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September 17, 2026 8:00am by Kokila Patel

General Debate 17 September 2026

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Yvette

ACTs simple re-statement of rights
Luxon said there was nothing he liked about ACTs Treaty Principles Bill and that it was too simple.
And had binned it even before getting elected in 2023.

Now has any “journalist” asked Luxon what he thinks of ACTs simple re-statement that the Government governs, private property is protected, all New Zealanders have equal rights and responsibilities, and the state and all it services are secular, not treating any spirituality above any other, leaving those adhering to particular religious beliefs to practice them freely within the law.

It is required that these four freedoms and responsibilities be reaffirmed because of the uncertainty, and division which all parties have contributed to, and given, as has been said several times now, that of three consecutive Prime Minsters, there is ‘one for’, ‘one against’, and ‘one don’t know’ whether Maori ceded sovereignty to the Crown or not. Also given other blurring of definition coming with –

Te Pāti Māori released a proposed programme that goes far beyond vague references to “partnership” or “co-governance”. Its Te Tiriti Entrenchment policy includes a $220 million Mātike Mai Fund over 4 years to resource Māori-led constitutional transformation, an independent Te Tiriti Commission capable of investigating Crown breaches and issuing compliance orders, and making Waitangi Tribunal recommendations binding on the Crown.

Then there is also the Waitangi Tribunal’s determination the Maori did not cede sovereignty, the Greens policy relating to Maori and democracy (or lack thereof) and Opportunity being opportunistic.

If a referendom on MMP costs about $27 million, that expense is halved if you add ACT’s “universal democratic rights” question to it. And a third by adding a “MMP continuation” question.
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September 17, 2026 8:01am
- KKNZ2025
  
  …& quartered if you add abolishing the racist Maori seats
  
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  September 17, 2026 8:04am
- pb
  
  Yet he is in lock step with Labour in removing our freedoms with the new Big Brother social media crackdown, being carried out by all Globalists in unison. In thrall to BIG Media and friends of Mendelson.
  
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  September 17, 2026 8:11am
  - pdm
    
    Not to mention Government interference in the operation of Private Companies – namely Foodstuffs.
    
    Have PM Luxon or Finance Minister Willis ever been aware of the Principles on which National was founded?
    
    It does not seem like it.
    
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    September 17, 2026 9:02am
    - greybeard
      
      Agreed !
      “In 1959 Keith Holyoake spelled out National’s core beliefs:
      ‘The National Party believes in a property-owning democracy. … We believe in the maximum degree of personal freedom and the maximum degree of individual choice for our people. We believe in the least interference necessary with individual rights, and the least possible degree of state interference.’”
      
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      September 17, 2026 9:19am
      - Jethrod
        
        Then went on to lose the 1960 election to Walter Nash.
        
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        September 17, 2026 9:47am
      - David Garrett
        
        Grey: Very few here would disagree with any of that
        
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        September 17, 2026 10:00am
      - Ra Henare
        
        Vote-seeking stupidity ignores principles, it would seem.
        Mr Luxon and his advisors dont have a efrking clue.
        
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        September 17, 2026 10:08am
      - Cassandra
        
        Jethrod: 1957 I think.
        
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        September 17, 2026 10:36am
      - Cassandra
        
        1960: Nata 46, Lab 34.
        
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        September 17, 2026 10:39am
      - Local Miller
        
        Now that is a National Party I could vote for
        
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        September 17, 2026 10:53am
      - O C Smith
        
        Jethrod states Holyoake lost the 1960 election. Holyoake was PM 20 Sept 1957 to 12 Dec 1957 losing to the Nash Labour Govt winning the 1960 election and was PM from 12 Dec 1960 till 7 Feb 1972, he remained in Parliament till 1977 then appointed NZ Governor General till Oct 1980. The next Labour Govt only lasted 3 years 1972 to 1975.
        
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        September 17, 2026 12:28pm
      - Positan
        
        @Jethrod – your grasp of political history is very badly amiss. Holyoake WON in 1960 and remained PM ’til 1972.
        
        Nash lost to Holland’s 12 seat majority in 1949 and lost to Holland again – this time with a 20 seat majority – in the snap election called after the 1951 waterside strike.
        
        That snap election was called after Nash told Holland in parliament that “if he had any guts, he’d put his handling of the strike to the people.”
        
        Holland concurred – and the result is history.
        
        Nash won in 1957 after promising £100 tax rebate – “Do you want the money or don’t you … ” was the slogan. But Nordmeyer’s means of raising the necessary revenue to effect Labour’s uncosted promise – ie the raising tax on beer and cigarettes, saw Labour DUMPED in 1960
        
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        September 17, 2026 12:49pm
      - Jethrod
        
        But,but,but…. I was only 10 at the time…. but I remember the Black Budget!
        
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        September 17, 2026 2:32pm
      - Don Beckett
        
        It was John Key who said that the founding principles of th National Party are not relevant today. That’s when the rot really started.
        
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        September 17, 2026 3:22pm
- Damocles11
  
  National’s entrenchment and defence of the status quo has consolidated the gains of the socialist / racial separatist alliance, and so this alliance continues on its merry way towards even more extreme racial separatism and maorification. There is no counter-balancing force. National lilts left by maintaining the co-governance / maorification status quo, and ACT is portrayed as a right wing outlier simply by trying to push back against the co-governance forces and the race grifters who are milking this country for billions of dollars.
  This is all the result of National betting the farm on a house price recovery fuelled by lower interest rates. It hasn’t materialised, which leaves them bereft of any wins. The 11th hour copying of the NZ First policy on breaking up the supermarket duopoly looks desperate and deeply cynical. They had 3 years to do something but chose to do nothing. Likewise they had 3 years to partially privatise KiwiBank so it had more capital, but chose to do nothing. Willis is still just talking about it. The buck stops with CEO Luxon. It’s his inept handling of all these issues that has seen Nationals support ebb away.
  
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  September 17, 2026 8:21am
  - Scott
    
    Damocles, completely disagree with you and here’s why. National under Chris Luxon moved quickly to legislate and remove the Maorification agenda of Labour. In their first year as govt they repealed 3 waters, they repealed the Maori health authority, the legislative planks of Labour’s Maori first agenda.
    
    In doing so they have for the first time in my memory, rolled back Labour’s radical agenda. Normally, like under John Key, they don’t. For the first time they actually repealed Labour left wing legislation. That’s not nothing.
    
    Now I would argue that much of the problem now lies with the liberal elites who for example resisted the name change back to English of govt departments and have allowed cogovernance in local govt. But that’s not National’s fault.
    
    This centre right govt has been pretty good in my opinion and has governed to the right of many in the electorate.
    
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    September 17, 2026 8:47am
    - Damocles11
      
      They scrapped something called 3 Waters but have kept the co-governance arrangements in place with regards to the administration of this nations water resources. ‘Taumata Arowai is the water regulator, an independent Crown entity in New Zealand governed by a Ministerial-appointed Board and partnered with a Māori Advisory Group (Te Puna). Te Puna helps guide how Taumata Arowai gives effect to Te Mana o te Wai (the health and wellbeing of water) and incorporates mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge) and kaitiakitanga (guardianship). Te Puna operates as a co-governance partner with the Board, with two members crossing over on both bodies to act as a direct bridge between the two groups.’
      We are not stupid, we know what is going on.
      
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      September 17, 2026 9:38am
      - Scott
        
        Damocles, the water service authority as it is now known should not have a racial element. I suspect that if it does much of the blame will lie with liberal public servants.
        National and the coalition have done a lot but yes I agree much more work is needed. Sadly many New Zealanders are on board with the Maori cogovernance agenda.
        
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        September 17, 2026 10:05am
      - Pope Punctilious II
        
        I think the Nats engaged in sleight-of-hand over Three Waters during the 2023 election campaign. Initially their propaganda read “We will scrap Three Waters”. Then the message on their billboards was changed to “We will keep water under local control”. I’m guessing they got a lot of pushback from the Iwi Chairs Forum, so they agreed behind the scenes to allow individual iwi to “co-manage” water with local councils, while scrapping Labour’s centralized Three Waters system. My water bill now announces the following “IAWAI is your new water organisation, publicly owned by Hamilton City Council and Waikato District Council, and working in partnership with Waikato-Tainui.”
        
        Tainui’s role in this “partnership” is not specified.
        
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        September 17, 2026 10:29am
    - KKNZ2025
      
      Luxon has permitted 3 Waters de facto: eg the new Wgtn water refuses to use its legal name which includes English “Metro Water” on any public branding, communications etc in deference to its Maori partners.
      
      Luxon has done nothing about 40% racist preferences for medical schools
      
      As for it “…not Nationals fault” govt depts & local authorities not following govt direction: who do you think was elected on their promise to fix this & in charge the last 3 years? Parliament is the supreme lawmaker, they have no excuse.
      
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      September 17, 2026 9:46am
      - Scott
        
        KKN, I disagree with you and here’s why. National does not like to dictate to local govt and such like. They don’t want to be dictators, which is different from the left. The left is fundamentally dictatorial. The right is more democratic, more respecting of local govt and local communities. They are more conservative whereas the left gets in boots and all and wants to change everything.
        Conservative caution and limits on power in my opinion is a good thing.
        The fact of the matter is that many NZers support the cogovernance agenda. They inhabit local govt, the public sector, the media and the education system.
        So National can’t just dictate. It’s not in their nature.
        
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        September 17, 2026 11:01am
      - KKNZ2025
        
        Scott, it doesn’t matter how many NZdrs like co governance or what the gutless unprincipled National don’t like to do. The democratic majority voted for it to be killed 3 years ago. Therefore National betrayed democracy. Again.
        
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        September 17, 2026 11:42am
      - Ghost
        
        National never campaigned on anything to do with the medical school, actually, no one did. This is the first year that one party is. Luxon gets a lot of blame for things he never said
        
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        September 17, 2026 11:44am
      - KKNZ2025
        
        Ghost, I never said he campaigned on the medical school specifically. The comment I responded to referred to stopping “Maorification”.
        
        Apparently Luxon & you consider supporting & maintaining institutional racism is ok.
        
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        September 17, 2026 12:10pm
      - Ghost
        
        He also never campaigned on ending Māorification. You don’t know what I support so don’t make it up. Actually what national campaigned on was
        
        English first on public facing services.
        Scrapping Māori health authority
        Referendum on Māori council wards
        
        There were a few policies that were targeted at helping maori. There was never any claim from national in the last election to completely roll back or end maorification, you are confusing nz first and act policy and blaming national for it
        
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        September 17, 2026 12:21pm
  - David Garrett
    
    Dam: Luxon is a perfect illustration of something Hide told me: a person can be very successful in his or her career but hopeless as a poli. But hey – he did increase the number of days in Air NZ…you can’t take that away from him.
    
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    September 17, 2026 10:55am
    - keepcalmcarryon
      
      Yeah but where have you been. Corporate flogs are a dime a dozen and over promoted like they are over paid. 90% of NZ knows this.
      He must be about due for his huge flag referendum legacy moment like that other guy.
      Meanwhile lots of us actually work and care about our country.
      
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      September 17, 2026 6:19pm
  - Philview
    
    I bet we will still be talking about supermarkets at the next election.
    
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    September 17, 2026 1:47pm
- lastmanstanding
  
  I predict the following.
  1. With the Maori Party fractured most of its vote will go back to its traditional home Labour. It will hold one or two seats. There will be no overhang.
  2. Opportunity wont make 5%. Now its Free Money for All policy is a dead duck many of its supporters will either go elsewhere or not vote.
  3. The Coalition will win by a small margin.
  
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  September 17, 2026 9:03am
  - AitchW
    
    Tactical voting will see the coalition gain a significant overhang. As long as National supporters can stomach pay voting ACT.
    
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    September 17, 2026 9:32am
    - Jethrod
      
      Yes, that is a tough ask. Still, better than the other option.
      
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      September 17, 2026 9:49am
    - greybeard
      
      I suspect that in 2026 there are a lot of voters who will change their party vote from National to ACT: ACT is more like the National Party of old, centre-right and espousing what used to be National’s principles.
      
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      September 17, 2026 10:16am
      - R
        
        National Party of old, was nothing like today’s ACT. National was very conservative, responsible without the EGO and hint of dictatorship which is surfacing in ACT. Hence the ‘low published polls’ for ACT, their private polling is probably quite different
        
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        September 17, 2026 11:00am
  - Damocles11
    
    You better hope like hell that your first 2 very optimistic predictions come to pass, because if they don’t then prediction 3 is a dead duck.
    
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    September 17, 2026 9:40am
    - Jethrod
      
      Oh ye of little faith//
      
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      September 17, 2026 9:50am
    - R
      
      If prediction 3 doesn’t come to pass, then NZ as we know/knew it will be more roasted, than dead duck.
      
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      September 17, 2026 11:02am
  - David Garrett
    
    Lastman Let’s all hope ur right Sir
    
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    September 17, 2026 10:03am
- Paulus
  
  Close the door Luxon and now Willis as you leave soon.
  Sad and frankly so disappointing from both of you.
  Well done wrong ideas of what New Zealand wants, and Goodbye.
  
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  September 17, 2026 10:45am
BarryB

Driving license rules in NZ have changed to remove cognitive test from check for 70s and over.
But in Australia if you have, for example Autism – you are required to advise the appropriate licensing body of this – at any age!
If you are keen you can check it out in the 251 page manual:
https://austroads.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0037/498691/AP-G56-22_Assessing_Fitness_Drive.pdf
I assume it includes that all forms of mental abnormality require notification. As we know almost all humans are on some sort of ‘spectrum’ (the only 2 people in the world who are not are Me and the greatest EV salesman of all time – D.J.Trump…..although I’m starting to have doubts about him)

So what you may ask? Well we recently got a notice from our local Medical Practice that they can now diagnose adult ADHD – who knew some adults had ADHD – I just thought they were a bit stupid, or members of the Green party…..
World wide there has been an incredible growth in people suddenly requiring to have, or to be diagnosed with, some disability. It gives them an individual identity apparently. We have lots of identities already – skin colour, gender (facebook had 70+ genders at one stage), physical disabilities, religion etc, etc. But that still leaves a lot of people feeling lost in the crowd even though the helpfulprofessor.com website list 65 identities and 82 genders.
This summer we are apparently going to see some weird fashion accessories in the form of funny footwear – it provides another identity. They will be expensive.
But one of the greatest growths of this lack of an identity is among women 25-40 and that’s adult ADHD. Its as though it’s a virus in uncontrolled spread.
This gives rise to three thoughts:
1.I just hope that if they live in Australia they know the rules about driving with a mental disability……and
2. No doubt there is some bureaucrat who has been made jobless due to the change of rules re cognitive test and who is looking for some way to annoy people in general and might try to adopt the Australian rules – but then they would have to be able to read the manual – no easy task.
3. They should never have closed Porirua mental facility and others like it.
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September 17, 2026 8:03am
- NZer In Exile
  
  “facebook had 70+ genders at one stage”
  Yes well they aren’t genders. Narcissistic cos-play of fad fetishes more likely.
  
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  September 18, 2026 4:47pm
Scott

Very good analysis from Duncan Garner about the trends heading towards the election:

https://youtu.be/xxyO3ypFjT4?si=xmmUKg0-Saf2ZRfe

What we see according to the rolling averages of polls is that National has lost support. In 2023 they won 38% of the vote, now in 2026 they’re polling at 29%.

But it’s not gone to Labour. Labour in 2023 won 26.9% of the vote, now they’re polling at 27.5%. Pretty much the same.

On the centre right we see that Act has gone from 8.6% in 2023 to polling at 9.4% now. And with a strong campaign featuring Paul Henry who has been well received around the country and David Seymour being disciplined and on message.

But the big winner is NZ First who in 2023 won 6.1% of the vote and now are polling at 10.2%. Yes kiwibloggers, Winston’s vote is going to be crucial in any centre right govt.

Now I just think it’s time for any centre right person to come to terms with the situation. If you don’t want another left wing govt then NZ First is crucial. Act is also going to be important. It’s going to be a coalition with a weaker National and much stronger coalition partners. That’s just the reality of MMP.

As for me I like Winston and I’m over 2017.
There is no scenario in which the right forms a govt without Winston. You may not like it but those are the facts. 😎
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September 17, 2026 8:10am
- Damocles11
  
  I’ll never be over 2017 and I will never vote for any party that would enter into a coalition with that red party of unionism, socialism, co-governance and maorification known as the Labour Party.
  
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  September 17, 2026 8:54am
- pdm
  
  What part of – `Winston will only do what is best for Winston’ – do you not understand Scott?
  
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  September 17, 2026 9:06am
  - Ghost
    
    it’s delusional. The man has done more damage to this country than some want to admit with his support of the oil and gas ban. The man lies to the electorate each election to find that 5% of gullible idiots who will believe him each time. 3rd or 4th election he has promised a referendum on Māori seats, never happens. His party is just as responsible for creating the woke public service through supporting labours public service act. But with Winston, dementia kicks in and people forget his past, forget his lies, forget the man only cares for what he can get out of it. This will be his last election, we all know what he wants, well most do
    
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    September 17, 2026 9:30am
    - MCōs
      
      I thought 2020 would have been his last election
      What the fuck
      He staggered through another campaign polling less than 5% much to the relief of 95% of the population
      Until
      Seymour said something stupid and opened the door to the house of chaos and he slithered through
      Luxon didn’t hold his nerve during coalition negotiations and look where National and the country are now
      Facing an even worse situation where the country is in the doldrums and looking forward to a visionless future dominated by events abroad that we’re too scared to speak out on.
      
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      September 17, 2026 10:03am
  - David Garrett
    
    Pdm: Remember Old Scott also believes in the Sky Fairy and thinks Trump is the greatest president EVER!
    
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    September 17, 2026 10:06am
    - Ian Boag
      
      Be nice to him – Indian shopkeepers grind his gears too. 🙂
      
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      September 17, 2026 10:08am
    - Ghost
      
      I see the little child threw a tantrum when his name had to come off the Kennedy centre. most corrupt president ever who has done more damage to the USA and the world than his fluffers want to admit
      
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      September 17, 2026 10:21am
      - NeverMindTheBollocks
        
        Most corrupt President ever? You don’t know your history.
        
        Try Warren G Harding, for starters.
        
        There are others.
        
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        September 17, 2026 1:06pm
      - Ghost
        
        I know my American history very well, I’m just playing off the ever moronic best president ever bullshit, thought that was obvious
        
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        September 17, 2026 1:12pm
    - Scott
      
      David, I’m just outlining the facts. There will not be a centre right govt without Winston. He’s got plenty of support and judging by his appearance in Masterton which was very well attended he’s campaigning well. So he’s going to be a big factor this election. People just have to accept it.
      
      As for the other things, yes I believe in God. Yes Trump is best president in my lifetime. And yes I do get exercised by every shop in town now being owned by foreigners.
      Three excellent beliefs. 😎
      
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      September 17, 2026 10:48am
- imalwaysright
  
  The current Government should be telling the electorate that they are the best choice, and will re-form the coalition after the election.
  
  That leaves some certainty for the Centre voters who can then vote for whichever one they like.
  
  Voters don’t like uncertainty.
  
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  September 17, 2026 9:10am
  - R
    
    Most voters will support the last candidate/party name they heard before entering the Polling Booth. That’s how we got Adern.
    
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    September 17, 2026 11:10am
- MCōs
  
  Winston, apart from being great at galloping round in circles, has a history of siding with whosoever advances his status
  That is to say
  Labour twice and National twice.
  Basically he’s a gun for hire
  
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  September 17, 2026 9:17am
- Jethrod
  
  Perhaps this is the year Winnie becomes PM as of right, or as close as is possible!
  
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  September 17, 2026 9:54am
  - R
    
    Hopefully, for the future of my grandchildren HE DOESN’T
    
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    September 17, 2026 11:13am
- sungsamning
  
  I’m also over 2017. From 1991-2023, I hated NZF with a passion. His meeting with the protesters at parliament sowed some seeds of doubt. Then when the coalition formed in 2023, the hate ended. Like him or loathe him. NZF is the necessary third leg of the coalition stool.
  
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  September 17, 2026 10:02am
David Garrett

A pleasant morning at Rancho Garrett…colder than the Kingdom but quite bearable
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September 17, 2026 8:11am
- RoboRob
  
  Greetings from Singapore, with a cool 28 at 6am. Today’s low of 27.
  
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  September 17, 2026 10:13am
  - rouppe
    
    And Bangkok, a muggy 28 after rain last night.
    
    Just come back from breakfast. Duck on rice. Less than $4. Brilliant.
    
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    September 17, 2026 1:47pm
kowtow

From the “Why your rates are so high” file.

‘City council parks staff have been working with the council’s Te Tiriti team and Lynne Te Aika from Ngāi Tūāhuriri to correct the spelling mistakes at about 30 parks as part of a rolling programme of signage renewal.’

https://www.odt.co.nz/canterbury/christchurch/misspelt-signs-being-corrected-at-parks-across-the-city-t2c0p56s

Christchurch , but this type of treaty tokenism will be happening across the country.
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September 17, 2026 8:12am
- RoboRob
  
  I hear the salaries for these local and regional council advisers is in the 200k area. That’s serious taxpayer money being used for tokenism and virtue signaling.
  
  What to make sure Maori spelling is ok? Build a word doc with all your proposed signs and email it to the local iwi for comment. Free. It’s not rocket science.
  
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  September 17, 2026 10:20am
- Paulus
  
  Tell me who decided that every school in New Zealand should have Maori signs for the schools both ways.
  Even our local Primary school when a new one was built at what cost becamse a Maori Named Kura the day it opened, without the public, or National MP being even told it would be, and it is very top of tye range Maori in everything albeit that a large proportion of children are refugees and immigrants to whom English is not a language anyway but at least they will learn and speak in Te Reo.
  Interesting to see that Taxis have there own parking/waiiting space, like 5 taxis waiting yesterday after kura for taxpayer movements where and when I do not know.
  
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  September 17, 2026 11:11am
  - artemisia
    
    My sister went to school by taxpayer funded taxi every day. Until her open heart surgery early teens she started turning blue walking to the letterbox. Better afterwards but still not completely. Need was present but not visible.
    
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    September 17, 2026 11:29am
- R
  
  Spelling mistakes. No doubt the council CEO’S will be deducted ting this expense , due to incompetence, from the Salary of the manager who failed to check said signage.
  
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  September 17, 2026 11:15am
Yvette

Overhung Maori Party
Explainer: What is an overhang and how could it change NZ’s election result?
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/politics/1409899/explainer-what-is-an-overhang-and-how-could-it-change-nz-s-election-result

A problem of MMP and overhang seats seems illustrated by the Maori Party recommending ‘tactical voting’ to their followers – to get say 4 Electorate Seats but by their Party Vote be entitled to only 2, would result in an overhang of two. Overhang seats are an accommodation of unusual circumstances, but to consciously engineer the unwelcome circumstances is deceit. (they propose it because it gives unearned advantage)

So why should Electoral law not be amended to actual proportional representation, as it is officially called?

If the Maori Party has 4 Electorate Members and is party-vote-entitled to only two, give each of those 4 a half vote. Four half votes of course amount to the two seats their party vote entitles them to in this example. But allows the four Electorate Members to serve their electorate as voted in to do.
That could apply across all parties to achieve precise proportional representation. Conscience votes, which are reasonably rare, would still be 1:1.
In fact most of the time just use the Party Vote percentages. Do away with List MPs.

And if you don’t understand this get a 10 year old kid to explain it. If the kid doesn’t understand it, then blame my command of English – I might improve in English Week.
________________

Government doesn’t know how much MMP referendum may cost, won’t rule Māori seats question.

If the first fact means they may promise the second, then GOOD
A WIN / WIN situation
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September 17, 2026 8:15am
- Damocles11
  
  I have warned for many years that the maori seats will at some stage cause a perversion of democracy whereby the centre-right will lose an election despite having the majority of votes – because of these racist race-based electorates. It is now very close to coming to pass. National had the chance to scrap these racial seats but, as usual, chose to preserve the status quo. They will rue the day they made this awful decision.
  
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  September 17, 2026 8:27am
  - sungsamning
    
    Any race based legislation, or policy is already a perversion of democracy. An overhang like Te Pati Maori want would just underline the fact.
    
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    September 17, 2026 10:06am
  - Ra Henare
    
    Dam, you remind me of Muldoon’s doom and gloom predictions (never eventuated).
    
    The end of the world as we know it will have nothing to do with the Maori Seats.
    
    Attempting to de-establish the Maori seats will IMHO be the largest shit show in our history.
    
    If you think that conservatives want a huge shitshow then I suggest you change your medication.
    
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    September 17, 2026 10:18am
  - Ian Boag
    
    the centre-right will lose an election despite having the majority of votes
    
    Shock horror – in the days of FPP they used to win elections with a minority. Those were the days 🙂
    
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    September 17, 2026 11:43am
- Cassandra
  
  Better to separate the two categories. 60 electorates (or whatever, more has appeal) and 60 list (or less). Best of both worlds and reasonably proportional.
  
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  September 17, 2026 8:29am
  - Yvette
    
    Cassandra, why not just vote for electorates and apply the party vote to those?
    
    Say Labour wins 30 electorate seats and a party vote of 40 percent
    And National 40 seats and party vote also of 40 percent
    
    Each Labour MP would have a vote of 1.3 [40 ÷ 30]
    National MP = 1 [40 ÷ 40]
    
    For party votes in Parliament each member retains the percentage that voters gave the party, and usually vote in set blocks anyway.
    For conscience votes they are each 1
    
    It might seem complicated, but just needs understanding, and where the mind-load is too much for MPs employ a 10 year of kid with a Warehouse calculator.
    
    Oh, well – back to the coffee and other morning medications :o)
    
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    September 17, 2026 8:56am
    - pdm
      
      Yvette I think a simpler solution after removal of the Maori Seats is to reduce MP numbers to 100:
      
      70 Electorates
      30 List
      
      *
      
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      September 17, 2026 9:09am
      - Ian Boag
        
        Yeah who needs this proportionality thing anyway?
        
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        September 17, 2026 9:48am
      - Yvette
        
        Pdm
        I would still contend the system outlined is still simpler once people grasp it.
        Now with 120 MPs each actually has a vote of 120 ÷ 100 percent
        so a 83.33 percent vote each so each as a party group add up the their party vote.
        It doesn’t seem of worry anybody.
        
        And in the current Parliament, National has 48 out of 120 MPs (40% of Parliament)
        It makes no difference whether the Clerk says “National 48 Ayes” or “National 40 percent Ayes”
        
        Disestablish the Maori Seats and reduce MP numbers to 100 is fine too. But if Electorate Seats voted in don’t equal the Party Vote (seldom) you still need a proportional system.
        
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        September 17, 2026 9:51am
    - Cassandra
      
      Yvette: agreed. You get one vote which elects or not a candidate and applies to the candidate’s party. A problem for Independents but too bad.
      
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      September 17, 2026 10:47am
- imalwaysright
  
  We should outsource the management of NZ to the Singapore Government and pay them say 1% of GDP.
  We can’t do it ourselves, that is glaringly obvious.
  
  Let the NZ Parliament take care of administering non-operational matters. 21 MPs should be enough.
  
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  September 17, 2026 10:45am
- MCōs
  
  Prior to the 2014 and 2017 elections the Act Party contrived with National to facilitate a win in Epsom for Seymour; both times as an overhang seat because their party vote was microscopic.
  
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  September 17, 2026 3:16pm
  - MCōs
    
    There was also the tawdry tale of the teapot tape
    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/politics/299862/power-play-a-cautionary-teapot-tale
    
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    September 17, 2026 3:25pm
Simon

Interest rates are heading up, globalism dying in the Strait of Hormuz. Neolib trash National & Labour are lost. Just watch these clowns flail about.
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September 17, 2026 8:16am
- kowtow
  
  Globalism dying in the strait , but the Mullahs are hanging freedom lovers by the hundred in their dirty , torturous gaols and spreading terror across the west .
  
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  September 17, 2026 8:50am
- Ra Henare
  
  and the NZ exchange rate is falling off a cliff, so imported inflation is on its way.
  Over last month
  down 3.16% so far against USD
  down 9.9% so far against AUD
  
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  September 17, 2026 10:23am
  - Damocles11
    
    And yet people that borrowed too much still go berserk every time the Reserve Bank raises the OCR.
    
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    September 17, 2026 4:43pm
  - Ra Henare
    
    ERROR ERROR ERROR.
    the AUD 9.9% fall is over the last 12 months!!!
    Sorta means Kiwis working in Oz have had a minimum 9.9% pay rise. against a ???%%% pay increase in NZ
    
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    September 17, 2026 4:59pm
imalwaysright

A stange item on TV1 news last night.
Some immigrants were protesting against the immigration rules when a bystander apparently told them to go back to their own country.

Then a scuffle broke out and was blurred by TV1, but you could see 3 or 4 people surrounding and throwing punches and kicks at an individual and the individual doing the same.

The presenter didn’t elaborate on who was who, even though the reporter was a few metres away, but instead said Police decided not to take any action.

Did these immigrants take to a New Zealander exercising free speech?
And did the Police allow it?
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September 17, 2026 8:19am
- I remember when
  
  Another strange item on TV1 news last night.
  Resident falcon in Christchurch park is getting plenty of attention.
  During the item the presenter mentioned that “the falcon is not yet a threat to people .”
  No further information was offered.
  So TV One viewers now know that the falcon attracting attention in Christchurch is not yet a threat to people.
  
  It is not uncommon for Councils to issue advice to avoid an area where falcons are nesting.
  For the rest of the year falcons are ‘not yet a threat to people.’
  
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  September 17, 2026 9:30am
  - Gravelroad
    
    Falcons do as they like.
    If it suits them to swoop down and harass people and other birds or small animals, they will – without any provocation.
    Have seen people on horseback mustering sheep along a narrow hillside track being dive bombed.
    That is the way falcons roll.
    
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    September 17, 2026 10:41am
    - R
      
      Not only falcons. Several birds do so during ‘nesting’ season.
      
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      September 17, 2026 11:22am
kevn

The bros having a bit of fun/competition…
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/election-2026-labour-candidate-says-hell-only-return-to-new-zealand-if-elected-to-parliament/PS6TTONXJRCTDEMZRYDTWUNDT4/
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September 17, 2026 8:24am
- pdm
  
  Just when one thought Labour could not be any more stupid – they exceed all expectations.
  
  As Kevn’s post shows.
  
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  September 17, 2026 8:27am
  - imalwaysright
    
    Isn’t there a NZ Local Councillor who lives in Scotland?
    Bizarre.
    
    8 1
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    September 17, 2026 9:12am
    - Gravelroad
      
      There was a discussion on Wellington newstalkzb radio earlier this week re the reports about the Council’s inept and money wasting handling of several local issues such as the sewage discharge at Moa Point and the $600,000 new library website which is apparently not fit for purpose.
      People were ringing up reckoning that some of the great army of highly paid external consultants are resident in places such as Auckland , the UK and Scotland.
      
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      September 17, 2026 10:49am
- Yabster
  
  The Herald accurate reporting as usual- spot the issue….
  
  Cleine is the chief executive of consulting firm KPMG’s Vietnam and Cambodia division and has lived in Southeast Asia for 29 years.
  
  He was announced as a Labour list-only candidate in June and given a placing of 30, higher than some sitting Labour list MPs.
  
  At 30, Cleine faces a real prospect of entering Parliament depending on how many electorate seats Labour picks up.
  
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  September 17, 2026 11:56am
  - OlderChas
    
    “One of Labour’s star new candidates who’s currently living in Vietnam says he’ll only move back to New Zealand if he’s elected as an MP.”
    In what electorate is he standing? Are list MP’s actually elected?
    
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    September 17, 2026 5:46pm
MCōs

Tom Phillips, an alleged dictatorial alcoholic, was approved to homeschool his children
Well they got that wrong
From a briefing to Stanford last November entitled Education Review Office: Homeschooling
“ERO is concerned that most homeschooling arrangements are not monitored or reviewed,”
“The quality of the education most homeschooled children receive is going unchecked.”

His appalling behaviour is a smack in the eye for homeschoolers who are doing a fine job, often out of necessity
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September 17, 2026 8:27am
- MCōs
  
  https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/homeschool-saga-ero-warned-education-minister-erica-stanford-months-before-tom-phillips-revelation/premium/HRTKJXTZSRC2RL4NG3SA2DOJOA/
  
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  September 17, 2026 8:28am
- David Garrett
  
  MCos: I’m curious…how are some home schoolers doing it out of necessity? I presume the correspondence school still exists?
  
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  September 17, 2026 8:30am
  - MCōs
    
    I should imagine way out in the South Island backcountry school kids that are homeschooled use material from the correspondence school
    There must be some degree of in person adult input
    In fact quite a high degree, I’d say
    
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    September 17, 2026 8:58am
    - Quail
      
      Homeschooling can be a very substantial burden for those teaching. But it can also be rewarding for parent and child.
      The Correspondence School has done some amazing work and deserves much credit for its achievements!
      
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      September 17, 2026 10:34am
    - R
      
      Adult input. Usually mother! Some children still have the luxury of a ‘stay at home mother’ caring for them. From observation, these children grow up as well adjusted adults, who show no sign of ‘deprivation’ from their early years.
      
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      September 17, 2026 11:26am
      - David Garrett
        
        R: I was able to provide my kids with a stay at home mum…although there were a couple of brushes with the law with them both, they are both now gainfully employed (the son) and at uni – getting mostly A’s – the daughter
        
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        September 17, 2026 2:08pm
  - Gravelroad
    
    Our now adult children were pupils of the NZ Correspondence School due to distance from nearest primary school.
    The CS delivered a very good service. Each student had their own teacher in the School in Wellington with whom they communicated. The teachers knew the kids and provided the help and resources needed for each one. Sometimes they even home or area visited, or the kids visited them in Wellington. A big adventure.
    But it was dependent on the efforts and commitment of the in-home supervisor to make sure a school day type routine was established and the work was done. That is where the variables occurred.
    Not just rural based children. All sorts of kids had a successful CS education for various reasons due to personal (eg illness) and their family circumstances.
    
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    September 17, 2026 11:02am
- imalwaysright
  
  “….an alleged dictatorial alcoholic, was approved to homeschool his children.”
  
  It would be a fair bet that every school in NZ would have at least one dictatorial alcoholic on staff…
  
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  September 17, 2026 8:50am
  - MCōs
    
    You reckon
    
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    September 17, 2026 6:26pm
- fightingtemeraire
  
  Homeschooled our son from Last year intermediate to end of 5th form.
  
  Just completing a PhD!!!!
  
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  September 17, 2026 9:13am
- R
  
  So, the education management weren’t do the job that they are paid to do. How surprising!
  
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  September 17, 2026 9:41am
- Ra Henare
  
  tutut.
  Better have big brother deciding what parents can do.
  So one bad apple (remember the pathetic police attempts to find him) will generate pages and pages of new laws and regulations to restrict parental freedoms.
  
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  September 17, 2026 10:27am
- keepcalmcarryon
  
  I’d like to please have full information on Phillips to make an informed opinion on what has gone wrong.
  In lieu of that , I’ll not accept current media, government or talking heads reckons. All of them have vested interest.
  The rush to break the rules over police/media rules doesn’t make anyone look good.
  The poor kids, failed by everyone.
  
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  September 17, 2026 9:02pm
- NZer In Exile
  
  If they are using Khan academy and the like it’s probably miles ahead of the ideological brainwashing and substandard basics being taught in state schools.
  
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  September 18, 2026 4:52pm
Positan

Can I ask what happened to General Debate 16 September 2026.

I’ve never before seen any of the debates removed before, so why was this one pulled?

[Mod – sometime when a post contains a pdf, it will stuff up the post below it, which has happened with the General Debate]
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September 17, 2026 8:34am
- Scott
  
  What are you talking about?
  
  https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2026/09/general_debate_16_september_2026.html
  
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  September 17, 2026 8:40am
- MCōs
  
  It’s still there, but slightly difficult to find.
  Go to an adjacent thread and scroll passed the comments
  
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  September 17, 2026 8:41am
- Yvette
  
  https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2026/09/general_debate_16_september_2026.html
  
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  September 17, 2026 9:05am
- Swifty
  
  That happened to me yesterday, I couldn’t find the general debate, I thought I was losing my mind. Then I realised it was being obscured by the post above it.
  
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  September 17, 2026 9:41am
igm

Happy Days, DJT has given Bibi 40,000 one-ton concrete piercing bombs . . . they will be put to good use!
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September 17, 2026 8:44am
- Damocles11
  
  Will this not further deplete the US’s own stocks of armaments?
  
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  September 17, 2026 9:43am
  - Drone
    
    Which is why DJT won’t help Saudi Arabia defeat the Houthis in Yemen.
    
    1 4
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    September 17, 2026 10:32am
  - igm
    
    They have sufficient for their needs.
    
    1 2
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    September 17, 2026 12:12pm
TripeWryter

I listened to an exchange between Heather du Plessis-Allan and a University of Auckland law professor, Carrie Leonetti, last evening.
They were discussing a part of the Tom Phillips inquiry that dealt with the children’s mother’s family’s concerns that their fears were dismissed by the authorities and the Family Court.
Professor Leonetti was able to say that her research showed that mothers felt not listened to in the Family Court. Time and time and year after year.
The mother of my children spared me – and her – the horrors and dramas of the Family Court.
For that I am and always will be grateful to her.
But down the decades I have known fathers and their parents who also felt not listened to and discriminated against in the Family Court.
The judges heavily favoured the mothers, they told me.
They set conditions that discriminated against the fathers.
It might be that what is delicately and obliquely being called ‘the family dynamics’ of the children’s mother’s family meant that perhaps they were not taken seriously.
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September 17, 2026 9:10am
Frank the tank

So National wants to spend millions of dollars on a study from some beltway economists on a vague whiff of increased competition and lower prices in Supermarkets and then if there is some “reckons” supporting this assumption force through a legislated change in business operation to a privately owned franchise system where 100% of profits are retained onshore.

How very Labour of them….
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September 17, 2026 9:11am
- nathie
  
  And now add in business uncertainty into the mix. Foodstuffs are planning a new, large $340m distribution centre to supply the lower North island.
  
  Nek minute …
  
  Does this mean it is now on hold for a couple of years until the commerce commission makes its findings?
  
  If so the flow on effects will be another blow to the construction (and local/national supporting) manufacturing industries.
  
  https://www.foodstuffs.co.nz/news-room/2026/foodstuffs-north-island-to-upgrade-ageing-lower-north-island-distribution-infrastructure
  
  Nicola Willis has got this so badly wrong.
  
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  September 17, 2026 9:45am
  - R
    
    Nicola Willis, has never said that National will breakup Foodstuff Cooperative.
    She is talking about changing the Commerce Commission legislation to give them wider scope. She was on the Breakfast TV this morning.
    Once again the inability of media to comprehend announcements accurately has been highlighted. Perhaps she should only us words of one sylable in future.
    
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    September 17, 2026 11:37am
- Paulus
  
  If this is National Policy, it is sweet Fa
  Goodbye after 50 years support in principle.
  
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  September 17, 2026 11:18am
  - keepcalmcarryon
    
    What principle? They are Labour in corporate drag.
    
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    September 17, 2026 9:05pm
- Prince
  
  Willis says the study will be carried out by the Commerce Commission.
  The ComCom is desperate to get involved, and are certain to identify many benefits, and no downside to interference in the market. They have been angling for this for years.
  So unfortunately National has tied a millstone to its neck, splitting up Paknsav and New World is a certainty.
  It’ll be a vote for Act now – at least that has clarified things for me.
  
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  September 17, 2026 1:03pm
MCōs

Elections always cough up some woeful populist promises, but this one in particular is has been pitiful
It’s no wonder young people are showing little interest in enrolling because why should they when they see the grown ups making such fools of themselves.
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September 17, 2026 9:33am
- kowtow
  
  If they had any intelligence they should sign up , cast a vote and get shit done…….
  
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  September 17, 2026 11:24am
- MCōs
  
  https://x.com/politikwebsite/status/2100370430678671744?s=61
  
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  September 17, 2026 11:51am
RichardF

I’m not the sharpest knife in the drawer and am probably looking at this too simplisticaly, but it appears that politicians prefer complex and convoluted programmes to simple things. Take the cost of living as an example. Some parties want state run supermarkets, some want to force companies to break up. All options come with eye watering price tags, complexity, and bureaucracy. They take with one hand and give back with the other.

If politicians want to help with the cost of living, why not look at the tax system?

Remove GST from all food
Reduce petrol tax
Reduce personal income tax

It will put more money into everyone’s pockets.

Its a version of the laffer curve with the theory that lower tax drives more spending and economic activity. Too simplistic?
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September 17, 2026 9:50am
- Cassandra
  
  NO. Leave GST alone!
  
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  September 17, 2026 10:51am
  - Ian Boag
    
    Make sure to keep charging it on privately imported anti-cancer drugs that cost eye-watering amounts before GST and are being imported in a hope that they will save a life.
    
    Purity of doctrine trumps common sense.
    
    Aside from SA the rest of the world has variable VAT rates – which qualify as a bit of a nuisance but the world continues to turn ….
    
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    September 17, 2026 11:52am
- Frank the tank
  
  “I’m not the sharpest knife in the drawer and am probably looking at this too simplisticaly, but it appears that politicians prefer complex and convoluted programmes to simple things. ”
  
  #Groupthinkwhitecollaruniversityeducatedexcorporates#
  
  They don’t live in the real world
  
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  September 17, 2026 11:00am
- kowtow
  
  These clever pollies are the ones driving up the most basic of prices via inputs which they a do have major influence on.
  
  Energy for starters , that’s so basic .That “market” and price fixing is perverse.
  
  Then there’s all the rules and regulations around producing food .
  
  But oh no , let’s do the lefty , populist thing and attack private property rights even further , off the back of all their carbon nuttiness.
  
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  September 17, 2026 11:28am
  - imalwaysright
    
    Every transaction has three participants–buyer, seller, Government.
    
    Only one is guaranteed a profit, for zero input.
    
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    September 17, 2026 1:55pm
- greybeard
  
  “Remove GST from all food”.
  
  Consider this: take as an example a fruit & vege business: that is all they sell, fresh fruit & veges, both imported and locally sourced.
  
  At present they include GST in their retail prices and recover GST to offset that which they have paid on all sorts of goods and services in the course of their business. They pay GST on their stock, on fuel, electricity, transport, storage, insurance, the whole shebang.
  
  If GST is removed from the retail price charged to customers then there is no Output Tax, only Input Tax. The Input Tax is therefore refunded.
  
  The selling price of goods to the customer is at the seller’s discretion, therefore it can remain the same as when there was GST content.
  This simply results in a larger Gross Profit for the seller.
  
  The customer does not necessarily pay a lower price, even though there is no GST involved.
  
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  September 17, 2026 1:51pm
  - RichardF
    
    Thanks, greybeard, you make good points that I did not consider! OK, messing with GST is problematic. I stand by my general idea though that the government has the biggest ability to put money back into our pockets. Income tax reduction it is, then.
    
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    September 17, 2026 2:16pm
- crash
  
  “It will put more money in everyone’s pockets”
  
  It will also reduce Government income. Unless this is matched by spending cuts, debt (and therefore debt servicing costs) will continue to rise.
  
  Our Government inherited record high debt and deficits, has not cut spending so that debt can be reduced and simply lacks the courage to make the necessary decisions. They just hope that an expanding economy will increase the tax take.
  
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  September 17, 2026 2:00pm
Damocles11

National are going after the local co-operatives rather than Aussie owned Woolworths.
‘Eric Rush – who owns the Whangārei New World – told Ryan Bridge Today the plan was “really quite shocking” and was surprised to see it coming from National.
He also questioned the rationale for leaving the Australian-owned Woolworths alone.
“They’re talking like the [Foodstuffs] co-op’s this big corporate giant – it’s not. It’s me and my wife. It’s Todd and Lillian who own Pak’nSave down the road. It’s Sione and Alice who own Ōtāhuhu Four Square.”

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/foodstuffs-says-nationals-plan-to-break-up-new-world-and-paknsave-would-increase-food-costs/7GQBO52ZZBAF3B26QYY27ZCDXQ/
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September 17, 2026 9:51am
- Frank the tank
  
  “He also questioned the rationale for leaving the Australian-owned Woolworths alone.”
  
  I would dare suggest they can’t touch these ones due to CER
  
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  September 17, 2026 10:58am
sungsamning

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJaHO0qxg3w
You Won’t BELIEVE What Elon Just Said about AI!
Elon Musk has issued a stark warning regarding the dual nature of artificial intelligence, presenting it as both a potential threat and an unprecedented opportunity for abundance. He advocates for a competitive peer review system among leading AI companies to ensure safety and accountability in AI development, emphasizing the importance of human oversight in shaping AI’s future. [It depends who is in charge. A forklift won’t lift anything without human intervention. Technological advances don’t mean the waning of tradition. Conservatives are out breeding liberals. A century of progress could be condensed into a decade. There should of course be safeguards.]
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September 17, 2026 9:54am
sungsamning

https://justthenews.com/government/security/us-military-has-deployed-weapon-space-competition-china-and-russia-escalates
US military has deployed a weapon in space as competition with China and Russia escalates.
The U.S. is developing advanced space weapons and a missile shield, according to Pentagon officials who spoke at a conference just outside Washington on Monday.
The military now has a weapon in orbit around the Earth, Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink announced at the Air and Space Forces Association conference in Oxon Hill, Maryland, the Washington Times reported.
Meink didn’t elaborate on the nature of the weapon during his keynote address at the conference, but said it is “capable of defending the joint force against hostile adversary action.” [If there is going to be a ‘Star Wars’ type space shield; its unlikely that a quip from a Dem senator will cause the program to be cancelled.]
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September 17, 2026 9:54am
I remember when

Issues that AI Overview says will help small independent grocers and alternative retailers.
1. Breaking the Wholesale Stronghold.
The issue: They can’t secure competitive prices.
The duopoly has massive leverage, benefitting from billions in promotional rebates that are never passed down.
2. Fair Play via the Grocery Supply Code.
The issue: Major supermarkets previously offset their own operational costs by charging suppliers extra fees for things like shelf-stocking and display space. This squeezed smaller, local suppliers out of the market entirely.
3. Removal of “Land Covenants” and Fast-Track Consents.
The Issue: The duolopy used restrictive land and lease covenants to ‘ring-fence’ neighbourhoods.
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September 17, 2026 9:57am
- Ian Boag
  
  Not to mention ….
  
  Supermarket does sharp deal with supplier. Takes the normal six weeks to pay.
  
  Unsold stock is then discounted with discount charged back on the supplier. If supplier grumbles, might not be a supplier any more ….
  
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  September 17, 2026 10:01am
- wgtn_dude
  
  Hold on, there is another side to this. A good mate is a ‘grocer’ in the Foodstuff group. He notes that the large global suppliers also have significant leverage with the domestic supermarket groups – something that doesn’t get much attention by the media.
  
  Nestle, Unilever, Kraft Heinz, etc all exert significant pressure on the supermarkets to take the product on their terms, or they will deal with the competitor being Woolworths/New World/Pack & Save, or withdraw the line entirely and supply into other markets.
  
  The upshot is that there is very healthy competitive tension between the supermarkets and those big supplies, and this it is not all one-way as often portrayed.
  
  Also I have just come across an interesting chart of CPI and a basket of food prices since 1990. Basically, both are almost exactly the same.
  
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  September 17, 2026 12:16pm
- NZer In Exile
  
  I can’t remember the nuts and bolts of the particular talk but I do recall the takeaway being that “land banking” by the “big boys” of grocery is a major obstacle putting competitors off entering the NZ market.
  
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  September 18, 2026 5:00pm
Sponge

After the brain fart that National have had about supermarkets they have totally lost what little respect I had left for them and guaranteed that I am two ticks ACT.

They have totally lost their way and I cannot see them ever coming back from that.
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September 17, 2026 10:21am
- imalwaysright
  
  And offloading the decision to the Commerce Commission was an indication that they are taking the piss.
  
  Ardernesque.
  
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  September 17, 2026 10:32am
- RichardF
  
  They have admitted they cant grow the economy and are resorting to left wing strategies in the hope they win votes from the ‘middle’.
  
  Its almost unbelievable – National threatening to break up a private company. Have they lost their mind? Willis is a terrible Minister of Finance.
  
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  September 17, 2026 10:49am
- Frank the tank
  
  The irony is that not even Hipkins wants to go there. The policy is too left for even him and his comrades.
  
  LOL f&8king LOL
  
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  September 17, 2026 11:03am
- septic skeptic
  
  You seem to think National have RECENTLY lost their way?? For as long as I can remember National have been a left of centre party very much pro corporates, pro big government and pro state intervention. Has NZ ever had a PM more conrolling than Muldoon with his wage/price freezes, carless days, big government aspirations? Maybe. Maybe Cindy finally eclipsed Muldoon.
  I am not in the least surprised that National choose to go after the small business franchisees and protect the interests of the Aussie corporate they compete with.
  
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  September 17, 2026 11:52am
  - Sponge
    
    You’ve managed to disagree with something I didn’t say, drag Muldoon out of the crypt, throw the evil Jacinda in for good measure, and still arrive at roughly the same conclusion I did.
    
    Still, thanks for the history lesson. Nothing says “National haven’t recently lost their way” quite like having to go back nearly 50 years to prove they’ve been lost all along
    
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    September 17, 2026 12:38pm
Swifty

Arch-Leftie Max Rashbrooke and RNZ are up to their usual tricks.

Not content with publishing a hit-piece from Max with no challenge or rebuttal from anyone else – I see they’ve also allowed Max to provide ‘examples’ of his concerns over vested interest lobbying entirely from the business community.

Not a single mention of leftist lobbying. Not one. As we’ve seen again in stark relief recently Labour and the CTU and PSA etc are as thick as thieves. As mikenmild has volunteered over the years “the Labour Party is the political wing of the union movement…”

When you see a union official talking with the news media you could easily mistake them for a Labour MP – and vice versa. Their words, positions, policies and talking points are identical almost all of the time. Sandra Grey made this clear in her interview with Jack Tame last week when she slipped up and used ‘We’ when referring to Labour’s tax policies.

But any mention of this from Max? Not on your Nellie.

Why we continue to allow our tax money to pay lobbyists, masquerading as academics, like Max to advance his leftist political advocacy does my head in. We are paying for our own demise.

Defund the universities! Sell RNZ! We have nothing to lose but our chains!

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/politics/1423784/vested-interests-and-the-power-of-lobbying-in-nz
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September 17, 2026 10:29am
- Prince
  
  National are more interested in taking over private companies that doing anything about RNZ (or TVNZ).
  
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  September 17, 2026 1:08pm
KKNZ2025

“We are looking for the next Andrea Vance, Verity Johnson or Matthew Hooton and we don’t mind where they come from,” he says.

That says it all about Stuffs biased agenda & narrative.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/361033963/stuff-seeks-great-new-voices-nzs-largest-news-platform
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September 17, 2026 10:34am
- graham
  
  I thought they were firing a bunch of their journos … why are they looking for someone new?
  
  https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/771732/stuff-s-proposed-job-cuts-come-after-tough-years-for-local-media-industry
  
  Sorry, I don’t read Stuff on principle, so won’t be visiting that link of yours – they are utter anathema to my values and principles.
  
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  September 17, 2026 1:18pm
Drone

Wailing about political parties and politicians is like complaining about the weather POINTLESS. They are all useless in different ways…
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September 17, 2026 10:37am
Ghost

A mural of singer Ed Sheeran in Dunedin has been vandalised with the words “Free Palestine” following backlash against the singer and his upcoming tour.

Article

not sure how much they are trying to sell Palestine for. Having a quick look, it needs a lot of work done to it, so I don’t think they will get any offers trying to give it away for free…..
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September 17, 2026 11:23am
imalwaysright

Richard Prebble, on the Platform, talking about the Waitangi Tribunal said that in 50 years the Tribunal has outright rejected only one claim.

It was an attempt to claim kiwifruit as a Maori taonga…
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September 17, 2026 11:29am
- Paul Marsden
  
  That interview with Prebble is essential listening for every New Zealander, but in particular, Mr Luxon.
  
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  September 17, 2026 1:36pm
- Swifty
  
  The claim:
  
  https://grok.com/share/c2hhcmQtMw_078a31f0-2d95-4a8c-b219-3a3311342f09
  
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  September 17, 2026 3:00pm
Bernard Black

My son will become a senior at college next year, the current focus at school is choosing subjects based what sort of job he is interested in.

After some discussion with him he is rather interested by electricity, so I suggested he became an electrician, the school thinks he is bright enough to do electrical engineering.

So I found an excellent documentary on Prime called “shock and awe” detailing the way electricity was figured out and then harnesses to create the modern world around us.

Names such as Humphrey Davey, Henry Cavendish, Volta, Franklin and Faraday, the experiments the thought up, the never before seen apparatus they built to perform the experiments and the conclusions they came to.
All very fascinating.

Being rather bright he then asked me where Maori science fits in to all this, or does it?
I had to reply honestly, no it doesn’t have anything to do with this, or the building of the modern world at all.

I think the recent push for Maori science to be given equal footing with actual science is part of a collective inferiority complex.
They know full well what was going on in Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries and that the modern world could not exist without the people mentioned above and many more like them.

Whereas 17th and 18th century Maori were somewhat less sophisticated.
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September 17, 2026 12:30pm
NeverMindTheBollocks

This is somewhat concerning. We’re told that NASA monitor asteroids travelling in near Earth paths, and that we’re all good.

Now NASA have just discovered a crater that’s 222m across and 43m deep. A very big lump of rock hit the Moon in the last couple of years, and no one noticed the collision.

It makes you wonder how good their monitoring actually is.

On the other hand, had it hit the Earth then it would have put an end to Wokeism is pretty short order.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/world-news/361034509/nasa-spacecraft-discovers-huge-new-crater-moon
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September 17, 2026 12:53pm
virtualmark

Anyone else tracking what’s happening with President Xi?

Unconfirmed reports say that he had a major medical event at the BRICS summit in India and they have flown him straight back to China then direct to hospital. Rumours are that he had a major stroke.

Big if true.

He’s meant to be on a state visit to the US next week.
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September 17, 2026 2:28pm
- Ghost
  
  Jennifer Zeng Popping up with her “intelligence” again. She is worth avoiding. Was it last year or the year before she claimed Xi had a stroke at a meeting.
  
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  September 17, 2026 2:52pm
  - virtualmark
    
    Yeah I’m cautious about these rumours.
    
    But the next decade will almost certainly see a number of these older world leaders – like Putin, Trump, Netanyahu and Xi – either democratically or “naturally” leave the scene. That will be an interesting transition.
    
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    September 17, 2026 3:27pm
Colville

ACT leading the way yet again.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/361034763/minister-says-she-has-lost-confidence-fire-and-emergencys-chief-executive
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September 17, 2026 2:41pm
- Ghost
  
  Leading the way? As the minister that is her job
  
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  September 17, 2026 2:52pm
  - Colville
    
    Yeah exactly like Stanford didnt with CEO of MBIE.
    
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    September 17, 2026 6:11pm
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  Let’s see what the FENZ CEO is made of.
  
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  September 17, 2026 3:43pm
Ghost

I cannot be bothered reading this article, but some suggestions for songs

The song that got Jacinda Ardern through her hardest political years

Jelly roll – liar
Bros – I quit
Lily Allen – fuck you
Ray Charles – Hit The Road Jack
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September 17, 2026 3:08pm
- AitchW
  
  Wow. That sounds like a candidate for “Puff piece of the year”.
  I hope they got Helen Clark to comment on it!
  
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  September 17, 2026 3:29pm
RW Capitalist

An idea to create discussion/argument
Subject: ACC
1. Remove the “NO FAULT” principle.
2. Remove the employee payment and add it to the employer payment
3. Double the ACC payment on vehicle registration.
4. Add ACC to all sports and risky endeavors, subscriptions.
Sound harsh yet?
BUT, this is only a start point.
Reduce ACC payments for good/lowering accident records assessed annually, raise ACC if poor performance.
For good driving performance and low accident rate, reduce the levy.
For lowering the accident rate within sport and sundry risky behaviour, lower the ACC levy, raise for the reverse.
This reduces the non contribution group
This encourages personal responsibility to behave safer. Including driving.
Use of excess collected:
Put it into provention.
eg
Barriers centre and side of road at the worst 1% black spots in the country
Create trauma centres based at fire stations, manned by an ambulance, doctor and nurses. Train Firemen to assist and have emergency beds to cope.
This would decentralize the ED.
Increase the number of ED beds
Spread the skill capability of staff
Shorten the time to get to an ED
There are other thoughts, but this will do.
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September 17, 2026 5:10pm
- Ghost
  
  I recently changed to a new gp clinic, the previous one I went to was built with a 3 bed triage room and small surgery room in it to help with any ED overflows, it’s never been used for that.
  
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  September 17, 2026 5:49pm
Southern Raider

Looks like National is now more closely aligned to TOP than its traditional coalition partners

If Willis and Luxon keep announcing more silly socialist policies then surely it’s likely to result in an ACT government with National as a support partner
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September 17, 2026 6:34pm

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