Pauline Woolford

[Maria Sherwood @MariaSherwood2]

The Free Speech Union complains Grant used his free speech.
You can't make this up. https://t.co/Buxta273Yf

[❤️⛈️⛺ Pure Democracy NZ ⛺ @PureDemocracyNZ]

@SolidAirJohn It's not about spending quantity, it's about quality, for defence. Mass produced cheap missiles, drones, and so on. The government will likely be wasting money on weapons systems produced abroad. We must produce our own defense systems.

[Chris Jenkins @Chrismjenk]

@SolidAirJohn May be Paula Bennett could use some of her 63% increase to help the food banks would be much better used than giving it to her.

[John P @SolidAirJohn]

Govt removes ambulance at the bottom of the cliff.
Food banks could close as funding reallocated to Defence spending. https://t.co/hrAWEmsWXE

[Spider Hoof @spider_hoof]

Christopher Luxon is the worst PM in history

[Nick Young @nickofnz]

The plot thickens.

Turns out the lobbying docs sent to the govt by Fonterra that resulted in the law change that ended Mike Smith’s case against Fonterra went via the private email of a Luxon staffer.

That stinks so bad.

[Richard Hills @RichardHills_]

Much like removing treaty obligations from school boards, this change to councils is being introduced late in the legislative process and passed without broad public consultation or targeted Māori consultation.

Why do the government keep doing these things without consultation?

[Ayn Randy @AynRandy666]

Only gonna get worse with thousands of public service cuts coming soon and a massive Gulf-fuelled recession coming in just a few months.

But the "Party of Business" and "Grown ups" are in charge, never fear! 🙄

Vote accordingly #nzpol

[Dr Gary Payinda @GaryPayinda]

Just got a message from a very successful and recently retired Whangārei businessman lamenting the fiscal path the #Coalition has taken.

He reminded me that #NewZealand is not broke, but is underbuilt, underinvested and has made some bad fiscal choices lately that mean things are harder for Northlanders than they ought to be.

My take?
This govt's priority has certainly not been the average New Zealander. The generosity, tax breaks, and the better part of 20 billion taxpayer dollars have flowed upwards, leaving the average person facing austerity without a social safety net.

The net has been pulled out from under our trapeze and given to help the tobacco companies, oil&gas companies, property investors, and big donors profit.

The Coalition has cut into a weak recovery, cancelling or slowing the very things that lift productivity — housing, hospitals, apprenticeship and skills training, infrastructure, climate resilience investment, and science.

It's not lost on me that 450 #Northland families would have #KaingaOra social housing coming on line now had it not been cancelled.

Or that the Apprentice Boost programme was eviscerated, and the Maori Trades and building training program was eliminated. What better engines are there for Whangārei youth to rise out of poverty than Trades and Vocational training?

Two major financial ratings agencies have assessed the situation, and put NZ on a negative outlook, which means higher borrowing cost for NZ, costing us all in the long run.

The dollar remains weak despite booming export prices for Northland meat, kiwifruit, and dairy. Families are paying the price of bad leadership through higher borrowing costs, higher import costs and fewer jobs.

Homelessness is hitting an all-time record. An *all-time high*.
It's just words, but there are real people's lives at the end of those words...
While the emergency housing budget was cut by something like 75%.

Business closures and youth unemployment are surging, hitting the highest levels in decades.

This Coalition govt is the worst govt in 40 years not just for its atrocious social policy, but because it has been the most economically damaging for the average person.

Whangārei is slowly realising the truth: this Coalition govt is blowing out the national debt, not to respond to a global pandemic, or to help people, but to help the big 'Owners and Donors'. The austerity they push, and the forced decrepitude of our public services, isn't accidental.
They are borrowing from our kids' futures, to ensure that public wealth gets transferred into the private corporate sector.
The effect has been crippling for our small businesses.

As your local GP practice gets sold off to a corporation, as your electricity prices skyrocket, as your savings get spent filling up your petrol tank, realise one thing:

When Prime Minister Christopher Luxon tells you he's a CEO, listen to him. He's running this country for the benefit of a few owners.
At this point, that should be pretty clear to everyone who actually works for a living.
...and to all the people taking out hardship withdrawals from their Kiwisaver savings while their National/NZFirst/ACT coalition government *still* continues to give literally billions in taxpayer assistance to tobacco companies, oil companies, and property investors.
Hard times for Whangārei working families.
But there is hope. We can rise, but not under a CEO Prime Minister who views people, public resources, and public services only as a source of corporate profits.

Whangarei will vote for the Labour values that built NZ: the values that 100 years ago brought us the old age pension, the 40-hour work week, Public Healthcare, and Public schools. Labour is what built this country.

People first.

Join us as we build something better for Whangārei. And New Zealand.
Dr Gary Payinda - Whangārei Labour

Email:
[email protected]

https://t.co/OQSCfzUcuG

[Russel Norman @RusselNorman]

We now know that within the Prime Ministers Office there was a political lobbying pathway operating via the PM's Chief Policy Advisor's private email. Fonterra says it was told to send the lobbying docs via this pathway. It may still be operating via other staffers private email addresses.

[Pazienza @Pazienza82]

While most depts face funding cuts, the dept of the Prime Minister is getting a $58 million increase in funding from Budget 2026.
See the last line below👇

[Irish Aotearoan @IrishAotearoan]

Another day, another corruption of @NZNationalParty, private email lobbying

[Mountain_Tui @Mountain_Tui]

A decision not to fund a prostate cancer screening pilot will cause more men to die. The foundation asked for $6.4 million over 4 years

National refused - but it's funding David Seymour's private school & Regulation Ministry slush fund to the tune of $200 million

[Boilup @tewairoa]

Seen elsewhere and reposted here.
The pointy end of a stick.

[John P @SolidAirJohn]

Barry 'sozzled' Soper getting an "Order of Merit" for services to journalism is like Shane Jones getting a gong for services to conservation.

[Little Tones - ❤️Reposts @Eastandbays]

So, according to Luxon, his former Chief Policy Advisor used his private Gmail to communicate with Z Energy & Fonterra, which raises many questions. Why did these corporations continue to send to a Gmail address when they knew they were dealing with the government? It stinks!

[2 Ticks Red/Oldie45 🇳🇿⭕️ @Oldie452]

Willis has deprived Gvt of about $9 bn p.yr in lost tax revenue stream from tax cuts & business tax rebates.

Meanwhile Child Poverty Stats have risen from 6-14% under this Gvt. Jack Tame said that the cost that NZ incurs through Child Poverty falls in the vicinity of $15b a yr.

[Serena of Aotearoa 🇵🇸 🇿🇦 🇳🇿 @SerenaTNZ]

Willis admitted on national television that doubling benefits would go a long way in improving child poverty in Aotearoa. It’s a political choice. So is canceling initiatives like Jobs for Nature where many beneficiaries could find meaningful work. Dead eyes biatch.

[Nick Young @nickofnz]

BOOM!
A surge in Australian home battery installations is making fossil gas redundant AND driving electricity prices down.

The energy revolution is underway!

Encouraging this to happen here is a choice our govt would make, if they had any vision or real care for the welfare of NZ households.