OK friends, going to log off for a few days. Need to take a break from constantly ingesting the horrors of the world. See you on the other side

Labour really should go hard on "Luxon is Trump's lapdog." It worked to win elections for bland center-left parties in Australia and Canada, and it would work here too. Really don't know why they're silent on this

Sassy Little Hobbit@sassypolitico.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Ever since the whole FBI office in Wellington malarkey things have been weird and uncomfortable. The rare minerals stuff. The complete lack of opposition to the genocide. This partnership is deeply troubling. This should be a bigger election issue.

Migration is our collective human history. People have always moved. Whether it’s from rural to urban, country to neighboring country, or straight up continents, this is what we do. Social stability is not at risk because people moved it’s at risk because you are a hater.

It’s always interesting to see how little pushback there is about anti immigrant rhetoric. Not from the media, not from businesses who rely on the workers, not unions, not white friends, not opposition parties like yeah the Greens might but it’s very muted and in the context of “contribution”.

i’m sorry but WHO exactly is commending brutal austerity cuts, the worst in a generation, other than an INCREASINGLY obsequious media and commentariat??? this is insane right??

It’s not the high unemployment rate or the high fuel prices or high power bills and food prices that’s harming our social stability oh no of course not it’s when you go about your day but there’s ✨brown people✨ in it.

It’s always the people whose ancestors didn’t learn the language or customs or culture, stole lands, and murdered people, who drone on about “social stability” like bro you are the mirror for instability.

Just a reminder that Chris Luxon himself benefitted greatly from open migration (to the US), and I'm sure he thinks white migrants to NZ are just fine. He's just a racist prick who doesn't want minorities here.

I really am reeling at what Luxon has just said about social strains of migration. How is he not aware of how integral migrants are to our economy? "In the tax year ending March 2024, the foreign-born made up 32% of the population, and paid 38% of the tax." www.treasury.govt.nz/publications...

The first thing any new Labour-led government should do is reform Treasury. It's a bastion of out-of-date neoliberal monetarists hewing close to the perceived purity of Roger and Ruth's vision. Govt needs economic advice and analysis from people that live in the real world, not a fantasy. #nzpol

Mark@maetl.bsky.social · 3mo ago

National and ACT are operating with institutional memory of Rogernomics shock doctrine and how to deliver it, in a way that the current opposition seems naive to and disconnected from. We don’t even need to talk about Project 2025 in NZ, we have the example of Treasury in the 1980s to draw upon.

Australia is implementing tax measures (CGT, reducing tax benefits for housing investors, etc) to tax wealth more and income less. Meanwhile NZ pretends even a milder version of these would destroy its economy, even though Australia had massively outperformed it over the past few years...

Budget capital gains tax changes and negative gearing reform explained

Negative gearing, capital gains tax and family trusts are all facing a big shake-up in the name of intergenerational fairness. How will it all work?

theguardian.com

I've added a YouTube link as the original one wouldn't allow viewing in landscape mode

Bernard Hickey & Verity Johnson bust the NZ debt myth

YouTube video by The Kākā with Bernard Hickey

youtu.be

I'm really sick of gullible rubes insisting that media ownership doesn't influence coverage, former political staffers don't continue to favor their party, etc By that logic we should let former tobacco lobbyists write health regulations - they don't work there any more so they're impartial now

This has nothing to do with gender - the issue would be the same if the husband was a reporter. But "people can manage their own conflicts" has failed basically everywhere it's been tried, and media figures are not magically immune.

Lew@lewsos.bsky.social · 3mo ago

I am simply asking people nominally of the left to consider that a woman can do a job of her own without it being part of her husband's agenda, making her own mistakes and being wrong for her own reasons without it being an anti-left plot Leaving aside the fact that he is no longer in that role

It always shocks the car people, but Wellington is by far the least car-dependent city in Australasia Only half of journeys here are by car. A quarter are by public transit, and the remaining quarter are by walking or cycling.

Yorrike.@yorrike.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Up to a third of Wellingtonians commute by bike once a week "That's bloody hogswash! I go out of my $2m flood prone Island Bay house at 10am on a week day and the bike lanes are empty!" Tens of thousands of people commute by train too "Rubbish! the train tracks hardly ever have trains on them!"

Bernard Hickey doing god’s work with Verity Johnson. This is so worth sharing far and wide on as many platforms to which you have access!! #nzpol

Bernard Hickey@bernardchickey.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Great chat with columnist for @stuff.co.nz Verity Johnson about idea NZ Govt is too indebted & we can’t have nice things.We’re actually rich & have low debt/gdp. The budget cutting obsession is ideological, moves wealth from young to old, & stunts NZ Inc. #nzpol open.substack.com/pub/thekaka/...

Yet another bunch of rural white people who voted against 3 Waters because of racism now having to deal with the reality that there is simply no way to cheaply provide water services to sparsely populated regions Will they learn from this? Almost certainly not. But I can enjoy the schadenfreude

Waitaki District ratepayers facing up to 45 percent increase call for probe into council's finances

Stunned Waitaki District ratepayers are calling for a government probe of council's finances, with some worried people will lose their homes.

rnz.co.nz

It remains completely absurd that Jenna Lynch is married to the ACT chief of staff and remains a political reporter. It's just a blatant ongoing conflict of interest that's never disclosed. Just shows how much Stuff is just not a serious media organization...

Mountain Tui@mountaintui.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Ex-Labour staffer from years ago does social media skits & is called a troll by Stuff's Jenna Lynch, wife of ACT Chief of Staff. But ex-National staffer & current Jordan Williams employee Ani O'Brien consistently runs troll campaigns against media & opposition MPs, but is legitimate? F*** Stuff

Idk if Virginia Democrats can see what the Supreme Court did with Alabama redistricting, and still be like “yo, we should listen far right judges,” we are all cooked anyway. Use some damn common sense.

Why is this a story? It's just platforming Chris Bishop's irrelevant reckons in order to score some political points. The article itself says that the Electoral Commission hasn't made any indication that the party name is out of line at this point...

New Te Tai Tokerau Party may not be able to contest election under that name, Bishop says

Mariameno Kapa-Kingi's Te Tai Tokerau Party may not be able to contest the election under that moniker, Chris Bishop has suggested.

rnz.co.nz

Picky-eating American children are afflicted with a form of privilege we don't talk about enough: not-dying privilege. To explain, @amybrown.xyz kicks off our TASTE week: www.oaklandreviewofbooks.org/picky-book-r...

Pickiness tastes like trauma

How American children became the fussiest eaters in history (and why they need to check their not-dying privilege).

oaklandreviewofbooks.org

Just want to put it out there that I see yall that immediately pivoted from "they should do this" to "actually that was a bad idea" the moment the Virginia senate leader decided to go copperhead. Its not subtle.

Does @chrishipkins.bsky.social and NZ Labour have a stance on canceling this if elected? Or does that also have to wait for the budget

Rob@robdickinson.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Sigh businessdesk.co.nz/article/ener...

"“Wiping out the entire Supreme Court is an incredibly extreme step to take over a decision you don’t like,” Surovell said." This is such a pathetic response. The people voted for the change! The court killed it on a technicality. Fight or perish. newrepublic.com/article/2102...

Trump Wins Big as Virginia Dems Won’t Go Nuclear to Save 4 House Seats

The state’s Democrats have decided against forcing resignations on the state Supreme Court to preserve their redistricting. Funny how Republicans always find a way, and Democrats don’t.

newrepublic.com

Young people: we feel betrayed by the government NZ Labour: we will absolutely not fix this for you Why would young people vote for a party that treats them with contempt?

Students question university affordability after government scraps fees-free scheme

Some University of Auckland students are questioning whether they can afford to continue their studies, while others say they feel "tricked" by the government.

rnz.co.nz

Elected Democrats are always waiting for someone to do their jobs for them. Sometimes it's the media, sometimes it's the courts. But actually, this is the job of our elected representatives, and they need to actually do it or resign and let someone else do it.

Michael Hobbes@michaelhobbes.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Dems and mainstream media are trapped in a doom loop. When objectively scandalous things happen, the media waits for Dems to treat them as scandals and Dems wait for the media to treat them as scandals. Eventually everyone just moves on.

well we did lose to legal Calvinball and we aren’t going to fight back. but at least we spent a hundred million dollars losing

Greg Sargent@gregsargent.bsky.social · 3mo ago

I asked Virginia State Senate leader Scott Surovell why Republicans always seem to find a way around such procedural obstacles whereas Dems are so often stymied by them. The exchange got interesting: newrepublic.com/article/2102...

Seriously though, it's not about one "decision we don't like," it's about a completely lawless court that rejects the sovereignty of the people and needs to be eliminated and replaced with a body that respects the people's will. If you let them get away with this they will give Trump anything.

I don't think this was worth doing because it was necessary to win the house. I think it was worth doing to show resolve and establish deterrence

Greg Sargent@gregsargent.bsky.social · 3mo ago

NEWS --> Top Virginia Dems have decided against exercising a procedural end-run around the State Supreme Court ruling that cost Dems four House seats, the Dem leader of the state senate tells me. This will anger Dems who wanted an aggressive response. Details here: newrepublic.com/article/2102...

Ehh I think they should have retired all the virginia supreme court justices just because I'm so tired of these judges being like "what are ya gonna do, STAB ME?"