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notices and features - Date published:
6:00 am, July 25th, 2025 - 93 comments
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For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose.
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Step up to the mike …
Today's Posts (updated through the day):
Only a dropkick would want to make voting harder
Gerrymander alert – Government running scared
Goldsmith’s Voter Suppression Affects 20% of Voters
New Post up:
Only a dropkick would want to make voting harder
New Post up:
Gerrymander alert – Government running scared
New Post up:
Goldsmith’s Voter Suppression Affects 20% of Voters
Voter suppression move from CoC Govt. before next General Election–ignoring Departmental advice yet again…
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/567950/enrolment-changes-could-have-significant-impact-on-democratic-participation-ministry-of-justice
Anyone else find it disturbing for Deputy PM Seymour to refer to NZ citizens as “dropkicks” for exercising their rights as per current enrolment law? His arrogant disdainful attitude shows exactly what he hopes to achieve by limiting enrolment opportunities.
The long slow collapse of the postal system, and widespread rental transience and precarious accomodation situations, means many do not receive their orange envelopes–I have seen them curling up in flat letterboxes and blowing around the streets. So enrolment during early voting and on Election Day itself are a reasonable solution to prevent thousands from being excluded largely through no fault of their own.
Right wingers just love making it hard for people that are historically not “their people” to enrol and vote. However this shakes out a big campaign will have to be run to get the new gen voters to participate in the first General Election where Boomers will not be in numerical superiority.
Straight from the Republican playbook in the US – the lower the voter turnout, the greater the chances of a right-wing government!
Simply a blatant attempt to gerrymander the 2026 election!
Agree, hopefully the opposition parties and others will be all over this attack on democratic rights–unnecessary barriers to political participation need to be resisted.
Given our lack of checks and balances within parliament, is this a situation where the High/Supreme court get get involved, given the serious consequences to enfranchisement?
Labour's justice spokesperson Duncan Webb ( IMO I think we need to see and hear more from him)
Greens Celia Wade-Brown (Ditto)
I also note..( NACT1 no longer pretence,mask now totally off)
And re Seymours "dropkick" comment ? If any needed, there is your reason..to enrol and vote.
In the UK they are now taking about auto-enrolment. From The Guardian today.
“Young people could be automatically enrolled on the voting register under plans being explored by the government, a minister tells parliament.
Labour former minister Lord Beamish argued in the Lords that “the only way we’re going to get young people and other people on the registry is auto-enrolment”. Responding, communities minister Lord Khan of Burnley says the government would “take steps to move towards” this, but adds that electoral law is “complicated”.
The minister also reveals the government is “looking at” placing 16 and 17-year-olds on the electoral register at the same time they are given their national insurance numbers."
The one good thing about this proposal here is that if registered with winz/other entities would automatically have their electoral role details updated ..
..to me this is a good idea..
So..if just this is done .. won't that automatically solve the presented 'problem'.?.
'cos just about everyone is registered somewhere…
..and this must mean the number of special votes needed must drop to a significant degree..
So why not just do that..?..no need for the draconian disenfranchisement wanted by dropkick-seymour..
And don't worry..it is ideologically pure .. suggestion came from the electoral commission…not dropkick-seymour…
Funny that the coc,s don't make voting mandatory for all those on a benefit
If the tories..and their hangers on..(luxy and the trumpettes..)could just stop all benefits..and get away with it ..they would..
That's 'cos they/tories are heartless bastards . constantly waging class-war against the weakest/poorest…(all the better to exploit them..by Tory employers/the rentier class..etc .etc..)..
It has always been thus…
I really can't see the CoC willingly giving the other crowd 300k votes.
The more the 3 COC parties are tarred with the "just copying Trump" label the more votes they will lose…it certainly turned people off in the Canada and Australia elections.
If the rationale really is cost effectiveness, then why not close polling booths that process less than say 200 votes, in my electorate (Southland) that would close around 60 polling places, mostly rural or elderly. Can visualise the response pretty clearly.
Not saying that should be done, but a very valid counter argument and anyone who proposes that sort of voter suppression is the dropkick.
The blue be-ribboned fence post would have to become more active (I allude of course, to that well known rurality of only needing same as a Nat candidate : )
And agree totally with your comment !
Perhaps we should have been enforcing the law that requires you to enrol to vote?
I don't know what the fines are now but 10 years ago they were $100 for a first offence and $200 for a second breach. The roll isn't just for voting. I believe it is used to select people called for Jury service. The fact that the Police stopped enforcing the law may be why so many people simply ignore their obligation to register.
This was covered in the Independent Electoral Review that was published on 16 January 2024.
https://www.justice.govt.nz/assets/Documents/Publications/Independent-Electoral-Review-Final-Report-November-2023.pdf
In Chapter 8, Sections 8.6-8.19 on compulsory enrolment. Section 8.18, in particular:
In this light, increasing the fine for not enrolling is moot too.
If there is a law that is "is not strictly enforced", and which appears to never be enforced, it shouldn't be a law at all. It doesn't provide any "symbolic power" to the law. It just makes it a joke.
It is a bit like using offensive language in public, ie swearing. It is sometimes prosecuted by the police who are determined to get a person for something but it doesn't do anything except cause people to say, at least metaphorically, that the law is an ass.
If you aren't going to enforce a law the actions shouldn't be illegal.
The "drop kick" is those denying people who are 18 on election day their right to vote.
And the others, how do those not yet 18 enrol 12/11/10/9/8/7/6/5/4/3/2 days before their birthday? Or one day before?
The requirement is to be enrolled before the 12 days of early voting begin.
Attention citizens!
The Coalition Government is consulting the public on its proposed changes to our national freshwater policy that would remove protection for freshwater and allow for even more pollution of our rivers, lakes, groundwater and beaches. (See the ODT, 18 July, “Gore residents warned to not drink town’s water.)
The environmental heritage of future generations is to be swapped for short term economic growth.
Speak up now so your children and their children will enjoy clean, free-flowing waterways and a healthy future.
You have until 11.59pm on Sunday 27 July 2025 to make your submission.
Go to the website for Choose Clean Water to see a submission guide: https://www.choosecleanwater.org.nz/make-a-submission
Thank you Hunter for the reminder.
Just a note…Data Centres use so much water and electricity that their neighbours lose water flow and electricity prices soar.
Yes, that reminded of a recent story in the NY Times on data centres: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/14/technology/meta-data-center-water.html
Hulk Hogan and Izzy Osborne in the same week!
Who else in the 1980s enabled crazy to scream along to?
Waaaaaaargh!
Is Izzy at all related to Ozzy..?
..and did you hear about sulk Hogan..?
A big fan..were you..?
Lovely letter from a woman who waited Ozzy and the band in 1975.
https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:srwn7tsoakb6du733lsc6pic/bafkreiclor3372iw53batgfl4n4eb5ycbieyisuwldgj56wgcqz3vc7kkm@jpeg
Read all about him here:https://whatthefuckjusthappenedtoday.com
Lovely guy. 🤮
Some reveal about Penny "has dropped" Simmons Polytech plans. (Also if a picture doesnt lie? Such an honest face : (
Oh Penny. You Knew..and Know..exactly what you are doing. And its consequences . Here are some few. Those poor Kids. I expect no sympathy….or empathy from you ever. Fuck you.
Everything to do with her obsession about the SIT, even loading the dice by making Otago look wobbly.
Sorry aj was my reply to you…
Obsession…..obsessed…..Penny does seem to be on this. Re my Penny's honest face comment…maybe the face that sank a 1000 jobs ?
Mean as the… proverbial.
She believes competitive regional polytechs will produce better outcomes than one national unit dedicated to the common good of all New Zealand. The old sector was widely acknowledged as failing, she's gone back to it just when the fruits of Te Pukenga were starting to show.
NACT1 : 2050? That will never come. And even if it does ..it will be somebody else's problem (ie those young people I bang on about : (
Climate Change Commission chief exectuive Jo Hendy makes some good points.
There are many more : Scientists, Climatologists,Environmentalists…et al. All saying the same if not stating the obvious (well obvious to me and some).
I have Linked many before. Who is listening? As our Planet heats..increasingly.
NZ desperately needs Direction on this . We know NACT1's direction is going toward a bad place. A downbound train as it were.
What I look for..those precious rays of Sunshine….(another article by RNZ's Climate Change Correspondent Eloise Gibson)
One group (amongst ) Fighting the Good Fight..
I thought about Lynn when I heard Hank Green talking about the AMOC and global warming- seems the latest about climate change effects near Ireland and Europe.
I am Scared for Ireland… Amazing.
@ weka..
So .you are ok with trans women using women's loos ..?…it is just the sport thing..?
And I could see your arguments having validity at the highest level of sport..
But that is not what we are talking about here..
..we are talking community sports..
…where the taking part is the main rationale..so what/where is the problem..?
And ups to MS. Wall for the above opinion…and another valid quote IMHO..I heard on rnz a sports journalist with the surname George…and she said the biggest danger for young/female athletes.. isn't trans woman…but heterosexual cis males..who prey on them..
So…y'know ..!
..
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
Elite sportspeople develop from playing sports as children and teens. Every time a trans-identified male competes against in women's sport, that's a place that a woman didn't get.
If you want to advocate for trans inclusion in sport, then start with community level mixed sex team sports, it's really easy to see how that works. They can even play in men's competitions.
And women should be able to play in men's sports…if they want to..
Inclusion…not exclusion…
I take it you don't play sports Phil. Have you thought about why we have women's sport separate from men's?
I’m going to watch my kids play rugby tomorrow. My youngest son is 10 years old, there are girls in his rugby team. The boys and girls all seem to be on a level playing field in their strength, fitness and skill levels.
My oldest son is first year at high school, he plays rugby. The girls his age now and play in an all girls team. Over the past two years it’s very noticeable the difference between the abilities of the boys compared with the girls. The year 9 boys would walk over the year 9 girls rugby team and not even break a sweat. They are stronger, faster and harder than the girls. The girls have the skills, but can’t come close physically to the boys.
yes. I watch both men's and women's rugby on Sky Open. It is very obvious that the male and female bodies are different – not only in speed and strength, but bone structure and weight distribution. Male forwards have more wight much higher than the female forwards, who have more weight around their hips. The shoulder-hip ratio is different in each sex: males have broader shoulders compared with their hips.
On top of the superior strength of men, women are also more prone to get concussion and ACL problems due to different muscle fibre attachments. So it is dangerous to have males in female contact and collision sports.
Yeah, it’s pretty obvious, there are very few sports that have men and women competing in the same sport. Equestrian sports may be one, as it’s the horse putting in the effort…
I can only assume that some people have gone so deep into an ideological worm hole, combined with a large dose of psychedelics, that they have lost touch with reality. Either that or they are on a promise and don’t want to miss the chance of getting laid, I’ve certainly been there before when I was younger
I moved this to OM, because your comment about someone named George amounts to vague hearsay and that is very difficult to respond to in a debate without potentially misleading a journalist’s view.
You can make the argument yourself about safety if you want but if you are going to reference a journalist, you need to be able to provide a reference.
A reference would be something like the time and day you heard it, what show it was on, who they were talking to and so on.
Kathryn Ryan…a couple of days ago..
I would presume putting George .or the subject matter….into the rnz search bar..will take you right there..
..and I think the George lady is quite famous in sports circles…
And I am supportive of what she said..
Hope that clarifies that for you…
[it doesn’t. I already did a search of both the RNZ and google by site, and came up with nothing. The onus is on you if you want to comment here. You can either provide a reference yourself instead of expecting others to do you work for you, or you can leave the reference out, and simply making the argument yourself in your own words. I now need you to acknowledge you’ve understood this moderation and agree to abide by it going forward, because mods really don’t like wasting our time on things on like this – weka]
mod note, please read and respond.
That discussion was not on Morning Report or Mid-Day or on Checkpoint.
I heard it on Afternoons (not available).
AI source
Thank you spc …I have spent the last little while getting lost on the rnz website…
And whoar ..!…that is one crap website ..the worst I have seen in a long time ..I even tried keying in shows on a specific date…and it said nothing found ..
@ weka…if dissatisfied please just delete my comment ..
I will finish by saying that in 20 yrs of commenting on this site…I have never lied/made something up..
https://www.rnz.co.nz/search/results?q=transgender+sport+policy+&commit=Search
Takes one to the stories.
The story pages have audio links on them.
You’re missing the point of the moderation. Going forward, if you cannot provide a reference the don’t make the claim, just make the argument in your own words.
no one is suggesting you are lying or making things up. I think your memory is faulty. No shame there, it happens to everyone at times. For instance you said the piece was Kathryn Ryan two days ago, but it was Afternoons yesterday.
That happens. I heard it yesterday and thought it was on Afternoons. It probably was The Panel.
it does. Which is why it's better to just make the argument oneself than trying to repeat something half remembered that no-one can remember. Sometimes someone else knows where it was and it works out, but in this case, it was a wild goose chase.
When not listening to music…I have rnz mumbling away in the background…I am not sitting there listening to it…it is just there…and I hear snatches of what is going on…I don't datestamp things that lodge iny head…
And I couldn't IMHO it..as it was something I heard…not my opinion..(tho I do agree with ms. George..
For late arrivals: Wallace Chapman was parroting the anti trans argument…and MS. George shot him down…by putting it all into some perspective…
Namely that trans people weren't the danger/problem for young/female athletes..it is heterosexual cis males..preying on them..that is the real issue here…I was impressed by her opinion..
And I am glad spc also heard this..
And what was her evidence? because the line about het 'cis' men being more of a problem for women is a transactivist line that doesn't stand up to the evidence I've seen. Plus, as I've said 9.3 below, that is not an argument for allowing trans IDed males into women's sports.
There are a fair amount of heterosexual trans IDed males that prey on women, are voyeurs, enfringe on women's privacy, and/or a physical danger to women.
Plus, standing up for women’s rights to our own provisions, spaces and sports is not anti-trans. It’s just another patriarchal line for men, however they identify, to try to insert themselves into women’s provisions. It’s men doing what they have been doing for centuries, telling women what it is to be a woman, and how we should behave and present ourselves.
From my memory of what she said .her 'evidence' was based on a number of investigations she had done into that very issue..as a journalist..
Do you have any evidence of the claims you make about preying heteros as trans.. and women..?
And as for me arguing a patriarchal/men dominating woman p.o.v…?
Sorry..!..I read all the books..and I named my daughter after Simone de Bouvier..as a mark of respect so..y'know ..!
The issues for women and girls in sport are fairness, safety, and dignity. Fear of sexual assault isn't as big an issue, but it's still there like it would be with any other males. Young women being forced to share changing rooms with males is an obvious risk.
Tell me Phil, do you accept that women and men have different anatomy and physiology which puts women at risk when playing against men in contact sports like rugby?
I really have no desire to debate this issue with you..I was only reporting the opinion voiced by Zoe george..
[you didn’t report the opinion of Zoe George, you threw out a vague claim of fact with no way for anyone to substantiate what she actually said. If you don’t want to talk about it, then stop talking about. 2 day ban for wasting my time and ignoring moderation – weka]
Well, males trying to claim access to women's provisions based on their subjective feelings, and transactivists trying to bully us into believing that such males are indeed women and we need to expand our understanding of what it is to be women, is pretty patriarchal. Same old patriarchy, new twist.
A Swedish study in 2011, of 2003 data showed that 'male-to-female' transsexuals had the same crime offending rates, including of violent crime as non-trans males. However, it did not look specifically at sex crimes.
A submission to a UK parliamentary committee in 2021, refers to research of transwomen's rates of sex crimes. They used 2020 Ministry of Justice data that shows that a higher percentage of inmates who self IDed as women were convicted of sex offences, including rape or attempted rape than non-trans IDed inmates.
The fact is, trans IDed males, whether or not medically or surgically transitioned can be as much of a danger to women as any other men.
Furthermore, female sex-based provisions are not just for physical safety, but for dignity and privacy. Some men who claim to be women, or gender diverse, can behave in a voyeuristic way towards women, which can cause psychological harm.
When a natal male, enters an intimate female space, women have no way of knowing if they are any more of a threat than any other male.
Furthermore, this has nothing whatever to do with males self-IDing into women's sport. That presents its own dangers based on scientific evidence about the differences in biology between males and females. Saying offending rates put the sport issue 'into perspective' is a diversion and not any kind of argument for males to be able to self-ID into women's sports.
like I said, it's not about whether it was true or not, it's about whether we can debate the topic. If you can't provide a reference then make the argument yourself. If you want to argue that women aren't at risk from trans identified men, then make the argument.
You have the reference..both spc and I heard it….
And it is her argument…the subject actually bores me…I view it as a distraction from what really matters… IMHO..
You've been given a mod warning, it's up to you whether you take the guidance or not. Irrespective of the topic, if you continue to throw out vague claims without references, you risk a ban. It's not this topic, it's the disruption to debtate, you've been warned before on other topics, today it's just been a waste of time.
Could it have been Wallace Chapman ..?
I tried looking on site…nothing found came up..
What a dog of a website…
And isn’t the point of this what she said..?..surely..
https://www.rnz.co.nz/search/results?q=wallace+chapman&commit=Search
Two links, for The Panel 24 July.
Thanks… that's where it is…
It is on the first one.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/thepanel/audio/2018997026/the-panel-with-boopsie-maran-and-conor-english-part-1
Approx how far through?
It is mentioned at the opening of the first of the two (but having 2x sped through it (2nd first) I can now confirm it was on neither … was edited out.
Direct action option… multiple questions to panel today..asking why the Zoe george takedown of Wallace Chapman has been edited out of their 'record' of events ..of their 24/7 episode..
I'm gonna do that…
thanks for doing the mahi on this. Interesting that they cut it out.
@ spc..heh..!…can I reiterate what a dog of a website it is… IMHO…
This is what-about-ism and misdirection.
Weka has cited evidence under Louisa Wall's post, that there are significant physiological differences between males and females that require separate categories for post-pubertal males and females in most sports for fairness as well as safety.
Sports these days do all they can to make competition, at all levels fair and safe. These are things that are important on their own, sports need to be as safe as possible, and safe-guarding there cannot be dismissed because there are dangerous things happening in other areas of life.
Speak Up For Women have just put up a press release criticising the Human rights Commission for its,
Where is the evidence that heterosexual 'cis' males prey on women more than heterosexual trans IDed males? Because the evidence I have seen is that trans IDed males are just as likely to prey upon women as any other heterosexual males. For instance a Swedish Study, that I have referenced before on this site, shows that 'male-to-female' transsexuals have the same rate of criminal offending, including violent offending as other males.
Data from prison populations in some overseas jurisdictions, including the UK and, I think California, show that trans IDed males are vastly over-represented among incarcerated sex-offenders.
These days a high proportion of males who ID as women are heterosexual, and also do not undergo any 'gender affirming" medical or surgical changes. The trans umbrella is spread very wide now, and includes transvestites, and those who ID as 'gender diverse' (could ID as a man one day and a woman the next) or non-binary. Yet all these males, whose self ID is based on their subjective feelings, make claims to be included in women's sports and other provisions.
The Speak Up for Women press release also says,,
Good press release. There are some things in the removed guidance about the HRA, and I wonder if that's part of why it was pulled. It's only a matter for time before we have court cases.
This is an insightful article on The Conversation about the fundamental nature of science that makes it science as one of the most worthwhile of human endeavours, i.e., self-correction, and how this is vital for public trust in science. It may challenge views and beliefs of some, as there are many misconceptions around. One of the two authors is Naomi Oreskes (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naomi_Oreskes).
The article addresses the power and risk of using AI to undertake (or assist and augment?) a global audit of all published research. It omits discussion of all the explicit and tacit knowledge that has not/never been published in its own right and is therefore not available to direct scrutiny, be it by AI or human.
https://theconversation.com/ai-will-soon-be-able-to-audit-all-published-research-what-will-that-mean-for-public-trust-in-science-261363
Denying science seems to be this government's way. Our ACC Antarctic circumpolar current, is also weakening. Those Scientists have warned and warned of tipping points.
According to Bibi Netanyahu. this recognition "rewards terror". Alternatively, it's a punishment for IDF war crimes, and Bibi knows crime – illegal settlements anyone?
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/7/23/israeli-parliament-approves-symbolic-motion-on-west-bank-annexation
If Seymour thinks that all those that do not agree with him are drop-kicks then he is a little PUNT.
[Please correct your user handle, thanks – Incognito]
Mod note
A young man I know has been trying to secure an electrical apprenticeship.
He's well qualified and has spent the past 18 months, the first without pay, labouring for a large electrical contractor and he's been rejected, again.
So he's off to join family in Australia and take up the free apprenticeship training that's on offer.
We are so fucked.
/
To support Queensland's youth to successfully transition to employment, the government is offering fee-free training in high priority qualifications. The training is available through a range of certificate III level vocational education and training (VET) courses as well as apprenticeships and traineeships. View the courses offered by TAFE Queensland or the full list of high priority qualifications is available on the Department of Trade, Employment and Training website.
[…]
Free TAFE for Under 25s eligibility
To be eligible to access fee-free training you must meet the following criteria:
https://tafeqld.edu.au/courses/apply-and-enrol/subsidised-training#accordion-72adf93aa4-item-3d7fefbb1f
A third of those migrating to Oz are citizens not born here. They are about half those who later claim Australian citizenship (Those born in New Zealand more likely to stay there without becoming citizens).
https://www.1news.co.nz/2025/07/25/revealed-number-of-migrants-using-nz-as-a-stepping-stone-to-australia/
So John Howard was right and Helen Clark was wrong all along.
I personally know well into double figures people from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, China and especially the UK who have used NZ as a backdoor to Australia.
Clark should have agreed to Howard's offer of only extending the freedom of movement (and welfare benefits) of the trans Tasman relationship to native born New Zealanders.
I doubt that Oz has much problem with the current arrangement.
They get migrant workers who have assimilated via New Zealand and "New Zealanders" over there still do not get benefits (and more).
Expect the CoC to run more distractions on the cost of living crisis, which is still Labour's fault – isn't that right, Nicola? Those fancy ice creams must taste pret-ty pret-ty good.
And we have no estate tax.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/money/360769816/helping-wealthiest-generation-history-give-money-away
Now they're just being petty. But Winston's red neck base will love it.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/360770002/small-change-confirmed-new-zealand-passport
Surely Seymour should be all over this as a waste of money?
Rundown of the anti trump South Park episode and what is really going on.
https://youtu.be/UqBzYhICO8o
It ties into the Colbert cancellation, the Paramount/Trump deal, and the SP creators taking a shit tonne of money from Paramount then spitting in their face.
Thanks for the heads up weka, I've lost touch with South Park since a bit before Covid.
It's great to see they are back to their skewering best. There are no sacred cows with Parker and Stone, about the best satire one could hope for.
And… they have since 'apologised'…
https://www.1news.co.nz/2025/07/25/south-park-co-creator-deadpans-apology-for-trump-satan-scene/
haha.
I'm not a particular fan of South Park, but the need for satire is stronger than ever, and got to love people who will go hard despite the risks.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/jul/24/no-fear-or-favours-how-corbyn-and-sultanas-party-could-blow-up-british-politics?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
It’s a real shame the UK doesn’t have proportional representation. The Corbyn party could be a contender if they did.
real shame. Having to compete with the Greens too, that sucks. Still, they've got seats in parliament already, which means they're in a good position to grow.