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SaltyNZ
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  #3494353 21-May-2026 09:43
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JPNZ:

 

If NZF get more than 10% in the next election they will be in government regardless. Neither side will have enough without them.

 

 

 

 

That'll be an interesting situation if the polls are also accurate that the pendulum is swinging left. If Nat + NZF + ACT is not enough for a majority then there's a problem. First, Winston has flatly stated on multiple occasions he won't work with Labour Hipkins. Personally I think he'll drop that in a nanosecond if he thinks it means he's going to not be in government again. 

 

But Labour have been most recently burned by Winston, Hipkins notwithstanding, and won't be keen to work with him again. Why would you? He'll just turn around and undo everything you've done, again, the next time he thinks that gets him another term. Also, none of Labour's other potential partners are likely to stand for it. Many of NZF's policies are flat out the opposite of Green policies, for example (mine everything, fish everything, straight, white, English-speakers are the only people who should exist etc.), so I don't think it would shock anyone if the Green Party said they won't work with NZF. And Labour might not have a majority without NZF, but they also won't have a majority without the Greens.

 

So unless there's a clear majority for the current coalition we would likely either have a minority government or be back to the polls pretty quickly, and it is anyone's guess who the voters would choose to punish for that.





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GV27
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  #3494412 21-May-2026 10:20
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MikeAqua:

 

I've been through three restructures in my life.  Including one where I was made redundant.  It absolutely sucks.  The feeling of rejection is awful. Even when your job isn't at risk but your colleagues are, it's a bad feeling.  Even when you quietly believe the organisation genuinely doesn't need that role. There is no good restructure, fast (suspense = pain), lawful and effective are as close to good as it gets.   I'm fortunate to have always been able to find other employment during the restructure process. 

 

 

I've been through three already, I'm not even halfway through my career. It is just normal in corporate life. One I did not make it through, the other two I ended up with expanded teams and responsibilities. Notice periods for redundancies are now a fraction of what they once were too, the days of one week for every six months of service are long-gone. Previous role before my current one was a week of notice. I used to have to accumulate annual leave as my own form of redundancy insurance, which I could not afford.

 

I can understand why the pay freezes are not popular and it's a very blunt and archaic tool when it comes to managing payroll cost (also your only real option if you are determined to keep headcount of the equation by any means necessary), but I also note that several government departments effectively got two months of paid leave at full pay with no work due to not having IT provisioning or data-handling policies that could accommodate WFH during lockdowns, while I went down to a fraction of my regular earnings and my savings never really recovered once inflation started running hot.


gzt

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  #3494428 21-May-2026 11:11
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JPNZ: If NZF get more than 10% in the next election they will be in government regardless. Neither side will have enough without them.

Last year Peters said the party would sit on the cross benches, ie; not join the government. Instead influencing a minority government. That may or may not imply a gentleman's agreement with a minority government and obtaining a few policy concessions. I have not heard Peters say that recently, it's anyone's guess. If a Hipkins led majority refuses to work with Peters then maybe that is the outcome. The polls don't look like that at present.



gzt

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  #3494445 21-May-2026 12:49
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There have been several very stable minority governments in recent NZ history so that's not a particularly unusual or unstable arrangement.

gzt

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  #3494448 21-May-2026 13:06
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I am begining to think the major parties need to have some agreement on infrastructure. Imo the Cook Strait infrastructure cancelled by NZ First was necessary for the next century.

I believe NZ First has some alternative plan involving an increase in (or return to) coastal shipping. I have not heard of any progress on that.

Not mentioned by NZ First but, imo for passenger service it would be excellent to board ship at Onehunga and disembark in Nelson. That is the existing return route for cement shipments if those are still going. Obviously no train or car required. As a side note there is some relatively easy potential for an Onehunga Wharf passenger rail station.

Edit: Apparently cement is shipped by road now after the company played chicken with the government and lost.

SaltyNZ
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  #3494452 21-May-2026 13:17
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gzt: I am begining to think the major parties need to have some agreement on infrastructure. Imo the Cook Strait infrastructure cancelled by NZ First was necessary for the next century.

I believe NZ First has some alternative plan involving an increase in (or return to) coastal shipping. I have not heard of any progress on that.

Not mentioned by NZ First but, imo for passenger service it would be excellent to board ship at Onehunga and disembark in Nelson. That is the existing return route for cement shipments if those are still going. Obviously no train or car required. As a side note there is some relatively easy potential for an Onehunga Wharf passenger rail station.

Edit: Apparently cement is shipped by road now after the company played chicken with the government and lost.

 

 

 

When I was working on the Green Party Emergency Management policy we put forward coastal shipping as well. It could be an important way to get supplies in and out of coastal towns when the roads are cut and there's nowhere for a Herc to land (e.g. Kaikoura), as well as being an efficient way to move freight without roads or rails during normal circumstances.





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sen8or
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  #3494455 21-May-2026 13:33
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Guess National hasn't learned not to lead with your chin

 

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/budget-2026-chris-bishop-announces-social-housing-overhaul-with-potential-duration-limits-changes-to-how-need-assessed/VRIUXCBDHRHI5KCHO2HVDHYXEY/

 

Making those in social housing worse off just doesn't seem to make sense during a time where there are so many things already piling up (high fuel costs, high food costs, child poverty etc etc etc). I get that there may be a need to make some changes (no system is perfect), but when you're doing poorly in the polls and the country as a whole is suffering in multiple areas, this seems to be poorly timed (at best) if not just bad policy.


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  #3494465 21-May-2026 14:27
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SaltyNZ:

 

 

 

That'll be an interesting situation if the polls are also accurate that the pendulum is swinging left. 

 

The aggregate polls haven't shown a swing to the left in the last year or so. They have shown a swing to Labour and NZ First with TPM in free fall, the Greens and National in consistent decline and ACT floating around but down a bit from the election.

 

 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion_polling_for_the_2026_New_Zealand_general_election

 

 


MikeAqua
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  #3494470 21-May-2026 14:46
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sir1963:

 

This was an interesting video, how companies who cut staff because AI was going to do it for them... did not work out well...

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EvIY_2TWN8

 

 

It's like any technology.  You can use it intelligently or foolishly.  Used intelligently it will remove human work, as other technology has done.  We no longer have typing pools, or clerks with abacuses.





Mike


SaltyNZ
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  #3494482 21-May-2026 15:20
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Handle9:

 

SaltyNZ:

 

 

 

That'll be an interesting situation if the polls are also accurate that the pendulum is swinging left. 

 

The aggregate polls haven't shown a swing to the left in the last year or so. They have shown a swing to Labour and NZ First with TPM in free fall, the Greens and National in consistent decline and ACT floating around but down a bit from the election.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Be that as it may, it would seem extremely foolish for Labour to accept another coalition with NZF regardless of who was leading the party at the time. His track record is 100% stab you in the back whenever it looks like short term advantage. Even if you argue that National or Labour should try to rise above party politics for the good of the nation - and they absolutely should - you're still better off refusing to work with Winston because he'll just undo all your hard work immediately after stabbing you. You won't just have achieved nothing, you'll have gone backwards.

 

If you are not into pure populism you should be urging your favourite Blue or Red party to rule out NZF now. That will deflate him pretty fast and give us all much better chance of having a sane government. (Let's not have any "any government with the Greens in it is insane" otherwise I'll just have to counter with "ditto ACT" and we'll just end up rolling our eyes at each again. We both know where we stand).





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sen8or
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  #3494536 21-May-2026 15:46
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Will it come down to who voters want to keep out of parliament (or diminish their bargaining power) as much as who do they want in?

 

Not sure if it was golf club rumour or not, but back in 2020 "they said" many traditional Blue voters (farmers) opted to go Red and give the Ardern Govt enough individual power as to not rely on deals with the greens. Could be complete hogwash, but when some of the areas that had been Blue for generations turned red in that election, it gives some weight to the "they said" rumour.

 

Will enough voters not want Winston to hold the balance of power again? If so, expect to see clearer swings one way or the other. 

 

Would a National/Act 2 way coalition have done better than the three way? Did Winston help keep some of Act's policies off the table? 

 

Winston, for all his faults, is an experienced politician who knows how to play the game better than almost all the other politicians in all the other parties combined, underestimate him at your peril.


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Handle9
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  #3494537 21-May-2026 15:47
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Why would New Zealand First want a coalition with Labour? It’s always been a disaster for NZ First being in coalition with Labour while being in coalition with National has been very successful for them. 

 

You can claim principles with NZ First but that’s not how democracy works. Like it or not NZ First represent a growing constituency that other parties are not reaching. They are certainly doing a damn sight better than the Greens at actually selling their policies and have overtaken them as the third most popular party. 


SaltyNZ
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  #3494542 21-May-2026 16:01
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Handle9:

 

Why would New Zealand First want a coalition with Labour? It’s always been a disaster for NZ First being in coalition with Labour while being in coalition with National has been very successful for them. 

 

You can claim principles with NZ First but that’s not how democracy works. Like it or not NZ First represent a growing constituency that other parties are not reaching. They are certainly doing a damn sight better than the Greens at actually selling their policies and have overtaken them as the third most popular party. 

 

 

 

 

Not quite true; their first coalition was with National and they were tossed right out of parliament at the next election. Agreed that seems unlikely this time though.





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Handle9
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  #3494543 21-May-2026 16:34
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SaltyNZ:

 

Handle9:

 

Why would New Zealand First want a coalition with Labour? It’s always been a disaster for NZ First being in coalition with Labour while being in coalition with National has been very successful for them. 

 

You can claim principles with NZ First but that’s not how democracy works. Like it or not NZ First represent a growing constituency that other parties are not reaching. They are certainly doing a damn sight better than the Greens at actually selling their policies and have overtaken them as the third most popular party. 

 

 

Not quite true; their first coalition was with National and they were tossed right out of parliament at the next election. Agreed that seems unlikely this time though.

 

 

The circumstances then were very different. That whole government was a shit show, starting with National changing horses mid term.


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  #3494546 21-May-2026 16:38
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sen8or:

 

Will it come down to who voters want to keep out of parliament (or diminish their bargaining power) as much as who do they want in?

 

 

I don't think it's so much policy as the electorate is merciless with parties riddled with infighting and who don't seem capable of executing. National in 2020 were a shambolic mess and got punished.


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