Jolisa Gracewood

Compare and contrast: A statement from an NZ First spokesman 6 months ago about the actions of a party member and supporter, and a statement today from that same party’s leader.

I just saw someone use the abbreviation “AI;DR” and I’ll be laughing for a while.

For every €1 provided through a Basic Income For Artists pilot program in Ireland, the government got €1.46 back. So it’s being made permanent.

Over and over we see it. It saves public money to provide public housing. And it makes public money to provide basic income.

We can’t afford to NOT do it.

In our - very limited - historical experience of democracy,

(i) states rot from the centre-right
(ii) and it's contagious (via geography/powerful exemplar states)

Reminder Peters, Seymour & Luxon are staging a culture war to distract from the class war.

Eyes on the prize comrades, eyes on the prize.

#NZPol

Hearing you loud and clear! Alas, people trudged right into the Covid-incumbency/time-for-a-change/it's-the-economy trap.

Question is, will the swing voters fall for it a second time. I imagine lots of families will be noting the gaps around the Christmas table this year, and having some thoughts.

Yep, and it's actually amazing how much constructive feedback you can fit into 200 characters for "Why do you feel that way?" (Helps to have trained in the Twitter dojo... 🤨 )

Orchardists reject Luxon's claim sector is 'crying out' for workers The Prime Minister is urging young people to look for work in the sector amid changes to the Jobseeker benefit.

Yeah nah.

“The house is on fire, and this policy is them turning off the smoke alarm and saying it’s fixed.”

“The first time I have ever seen a policy from a right-wing government that seeks to minimise the number of hours being worked and to maximise benefit claims.”

@clrenney.bsky.social with the receipts

A small wrinkle in the Jobseeker policy The government’s recent changes to benefits feel like this: the house is on fire, and this policy is them turning off the smoke alarm and saying it’s fixed

#nzpol Sometimes a policy is so stupid it makes you question the very fabric of reality. Decisions so fabulously, almost wantonly dumb, you wonder if we actually live in a simulation. Welcome to the world of removing Jobseeker Support for 18 & 19-year-olds. craigrenney.substack.com/p/a-small-wr...

Imagine being a young person who got long covid because you couldn’t access any booster vaccines and now the prime minister and his deputy are calling you a drop kick and telling you to pull yourself up by the bootstraps they took away

Peters has track record of divisive rhetoric targeting LGBTQIA+ communities, immigrant MPs, & trans people. His speech fosters, & festers harms. Yet arson, & violence against his home cross a clear line. Political violence never advances democratic debate. It degrades it, & puts everyone at risk.

Watch: Christopher Luxon defends cuts to benefits for youth The prime minister says businesses are 'crying out for young people' as advocates decry the changes as a punishment.

"If you want a job you go where the jobs are."

Australia?

www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...

One awaits, with bated breath, the speech from Dear Leader Luxon to Google, Windows and Uber Eats about "the world not owing them a living" so it's time to pay the correct amount of taxes from money they earn in Ao/NZ.

I’d forgotten about that! Now replaced with a patronising $1000 bonus for 18/19yos who can “stay off” the dole for a year.

In other words, 3-4 weeks of support if you’re lucky enough to have a job (or parental subsidy)… but no support if you actually need it.

And the rich get richer.

I was hoping some would bring bindles into it! TikTok is gonna go crazy for this stuff 😂

Also: back in May, MSD said: “How many people will be affected?
It is estimated that approximately 17,800 people aged 18 and 19 will not be eligible for Jobseeker Support in the first two years of implementation.”

So where does the “only 4300” number come from?

www.msd.govt.nz/about-msd-an...

…because if Luxon and co are claiming “only 4300 young people” will be affected by this change, that could include 1900 young people who are literally unable to work due to health conditions or disability. (This feels like a very important question in the context of Long Covid, among other things)..

A screenshot of the June 2025 Benefit Facts Snapshot, showing the number of people receiving Jobseeker Support by benefit type at the end of the last six June quarters. The latest stats show around 44% of people on Jobseeker support are in the health condition or disability category. They literally can’t currently work, but would if they could, if and when they get better. (There’s a separate Supported Living payment for those not expected to get better. None of this is as fair, sensible or dignified as it should be.)

But seriously: journalists, please ask govt if this policy includes the 18 & 19 year olds who are unable to work for health & disability reasons* (as indicated in May www.msd.govt.nz/about-msd-an...)

* across all age groups that’s ~44% of jobseeker support recipients
www.msd.govt.nz/documents/ab...

Sand truck gets stuck on Wellington beach A truck helping replenish sand on Oriental Bay's beaches in Wellington got stuck in the sand it was working on.

The latest volume in the Little Yellow Digger series looks quite gritty eh…

#pukapuka www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...

Timeline cleanse, and then some! 🎶

Hello from the top of the South Island where literally 100s of people in primary industries and manufacturing are soon to lose their jobs from Carter holt Harvey, sealord, and proper crisps

Nicola Willis's RNZ & Stuff opinion piece writer Wesselbaum, an Atlas Network NZ Initiative fellow, has updated his disclosure statement this arvo.

Of note, Willis was a Director with NZ Initiative, making this conflict of interest even starker

How could both Stuff & RNZ ignore this? #nzpol #kiwi

The “kiss your kids goodbye” government, laser-focused on getting the brain-drain back on track…

So an 18 year old has only been allowed to use social media for two years and needs their parents to support them financially, but is also completely equipped to move across the country on their own to do manual labour.

Pink and blue? (kinda has a bonus pay equity aura too!) 🏳️‍⚧️⚖️

I think it's immoral when well off secure middle aged people blithely tell young people with not many resources that they should just move. It's not that easy. 2/3

*for a finite number of youths, fixed time only, conditions may apply. (Also: no nibbling whatsoever on even a small reject kumara to assuage your hunger pangs, that‘s theft as a servant.)

Indeed, indeed.

Now you’re talking! The dream 😍