Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Andrew Geddis @acgeddis.bsky.social · 15h

Shut up, you antichrist ...

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Andrew Geddis @acgeddis.bsky.social · 15h

Thanks ... so much of local politics is local!!!

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Andrew Geddis @acgeddis.bsky.social · 15h

I guess I have "what I see in the national media" bias (hence don't really know what's going on), but this seems like a surprise?

Tory Whanau misses out on Māori Ward seat
The outgoing Wellington mayor, Tory Whanau, has missed out on making it back into the council in the Te Whanganui a Tara seat.

The progress results on Saturday showed the Labour candidate, Matthew Reweti, had defeated her. He was declared elected with 1042 votes to her 732.

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Andrew Geddis @acgeddis.bsky.social · 15h

Shades of Reform winning control of local councils in the UK and then realising "fuck me - governing is hard!"

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Andrew Geddis @acgeddis.bsky.social · 16h

Central issues were a reasonable council having to create a new water entity (as required by central govt's "Local Water Done Well" policy) + costs of infrastructure development driving up rates. Let's see how the nutty right manages to deal with these issues over the next 3 years ... .

Paul_BarlowNZ @paulbarlownz.bsky.social · 16h

Well fuck - Selwyn has elected a majority of Council with links to VFF, Act, and Trump fans. Maybe put that on the no fly list for the next three years

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Andrew Geddis @acgeddis.bsky.social · 16h

Also ... remember when Whanganui wouldn't even put an "h" in its name because Maoris were bloody well asking for too much?

(Additional update: Michael Laws lives in Cromwell these days and is stinking up the Otago Regional Council.)

Whanganui votes to retain Māori wards
Whanganui has voted to retain its Māori wards in a tight contest.

Progress votes show 6663 people voted to retain a Māori ward, while 6213 voted to have it removed.

More than 1000 ballots left the Māori ward option blank.

Juile Herewini on 906 votes and Geoff Hipango on 738 votes have been returned as Māori ward councillors.

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Andrew Geddis @acgeddis.bsky.social · 16h

The local election results (so far) seem pretty much an apathetic recycling of the status-quo ... but note this as a potential hint at what 2028 may deliver. A 3 term mayor + current LGNZ head hammered because of the cost of region's new water entity and rates rises to cover infrastructure needs.

Landslide in Selwyn
The current Local Government New Zealand president is facing a landslide loss in his district.

Selwyn District incumbent Sam Broughton is more than 11,000 votes behind his challenger, Lydia Gliddon.

The progress results show she has received 15,497 votes so far while he has 4156 votes.

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Paul_BarlowNZ @paulbarlownz.bsky.social · 16h

Well fuck - Selwyn has elected a majority of Council with links to VFF, Act, and Trump fans. Maybe put that on the no fly list for the next three years

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audioculturenz.bsky.social @audioculturenz.bsky.social · 2d

It's release day for Not Given Lightly, Craig Robertson's biography of Chris Knox, and we're thrilled to share an excerpt. "Songwriting was partly a physical process, he told Russell Baillie..." We're also giving away a copy in next week's newsletter...1/2 www.audioculture.co.nz/articles/chr...

Chris Knox: Not Given Lightly - Article | AudioCulture

An excerpt from Chris Knox: Not Given Lightly, by Craig Robertson (Auckland University Press, 2025), published with permission. -- In the late 1980s Chris Knox worked out his solo songs at home with h...

www.audioculture.co.nz

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Andrew Geddis @acgeddis.bsky.social · 2d

Look, Kirsty, if you want more electricity just get together with 100,000 others and each invest $1000 and build your own wind farm. It’s pretty basic stuff …

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Andrew Geddis @acgeddis.bsky.social · 2d

Chris Finlayson following Sir Geoffrey is objectively very very funny (to an incredibly niche and slightly tragic group of us …)

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Andrew Geddis @acgeddis.bsky.social · 2d

I would like it to be known that Comrade Brown does NOT speak for Antifa NZ (South of the Bombay Hills faction) and that his incessant and intransigent demands for plain beige decor are an affront to all engaged in The Struggle …

Russell Brown @publicaddress.bsky.social · 2d

Honestly this whole 🧵rings true for those of us approached to set up Antifa NZ. Couldn't get a decision on what colour to paint the office without a week of endless Zoom meetings. For globalists, their localisation strategy is terrible. Would not overthrow tyranny again.

Popehat Agitates And Irritates @kenwhite.bsky.social · 2d

OK. It's going to be coming out soon because of the relentless investigations of Pam Bondi and Kash Patel, so I might as well admit it before the news breaks:

I am the General Counsel of Antifa.

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Russell Brown @publicaddress.bsky.social · 2d

Honestly this whole 🧵rings true for those of us approached to set up Antifa NZ. Couldn't get a decision on what colour to paint the office without a week of endless Zoom meetings. For globalists, their localisation strategy is terrible. Would not overthrow tyranny again.

Popehat Agitates And Irritates @kenwhite.bsky.social · 2d

OK. It's going to be coming out soon because of the relentless investigations of Pam Bondi and Kash Patel, so I might as well admit it before the news breaks:

I am the General Counsel of Antifa.

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Andrew Geddis @acgeddis.bsky.social · 2d

Simpsons did it ...

The Simpsons - Move The Town

YouTube video by Your Daily Dose Of Simpsons

www.youtube.com

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Andrew Geddis @acgeddis.bsky.social · 2d

The below, in turn, helps to explain this ...

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Andrew Geddis @acgeddis.bsky.social · 2d

"The Government’s policy change to make many 18- and 19-year-olds ineligible for the Jobseeker benefit will go a significant way to helping it meet its target of reducing the number of people on Jobseeker by 50,000."

Stalin: "Death solves all problems, no man, no problem."

Marc Daalder @marcdaalder.bsky.social · 2d

My analysis: The design of the new Jobseeker policy incentivises parents of unemployed teenagers to work fewer hours, for fear of the teens losing their benefit.
newsroom.co.nz/2025/10/08/g...

Govt to meet 9% of Jobseeker target by taking teens off benefit

The design of the new Jobseeker policy incentivises parents of unemployed teenagers to work fewer hours, for fear of the teens losing their benefit.

newsroom.co.nz

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Marc Daalder @marcdaalder.bsky.social · 2d

My analysis: The design of the new Jobseeker policy incentivises parents of unemployed teenagers to work fewer hours, for fear of the teens losing their benefit.
newsroom.co.nz/2025/10/08/g...

Govt to meet 9% of Jobseeker target by taking teens off benefit

The design of the new Jobseeker policy incentivises parents of unemployed teenagers to work fewer hours, for fear of the teens losing their benefit.

newsroom.co.nz

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Andrew Geddis @acgeddis.bsky.social · 3d

All those “No to 3 Waters!” signs really paid off …

Waitaki District Council's standalone water services plan rejected by DIA

Department of Internal Affairs officials have ordered the council to carry out a full review of the district's water assets or face ministerial intervention.

www.rnz.co.nz

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Andrew Geddis @acgeddis.bsky.social · 3d

Does it count if you've got an interior narrator who sounds EXACTLY like the one in Arrested Development?

Hylobatidae @waninggibbons.bsky.social · 3d

I don't trust anyone who doesn't have an inner monologue. What the fuck do you mean you go through life without an oversight committee.

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Andrew Geddis @acgeddis.bsky.social · 3d

When you've got John Darnielle saying this about you + then showing how much his own songwriting is a reflection of yours, then you are a bona fide musical genius (who chose to express it with whatever happened to be at hand at the time)

Brave

YouTube video by The Mountain Goats - Topic

www.youtube.com

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Andrew Geddis @acgeddis.bsky.social · 3d

The second book this year from the Robertson brothers (following Grant's autobiography) - I honestly don't think many Kiwis know just how big a deal Chris Knox was (and still is) in terms of what music was seen as being able to be ...

Simon Grigg @opdiner.com · 4d

I said I'd write a few words about Craig Robertson's much-anticipated Chris Knox bio, which I love.

These are personal reflections on what will likely be the definitive history of a man who changed indie/alt music globally

opdiner.substack.com/p/cause-when...
#aotearoa
@audioculturenz.bsky.social

'Cause, when it all comes down to dust

Can I say that Craig Robertson's bio of Chris Knox is anticipated? It is, and it's arrived.

opdiner.substack.com

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Hylobatidae @waninggibbons.bsky.social · 3d

I don't trust anyone who doesn't have an inner monologue. What the fuck do you mean you go through life without an oversight committee.

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lieslm.bsky.social @lieslm.bsky.social · 3d

Judith Collins "aren't they lucky they can legally protest in NZ, you cant insome countries, maybe they should go there" WTF?

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Andrew Geddis @acgeddis.bsky.social · 3d

That was my birthday! Thank you, Todd!! It was the best present a little boy could ever ask for!!!

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Simon Grigg @opdiner.com · 4d

I said I'd write a few words about Craig Robertson's much-anticipated Chris Knox bio, which I love.

These are personal reflections on what will likely be the definitive history of a man who changed indie/alt music globally

opdiner.substack.com/p/cause-when...
#aotearoa
@audioculturenz.bsky.social

'Cause, when it all comes down to dust

Can I say that Craig Robertson's bio of Chris Knox is anticipated? It is, and it's arrived.

opdiner.substack.com

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Andrew Geddis @acgeddis.bsky.social · 4d

Bobby's Law: "The degree of 'community buy-in' required for decisions around police resourcing is directly correlated with the rural-Pākehā-National/ACT-voting status of said community."