A very insightful and balanced view of forestry in Tairāwhiti from @manucaddie.bsky.social. Well worth a read #nzpol

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Auckland Councillor confirms National cut social housing, accommodation in Auckland from 890 places to 39 in one year, and cut emergency housing grants by 70-80% ($20m). Since then, individuals rough sleeping in our city have increased by 100%. #NZPOL #auckland www.reddit.com/r/nzpolitics...

Unthinkable in 2019, entrenched in 2026: White supremacism's weekly broadcasts in New Zealand www.linkedin.com/pulse/unthin... (LinkedIn) sanjanah.wordpress.com/2026/02/23/u... (WordPress) Wrote as article, flagging Louisa Cleave, & @paulapenfold.bsky.social's prescient work on this front. #nzpol

We really are returning to primitive times! #nzpol

@markmitchellmp.bsky.social told @rnz.co.nz.web.brid.gy 'we've always had [weather events], it's just that we're getting better at identifying them' - @nathansurendran.bsky.social made this 'States of Emergency since 2000' chart from CD data (excl. quakes): www.civildefence.govt.nz/emergency-ev...

The numpties pressuring politicians to under-invest in infrastructure and #Stop3Waters should be taking a decent share of the responsibility for the chronic issues municipalities across the country are facing. But the pressure is many decades old and need better regulation as much as better funding.

Does the Press Council still exist for complaints about inaccurate reporting? Or is this considered ‘opinion’ rather than faux outrage clickbait? 🙄🤦🏻‍♂️🤯 Duncan is a dick and The Listener is rapidly losing any remaining credibility. #nzpol

To celebrate the launch of @weallaotearoa.bsky.social membership opening, anyone who signs up before midday on 19 Feb can go in the draw to win a ticket to The People’s Economist Tour with Gary Stevenson (Auckland show). www.weall.org.nz/membership

Dame Prof Anne Salmond and I have a chapter in this new book published by @springer.springernature.com. If you're interested in the content, maybe ask your local library to get a copy... link.springer.com/book/10.1007... Chapter summary: Tairāwhiti geology, colonial legacies, Māori-led restoration.

Much of this new weather system hitting the east coast - again - is coming through the yellow area of ocean - some of it >3degC above normal. Marine heatwaves supercharge storms and add a heap more water vapour to the atmosphere = more rain. Stay safe everyone xxx #kikorangi

Some places were never meant to be permanent settlement sites. Which can be difficult to accept now that whenua is divided by colonial constructs into property titles & the option to just relocate to a safer place costs millions, even for very small communities... #nzpol #LandUse 👉🏼 shorturl.at/JFFuS

Where are those #Stop3Waters folk now? Oh yeah, running the shitshow. #nzpol

“the government said the infrastructure costs would be paid for through a levy on electricity of between $2 and $4 /MWh” - so our renewables will be subsidising imported fossil fuel 🤯🤦🏻‍♂️🤪 #nzpol www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...

Had a chat on Radio Waatea this morning: waateanews.com/2026/02/09/r...

I’m not sure he knows what “torturous and inhumane prison conditions” actually means, and I’m not a vindictive person, but if anyone should be uncomfortable in prison, it’s him. www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...

Comment: Energy retailers tell us, take fewer showers or turn off the aircon – this is like trying to lose weight by having 9 burgers a day instead of 10, writes Mike Casey.

I hope @lastweektonight.com is all over this shocking act of brutality against the world's best bird. #ProtectPūteketeke www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/doc-fears...

97% of central govt expenditure was on responding to and recovering from natural disasters, only 3% spent on risk reduction and resilience. Yet…“the Government cannot commit to providing financial support for the business case at this stage”. #nzpol www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/3609...

By 1997, Gunther was one of the biggest distributors of ecstasy in Western Europe, with an estimated weekly income of $687 million and 43 cents. waterfordwhispersnews.com/2015/03/11/t...

Shame Jones really is doing the opposite to what he claims he’s doing - his approach makes us less secure and more dependent on foreign suppliers, and less secure relying on non-renewables. He’s not putting @nzfirst.bsky.social, he’s putting his overseas donors first. #nzpol

This headline from @theguardian.com must be up there with the greatest ever film review titles... #Melania www.theguardian.com/film/2026/ja...

Government rejecting solid business cases for climate resilience, loading costs onto local councils.

NZ has fallen into a 'crisis and response' pattern on climate disaster, experts say. Billions have been spent on storm recovery since 2023, while key climate adaptation funding and planning tools have been cut. My story looking at last week’s storms www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...

Ouch! No real comeback from industry. Eastland Wood Council were out of their depth so passed the report by @kentduston.bsky.social and co. on to NZ Forest Owners Association - who could only say Stats NZ is wrong (when industry stats don’t suit industry claims). www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/3609...

An extremely good & important read on the Atlas Network, neoliberalism, and its power & influence. It really worries me that Newsroom, one of the last high quality news outlets in Aotearoa, regularly gives the NZ Initiative a platform to promote its message. #nzpol www.abc.net.au/news/2026-01...

"We should be demanding a government-wide commitment to climate risk reduction, incl. binding emissions cuts, adaptation plans, and a national programme to stabilise vulnerable landscapes using science-informed, Indigenous-led land stewardship." manucaddie540258.substack.com/p/a-brief-hi... #nzpol

Board of Peace - Season 1

Very sobering reading from the #UK Govt: assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/696e0e...

"...and that's our focus right now" I chat more about this over at my Substack, which you can read for free: yeehawtheboys.substack.com/p/christophe...

the media are so fucking tragically captured and lazy, instead maybe: 'unprecedented number of unpopular laws forced through without scrutiny', 'economy tanking', 'health system collapsing' 'what will it mean when corporations and billionaires can snap up vast tracts of public land forever?' ....

Shane Jones makes totally unfounded claims of 'immigrants' being responsible for over-harvesting kaimoana at Whangaparāoa. When challenged by @rnz.co.nz.web.brid.gy to provide evidence immigrants are to blame, he says he won't be cancelled & continues to use the interview for electioneering. #nzpol

Having watched US politics fairly closely from the other side of the world for the last 25 years... This seems like a documentary.

“While it is good to see [the district council] pushing back on forestry industry expectations [that] they have a right to break the law in perpetuity, it is concerning to see just how much influence the companies are having over the consenting process." @manucaddie.bsky.social

Does Simon Watts really want to kill the ETS? This #nzpol Govt has done a great job of passing policy that protects polluters and will make it even more difficult for future generations to survive in an economy and climate anything close to what we’ve enjoyed. www.carbonnews.co.nz/news/fixture...

If only the gov had been warned back in 2024... #nzpol

Privatisation doesn't work, mkay? Blackrock has let down NZ, again: the first time with Solar Zero. I dunno, maybe we should set up a Climate Emergency Response Fund? But they shut it down, and the ETS has crashed so won't generate cash anyway. What a mess. #nzpol newsroom.co.nz/2026/01/16/b...

Turns out that cutting ‘back-office’ roles in the public service has some serious consequences…

Seeing Zohran instantly getting a bunch of shit done in like a week makes you realize that politicians could always do that on some level if they wanted it bad enough and very few of them actually do.

Time to dust off this classic. thequietus.com/interviews/c...

The Australian and NZ govts need to grow a spine and make it abundantly clear that a US attack on Greenland would result in the end of all military and intelligence co-operation. No more AUKUS. No more Pine Gap. Cancellation of orders for military hardware from US suppliers. #auspol #nzpol

This note should be the election billboards for @nzlabour.nzcow.com and @nzgreensglobal.bsky.social www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/3609...

Impressive impact ✊🏼🤞🏼 www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...

I assume all the #nzpol #auspol #ukpol #eupol politicians now railing against theocratic rule in #Iran will also be supporting regime change in #SaudiArabia and #Israel?

greatest steam update of all time, because of one unnecessary detail

The Manage My Health breach wasn’t a tech failure, it was a policy failure. This column traces how 30 years of privatisation, light-handed regulation and “high-trust” governance left NZ’s most sensitive health data in private hands, with no real oversight: www.democracyproject.org.nz/p/democracy-...

This is a video I think every American could benefit from hearing. A perspective on US politics from a German citizen, who previously lived here before fleeing due to concerns over our slide into fascism. Our political system is captured. We stand at a cross roads, under a new age of technology.

Interesting talk by @sarahsteinlubrano.bsky.social on her book #DontTalkAboutPolitics - around issues of political organising, how protest only changes the protestors, political debates creating division not enlightenment, and social atrophy as the crisis of our age… www.youtube.com/live/MkQ6Bah...

what the fuck are Peter Beck and Rocket Lab up to and why tf are they hosting Hegseth and selling him on their build capacity? Beck seems hellbent on bringing military integration to NZ at a far greater magnitude than RocketLab already provides via their military launches He is making NZ a target