Science-folks: If we run 100 experiments, we might find 1 or 2 of them may have results that can make many dollars.

NZ Govt: Excellent. We will fund those 1 or 2 experiments.

Media personality Duncan Garner pleads not guilty to driving charge Duncan Garner was charged after he drove while suspended in March.

crazy how it's news that somebody justifiably told this guy to fuck off but not news that he's out there driving on a suspended licence.

"It is akin to deciding that a tree’s roots no longer need to be watered because the fruit comes only from its branches."

Why mission-led funding is mission impossible Comment from Auckland University: A science system focused only on outcomes risks becoming a Christmas tree with no roots – pretty to look at, but destined not to last.

Austen Ganley on how mission-led science depends on exploratory science. Describes the new NZ science proposal as a Christmas Tree model -- no roots, doomed to die.
newsroom.co.nz/2026/04/19/w...

Nothing says "I'm a confident and secure Prime Minister" like reading a pre-written statement, which includes snarky attacks on the media, then walking out of your press conference without taking questions.

two men are looking at each other and one of them is asking the other if it is though Alt: two men are looking at each other and one of them is asking the other if it is though

"The matter is now closed" #nzpol

Holy shit, I wasn't expecting it to escalate as much today, Dead man walking into an election hated by the public, forget fuel shortages, we are going to run out of popcorn! #NZPol

From NZH:

Napier MP Katie Nimon said she was “100% behind the Prime Minister”, but would not say whether she had voted for him in the confidence motion.

New Plymouth MP David MacLeod, who was demoted by Luxon earlier this term, would not say whether he voted for Luxon in the confidence vote.

👀🍿

Because, obviously it wasn’t

#nzqt Q12. Goldsmith confirms will not consult Tiriti partners on his wholesale law change, except as select committee submitters. #NzPol

this is hilarious. how can he blame the very sympathetic and sycophantic media who have desperately tried to make him a thing for over 3 years now. how. I just.

Embattled New Zealand prime minister survives leadership vote and blames media for ‘soap opera’ Christopher Luxon says caucus meeting ‘clearly’ proves he has party support ahead of November national election

EMBATTLED

IN A HEADLINE

IN THE GUARDIAN #nzpol

www.theguardian.com/world/2026/a...

WHERE is it circulating RNZ? WHERE was it posted? WHERE did Jones appear? Why should that platform matter, profoundly, for any critical appreciation of what he said? What has that platform seeded, and spread with regards to what Jones noted, and how? What's he signalling, to whom, & why? #nzpol

"Just Grow a Garden": The Advice That Refuses to Die - Podcast version Summary: This episode examines the persistent but flawed advice that struggling families should simply 'grow their own vegetables’ to escape food insecurity.

Trialling podcasting - thoughts? A friend suggesting trying this out...what did you reckon, yay or nay?

substack.com/@drbex/note/...

We’ve toiled and lost jobs just to end up with this crappy economy The Coalition has trampled over social cohesion only to leave us back where we started - or worse.

“We’ve toiled and lost jobs just to end up with this crappy economy”

I wish it was just jobs & toil. The govt have gutted pay equity, housing, food banks, disability support at the same time as pumping money into landlords, tobacco companies, & any pet projects that help donors not NZers #nzpol

a baby is sitting on a couch with the words `` nap time '' written on the couch . ALT: a baby is sitting on a couch with the words `` nap time '' written on the couch .

Teen safely home and settled in, having talked all the way home (this is a good and rare thing!) I am shattered. Think we're both gonna go take a nap 🤣

The responses of Americans who find out they're commenting on a thread that is talking about NZ issues

1. The double down - insists NZ is an English speaking nation and therefore exactly like US and their point still stands. Sometimes pretends they knew all along and that was the real point.

'A storm every eight days' - country's biggest insurer calls for systemic response IAG's Wild Weather Tracker recorded 46 storms in the last 12 months - and the company says the level of concern among ordinary people is also rising.

A storm every eight days needs a systemic response- I could not agree more - and hope people are ok here in NZ in the Wellington region after last night - www.rnz.co.nz/news/environ...

a man in a suit is drinking from a cup that says ' mrs. pepper ' on it ALT: a man in a suit is drinking from a cup that says ' mrs. pepper ' on it

15yo arrives home from NY today 🎉 up at 3:30am to get to Auckland Airport to meet her flight ... now waiting, waiting, waiting at arrivals.

Might need extra coffee today...

i see people mocking the fast running robot like 'we have cars' but that misses the point.
a car can't run you down and subdue you inside or in various non-road conditions. they're not making them faster than humans for athletic reasons.

Luxon's embattled, the National caucus is dysfunctional, the media's on the hunt.

But the government's real work continues at pace.

This would be a fundamental reorientation of our legal frameworks, drastically reducing the influence of Te Tiriti and limiting co-governance.
#nzpol

Quiet, sweeping changes to Treaty clauses could lower te Tiriti to its weakest legal standard in #NZ. The change shifts the Treaty to just another factor that can be considered before any decision

Govt ignored advice from its advisory group, which recommended no substantive changes and no repeals

Extreme weather scientists warn of impending funding drought 'Some nerd sitting in an office' doesn't seem like exciting research to fund but it's answering urgent questions about severe weather, a climate scientist says.

These are the kind of people we will be needing more of as climate change worsens. The extreme weather events around the country are a stark reminder that the coalition govt. is plucking out the eyes of our research system by reducing $ / shifting $ to things they think will make $$ fast.
#NZPOL

I love to potter about in the garden, but the waikato wet weather is not terribly conducive to vegetable growing!

This! Growing food is a deep love of mine but it’s expensive and time consuming af if you’re a renter and constantly having to start over in a new place

The crucial thing to understand about Peter Thiel is that he adores "The Lord of the Rings" and no one in human history has ever so utterly completely missed all the salient points of what a book is about.

Just a thought: How about we stop shaming the poor for buying things that may not be essential, and start shaming the rich for making a profit off things that are essential?

I think we're talking past each other here - food resilience and sovereignty is important and related, but is another conversation from this one on poverty and insecurity.

I still remember her commenting on ppl telling her to buy a punnet of tomatoes for $3 to grow, and her saying "I need that $3 for food today, I'm hungry now"

Ugh ikr?! Or its "but can just swap it for something you do like" and, uh, yes you can, but that also requires a set of skills and the time and energy to do so 😔