Open Mike 18/10/2026

Written By: notices and features - Date published: - 12 comments
Categories: open mike


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12 comments on “Open Mike 18/10/2026”

Comment numbers have changed to permanent references. Older quoted numbers may no longer identify the same comment.

    1. 1.1

      For a long time it has been argued that the burden of tax should be lifted from the backs of the productive and transferred to capital. In a way that is what a UBI achieves: it acts as a sort of refund, to the taxpayer, of the tax that he has paid. I'd have thought that Damien would not have disapproved of that. It seems fair to me.

      Reply
    2. 1.2

      Surfdom! How appealing.

      Our starving captives are held by slumlords.

      Damian the professional commercial undetaker is just a Monty Python parody of the ultra-rich.

      Reply
  3. 3

    Hilarious!

    "A commemorative plaque celebrating the opening of New Zealand’s largest ever infrastructure project was put on hold over fears the National Party would roll Christopher Luxon as its leader.

    An exchange of emails obtained by The Post via an official information request reveals a bureaucratic scramble behind the scenes as transport staff prepared for the opening ceremony of the City Rail Link.

    “It could be an expensive mistake if we cast in bronze someone who didn't actually do the opening,” wrote Auckland Transport’s Joel Rowan, who works in external communications."

    https://www.thepost.co.nz/nz-news/361092022/aucklands-crl-still-has-no-commemorative-plaque-and-its-partly-nationals-fault

    Reply
  5. 5

    A highly informative article from a professor in Commercial Law on our right to repair our cars where it’s convenient for us.

    https://newsroom.co.nz/2026/10/18/a-fair-go-for-the-mechanic-down-the-road/

    Many drivers do not know they already have a choice. A Midas NZ survey in August found 60 percent of people who bought through a dealer believed using another mechanic would void their warranty. Under the Consumer Guarantees Act and if servicing meets manufacturer requirements it does not. The law provides choice. Access to information makes it real.

    I didn’t know this and I wonder if it also applies to second-hand cars, as I sheepishly go back to the yard where I bought it from if there’s something wrong within the first year of purchase.

    Labour has not proposed something radical and untested. Australia introduced its Motor Vehicle Service and Repair Information Scheme on July 1, 2022.

    She [the professor] makes the following points, which I have bulletized instead of quoted (which is the TS convention):

    • The Australian scheme is practical.
    • The Australian scheme does not hand over trade secrets or source code.
    • The Australian scheme is enforced.
    • The Australian scheme worked.

    Whatever numbers are cited, the direction is clear: the scheme had led to more work for local mechanics, more choice for drivers.

    This is not a Left-Right issue, as National had lodged a similar member’s bill but it was never drawn and they never enacted it – National only seems to love [more] roads and [more] trucks but not always [more] choice!?

    Labour has proposed something similar to the Australian scheme as part of their policy A Fair Go For Drivers.

    Reply
  6. 6

    but not always [more] choice!?

    Like everything in a market, there is a limited supply of 'choice' – especially for those without the ability to pay for said 'choice'. More specifically, there is a limited supply of the 'right to choose' because all rights are conflictual – the car buyer's right to choose the mechanic they go to is in conflict with the car dealer's right to get a richly deserved financial return from their stupendously awe-inspiring willingness to choose to take the risk of owning and running a car dealership. Depending on the direction that political power is running at any time, one right to choose gets eliminated in favour of another. Once any politician starts yabbering about 'choice' as though it is some sort of naturally-existing substance like titanium or bird poo, all bullshit detectors should be turned up to the highest level of sensitivity.

    Reply

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