ACT's David Seymour - i like his style.

[Panda-NZ-]

The inevitable result of the politics of the maori party is land redistribution ANC style.

Which would effectively return the land back to nature.

[nztx]

The inevitable result of the politics of the maori party is land redistribution ANC style.

Which would effectively return the land back to nature.

Gez .. might be hope yet for young Panda .. hope the formula wasn't off when you got to it

[Aaron]

I have my suspicions as to where this behavior originates, look no further than the classroom would be my guess.

Debbie Ngarewa Packer's opinion piece in the herald this morning might provide an idea where it is coming from. It is not a totally unreasonable view but it condones the action.

confronting a politician who continues to attack the significance of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. He is part of a Government that is implementing harmful anti-Māori policy, relegating te reo Māori to second-class status

People on here, myself included think Maori are gaining special status rather than second-class status. I think they have the same opportunities that other Kiwis have.

I guess David might be right do we need to relook at whether Maori have special status and should they be treated as a separate and special group or did the chiefs cede power to the queen in the treaty. Should Maori have a nation within a nation?

Maori language and culture is an important part of NZ the Nation and should be protected and nurtured but not for me personally as I am not Maori. Not sure how it all gets reconciled at the end of the day.

In other news cuts to the police force on the front page of the herald. Libertarians are ironically and usually very strong on law and order and property rights, good to see that all govt depts are being made to trim the fat.

It also appears that crime is still happening in our great land, I am just not so fearful of it, as it is not being hyped up on the front page of the herald everyday as it was while it was a story collecting eyeballs and getting engagement from the public.

[Aaron]

NZ the 11th happiest country in the world.

https://www.msn.com/en-nz/news/natio...ca7a2905&ei=16

I wonder what makes a happy country? Small govt low taxes? Not based on the countries in this list. Maybe they are happy despite high taxes and big govt.

NZs dropped out of the top 10 but I bet we jump back up once all the tax cuts and service cuts have been made.

I wonder what the tax rates and govt spending as a share of GDP are for Lebanon, Lesotho, Sierra Leone and Congo?

maybe like Regan said "the govt just needs to get out of the way."

[Panda-NZ-]

Seymour and Luxon want us to become America.

But America has state govts which are expensive to run and create service duplication with different laws. We have none of that which equals a small lean govt.

[nztx]

Seymour and Luxon want us to become America.

But America has state govts which are expensive to run and create service duplication with different laws etc. We have none of that which equals a small lean govt.

Must be OK then if Ardern's already been there for some feel good & a check it out mission

[Aaron]

NZ the 11th happiest country in the world.

https://www.msn.com/en-nz/news/natio...ca7a2905&ei=16

I wonder what makes a happy country? Small govt low taxes? Not based on the countries in this list. Maybe they are happy despite high taxes and big govt.

NZs dropped out of the top 10 but I bet we jump back up once all the tax cuts and service cuts have been made.

I wonder what the tax rates and govt spending as a share of GDP are for Lebanon, Lesotho, Sierra Leone and Congo?

maybe like Regan said "the govt just needs to get out of the way."

Following on from the happiest countries we have the most indebted, although no idea where the information comes from. Some of the unhappiest countries also turn out to be the most indebted. I wonder if they borrowed to fund tax cuts.

https://www.msn.com/en-nz/travel/new...&ei=14#image=5

Although from memory Canada made both lists.

Borrowing to fund tax cuts is probably better than borrowing to save the nation from a really bad flu virus, or endless consultants whose recommendations get ignored, or creating a separate Maori state. (I think that is what tino rangatiratanga or Mana Motuhake means, it is self-determination, independence, sovereignty, authority i.e. a separate Maori state and a people distinct from the rest of us Kiwis). I may be a hippy but I like the idea that we are all one people, not a bunch of different races and cultures living together in Gods own.

Rugby, Racing and Beer is my tikanga but I have to accept that all three cultural practices are dying out in the modern world and two of them at least are bad for my health.

[davflaws]

NZ the 11th happiest country in the world.

https://www.msn.com/en-nz/news/natio...ca7a2905&ei=16

I wonder what makes a happy country?

Google Spirit Level. Follow and read some links.

[tim23]

Seymour and Luxon want us to become America.

But America has state govts which are expensive to run and create service duplication with different laws. We have none of that which equals a small lean govt.

These CEO types running our country forget that they too are public servants- it’s 1990all over again- ugly

[Aaron]

Google Spirit Level. Follow and read some links.

I am a bit slow and that went over my head. Google Spirit Level might be good if you are a tradie and not sure what links to follow.

But getting back to the worlds happiest countries, I have almost given up on zero hedge but it throws up the occasional article of interest.

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitic...rld-first-time

Still not sure where the data is coming from but apparently it could be broken down even further. Keeping in mind this is coming from the internet and zero hedge, so may be total bull, hopefully Mike Shedlock has done some research before publishing the findings.

I thought it was a shame that NZ dropped out of the top ten but if you look at the data further NZ ranks #6 for those aged 60 and over.

Although on the downside for those aged 30 and under we don't even make it into the top 25. Australia made it to 19 so I guess that is why our young people are going there.

What I think the data shows is that successive governments both National and Labour pandering to baby boomers has created one of the best retirement villages in the world. All we need is enough immigrants from the Phillipines and India to ensure retirement villages are fully staffed and I think we may have reached boomer utopia.

Not sure who funds national superannuation if all the young people leave and Chris and David get the taxes down, but that is a problem for future generations, nothing a bit of extend and pretend can't fix in the short term.

Maybe young people want too much like a house and a family. Perhaps they should just lower their expectations, harden up and stop spending money on avocado toast.

I always thought youth was a time for optimism and enthusiasm, maybe not in NZ for some reason. Although I can't think why. Maybe they should move to a country with smaller govt and lower taxation if they are so unhappy, it seems those countries are where all the unhappy people live.