General Debate 19 July 2024 | Kiwiblog (2024)

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Comments (254) Mike peterwn cmm Steve Otto(North Shore) Grunter G the giant from Dunedin Matt Long Paulus Suze Wainwright Biscuit Mike Biscuit Mike G the giant from Dunedin AitchW Damocles11 Damocles11 G the giant from Dunedin Mike Jethrod peterwn NothingLeft the deity formerly known as nigel6888 Tom Hunter Master Mariner Taieri G the giant from Dunedin Taieri Benedict Yu Grunter mawm kevn Jack5 David Garrett Master Mariner kowtow Inandout Omni Consumer Products artemisia the deity formerly known as nigel6888 cmm imalwaysright Colville imalwaysright kevn NothingLeft Maggy Wassilieff Paulus Ghost kowtow kowtow JackRabbit imalwaysright leoj Taieri kowtow Paulus Cassandra imalwaysright Damocles11 Gravelroad Steve Otto(North Shore) Steve Otto(North Shore) imalwaysright lifesgood kowtow Drone Matt Long Steve Otto(North Shore) the deity formerly known as nigel6888 imalwaysright Mike AitchW Matt Long Mike Pineapple Lumps Chuck Bird Scott sirknz JackRabbit Steve Otto(North Shore) Mike Chuck Bird Steve Otto(North Shore) jkt Chuck Bird NothingLeft imalwaysright jkt jkt Steve Otto(North Shore) Ghost Paulus Steve Otto(North Shore) NeverMindTheBollocks jkt Bridgenag Steve Otto(North Shore) Ghost Steve Otto(North Shore) Maggie Pie Blog-aholic Paulus the deity formerly known as nigel6888 kowtow the deity formerly known as nigel6888 Mike Pope Punctilious II Chris Nisbet cmm Grunter Inandout Master Mariner NeverMindTheBollocks NothingLeft kiwikidsnz Tomtoddy cmm lastmanstanding Ultima MCōs JackRabbit Ultima imalwaysright kowtow Maggie Pie kevn Tauhei Notts Openmindfulness JC60 MCōs Biscuit sirknz MCōs imalwaysright the deity formerly known as nigel6888 MCōs Maggie Pie kowtow Cassandra Taieri imalwaysright Taieri Pope Punctilious II Pope Punctilious II mandk surfing Ghost Taieri kowtow Paulus Maggie Pie Taieri mandk the deity formerly known as nigel6888 imalwaysright kevn NothingLeft Chris Nisbet sirknz Damocles11 Yvette Damocles11 Chris Nisbet surfing Damocles11 H. Upmann Pope Punctilious II Damocles11 Maggie Pie NothingLeft Scooter MCōs Steve Otto(North Shore) Damocles11 Master Mariner imalwaysright Master Mariner Paulus Maggie Pie Keith White Drone Maggie Pie Jethrod kevn Jack5 Benedict Yu Jack5 Benedict Yu MCōs NothingLeft mogg kiwikidsnz Keith White kowtow sirknz NothingLeft Swifty Blog-aholic Maggie Pie Mod88 NothingLeft Paulus Keith White kiwikidsnz leoj Damocles11 Damocles11 Steve Otto(North Shore) mawm Steve Otto(North Shore) kevn Mike AitchW jonno1 Keith White softail 1450 Taieri Keith White Steve Otto(North Shore) Mike Maggie Pie NothingLeft Steve Otto(North Shore) Ra Henare greybeard MCōs Maggie Pie fightingtemeraire Mike NeverMindTheBollocks Maggie Pie MCōs Maggie Pie than Ghost Maggie Pie Mike MCōs Steve Otto(North Shore) Pope Punctilious II Maggy Wassilieff Mike Pope Punctilious II Mike Maggy Wassilieff Suze Wainwright Ghost Ghost gorse Ghost NeverMindTheBollocks Ghost NeverMindTheBollocks Add a Comment

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  • Mike

    Happy birthday Mr Luxon!
    Your stout centrist leadership is keeping the ship of state on a steady course in the middle. You have been particularly astute in giving your edgier coalition partners some baubles and toys to keep them occupied without risking too much damage to the National/Labour consensus.

    • peterwn

      Time to wake up to reality, mate.

    • cmm

      Substitute soggy for stout and I could probably give you an uptick for that Mike.

    • Steve Otto(North Shore)

      You do know he is an activist for Maori right?
      Ask him what HE thinks about Co-Governance and see what sort of “stout” answer you get. He will no answer, he will divert.

    • Grunter

      How can a leader with income tax increases, runs deficits and grows debt – all baked in for 2026-2028, be called “Middle” or “Centralist”?

      Sorry Mike – we are still stuck in a clear-cut pathway of socialism. Luxon is a “Leftist”

      • G the giant from Dunedin

        Under Labour the deficits were till 2031

        • Matt Long

          Under the greens NZ would never run a Surplus, does that make labour right wing?

      • Paulus

        But a different form of Socialist !

    • Suze Wainwright

      Interesting that the research on the 2020 election proved that it was the ‘centre’ rewarding the incumbent govt for its management of COVID-19.

      It was nothing to do with the people’s love for the Labour Party and its sterling policies, or even for Jacinda herself – despite however Talbot Mills tried to justify their electoral success…

    • Biscuit

      Mike, you do realise that if Chippie had ‘won’ the last Election he’d have needed to be in a ménage à quatre involving his own party, the Greens, Te Pāti Māori AND Winston First.

      This would have fared how?

      • Mike

        Even more entertainingly than the present circus?

        • Biscuit

          Perhaps, Mike, but what I meant was that in these days of Coalition Governments no-one gets their way all the time.

          Te Media Party, though, jump into ‘COALITION IN PANIC!’ mode the moment one party or other in that coalition yields to majority support from the other coalition parties.

          • Mike

            Minor parties in coalitions get sidelined – who knew?
            More fun than the occasional backbench ‘rebel’ in the old days

        • G the giant from Dunedin

          What circus? The only circus is media and that weak useless Hipkins. In reality Labours high inflation is starting too settle, interest rates down now this year not mid next year under Labour, unemployment will level off as soon as people start feeling lower interest rates.

          Also if you check last weeks poll then you will see the people are starting to get it, Labour struggling in mid 20s, Luxon shot up to mid 30s for pm, while Hipkins wallows just above the lunatic Chloe, so good on you for being one of the fools thinking this government is a circus

        • AitchW

          Entertaining but for the fact that they would have destroyed New Zealand as we know it.
          Rampant inflation, massive brain drain and capital flight, exponential growth in the public service, equally exponential growth in beneficiary numbers, dwindling tax payer base and crippling racial tension.
          Entertaining to watch from afar, utterly soul destroying for the squeezed (totally crushed) middle
          left here to watch in despair.
          Hey, but we’d have lots of cycle lanes and light rail promised, and every school kid would be fluent in
          Te Reo and tikanga.
          Very useful when we ran out of gas and electricity….

          • Damocles11

            Interesting that NZ has been ‘destroyed’ – I agree with that – but at the same time people like G from D think we are ‘on the cusp of something special’ and all it takes is some cuts to the OCR. Plenty of delusional thinking around, the problem is that Luxon and Willis probably share it.

      • Damocles11

        I don’t want to be told “but Chippy”, I want better from Luxon and co. The alternative is worse goes without saying. If you use a terrible mechanic you don’t celebrate when you replace them with one that is simply bad.

        • G the giant from Dunedin

          Hahaha, he was suggesting ministers are running a muck, let’s not forget how disgusting his ministers were, he is a total deluded fool

          • Mike

            amok

      • Jethrod

        Wouldn’t know which way to turn!

  • peterwn

    Jacinda’s ‘Captain’s Call’ is coming home to roost.
    Gas suppliers are not interested in tendering for an ‘all of government’ piped gas contract expiring 30 September. This covers hospitals, prison, schools and presumably other Government facilities and would be applicable in the North Island only (source BusinessDesk paywalled article). Presumably each facility would need to negotiate its own gas contract (ie sign up with a retailer like everyone else) at presumably vastly higher gas price than before.
    Making a statesmanlike ‘Captain’s Call’ is all very well but the potential consequences need to be identified and dealt with in a meaningful manner. This was not going to happen with the previous governent who could not even organise a piss-up in a brewery.
    A potential consequence of the ‘Captain’s Call’ is the likely need to import gas (LNG) on an interim basis.

    • NothingLeft

      A potential consequence of the ‘Captain’s Call’ is the likely need to import gas (LNG) on an interim long term basis.

      • the deity formerly known as nigel6888

        Yes, nothing “potential” about it.

        Almost like stupid decisions have consequences.

        Maybe she can teach that on her gurrl power leadership course?

        Of course, half of her party, and all of the Greens will celebrate this as “decarbonisation”

      • Tom Hunter

        Correct me if I’m wrong but I don’t think we even have an LNG loading terminal, even though with the amount of gas in the world – especially with all the fracking results in the US – LNG tankers are becoming more common.

        IIRC quite a few of the US LNG terminals were built as import terminals, because that was the expectation at the time, but by the early 2010’s they were being converted to export.

      • Grunter

        And coal from Indonesia……

        Ardern’s “Green Maths” Captain’s Call on O&G was rewarded with more than 50% of the vote a few years later.

        We deserve what the majority voted for!

        • mawm

          50% of our population have an IQ below 100.

      • kevn

        Nothing… and so keep it, the NZ gas for the Chinese.

      • Jack5

        While we’re talking gas 😄😄 … .

        Just how actively Australia is seeking gas resources is shown in the following suspiciously Green article.

        Twenty-eight per cent of Australia’s land mass is currently subject to gas exploration or applications from gas companies. This includes 70% of the Northern Territory, 59% of South Australia, 14% of Western Australia and 13% of Queensland.

        The Australian Government is opening over 80,000 sq km of offshore waters to gas companies.

        This information is from this biased Green article:

        https://www.climatecouncil.org.au/resources/australia-existing-proposed-gas-projects/

        Meanwhile, further north ….

        NZ helped Australia get Indonesia out of East Timor.

        Australia has offered East Timor a deal on offshore gas, a deal the Aussies hope will counter the Timor government’s relationship with China.

        https://www.straitstimes.com/world/united-states/how-australia-east-timor-treaty-unlocks-us65bil-gas-fields…

    • David Garrett

      Peter: what do you mean “on an interim basis”? No exploration company will ever come here again, for the very simple reason that the Princess’s “captain’s call” destroyed political certainty, which is one major thing we had going for us as a place to explore.

      The only solution will be another government funded exploration company – Petrocorp 2.0 if you like.

      • Master Mariner

        You get it David.
        In all honesty, NZ will have to underwrite any further investment for O&G exploration
        With a timeframe of 30+ Years.
        Everyone knows this except the General public.
        Scorched Earth comes to mind.

    • kowtow

      UK under Labour doing exactly the same thing. And promising to empty the prisons .

    • Inandout

      peter, a PM can virtually destroy a country’s economy and walk away unscathed. Why are politicians exempt from any form of legal action following disastrous edicts?

      • Omni Consumer Products

        Why are politicians exempt from any form of legal action following disastrous edicts?

        Because that prosecutorial power would eventually be used corruptly (just look to the US), and the fear of future prosecution could cause a government to act sub-optimally in a crisis, where they cover their asses instead of covering ours.

  • artemisia

    Am I the only one sick of hearing interest groups in the media sobbing they need more (free) money, or else bad things will happen. Like a business will close, people will get sick or laid off, teachers will have to teach in the school library sometimes…..

    Well, taxpayer funding does dry up so where are the plans to increase income, reduce costs or even suck up less than ideal situations. Used to be called #8 wire, aka living within our means.

    • the deity formerly known as nigel6888

      Yes, NZ was built on one room school houses, where the teacher was in charge of everything to do with running the school. Education standards were a lot higher too, as parents had a strong interest in what their kids were learning.

      Now that the bureaucracy runs the system, parents have been forced out, and standards are down the toilet.

      What exactly do 5,000 education bureaucrats do all day anyway?

      • cmm

        5000 education bureaucrats, 2500 schools = 2 per school.
        Yup, it is unbelievably top heavy.

        Those schools would all do way better with 2 more teachers instead or a 10% increase in teachers’ pay to attract better staff.
        Or better yet – leave the money in taxpayers’ wallets.

      • imalwaysright

        5000 bureacrats is about 1 per 140 students.
        At a salary of $100k, that is over $700 per student every year.
        That would buy a decent uniform and some text books every year.

        Then there is the question :

        “What exactly do 5,000 education bureaucrats do all day anyway?

        • Colville

          Then there is the question :

          “What exactly do 5,000 education bureaucrats do all day anyway?

          Here is another question..

          Would the quality of education be better or worse if that number was reduced to 500??

        • kevn

          imal… Working out ways and systems to keep their jobs.

        • NothingLeft

          US department of education has fewer employees than NZ’s 5000 strong Ministry of Education.

          Massive headcount bloat while outcomes have been plummeting.

          Why would we need more in Ministry of Education now than in 80’s-90’s when education standards were generally higher?

      • Paulus

        Noticing today that children are still not going to school particularly on a Friday, could it be that a. the curriculum is rat sh*t, and b. the standard of teaching in the main is piss poor.
        The obtuse curriculum is heavily against any common sense = why not teach real History as opposed to Mumbo Jumbo.
        With the real teachers having retired or joined the Department of Education what is left is a large group of Unionised young so called professionals but they are not in the main. Many found that there were no jobs available but they could be a Teacher – good pay long holidays out at 3pm.
        I lived until recently next door/ backing on to a Primary School, sorry now called a Kura.

        • Ghost

          It’s school holidays

          • kowtow

            Must you ?

            The figures are for Term 2 , 2024 and even Capt F’en Obvious would know it doesn’t relate to holidays .

        • kowtow

          Explain the over representation of Maoris and PIs not going to school.

          Nothing to do with the schools really , those arguments have been used for ages .

      • JackRabbit

        What exactly do 5,000 education bureaucrats do all day anyway?

        The same thing ‘Gestapo’ types do anywhere in the world. Not do, not teach, not manage.

        They monitor, looking for anyone that is not sticking to the mandated narrative, and they report infractions to their superiors.

        Which then results in individual teachers being hauled up for crimes; and also results in changes in policy to stamp out dissent and free speech.

        It is time for home schooling, and home schooling parents to establish home schooling groups. Oh wait, schools. Without the education Gestapo.

        • imalwaysright

          Jack

          Exactly.
          The only problem the NZ education system has is the staff.

          • leoj

            Addition: LEFT LEANING STAFF (thanks to the f#*king unions).

          • Taieri

            The only problem the NZ education system has is the staff
            ————

            No. The only problem with the NZ education system (as with all the other systems) is the NZ population tolerating all this crap. And encouraging it every 3 years at the general election.

    • kowtow

      NZME Herald today has editorial about closure of a restaurant (they really are going on about that place SPQR,ffs) and “bars , eateries need support to survive”

      But the msm urging us to go out and spend were the cheerleaders of the Ardern regime spendthrift economic vandalism and lockdowns that have led us into this hard place.

      Get real msm and support small govt , less regulation and more economic freedom .That’s the prescription that’s needed.

      • Paulus

        Problem is now $49.99 for a main plus vegies etc.
        Fish and chips $12 max.

        • Cassandra

          They’ve got to pay the dishwasher at least $48,000 a year.

        • imalwaysright

          Raumati pub. $16.50 for a glass of house brand beer.
          Cheaper at the Ritz.
          The place was nearly empty for some reason.

      • Damocles11

        When they say ‘need support to survive’ they probably mean taxpayer support via the strong arm of the state. Other than that, sorry, I won’t be spending up large in bars and restaurants and cafes. Not in a country with the cost of living the way it is. We still don’t have a government willing and able to tackle the supermarket duopoly, or willing and able to tackle local councils and their horrific rate rises. So I’ll pass, thanks.

    • Gravelroad

      Dream on, Arte.
      Six long years of politically motivated free stuff from the Labour government has resulted in many, many entitled and ignorant people who have no idea where the money comes from and don’t care.
      They have been bought and want to stay that way.

    • Steve Otto(North Shore)

      “Teachers will have to teach” Heaven forbid that they have to teach instead of indoctrinate.

      • imalwaysright

        A quarter of teachers college graduates failed one or more NCEA level 1 subjects.
        Can you imagine the poor students sitting listening to one of them all day.

        No wonder they don’t turn up.

        • lifesgood

          Could it be that they are sick to death of having maori forced down their throats. Maori is totally irrelevant in the modern world and absolutely no use to anyone, except those poor beggars who choose to work for the government and woke companies in NZ.

          • kowtow

            I doubt it.

            The people who are attracted to and in education in my experience are greenstone wearing , ki ora uttering ,whiteys who lurv the whole “I’m so with jacinda” vibe, “You’re not to sit on a table” and “It’s so white here “, we must pretend to cancel ourselves ( but not the good pay or resign to give a DEI placement a place at the trough.)

          • Drone

            Currently EVERYBODY who wants to work in any government department needs to be able to karakia, speak maori (or be attending language lessons) and demonstrate a belief in the treaty of Waitangi. The government is the largest employer in New Zealand so it’s become very important to drink the cool aide.

  • Matt Long

    Internal memos from sugar companies in the late twentieth century set out how they paid two Harvard Professors to falsify data to sell their products.
    Fortunately there’s totally no way that could happen now, and we can trust The Science.
    https://youtube.com/shorts/BNDEd8_Joj8?si=vKXPBw7luwV38OoE

    • Steve Otto(North Shore)

      “Recent studies have shown” That is when to walk away.

      • the deity formerly known as nigel6888

        Whenever you hear that phrase, also look for “could”, “might”, “experts agree” and “consensus”

        You will then know that this is another bullsh*t propaganda exercise to try and extract an economic rent from someone*.

        * someone is you and me – funny how every solution is an increase in tax, and a shifting of power and control to central bureaucrats.

        You will eat the cricket protein, own nothing and be grateful, Comrades!

    • Mike

      So Big Sugar is just like Big Oil or Big Tobacco, bribing people to pretend their industry is not harmful to people and the environment?
      Color me shocked.

      • AitchW

        What on earth is “Big Sugar”? Is there some sort of sugar cartel whose members are growing obscenely wealthy by making poor children obese?
        Or perhaps there are simply sugar manufacturers and sellers who sell a commodity just like tea, coffee or chocolate?
        Perhaps “Big Hot Beverage” is coming to get us next….

      • Matt Long

        By big oil, I assume you mean the people pushing rancid, polyunsaturated, hydrogenated and trans vegetable oils into the food chain Mike?

        • Mike

          Them too

      • Pineapple Lumps

        Replace all the words after big with Pharma and then you can start listing out all those they were bribing in Government, Universities, Medical practice etc over the past three years.

    • Scott

      In contrast to Joe Biden, Trump is the dominant political figure in the world today. If you don’t believe it then look at this video of children in Uganda re-enacting the Trump assassination attempt.

      Kids in Uganda recognise Trump’s courage and fortitude in the face of fire.
      Trump has got courage and even the kids in Africa see it and admire him for it.

      https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2024/07/trump-and-the-world-spirit.php

      • sirknz

        But Joe has Covid19 and he is just as brave and strong as Trump standing up after being shot at when he fights it off at his advanced age!

        • JackRabbit

          Tested positive to Covid19 (the flu). Same as 85% of the population if they bothered to get tested.

          Its all deflection – just like a schoolyard bully. “I hit little Donny on the jaw real hard, and now I have a sprained wrist. Feel sorry for me.”

    • Steve Otto(North Shore)

      Put Joe right in front of Megyn Kelly and let her pop the question.
      It is time joe and his pedo friends were exposed.

      • Mike

        It’s only a matter of time before one of Biden’s victims calls him out for it. Biden denies it, calls the woman crazy, is successfully sued for defamation, and judicially labeled as the sex-pest he is.
        Or Biden is caught using campaign funds to pay hush money to a floozy, despite never touching her, is convicted of fraud and goes to jail.

        • Chuck Bird

          Mike, I am talking about his daughter. Have you watched the video?

          • Steve Otto(North Shore)

            Mike would not watch the white, right wing extremist Megyn Kelly!
            He would much rather change the subject into attacking Trump.

    • jkt

      Megan Kelly is correct.

      We should imprison all dads who bath with their children and also those who expose themselves to their kids. These perverts need to spend prison time with nudists.

      I had a neighbour once who took leaks with his son in his garden. He and his kid pissed against my f……. garden wall..

        • NothingLeft

          He’s clearly weird with smelling hair of girls and young women, but it’s likely benign. I doubt he’s a pedo or ephebophile in the normal have-sex-with-minors understanding of the word.

          • jkt

            I would not allow him or Donald anywhere near anyone who or anything that needs looking after.

        • jkt

          A 38 year old trying to understand her own actions when she was a teenager by writing things down in a diary as therapy recommended by her therapist?
          Evidence of pedophilia. Really!

          Gullible, just? sh*t stirrer….

      • Steve Otto(North Shore)

        What about the lemon tree?

        • Ghost

          Great for the lemon tree. I remember in high school horticulture class our teacher told us his then 80 year old mother still went out in the night and peed under the lemon tree

          • Paulus

            In a recent property we had one huge Avocado Tree which produce some 3,500 top quality per annum.
            Once we were forced to go on sewage mains we saw why this tree was so good, with the weepers from the septic tank feeding it for many tens of years.
            We sold the house soon afterwards sadly.

          • Steve Otto(North Shore)

            World’s Fastest Indian.

          • NeverMindTheBollocks

            Waste of time, Ghost. Female piss doesn’t cut it for lemons, only male piss.

        • jkt

          Steve
          Nope. Precast concrete wall.

          He was a mate. Maybe he was preparing the ground to plant citrus. He never did.

  • Bridgenag

    The Keystone Cops and Clusterf*ck Investigation
    Who’s on First? Welcome to The Great Ensh*ttening!

    “The firm that took the suspicious and enormous bet against President Trump’s Truth Social stock ($DJT) ONE DAY before the assassination attempt is Austin Private Wealth LLC, majority held by George Soros’ Vanguard and BlackRock.

    Coincidentally, BlackRock, a party that would have greatly profited from President Trump’s death, included the shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, in a 2022 promotional video.”

    https://open.substack.com/pub/rwmalonemd/p/the-keystone-cops-and-clusterf*ck?r=1aj1bv&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email

    • Steve Otto(North Shore)

      Agencies investigating agencies and investigating themselves.
      It is just a matter of time. The coverup is usually what tells the full story.
      FBI? Crooked as they come. Remember Mar a Lago, and the planted documents?

      • Steve Otto(North Shore)

        Sorry, not joining

  • Maggie Pie

    A bestie txts….

    If this is the state of affairs 200 years post-colonisation,
    imagine what it must have been like ‘PRE’

    Check out NZH deputy-editor Tom Dillane’s latest content
    on what’s going on at OT 🙁

    https://nzherald.co.nz/author/tom-dillane/

    • Blog-aholic

      OT is infested with filth.

      These sort of people should be no where near children.

      If OT are hiring on the basis of culture and ancestry then there is a couple of question applicants aren’t being asked and there seems to be no audit of their facilities or the staff.

      Kill OT off and resurrect something that actually protects, enables and educates these children.

      • Paulus

        Why do you think that OT has been such a sad disgrace over all the years since it changed its name, and therefore its intent.

    • the deity formerly known as nigel6888

      Well they are running a zoo. The clients are feral animals, but no zoo would tolerate this treatment of animals.

      Hell MPI would prosecute a farmer who treated livestock like these kids are treated.

      But I am sure their Te Ao Maori reports were smack up to date (sic).

      OT needs to be razed. A Ministry for child care set up, and a decent independent inspectorate put back into the Children’s Commission – but this time shorn of its bleeding-heart activist role, and staffed with professional psychologists and experienced teachers.

  • kowtow

    Biden , talking to “black tv” forgets his Defence Secretary’s name and refers to him as “the black man”.

    Will our te media cover that , like the extensive coverage given to the Iran backed Houthi hit on the Greek tanker , creating among other things an ecological disaster……….seeing how our media are all things eco…….

    • the deity formerly known as nigel6888

      Well, he was a KKK acolyte.

      I guess to him, all black people look the same? To be fair Lloyd Austin is such a difficult ebonics name to pronounce after all.

    • Mike

      I agree, and also think the NZ news media doesn’t direct enough attention to the re-emerging threat of unionist terrorism in Northern Ireland

  • Pope Punctilious II

    The UK’s new Mr. Net Zero (Ed Milliband) does a Jacinda and bans any new North Sea oil drilling: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoSZ1rKRoBE

    So Milliband prefers to support Azerbaijan’s economy rather than Britain’s. This new policy will go down a treat in Scotland, where the oil and gas industry employs so many.

    • Chris Nisbet

      Blankets, candles and generators will be selling well.

    • cmm

      Stupid people must suffer,

    • Grunter

      The UK will implode over the next 5 years under this Labour Govt. Banning North Sea O&G is a huge mistake that they won’t recover from.

    • Inandout

      PP, perhaps those affected oil companies could take a trip down under, now we are begging for exploration.

    • Master Mariner

      You got too laugh,
      COP 29? Will be In Azerbijan next after the failed one in UAE.

      • NeverMindTheBollocks

        Not planning on attending in your ship, MM?

    • NothingLeft

      Might not have that much impact. My understanding is that UK are almost out of oil and gas in the north sea – they are down to about 1/4 of peak.

  • Tomtoddy

    More rats leaving the rotting Biden ship. Pelosi and that thicko, Schumer are bailing out. Did Obama also pull the chain? Not confirmed but sounds like it.

    it is unthinkable that the giggling, empty-headed Kamala will get the call, but most Democratic moves are ‘unthinkable’. Its Mrs Clinton or the Californian sleaze ball most likely. Spare us.

    • cmm

      They shut their eyes too long and left it too late.

  • lastmanstanding

    In a recent interview Biden said he would consider pulling out of the race if his Doctors advised him to. How convenient he now has Covid and has retreated home to Delaware instead of to the WH. I suspect we will see an annoucement over the weekend. Watch this space.

  • Ultima

    Some gambler loss $1m. allegedly, at the pokies, blames the casino. Casino apologises for winning and going to close for 5 days. WTF is wrong with this country?

    • MCōs

      The guy’s addicted to gambling and the casino is supposed to recognize & stop such people going overboard.
      It’s part of what they sign up for to get a license, the same way a bar is not allowed to sell alcohol to someone who’s drunk.

      • JackRabbit

        I was in a Casino overseas a few years ago, and noticed a guy at a pokie I had spent $20 on minutes earlier and his total was sitting at $45,000. I winced.

        I spoke to a nearly player that was watching him, and I mentioned the high score, and lamenting my earlier feeble attempt.

        He shook his head and replied “He didn’t go from zero to $45,000. He started at $100,000.” Doing compound bets, you can chew through large sums very quickly, and since the machines take notes, it would impossible to police.

        Same with card tables. If someone dresses smartly and has $1m in chips, the casino will never know if the guy is a high roller and is spending a weeks income; has mortgaged the family home and hocked every asset; has stolen the $1m from his clients; or is a drug king pin and getting rid of excess cash.

        Being drunk is easy to spot. It would be very difficult to tell where the money came from. “Excuse me sir, could I see your bank statements so that we can ensure you have not hocked your wife’s jewellery or spent your kid’s college education.”

        Privacy laws prevent them asking such questions.

        No different to McDonalds – if an obese woman orders 3 big macs and fries, the guy behind the counter can’t say: “Madam you are obese, I’m only giving a cheese burger.”

      • Ultima

        Addicted gambler won $1m, apologies to casino and will ban himself for 5 days.
        You won’t hear that sort of stories in the media.

        • imalwaysright

          If the casino broke the law did they have to give the punter his money back?

    • kowtow

      And te legacy meedia paahti made such a meal of it.

      Pathetic and hypocritical.

      If they’re that concerned about mental health and associated ‘harmful’ behaviour why do they so openly support all things ‘Green’ and cannabis.

      or accept advertising from booze , oil , gambling and “entertainment” enterprises.

    • kevn

      Maggie… Sooo good.

  • Tauhei Notts

    Caution.
    Boring accounting stuff.
    Much publicity has been given to the liquidation of SPQR restaurant in Ponsonby. I think this is the follow on from the Tax Department’s unduly lenient attitude to tax arrears dating back to March 2020. I have seen this with a few clients and it is borne out by comments of other practitioners. People who are heavily in debt with tax arrears are now finding a different attitude from IRD tax collectors. For a few years the IRD did not promptly chase up PAYE and GST arrears. Some recalcitrant businessmen got the impression that payment of those taxes was an optional exercise. The IRD had been so empathetic in their attitude.
    Well, the chooks have come home to roost and many people will be in debt servitude to the IRD for a long time to come.
    No, I am not suggesting debt remission. Far from it. I am pointing out the consequences of unwise Governmental procedures in the 2020-23 period.

    • Openmindfulness

      Our business of 30 years got into strife when expansion met covid lockdown measures, Auckland flooding and economic uncertainty on behalf of our customerss in Auckland, impacting our costs and a significantly lower than usual turnout for our summer-seasonal business. It all came home to roost in the 2022-2023 financial year and we were virtually wiped out. I contacted the IRD early when I could see I wasn’t going to be able to pay our Feb-Mar GST return, and it went on from there as we were now into our seasonal downtime. We were unable to make the PAYE or GST payments. The IRD were completely laid back about it, how long would I need? I could pay it off over three years. Don’t worry, our $100,000 unpaid debt was but a drip in the bucket of what was owed. We rejigged things and refinanced and went on to make a profit in 2023-24. I fully repaid the IRD in October 2023 (having been making payments according to our agreed installment plan). I believe the IRD is falsely propping up the economy and the situation with businesses is far worse than we know. My case manager at IRD never responded to my updates and there was no word when I fully paid the debt off 2.5 years sooner than expected.

  • JC60

    Michael Wood appeared on the Breakfast Show this morning, this time heading up a campaign against a review of the current gun laws. Honestly, this guy has no shame. Deprived of frequent appearances on lloyd Burr’s the AM Show as a union rep, he has clearly been casting around for some other means of keeping himself in the news and on tv. Nothing appears to be off limits when it comes to promoting his own political career, even the tragedy of the mosque killings.

    • MCōs

      Putting to one side your clear loathing of Michael Wood, what were his arguments?

      • Biscuit

        Agreed, MCōs.

        I had no idea current gun laws were even under review.

        Mind, I’d treat any submission on anything by something who didn’t seem to know how to sell a share or two with a big grain – a rock, even – of salt.

      • sirknz

        Didn’t see it but their arguments are usually along the lines of:

        “Guns are scary and bad people kill other people with them so we should ban them”

        It usually ignores the facts that the bad people with the guns generally aren’t licenced or law abiding, and the ones that are licenced generally have lower rates of crime than the general population.

        • MCōs

          Summary

          You don’t know what he said

    • imalwaysright

      The Palestinian woman ( she was dressed like one anyway) with him said that Labours gun laws amendments have led to a safer NZ !

      Safer than where??!

      • the deity formerly known as nigel6888

        Yes, I well remember the weekly shootings in South Auckland, Queen St and the Viaduct prior to 2017!

        It’s so much safer now that the bad guys all handed their guns in.

        /s

      • MCōs

        Fortunately the programme can be viewed online so I had a look for myself. The woman you refer to is Tayyaba Khan, born in Pakistan.
        It seems Michael Wood is against loosening the current restrictions on automatic weapons

        • Maggie Pie

          Thort I recognized her. Tayyaba is the voice for the Mossie community
          all over the world.

        • kowtow

          Summary

          You don’t know what he said

          or if he said there’s a “current” restriction on automatic weapons , neither does he .

          They’ve been heavily restricted for a very long time.

  • Cassandra

    A new study shows that Maoris have poorer oral health than others due to “colonialism and racism” (of course). The evidence is that they present to hospital EDs much more often. The researchers didn’t explain that this is actually because Maoris go to the dentist much less often than other races and hospital EDs are free – the only cost is time and if you’re not working you’ve got plenty of time. And remember, you funded this “research”.

    • Taieri

      A new study shows that Maoris have poorer oral health than others due to “colonialism and racism” (of course)
      —————-

      Of course it is. In the pre-colonial days their health, oral or otherwise, was far better. False teeth, fillings, crowns and implants were virtually unheard of. Similarly, the obesity was completely unknown.

      • imalwaysright

        Taieri

        Obesity was completely unknown because they were toothless .
        That’s why they were dead by thirty.

        • Taieri

          Do you have to spoil everything?

      • Pope Punctilious II

        Yes, that article came up in my news feed this morning. The article reports affirmative action in favour of Maaori seeking urgent dental care through hospital ED, but concludes “Further action and accountability are required to reorient our oral health services to provide high-quality, equitable care for Māori.”

        I’m not sure what practical measures the author had in mind, but this is the proverbial ambulance at the bottom of the cliff. Modern Western diets are very high in refined carbohydrates, so careful daily brushing and flossing from an early age is vital if you want don’t want to end up with a mouth like Shane McGowan’s. I’m very out of touch with the school system, so maybe other readers can help me with this question: are kids taught the importance of dental hygiene at school, and are they taught how to brush properly, and how to floss their teeth? The reality is not all parents can be relied on to provide good role models or guidance on this (and other) matters.

        • Pope Punctilious II

          I missed this “gem” in the article on Te Ao News:
          “This study identifies inequitable presentation of Māori to Christchurch ED with non-traumatic dental presentations (NTDP)”

          Is that an obscure way of saying a lot of Māori go to ED when they need a dentist?

    • mandk

      Of course, this has nothing to do with higher rates of smoking and favouring alcoholic beverages mixed with coca cola, compared to the wider population //

      • surfing

        Dentist mate a few years back said low socio economic parents bottle feeding co*ke to their under 5’s.

        I still maintain we should be removing children from such parents… it is child abuse.

    • Ghost

      Chances are they do. Look at our society, junk food, sugar. But how about we put it how it should be. New Zealanders have poorer health and teeth due to the excessive amount of crap we eat and drink.

      • Taieri

        Yet, we live much longer than in those glorious days of purely organic, healthy foods…

    • kowtow

      Colonialism and racism has long been notorious for preventing non white parents from buying toothbrushes , toothpaste and getting their children to apply same .

      Capt Cook and Queen Victoria ; so much to answer for.

    • Paulus

      Am I wrong are not all children under 18 getting free dental treatment ?.
      Assuming they turn up to an appointment, not one of Maori strong points though.

    • Taieri

      Watching it is a very enriching Cultural Experience…

    • mandk

      Even worse is that you are condemned as racist, just for highlighting this )-:

    • the deity formerly known as nigel6888

      Hell, thats frightening. Not quite Malmo frightening yet, but not far off. Who’d be stupid enough to want to be a Cop over there.

      On the other hand, perhaps we should start the ads for Brit Cops again? Might fill our next couple of intakes.

    • imalwaysright

      Local version of a Piñata ?

      Maybe it was someone’s birthday…

    • kevn

      Maggie… The Toyota fared well. BY would be thrilled.

    • NothingLeft

      That would be just your average Tuesday in large parts of Paris

    • Chris Nisbet

      I heard on Tousi TV that emergency services personnel are fine though because they’ve been told to keep away from the riot zones.

  • sirknz

    Maori don’t go to dentists for check ups because racism and colonialism.

    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/kahu/south-island-maori-face-significant-oral-health-inequities-study-in-nz-medical-journal-reports/GSQMV33RKVB7RIYPMQG4MU53GI/

    No comparing to outcomes based on incomes, social factors, diet, or any other demographic factors, just the fact that they are special people.

    It does mention that they get seen faster than all other groups at the ED though but still it is clearly a racist and oppressive system…

    • Damocles11

      If you have a pre-determined aim of finding racism before you start then you will surely find it.

      A) Have you experienced racism?
      B) Yes.
      A) Excellent. Your verbal testimony will be recorded, no actual proof is required.

      Poor Maori oral health outcomes would be due to dietary factors and poor oral hygiene.

      When considering racism as a factor in health outcomes, always bear in mind that the life expectancy of white Americans is 76, and the life expectancy of Asian Americans is 84. Is the 8 year difference due to systemic racism against white people in the US health system? Of course it isn’t. Diet, lifestyle, and genetic factors are at play.

      • Yvette

        Life expectancy at birth was 73.4 years for Māori males in 2017–2019 (up 3.1 years from 2005–2007), and 77.1 years for Māori females (up 2.0 years from 2005–2007). In comparison, non-Māori males are expected to live to 80.9 years, while non-Māori females are expected to live to 84.4 years.
        https://www.stats.govt.nz › news › growth-in-life-expec…

        20 Apr 2021 — It was 85.1 years for Asian males, and 87.9 years for Asian females.

        Why is Maori data compared to “Pakeha” and not New Zealand Asians?

        • Damocles11

          Because they want to find ‘racism’. It’s ‘racist’ that Asians live longer than whitey’s, but I won’t kick off about it.

        • Chris Nisbet

          Before The Treaty was signed there were about 20,000 Maori in NZ.
          After nearly two centuries of genocide and colonialism there are now only around one million left.

    • surfing

      But going to the wholesaler is fine? No systemic racism by booze merchants?

      Convenient.

  • Damocles11

    Seeing this news this morning: ‘Associate Health Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products.’

    This has inspired to do the ‘Top 5’ ways ACT is superior to NZ First:

    1/ ACT wouldn’t go into coalition with the Labour Party.
    2/ ACT wouldn’t extort multi-billion dollar ‘regional development’ slush funds from coalition partners.
    3/ ACT isn’t on thrall to the big tobacco companies.
    4/ ACT is founded on ideas and not a cult of personality surrounding one man.
    5/ ACT has a bill to deliver change regarding the ‘principles’ of the Treaty of Waitangi, whereas NZ First has a habit of generating much ‘sound and fury, signifying nothing’.

    • H. Upmann

      Shame about ACT and 3 Strikes though.

      • Pope Punctilious II

        Also a shame about David Seymour voting for the inclusion of gender identity in the so-called “Conversion Practices” ban.

      • Damocles11

        ACT will keep getting blamed for standing by Luxon, but if they were to say they are dissolving the government then could you just imagine the fury from National party stalwarts. Can’t win.

    • NothingLeft

      If she isn’t deleted Saudi-Khashoggi style, how would she ever get money out of him anyway?

    • Master Mariner

      Create Order out of Chaos.
      George Orwall will be thrilled.

      • imalwaysright

        Starmer doesn’t have a clue how to govern Britain.
        He will use racial conflict as a distraction and as an excuse to bring in draconian laws.
        I predicted this on his election but I thought it would be much later in the year.

        • Master Mariner

          Create a problem.
          Create Chaos ( Fear).
          Came up with a solution that you created.
          Ex Pm and Labour Party Policies to a tee.

          In all honesty its a World Wide Western Trend.

          Latin, “ordo ab chao”out of chaos, comes order.

        • Paulus

          As a former Public Servant for which he was Knighted, he will form a Committee who will form many sub Committees.

  • Maggie Pie

    RANDOM IMPERTINENT QUESTION

    Should the government be building more houses….
    or more prisons?

    Asking for a friend.

    • Keith White

      Don’t need prisons. Ex-Army tents on the Central Plateau 24/7. Hard labour, roadside clearance on chain gangs, no TV, the full Cool Hand Luke enforcement. These ferals really have to try hard to get into prison so once sentenced they should not get 3 hots and a cot.

    • Drone

      Maggie, I didn’t know you had a friend waiting for a prison bed..

      • Maggie Pie

        Well no. She said she’s looking for a job as a Screw.

        • Jethrod

          Is that “as ” or “for”?

    • kevn

      Maggie… labour UK are emptying them out of prisons, like labour NZ did.

  • Jack5

    Christchurch City Council’s in a quandary about building restrictions around Christchurch Airport. Or it should be.

    The mayor, Phil Mauger, and some councillors, seem liable to cave into land investors who have been waiting for relaxation of building controls because of noise at the airport, which the city three-quarters owns.

    Relaxation of the “noise contours” is apparently backed by councillors in nearby Selwyn and Waimakariri districts.

    Councillors, and probably many of councils’ staffs, would likely be long gone if, decades from now, angry householders restricted a busier and noisier airport’s hours.

    Noise to nearby housing constrains operation of Wellington Airport.

    Christchurch International Airport belongs to the citizens or three-quarters of its does, and the State owns the other quarter. In its 2023 financial year, the airport reported an after-tax profit of $36.8 million, and, for 2022, $59.5 million.

    Also at the airport is a sizeable jet-engine reconditioning factory, a joint venture between Pratt and Whitney and Air NZ. This at times generates heavier noise than airline operations well into the night, heard by citizens living well beyond the airport’s no-building zone.

    Busy Christchurch Airport in addition to its usual business is a base for American, NZ and other service flights to Antarctica, often using night hours.

    Wellington Airport’s noise controls:

    – A flight curfew between 1am and 6am (except for exceptional circ*mstances like medical emergencies)

    – Paying for home acoustic mitigation for houses within a close radius of the airport through the Quieter Homes noise mitigation package

    -Controlling engine testing and other land-based activities.

    – Improving the airport’s layout and equipment to reduce ground noise.

    https://www.wellingtonairport.co.nz/noise/air-noise/

    • Benedict Yu

      You may know more than me about this. Why would anyone want to build houses near the airport? There is so much land suitable for housing in the Christchurch region.

      In Wellington, those houses next to the airport go back several decades. Many of them will predate the airport.

      • Jack5

        Some thing similar at Lyttelton.

        The bureaucrats bring in “noise contours” to the busy port.

        Once most of the residents were families of wharfies, fishermen, seamen etc. No problem with industry noise.

        When people move in for the seaside view, they want industry noise controlled.

        Plenty of nice bays around the big inlet, but they want the port atmosphere, though with suburban limits.

        • Benedict Yu

          Surely if you buy a house next to the airport, the negative effects of the noise are reflected in housing prices.

          • MCōs

            I used to own a house in Kilbirnie quite close to Wellington airport. When a plane took off we couldn’t hear the TV.
            However
            The real drawback was the weather because like the airport that whole area is exposed to Cook Strait and the north so apart from the occasional windless day there was no let up.

    • NothingLeft

      It’s an old old money making scheme:
      1/ buy cheap land in location made undesirable by proximity to a big smelly/noisy/ugly thing
      2/ wage long campaign to have big smelly/noisy/ugly thing shut down or severely curtailed in impact
      3/ profit!!!

    • Keith White

      He’s really playing sad trombone now. Did not GAF when he was ruining the days of a coupla hundred thousand people – and in some cases their health, permanently – with his virtue-signalling Birkentock-platformed hemp-sniffing egotism. Hopefully he serves his too-short sentence on Dartmoor wearing only a loin-cloth and living in a twig lean-to in a swamp guarded by a Baskerville-descended hound.

      • kowtow

        He’s going to have to play on Bubba’s picollo…..

        • sirknz

          Give the makeup of UK prisons, it is more likely to be Abdul’s or Mohammed’s…

    • NothingLeft

      Excellent. A proper deterrent

    • Blog-aholic

      Cressida Gethin, I am sure will found it to be fun in prison.

      • Maggie Pie

        Why do they all look like her?

  • Mod88

    New Zealanders better wake up and get motivated in a hurry. Te Iwi(s) are going to Own the Coastline of NZ out to the 12 mile limit. They will Control Access through Rahui etc and have Veto power over all Resource Consent/Development options. NZers sleepwalking to self-destruction since forever.

    • NothingLeft

      Meh, I’m already resigned to having to leave. One of easiest choices in life if you want wealth and prosperity is to not hang around in a place that is clearly sliding economically when you have better options. Simply drawing breath in a place that is growing (ie invest in land etc) can make you rich. Like all the ‘financial geniuses’ who’ve owned houses in Auckland over the last 60 years.

      • Paulus

        I am already resigned to leave but in a different manner, as I am 85 with a shorter life expenditure than most, as in a short time I will be with the rose bushes and trees fertilizing whilst you play and sort out the mess, which sadly we let happen around us.

        • Keith White

          Yeah Paulus – an underappreciated benefit of running out the clock whether through age, illness, or a combo means (and I speak strictly for myself) is liberating oneself from stuff that used to seem important, but never really was.

          I like these:

          “When you’re 20 you care what everyone thinks, when you’re 40 you stop caring what everyone thinks, when you’re 60 you realize no one was ever thinking about you in the first place.”

          and

          “Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light.”

          I think private ranting rather than public raging is more psyche-beneficial, but that’s just me.

          All the best to you Paulus.

  • leoj

    The NZ economy is a mess. Totally depressed yet councils are pushing for double digit increases in rates.

    Councils: Totally out of touch.

    • Damocles11

      Yes, “in a mess” as you say, but apparently primed for an economic boom as soon as the OCR is cut. All the structural economic problems will be resolved simply through cutting the OCR. “We are in the cusp of something special” .
      Mass immigration + pump the housing ponzi = ‘Rockstar Ecomomy Mark II’.

  • Damocles11

    What a spend-up on critical infrastructure: $4 billion filling in holes. “Loadsa money.”

    ‘The Government will spend $4 billion over the next three years fixing and preventing potholes on state highways and local roads nationwide.
    Auckland will get a $478 million boost in pothole funding; Waikato will get $214m and Canterbury has been allocated $187m in funding.
    Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today $2.07b in funding would go towards state highway potholes and $1.9b for local road potholes.’

    • mawm

      Chris Wray is the director of the FBI.

      • Steve Otto(North Shore)

        Who Knew?

    • Mike

      Perhaps he is weak-minded enough to be persuaded by a blog post:
      https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2024/07/maybe_they_should_have_quit.html

    • AitchW

      Don’t let the door hit you on the arse on the way out.

    • jonno1

      Disappointing and also surprising, as Dr Jordan is an excellent immunologist. The surprising bit is that immunologists generally see the big picture (unlike epidemiologists who can become focussed on a single issue). It’s similar to the distinction between engineers and scientists.

      • Keith White

        Not at all disappointing. About time – in fact far too long delayed. He repeatedly ignored the Hippocratic Oath’s requirement to treat all patients equally according to their needs. He is best gone.

  • softail 1450

    What’s the reason that the Gypsies, Muslims,Bulgarians, Romanians and many other diverse immigrant groups have been rioting smashing and burning parts of Leeds to the ground for 24 hours yet its not being reported, it’s breaking out in many other places as well , the thing is for the UK it’s already to F- – – -king late , not so much here, YET.

    • Taieri

      Gypsies, Muslims,Bulgarians, Romanians
      ———-

      How do you know who they are and how do you tell the difference?

      • Keith White

        Cher taught me in a song.

        • Steve Otto(North Shore)

          Whooossh for most here!

      • Mike

        Feelz? But the riot has been widely reported, so perhaps softail’s rant need not be taken too seriously.

  • Maggie Pie

    Just laying back here watching the RNC Convention on FOX..
    Trumpy is due to deliver his address any minit.
    From the look on her face I could tell Melania was just like me…. thort that has-been muso ‘Kid Rock’ was a complete asshat. Why they would get him to perform is beyond comprehension.

    Anyway, heres 47 on stage now….LATER

  • NothingLeft

    Here’s a scary thought:

    Most humans can be hypnotized, and it is well within the functional abilities of recent AI LLM tools to create a hypnosis tool (there was a comment from Scott Adams on this yesterday). Additionally it is not that hard to gradually alter someone’s beliefs by feeding them the right sort of bias and bullsh*t continually. Google, facebook and Tiktok are all doing this to a greater or lesser degrees with malice aforethought or more lassi faire whatever-tickles-your-fancy engagement tracking via their ‘algorithms’.

    But when this is grasped as a means for targeted exploitation of humans (eg convince people to give money to some person or group) or population wide manipulation to achieve large scale political ends of bad actors then we have a huge problem on our hands.

    Social media is already deranging people who use it all the time feeding downwards spirals of self destructive behavior and beliefs, particularly peer-acceptance and status-focused women and girls anxious/envious over what everyone else thinks, does or has, and various brands of embittered men feeling marginalized and persecuted. It s a massive and growing mental health epidemic.

    I would say malignant actor manipulation is inevitable, and perhaps already happening via tiktok etc. It will only get worse and worse as tech to do it gets more accessible and personalized with AI involvement. Imagine being hypnotized as you sleep by a whispering phone telling you to give all your money to scientology, give your life to Allah, invest in some stock in a pump and dump scheme, vote for the leopards-eating-faces party or other more directly personally destructive exhortations.

    We are almost inevitably going to have to shut down access to social media that can be destructively employed to mess with peoples heads in such a manner, and prevent avenues for grooming/ propagandizing/ hypnosis by malignant actors.

    • Steve Otto(North Shore)

      Some are hypnotised 24/7. Look at the Greens.

  • Ra Henare

    Got to love the NZ Heralds subbies lack of general knowledge.
    /////////
    Elf star and comedian Bob Newhart dies at 94
    NZ Herald
    19 Jul, 2024 04:51 AM

    TV icon and beloved comedian Bob Newhart has died, his publicist announced today, after nearly half a decade on the screen.
    /////////////
    Maybe they don’t know there is such a thing as a Century. Probably 20 something years old and hasn’t experienced more than a decade of adult life

  • greybeard

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/world-news/350348330/watch-fires-damage-police-cars-violent-riot-erupts-uk

    In 1968 I was 20 years old and living in Auckland.
    Through work I made friends with a family who had recently arrived in NZ , having left Bradford in West Yorkshire, England.
    The father was a New Zealander and his wife was English, as were all their adult kids.
    ( I have to confess, it was because of one of those adult kids who caught my eye that I came to know the family, as I thought she was gorgeous ).

    Anyway: they said the main reason they left the UK was because even then in the late 1960s the muslim influence in Yorkshire was, for them, becoming untenable. Bradford was becoming a muslim-dominated hole.
    Harassment, unsociable behaviour towards English girls, no response from councils or authorities: they saw the writing on the wall.

    And in 1968 Enoch Powell made his notable speech which seemed to back-up their opinions.
    And many years later it appears as though he was something of a prophet, if I may use the term !

    • MCōs

      I used to work with a chap who came from Preston, which is about 50km to the left of Bradford. He said the place was just awful. Grim & dreary. Nothing to do with Muslims. Just a downright depressing part of the country.
      My mother, who’s from Shropshire, stopped overnight there on the way somewhere else with my father and said much the same thing.
      I think it might have been the mills or the coal mines or both.

      • Maggie Pie

        Is there any place you haven’t lived or anything you haven’t done Cossie?

        😀 😀 😀

      • fightingtemeraire

        The Muslims were imported to work in what were the cotton and wool mills in that area in the 50’s.

        • Mike

          Seems selfish of them not to go home when the mines and mills closed.

          • NeverMindTheBollocks

            Absolutely. Should have been the Pacific Seasonal Work Scheme. Everyone would have been happier.

  • Maggie Pie

    O.M.G. Trumpy spoke for the best part of 1 1/2 hours and never missed a beat.
    Talk about inspiring!

    And such humility. Made me cry when he kissed the fireman helmet on the dummy
    of Corrie Compatore, the guy who took a bullet for him and died at the Pen rally.

    The other thing you can’t help but notice, is just how immaculatly dressed and attractive all the Women on the Right are, compared to those who attend Dem rallies.
    Talk about ‘Chalk & Cheese’.

    Same here of course when you watch QT.
    The coalition up against the rag-tag mob of Labour, Greenz and TPM.

  • Pope Punctilious II

    Driving home I had the dubious pleasure of listening to Susana Lei’ataua interviewing David Seymour about his directive that Pharmac stop considering ToW in their decision-making. Seymour deserves a medal for keeping his cool in the face of some truly inane behaviour by Lei’ataua, who kept repeating the same questions in different words, and parroting slogans about “inequities”. Just another reminder that this government are fools if they bail out public media – they’re not worth it.

    • Mike

      Talking at cross purposes, I thought. Lei’atua wanted to repeat the same question; Seymour wouldn’t answer it just repeated his talking points.

      • Pope Punctilious II

        Seymour answered her question, but it wasn’t the answer that Lei’atua wanted.

        • Mike

          Yes, like most political interviews.

      • Maggy Wassilieff

        Seymour gave a detailed explanation – twice.

        Lei’ataua seemed to have no concept that people other than Maori (e.g. low-income, rural -living, limited education, etc) could experience poor health.

        But , I s’pose its hard for folks with a privileged background to know how the other half live.

    • Suze Wainwright

      What’s all this about Shannan Halbert’s boyfriend being involved…?

    • Ghost

      A widespread Microsoft outage is affecting Australia’s supermarkets, banks, telecommunications companies and more.

      The technical issue is thought to be related to Microsoft’s cloud services, which have already caused the grounding and cancellation of flights across the United States.

      Article

      • gorse

        This is massive. This is the reason I do not want to register my firearms. It is not an if but a when that our Police register is hacked. Computers are not safe, when will people learn that?

      • Ghost

        Appears to be an issue with a CrowdStrike update

      • NeverMindTheBollocks

        An update to the Crowdstrike agent has interacted badly with Windows. Solution is to delete the latest Crowdstrike agent & roll back to the previous version. *

        * Disclaimer, not professional advice, consult your IT support provider

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