No, the 'centre-right' did not "sweep" the local elections. They did well in some areas, but they lost ground in other places. The left held their ground on Auckland Council, and they had gains in both Wellington and Christchurch.

My parents thought they were doing the right thing based on teacher advice. We know a lot more now than we did then. I had learned to read and write at preschool and the gap was much smaller (July birthday when the cut off was usually April).

I was promised a fake ID so many times and no one ever delivered. I didn’t drink alcohol (still don’t) so it was more about being able to go where my friends were. Drinking age was 20 then.

Learning via @davidfarrier.com ‘s Flightless Bird that @haydendonnell.bsky.social also had his teens ruined by being put forward a year at 5 years old. Solidarity fellow late bloomer.

Get your local election votes in by noon on Saturday! Why? To ensure a great future for your city, of course. And also, to help make politics civil again. We owe it to each other to lift the standard of discourse, keep it evidence-based, and avoid falling for conspiracy and abuse. Here’s the thing🧵

Yep.

Again not condoning in any way, shape, or form, the attack on Winston Peters' house.

But any discussions around it must include the wider context of the divisive and hateful rhetoric he's made his stock and trade.

Violent rhetoric begets violent responses. We need to condemn both. #nzpol

I changed the sheets on my bed all by myself for the first time in a really long time. Congrats to Ash and you!

Unemployment has increased by 50,000 since he’s been Prime Minister. That’s 50,000 families affected.

Luxon is just giving up his responsibility as Prime Minister for his citizens - to look tough against people who are trying their best.

Where are the jobs?

I've only ever known one person who wanted to be on the dole, and even though we were all in our early twenties everyone thought he was a total fucking weirdo loser. It's not at all common, and building all your systems as if it is just means you end up treating normal-people-in-a-pinch like shit.

If an incumbent councillor running in 2025 claims they support flood protection/downzoning in planning rules please check receipts - there was a vote on this (PC120) last week. 5 voted against, all are seeking your vote again - Fletcher, Lee, K Turner, Walker, Watson.

If you want to help get great people elected to council (see @juliefairey.bsky.social @jonturnernz.bsky.social @patrickreynolds.bsky.social) and some awesome folks for local boards, tomorrow and Sunday City Vision is doing a big weekend of action doorknocking and phonebanking to get out the vote!

If an incumbent councillor running in 2025 claims they support Māori wards please check receipts - there was a councillor vote on Māori wards in 2023. 11 voted against, & most are seeking your vote again - Fletcher, Lee, K Turner, Williamson, Baker, Newman, Walker, Watson: all said no.

I can understand incumbents not turning up every time if they feel unsafe, are sick, have important family stuff. But I find it really disrespectful to do it repeatedly, especially if you are an incumbent. To turn up for photos only is deeply cynical.

It’s been really disappointing to see the other ward councillor for my area turn up an hour late to one (organised by a youth board), arrive after another one was over & take a team photo (in one of our poorest areas), & tonight leave before the start (another youth board). Showing up matters. 2/2

Local govt Candidate debates in my ward are often quite sparsely attended. Many of those who attend have existing allegiances and know who they are voting for. BUT I prioritise attending (difficult for me this time for health reasons) because they are important for imcumbent accountability too. 1/2

My medium junior associate is in France on a school trip he sold his own homemade cookies to fundraise for and I just got sent a photo of them all in front of the Eiffel tower in the parent group chat 😍

Hey @jonturnernz.bsky.social you should let them know, Carol says it's fine.

The local C&R team in Roskill have blocked the council funded Xmas event from having Santa because it will "disrupt Carol" (sic). Bit grinchy if you ask me; lots of folks in our community can't afford the fancy mall Santa pics and this was a free chance for their kids. Sad.

Falls in the home are incredibly common, iirc the leading cause of injury to children. I remember this from talking to SafeKids in my early days as an elected rep - a key reason for my playground advocacy back then was so kids can learn to balance & fall safely. (Obv I did not hah)

An interesting thing has been how many people think I did all my limb breaking on my bike. Two were on the bike - left elbow (which was actually more like a fall I just happened to be on the bike) and right leg (hit by car). The other two were walking up stairs & in my own bedroom, both at home!

See I would have fallen off and broken something if I tried that hahah.

I guess if you describe not showing leadership as "meaningful leadership" then that gives us all a sense of what you mean by leadership?

Ok the agenda is here: infocouncil.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/Open/2024/06... it includes advice from the chap who runs the postal voting system, which isn't in the other analysis, hmm. Further info is in the attachments from p35 here: infocouncil.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/Open/2024/06...