This point needs to be made over and again: The main purpose of wealth taxes should not be to raise revenue. That's a small and secondary benefit. The main purpose should be to *reduce the fortunes of the ultrarich*. Why? Because those fortunes present a massive threat to democracy and public life.

Instagram saw all the nonconsensual imagery generated by Grok earlier this year and still decided to opt in all of its adult users to having their photos "remixed" by AI www.nytimes.com/2026/07/08/t...

New Zealand mentioned klaxon. No, not that one - the bad things happening one. @evacorlett.bsky.social doing the mahi again. #Datacentre

All across the motu yet the coalition govt is demonstrably in denial about climate change. We have been world leaders before & we should be world leaders again at this important & existential time in history. Dozens evacuated in Wairoa overnight after river banks burst www.rnz.co.nz/news/weather...

Sora: dead Atlas: dead "adult mode": dead Abilene expansion: dead OpenAI IPO: dead Tell me again about "inevitability"

Excellently argued post from Andrew We have one of the highest diasporas in the OECD AND one of the highest rates of inward migration for "skilled workers". Somehow we've decided to export our people & their skills AND reduce the incentive for them to return. It's absurdly destructive.

This is the regime that Aotearoa’s government is cosying up to. Giving credibility to Modi, who not so long ago was banned from visiting democratic countries because of the pogroms he’d overseen. #nzpol

they'll lose interest when they figure out that the exosphere isn't oxygen-rich enough for them to burn it

Another round of infrastructure-destroying storms. Not even a few months after the last round of destructive storms. These rain events are quarterly now. But no one in politics or media is prepared to say it

France sent secret agents to Auckland to blow up the Rainbow Warrior 10 July 1985. They sunk the ship, killed one person and were subsequently captured. Their bumbling arrogance was evident.

Somehow this has only gotten more believable… #CalvinandHobbes #DeepThoughts

“Luxon said he wasn't concerned about the rise of Hindutva.” There you have it: a Prime Minister who doesn’t give a shit about the instigation of pogroms. Quite disgusting, and I’m sorry that Hipkins is going to meet Modi too. Labour should be distancing themselves from Modi. #nzpol

Omg, thank you Johnathan & Newsroom for running with this story! The only NZ media I’ve seen yet who has had the inclination to fact check the government’s spin (lies) around the “Strong Economic Growth” jokes. Finally a fleck of truth! #nzpol #OneTermGovernment #NZ newsroom.co.nz/2026/07/09/i...

How weird that doing the same thing has the same result. 🤔

buried in this MBIE Q&A, the govt states they intend to shut down the Health Research Council (NZ's sole health funder). this will require parliament's OK incredibly, shutting down the Marsden Fund (NZ's sole basic-science funder) did not require any parliamentary input, so it's just gone #nzpol

The problem with this clown coalition is that it's an Instagram, Tik tok party. All for show, smile for the cameras, live in the now but not the future, pure drama, would rather be an influencer than a politician. It stinks. It's not the NZ way of living. #nzpol

You'd think someone who is the leader of the "Association of Consumers and Taxpayers" party, and who has close friends in the Taxpayer's Union and Free Speech Union, would think a second about complaining a group doesn't represent everyone they say to. #nzpol

PERFECTLY NORMAL

The world would be significantly better if meta ceases to exist

I know even thinking the word "intersectional" upsets some folks, but isn't it weird how many professional "protect girls and women" transphobes are dudes who love telling women who don't toe the party line to plant their cute little arses and calm their empty little girl brains? #nzpol

Mamdani got into office and instantly: • Froze rent for 2 million New Yorkers • Cut subway fares in half for low-income riders • Fully funded NYC parks • Added $680M for public schools • Launched free child care for 2-year-olds If establishment politicians actually wanted to help you, they could.

Encouraging news, confirming that we CAN restore the environment if we put our minds to it ❤️ “Now, a new study found that since 2010, mangrove regrowth around the world has been outpacing losses”

Fun question for a Labour MP to ask the Govt. How much has already been spent on the never never roads of national significance this term?

Another political master stroke from the Maestro. www.stuff.co.nz/politics/361...

Any New Zealand media covering this today? We are worst performing in the oecd and there’s no reporting on it?

Saw a meme of GenZ baffled by how pre-internet travel worked, and realized we’ve crossed an enshittification threshold where IRL services that once seemed outdated, like travel agents, now seem luxurious: “You meet with a human expert who plans out your whole trip with you” sounds incredible now tbh

Labour should be steam rolling these Coalition clowns.

As we struggle to find jobs in Wellington, our PM doesn't need his job 🤦 #nzpol

no apologies from the tobacco salesman then...

i've never turned off anything quicker in my life. "Just because someone has chosen to share content publicly does not mean they have meaningfully consented to it being remixed, transformed or reused by AI systems." @legallyfeminist.bsky.social a how to for IG users: www.rnz.co.nz/news/busines...

It's worth the left remembering that the changes to enrolment laws could significantly alter the vote this year (regardless of what polls say) - and I doubt it will be in favour of the left.

This is fucking good & I honestly wish NZ Greens could get some of this messaging, with tangible visual references people can comprehend out to the public.

MSFT laid off the Elder Scrolls artist who designed the Khajit and the Argonians. She has been with the franchise for 27 years. When she started work there the guy who would eventually helm X-Box and lay her off was 9 years old.

otoh we've had 40 years of pain and fuck all gain. yes, i do remember the 1980s, trickle down and TINA; and the job losses still reverberating through our communities. #nzpol

I’m genuinely shocked that almost the entire Anglophone world is busy dismantling academia. The research and teaching missions of universities make them economic engines that pay for themselves several times over—all while building soft power essentially for free.

They've had 18.1 cm of rain fall between Sunday and now in Oamaru. The average for July is 5.7cm in total. 'hysteria'

How it started / how it's going. #nzpol

years ago I saw an exhibit on pompeii and was transfixed by the funerary statues recovered from the ashes. this is not my photo, but coming face to face with these beautiful memorials made me feel like time was literally collapsing. somebody loved this person, missed them. two thousand years ago

If there is any genuinely subversive satire in Count Binhead, it is that it shines a powerful light on just how much the British news media are In On The Bit, and will happily go along with any narrative they're handed even if it means wilfully pretending not to know things they definitely know.

"In the prime ministerial popularity stakes, Hipkins jumped 2.1 points up to 19.2%, edging out Luxon by a whisker - he was up 0.3 points to 19.1%." IMHO If Dripkins wasn't leader, Labour would be 5-10% higher in the polls (probably would boost the other opposition parties too) #nzpol

#nzpol The National/NZ First/ACT coalition government is doing real harm to our nation's international reputation, our environment and economy, and the planet. Vote them out. Vote them all out!

The richest political party’s always have the shittiest policies & they only ever favour the 1%, give me a dirt poor political party with scientifically researched & evidence based policies any fucking day! #nzpol #OneTermGovernment #NZ 💚✅✅🕊️

What illustrious company! #NZ and #USA are the only 'Global West' countries to sit outside the highest scores for climate action and biodiversity in the annual Yale Environmental Performance Index. #nzpol epi.yale.edu/downloads/20...

If National were Uber Eats delivery, your food would arrive half eaten, cold & you'll have no idea of the actual cost "RoNS are set to cost $56b, with $49b of that yet to be funded." www.thepost.co.nz/politics/361...

Shouting this loudly for New Zealand

Unfortunately, a stunned Paris is how they all got into this whole mess to begin with

Just how fucked up are we to be ~14% *worse off* than post brexit austerity clusterfuck lettuce lead United Kingdom? #nzpol

If you are thinking about the NZ police this week, here are some pointy comparisons. #nzpol