Kent Duston
@kentduston.bsky.social
AuDHD Boomer, tangata Tiriti, LGBTQIA+ ally, spending my professional life working on wellbeing - and Toitū te Tiriti.
I don't think people are ready for this kind of joke yet.
Madame Tussauds gets better and better at these wax works every year
God@thegodshow.com · last wk.The “new” Mitch photo is so blurry and softened it looks like a mall portrait.
Vale, Jim … so many of us spent so many hours listening to you we thought you were eternal #kikorangi
RNZ News Feeds@rnzrss.bsky.social · last wk.Veteran broadcaster Jim Hopkins dies aged 80
This is, of course, because National only has one card to play: those Nasty Other Parties will tax you more! It’s not like Luxon can campaign on his track record, or employment, or growth, or inflation, or climate, or infrastructure, or even roads #nzpol
Bruce Buckman@brucebuckman.bsky.social · last wk.Apart everything else here, he literally admits to ruling then out while having only a ‘cursory glance’ at their policies. He’s clearly trying to paint them as unworthy if his scrutiny, a sideshow, and fair enough if they were polling at 1%, but they’re polling close to the 5% threshold.
I think the folks at @newsroom.co.nz do a fabulous job, but I do wish the headline had read "Greens target data centres, corporate wealth because it's the right thing to do for the country" #nzpol newsroom.co.nz/2026/07/27/g...
Greens target data centres, corporate wealth in bid to win from voter angst
Can the Greens capitalise on anxiety about AI and growing inequality – or will a rival snatch the Opportunity?
newsroom.co.nz
Irrespective of what people may think of Gareth Morgan - and opinions vary - I think he nails the right strategy for Opportunity ... pursue policy wins by sitting on the cross benches, rather than looking for the baubles of office #nzpol newsroom.co.nz/2026/07/27/g...
Gareth Morgan: The real Opportunity is on Parliament's cross benches
Founder of TOP Gareth Morgan has some advice for his Opportunity Party successors - stay clear of government, hold your nerve on policy excellence
newsroom.co.nz
Bumped into the lovely @suebra.bsky.social at the Socialist Library book sale this morning … the book stock is great. I picked up some vintage Lenin and Engels to display prominently by the front door when the Act Party droids come door knocking in our electorate #nzpol
Sue Bradford@suebra.bsky.social · 2w agoKia ora friends - a reminder that our Socialist Library book sale is happening tomorrow (Sat) at 9am at Trades Hall, 147 Gt North Rd - a great opportunity for low-cost book browsing - & purchase! - in support of a vibrant new left project in the big city. #kikorangi #nzpol
This post is for those who despair of ever finding their proper place in the world. It can and does happen. Don't stop believing.
Chris Finlayson is my hero. He has deeply-held principles, plus the willingness to speak his mind on issues that matter. He’s the polar opposite of the vapid insult-tossing culture warriors currently infesting our polity #nzpol
Katya@nzkatya.bsky.social · 2w agoIn the postscript to Audrey Young's latest politics newsletter that is mostly condemning NZF, she also refers to Finlayson's berating of National #nzpol
Right ... so Mercury Energy, 51% owned by the Crown, has $53m to spend on a stake in a data centre, but somehow can't make the generation investments necessary for power prices to be lower for New Zealanders? Utter sociopaths #nzpol www.thepost.co.nz/business/361...
Taxpayer now has $27m interest in Southland data centre venture as Mercury buys in
The majority stated-owned power firm says it expects the planned $3.7 billion data centre near Invercargill to be the country’s “most advanced”.
thepost.co.nz
If we had a Scatologist Laureate in the same way we have a Poet Laureate, I think we all know Hayden would get the nod #nzpol
Hayden Donnell@haydendonnell.bsky.social · 2w agoOnce again proud of my contributions to The Spinoff
We’re on track for net zero in the same way we’re on track for the economic recovery #nzpol
Kyle Matthews@kylermatthews.bsky.social · 2w agoPrime minister is just denying maths now: www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...
I love that Chris Finlayson has evolved from politician to statesman … albeit a very muscular version of statesmanship #nzpol
Charlie Mitchell @comingupcharlie.bsky.social · 2w agoMost people would have quietly leaked this text, so I love that Chris Finlayson not only put his name to it but then posed with the text outside the Beehive with a massive grin www.thepost.co.nz/politics/361...
“The Finance Minister should stop pretending that inflation is a mysterious visitor from overseas, that he has no control over,” Nicola Willis, Stuff 2022 #nzpol
Leader of NZ First Winston Peters and deputy leader Shane Jones, survey this glorious land of ours. My #cartoon today #Environment #Conservation #NZpol #FossilFuels #ConservationAmendmentBill
Shout-out to Julie Fairey for her simply extraordinary ability to multitask. I’ve sat in my fair share of council meetings, and they always require focus - so she does an incredible job of both being an effective elected member and making democracy transparent for us on the outside #nzpol
Julie Fairey (she/her)@juliefairey.bsky.social · 2w agoIt's Tuesday which is COW Day at Auckland Council. COW = Committee of the Whole; there is usually no mooing (but a lot of milking). Today is a Super Tuesday as in fact we have two COWs - Budget & Performance and an extraordinary Policy, Planning & Development meeting. I'll be skeeting both...
I had a bit to say about this a while back - and I genuinely think NZF is positioning itself as the party of the wage class, even though that's all about perception rather than reality bsky.app/profile/kent... #nzpol
kyle@kyledchurch.bsky.social · 2w agoNew RNZ piece this morning trumpeting NZF as working class heroes who are harnessing discontent, complete failure to mention clear lies or extremism that underlined the party conference its from the reporter who was told, & responded to complaints about the use of “globalist”. picked a side i guess
Just following @musicalchairs.bsky.social excellent post on un- and under-employment, here's a short thread on what some quick back-of-the-envelope calculations can tell us about the headline unemployment rate. Spoiler alert: it's pretty ugly #nzpol
Musical Chairs@musicalchairs.bsky.social · 2w agoThere are about 15,000 jobs advertised today and... - 174,000 people officially unemployed - Another 144,000 people who want more hours - A further 80,000 potential jobseekers (underestimate) This is a failure of laissez-faire economic management on an absolutely tragic scale.
In my professional judgment, the Tourism NZ business case for Michelin falls well short of the standard. It’s not a clear-eyed assessment of options with a range of outcomes, they’ve just written a self-licking ice cream cone #nzpol newsroom.co.nz/2026/07/17/s...
Starry-eyed Tourism NZ buried the downside to fund its $8m Michelin gamble
Previously secret documents imply that the famous international restaurant guide essentially guaranteed the award of at least one star to a restaurant, if the NZ Government paid its $1,901,250 fee.
newsroom.co.nz
Whatever else happens with bird flu, at least we can look forward to the supermarkets hiking up egg prices and profiteering on the back of “shortages” #nzpol
Newsroom NZ@newsroom.co.nz · 3w ago"They get quite bored and angry." Egg producers warn that shutting outdoor chickens in sealed barns poses a massive welfare, regulatory and social licence hurdle.
We are a deeply callous society
D Jukic She/her@dejanajuk.bsky.social · 3w agoThe reality at the coalface of cuts to emergency housing and austerity from Government. The catalogue of failures to care, to assist are damning. Move on orders will, in reality, hasten deaths and fill prisons. We need more public housing, more support and much less cruelty from govt. #nzpol
It’s a shame the US never understood Monty Python’s humour, because the dead parrot sketch should be on continuous rotation on all American media channels by now www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Is Mitch McConnell secretly deceased? | Arwa Mahdawi
The senator’s health is shrouded in mystery after he was hospitalized. Why can’t we get a clear answer?
theguardian.com
The lyrics are great, but it’s always the lute solo that does it for me
Chaucer Doth Tweet@levostregc.bsky.social · 4w ago🎶 'Alas, what hast thou done? Thou art a pynke ponye girle Yn the daunse at the clubbe!' 'Nay, modir! Ich am but seekinge mirthe On the stage yn myne heeles It ys wher Ich belonge: Downe at the Pynke Ponye Clubbe! Ich shal keepe on daunsinge, Downe yn West Hollywoode' [LUTE SOLO] 🎶
Given the excessive dividends Nicola Willis has been banking from the gentailers, our high power prices should be regarded as taxation by other means #nzpol
Rob@robdickinson.bsky.social · 4w agoWe came in fourth highest out of 25 countries in the OECD comparison of average wholesale power prices between 2018 and 2025, exceeded only by Greece, Italy and Ireland Our 'private' power co's are making bank #nzpol www.consumer.org.nz/consumer-rig...
In politics, we’re torn between ideals and practicalities, aspirations and realities, the world as we want it, and as we find it But one day a manifesto comes along that reconciles both in every pledge. A rare moment of clarity and hope
Sound the New Zealand Mentioned Klaxon! "...only New Zealanders have suffered a steeper fall in their after-inflation wages [in the OECD]" Oh...
Andy Fleming@slackbastard.bsky.social · 4w ago'Of the 37 rich nations tracked by the [OECD], only New Zealanders have suffered a steeper fall in their after-inflation wages than Australians over the same period. By contrast, British real wages have increased by almost 8 per cent.' www.theage.com.au/politics/fed...
Prediction markets seem pretty toxic, but we could have made a fortune betting against the timing of National Party announcements ... cancel ferries -> ferry runs aground ... announce LNG terminal -> war in Iran ... lecture councils about climate change -> massive storms #nzpol