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6:00 am, August 15th, 2026 - 68 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 …
https://www.stuff.co.nz/money/361020294/could-simple-tax-change-give-200000-more-kiwis-health-insurance
The invasive private health parasite trying to spread
Yep bWag I just heard on RadioNZ that 35% of people in NZ have private health insurance and that this is lower than most western nations.
It sounds incredibly high to me and does much to explain the crap treatment the less well-off and poor are condemned to in the public system.
Tax changes should be made to make it LESS attractive to take out private health insurance.
And perhaps a financial incentive so specialists don't feel the need to supplement their public salary in the private sector?
Perhaps the queue jumping aspect could be removed, though I'm not sure how.
Vapourware, TOP's vapourware.
TOP disturb me so profoundly because my gut tells me there's nothing of substance there, only hype, hype and novelty.
It may have earnest people as the face, but they're just earnest marketers, literally employed for that job by the party.
Sums up the coalition from the word salad CEO PM down to latest inductee Paul Henry all singing those ideological chorus lines.
Yes, marketers, tribal slogans and hype are part of the political cycle. But they are the face side of ground-swell movements with history, overt values, and active members in electorates. There’s an actual product to sell.
TOP have nothing but an on-line presence. That's why ‘vapourware’; selling voters something that doesn’t exist.
Here's something from a TOP candidate that at least represents substance and authenticity.
Bianca Beebe, a US migrant and ex-Green Party member, is standing in Queenstown. She apparently is 'the chairperson of Fired Up Stilettos'. That's the union started up by strippers a few years ago, as I remember, to protest exploitative work practices in strip clubs. Kudos to her for that.
https://biancabeebe.substack.com/p/follow-the-money-to-your-trojan-horse/comments?utm_source=post&utm_medium=web&triedRedirect=true
Includes a few stiletto-heeled digs into the Greens, with some light mis-representation, in best hustings fashion.
Greens were well shot of her. She stands for selection, gets declined, then public slags off the party she wanted to be a part of. Not a team player.
TOP are not a team, so easy enough there. The whole tenor of her piece is that pollies are individuals, with individual policies and she, and TOP will deal with them as such to advance their own specific policies.
I think that’s deluded, needless to say. There seems no understanding of how the individual Acts of a government advances an overall ideological agenda.
I thought she did a good job overall: she was defending an accusation of trojan horse funding for TOP by pointing out apparent Green Party hypocrisy.
The Greens retained $1500 from a donor who turned out to be dodgy re sex offenses, while TOP returned all $20k of his donation. Seems cut and dried to me.
Opportunist.
I disagree. She strikes me as someone who wants to be involved in material change. She’s already covered more policy topics in that piece than Peters has in his whole career.
And while I can't be bothered finding out if she helped start her union, they not only protested, but as I remember wrung industry concessions from their bosses. Material change.
I'm (again) reminded of the Big Polluters, Fonterra etc. who employ attractive, energetic young spokespeople to front their wicked actions.
Self-promoter – would fit well into
meNZ First.maybe, but it's also true that they've done more policy development thatn NZF.
Peters isn't in politics to make material change, but to strut upon the stage. He curates his hangers-on just enough to ginger things up and stay in the public eye so he can return each election. He has no positive political legacy.
Vapourware, TOP's vapourware.
They may not, once in parliament, be able to sell their ideas to a coalition, but that doesn't make them "hype, hype and novelty". It may just mean that that coalition may have an unwarranted fear of the public's reaction; and of course the public is not always right.
That's my 'vapourware' point. TOP have no fundamental values, no longterm goals, no team party structure forged from that basis. It's a string of individualists who see TOP as a vehicle for their own projects. Unlike NZF, they aren't set up to pander to a personality.
I see Beebe as genuinely wanting to make NZ better, if only by one specific policy at a time. Of course, the salary and perks are extremely lucrative. I don't find her cynical, though. I think she’ll work hard to deliver. Cynicism and do-nothing are fundamental to my definition of an opportunist.
However, I do believe the party as a political entity is opportunistic.
"I see Beebe as genuinely…"
You've been bedazzled, imo.
Yes tWig @2 we have heard of The Importance of Being Earnest. (And single-minded when entering politics, so preventing one from faltering away from the Ayn Rand visions and homilies.)
Well get used to being disturbed. This election is 1996 part two but with top in the NZf role, two historically unpopular leaders and a furious electorate.
Top appeals to labour voters, lib nats teals, first and second gen kiwis, environmentalists and most damagingly for the left: young universalist male voters who would be voting greens but the greens have no male representation and actively seem to hate males
Top is only going to grow and the lefts and rights outrage is only giving them free publicity because people on the left like their tax policies and love that they reject the toxic identity politics of the modern left.
Now that they are king maker they will get more media attention than all the other minor parties combined (who are all now irrelevant because they are just satellites orbiting national or labour) and the attacks from the rich and upper middle class about the land tax are hilariously ironic memes because young people considering top don't own any land and under the status quo never ever will.
I think what's upsetting some people is that TOP is likely going to walk in on day one and get a deal similar to NZf in 2017, a labour/top minority coalition with support from the greens and the greens will once again be blocked from cabinet which rightly angers green voters
It also scares people that TOP isn't interested in ministerial jobs and limos , instead solely interested in policy wins which scares labour voters cos Labour is used to dealing with blowhards like Peters who are more interested in cabinet jobs, and Top will demand a lot of policies that Labour should actually be campaigning on but because they are a right wing party will be dragged kicking and screaming.
Seriously, im excited for Top, not necessarily voting for them, yet, im green or top right now but the fact we could potentially oust this lot after one term and the likelihood of a four-way coalition with national NZf top act being about as likely as an Auckland bus being on time, I welcome top especially if they can keep stopping young males from going to the right and steal blue green and lib nat voters that the left can't ever get.
I love hopeful people but would like to make sure they have their water-wings on when they enter the water.
Four things
Top won't be getting their infamous land tax (thus, related UBI) from Labour. Which is unlikely to go down well with their supporters
And National has ruled out working with them altogether.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/video/herald-now/ryan-bridge-today/which-minor-party-taxes-will-labour-agree-to-ryan-bridge-today/QKLMSWZDB37OHOUQYXYS3KTZCQ/
Those that own a home and can't work for whatever reason (thus reliant on benefits) have valid concerns re a land tax.
Top are new comers with no experience, unlike Labour who are well seasoned in party negotiations. And as we can see, Labour have already shutdown even contemplating their main policy before any negotiations have begun.
I agree totally with Idiot/Savant about not voting for Opp:
Opp leader Qiulae Wong says Opp will go with "anyone". and if you're on the left and want to see the regime toppled, its policies repealed, and the earth salted, that is absolutely an issue. Why would I give my vote to someone who might keep the racist, tyrannical, election rigging pricks in power? Why would I risk that, when I can give it to a party who absolutely won't? So that's an absolute deal-breaker for me.
So that's why I won't be voting Opp. ,,,ATM they're just too uncertain, too big a risk, too untrustworthy to get my vote.
[I agree totally with Idiot/Savant about not voting for Opp:]
They have also said they would prefer to occupy the cross benches if the winning party could provide them with a satisfactory deal.
And how exactly would that work Mikesh? (spoiler alert: it wouldn't)
The phrase "cross benches" is a case of weasel words, or at least being misunderstood.
If it means "support on confidence and supply" then that's the phrase that should be used.
If it means "abstain on confidence and supply" then that's the phrase that should be used.
Support or abstain? That is the question that matters. "Cross benches" doesn't answer it. It only means what the listener wants to hear.
I look at our colourless, vacuous politicians and cry sometimes.
https://vt.tiktok.com/ZSVRjM1NK/
For those of us not sullying our laptop with TikTOk, what praytell is this about?
Liberal candidate in the US singing and dancing to a Taylor Swift song but changing the lyrics to public healthcare and getting money out of politics. It's good.
Abdul El-Sayed is not a liberal. he is an avowed Democratic Socialist. Liberal these days is no longer a shorthand for left. It nowadays is a kiss of death as a synonym for bankrupt technocratic centrism. El Sayed is another example of that American wonder the primary system which has given the Democrats the likes of AOC, Zohran Mamdani and even James Talarico. It is a mechanism for party renewal the likes of which neither of our main two parties possess, which why they are marooned in sterile 90s neoliberalism, peopled with clueless out of touch halfwits.
The success of the left populists like Mamdani and El-Sayed is in our own way mirrored by the rise of the Opportunity party. As Simon Wilson puts it in his hopetown substack today:
"…Opportunity is thriving for three reasons. First, because of the belief that the status quo has run its course. This is the belief that National and Labour are barely fit for purpose in the modern world. Winston Peters is that really bad smell in the drains that it’s now time to dig out. Second, Opportunity offers a positive alternative… …And third? Voters really want to stop Winston Peters…"
I strongly reccommend you all go seek out Simon Wilson substack if you have not already and subscribe, he is excellent there.
Finally, a quick word on resisting tik-tok. It's an annoying platform, with some deeply troubling questions raised by it's content moderation and the way its algorithm works. But if you want to understand how modern political communication works in the age of social media and how huge tracts of the electorate (particularly the young) engage in politics you really need to have it.
El-Sayed does not consider himself part of the Democratic Socialists, but a progressive Democrat.
OPP cannot possibly be compared to the DS wing of the Democrats, who want to return the party to its FDR New Deal days, and turf out corrupt Democrats in State and Federal legislatures who have done nothing to curb Trump’s havoc.
Neither the Labour party nor the Greens have been captured by corporate lobbyists. The Nats, definitely. ACT were born that way.
False and dangerous analogy that tarts up OPP's opportunistic agenda.
Oh I totally agree OPP cannot possibly be compared to the DS wing of the Democrats. The point is the same forces are at work here as in the rise of the progressive and socialist candidates in the democrats.
OPP : Vapourware, selling novelty. Why Labour's 2020 government was seen as do-nothing and somehow incompetent eludes me.
Actually, I do know. It was poorly-managed messaging. And a destructive misinfo campaign from the Right.
Lots of longterm projects were begun. They take time. Give me competent and incremental any day to OPP's glitter. Mamdani reinforces his positive changes (and the teams that make them happen) every day with a smile. Flood the zone. Labour didn’t.
A youtube version for you…
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/z5yvqauPhWI
Check the number of comments. Needless to say he has, to put politely, garnered the attention of a large number of young women.
Red Meat Beef!
Here is another one blowing up on tiktok, but here it is on youtube. The genius of it all should be obvious to everyone.
El-Sayed may play up his beefcaked-ness but is happily married.
Watch this post-election media clip after Trump posted a photo of El-Sayed and his wife, attacking them.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ulPvSjFEJIY
Great cartoon in the Press (15 Aug). It shows Luxon as Gollum who, having finally snatched the ring of gold, is falling into the fires at the Cracks of Doom.
The ring is labelled "National leadership" but could just as easily have been tagged "economic growth".
I' m inclined to think that Luxon, on realising that he was not wanted as PM, should have resigned and let the other contenders fight amongst themselves for the leadership. I'm sure they would then have found somebody quickly enough.
Luxon must have a high opinion o himself if he thinks he is the best person for the job.
Luxon must have a high opinion of himself if he thinks he is the best person for the job.
Pope Catholic, water wet …
https://www.thepress.co.nz/nz-news/361062697/cartoon-august-15
This is copied of a guy called Jackson on fb, I don't link to fb because it seems to leave the door open , delete of you want to mods
Of course as land appreciates in value, the capital gain on land is automatically being taxed, so a CGT would be superfluous. I'm assuming that the capital gains on property lie mostly in the land values.
But a wealth tax would probably have the same effect, since land values would be taken into account in valuing wealth.
A Capital Gains tax could tax gains each year as they occur (giving presumably a deduction from other tax when gains are negative), or when an asset is sold (when the capital gains crystalise in money terms. It gets more complicated when a portfolio of shares in a particular company are held – with shares being bought and sold at different times. Which basis did you have in mind for taxes on sale and purchases of (parts of) collectively owned land?
[Please stick to one e-mail address here, thanks – Incognito]
Mod note
Interesting bwaghorn. I have a bit of spare money and have bought a unit near me. I would like to buy another to help keep the neighbourhood easygoing and good. Can't because I am too old and can't pay off before I die, the fairly low capital to be borrowed, from the level of rental likely to be paid. It is interesting how those who have much can get so much more.
However I've some ideas about youth employment, and projects in my mind to spend some money on. Made round to go round, that is the jingle of the day!
Another idea is looking into beginnings of the Masonic Lodge*. The stonemasons knew their craft and were vital in building those edifices we still see standing (eg Castle Mey in Scotland from 1500's though not with good water and electricity till restored by the Queen Mother after 1952.) If there are firm foundations a well-built structure will last and can be repaired and improved. Lesson for us thinking about NZAO future; keep good and strong and hold on to it!
The masons made sure that they had a strong foundation for their fraternity, and woe to those who mucked up. We need similar today; could be called the Platonic Lodge, with people who are earnest in understanding about life, and will, ego, impulse and method of living and decision-making etc. and the importance of love.
Plato** is one of the ancient Greeks whose thoughts live on, had great ideas, others have followed; but we just read or listen and move on. Time to go back to the place we were before to those thinking centuries, not just be doing, obsessed with STEM learning.
We are good at ignoring basic precepts. A properly set up Platonic Lodge would prevent us making ever-more errors of judgment and adopting grandiose schemes,. (Work in progress here.)
*https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Freemasonry#Origin_myths_and_theories ** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plato#Politics
Plato was a great wrestler, https://www.britannica.com/facts/Plato cool.
I am advancing my philosophical learnings and turned to Monty Python for a short round about – of drinks it seems.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9SqQNgDrgg | Bruce's Song
https://newsroom.co.nz/2026/08/14/climate-change-omitted-from-new-science-and-social-science-curriculums/
The national parties backers have rewritten school curriculums,
Yup, the Physics curriculum is not fit for purpose either.
https://theconversation.com/nz-wants-a-high-tech-future-its-proposed-physics-curriculum-may-make-that-harder-288921
Stanford and her ideological high-priests have re-written all curricula to suit their ideas, AFAIK. The influence of hard-Right and the NZ Initiative is undeniable.
"The words “climate change” do not appear in either final document, which encompass the science and social science curriculums for years 0 to 10."
Could the crisis we face be made any clearer?
Anthropic Education Crisis. Thanks Erica.
She should be asked directly, "Is climate change real?" and if she deigns to answer that, of course, she does, then the follow-up question would have to be around why she's teaching the opposite to our children.
She seems to have changed her tune, so either she’s been corrupted by power or indoctrinated by her Coalition partners. I wouldn’t trust Dave whispering sweet nothings about Climate Change in her ear.
https://www.ericastanfordmp.co.nz/copy-of-glenvar-road
Here’s a snippet from the infamous debate (‘OK, Boomer’):
https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/350573977/insults-fly-at-zero-carbon-bill-reading-as-mp-takes-shot-at-obnoxious-shane-jones [November 6, 2019]
If that's her position she should be challenged over why she's allowed the opposite to become set into the curriculum. I hope someone will.
Is there in the list of characters to be played out in each conservative government, (and others), a place for a stern, no-nonsense woman also attractive, who can be relied on to repeat whatever lines she is given no matter how precocious and provocative? And so appealing to the sexual daydreams of dominant men, as someone to match their strength, a sort of mental dominatrix? Just wondering.
Surely, grey, you're not suggesting …
The mind boggles …
Steve Braunias on Chris Penk.
https://newsroom.co.nz/2026/08/15/the-secret-mission-of-chris-penk/
The submarine is yellow, of course.
No doubt like others, I was considering that Luxon was holding on in order to get his knighthood. But according to Google AI (I couldn't find a specific link to this, I did try)
So I guess that's not the reason? Having said that,
So, ‘thankyou for your service, Chris?
https://www.dpmc.govt.nz/our-programmes/new-zealand-royal-honours/new-zealand-royal-honours-system
I have been looking at one of my favoured Brit cartoonists Giles, and he can do wonders with the difference of reality from such pretensions as you quote Kay especially:
I'll try to put up some actual cartoons FTTT as he has a lovely satirical sense of the ridiculous, and our own political heroes stand parodied.
(I haven’t used the right buttons for the last para. It isn’t a blockquote just my description of the scene – until you get to the spiel.)
The search system is now back on and running as an automatic service. It is getting hammered by the search bots. They seem to think that they have discovered a stash of previously undiscovered pages.
I think there may a small memory leak in the tunnel-hub code. I'll have to leave it for a week or run it through valgrind to be sure.
It could just be the splay tree on heap memory pages problem. I did use smart pointers through some parts of it. It isn't a embedded system.
Today's Talbot Mills poll:
Lab 34.0 Gre 8.0 TPM 3.0 =45.0
Nat 29.0 NZF 13.0 ACT 7.0=49.0
Opp 5.2
Shows Opp just able to decide who forms a government.,,,but 0.3 less and Opp would be a wasted vote. Talbot is the only poll to show NZF as high as 13% and more.
UBI will become a feature of this election. Some interesting links here, both in his Bsky thread and website. I signed the pledge.