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6:00 am, July 10th, 2025 - 56 comments
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Today's Posts (updated through the day):
The Rainbow Warrior 1985-2025. Part 2: Nuclear refugees in the Pacific: the evacuation of Rongelap
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The Rainbow Warrior 1985-2025. Part 2: Nuclear refugees in the Pacific: the evacuation of Rongelap
Where is Luxon? Our lack lustre and feeble CEO in chief appears to have vanished, leaving Seymour in charge.
Luxon is behaving suspiciously like a guy who knows he is going to be National's first one term PM and he's starting to think about the exit lane.
I think he is on leave, Wellness retreat maybe??
I believe Mccavity Luxon "outwardly respectable" is holidaying in Hawaaii. (Apologies to TS Elliot poet)
Or thinking, like the boss in Gliding On, "this will all reflect on me…"
TBH, he doesn't need an exit strategy. In case you've been living in a cave these past 18 months, he's wealthy and sorted.
What people who are wealthy and sorted need is respect, and this would be what I would be mulling over. I might be on a conveyor belt to a knighthood, but will that translate to a queue of big corporates wanting me to lift the profile of their Boards?
However, I just think he's distancing himself from the regulatory standards bill which the public have seen through just like they did the treaty bill.
I sometimes wonder whether John Key had 3 objectives for a game plan and exit strategy:
No 3 above all else: it's why his government brought back that ridiculous piece of cultural cringe. Documentary proof that the former poor little state-house boy had finally Arrived.
Rumour has it that the former manager who once flew over the cuckoo’s nest has had a haircut and is looking for a real job, which is really tough in the current climate.
American poet Robert Lowell (whom no-one mentions any more despite him being a literary celebrity in his day and very good) wrote about the mafia boss Lepke Buchalter (Czar Lepke) who was at the time in prison on death row:
“Flabby, bald, lobotomized,/ he drifted in a sheepish calm,/ where no agonizing reappraisal/ jarred his concentration on the electric chair/ hanging like an oasis in his air/ of lost connections. . . .”
Labour hits back at Seymour's claim NZ is still 'digesting' Covid-19 pandemic 'hangover' https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/566479/labour-hits-back-at-seymour-s-claim-nz-is-still-digesting-covid-19-pandemic-hangover
Megan Woods showing the kind of clever, honest, unchallengeable headline we need to be seeing much more of from the opposition.
The second covid inquiry is set up solely to damage labour as much as possible and to harvest as many future voters from the fringe lunatics that listen to the likes of matt king, for nzf and act.
Good to see Ardern agreeing to front the inquiry. Presumably by Teams.
For her sake I hope she never comes back here. We don't deserve her.
I agree that is the plan, but the potential for it blowing up in the governments face is huge. Ardern's book is flying out the doors (10,000+ copies sold) and she remains extremely popular.
She has said she will give evidence to this kangaroo court and given her enormous charisma (especially relative to Luxon and Seymour and Peters) the danger for the government is the public will be reminded of her charismatic leadership.
The likes of ACT and NZF have become so engrossed in the fringe merchant bubble that they've forgotten that is exactly what it is – fringe lunatics on social media. Most likely the public willend up seeing the whole thing for what it is – an unbecoming witch hunt and waste of taxpayers money.
Ardern turning up will also bring international press. The court will be a Mickey Mouse laughing stock around the world.
What the world thinks of us won't matter a hoot. It's how the NZ voters see things (or more accurately are made to see things) that'll matter come the next GE.
I wish I had your faith, Sanctuary. We won't get an unbiased coverage of this circus. The RW's bought-and-paid-for MSM will see to that.
Will she turn up in person or via video link, I wonder.
By calling it a kangaroo court you imply that the commissioners are Coalition lackeys and that their report will be politically biased and loaded with spin & blame.
https://www.covid19lessons.royalcommission.nz/about-us/meet-the-commissioners
Before you take down another trusted tool in/of our fragile democracy in one fell swoop you may want to sharpen your axe and present strong compelling support for your reckons.
It’s not the commissioners I distrust: it’s the Terms of Reference. That’s always where the government of the day tries to smuggle in its agenda.
The Coalition openly and shamelessly hijacked the original purpose of the inquiry, reframing it to serve their political ends. This iteration of the Royal Commission feels less like a genuine attempt to learn from the pandemic and more like a second shot at blaming Ardern and discrediting Labour.
+100 the focus on mandates is grist to their supporters mill as they warm up for the GE
That is precisely what it is, and is a reminder of the acute jealousy, spite and malfeasance endemic within this right-wing Coalition – aided and abetted by their sycophantic counterparts within the media.
Yes, that’s a valid point. The ToR could be a poisoned chalice and how the Commission will handle it remains to be seen. The political fallout from the Enquiry could be more damaging to Labour but I don’t think this is as certain as some seem to think it will be. Until we see an interim and/or final report I’d view it as speculation that borders on conspiracy theorising.
The idea that the inquiry will do fresh political damage to Labour feels overstated.
I'd argue that whatever criticism or disillusionment the public felt about the COVID-19 response has already been baked into the electorate’s perception. So, the political cost has been paid.
What this process can do, however, is serve as ambient reinforcement for a broader narrative. It won’t shift votes directly, but it gives the right a platform to recycle the “Labour incompetence” framing and to re-stoke the oddly persistent resentment toward Jacinda Ardern.
In that sense, it’s not about uncovering lessons: it’s about narrative groundwork.
Less of a smoking gun, more of a dead cat bounce.
Got links for all that..?
@ r.p…please ignore the above..
This comment captures the current thinking of some here on TS, it appears.
https://newsroom.co.nz/2025/07/09/what-the-covid-19-inquiry-is-teaching-us/
Ah, I see, some Standardistas, unlike me, still read the NZ Herald.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/labours-chris-hipkins-says-covid-inquiry-terms-platform-conspiracy-theorists/7V234KETJZEEVGOYJMBB7UZBKI/
I can see where Hipkins et al., are coming from, but this undermining narrative is risky longer-term.
I’m not sure this rises to the level of democracy-dooming or a serious undermining of constitutional norms.
Commissions of Inquiry have always been tools of politics as much as of truth-seeking. Their terms of reference are shaped by the government of the day.
That’s not new, and it doesn’t automatically delegitimize the process.
That said, I do agree there’s a long-term risk if public trust erodes too far. But we should be careful not to treat every politicised inquiry as a constitutional crisis.
Very true. Remember what happened when Mr Justice Mahon didn't produce the desired outcome?
I wasn’t thinking at all of a constitutional crisis as a possible direct outcome of this Inquiry. More of slow erosion of our democracy and its legitimate processes; I view it in the current context (e.g., the Regulatory Standards Bill) of the Coalition’s actions and their attempts to influence and re-direct the public narrative and opinion.
If you happen to be up on k'rd..why don't you pop into the merge cafe ..and give them a donation..
They work directly with the homeless…and do fantastic/much needed work..in multiple ways…at the heart of the problem…
They deserve all the support you could offer..
Ya just hafta walk in…and with a smile…hand as much cash as you can…to the person behind the till ..
You'll do good…and will feel good from doing it…
(According to the person heading the people doing this work…there are about 650 people sleeping rough in Auckland city..(!)
It's a national disgrace…in more ways than one…both the nation and the political party/ies stand indicted..
Even though PU cannot link, this is a good cause.
https://www.lifewise.org.nz/our-services/enterprises/merge-cafe/
Merge also has a place where you can leave weather appropriate items of clothing – scarves, beanie hats, raincoats etc. I have a friend who knits scarves for them and regularly goes in with a bag full.
I really hope the left political parties campaign to restore birthright in nz ..
It's a cruel/illogical piece of legislation…with the consequences that we now have young adults who are stateless .
How fucked up is that…?
Those politicians involved in the passing of this deeply nativist/racist legislation should hang their heads…
And the restoration of birthright must be retrospective…so those now young adults..born here ..but rendered stateless..must have their rightful places in this country restored .
It's the only right thing to do… IMHO..
F y.i…it was an unholy alliance between labour and national…that repealed birthright..
(Not labour/Clark's finest moment..eh..?)
So it would be appropriate for labour to promise to restore birthright..eh..?
What are you talking about? Provide a link.
My bad ..!…I forgot IMHO ..
I will opine again for you…
It was labour and national ..who together took away birthright for nz ..
An act of political perfidy ..
(And a fact…as I understand it ..
Darien Fenton was there…maybe she will come on ..and explain the 'why?'
(Hope that helps you understand what I opined ..)
And I am sure you would agree with me that it is a wrong screaming out to be righted..eh..?
And any link is in my brain…it is part of my general knowledge about nz politics..
(I majored in politics..eh..?)
If you feel I am lying/misleading in any way… please prove it…
My other memory is that it was the outcome from one of those moral panics we we so love ..a version of Asian invasion ..as they often are..
I remember being disgusted with Clark at the time…her coalition partners didn't want a bar of it ..so she got the tories on board..it was labour party legislation..
(Hope that helps ..)
And we are now reaping the outcomes…with young nz’ers..born here…educated here..wanting to live/work in their country of birth..
Now young adults ..and stateless..
Imagine that ..!
And tell me how that is not totally fucked up ..and something for labour to put right… IMHO..
'It was twenty years ago today .
That labour took birthright away..
Blighting young lives..on the way..
What they did has gone out of style .
And they are deserving of any bile..
it's time they put that right..'
And brought these stateless young kiwis..
Back into the light'
(Deepest apologies to Lennon/McCartney..)
This
The Loss of Birthright Citizenship in New Zealand | Victoria University of Wellington Law Review
Thanks, finally a useful response unlike PU’s pissing in the wind with heavy blowback.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/159213/no-risk-of-statelessness-over-new-zealand-citizenship-changes [8:29 pm on 13 December 2005]
Anne Salmond has written another well-argued piece against the Regulatory Standards Bill.
https://newsroom.co.nz/2025/07/09/anne-salmond-a-flawed-bill/
I was going to play Devil’s advocate but Bryce Wilkinson has already done the QED that was picked up by Anne Salmond: https://newsroom.co.nz/2025/07/09/anne-salmond-a-flawed-bill/#comment-389195.
Wilkinson, Seymour, and other Atlas & ACT apologists argue that a Parliamentary majority is sufficient and in fact trumps everything else, including a ‘mandate’ to introduce such a WMD into the House a fourth time. Bring on the election in 2026 – it will get messier and dirtier than ever before.
I was reading Mountain Tui's post lastnight and he mentioned that the NZ Spooks are dead against this stupid bill that Seymor is trying pass during a Select Committee meeting.
When you have the Spooks saying this Bill is going only to compromise NZ's Economic Security, but also NZ's Internal and External Security!
When you have everyone and now the NZ Spooks saying this Bill is a complete load of Bollocks! Then you are now having "ah Houston we have a problem" moment!
Seymor should quit while he's ahead, before it goes boom i.e. blows up in his face LoL, but the little arrogant shit won't just like the Captain of the Titanic said to his No1 "bugger the icebergs No1, as we are the Titanic and we are unsinkable"!
Yup, I agree.
For readers’ convenience: https://mountaintui.substack.com/p/gcsb-and-nzsis-warn-act-bill-risks [from right-hand menu on TS home page]
The idea that our Government has a "mandate" to do whatever they choose, regardless of the degree of public opposition, is further proof that New Zealand is NOT a democracy. If there was ever any doubt!
NZ is a democracy, of sorts, but I’d argue that there’s too much power centred in Parliament as it stands.
https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/indias-water-treaty-power-play-signals-regional-shift/
And on the western side of India, there are threats to the Indus River system. Put these two together and you get a very bellicose India.
If there was going to be a nuclear war, the existential threat to Pakistan could be a trigger.
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=4012346545693020&set=gm.1259365935885766&idorvanity=399298005225901
Another not very good poll for the Left (though it is Curia and carried out for the Taxpayers Union)…
Lab 31.6 Gre 9.4 TPM 3.5 =44.5
Nat 33.9 NZF 9.8 ACT 9.1 =52.8
https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360753155/new-poll-sees-nz-first-surge-become-third-most-popular-party
trend still looking good for Labour. The Greens not so much. Peters is always a worry.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion_polling_for_the_next_New_Zealand_general_election
I’d take Peter’s over Seymour any day, he’s the lesser of two evils
The main difference for the left is that Peters has the power to block left wing governments forming eg sidelining the Greens or going with National. ACT is essentially part of National, so has less bearing on that.
I agree, but its still a poor choice to have to make.
I also suspect NZ First's rise in the latest poll is due to lukewarm National voters losing confidence in Luxon and his sidekick Willis. It's up to Labour and the Greens to do the hard yards and get them across the dividing line.
Can't reply …can't switch to desktop..seriously messed up format..
Am using android phone .
Above link request was to incognito..
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]