henry cooke

no congratulation present you utter tool

NZ calls for resumption of negotiations with Iran following US attack Christopher Luxon and Winston Peters say Iran must stop retaliating in statement following US strikes.

NZ putting itself closer to the European position (neither endorsing nor condemning US attack, calling for resumption of talks) rather than the more pro-US Aus + Canada position

www.thepost.co.nz/politics/360...

yup! Parklet festival

another gorgeous day in the capital 🫡

Infrastructure boss: Tolls and charges needed before new projects New Zealand is building costly roads it may not need, Infrastructure Commission head Geoff Cooper says, urging far greater use of tolls and congestion charges first.

In an interview with me in The Post this morning, the Infrastructure Commission head says equity arguments about the impact of congestion charges must be balanced with the equity issue of building roads we don’t need

www.thepost.co.nz/politics/360...

It sure looks like people are never going to get over Jacinda Ardern The former PM retired three years ago. The very mention of her name still has the power to send grown men spiralling,

i think hayden put it well thespinoff.co.nz/politics/24-...

look i posted about it once and i am still getting hate mail for it

(You need a stuff account to sign up but not a Post subscription. So, free!)

🚨We're reviving an old newsletter from the Stuff days tomorrow morning - Politically Correct.

It'll be a fun summary of the week in politics with some gossip about job changes and the like.

And all the stories linked with be de-paywalled.

Sign up: accounts.news.stuff.co.nz/newsletter

no i am fairly clearly saying that the news reports on things that are new and wellington's water is usually a lot better than auckland's. this would be obvious if you had quote tweeted me instead of cutting out what i was replying too, but that wouldn't work for your framing

Poll: Kiwis back mega projects despite commission’s warning on costs New polling shows the vast majority of Kiwis want the Government to build big - but flood protection is top priority, not roads.

New polling shows Kiwis overwhelmingly back “mega projects” - just as the Infrastructure Commission suggests we need to quit them

www.thepost.co.nz/politics/360...

The Government’s proposing a new rule to penalise close passing - but it’s more lax than the road code

www.thepost.co.nz/politics/360...

mixing metaphors this intensely actually goes quite hard

chad south coast brutally mogs wider country

see the thing is in wellington when we make our beaches unsafe, it makes the news

Wellington's beaches are currently more consistently safe to swim at than Auckand's, per LAWA

In 1890, a group of Wellingtonians set fire to a toll booth on Hutt Road, and then threw it into the harbour.

Column today is on whether we have really moved to a more enlightened position on user pays:

www.thepost.co.nz/politics/360...

Ministers clash over Hauraki Gulf protections Shane Jones warns National’s plan would breach the Sealord settlement and cost Māori hundreds of millions, but Tama Potaka insists the policy upholds Treaty obligations.

NEW: Shane Jones says National’s campaign proposals to protect the Hauraki Gulf would breach a full and final treaty settlement, and likely cost the Govt huge amounts in compensation

www.thepost.co.nz/politics/360...

just finished HEAVY WEATHER, my first wodehouse. tired in the middle of the plot but on a sentence level just a delight. i can understand how his stuff becomes comfort food

Minister: Reading pay equity report would be ‘waste of time’ Workplace Relations Minister Brooke van Velden says former MPs are entitled to their views but the Government isn’t changing its mind, while Labour cautiously endorses a repeal.

Brooke van Velden suggests reading the unofficial select committee report on her pay equity changes would be a "waste of time" as the Govt ain't for turning www.thepost.co.nz/politics/360...

when the people's supreme court is created i don't think they will let me tweet from my trial

Hi Sacha, I don’t have a style guide for my tweets

People’s SC on pay equity - with former MPs from Labour, National, Greens, and NZ First - putting out a report today suggesting pay equity changes were a violation of the rule of law and breached various laws and conventions.

Officials say the English Language Bill solves a problem that doesn't exist

www.thepost.co.nz/politics/360...

a year is a long time in politics

Thomas Coughlan: A policy that could win the election, and keep thousands of Kiwis in NZ OPINION: There's an easy way to give graduates $3000 to stay in New Zealand.

Thomas Coughlan with a very fun policy idea to stem the brain drain: Raise the student loan repayment threshold dramatically. It gives almost every graduate an effective pay rise PLUS a far stronger reason to stay in NZ: www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/...

Government gives police power to ‘move on’ rough sleeping and begging The new “move on orders” were aimed at decreasing disorderly behaviour in public places by giving police greater power to intervene earlier.

The Govt is giving police the power to “move on” anyone:
- Begging
- Rough sleeping
- “Intending to inhabit a public place”

And send them to prison for up to three months (or fine them up to $2k) if they don’t.

www.thepost.co.nz/politics/360...

Govt considers requiring car parks in new developments again The move would require developers to include a certain number of car parks when building new properties but the Green Party says a return to mandated car parking would result in fewer and more expensi...

The Government is considering the return of car parking mandates - despite Chris Bishop effusively praising the policy that got rid of them in 2020

www.thepost.co.nz/politics/360...

he said he could consider parliament signing up to Bluesky in the future

Parliament ditches X, formerly Twitter, over deepfakes Free Speech Union writes to the Speaker as Clerk of House says he doesn’t want his organisation associated with controversial platform.

Clerk of the House David Wilson tells me it was him who decided to stop Parliament posting on Twitter.

He says Grok's abuse imagery and the lack of a serious response from the platform were the reason.

www.thepost.co.nz/politics/360...