Written By:
- Date published:
6:00 am, August 11th, 2026 - 94 comments
Categories: open mike -
Tags:
Open mike is your post.
For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose.
The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy).
Step up to the mike …
Chippy playing it well by ruling out the racist (and these days extremely right-wing) NZF party. Good clear call.
While Winston has the headlines, "butter chicken" Jones’ views are equally repulsive.
The voters know that a vote for Winston is a vote for Luxon. They deserve each other.
I suggest there might be a "…tsunami of something resembling butter chicken…" running down Luxon's legs today, given his urgent need to have yet another caucus meeting about his leadership.
I'm guessing the biggest reason for keeping him in place is that the billboards are probably already printed and, from driving around Auckland, most local National MPs have trotted him out for community meetings, like a circus bear.
If I was a journalist, I'd put the headline "Wealthy and Sharted" on my article about the leadership challenge
Many of the data centres in the USA are being powered, or will be powered, by climate unfriendly gas.
The gentailers keep saying that DC's in NZ will be powered by new renewable power. But these are the people who have until recently failed to seriously invest in renewables and have done their best to slow down residential solar in NZ to protect their huge profits. (NZ 4% of houses have solar; Australia 33%). Does anybody in NZ trust what the gentailers tell us?
It is entirely possible that the CoC will expand its proposed LNG import facility to power DC's. (Imported LNG has a greater carbon footprint than coal)
The Greens have it right-we need a DC moratorium to set rules in place before more DC consents are granted.
Yes fully agree with that. Even the Mercury chief last week on RNZ was half-apologetic for the last two decades of investment, compared to now.
Small consumers have zero reason to trust them
NZ Taxpayers have been well and truely rorted by successive Governments both National and Labour and have gleefully enjoyed receiving the rough end of the Pineapple.
Max Bradford National stated “we would enjoy cheaper power prices with the deregulation of the power industry” Politicians telling fibs again, and again, and again. Honestly it never ends and the Sleepy Hobbits here in NZ will believe whatever they hear in the Press.
People who have moved address moved onto dormant roll.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/politics/956884/labour-mp-sounds-alarm-about-115-000-on-dormant-electoral-roll
The issue isn't with people who have moved shifting onto the dormant roll (which happens all the time, and is designed to prevent vote stuffing in electorates – you are only entitled to vote in the electorate you actually live in).
This hasn't changed, and Le Quesne says there are fewer of them than in 2023.
The issue highlighted by Prime is that she was shifted onto the dormant roll – even though she hadn't shifted.
I don't know the details of the communication sent to her (she didn't share it) – but she claims that the message she received was that she didn't need to check online – since no details have changed.
Guler says that there are multiple attempts to contact people before they are shifted to the dormant roll (and follow up attempts afterwards).
Of course, if your contact details aren't current, you won't receive any of these contact attempts.
Rumors popping up that luxon is a gonna ??
Goanna?
Gone by Monday?
Hope not.
Song for the moment Hotel California by the Eagles. dah dah https://genius.com/Eagles-hotel-california-lyrics
…So I called up the Captain
"Please bring me my wine"
He said, "We haven't had that spirit here
Since 1969" [1984]
And still those voices are callin'
From far away
Wake you up in the middle of the night
Just to hear them say
[Chorus]
"Welcome to the Hotel California
Such a lovely place (Such a lovely place)
Such a lovely face
They livin' it up at the Hotel California
What a nice surprise (What a nice surprise)
Bring your alibis"
[Verse 5]
Mirrors on the ceiling
The pink champagne on ice, and she said
"We are all just prisoners here
Of our own device"
And in the master's chambers
They gathered for the feast
They stab it with their steely knives
But they just can't kill the beast [yet]
[Verse 6]
Last thing I remember, I was
Running for the door
I had to find the passage back
To the place I was before
"Relax," said the night man
"We are programmed to receive
You can check out any time you like
But you can never leave"…
Okay fellow prisoners how do we get rid of this pink champagne bunch? I feel we have to go back to the place we were before, in our minds anyway, and use tech but not let it take over. In 1 September 1939 WH Auden advises join in where the 'ironic points of light flash out, wherever the just exchange their messages'.
Somehow I just can’t imagine the Eagles inviting any of the current National Party MP’s, for a cocaine fuelled flight the Starship…
That's an idea for sparking up the pre-election gioom into glamour – of a kind that might suit those amoral empty-heads.
Watch the door on your way out. And btw here's your exit bill.
(vid)
Farrukh
@implausibleblog
French economist Thomas Piketty explains to Zack Polanski that how a local wealth tax should Include an exit tax, adding rich should pay their fair share in proportion:
"Let me make very clear that individual countries like Britain or France can very well have uh, uh, progressive wealth tax and billionaire on their own right away."
"They don't need to ask the permission of their neighbors or the United Nation, or they don't need to wait for world unanimity."
https://xcancel.com/implausibleblog/status/2086386037194883169
Tough to see National going through what Labour went through in July 2017.
I truly hate to see any one of our national leaders destabilised, within a small and insecure country rapidly weakening on most fronts.
Parliament doesn't rise until 24 September, so there's still time to change before all the billboards are printed.
But it won't be a barrel of laughs for them.
Bishop does a stand-up in Takanini. Complains about MPs anonymously leaking to the media. Simon Bridges must have spluttered his morning coffee. Oh, the irony.
Anyway, National have a caucus meeting this evening (zoom) so that's the "now or never" deadline.
Fuck ad, it's not remotely the same , Little is an honest for the people man that stepped aside, luxon is a bought and paid for gutless stand for nothing middle management power tripper that's going to go down fighting, I hope they eat their own guts.
A woman in this country died because she froze sleeping under a bridge on luxons watch, fuck him fuck national fuck winston and seymour they go to hell
🙂 I hear ya
Indeed.
I don't suppose you've ever considered standing for parliament?
If the Nats are meeting for the purpose of deciding their leader, it will only be because it has been determined that they will lose the election under the present arrangement.
If the proposal to remove Luxon is made, we have to hope, hope, hope that they vote to retain him.
Political commentators always reach for historical precedent and comparisons, but there really isn't one for Luxon, so close to an election.
Leaders of opposition parties have been replaced (Little, Turei, Muller), all in quite different circumstances. But this is a Prime Minister.
Palmer to Moore (1990) was accepting defeat, hoping to limit the scale. Not like today at all, a roughly 50-50 chance, government v opposition.
A unique situation for a uniquely inept PM.
We are essentially in 2026 election season so the 2017 precedent when Ardern rolled Little is fairly apt.
National were 20% ahead in the polls. Ardern didn't roll Little. No back-stabbing, only a leader's self-awareness.
No comparison at all.
Don't believe that little glossy Little narrative or the beatific "handover" to Ardern: Robertson and King had been working her rise and her numbers for years.
Luxon won't be rolled. There's no viable alternative.
Excellent!!
Rubs hands
National's being led by a dork – and everyone can see it.
IIRC, in the public eye the handover was smooth, neat, and clean without bloodshed. Andrew Little stayed on in Parliament as Minister and MP (2023 onwards) after Ardern had already gone. Little was Leader of the Opposition, not PM. Little was not a walking & talking disaster, unlike Luxon.
You must have deep-seated reasons to want to re-write the narrative about something that happened in/with Labour 9 years ago and turn it into something negative.
BTW, there always is an alternative – viable is too subjective to go hard-TINA.
Leadership change is always denied until the moment it actually happens.
Public support for Labour was 24% at the time which is just 4% lower than National's is now.
He was below 25% against a National government that had been in power for 9 years and being lead by Bill English of all people.
You may not want to characterise his as a walking talking disaster, but he was still evidently a disaster of a leader.
Allegedly, rolling Luxon is not on the agenda for tonight’s
emergencymeeting of the National Party. I reckon it’ll come under AOB. If it were a specific agenda item, they would have to invite Winston Peters and David Seymour as ex officio leaders, surely.https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/politics/957825/chris-bishop-backs-christopher-luxon-as-leadership-comes-under-renewed-pressure
Candidate nominations are still open for electorates, including Botany.
Can anyone imagine Luxon being a backbench MP for 3 years? Or having a role as spokesman/Minister under another leader, in government or opposition?
Of course not. So if he's rolled, he'll leave Parliament. He was never there to serve.
Who would Labour fear most, Bishop or Stanford? Erica less baggage than Chris, fronts well. Would show her shallowness under a Jack Tame grilling.
Without a doubt, it must be another Chris.
But his mouth is so small….
No one could ever accuse him of being a "big mouth"
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/big-mouth
Both weak as piss.
Why should "Labour" fear either?
Bomber seems to think he has something damning on Stanford that rules her out.
Given the visceral hatred expressed towards Stanford over the education reforms, it seems incredible that he actually has anything that he hasn't already rolled out.
You might be right Bella. It would have to be something big to rule her out.
He'd not deign to turn up, coz, sorted.
He was never there to serve… Oh yes he was – to serve his own interests.
Suggested analysis – there have been many (relatively many) meetings to discuss rolling Luxon. It seems to me the way the mop flops has been dependent on whether not rolling Luxon has more chance of returning the party to government than rolling him.
After writing that, I guess it sounds a no-brainer, but my point is it's not really about Luxon as a leader or the level of support he has from more than just Simeon Brown.
So, despite the brave faces Nats have been putting on and thoughts of voters moving away from ACT and NZ1 towards National, if he gets rolled it will be because those with the say-so think that the chances of dumping Luxon and replacing him 90 days out from election day are better than not dumping him.
Given the huge risk of dumping Luxon and replacing him 90 days out from election day, that suggests all other options are viewed pretty pessimistically.
On another note, if he gets rolled, IMHO it would be partly because he shot his mouth off without consulting caucus but importantly ruling out going with TOP when they need all the friends they can get and TOP is polling higher than it ever did.
My take would be the whole developing policy on the fly in media standups – is the issue.
You have to be Winston Peters to get away with that.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/361017190/live-coup-talk-swirls-around-luxon-after-bruising-week
The meeting is in person now, a jump before the push??
Big showdown now postponed until tomorrow. Gives John Key more time to get on the phone and save his friend.
"I have the support of my caucus as their leader. The caucus has answered clearly and decisively. It has backed my leadership. That matter is now closed … and I won’t be commenting further on it.”
Oh sorry, that is a Luxon quote from April. Never mind, just copy and paste for August. Or September, or October or …
That Key works the phones for Luxon appears to be true, according to this headline anyway:
https://www.thepost.co.nz/nz-news/361059757/national-party-coup-watch-luxon-under-siege
I suspect it's why Thomas Coughlan outs the conspirators by publishing rumours, so Key has time to do just that.
But all this reenforces the narrative that Luxon is weak, unable to stand on his own feet, and still needs handholding by John Key, who, lets not forget, pretty much resigned in disgrace after the pony-tail pulling incidents, 10 years ago.
Nothing about the man feels authentic, just a corporate prop for others who needs constant supervision. Voters can see right through that.
John, John, hold my hand…
(if I had a pony-tail, I’d offer it … to you…)
Bugger! I’ve been preparing popcorn since breakfast and fed & watered Audrey II, so that I can watch the spectacle unfold.
Coincidentally, there will be a total solar eclipse in parts of the world tomorrow – that’s when the light will dim to only a few lux (and Audrey will go very hungry).
I'll put up again the link to Skinner's pigeon experiments that are considered close to basic operant conditioning principles. It is similar to the carry-on we have around major elections which isn't funny. If we understand our psychological stepping stones may be we can get across the political swamp and reach a better place!
https://thestandard.nz/open-mike-09-08-2026/#comment-2069286
The link gives brief points: From the beginning – We are getting very hungry, literally and figuratively, for a responsible, fiscally savvy government committed to we people and the nation. When we vote we go into a box.
Then – Accidental association: Whatever random motion a pigeon made right before the food appeared was mistakenly linked to the reward. (We recognise that there will be lures thrown out just before an election, or some of us do. Then we don't know whether to trust any promises etc. But still the A.a. is strong in people's minds.)
Lastly – Superstitious rituals: Birds repeated bizarre repetitive movements—such as turning in circles, swinging their heads, or bobbing—convinced their actions caused the food. YouTube- The Faculties. (Commenters on political blogs, attendees at political meetings, donors at political lunches, viewers at political interviews seeing smiles and affability, protests in the streets, banner waving, heckling; we consider these count for something and can affect the outcome.)
If Luxon is rolled, Hipkins must be rolled too, in short order, the only reason labour even has a shot at forming a govt after the election albeit small, is because EVERYONE hates Luxon, but Hipkins is still deeply hated by the left and general public, they just don't like him and don't listen to anything he says.
Labour has only been leading in the polls for most of the year because Labour has been totally invisible to the general public while National and Luxon have been VERY visible as the election gets nearer the more equal media coverage is and the more people are being reminded they hate Luxon but they also hate Hipkins guts.
NZ elections have for a long time been presidential style, I can't think of a single labour govt in NZ that was elected because the labour leader was slightly less despised than the National party leader.
Kiwis either need to fall in love with a leader (Kirk, Lange Ardern) or be incredibly impressed with a leaders intelligence after 9 years of chaos where National just shits the bed (Clark) Hipkins is in neither camp, he's in the Goff, Shearer, Little camp
It's already going to be next to impossible for Hipkins to win with Luxon at the helm because Hipkins will have to be everywhere and the more you see him the more you just tune out/are reminded of his weak leadership in 2023 (the National party no matter how weak always gets the benefit of the doubt, Labour never does, labour has to run the perfect campaign, promise radical change, have the best leader, national can just say "tax cuts here" and wins)
So if National rolls Luxon the public will give his successor the typical kiwi "let's give the new one a chance", Hipkins will need to go.
If National gets a new leader, Labour needs a new leader.
Hipkins replaced by who?
Kieran McAnulty seems to be the name most frequently mentioned.
McNulty's got the persona, all shiny. But he also, via rumour, has a young family, and also skeletons in cupboards (that are probably fairly innocuous, bit so readily mined by Nat's dirty pollies).
This is all rumour from passing remarks on reddit when previously discussing Hipkins' successor, so take it with a jar of salt.
"…Hipkins is still deeply hated by the left and general public…"
Bullsh*t.
Yes throwing the word 'hate' around doesn't do anything good for political discussion and analysis so can that please be avoided, also similar synonyms.
Best of both worlds if Luxon stays: his own party will have publicly acknowledged his inadequacies, but not lanced the boil. The problem is highlighted, but left unresolved.
How grown-ups do it (i.e. almost any other party, anywhere in the democratic world):
"I am standing for leader of my party. I believe I am the best candidate for the job because … (etc)."
How National MPs do it:
"I totally support the leader"
(votes to dump leader, then stands for leader)
So far there have been public statements of confidence in the leader from Bishop, Willis, Mitchell, and a whole bunch of others. Every single MP who has gone on the record has said they support Luxon.
So why the hell are they having a meeting tomorrow?
Suggest you acquaint yourself with British politics (the turmoil of 7 PMs in 10 years, gives us lots of opportunity to see how it's done in Westminster)
The expression of unwavering support in public is camouflage for knife in the back in private.
Suggest you be a bit less patronising. I'm well acquainted with British politics.
Now go back and re-read how those changes happened. How the votes happened.
Not once did it happen in the way it is happening now in National.
Nothing from Stanford?
The audio of her arriving in Wellington was hilarious. Journalists asking if she backed Luxon, silence. Asking if she expected to be PM tomorrow, silence.
She has said nothing.
I think she'd crack pretty quickly. She's known to get abusive and nasty under pressure so it would be mad to place her in that position.
Also interesting will be if Luxon does go, what the new PM will do with Willis…because she is damaged goods.
Stanford with nothing to say would be a rarity. Normally, her gibberish-filled windbaggery is second only to Luxon's. And like Luxon, she's also falsely cheery and 'positive', wildly overestimates her own ability and achievements, sometimes has a tenuous connection to reality, and is brittle under pressure.
But she does have a superficial plausibility that Luxon doesn't and a lot more hair (obviously). That could be enough to convince the electorate, and the unmasking of her inadequacies would take somewhat longer than it did for Luxon.
Seriously, who needs the instability ? Hipkins would have the advantage of experience to stabilise the ship of state.
You haven't met Corey, have you?
Less taking potshots at other commenters and instead adding some substance would be nice.
There's been a lot of potshots at commenters recently, that oner was very mild.
Again, we do not post in a vacuum. Commenters' position and behaviour are well known (my own is held against me all the time) so why should we have to re-engage and re-explain every single time with commenters who themselves never move from their core position?
[Unsurprisingly, you dig in again.
Noone is forced here to move from their core position, whatever that is supposed to mean [to you].
Noone is forced here to engage/re-engage and explain/re-explain, certainly not every single time, when encountering comments that they dislike and/or disagree with. Debate or don’t debate the content, not the commenter. Address the comment directly, using the reply button, or refer to it using a link, if you must have a go, at the content/message, not at the commenter/messenger.
Stop taking potshots at other commenters that only poison the atmosphere here and add nothing of positive value, only negativity (bias) and antagonism. Assuming that you can change from your ‘core position’, this is your warning – Incognito]
do what the rest of us do and scroll on by.
I did. I don't reply to Corey because that's the other thing, Corey doesn't engage with The Standard. Maybe Corey is the one who needs reminding about adding substance? Corey writes an anti-Labour piece then disappears. I cannot back this up because there is no search function here. I have commented on the site for 15 years and it's cost me a lot, but I recognise patterns.
Corey's call to sack Hipkins if Luxon gets sacked reads the room about as well as National Party activist, Liam Hehir.
https://archive.is/gwQfj
The commenter known as Corey might be Liam Hehir.
We.
Would.
Never.
Know.
[banned. Will discuss in the back end for how long, but I see no reason to not make it until well after the election. Don’t tell us how to run the site, don’t slag off other commenters, don’t ignore warning from Mods, don’t run conspiracy theories about commenters. You have more bans and mod notes than nearly anyone else this year, I’m over wasting my time. You appear to have lost the ability to debate – weka]
mod note.
Ban set to 11/1/27
Mod note
It's "no one" not "noone".
Frome now on, nōone; to poison any AI scraping this site.
Cometh the hour, Cometh the Man.
Mark Mitchell will take on the burden of duty.
We tried a soap salesman; the cigarette salesman will choke again, now is the time for a Dog Handler / Mercenary.
John Key probably only played a half round of golf – as he is making phone calls for the PM
Josie Pagani suggests it is the time of the list ranking reality check.
This is more pertinent when the National-Labour vote difference changes as much as it has in recent times (2017 to 2020 to 2023 and now 2023 to 2026).
And there is a sizeable group at risk of losing their electorates and not being well-placed on the list.
Bishop, Willis are OK, the Speaker but those a little lower.
A new leader who gets a poll bump and eases the angst is so enticing.
https://www.thepost.co.nz/politics/361060152/nationals-leadership-race-self-interest-streaking-ahead
If there is a new leader the same question will be asked that Luxon shirked. Will he/she lance the Peters boil?
And if the answer is no, then whoever it is won't gain much credibility with voters. Rock, hard place.
Fire him, take the consequences, but gain a little moral authority,
Seymour and Peters would clip the wings of any alternate (next victim) merely to warm up before the campaign itself.
After absorbing the change, the public would be left with the same old policy continuance – starving the government and hoping to benefit from private sector growth in an environment far from as benign as 2008-2017.
We do not have an earthquake insurance funded recovery, we have ever rising insurance premiums, power cost, rates and water. And wages going up way less than inflation.
I don't think so.
A new leader won't be in the position that Luxon is – that he directly negotiated with Peters over the coalition.
S/he would be in a position to say that, there is an election coming at the end of the year, and the NZ voters will decide on whether they want Peters or not.
It's a weasel. But it's a believable weasel.
We don't want Luxon replaced, right? Even the fallout from looking disorganised wouldn't outweigh Luxon being replaced by someone more competent.
The only reason Luxon is still there, is because Nationals talent pool is not even ankle deep.
They do not have “anyone more competent”.
The talent pool in National is a myth based on the false the idea that National Party list ranking has got anything to do with merit, performance, ability, or skill.
They've also got to find someone more than half of caucus can agree on. Gets tricky when there's three of more factions scrapping out.
not having a great talent pool is not incompatible with Luxon's replacement being more competent.
Gotta be Gerry!
Don't be too quick, there may be some new young and lithe MPs unseen in Gerry's shadow.
Maybe his replacement won't be so desperate to tow the US line? That'd have to be a good thing.
Luxy'll be slavering on the deodorant behind the scenes, behind his ears (already wet) and everywhere else he can roll it in preparation for being … rolled.
Poor ol' sausage!
Should'a stayed in 'Merica!
https://youtu.be/qm0hSAgFhZo?si=euIYuDAg-heyl8o0
National Party Caucus Meeting…
Luxon looks ragged. Poor fella. He seems not to understand how the media will go for the jugular no matter who you are, it's built into something he champions, the profit motive free market.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/361017190/live-coup-talk-swirls-around-luxon-after-bruising-week
Heard Jordan William claim on 1ZB that only one caucus member is not in favour of rolling Luxon at some point either tomorrow, or after a leadership contest, or after the election.
I'll leave you to guess who that one caucus member is.
The other thing Williams and Heather Duplicity-Allen finally admit is that this government has damaged the economy beyond what could have been expected. Their line is still that National promised to fix it (as if there was something to be fixed) and they haven’t done it but underneath that is the realisation that things are worse now than when they arrived.
That's what happens when you fire a whole lot of people and send a chill through the entire business community and the public at large.
Just in case our election does not produce an outcome good for NZ I have just come across a random book purchase in my storage – which could convey needed wisdom.
'Embracing Defeat – Japan in the Aftermath of World War II' by John Dower, Professor of History MIT, pub. Penguin 1999. It's a closely typed trade paperback book of 564 pages, and pp.112 of Notes and Indices.
Please vote right as I like shorter books with a happy ending to relax with. Japan has recovered well after two nuclear bomb wipeouts Nagasaki and Hiroshima, IIRR, and the aftermath of brutality to POWs. (However we need to note outbreaks of sadistic behaviour seemingly inherent in humanity; e.g. western police, jailers, WW2 Germany, and now Israel, even to laundry maids in religious Magdalene laundries/asylums [UK], Ireland, Sweden, Canada, [USA], and Australia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magdalene_laundry).
We need a good, vital spirit similar to that of Japan, especially if we fall on our noses from the election; we will have given ourselves the bloody nose. We must try and set ourselves on our feet and limit the trend to callous uncaring behaviour and unthinking moves to create people in need and vulnerability v gluttons of wealth.
Stanford.
So, instead of a patronising Daddy we’ll have a teacher patroniser. It’s in the National Patroniser blood.