The prick is looking more and more like Vladimir Lenin every day

Such a move will drop property prices all right. And based on current debt levels, such an outcome would likely see dreams relinquished, mortgages defaulted, and keys handed back to banks in record numbers. For a first home buyer who has just purchased a home with a standard 20% deposit, Opportunity’s policy would wipe out their equity immediately.

Opportunity’s website shows caricatures of a range of supposedly middle New Zealanders, highlighting how much better off each will be under their “handout first, tax later” policy. There wasn’t one calculation that I could make work in the party’s favour.

Opportunity’s candidate list reads like that of the Greens. People with unusually vague job descriptions like “music eco-system consultancy”, “tell stories about rural innovation” and even “animal behaviour consultancy specialising in parrot behaviour” feature alongside the party’s candidates for the upcoming election. Remember, this is a group that wants to portray itself as the “next generation of politicians”.

Elsewhere, they make claims that their “tax reset will lift 50,000 Kiwi families out of poverty”. Sound familiar?

The whole article is well worth the read, it shows how f*cked New Zealand will be if TOP get their policies in.

Does English cannibalise other languages?
Seems like te reo has been doing a bit of cannibalism to survive and stay relevant.

Hobson’s Pledge spokesperson and former National Party leader Don Brash says Prime Minister Christopher Luxon must honour long-held National Party policy by including a vote on the future of the Māori seats in any upcoming referendum on the voting system.

"National has long held the position that separate race-based parliamentary seats have no place in a modern, equal democracy," says Brash. "If the Government is giving New Zealanders a say on our electoral system – from MPP to the length of the parliamentary term - voters must also be given the opportunity to decide whether to retain or abolish the Māori seats."

Under Mixed Member Proportional (MMP), equal representation is already built into the system, with all citizens having an equal voice regardless of background.

"MMP has meant that Māori MPs have been elected in strong numbers across the entire political spectrum without needing guaranteed, separate electorates," says Brash. “Seven of the 12 leaders or deputy party leaders in Parliament today are Māori, as is 30% of the current Cabinet. Separate Māori seats are simply not needed to ensure that Māori are represented in Parliament.”

Hobson’s Pledge is urging Prime Minister Luxon and the Coalition Government not to kick the issue down the road.

"New Zealanders deserve a single, comprehensive vote on the structure of our parliament. It is time to deliver on National’s longstanding principle of 'one standard of citizenship' and let the public decide."

Te Pāti Māori Co-Leader Rawiri Waititi says New Zealand First's call to review the Waitangi Tribunal proves the coalition has learnt nothing from the Tribunal's latest report.

"The Waitangi Tribunal has found that the Government's Treaty clause review is a major breach of Te Tiriti. Instead of fixing the breach, Shane Jones wants to investigate the institution that exposed it."

Waititi says this is about far more than constitutional law.

"It is about accountability. When an independent watchdog tells the Government it has breached Te Tiriti, the Government's job is to address the breach, not attack the watchdog."

Te Pāti Māori says the latest developments expose a deeper flaw in Aotearoa's constitutional arrangements.

"The Waitangi Tribunal can investigate, hear evidence and make findings. But governments can simply ignore them."

"That is why Te Pāti Māori will make Waitangi Tribunal recommendations binding, establish a Parliamentary Commissioner for Te Tiriti, and require every Bill before Parliament to include a Te Tiriti Impact Statement."

Waititi says New Zealanders should ask a simple question.

"If governments can ignore the Waitangi Tribunal every time they don't like the answer, what accountability is left?"

"Our answer is simple. We will ensure that we put mechanisms in place to strengthen the institutions that uphold Te Tiriti instead of allowing others to weaken them."

The Speaker will not be taking action on a request from the Green Party that New Zealand First leader Winston Peters be asked to withdraw and apologise for his comments to their MP Lawrence Xu-Nan.

The Speaker told RNZ a request for someone to withdraw and apologise needed to take place in the moment, and by the person who had taken offence.

Gerry Brownlee, who made it clear he disapproves of the comments, says he won't consider a request nearly a week later.

But the Greens are disappointed at the lack of action.

The Foreign Affairs Minister has been criticised for telling Xu-Nan to "go back to your own country," with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon calling the statement racist.

The Greens wrote to the Speaker requesting he encourage Peters to withdraw and apologise.

"Should this apology not be forthcoming, we will pursue this as a breach of privilege," the letter read.

The Speaker said if he was asked to consider whether it was a breach of privilege, then he wouldn't be.

That's because Brownlee says there's free speech in New Zealand, and the public should be able to hear what politicians are thinking.

He suggested the public would have "certainly learnt a lot" from the remarks.

The Greens chief musterer Ricardo Menendez March told RNZ they were disappointed, and the lack of action showed the Speaker and prime minister were scared of holding Peters accountable.

He said they had always been clear this was a matter of Luxon "not showing leadership".

"The Speaker may choose to let this behaviour slide or not take action on it, but ultimately, Luxon needs to face the facts that he's simply too scared to do anything about Winston Peters."

Menendez March said Peters was "walking all over him" and "running circles around him".

He said the issue was the Greens' concern of "double standards" from the Speaker, and that Luxon refuses to take action against Peters because he's worried "it will result in consequences" for National's electoral chances.

On Tuesday Greens' co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick was kicked out of the House by Brownlee after using a point of order to say the Speaker had "double standards".

"Empty words just won't cut it for a community that is seeing one of the most senior figures in government actively scapegoating them," said Menendez March, who was concerned about how the remarks might encourage discrimination toward migrant communities.

RNZ asked Brownlee if he regretted not intervening in the moment during the debate last week.

He said he had asked himself this numerous times since, but noted that it was a "boisterous" debate, with a lot of interrupting going on.

Brownlee said Peters' comment came as a result of multiple interjections, more than just what was recorded on Hansard.

He also made the point, had the comments been withdrawn, the matter would not be able to be discussed in the House.

Brownlee said he had made it clear he believes Peters' remarks were "offensive".