Open Mike 19/09/2026

Written By: notices and features - Date published: - 36 comments
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36 comments on “Open Mike 19/09/2026”

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  1. 1

    Burning political issue of the day in the UK: inquiry by Parliament as to why it has done so badly in Eurovision. (And they have, for years, come close to the bottom or last.)

    https://bsky.app/profile/flyingrodent.bsky.social/post/3mvsdg23jvs2x

    Other countries, meanwhile, protest at Israel’s inclusion.

    Both Ireland and the Netherlands were among five countries that withdrew from Eurovision 2026 in Vienna earlier this year. Spain, Slovenia and Iceland also decided not to participate'.

    https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/9/17/ireland-boycotts-eurovision-for-second-year-over-israels-inclusion

    Reply
      1. 1.1.1

        Unlike the Olympics, this contest in nation-strutting is annual. Hence an annual humiliation by the European nations the Brits rather look down on as inferior (it’s won by popular vote).

        Plus, Brits rather fancy themselves as cheesey popsters.

        And it’s no coincidence that Ireland was first to boycott last year. They have long had sympathy with Palestinians, as sharing history of exploitative occupation.

        Reply
  3. 3

    UK Greens (England and Wales) hitting the radical vs pragmatic pinch point.

    Leader Polanksi tried to have their AGM postponed, as it ends 4 days before a byeleciton where Polanksi is running in Starmer's former seat. One of the remits at the AGM is for the party to take a position that Zionism is racist, and to call for a single Palestinian state. The concern is if those pass it may impact on Polanski's chances in the byelection, by alienating Jewish supporters and presumably voters. Polanski is Jewish.

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/sep/18/zack-polanski-request-postpone-greens-conference-byelection-refused

    Ongoing green dilemma, lead from the radical edge, or gain more formal power.

    Reply
  4. 4

    Sharon Murdoch, in The Post, 13 Sept 2026

    Act leader David Seymour carries on his campaign.
    (Those are quotes from DSeymour about the Tribunal)
    https://x.com/domesticanimal/status/2098869018224685415

    Unexpected item in National's policy area [Careful now RNZ, 18 Sept 2026]
    Political reporter Giles Dexter shops around political parties' pledges to drive down grocery prices, and looks at how likely it is that National's proposal will actually happen.

    Hmm, the PM and the deputy PM at odds again – “Strong and stable.”

    David Seymour says 5 National MPs complained to him about their own supermarket policy [Stuff, 18 Sept 2026]
    ACT leader David Seymour says some National Party MPs are confiding in him about how they despise their party’s own policy to break up Foodstuffs.

    [comments]
    Not a fan of ACT but got to love Seymour for the absolute lack of respect for his coalition partners. Maybe Luxon will whip up another caucus meeting at short notice to find out who is talking out of class? Hilarious!

    **********
    Imagine believing that National are going to do something, anything, about supermarkets or price gouging. Watch them totally walk this back if they were to get re-elected, most likely blaming coalition negotiations as to why they couldn't get it done.

    Reply
    1. 4.1

      ACT Narcissist (he has some competition there) Paul Henry unlocked (the mind boggles) gets some lurve from the faithful. I personally never bought into any of his shite. Always struck me as a particularly self absorbed narci…however some like him? (read the comments from same for insight : (

      ACT faithful line up for selfies as Paul Henry roadshow rolls through New Plymouth

      https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/politics/1464508/act-faithful-line-up-for-selfies-as-paul-henry-roadshow-rolls-through-new-plymouth

      He recently reached a new low point….talking to his people about Green people.Complete with confederate flag. Yeeha : (

      Sorry its ZB…but didnt seem to be another link.

      'They're barely people': Paul Henry takes pot shot at Greens during country pub visit

      https://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/news/politics/paul-henry-visits-pub-that-burned-jacinda-ardern-s-book/?utm_medium=Image&utm_source=Facebook#Echobox=1788483865

      Reply
      1. 4.1.1

        Dr Henry has made a remarkable discovery in his lab of vivid imagination.

        Oh my God don’t get me started on the Greens! They are a pack of twats, and that’s being unkind to twats. The Greens—are they even people? I look at the Greens, and I don’t recognise the human race. I see bacilli, a taxonomic class of bacteria which contains several well-known pathogens such as Bacillus anthracis, the cause of anthrax. Have you had what you thought was a mild case of the flu that turned severe, causing extreme breathing trouble, heavy sweating, shock, and death? A post-mortem will reveal the presence of the Greens.

        https://newsroom.co.nz/2026/09/19/the-secret-diary-of-paul-henry/

        Reply
        1. 4.1.1.1

          Steve Braunias (apart from being a good Writer) has that not common gift, of a rapier satirical pen, whilst also powder (gun) dry humour. Which I rate : )

          Reply
      2. 4.1.2

        'They're barely people': Paul Henry takes pot shot at Greens during country pub visit

        That’s just that sad old twat Paul Henry doing his ‘I don’t give a shit‘ Atlas ACT.

        One Candidate, One Pint: Paul Henry on never giving a shit what anyone thinks [The Spinoff, 8 Sept 2026]
        “I’ve quite often not cared enough to bother to think…”

        I see 'barely people' – walking around like regular people, trying to grab my property.

        How often do you see them?

        All the time. They're everywhere. You won't tell anyone my secret, right?

        "Barely people" and "little shits" – takes one to know one.


        Allan Hawkey, in the Waikato Times, 12 October 2010

        Refers to Paul Henry's being stood down and consequent resignation after his provocative style went too far and he was accused of making racist remarks on two occasions in two weeks; the first was when he asked PM John Key whether the next Governor General would be a New Zealander, would look and sound like a New Zealander, (the current GG is Sir Anand Satyanand who is NZ born); and the second remark was when Henry joked about the name of the Indian Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit.
        https://natlib.govt.nz/records/22698473

        Reply
  5. 5

    The Greens and Swarbrick are getting a lot of traction.

    It clearly came as a total shock to the press when Chlöe Swarbrick gave Nicola Willis a minor beating in a poll that asked New Zealanders who they trusted more to ‘manage the economy’. I mean it was only 24% to 23%. But still, for someone who, as Luke Malpass spluttered, “sits firmly on the far left of the mainstream political spectrum”, that was a brutal coup…

    Swarbrick deftly responds to the religious incantation “taxpayer money” by reminding us that all governments “tax and spend”, before moving on to the actually important question: how do we want to use our collective resources?

    And then the glory: “You do not grow when you starve.” Hallelujah! …

    In her 2026 Budget kōrero, she brutally deconstructed austerity precisely on those terms: she explained beautifully that public services deteriorate when the government decides to stop investing in them. The accounting numbers might look a little tidier for a bit, but the hospital roof is still leaking on the patients

    https://andrewdicksonnz.substack.com/p/chloe-swarbrick-knows-something-about

    She has already forced National to have a view on the supermarket duopoly which says that they view her as a problem for their attempts to continue with austerity.

    Reply
    2. 5.2

      IMO Chloe is made of the right stuff. And by that I mean Left of course. Into the lions EMA den and she calmly fronted them with reason and rationality. And yes..Inspiring !

      Chlöe Swarbrick: Why wouldn’t I want to be finance minister?

      The Greens co-leader tells a business audience she wants some ‘control of the envelope’ of her party’s policy priorities in a future government

      https://newsroom.co.nz/2026/09/18/chloe-swarbrick-why-wouldnt-i-want-to-be-finance-minister/

      Onya Chloe !

      Reply
    3. 5.3

      That was before publication on Friday of a Freshwater-The Post poll result which found Swarbrick is more trusted to run the economy than the incumbent Nicola Willis.

      Just. She edged Willis 24 percent to 23, with Labour’s Barbara Edmonds back on 9.

      https://newsroom.co.nz/2026/09/18/chloe-swarbrick-why-wouldnt-i-want-to-be-finance-minister/

      The difference between Chlöe Swarbrick and so may other politicians and wannabies, IMO, is that Swarbrick means what she says whilst the others believe what they say.

      Reply
    1. 6.1

      I don't know if anyone from the left feels the same as me. But this is such a boring, uninspiring election.

      Still time – don't give up on the Nat’s intervening in the supermarket sector just yet smiley

      No new taxes but it’s gonna cost you. – Chris Slane, 6 Sept 2026
      https://www.instagram.com/p/Dc8BrVPK4y9/

      See also https://nickrockel.substack.com/p/springtime

      “Please, please, please: To all impacted, whether youths or parents, make sure you’re registered to vote and use that vote to kick this uncaring government out.”

      For the 2026 General Election this means you can’t enrol or update your details after midnight, 25 October 2026.
      https://vote.nz/enrolling/enrol-or-update/enrol-or-update-online

      Reply
        1. 6.1.1.1

          Nicky Hager has his mandatory book out a few weeks before the election.

          I admire Hager – didn't realise his books were mandatory wink
          His last book was published in March 2017.

          Nicolas Alfred Hager ONZM (born 1958) is a New Zealand investigative journalist. He has produced seven books since 1996, covering topics such as intelligence networks, environmental issues and politics. He is one of two New Zealand members of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.

          https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicky_Hager

          Reply
          2. 6.1.1.1.2

            I bought my versions of Dirty Politics and Hollow Men without being compelled to and I felt good about the spend.

            Looking forward to this one. Counting the days, and not under compulsion to do so.

            Reply
      1. 6.2.1

        hmm hmm – Good if you are a NZ supporter – no put-downs please of Nicky Hager. Some people stand above the parapet and others stay subliminal, where it's easier and personally safer.

        Reply
      1. 6.3.1

        One of my pet peeves. There is a vast difference in meaning between 'distinterested' and 'uninterested'

        The first means unbiased, or uninfluenced by material considerations. The second means bored.

        You want the judge in your case to be disinterested, but not uninterested.

        Reply
    4. 6.4

      My attention is on AI panic, the oil crisis, and climate/ecology, so I don't mind boring.

      I'll also take boring over parties being arseholes or manipulative.

      Green Party policy is good. I wonder if Labour are keeping their powder dry, didn't the billboards only just go up? Opportunity Party have completely changed the election, that's not so much high excitement as very interesting.

      I think maybe everyone is tired.

      Reply
    1. 7.1

      Thanks for that. Regulatory capture at its most effective and no surprises to see its Tommy Tuckervilles state and how owned the Republican Party is and not even on the same page within ranks.

      Reply

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