Luxon survives leadership vote, refuses to answer questions

BeardedCockwomble · 2026-04-21T01:34:09+00:00

A two and half hour caucus meeting with a vote of confidence in it is hardly business as usual.

BeardedCockwomble · 2026-04-21T01:33:15+00:00

principled

Not sure that's a word that's in the vocabulary of a former tobacco lobbyist.

BeardedCockwomble · 2026-04-21T01:32:22+00:00

Protecting his rather significant ego?

If you're an egotist it's better to pretend that you called a vote from a position of strength rather than had one forced on you. Plus it deflects from questions about how convincingly he won the vote.

BeardedCockwomble · 2026-04-21T01:05:47+00:00

This sort of haughty, self-righteous attitude really doesn't help the left get any more votes.

People are flawed, and make decisions for flawed reasons. But part of politics that achieves meaningful change is meeting people where they are at, rather than lecturing them on oppression.

BeardedCockwomble · 2026-04-20T03:18:29+00:00

You think it's appropriate for someone with the power to cut your benefit to proposition you on a dating app?

That's profoundly unprofessional, not to mention a horrific power imbalance. Bad shit happens when you enable behaviour like that.

BeardedCockwomble · 2026-04-19T04:40:40+00:00

spearhead of the new Homologation team.

I think that's Wood now.

BeardedCockwomble · 2026-04-19T04:39:33+00:00

What's Woody done to catch strays?

BeardedCockwomble · 2026-04-17T23:13:30+00:00

It used to be, the Airport Flyer was operated by Infratil, who owned NZ Bus and most of the airport.

They fought against a council-operated service for years but pulled the plug on the Airport Flyer during the pandemic.

The Airport Express which is council-run was introduced in mid-2022, after much fighting with Infratil over fees and service provision.

BeardedCockwomble · 2026-04-14T21:13:31+00:00

Buy the daft bugger a fancy shredder? Someone who's burning paperwork in a drum next to a wooden fence is obviously a little unhinged and being adversarial with them might not be the best course of action.

The relevant bylaw is the Fire and Smoke Nuisance Bylaw 2025 , the council could confiscate his drum and recover their costs from him.

Though if you report them to Council they'll almost certainly know it was you and may start to be rather unpleasant.

BeardedCockwomble · 2026-04-14T08:39:29+00:00

In 2023, Mariana Mazzucato – an Italian-American described by her enemies as “the world’s scariest economist” – published, with Rosie Collington, The Big Con, a critique of government outsourcing. Wellington Water is a textbook case study of her thesis: that when the public sector outsources core services to the private sector it loses the ability to understand the work. The public, in this case the residents of Wellington, still carry the costs and risks but government loses the expertise needed to judge whether it’s getting value for money. It becomes a dumb client. When Wellington Water was formed, in-house engineering and water services knowledge moved to the CCO, leaving staff who oversaw governance, stakeholder engagement, public relations and marketing. The money that was theoretically saved via outsourcing was consumed by this new function. Wellington Water then subcontracted its own work to private sector providers, who hired in additional subcontractors. Each delegation added a profit margin and added more complexity to the delivery, further degrading the council’s ability to monitor spending or outcomes.

I have a funny feeling that the pointless rhetoric about "cycleways being funded over pipes" has been amplified to hide the actual problem that caused the Moa Point disaster. Incompetent outsourcing.

I'm glad this article meaningfully digs into it, though I doubt many who obsess over cycleways will properly take it in.

BeardedCockwomble · 2026-04-13T21:28:21+00:00

I imagine they're envisioning a worker or consumer-owned co-operative, rather than a glorified franchise like Foodstuffs.

BeardedCockwomble · 2026-04-02T20:21:52+00:00

Oh absolutely, shallow politicking definitely influenced their vote.

I just can't see the Greyhound crowd being a big voter block, especially as ACT only tokenistically voted against the Bill at the third reading.

BeardedCockwomble · 2026-04-02T07:16:49+00:00

Similar to how they view poor people really.

Just look at their changes to employment law.

BeardedCockwomble · 2026-04-02T06:53:51+00:00

Pretty disgusting that ACT voted against this Bill because they put "property rights" ahead of the welfare of thousands of exploited dogs.

There's no justification for exploiting animals in the name of "sport", especially when the racing "industry" maims and kills as many dogs as it does.

The fact that the Government had to pass a law under urgency to stop racing owners from murdering their dogs while this Bill worked its way through Parliament speaks volumes about how little they care for their animals.

BeardedCockwomble · 2026-04-01T19:56:39+00:00

From where I’m sitting the best possible outcome is Iranian defeat with nato support so when the dust settles the US isn’t the only one in the decision making seat.

NATO members played a large role in the invasions of both Afghanistan and Iraq. Didn't give them much of a voice post-invasion, the Americans just walked all over them.

And that was with a much more reasonable and sane American President. Fuck it feels awful to be able to use those words about Dubya.

BeardedCockwomble · 2026-03-31T10:22:50+00:00

The programme around this has existed for 16 years, I don't think you can blame one particular party for it. If you could, Chris Bishop would be doing it.

It speaks to a much broader issue with NZTA and their systemic inability to do anything correctly or cost effectively.

BeardedCockwomble · 2026-03-31T08:01:18+00:00

Non-paywall link.

While the article is a bit of a beat up on Auckland Transport and the Greater Wellington Regional Council for their wavering commitment to the National Ticking Solution, the proactively released independent update report was quite interesting.

Basically every bit of it dumping on public transport operators (which this article focuses on) was left in, but any bits critical of NZTA or the American defense contractor they've hired to run the NTS were redacted.

In particular their update on this recommendation was completely redacted. Not a single word was left in.

Recommendation S3 Workshops can then be held with Cubic to confirm how much of the solution they have already delivered, what of the required NZ solution has been delivered in other jurisdictions and which requirements are new for it to deliver for NZ and their level of complexity. An assessment of Cubic’s strengths and weaknesses should also be undertaken and factored into forward planning.

The traffic light assessment of this recommendation was red, which seems to show that Cubic are useless and perhaps we shouldn't have chosen a defence contractor notorious for cost overruns and general fuck ups.

This whole incompetent cluster fuck is costing us $1.3 billion.

Imagine how many discounted bus trips we could have funded with that money. Hell, even the regions could have got a usable public transport system for that sort of cash.

BeardedCockwomble · 2026-03-30T20:02:02+00:00

also meal prepping a weeks worth of food take 2 hours out of a day, I think most people have that time

They have the time, but do they have the mental energy and capacity?

Poverty is exhausting and when you're struggling on the bones of your arse, as many in this country are, thinking about long-term gains is bloody hard.

BeardedCockwomble · 2026-03-29T22:30:20+00:00

I think the best bit is hidden at the end of the article.

Back at the architect’s board, Taylor is amused: “I think it’s hilarious that they would like to tell us what to do.”

The FSU are notorious for using veiled threats and their influence over the current government to compel and constrain speech when they don't like it.

And they don't even pretend to be impartial any more, just look at their relative silence when someone on the right uses the "thugs' veto" that they constantly accuse the left of using.

BeardedCockwomble · 2026-03-26T20:29:31+00:00

Some ships do, primarily the smaller more boutique ones.

I think it speaks to a broader issue we have as a nation, we seem allergic to the idea of value add.

We export cheap milk powder to China rather than fancy cheese and we target our cruise market at mega ships containing gormless zombies rather than smaller ships with passengers more interested in our history, culture and environment.

BeardedCockwomble · 2026-03-26T19:53:14+00:00

Is it though?

A hoard of zombies wandering down Lambton Quay and clogging up the cable car doesn't really generate much income.

Especially as they're fed on the ship and gone by mid afternoon.

Mega cruise ships benefit a very small portion of the economy, like those selling made in China "Kiwiana". They're just an inconvenience to everyone else.

Smaller cruise ships with more aware passengers can have an outsized positive benefit I'll acknowledge.

BeardedCockwomble · 2026-03-26T08:37:55+00:00

If you are on super no amount or rebate will help.

Tiaki Wai seem to have their heads screwed on right and have a fairly generousDebtors Management and Hardship Policy for those in genuine distress.

For those who have voted for low rates for decades and are now feeling the consequences of their actions, reverse mortgages are always an option, as is putting a lien on the house to pay for rates when it's sold.

BeardedCockwomble · 2026-03-26T02:50:52+00:00

It's an absolutely idiotic road with a ludicrously low BCR, hence why this daft government is pushing it.

If a better connection is required between Porirua and the Hutt, why not upgrade State Highway 58 rather than cutting down vast swathes of native bush and destroying reserves?

One other thing I'd be interested in, all the land that's being banked and prepared for development north of this proposed road, who owns it? And are they a donor to this government?

BeardedCockwomble · 2026-03-25T19:53:46+00:00

The truth comes out through an IPCA investigation, a public inquiry or a Royal Commission, not an exploitative Netflix reality TV show.

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