875 days ago

DANGEROUS, DISASTROUS & TERRIFYING

Michael from Trentham

Wellington Mayor, Tory Whanau says a National-ACT -NZ First coalition government would be "dangerous, disastrous" and that she would be "terrified" of this happening.
So it is a given that a National-ACT Gov will emerge in two weeks and the possibility of NZ First getting in on the act is fairly high.

I too feel that Whanau, a left wing Green Party advocate, is right in one particular way. National and ACT are committing to taking millions of funding dollars away from the civil services and divesting them of thousands of jobs. This would affect not only Wellington but the local region as a whole. Government and quasi Government departments and organisations is the backbone of the Wellington region and its economic health and well being.

National have done it before more than once and it has taken a Labour Government each time to revitalise departments like Conservation to allow the likes of them to get to a point of achieving what is being attempted.

This time round, the National Party has also gotten into a bind - promising too much in tax cuts with one of the only ways to meet the tax cut costs is by shedding millions from the civil services.

There is a hope that should NZ First get a share of the Government benches, they can trim National-ACT plans in respect to our civil services otherwise Whanau will be right. I suspect Whanau has other reasons also for her rather unstateswoman pronouncement as Mayor of a leading city of what seems certain to occur.

More messages from your neighbours
1 day ago

Some Choice News!

Kia pai from Sharing the Good Stuff

DOC is rolling out a new tool to help figure out what to tackle first when it comes to protecting our threatened species and the things putting them at risk.

Why does this matter? As Nikki Macdonald from The Post points out, we’re a country with around 4,400 threatened species. With limited time and funding, conservation has always meant making tough calls about what gets attention first.

For the first time, DOC has put real numbers around what it would take to do everything needed to properly safeguard our unique natural environment. The new BioInvest tool shows the scale of the challenge: 310,177 actions across 28,007 sites.

Now that we can see the full picture, it brings the big question into focus: how much do we, as Kiwis, truly value protecting nature — and what are we prepared to invest to make it happen?

We hope this brings a smile!

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20 days ago

Have you got New Zealand's best shed? Show us and win!

Mei Leng Wong Reporter from NZ Gardener & Get Growing

Once again, Resene and NZ Gardener are on the hunt for New Zealand’s best shed! Send in the photos and the stories behind your man caves, she sheds, clever upcycled spaces, potty potting sheds and colourful chicken coops. The Resene Shed of the Year 2026 winner receives $1000 Resene ColorShop voucher, a $908 large Vegepod Starter Pack and a one-year subscription to NZ Gardener. To enter, tell us in writing (no more than 500 words) why your garden shed is New Zealand’s best, and send up to five high-quality photos by email to mailbox@nzgardener.co.nz. Entries close February 23, 2026.

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1 day ago

Share your favourite main crop potato recipe and win a copy of our mag!

William Hansby Reporter from NZ Gardener & Get Growing

Love potatoes? We will give away free copies of the May 2026 issue to readers whose potato recipes are used in our magazine. To be in the running, make sure you email your family's favourite way to enjoy potatoes: mailbox@nzgardener.co.nz, by March 1, 2026.

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