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6:00 am, April 13th, 2026 - 47 comments
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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 …
Verity Johnson does great work this morning.
Stuff: Latest breaking news | New Zealand
I truly do get her instinct to ask for Auntie Helen back.
Quite right that Winston Peters with his anti EV and solar power uptake is a man out of his time era.
But confusing Helen with Bruce Wayne Brown? And here, commissioners are too busy getting in and out of trouble themselves.
There might be some residual Auckland of 2021 bat coronavirus angst still in play.
Navigating the ship of state away from the C of C direction (anti-Paris Accord & petrol driven car roads/carbon era thinking) is now part of security policy.
If the Hormuz Strait closure keeps oil at or near US$100 a barrel, and feedstocks don't get through to the Asian refineries, no one will be navigating any ship state or otherwise.
The breathe through the nose saying has pertinence.
That lack of urea for this seasons planting might lead to food rationing is a real factor for those who do not own stocks.
You mean this?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/360962750/it-time-aunty-helen-return-why-extraordinary-times-call-extraordinary-measures
I had my criticisms of Clark when she was PM, but in retrospect, I don't think we've had a PM of her caliber since. Ardern and Robertson were excellent during Covid, but they were focused on the Labour MO developed in the past. I don't see Swarbrick as having Clark's political savvy.
Ouch!
I had the pleasure of serving on Helen Clark's Electorate Committee for a few years.
Not only was she breathtakingly competent she also inspired others to similar competence.
You worked hard and did your best because that was what she did and what she expected of others. She supported those who worked in the Electorate and we gladly returned the favour.
She promoted the "we are all in this together" vibe that was repeated during the early days of Covid before we were infected with the greater danger that came from overseas science deniers.
FFS! What is it when a young-ish ‘fresh’ mainstream establishment columnist writes something that Lefties like? They get adored & admired like K-pop idols selling their bodies & souls to Netflix – Tova is outside the age bracket – and treated like the NZ Greta Thunberg. The nostalgia burn for HC is backward-looking desperation to fill a gaping void in the hearts & minds of Lefties. Get real!
Helen Clark's doing really well in her current role, and getting a fair amount of media coverage with it.
Of course Clark would not be in line for being PM again – maybe if we became a republic someone like her could be in line for president – depending on how democratically the president role was structured, and legally formulated. I wouldn't like one like the US where the prez can accumulate too much power.
I do think we are lacking in potential MPs to become a really good, PM to lead a democratic govt and NZ towards a more sustainable future that would provide for all the citizens and residents. And a comparison with Clark just shows up how NZ is currently lacking in effective leaders for such a future.
Or a gaping void in the political leadership on the left.
Yep. Especially in the red bit of the spectrum. At the same time I just submitted my GP member candidate ranking and wasn't super excited either.
I must admit that I have never got excited by politicians per se, so in that sense I may be unusual – I don’t conflate competence and excitement.
do you see current MPs of Clark's caliber and experience? (not agreeing with the article that she should come back, but there's a reason people aren't excited).
Maybe, but from memory she wasn't too popular until after she became PM, like she just proved herself to be exceptionally competent & warm. She earned respect, (until the Urewera & seabed & foreshore stuff anyway).
I find this a peculiar question; where would they’ve been hiding all that time and why?
There might be a few younger generation MPs who may have (enormous?) potential and capabilities that even they themselves don’t realise. I think there’s also an element of being at the right place at the right time, so when opportunity knocks, they can take it, one at a time. It requires a supportive network, both personal and from within the party, to nurture a candidate to greater achievements.
This is how far we have fallen. Pining for a leader that chose to introduce welfare for working people rather than act to undo her party's damage to the working class.
Good to see Orban concede in the Hungarian elections against Magyar.
In your face MAGA-world.
Has J D Vance done it again? Went to see the pope and then he died, went to see Orban and now he's being soundly beaten.
JD gets to do all Donny's losing, pleasures of being #2
I read a comment that we should get him to endorse Winston Peters next.
Luxon and the happy clappys are probably trying to arrange a visit before November as we speak
When asked on Morning Report today by John Campbell about what his government was doing about the East Cape road (SH5), which has been washed out multiple times, Luxon offered the $1 billion the government was spending on the 4-lane Napier to Hastings road. ($45m a km).
This of course will not help the East Cape at all….though the road he mentioned will help the kind of people who vote National. (Over 50% of the East Cape is Maori)
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2019030689/john-campbell-interviews-prime-minister-christopher-luxon
I heard that – it was funny. Not quite as geographically confused as Te Puke–Hawaii, but on the same spectrum.
But in reality, what can be done about Tairawhiti? Ideally the steep hill country would all be reforested in natives that never get chopped down, and the rivers would be allowed to meander to a greater extent over their flood plains dumping silt and logs and so creating wetlands, bayous, side-channels etc.. All this would absorb and slow down the water and make roads, railways, houses and bridges more secure. But what does this do to the economic base of the people who live there now and how do you manage such a transition? One doesn't have to be as dumb as Luxon to be rendered silent by this problem.
I drove SH5 during Covid for the first time-spectacular scenery most of the way.
I'm not an engineer but I think gradually, section by section, they could have a plan to make SH5 a resilient two-lane road. I think the East Cape people deserve this and it is an asset as a tourist route.
For me this is money much better spent than 4-lane highways, so divert the money from them.
Yes, but I doubt that we can solve the problem by keeping on building stronger and stronger roads as floods get worse and worse. Real resilience also requires those land use changes to reduce the energy of water before it hits coastal transport links.
https://archive.li/PJVJH
”Ministerial briefings reveal how a proposed arrangement with the United States on critical minerals came about, what a draft version included, and its potential risks. But within documents obtained by the Herald was also information that wasn’t meant to be released. ”
My question is, what’s in it for Aotearoa/New Zealand. Most often any profit from mining activity ends up offshore. Any damage to the environment falls on the government to repair. A classic case of privatise the profits, socialise the losses.
The environment is a second or third thought. Drill baby drill.
"...what’s in it for Aotearoa/New Zealand?"
Short-term avoidance of Trump's anger and possible trade retaliation.
ChickenCraig no woke Little : The Sky isn't falling….MMkay. Whatever No Woke Craig. Ignore the Experts. Thank fuck others are up to, and aware of, speed with Emergency Response.
And just for No Woke Craig, et al…….
From your link: "We didn't need a state of emergency. When you make a call like that, it means you are under the pump," he said.
Presumably getting out from "under the pump" takes time, which is why if you think a state of emergency is likely, you might call it early to mobilise resources beforehand. Personally, I would rather have to stand down resources that I didn't need after all, than find myself standing up in a court trying to justify why I didn't call a state of emergency when people ended up dying.
Fortunately for me, that's a dilemma and a responsibility I don't have to face. For the sake of the residents of Wairoa, I hope 'no woke Craig' is soon also relieved of such a responsibility.
Yep, agree. I really cannot fathom the thought process (if there is indeed such ?), of no woke Craig. He could also well be a…Climate Denier…etc; Usually fits.
However… I was kinda nonplussed to read that sorted Luxon, has a woke side? Who knew? Does Ol' Wily Winnie? (Know that is : )
If 'no woke Craig' (love it) had the authoritah, imagine how much wasted precautionary 'woke' rubbish Kiwis could avoid. Weather (etc.) must 'repect Craig's authoritah!" – sweet.
NACT1 Dystopian Future : Woke Free NZ (esp under drunkle Wily Winnie) brrrr…..
DMK if you like cartoons of a leftist (dare I say woke) nature… you might like some of The Nib (sadly defunct) Authors ?
I rate many highly ! (literally so many , but IMO special mention Jen Sorensen , Matt Bors, Brian McFadden, Tom Tomorrow; et al…)
IMO the World is the same…all over. The same scumbag creeps/fascists screwing over the same people..and Planet.
Bank predicts an increase of the OCR to 3% by October.
Floating mortgages first
Those who took two year mortgages last year, Jan-Feb have the right to look smug.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/money/360963798/nzs-biggest-bank-tips-three-ocr-hikes-year
The timeline is set.
No known ships delivering fuel after April 23.
Shall we compare ourselves to Oz
Their population is about 5 times more than our own.
https://www.thepost.co.nz/business/360984419/10-fuel-ships-we-know-are-their-way-heres-when-theyll-arrive
A less scary account here
They count 14 tankers coming our way
But the in New Zealand stock has gone down a week over the past month.
https://www.1news.co.nz/2026/04/13/latest-official-fuel-stocks-info-how-much-does-nz-have/
Have you seen anything that talks about normal gaps between fuel ships arriving and the next ones setting off? Is ten days normal or abnormal?
No.
The last tankers that left the Gulf pre closure arrived in Singapore mid March* (presumably a little later to SK and Japan).
Time for a tanker to be unloaded and processed – unknown?
Refining is 2-4 weeks.
Tankers take 2-3 weeks to get here.
So the decline hits in the unknown? + 2-4 weeks + 2-3 weeks period.
Now is about a month* and a forecast of 10 more days, then some sort of gap.
4 – 7 weeks for the last oil to leave Hormuz to reach here via the refinery. So there could be a gap anywhere from now until early May?
Where does the 10 days come from?
The Post article noting a source of ships coming our way had none after 23 April (10 days time) or May on their list.
This is positive.
https://www.1news.co.nz/2026/04/13/latest-official-fuel-stocks-info-how-much-does-nz-have/
👍
John Campbell's first day on Morning Report today…well worth a read.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/john-campbells-first-morning-on-radio-new-zealands-morning-report-reviewed/Z3L2O4QKEJBUJMTJVRI5KC42KQ/
Wow, great read, might be worth a listen in the mornings, thanks for that BG.
Through No Right Turn:
https://petitions.parliament.nz/b6459024-f984-473b-2357-08de807c278c/sign?lang=en
Worth signing . . . . .
Winston & NZF are going to get a Clear Definition what the difference is between a "Man and a Woman". WOW I thought Government would have more important things to address like Child Poverty etc.
Does anyone know when the "Third COVID Enquiry" is going to get underway, so we can make submissions ??? Just asking for a friend.