Category: imported_guest

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The Farcical and Bizarre

We seek boldness from the Coalition and industry to tackle the huge injustice of condemning farmers for being polluters when the latest science is clear: ruminants are not a problem. Saving millionths of a degree by decimating our most successful industry is as ludicrous as cutting off your hand to spite your elbow.  Could we return to sanity, please?


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The Maori Seats in Parliament, an Anachronism

Currently there are seven Maori electorates in Parliament. Six are held by persons claiming Maori ethnicity and who belong to the “Maori Party.” Notwithstanding widespread calls for the abolition of the Maori seats no member of the coalition has shown any inclination to table legislation to that effect.


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The Endless Inflation Budget Charade

From 2011 through 2023, failure to index the income tax thresholds pulled about a million wage and salary earners from the bottom 10.5% tax bracket into the 17.5% range and another eight hundred thousand from the 17.5% range into the 30% tax bracket.


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Budget 2024: Policy Solutions to New Zealand’s Funding Problems

Most politicians are tribal, they support their political party right or wrong, often in the hope of getting a ministerial job down the line. I never fitted into that category of politicians. For me, policy always came first - that is policy I believed to be in the best interests of New Zealand. Today, I still find it impossible to stay silent...


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New Zealand Budget - May 2024: There’s got to be a better way

This article calls on all New Zealanders to be clear-eyed about the state of social services, particularly health, education, welfare and superannuation, and acknowledge that without major changes the system will inevitably collapse under its own weight. No government has had the courage to face up to the fundamental structural flaws of our present system.


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Rebooting Our Universities and the Science System

A critical issue for universities throughout the Western world, has been an ideological shift away from institutional political neutrality, and a focus on teaching and research excellence, towards the critical social justice politics of diversity, equity, and inclusion. DEI agendas focus mostly on race and gender identity issues and have become oppressive and exclusionary.


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Coastal Court Action Flies Under the Radar

Before MACA became law, Finlayson reassured critics that only around 2000km of New Zealand’s 20,000km coastline — or roughly 10 per cent — would end up being under the control of iwi and hapu via customary title. That promise looks to be hollow.


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Censorship

Censorship comes in many forms, some subtle and some not so but the overall effect is the same, some person, or group does not want you to exercise your freedom of choice and speech on a given topic.


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Statement by Sir Russell Coutts Sail GP CEO

Unfortunately yesterday was another example of there being almost no balance in the decision making – another example of New Zealand being handcuffed by unprecedented layers of bureaucracy and red tape.


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A “Global Warmer” Against the Polluters 

It is crucial to the administration of justice that all judges approach the cases before them with open minds and setting aside all pre-conceived views and beliefs. Once that corner stone is eroded then our court system rapidly descends to one of patronage, and who you know.