THEY'RE TAKING $390 MILLION AWAY FROM SOCIAL HOUSING TENANTS AND GIVING IT TO PRIVATE LANDLORDS WHO HAVE TENANTS RECEIVING THE ACCOMMODATION SUPPLEMENT - IT WONT GO TO THE TENANTS, IT GOES TO THE LANDLORDS NATIONAL ARE GIVING MORE PUBLIC MONEY TO LANDLORDS, INSTEAD OF SOCIAL HOUSING PROVIDERS

IT DOES NOT GO TO FAMILIES. IT IS TAKEN FROM SOCIAL HOUSING PROVIDERS. IT IS GOING TO PRIVATE HOUSING PROVIDERS. FRAME IT AS ANOTHER BUNG TO PRIVATE LANDLORDS BECAUSE THAT IS WHAT IT IS

one of the major clues that social housing tenants haven't in fact won the lotto is that they need social housing

A 40 year consensus on the existence and operation of a ministry dedicated to our environment is set to end. Not one Government party campaigned on this, and not one credible submission was in support ☠️☠️☠️

National thinks the definition of "woman" is someone you pay less because otherwise the economy falls down

A reminder from Fortune magazine—there is no evidence that AI improves productivity #nzpol fortune.com/article/why-...

In fact the GFC, nearly 20 years ago proved decisively that countries with governments that did austerity fared much worse than those that, you know, helped people and understood that a country isn’t like a household

In today’s NZ Herald

In light of today's news, here's a daily dose of anti-neoliberal learning that helps to explain, in Aotearoa's own context, how government spending ACTUALLY works. In short: - "Taxpayer dollars" don't fund public services - Govt spending NEEDS to be in deficit (not surplus) - Tax the rich #nzpol

Instead of cuts, we need to ensure strong public services that New Zealanders can rely on. We don’t need disruptive mega mergers or cuts that compromise our wellbeing.

- teacher-student classroom ratio **12:1** - teachers all have masters degrees and are paid well - very limited standardised testing, emphasis on pedagogy - school starts age 7, cos education, not childcare, is the motivation - heavily subsidised high quality daycare/childcare & ECE

The Government is making cuts because the economy isn't good because, in part, of the cuts they've already made. It's someone who's cut off their own toes thinking they can stem the blood flow by chopping off their foot, because they'll need less blood for the rest of their body, but still bleeding.

“Vote for us and we’ll do something we know is really popular and that we could do now” says the party that’s passed more things under urgency, against expert advice, and against public submissions in the last three years than anyone else

Entries are open for our postgraduate essay prize. The JNZL Prize for NZ Literary Studies awards $500 and publication in our 2027 issue. Entries close 1 October. Spread the word, consider submitting and let your friends and colleagues know!

That $70m Major Events and Tourism package, btw, is more than the annual budget for Creative NZ. You know, the outfit that actually funds local artists.

Ok, just actually watched the speech from The Sponsor at the end of the book awards and WTF! It's like he's scolding everyone for not being sufficiently centrist, and saying we can ALL be mana whenua?!? You can watch the whole awards here: www.youtube.com/live/SUunJCG...

My favourite poem and why it is "drives and drops" by Amy Marguerite nzpoetryshelf.com/2026/05/12/p...

i got to talk to my friend @whitihereaka.co.nz about writing for the latest Headland Journal. Whiti and i talk heaps about writing so it was fun to capture this. Thanks Whiti & Headland. headland.org.nz/issues/issue...

I enjoyed chatting with Paula Green about poetry, and about My Bourgeois Apocalypse in particular.

David Seymour threatens to fire RNZ boss for hiring John Campbell. It's illegal for a Shareholding Minister to interfere in state broadcasters' independence Kiri Allan was hauled through the coals for a mere suggestion & Seymour said at the time democracy was at risk & media interference not OK

The traditional New Zealand value is 'self-deprecating about being a New Zealander'

"None of the coalition parties campaigned on this," says Green Party spokesperson for Local Government, Mike Davidson. www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA26...

"Worth doing! yes, indeed!” Said Dorothea, energetically, forgetting her previous small vexations. “I think we deserve to be beaten out of our beautiful houses with a scourge of small cords — all of us who let tenants live in such sties as we see round us.”

Elizabeth Rata sat on stage with Erica Stanford and said she was proud to be the lead writer of the senior English curriculum, and that she wanted to use curriculum to "end decolonisation's success".

Love the conversation and the reading and the book so much nzpoetryshelf.com/2026/05/01/p...

This is quite the graph (from newsroom.co.nz/2026/04/30/t...)

Oh FFS. Once again for those at the back - and sorry, must SHOUT 'cos obviously didn't hear last ... few hundred times ... it has been said ... THE GOVT DOES NOT HAVE HIGH DEBT. WE DON'T NEED TO SELL ASSETS. IS FICTION USED TO NARROW ARGUMENT TOWARDS "GOVT IS BAD, SO SMALLER GOVT IS BETTER".

Every time I see someone talk about Claude I think about how they switched from female to male names as soon as they wanted the robots to seem like experts vs personal assistants.

Maybe we should have a gas transition plan? Oh that’s right the Luxon Govt cancelled it because they are big fans of fossil fuels. How’s that working out?

For those following along, this isn't true. The debt will be held by water CCOs, owned by the Councils. The debt will be paid for by ratepayers water charges. The government are setting up a Cost Of Water Crisis.

@flewoutof.bsky.social #theockhams

Campaign group costs universal free dental care, says NZ can afford it

Sam Neill has also spoken out following personal attacks by Shane Jones he’s been targeted by “supporters” of the project who have immediately escalated to threats of physical violence NZF are the number 1 vector in this country for stochastic terrorism & there needs to be more coverage of that

So unreal this govt has barely acknowledged it's happened. #NZPol

In a move that will shock no one, they're now blaming 'vanity projects' of the former Mayor of Wgtn for the flooding. I swear public stocks with abundant rotten vegetables for this kind of asshole should be mandatory. Keep this for your drunk uncle & thank you to whoever made it.

Fossil fuels funding our right wing parties #nzpol

Shall we be dragged by him to the bottom of the sea? Shall we be towed by him to the infernal world?

Eno noted that “Neoliberalism is a system for concentrating wealth, just as the internet has become a system for concentrating prejudice”. It’s as accurate a description of 40 years of neoliberalism as I’ve ever heard

The National Government have made it harder for you to vote. It's important you make sure you are enrolled as you won't be able to enrol in the two weeks before election day anymore. The best time to enrol is right now - so head to vote.nz online, call 0800 36 76 56 or free text 3676. Pass it on 😉

Bookenz, on Plains FM, is a fantastic show where they interview writers. I was delighted to be interviewed about My Bourgeois Apocalypse for it recently by Morrin Rout. You can listen to it and other episodes here: plains.org.nz/programme/bo...

Helen Rickerby's 'My Bourgeois Apocalypse' is full of intelligent passion and beautiful wisdom. Traces of Anne Carson, Lyn Hejinian, and so many marks of glorious engagement with life and its texts. One of my 2026 reading highlights, already, confidently so.

books: the rectangle that can’t send you push notifications. Try: books.

Incredibly, the coalition are still using Govt debt increases during Cvid as an attack line - despite piling into debt at more or less exactly the same rate. The fact that this is going unchecked is incredible really. [5/n]

they really said "they should have sent a poet"

NZ Govt should call out out the unhinged and lawless behaviour of the Trump Administration. Yes Luxon/Seymour/Peters are right wing allies of Trump. But NZ needs to stand up for international law and ethics.

But shall this crazed old man be tamely suffered to drag a whole ship’s company down to doom with him?

Mrs Glegg emitted a long sort of gutteral sound with closed lips that smiled in mingled pity and scorn.

Dani Yourukova's brilliant review of Helen Rickerby's My Bourgeois Apocalypse: "trying to uncover its secrets is a bit like cracking open a disco ball: enormously pleasing, unlikely to work, and not entirely the point" www.takahe.org.nz/my-bourgeois...