These aren't really trade deals in the traditional sense. There headline short term transactions with little detail or real agreement, which Trump feels able to alter or renege on at will. More of a concept of a trade deal.

I only go to the zoo with the little ones. I’m not happy that higher primates are kept in enclosures, as they are sentient beings. This was one poor soul I caught on camera. We really shouldn’t be breeding them for entertainment in zoos.

File this one under bloody stupid ideas. Yes, waste reduction is very important. But this won't achieve that. It will just result in more illegal dumping. Sometimes council bureaucrats can be incredibly thick. www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...

Concerns are being raised about privatisation after Health Minister Simeon Brown met representatives of a controversial multinational company that runs prisons and hospitals. “The Minister must immediately & fully disclose the nature, purpose, & content of his discussions with Serco.” #nzpol

Looks like a good time in the news cycle to tackle three big myths 🧵 ❌ NZ pension costs are an unsustainable burden ❌ Seriously, no, for lots of reasons. 1. Our current Govt spending on pensions is low compared to most other advanced economies. And... [1/n]

This seems at odds with Trump's burning desire to win a Nobel Peace Prize, and his (false) claims to have ended 9 wars and never started any.

This from the guy whose aesthetic sense has led to the Oval Office being transformed into an over decorated gauche gilded grotto.

I'm back in AoNZ after being underground in Australia for the last 10 days - unfortunately not much has changed for the better in the world while I've been (mainly) gone 🙄

Yet again, the CoC does fuck all about making things better for the citizens of AoNZ in order to protect the interests of shareholders, corporations, and those who are wealthy and sorted. #nzpol

The Global Sumud Flotilla heading for Gaza is due to enter Israeli-controlled waters tonight. The Italian naval ship accompanying them has offered to move anyone who wants to onto their ship before that. Italy has said once the flotilla enters Israeli-controlled waters, they cannot protect them.

NZ government overhauls earthquake-prone building classification. Let’s not forget that 185 people died, and several thousand were injured, in the 2011 earthquake in Christchurch. My Stuff #cartoon today #NZpol #earthquakes #Insurance #TheCostOfALife

It infuriates me that media outlets fail to identify the political and philosophical leanings of economists that they give column inches to. In this case, right wing think tank NZ Initiative economist Oliver Hartwich gets free rein. A PhD in economics does not make you an impartial expert! #nzpol

Even if Blair's record in the Middle East had been one of success, the appointment of a white British man to manage Gaza is a throw back to the 1920s-1940s and Mandatory Palestine, a model of colonisation and imperialism, and not the solution Palestinians need.

The only response I expect to hear from @chrishipkins.bsky.social on this hilarity is “Fuck off baldilocks, we deal in science not stupidity” #nzpol #OneTermGovernment #EndFossilFuels #ClimateCrisis #NoPlanetB #Luxon #WorstPMEver #VoteThemOutNZ #Election2026 www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...

Winston Peters says that about everything he, personally, disagrees with. It's a meaningless phrase, normally followed by some kind of insult and smug trolling. Toxic old fart.

The government’s stance on Palestine echoes Arendt’s “banality of evil”: officials turning genocide into paperwork and an administrative task; treating a moral abyss as mere policy risk.

In today’s HeraldOnSunday

“…80 percent of the world’s problems involve old men hanging on who are afraid of death and insignificance, and they won’t let go.” —Barack Obama Winston Peters is 80. #nzpol

the new zealand government is so fucking pathetic and embarassing

I have never been more ashamed of my country than now. Both the prime minister and foriegn minister are living in a fairy land. This was their springbok tour moment, their nuclear free moment....and they fucked it. I will not forget this

The darkest day in AotearoaNZ modern history. This is shameless cowardice & further proof that this coalition government works for fascism and not the people of Aotearoa NZ or indeed HUMANITY itself! 🤬 WRONG SIDE OF HISTORY #OneTermGovernment #FreePalestine #nzpol www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...

The word of the day is: 💔 māteatea 💔 māteatea: (verb) to be ignominious, humiliating, shameful, inglorious, abject and: māteatea: (modifier) ignominious, humiliating, shameful, inglorious, abject, dishonourable and: māteatea: (noun) shame, distress, disgrace, scandal, embarrassment Auē rā!

#NZPol Their evil logic will only recognize Palestine once it is gone. They say they can't accept violence from the oppressed but are silent on the violence of the oppressor. Hamas is a terrorist org so they can't recognise it but the Israeli government commits a genocide without criticism.

New Zealand is punching above its weight in cowardice

Every country has a 'bespoke' legal system. AoNZ does not follow the US constitution and legal precedent, the Australian Constitution, or even English jurisprudence as much as previously. Even the Scots have a very different legal system to England. www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/justice-m...

Voting for these three is aiding and abetting war crimes. #nzpol

I am so embarrassed to be a New Zealander today 🙁 #nzpol

Autism doesn’t need to be “fixed.” Fascism needs to be neutered.

This should be a wake up call for the AoNZ government. The wreck of the RMS Niagara is the same age as the Rio. It too is a serious risk for an oil spill that could seriously impact the coast from the Hauraki Gulf to the Bay of Islands, including the Poor Knights marine reserve.

This so-called battle was actually the slaughter of 150-300 (reports vary) Lakota Native Americans , including women and children. 🤦‍♀️ It was a massacre. history.nebraska.gov/the-military...

It’s truly baffling to me that so many of these stories focus on “wow big fish” and not “this is an IUCN Red List Critically Endangered species that is extremely physiologically fragile and often does not survive fishing practices like this” www.mysanantonio.com/news/south-t... 🦑🧪🌎🦈🐠

I think people should read about what happened at Wounded Knee. Read at least one reasonably factual source. Please.

Russia makes tentative incursions into #Estonia and #Poland. My Stuff #cartoon today #Russia #NATO

I’m disappearing underground for a few days. Shit on the surface is just too crazy right now.

You can’t fix autism because autistic people are not broken.

A nitrate emergency is called in Canterbury as protests about water pollution rise. My Stuff #cartoon today #nzpol #WaterPollution #Nitrates #Water #CleanWater

Luxon himself handed me the Prime Minister's science prize last year. Let me say this in plain English: he's an idiot for running a govt who budgeted more for AI than for the Marsden fund. any journo reading this can quote me on it #nzpol

“Going for growth!” Yeah, right #nzpol Economy contracts sharply as GDP falls 0.9% in June quarter www.rnz.co.nz/news/busines...

little surprise that yesterday's webworm piece about trolls (www.webworm.co/groyperwars/) naturally brings out some of new zealand's biggest trolls:

Luxon’s own, his very own, dead fish moment.

Wonder if the same contract terms apply to almost all of NZ’s news providers. #nzpol

Quote from Seymour on RNZ website: "I'm not going to recognise a state that's currently weaponising hostages, holding people for years on end in absolutely inhumane conditions. I mean, who would recognise that?" he replied.” Does ACT want to break off diplomatic relations with Israel? #nzpol

Of course, it was going to crash if you branded it with SpaceX. That's just tempting fate.

"What churchs are they from??" Ones that follow the teachings of Jesus Christ Not surprised Hannah Tamaki is unfamiliar

That's nice for them. Now go and talk to regional areas like Nelson and Tokoroa. #nzpol

A whole lot of 40something dudes are about to get very mad at their robots because they type like teenagers.

This is an inverted Turing test: can a machine distinguish an actual human adult pretending to be a child from a real teenager?

And this is what National and ACT want for AoNZ. #nzpol

It's a genocide, Chris Luxon! Grow a spine and direct Peters to support sanctions for Israel, expelling the Israeli ambassador to NZ, and recognising the state of Palestine. www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/5...

"The State of Israel has committed genocide." Navi Pillay, chair of the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, has told Al Jazeera that Israel’s war on Gaza is a genocide.