This is the outcome of past Coalition budgets and decisions. Don’t expect much different this year - it’s not who these people are. www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...

Serious question here - for my submission on the sex definition Bill, I want to quote a time a member of the very select committee overseeing the Bill from the coalition called someone the F slur and threatened their life. Does quoting bad words get your submission kicked out?

Last time I visited Sky City I accidentally walked through an Act Party conference full of super creepy men happy to poke my grandson and say creepy things like “glad we got you before you turned woke” this time there’s a Xenomorph and I feel safer and way less creeped out

There’s only one day left of the week and I’m exhausted - it’s been shitty thing after shitty thing after shitty thing from the government and there’s still a week till the budget. And some weird people are still like “well maybe I might give them another chance”.

I’m keeping a file simply called “I f-cking told you so” of all the stories like this I see that involve candidates I tried to warn voters about last year. I’m hoping that it can be used to get turnout up for the next local election, or to warn people about some candidates running this year.

The update I know you've all been waiting for - Animal Crossing Hamilton Gardens work in progress! ✨ First up, the Japanese garden finally has its bonsai tree after I had to fight off wasps to get enough pine cones.

I’d heard NZ First was in town, didn’t expect to run into one of their voters in the wild though. This one voted for Winston back in the 70s and still believes that somehow Winston is the one MP who can fix everything he voted for over 5 decades (which includes young people these days and woke).

I have reported 12 government MP posts on Facebook tonight for spam - all posting the same “we’re changing NCEA” - same post, word for word, from multiple accounts within an hour of each other - that’s spam. I recommend everyone do the same when they see it from government MPs to limit their reach.

The world can feel depressing and overwhelming - so i wanted to do something different when looking at the election. So here’s the latest episode of Nerd out with - @saycheeselouise.bsky.social - we talk animal crossing, databases and gaming ethics! youtu.be/X8XpX2T0ynQ

The deadline to join by if you intend to vote in the 2026 InternetNZ board election this year will likely be 10th May. That means Sat/Sun May 9/10 - TODAY/TOMORROW. Last minute membership pushes underway, don’t leave it too late!

InternetNZ is once again being faced with a hostile takeover by lying right-wing nut jobs. You can stop this from happening, if you want.

@paulbarlownz.bsky.social makes some very good points in this 5 minute video around the dismantling of the BSA. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fkaq... #nzpol

I hate when people who got free uni education or never had to worry about a dime, do everything they can to burn the bridges behind them because landlords and tobacco companies needed their tax cuts.

When white suprematists and christian nationalists jump online to celebrate the end of the “leftist BSA” because it shows they can get what they want but only when the coalition is in power, that should be more than enough info for people to vote for not them 🤦🏼‍♂️

Oh cool, National’s new Auckland Central candidate worked with an insane billionaire with an obsession for Tolkien as “leverage lead” for Palintir - National really now how to pick them 🙄

I’m so tired of having the phrase “acting Prime Minister” forced on us. We didn’t vote to see this title in media all the time instead of Deputy PM or third coalition party leader when the other two are away. I’m not against it per se but it feels like the Acting PM-fication has gone too far!

Meant to be getting on Te Huia tonight - the one train to Hamilton today. Got told it’s cancelled after it was due to arrive, and that a replacement bus is on the way but no one knows when exactly it gets her or to Hamilton.

Weird how what Michel Mulipola said was “bad and violent” but Act accepting donations from someone wanting to blow up mosques, telling people to blow up the ministry of Pacific peoples, calling people deranged for disagreeing with you, and protecting pedos, is fine. God, they’re the worst 🙄

That vacuum of information after a major unfolding event unfolds majorly is both the most important and most frustrating times to watch media to be kept informed - cause we want to know the big things but the filler and reckons to fill in space while we wait for the big things is frustrating.

Dear politicians - can we please, PLEASE, get back proper media studies education soon? People not understanding or recognising media bias is so frustrating 🤦🏼‍♂️

On the train to Sylvia Park and seeing tourists use the te Rēo Māori notifications to practice pronunciation with each other - how awesome is that!

So the coalition who disingenuously baited the opposition so they could quote the C word used to describe Brooke Van Velden in media also disingenuously claimed Chippy’s comments clearly referring to the weird noises Willis clearly made in the house we can all hear was somehow about her looks? Ugh!

I have a work meeting over lunch and all I really want is to watch the sad little National Party drama unfold from the comfort of my couch.

Tauranga has really had a rough time of it lately. The constant weather events, the tragic landslide, a tornado and Sam Uffindell as their MP the whole time.

I found out this morning one of my Uni lecturers passed away this week. He founded the department I studied in, had a sharp dry sense of humour and couldn’t tell the difference between Yoda and Miss Piggy when he heard them. He was passionate about what he did and that is a goal we should all have!

The fact media seems to be arguing over whether or not a state of emergency is woke shows just how idiotic a dog whistle term it is and how frustrating our media can be to make this the headlines leading the news.

Tonight Matthew, I’m going to be… @chewienz.bsky.social Is this a vague enough reference to Stars in their Eyes? Does it make sense? www.youtube.com/live/6LVPMs0...

Something something doing the basics brilliantly. Something something back on track.

I’m kind of jealous of the Artemis crew - there’s many days I’d like to be the furthest away person from all of this trash fire.

I’m starting to think I’m the only person in Aotearoa who doesn’t love fejoia. I don’t dislike them - I’m just ambivalent about them 🤷‍♂️

At my local Gull station tonight, there was a cent difference between Diesel and Premium. I really wish we stopped giving stupid people positions of authority, it’s exhausting seeing how much they screw everyone over with their ineptitude on such a big scale.

Been working on updates today for the election2026.co.nz website - now there’s more policy out, and more polls, I’ve updated the tool sets and created a match game - where you get to match dodgy quotes to the politicians that said them. Will have it all good to go by Sunday :)

Was surprised today to get a booking for my warrant immediately- never not had to wait a few days to sort it out. When I asked why they said “business has tanked with the cost of living - people have to choose between eating and getting a warrant, and they’re choosing not to starve.”

I wonder if Simeon was made campaign chair for National because he’s better suited to appeal the hard right cookers and empathy free converts to Act and NZ First over the past few years 🤔

The worst kept secret in Hamilton is out! 💚 😎 Politics can be different, it can be better. Sign up to change the government here: www.greens.org.nz/volunteer

open.substack.com/pub/paulbarl... There’s that saying about those who don’t know history, being doomed to repeat it. It’s the same for those who study media - if you don’t know what you’re seeing you’re doomed to let it keep happening. We don’t have to. But so much MSM seems keen to do it anyway.

While mainstream media fails its duty of care, @paulbarlownz.bsky.social excellently and succinctly contextualises the rant of the old man yelling at clouds and the introduction of a worrying new candidate to Te Pati Aotearoa Tahi. #nzpol #ditchthepricks26 #bhn youtu.be/hJKP9ypQuNA?...

The hard right in this country are so desperate to shit stir and be seen as relevant they are happy to be their own followers for clout 🙄 here’s Walmart Dirty Politics subject Cam Slater said last week compared to the first poll result since last week. And yet our media keeps listening to them 🤦🏼‍♂️

PREVIEW of Winston’s Shtate of the Nayshun today…

There’s something inherently weird about trying to sooth the nation over fuel prices in a way that seems best described as Temu Jacinda during the height of the pandemic response. I know National love roads but the response makes it seem like that’s all they give a shit about…

The man who stood up on the tiles to add to the witch hunt against a green MP because of their personal life and specifically appeals to conspiracy theorists tells us he doesn’t want to deal with personal stuff and to stop spreading disinformation.

Context will always be king 👑 It antagonises me no end that politicians are able to spin facts because their words lack context, and I REALLY would love if we could hold them to account more. Thank you @paulbarlownz.bsky.social for your tireless work 🫂 #nzpol #bhn youtu.be/3V1SUCEPMLg?...

I really hope someone has put in the OIA on the Matai title request because honestly it’s the sort of self serving, oblivious idiocy vibe I’ve come to expect from our wealthy, sorted, entitled Prime Minister. Says a lot about him that so may think it’s feasible he asked for it.

Remember when MPs post the same images and same sort of leading info, you can report it as spam - it’s what scammers do and sharing a bunch of dodgy similar info that seems coordinated and platforms don’t like that. Also I haven’t looked into it but considering the source I smell horse shit.

Find all the data you can - we’re clearly going to need it to keep correcting the MPs who plan to campaign by spreading total bullshit and hoping people don’t bother to look up facts, while trying to drown out those that do. A lie will run around the world before the truth has got its boots on

As @paulbarlownz.bsky.social really validly points out, if we were to have a snap election, many would be voters could be caught out not being enrolled. Please make sure you and those around you are enrolled vote.nz #nzpol #bhn #ditchthepricks #onetermgovernment youtu.be/ddG68u6QQaA?...

Got one episode left of the new Netflix Dinosaur show with Morgan Freeman. I really like the characters, I hope they make it to the end, would be terrible if there was like a giant cataclysm that wiped them out or something. That would be a sucky ending with no real character development!

This weekend I’ve had half a dozen chats to old friends looking at leaving the country, one is already working remotely for an Australian company. I heard about how funding cuts to alt transport in Akl mean rerouting cyclists onto one of the busiest roads in the city. How right wing local elected…

#BHN Tonight 9pm - @paulbarlownz.bsky.social joins us LIVE to chat about his new Election2026 fact checking tool - Bishop awaiting industry to give advice on scrapping Clean Car Standards - NZSIS and NZGCSB's annual review reveals state of cybersecurity and threat intelligence re: Iran War

If only someone had tried to warn voters before the election about these people… Pity it seems no one did that 🙄 www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/3609...