The Standard

Open Mike 27/01/2026

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, January 27th, 2026 - 10 comments
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10 comments on “Open Mike 27/01/2026 ”

  1. Drowsy M. Kram 1
    27 January 2026 at 11:49 am



    https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL2601/S00057/a-change-in-the-weather-181.htm

    This cartoon could be mocking comments ["We need more CO2 not less"!] under Ian Wishart's latest story in the 'Centrist', set up by billionaire Jim Grenon.

    Wishart is just asking questions 🙁

    IAN WISHART: Are climate activists ignoring the evidence at Mt Maunganui? [26 Jan 2026]

    ‘A wake for those staying’: Fears for NZ journalism as billionaire buys up
    [17 March 2025]
    Until recently, Grenon had not been widely viewed as an investor with a driving passion for the fourth estate. According to the website of his company Tom Capital Management, his business interests are oil and gas, financial services, manufacturing and real estate.

    https://thestandard.nz/almost-20-million-budget-cut-to-rnz-is-met-with-near-silence-from-kiwis/

    Alt-Right Billionaire Jim Grenon turns NZME into alt-right culture war sludge: With Alt-Right Billionaire Jim Gernon about to double his holding in NZME, he will be able to dominate the editorial position of the Herald to turn it into Fox News Lite with Ryan Bridge playing Mike Hosking Jnr on multiple platforms regurgitating Grenon’s alt-right culture war talking points.

    https://thedailyblog.co.nz/the-daily-blog-predictions-2026/

    Reply
  2. gsays 2
    27 January 2026 at 12:06 pm

    While we are looking at banning social media for under 16s perhaps we should look at banning it for those older too. Or at least severely curtailing it's use.

    The loss of time the drain on our attention and the emotional energy spent on events way beyond our control is sad.

    We have an election this year and the strategy that this government is too s*** to get re-elected clearly isn't working.

    We need to be organising and talking about what we want from a future government.

    As an example rather than chasing the middle swing centre voter, Labour needs to be sending a clear message to those that aren't engaged in the process that they are there for them. By saying no to Luxon's unfitted migration Indian trade deal.

    Be Labour in more than just the name.

    Reply
  3. Incognito 3
    27 January 2026 at 1:10 pm

    This resonated with me. She explains the situation very well, and the reasons for packing up and leaving for Australia.

    https://thespinoff.co.nz/society/27-01-2026/im-a-24-year-old-nz-graduate-heres-why-im-moving-to-australia

    The sad thing is that what she described doesn’t only apply to and affect recent university graduates.

    Reply
    • Drowsy M. Kram 3.1
      27 January 2026 at 7:54 pm

      That Spinoff article is a tough read for the future of New Zealand Aotearoa.

      From today's Parliament Video [ https://videos.parliament.nz/ ]

      "… so that Kiwis can get ahead. Thank you very much." – CEO Luxon (on behalf of the Wealthy and Sorted)

      The empty-headedness of our CEO – get ahead of who? Grates when others say it too.

      "… listen to them. Day by day, law by law, deal by deal, we are becoming the country that National, ACT and New Zealand First want us to be. That is a tragedy." – Swarbrick (Green)

      Reply
  4. Karolyn_IS 4
    27 January 2026 at 1:19 pm

    Hipkins is against joining Trump's Board of Peace and wouldn't join if he was PM.

    Labour leader Chris Hipkins has labelled the government's so-far refusal to rule out joining US President Donald Trump's 'Board of Peace' an "absolute disgrace".

    …

    Hipkins told Morning Report on Tuesday joining it would not be considered under a Labour-led government.

    "It's going to have people like [Russian President] Vladimir Putin on it. The idea that New Zealand would even consider being part of that would be an absolute embarrassment and an absolute disgrace on New Zealand."

    …

    Hipkins said any threat of tariffs on New Zealand for not joining would not sway him.

    "Donald Trump does not respect anybody who just simply sucks up to him. He doesn't respect anybody else, regardless.

    "New Zealand has to be principled, we have to be consistent. We have a very strong reputation around the world for being consistent and principled in our foreign policy – all of that is being thrown away by this government."

    Excellent call.

    Reply
    • alwyn 4.1
      27 January 2026 at 6:32 pm

      I am surprised that Hipkins is opposed to the idea. It was approved by the UN Security Council after all where the vote was 13-0 in favour with Russia and China abstaining. The US proposed plan, approved by the UN Security Council included

      "The U.S.-sponsored resolution enshrines the complete plan in international law, establishing a vaguely defined Board of Peace, headed by Trump with membership chosen by him, that for two years will control virtually every aspect from security and governance to reconstruction of Gaza."

      Chippie is normally in favour of anything the UN wants.

      I personally believe that we should ignore the silly proposal. Just ignore it having ever been mentioned without any attempt to either accept or reject the idea.

      Why get involved in a squabble over something that we can ignore?

      This quote was in the Washington Post of 17/11/2025. It is paywalled and I can't provide a link

      Reply
      • Karolyn_IS 4.1.1
        27 January 2026 at 7:28 pm

        The Security Council agreement was to something a bit different from Trump's actual Board of Peace as it now stands.

        The original resolution by the UN was open to all UN member states to be involved. Trump's current BoP is invitation only

        The original UN agreement included operational guidelines for Gaza.

        Trump's current Board no longer mentions Gaza and has a much wider brief. The requirement for a financial contribution to remain on the Board was never in the UN agreement, for which membership was free.

        This fact checker says:

        That endorsement, however, has not settled a political fight over whether the UN actually “approved” the full scope, charter, or later Davos signing of President Trump’s expanded Board — critics say the body now seeks powers and commercial rules that go beyond what the Security Council endorsed

        Helen Clark is not happy with the current proposal. From the transcript of a recent interview with Clark:

        [Clark] The Security Council of the UN

        [0:42] gave a limited mandate to a board of peace to work on the Gaza issues. But what's now happened is that President Trump has expanded that to invite leaders from around the world of all kinds to join him on what what looks like an alternative to both the security council and the United Nations. And one of the most bizarre twists in it is that if you pay a billion dollars, you get to be a permanent member of the Board of Peace.

        All I would say is anyone who pays a billion dollars will probably find there's no board of peace in three years time. But uh it it is uh really a a very challenging idea for the United Nations which which does have the membership of all member states and is legitimate.

        This is not a legitimate way to run international affairs. It's incredible when you create a charter for an organization. It takes years of negotiation, declarations of principles, and here we have something that's effectively pulled out of a hat and put up for signature in in Davos. But it places uh medium-sized smaller countries in a very difficult position, you know, to sign or not to sign.

        [Interviewer] But I think your position is clear.

        [Clark] My position is clear that countries should not sign.

        the video is here

        Reply
  5. Tony Veitch 5
    27 January 2026 at 4:13 pm

    Just listened to Winston's speech in the debate on the PM's statement – the man is a walking, speaking mass of grievances.

    He reminded me quite forcibly of Donald Trump, including being about as coherent!

    Reply

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