30,000 in total income of $462,917. Just over half its income of $462,917 is listed as “summit ticket sales” or “summit sponsorship”. It reported a surplus of for the year of $47,564.
        
        The 2025 space summit in Christchurch the following year survived a protest by pro-Palestine activists over alleged NZ space industry ties with the US and Israel. Twenty-seven protesters were arrested.
        
        https://www.odt.co.nz/canterbury/christchurch/canterbury-spaceport-plans-in-strife-as-government-rejects-further-funding-ykdmb2gk
        
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        September 16, 2026 12:00am
  - sungsamning
    
    Not a bad idea. Don isn’t an MP though. Plan B might involve talking to NZ First, or ACT about raising it as an election issue.
    
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    September 15, 2026 9:07am
  - imalwaysright
    
    “…the longer nothing is done to resist a change the sooner it will be changed by stealth by woke forces.”
    
    Two very detrimental traits of New Zealanders are compliance, often confused with cooperation, and complacency.
    
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    September 15, 2026 9:30am
  - BarryB
    
    My wife comes from Taranaki and wanted a screen print of the mountain (from a photo in some magazine)
    It duly arrived with the name Mount Egmount emblazened on it.
    It was sent back with the comment that a review of the spelling would be worthwhile.
    A correct one did turn up.
    
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    September 15, 2026 10:09am
  - Ra Henare
    
    Rather than actively seeking to change the name of the country as some Machiavellian plot.
    
    May I respectfully suggest that it is the result of the plague of wokism that has swept the country in the last generation?
    
    So Hay Hoe Tear rower, is in the same basket as multiple genders, Internet “influencers” (IMHO just loud mouths with little knowledge or intelligence, anti-smacking/child behaviour correction. etc etc
    
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    September 15, 2026 1:47pm
- mike
  
  when speaking French you use only French words
  
  Like:
  le week‑end
  le sandwich
  le barbecue
  le selfie
  le smartphone
  le manager
  le meeting
  le job
  le jogging
  le camping
  
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  September 15, 2026 8:36am
  - Nikola Donatello
    
    You are missing the point. Do French radio broadcasts in Brussels mix French and Dutch in some weird mix? That would be the equivalent of what we see here.
    
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    September 15, 2026 8:52am
    - mike
      
      No, it isn’t. The Māori influence on NZ English is here to stay.
      
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      September 15, 2026 9:12am
      - Nikola Donatello
        
        I am sure that you are trolling. What we listen to on RNZ is a weird pidgin hybrid. Don’t tell me that is “here to stay”. For the vast majority of listeners it is incomprehensible.
        
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        September 15, 2026 10:03am
      - SGA
        
        @mike “No, it isn’t. The Māori influence on NZ English is here to stay.”
        
        I do not get as hot and bothered as some here about te reo issues, but I think you are underselling things. Yes, that influence has always been here. It is more that now there is an *active* movement to create a distinct NZ English with lots of vocabulary borrowings from Maori. That may not be the intention, but that’s the effect.
        
        English as a language has always done this (kayak, tomahawk, canoe, pyjamas, dinghy, tsunami) – it’s why English has such a rich vocabulary. But, to be honest, I have started to turn off RNZ in the car on occasion because I can’t drive and look up meanings on my phone at the same time. Sometimes it sounds like the two people talking are in a competition to show who knows more te reo words. I say that as one of the more liberal, albeit irregular, commentators here.
        
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        September 15, 2026 10:52am
      - kowtow
        
        NK
        
        ‘I am sure that you are trolling’
        
        It’s what he does.
        
        In any event it’s not a “Maori influence” . It’sthe adoption of wokism to virtue signal.
        
        ordinary NZers don’t greet each other ki ora or use maori place names or pronounciations for their tons and cities …….only wankers do.
        
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        September 15, 2026 11:03am
      - mike
        
        Read and learn:
        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand_English
        
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        September 15, 2026 11:09am
      - SGA
        
        @Nikola Donatello – No, it’s not really a “pidgin hybrid”. Pidgins are something else again. It’s fundamentally English with a increasing amount of Maori vocabulary (typically nouns) inserted. In some cases, that’s completely appropriate especially where the concept or object is better described that way. Increasing, however, it seems more performative than practical.
        
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        September 15, 2026 11:20am
  - Cassandra
    
    And, mike, as you are no doubt well aware, there is a move against “ Franglais”. And in any case today’s Maori is largely Esperanto anyway. Rapihi for rubbish is a good example.
    
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    September 15, 2026 9:04am
    - David Garrett
      
      Cass: There are several abominations…made up Maori words for things that didn’t exist pre European contact: libraries, hospitals (and ambulance services), the police; courts, schools…
      
      Interestingly up here in Tonga there is no equivalent of the Maori language commission; the Tongans just “Tonganize” new words: komputa for computer; misini faks, for fax machine etc. Or they just use the English word: the word for School in Tonga is…school. No kura up here.
      
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      September 15, 2026 9:32am
      - Nikola Donatello
        
        Is English or Tongan used in the legal system?
        
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        September 15, 2026 10:06am
      - David Garrett
        
        Niko: Good question. In the Magistrates Court the language is Tongan – although when I am there, which isn’t very often, an interpreter is provided.
        
        The language of the Supreme [High equivalent] Court is English, but Tongan witnesses can give their evidence in Tongan – which is then translated – if they wish. All legal submissions etc. are in English.
        
        Some Tongans who understand English perfectly will often elect to give their evidence in Tongan, which gives them extra time to consider their answer. It is often very amusing when they forget they are not supposed to understand English at all well, and start answering in English before reverting to Tongan.
        
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        September 15, 2026 10:35am
      - Ra Henare
        
        In the big Kingdom,(where the current temperatures are lovely and balmy)
        The main language is Khmer. But like many languages around the world, they have adopted some English? American words.
        Hamburger, pizza spring to mind.
        
        Note: Both Khmer & Tongan go back some 3,000 years. English is the newby being some 1500 years old and yes, all those languages have “absorbed” other languages’ words.
        
        A thought. If Te Reo (like Tongan) is older than English, then it is appropriate for Te Reo to absorb some of the new words in alliteration. The reverse is also a trueism.
        
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        September 15, 2026 1:58pm
- sungsamning
  
  The Biden ‘administration’ passed legislation banning gas and oil administration in the then Gulf of Mexico. So, the Trump administration changed it to The Gulf of America. The Biden legislation was thus rendered irellevant.
  
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  September 15, 2026 9:05am
  - SGA
    
    Colour me skeptical of that standing up in court. By that mechanism, Trump could simply rename the United States of America to the United States of Trump and void all treaties, agreements, and laws that used the name USA.
    
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    September 15, 2026 11:25am
- David Garrett
  
  Barry: I very much doubt the name of the Gulf of Mexico has been legally changed to the Gulf of America – and if it has, I have little doubt it will be changed back again when The Child is no longer in office. As will Lake America on the Canadian border.
  
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  September 15, 2026 10:46am
  - mike
    
    Done by executive order, so easily undone.
    
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    September 15, 2026 11:07am
    - sungsamning
      
      Ah, I was wondering exactly how he did it.
      
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      September 15, 2026 3:59pm
      - slijmbal
        
        done by King Trump the Terrible – King of South Canada as his territories are now known /sarc
        
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        September 15, 2026 6:26pm
  - MCōs
    
    The president has the legal right to change US Geographical names such as lakes and gulfs, but not states and the new name is not necessarily recognized internationally
    If Americans don’t like it they should have thought of that before they elected him
    
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    September 15, 2026 12:14pm
    - MCōs
      
      People in this country kick up bobsy-die about ’captain’s calls’, but I’ve been amazed at the ability of the POTUS to sign executive orders and pardon villains for back handers
      I read an article about brokers who can obtain a pardon for fraudsters and the like, at a price.
      Maybe it’s always been like that, I don’t know.
      
      “Who is the banana republic now?” was famously used as a viral column headline by Mutuma Mathiu in the Daily Nation, Kenya’s largest newspaper, following the January 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol
      
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      September 15, 2026 3:33pm
Martonman

The latest poll is interesting. Apparently funded by Infrastructure NZ who is funded by Central Government.
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September 15, 2026 8:08am
- Yvette
  
  https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/361033374/major-parties-continue-historic-slump-support-labour-coming-out-top
  
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  September 15, 2026 8:15am
  - Nikola Donatello
    
    Just a thought. Polled Green support is about half that of National support. In a functioning wealthy country you I would expect to see what is effectively a communist party around 5 percent. Instead it is more like 15 percent with National comfortably below 30 percent..
    
    My intuition is that if TOP breaches 5 percent there will be a change of government. Close to half of the members of that government will be from parties other than the labour party. With TOP, the Greens and the Maori Party, there will be a major communist influence on the policies of the government.
    
    Who would have thought we would be here? National could not do anything about the headwinds from the Iran war. However they still deserve much blame for the situation.
    
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    September 15, 2026 8:28am
    - Tomtoddy
      
      On the present numbers all of National’s Party Votes will be useless. Gone with no effect.
      
      They need to look to a different approach to turn their Party vote into saving the country from the commies and disaster,
      
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      September 15, 2026 8:38am
      - kowtow
        
        ‘saving the country from the commies and disaster,’
        
        They’ll have only themselves to blame .
        
        Go woke , go broke.
        
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        September 15, 2026 8:57am
      - Cassandra
        
        “One tick Blue” has a nice ring to it.
        
        11 0
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        September 15, 2026 9:06am
      - imalwaysright
        
        Cassandra
        The most succint voting advice was from Chris Trotter on the Platform this morning:
        
        “If you want a Labour led Government, vote Labour.
        If you want a National led Government, vote National.”
        
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        September 15, 2026 9:26am
      - Nobby2
        
        Tomtoddy. Electorate vote National, party vote Act.
        
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        September 15, 2026 3:20pm
    - anonymouse
      
      I find the way the story is Written in the post almost dishonest, “Labour edging ahead slightly ” a slight gain from is 2023 election night… although a 7% fall from June….
      
      I’m Sorry, but Labour loosing 20% of its vote (35% to 28%) is “edging ahead”!!!….
      Its probably the largest collapse of a major party in modern polling,…( all the other movements [exl Top- where all Labour’s vote appears to have gone] are basically within the Margins of Error) and we’re not talking about Chippy getting the Axe here???
      
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      September 15, 2026 8:43am
      - R
        
        Also, there is no comparison with nationals’ previous Freshwater Poll; which from vague memory was about the same as this poll. Definite massaging of reported results by agenda Stuff.
        
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        September 15, 2026 10:14am
      - Philview
        
        Hipkins is on 45% as preferred PM in that poll. The people polled must like Hipkins but not Labour.
        
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        September 15, 2026 11:17am
    - Burtland
      
      edging toward the ethnostate – not too far away now – the younger generation are going to love it -“eh boomer look what weve done”
      
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      September 15, 2026 11:54am
      - keepcalmcarryon
        
        It’s already here.
        
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        September 15, 2026 12:56pm
  - kevn
    
    Yvette… Sounds contradictory.
    
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    September 15, 2026 9:22am
- Duke of Abbeyhill
  
  The Freshwater Poll is pretty much an online survey as far as I can tell. They use only an internet panel and appear to be heavily left biased. The fact that even in that poll (and with Opportunity over the 5% threshold) they have a hung parliament suggests to me the left is struggling. Labour has dropped 7% since the last freshwater poll so the trend is similar to Curia just more biased towards the left (or at least Labour biased).
  
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  September 15, 2026 9:21am
- pdm
  
  Isn’t it (Freshwater) the old Horizon Poll.
  
  People subscribe to be polled if it is so credibility is low.
  
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  September 15, 2026 9:45am
artemisia

Wellington City Council says sorry, very sorry, honestly really sorry we wasted ratepayers money on a $600k+ website to market to someone the pretty and culturally correct fixed up central library.

Council says they are changing things but how many of those decision-making staff remain? Because it is pretty obvious there will still be some council staffers with budgets, not much concern for OPM but perhaps continuing to look out for redistribution opportunities, political or personal. Other councils likely similar, just better or luckier at staying under the radar.

The full review report from Colin MacDonald is at the below link, not a long read but focused and refreshingly light on the usual consultant cut and paste fluff.

https://wellington.govt.nz/news-and-events/news-and-information/our-wellington/2026/09/te-matapihi-library-website-review
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September 15, 2026 8:09am
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  I’ve just looked through the report and there’s no mention of why the website linked to a site that was selling maramataka calendars.
  
  A since-deleted link on the website had directed users to a commercial enterprise based in the Bay of Islands selling Māori lunar calendars and offering online workshop packages and video lessons.
  
  https://www.thepost.co.nz/nz-news/361079864/600k-wellington-library-website-spend-extravagant-process-flawed-review-finds
  
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  September 15, 2026 8:40am
- mike
  
  Recent reports, such as those re Wellington sewage or the Mt Maunganui landslide, only bolster the view that extensive reforms of local government in the 1980s and 1990s in the name of improving ‘accountability’ had the opposite effect from that intended.
  
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  September 15, 2026 8:43am
  - KKNZ2025
    
    More wilfully disingenuous nonsense. It was Labour under Helen Clark who gave councils “powers of general competence” in 2003 which allowed them to step out of their ratepayers services lane & waste other people’s money on every squeaky wheel virtue signaling vanity project they could dream up
    
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    September 15, 2026 9:03am
    - mike
      
      If you think councils were more accountable in the 1990s then I have a bridge to sell you.
      
      2 16
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      September 15, 2026 9:48am
      - Yabster
        
        but you don’t have a bridge do you- you may have planned and spent a fortune on thinking about a bridge, but of course you couldn’t actually build one let alone sell one…//
        
        Waitematā Harbour Connections (Tunnels & Light Rail Plan): Between 2021 and late 2023, Labour commissioned extensive planning and design work for a multi-billion-dollar proposal featuring two road tunnels and a light rail tunnel. Official transport records showed over $100 million was paid to consultants and contractors for technical assessments, route designs, and feasibility reports before the project was scrapped
        
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        September 15, 2026 10:18am
      - Jigsaw
        
        The 2002 act led to a huge increase in the council staff numbers and influence. Our council is run jointly by the council staff and the local tribe. The council even occupies a building that is owned by the tribe.
        
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        September 15, 2026 10:58am
      - keepcalmcarryon
        
        Is it a cycling bridge mike?
        
        6 0
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        September 15, 2026 12:57pm
    - R
      
      Comrade Clark’s ‘Council general competence’ decision; unmasked the general incompetence of many Councils.
      
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      September 15, 2026 10:17am
- Swifty
  
  The main offender is gone from WCC.
  
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  September 15, 2026 8:46am
  - AitchW
    
    I think you’ll find that the incompetence in that council is spread far and wide. Along with a fine disdain for ratepayers and their money.
    
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    September 15, 2026 9:33am
- sungsamning
  
  The legislation that gives this protection to ‘public servants’ needs to be amended so they can be fired for incompetence, and negligence. Also, ministers, and councillors need to be put back in charge of their portfolios. People don’t vote for CEOs.
  
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  September 15, 2026 9:11am
- rouppe
  
  What really grated my gears was Chief operating officer James Roberts saying he took “full accountability”.
  
  Which would imply he would pay the overspend back out of his own pocket. Which he won’t.
  
  Empty words.
  
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  September 15, 2026 5:13pm
Observant Octagenarian

Just heard Hipkins talking about how his Capital Gains tax will fund other benefits.
No-one has thought to ask him if property values go down, as many people are talking about, there won’t be any capital gains to tax.
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September 15, 2026 8:21am
- Ian
  
  Wasn’t it just that the CGT was to provide money to pay for three doctors appointments only. If the idea that the CGT provides for beyond that, then the rate of the CGT will have to be raised or come from other areas than just property at present – both houses and commercial (family home exempt). Hmmm..
  
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  September 15, 2026 9:25am
- Ehlana
  
  Isn’t their version of “capital gains” the difference between what you paid for your house and what you sold it for? So even if gains in the last few years disappear, there will be a lot of houses owned for longer than that with a “capital gain”?
  
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  September 15, 2026 1:46pm
  - artemisia
    
    No. Labour’s policy sets a ‘valuation day’ as 1 July 2027 so gains (profit) only apply from then.
    
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    September 15, 2026 3:51pm
Jimbo666

Apparently there are’t enough Maoris playing cricket and the TV breakfast presenter commenting that cricket is perceived as a white sport! I guess he doesn’t know that India and Pakistan etc have probably greater numbers players cricket than the “white “ nations!
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September 15, 2026 8:25am
- Damocles11
  
  Do we need race quotas in the selection of our cricket teams, to combat the obvious systemic racism that currently exists in the sport? If maori are not succeeding in cricket at the same rate as the colonists, then the public service and ruling elites have told me that this is due to a lack of equity and fairness, and systemic racism. NZC and, by extension, the NZ government are in breach of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and an urgent Waitangi Tribunal inquiry must follow forthwith. My feeling is that this situation can only be remedied by the allocation of hundreds of millions of dollars of taxpayer dollars to maori ‘service providers’.
  
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  September 15, 2026 9:27am
  - AitchW
    
    Would we also get a quota so that whites might appear in the ABs?
    
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    September 15, 2026 10:26am
- David Garrett
  
  Jimbo: Fuck me…the woke among us are getting worser and worser…(deliberate misspelling before anyone pulls me up)
  
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  September 15, 2026 9:40am
- kowtow
  
  Cricket in the UK was criticised for a culture of alcoholic drinks after the game , cos excluded members of religion that forbids same!
  
  In the same weird way that the English countryside itself is racist!
  
  “Wildlife and Countryside Link Report (2024): An alliance of dozens of charities released a report claiming the British countryside acts as a “racist colonial” white space, arguing that historical legacies and traditional rural cultures create barriers for people of color.”
  
  Strange times.
  
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  September 15, 2026 11:14am
- Yabster
  
  I assume he/she is just as concerned about the lack of white fellas in our rugby and league teams then…?
  
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  September 15, 2026 11:23am
  - Pope Punctilious II
    
    Not to mention the acute lack of Asian Kiwis! When are we going to see an All Black lock called Patel, and a winger called Wong?
    
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    September 15, 2026 3:49pm
Scott

Driving into town yesterday there were police blocking off roads. Was it some criminal issue? No it wasn’t. It was a parade of about a dozen Maoris riding horses down the main street, ironically known as Queen St. There were flying Tino Rangatiratanga flags and wearing cowboy hats and sporting facial tattoos.

What to make of this spectacle? Just the festive beginning of Maori language week?
But it didn’t look like that. They were quiet and serious, not at all festive, they looked for all the world like a troop from a conquering army? Occupying the public square with the full support of law enforcement bending over backwards to accommodate them.

Maybe I’m wrong? Or maybe it’s a warning? If we don’t stand up for ourselves and our country then others will take it from us forever.

Update –
“The horses and riders traveling through Masterton were part of a Ngāti Kahungunu iwi protest horse trek heading to Parliament.
The iwi is delivering a petition with over 20,000 signatures calling on the government to halt proposed amendments or removals of Treaty of Waitangi principles from legislation.”

My comment – I support the govt getting Treaty of Waitangi principles and mentions out of the legislation. Say no to cogovernance!
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September 15, 2026 8:26am
- Damocles11
  
  Hōiho are a taonga species and deeply woven into the fabric of Maori cultural and spiritual life. Maori are uniquely attuned to the connection between hōiho and the whenua in ways that colonists could never understand.
  
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  September 15, 2026 9:33am
  - RoboRob
    
    I think its cultural appropriation. The Maori shouldn’t be stealing horse culture from the west and shouldn’t be stealing Gipsy culture to make a nuisance of yourselves while horse riding. /sarc
    
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    September 15, 2026 12:00pm
- pdm
  
  The horsefloatkoi Scott.
  
  Only on horses for TV Cameras and friendly newspaper photographers and reporters.
  
  In summary – master media manipulators.
  
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  September 15, 2026 9:51am
  - kowtow
    
    The media are the manipulators .
    
    had that been a white supremacist thing there’d have been screeds of “fact checking” , trigger warnings and debunkings , quite rightly of course , but the problem is the unbalanced appraoch …..cos “active protection of principles of t o w”, that te media have “embraced”.
    
    That latter being the case they are actually no longer 4 th estate , but now an active part of the administration.
    
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    September 15, 2026 11:19am
  - OlderChas
    
    Yes pdm – no pictures or video of the horses climbing and descending the Remutaka roads.
    
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    September 16, 2026 9:24am
- KKNZ2025
  
  The MSM have yet to mention that Hobsons Pledge have ~35000 signatures on their petition to abolish the Maori seats & 50000 on their petition to abolish the Waitangi Tribunal
  
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  September 15, 2026 10:23am
I remember when

Swedish left-wing bloc narrowly ahead with election too close to call: BBC.
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September 15, 2026 8:34am
slightlyrighty

I’m sure that our host will have his own opinion on this, but I think we have to ask ourselves if Public Opinion polls actually help or hinder the democratic process?

I would argue that Polling by individual parties does serve a useful purpose as a democratic tool, but I have grave doubts about the benefits of public polling, as it removes the necessity of voters applying their own analysis on policy in favour of going with the Mob.

Polling can reflect momentum, but it can also create momentum, and when polling replaces public debate, then democracy, and our government, suffers as a result.
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September 15, 2026 8:39am
- MCōs
  
  I’m sure you’re right, but good luck trying to get rid of them
  
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  September 15, 2026 9:33am
- AitchW
  
  I vaguely remember Peters suggesting that polls should be banned in the last month prior to a general election. Can someone with a superior memory confirm this? It was two or three elections ago I think.
  
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  September 15, 2026 10:25am
- greybeard
  
  This is a good article on the subject. Hosking spoke about it this morning.
  https://newsroom.co.nz/2026/09/14/campaign-cut-through-political-polls-have-a-science-problem/
  
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  September 15, 2026 11:28am
Damocles11

Maori Language Week kicked off with a ‘Hikoi’ from Parliament through Wellington city by school children, public servants, and assorted leftists and racial dividers. Why? Why the ‘Hokoi’? Why weren’t the children in school, learning? Why weren’t the public servants working, providing public servants? Why would the start of Maori Language Week require a ‘Hokoi’ with people marching in the streets carrying banners? Why are children being trained to march through the streets in service of all sorts of left wing causes? Children go to school to learn as per the curriculum, not to be politically indoctrinated by ‘teachers’ who are now acting as red guards and propagandists for a homegrown ‘Cultural Revolution’. Please note that the elected government is now seemingly powerless to stop this stuff, powerless to stop children from being used as political pawns. Surely the role of the government is to protect our children from political indoctrination when they are given over to the state for the purpose of education, but apparently not.
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September 15, 2026 8:48am
- Bobba Fret
  
  To me it feels like it’s Maori language week every week.
  
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  September 15, 2026 9:28am
- AitchW
  
  Perhaps they might like to do these performances in their own, unpaid time…..
  
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  September 15, 2026 9:34am
- R
  
  Until the parents stand up and demand, that teachers stop using school classrooms to indoctrinate children, and start concentrating on teaching STEM subjects; NZ children will continue to slide into unemployability. The schools need an Erica Stanford in every classroom, and most Principals offices.
  
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  September 15, 2026 10:28am
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    Someone has finally twigged that children in Maori immersion classes/schools are getting a lousy Science and Maths education.
    
    Whether Auckland University’s new STEM course for Maori- medium teachers will turn out a load of 21st Century-educated folk remains to be seen.
    
    The programme takes an approach to STEM education that goes beyond translating existing curricula into te reo Māori. It considers how STEM knowledge and teaching practice can be situated within mātauranga Māori and Māori-medium education.
    
    https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/news/2026/09/14/Te-wiki-o-te-reo-Maori-2026/tohu-pokairua-paetahi-2026.html
    
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    September 15, 2026 11:05am
- kowtow
  
  It’s politically and philosophically more akin to a Red Guards parade in Peking during the Cultural Revolution than the start of some alleged educational /awareness campaign in what used to pass for a liberal democracy in the middle of an existential education and economic crisis.
  
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  September 15, 2026 11:25am
- Pope Punctilious II
  
  Maori school attendance is bad enough already without participation in this stunt.
  
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  September 15, 2026 3:54pm
Dougal10

After the most recent poll will Hipkins reach back into his election bribe bag, and bring back kiwi build, first year fees free uni and $9 school lunches , and if not why not as they were flagship policies.
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September 15, 2026 8:57am
- Bloody Dago
  
  Your over-emphasizing the size of the ship. Not enough float in the boat to carry the Liarbour Party bloat.
  
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  September 15, 2026 2:31pm
sungsamning

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLheE6qvaXM
Britain Is About To Blow Up A WW2 Bomb Ship And Blame Putin.
There is a shipwreck near Sherness. Its full of WW2 era bombs. They’re live. So, if it goes up with a bang, don’t blame Russia. Even if Putins passport is found near the blast zone.
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September 15, 2026 8:58am
- Ian Boag
  
  Dunno about “full of” – apparently a lot was salvaged after the wreck happened but noone knows what is left because it is too dangerous to look …
  
  https://chatgpt.com/share/6aa86155-8dc4-83ec-9614-8c231453fbb8
  
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  September 15, 2026 9:08am
  - sungsamning
    
    So, it could be enough to be highly dangerous; or only a damp squib.
    
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    September 15, 2026 9:15am
    - R
      
      Very damp by now!
      
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      September 15, 2026 10:30am
      - imalwaysright
        
        Sell them to Zelensky.
        Buyer must pick up…
        
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        September 15, 2026 4:45pm
sungsamning

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUW7iECbWCk
This Is How ALICE WEIDEL’s AfD Would Transform GERMANY | VisualPolitik EN
Most of us know a bit about the AfD. The leader is in a gay marriage. They’re anti immigration. They’re on the rise across Germany. However, they have two factions. This could lead to friction when the rubber hits the road.
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September 15, 2026 8:59am
artemisia

Apostrophes come up now and again here. A useful little reminder – the possessive ‘its’ never splits. Same with the other possessive pronouns like ‘theirs’.
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September 15, 2026 9:02am
- mike
  
  Its vs it’s: irredeemably entrenched as a common mistake.
  
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  September 15, 2026 9:09am
- Cassandra
  
  Are you usurping DG?
  
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  September 15, 2026 9:09am
  - artemisia
    
    Heaven forbid’s.
    
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    September 15, 2026 9:18am
    - David Garrett
      
      Art: Very droll’s Sir…
      
      But Mikey boy is in fact correct: it’s – a contraction of “it is” – is indeed very often used by mistake by people who don’t properly understand the function of the apostrophe.
      
      My advice is always; “If in doubt, leave it out”
      
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      September 15, 2026 10:25am
      - Maggy Wassilieff
        
        “If in doubt, leave it out”
        
        Then we wont know if you mean cant or can’t….
        
        or should that be:
        
        we cant know if you mean won’t or wont?
        
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        September 15, 2026 11:14am
      - Cassandra
        
        Mags on the ball this morning!
        
        7 1
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        September 15, 2026 11:32am
      - keepcalmcarryon
        
        [Mod – these posts correcting mistakes are going overboard, stop now]
        
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        September 15, 2026 1:15pm
I remember when

‘We were raped and exploited by a drug gang as teenagers,’ women tell BBC of their ordeal.
“All four describe being targeted by boys and older men connected to drug gangs, manipuilated into abusive relationships, and repeatedly sexually exploited.
All believe the authorities failed to protect them and did not take their allegations seriously.
The sexual and criminal exploitation of girls by drug gangs has long been overshadowed in public discussion by the focus on sexualgrooming gangs, according to front-line social workers and experts in the field.

It appears the abusive of young girls has been seriously under-policed in parts of the UK.
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September 15, 2026 9:05am
- imalwaysright
  
  The Brits should storm Parliament throw them all out.
  Anarcho tyranny must be met with anarchy.
  
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  September 15, 2026 9:39am
- I remember when
  
  “abuse”
  
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  September 15, 2026 9:40am
- Yabster
  
  both are diabolical but the social workers where a huge part of the problem with the grooming gangs as they didn’t want to appear racist! (Majority of Pakistani males committing the hate crime), also seems like they are trying to deflect, the scale of the grooming gangs was huge and inter-connected (ie organised)- the numbers are massive- unsure of the scale of the drug gang issue- both should have more resources put to them (although the stat of the UK policing is woeful/woke and also let the grooming gangs thrive).
  
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  September 15, 2026 10:26am
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    Not just the race issue:
    
    It’s also a sex/class issue.
    
    The authorities don’t give a stuff about poor kids from the slum estates.
    
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    September 15, 2026 11:19am
    - kowtow
      
      I suspect the Stephens Report , 1999, has an awful lot to answer for for the perversion of British policing and indeed the approach of all of govt to these issues.
      
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      September 15, 2026 12:47pm
- kowtow
  
  AI tells me that the ethnic composition of the organised drug gangs depends very much on locality .
  
  Liverpool /manchester ; white ( though it would be interesting to know if they were Micks, esp Liverpool)
  
  Birmingham ; ‘south Asian”
  
  I doubt very much the bbc would like to do too much reporting on the “diverse” nature of crime stats in the UK ……unless whites were predominant. The beeb is hardly trustworthy.
  
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  September 15, 2026 11:35am
- rouppe
  
  I wonder how much overlap there is between the “grooming / rape gangs” and drug gangs.
  
  And if there is significant overlap, whether this is an attempt to reflect attention away from the race aspect.
  
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  September 15, 2026 5:44pm
Taieri

‘accountability’
———-

What’s that…?
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September 15, 2026 9:13am
- Damocles11
  
  It doesn’t exist in this country. Elites protect elites.
  
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  September 15, 2026 9:35am
imalwaysright

Its Tuesday and we haven’t had a decent corruption scandal yet….
I’ll take that as a positive.
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September 15, 2026 9:35am
Damocles11

‘A sudden sharp rise in oil prices, inflation fears and global bond yields has prompted debt-market traders to rethink where the Official Cash Rate could be heading.
Westpac chief economist Kelly Eckhold said market pricing on Friday reflected an expectation the OCR would rise to 4.25% by the end of next year, up from its current level of 2.75%.’

https://www.thepost.co.nz/business/361079831/markets-price-ocr-425-end-2027-after-oil-and-bond-yields-surge
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September 15, 2026 9:37am
MCōs

There is a property a few doors from me and the front fence is festooned with National Party signs.
I was slightly amused to notice the one proclaimed Fixing the Basics, Building the Future has come loose and is waving in the breeze.
It’s been that way for a few days now. Maybe no Nats ever pass this way to notice!
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September 15, 2026 9:56am
- kowtow
  
  I was slightly amused to see the Greens , Labour , Maori and TOP party signboards around the corner are made of thermoplatic polymer covered in inks produced from petro chemical processes.
  
  Maybe the leaders of those parties don’t really care about their own much vaunted planetary protecting principles.
  
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  September 15, 2026 11:44am
Flossie

I have to back the idea of closing down the Waitangi Tribunal. Maori were masters at taking by force whatever they wanted from anyone weaker. Surely there must be some tribes with a claim against another tribe? Or is it only “white people” who could be so unjustly awful!
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September 15, 2026 10:02am
- Blog-aholic
  
  Chris Trotter wrote an article (on WhaleOil IIRC) about co-governance and ethnostate etc in or around 2021/2…..he stated in the last paragraph something along the lines that if the majority of NZ ever accepted co-governance et al how long would it take for the pre-1840 inter iwi grievances to demand utu?……
  Musket Wars 2.0?
  
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  September 15, 2026 10:30am
- kowtow
  
  Indeed Flossie , tikanga is at root the survival of the fittest and should Honkey ever demand an end to the boondoogle , so be it ……that’s tikanga afterall.
  
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  September 15, 2026 11:46am
Happy1

Does anyone know what the HIV “the eighties are calling” is supposed to achieve? It seems to want to portray HIV as an insignificant disease, easily treated. Well it’s not in Fiji with a high percentage of babies born with the disease. Should our government departments be doing things that will be to the detriment of the nation’s health?
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September 15, 2026 10:14am
- Blog-aholic
  
  It is not insignificant and that advert does nothing but down play how life changing it is to those who contract it.
  The advert is IMO a false flag gaslight and should be encouraging people in very different contexts.
  
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  September 15, 2026 10:32am
- imalwaysright
  
  Is this the same Ministry that aided and abetted closing down the country over a cold…?
  
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  September 15, 2026 11:46am
- cmm (semi-retired edition)
  
  While HIV is serious if untreated, it seems to be relatively easy to manage these days.
  
  About 15 years ago, an extended family member in South Africa got infected (gay bloke, lots of unprotected random sex) and went through a long and harrowing decline and death. South Africa alone lost a few million people.
  
  Now there are all sorts of drugs which seem to have relegated HIV to being considered just a minor annoyance like a minor STD. With prophylactic drugs such as Dovato and Truvada, many don’t even worry about condoms any more.
  
  Being born with HIV is different to developing AIDS.
  
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  September 15, 2026 12:03pm
- kowtow
  
  Fiji issue is narcotics related .
  
  Idiots.
  
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  September 15, 2026 12:44pm
  - MCōs
    
    Far more to it than a five word oversimplification of the problem
    NZ too has a huge meth problem, but there isn’t an HIV epidemic
    There are all sorts of other factors in Fiji that are hardly on the radar here
    
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    September 15, 2026 2:44pm
    - cmm (semi-retired edition)
      
      The Fiji issue seems to be primarily linked to needle sharing during the injection of meth.
      
      Make better choices kids…
      
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      September 15, 2026 3:03pm
    - kowtow
      
      Inject , inhale whatever drugs ……
      
      idiot.
      
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      September 15, 2026 3:06pm
I remember when

Back in the day when horse back journeys were exactly that.

Howard Morrison’s ‘Ride for Life.’
In 1990, the entertainer, undertook a 45-day horseback journey from Invercargill to Cape Reinga.
The trek included stops at schools and communities along the route, to promote the programs of the Life Education Trust.

Or, at least, involved a lot more time in the saddle.
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September 15, 2026 10:19am
- Flossie
  
  Really? I do recall a young equine enthusiast who waited outside Rotorua to see the triumphant arrival. She was very disappointed to report a truck turned up about where the Welcome to Rotorua sign was, a horse was lead from the back and Mr Morrison mounted and rode in waving to the press.
  
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  September 15, 2026 10:35am
  - kowtow
    
    All the world’s a stage …..
    
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    September 15, 2026 11:47am
  - Jack5
    
    Horse culture doesn’t really work for Maori protest.
    
    There’s no cultural ring to it. Colonial settlers brought horses here.
    
    Many nationalities have traditional links with horses — Mongolians, Cossacks, more recently, European cavalry. American indigenous tradition with horses began about 1600. A couple of centuries later the Comanche were excellent horsemen.
    
    Polynesians’ minor horse culture seems closer to the “lo’i hoosi” culinary traditon of Tongans. They seem to be pushing for NZ, too, to legalise sale of horse meat as human food.
    
    https://kanivatonga.co.nz/2026/01/time-for-new-zealand-to-face-reality-on-tongan-horse-meat-traditions/
    
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    September 15, 2026 1:26pm
    - cmm (semi-retired edition)
      
      I bet if you ask around enough you will find there is some folklore about how Rangi rode a whale onto the beach where it sprouted legs and became a horse.
      
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      September 15, 2026 1:38pm
David Garrett

A commenter called “Bullion” made this claim on yesterday’s GD:

Did you know 50 wells have been drilled at a cost over $2b since the “ban” on oil and gas exploration – and nothing

I called bullshit on that, and asked for a source. None was forthcoming from either him/her or anyone else. In the real world, there were probably fewer than 50 wildcat wells – as opposed to production/in fill wells – drilled in the entire history of offshore Taranaki, which effectively only began in 1969 with the discovery of Maui.

If anyone can cite a reliable source which tells a different story, I would be glad to read it.
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September 15, 2026 10:23am
- cmm (semi-retired edition)
  
  DG: From what I can read, since the ban, no new exploratory permits have been issues but pre-existing permits have still been developed.
  
  “Since 2018, when the exemption was last extended, there have been a total of two offshore non-resident drilling rigs, spending 313 and 226 days in the country each
  and 14 wells have been drilled”
  
  https://www.taxpolicy.ird.govt.nz/-/media/project/ir/tp/publications/2023/2023-ir-cab-multinational-tax-bill/2023-ir-cab-multinational-tax-bill.pdf?modified=20230810030944&modified=20230810030944
  
  The number 14 was also referenced here:
  
  https://splash247.com/enzed-takes-first-permit-after-new-zealand-lifts-offshore-drilling-ban/
  
  This newsroom article says $2billiion.
  
  https://newsroom.co.nz/2026/05/15/the-mystery-of-the-disappearing-gas-reserves/
  
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  September 15, 2026 12:56pm
  - David Garrett
    
    cmm: Well I’m surprised…but 14 is a long way short of 50. I am also rather surprised to read that 400 wells have been drilled in the Taranaki Basin…but that stat doesn’t specify on or offshore, and it doesn’t differentiate between wildcat [ wells drilled in unknown territory] wells and development wells. I suspect the 400 figure is both on and offshore…given that onshore wells have been drilled since 1865.
    
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    September 15, 2026 2:01pm
    - cmm (semi-retired edition)
      
      From what I read there are also “bore holes” and “wells” and globbing those together would drive up the numbers.
      
      I am not knowledgeable about drilling lingo, but maybe bore holes are just shallow probes into the bottom without intending to hit oil/gas (eg. to help determine the rock strata).
      
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      September 15, 2026 2:57pm
- Taieri
  
  As far as I know the last rig working in NZ was Valaris 107 jack up at the end of 2023. It was hired by the Beach Energy for Kupe South 9 development well. Finished just after Xmas 2023.
  I was briefly involved in that project – my last offshore job, before retirement.
  
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  September 15, 2026 6:05pm
imalwaysright

The Lotto advertisements on TV about increasing the Power balls from 10 to 14 say there are more prizes etc. But they don’t say that the chances of winning the top prize have been significantly reduced.

Does that contravene regulations?
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September 15, 2026 10:29am
- cmm (semi-retired edition)
  
  Lotto is a tax on the mathematically illiterate. They probably could not understand any explanation.
  
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  September 15, 2026 12:05pm
  - David Garrett
    
    cmm: Yep, I know the odds are astronomical…but then as the old saying has it, someone wins it, and it’s also a mathematical certainty that if you don’t have a ticket you won’t ever win.
    
    I limit myself to only buying tickets when the prize is over 10 mill. One thing that surprises me is how small the second division prizes are. If first is a few million, I would have thought that second was at least five figures…but often nowhere near that.
    
    But then I am – if not mathematically illiterate – at least semi – illiterate at best
    
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    September 15, 2026 12:52pm
    - cmm (semi-retired edition)
      
      I maybe came across harsher than I intended.
      
      If you just feel like a flutter with disposable money that’s fine. Do it. But far too many people take it extremely seriously and piss away money on lotto and the pokies in the hope of hitting it big – rather than putting the money into their kids or whatever.
      
      I am not sure as to the psychology that goes into setting lotto prize levels, but I suspect that a whole lot of trick-cycling has gone into determining the best levels to set to entice the punters.
      
      A lot of language goes into helping people feel they are lucky or getting closer or whatever. This is what has people coming back for another hit week after week…
      
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      September 15, 2026 1:23pm
      - David Garrett
        
        cmm: I didn’t know what to say once when buying a ticket in Helensville. The seller told me it was a really good week to be buying because a winning lucky dip ticket had been bought in a nearby village the previous week “and now it is our turn”. At first I thought she was joking…but she clearly wasn’t.
        
        I thought of telling her that every single ticket – however the numbers were selected – was a “lucky dip” – but it was clearly pointless. No cure for stupid as they say.
        
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        September 15, 2026 2:38pm
      - Hard Cheese
        
        To me the lure of being in a draw to win a single prize of $50 million has less appeal than being in a draw to win one of 10 prizes of $5 million, or 50 prizes of $1 million. Any of those could be life changing to someone – not to mention the pathetic second, third and fourth division prizes. It baffles me why anyone plays Lotto beyond the odd flutter now and then
        
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        September 15, 2026 5:42pm
    - MCōs
      
      My father won first prize in the Golden Kiwi back in the old days. He didn’t even buy the ticket. My sister bought it for his birthday
      It was the first time she’d ever bought one
      He gave a whole lot away and had to pay gift duty, which he didn’t see coming!
      
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      September 15, 2026 3:02pm
      - Hard Cheese
        
        Surely Lotto wins should be considered income or capital gains by Labour and the Greens and be subject to CGT or a wealth tax. I guess not because it’s only the downtrodden low income people that win Lotto //
        
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        September 15, 2026 5:45pm
      - MCōs
        
        In America such things are taxed.
        So if you win a car in a raffle, for example, to keep the bloody thing you have to pay tax on whatever it’s worth
        
        1 0
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        September 15, 2026 8:42pm
- OlderChas
  
  imalways – I read in some Lotto release that the chances of winning the powerball went up from around 33 million to around 54 million to one.
  
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  September 16, 2026 9:39am
Raphael

Ani O’Brien is pointing out that the Media Party is putting out articles about bad health outcomes, but conveniently leaving out the dates out of the headlines, making them look like recent issues, when they are actually from when Labour was in power.

https://x.com/aniobrien/status/2099584483276329347
https://x.com/aniobrien/status/2099414203983671784
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September 15, 2026 11:07am
greybeard

https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/361033584/wayne-brown-calls-government-butt-out-our-business-threatens-pull-out-auckland-deal
Looks as though Auckland now has a second mayor named Brown whose ego knows no bounds.
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September 15, 2026 2:06pm
- kowtow
  
  It’s everybody’s business when democracy , the very constitution, is being undermined.
  
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  September 15, 2026 3:03pm
- MCōs
  
  Plus previously a Minister until earlier this year
  The undernourished and overrated, Hon Simeon
  
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  September 15, 2026 3:07pm
Tauhei Notts

I watched a bit on You Tube where a journalist from The Australian newspaper was talking about the rorts done by the Big Four accounting firms in their government consulting jobs.
Tansy Harcourt was her name. I wondered why we do not have any female journalists of her calibre here in N.Z.
It made me wonder why did the Institute of Chartered Accountants of N.Z. merge with their Australian counterpart. It seems like the Australian accountants code of ethics may have been drafted by Nic Blakeley.
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September 15, 2026 2:24pm
- kowtow
  
  Kate McNamara.Excellent. Long form reporting. Usually buried in the back of the paper where most people’s attention span doesn’t stretch to.
  
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  September 15, 2026 3:02pm
cmm (semi-retired edition)

There are reports that the Houthis have captured a bunch of M777 howitzers.

I have some derision for the M777 (when compared to the South African G5 which has another 50% of the range) but it is still a formidable weapon with a range of about 25km using conventional ammunition and over 30km with rocket assisted or base bleed ammunition.

That is enough to fire right across the Red Sea (about 27 km at the narrowest point). A 155mm shell from a howitzer is enough to kill any ship other than a heavily armoured naval vessel and an M777 is highly mobile and can be dragged behind a Land Cruiser at a pinch.

If these guns are still active then the Houthis have some very dangerous new toys…
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September 15, 2026 2:52pm
NeverMindTheBollocks

RNZ bigged up a story yesterday about a Coroner’s report into the death of a student at Otago Uni who drowned in his own vomit.

Curiously, although there was a lot of chat about how terrible it all was, the only comment from the University was a prepared statement by an unnamed Comms person saying that Otago does its best, blah, blah. Condemnation was reserved for the supermarkets, though for unknown reasons the liquor chains escaped the wrath.

Firstly, I wondered where the correct spokesperson for the University, being VC Grant Robertson, was. Surely he’s paid the very big bucks to front these sorts of events?

Secondly, I seem to recall that the University has banned drinking on campus. If memory serves me correctly, they bought the Captain Cook and closed it down. This would be where drinking happened in a supervised place. In response, students drink at home. It’s an inescapable conclusion that the University’s actions contributed to the situation in which this young man found himself.

Where was the visceral line of questioning on this topic, RNZ?
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September 15, 2026 4:51pm

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