PeteO
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pete0.bsky.social
PeteO
@pete0.bsky.social
200 followers 280 following 790 posts
Old. lost, confused. Here for the cat pictures
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pete0.bsky.social
I am continuously amazed to see pieces like this

While so many kiwis have given up on getting their own home, and an increasing number of people have nowhere to live, here is an opinion piece about about what the best kind of vacation home is that should appeal to the one percenters
bach or beach house many us its no contest https://www.stuff.co.nz/home-property/360938914/bach-or-beach-house-many-us-its-no-contest
February 16, 2026 at 5:47 PM
pete0.bsky.social
Meanwhile, in NZ businessdesk.co.nz/article/infr...

Sadly, the man who has said "No to renweable energy" over a desire to commit us to buying LNG is happy to admit that Australia is wealthier and more productive than us, but just can't quite join the dots.

Darn you #nzpol
Productivity is another big challenge. It’s been a problem for decades. To give you a feel for it, Australia is 25 per cent wealthier than us, Ireland is twice as wealthy as us, and Singapore is three times wealthier than us. And for those countries, greater productivity and more wealth mean higher incomes and better public services, like health and education. We have to get richer as a country. Getting to yes faster is a big part of the solution. source: https://www.national.org.nz/news/20251123-hon-christopher-luxon-speech-marking-two-years-in-government
February 16, 2026 at 6:58 AM
pete0.bsky.social
After a review requested by the Teaching Council finds the Teaching Council is going badly:
- the Ministry of Education orders a review of the Teaching Council
- the Minister of Education orders a review of the Teaching Council

No wonder nothing gets done
#nzpol

www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/auckland/...
'Deeply shocking': Minister orders KC probe into child safety failings at Teaching Council
Erica Stanford says damning probe into troubled agency hit her 'like a tonne of bricks'.
www.nzherald.co.nz
February 15, 2026 at 4:49 AM
pete0.bsky.social
I don't understand business sentiment surveys - a 12 year high at the same time as nearly half of owners considering giving up

thespinoff.co.nz/the-bulletin...

www.nzherald.co.nz/business/sma...
Business confidence surges to 12-year high as recovery gathers pace
A new survey puts optimism at levels last seen post-GFC, reinforcing hopes of stronger hiring and investment in 2026.
thespinoff.co.nz
February 12, 2026 at 11:40 PM
Reposted by PeteO
binkenstein.bsky.social
Ah yes, the double standards of the libertarian: You must calmly and rationally discuss your existence & basic rights, but how dare you call us bad names.
February 11, 2026 at 3:02 AM
Reposted by PeteO
mountaintui.bsky.social
Is this why the police were not investigating any crimes under $5K & this govt can't even recruit 500 frontline officers Or is it because gang numbers have climbed to never seen before levels while they are making double profits - or maybe the raging meth and cocaine crisis in play? Which is it?
February 6, 2026 at 9:18 PM
pete0.bsky.social
People in the US are seeing how unpopular their President has become

But our own PM Luxon would love those kind of approval ratings
#nzpol

www.pewresearch.org/politics/202...
Trump’s approval rating stands at 37%, down from 40% in the fall. By more than two-to-one, Americans say the administration’s actions have been worse than they expected (50%) rather than better (21%). Only about a quarter of Americans today (27%) say they support all or most of Trump’s policies and plans, down from 35% when he returned to office last year. That change has come entirely among Republicans.
January 29, 2026 at 11:49 PM
pete0.bsky.social
For anyone who thinks AI is bad...
January 22, 2026 at 12:21 AM
pete0.bsky.social
Things would be much better for homeowners if the NZ Govt tied house prices to electricity prices - then homeowners could all have certainty, and great capital gains now we are back on track

#nzpol

www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/...
Could Auckland house prices crash another 10%? Housing Minister won't say
National MPs aren't sure what they want the Auckland housing market to do.
www.nzherald.co.nz
January 21, 2026 at 11:01 PM
pete0.bsky.social
During the 1970's, Copenhagen introduced car-less days (like NZ), discovered it was good and changed paradigm (unlike NZ, which made up car ownership easier). And now we have a Govt talking about building $250 billion of road and cutting out cycle lanes...

#nzpol

grist.org/biking/one-m...
One mile on a bike is a $.42 economic gain to society, one mile driving is a $.20 loss
Copenhagen, the bicycle-friendliest place on the planet, publishes a biannual Bicycle Account, and buried in its pages is a rather astonishing fact.
grist.org
January 21, 2026 at 9:28 AM
pete0.bsky.social
Finance Minister Willis won't be very pleased with the latest fiscal hole.

Maybe writing off the $1.2 billion previously spent on Affordable Waters (aka 3Waters) under urgency isn't a great example of the fiscal responsibility the Coalition keeps mentioning
kiwichar.bsky.social Char @kiwichar.bsky.social · Dec 12
All because a tiny minority of grave dancers didn’t like Māori having their contractual rights honoured. I’ve said it before & I’ll say it again; Racism is an expensive business. 🙄 #nzpol #OneTermGovernment
January 18, 2026 at 10:27 AM
Reposted by PeteO
2covet.bsky.social
Pay attention, Aotearoa New Zealand - if only because it's an election year for #nzpol 👀⬇️⬇️⬇️. This article is about a new tool to track the hidden economics of bot armies.

eastangliabylines.co.uk/technology/p...
Price of a bot army revealed across hundreds of online platforms
The first global index to track real-time prices for buying fake account verifications on 500+ online platforms in every country
eastangliabylines.co.uk
January 18, 2026 at 3:05 AM
pete0.bsky.social
This is a bit inconvenient when the PM and Civil Defense Minister are both "working from home" - what happened to the traditional politician photo ops?

#nzpol #CycloneGabrielle #northland

www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/3609...
Impacts of Northland flooding 'more severe' than Cyclone Gabrielle in some areas, iwi says
In a social media post, Ngātiwai Iwi says it has opened its marare to shelter community members displaced by the "extreme" weather event.
www.stuff.co.nz
January 18, 2026 at 1:51 AM
pete0.bsky.social
Why is it that the "Free Speech Union" in every country follows the approach of suppressing free speech about them?
January 17, 2026 at 10:31 PM
Reposted by PeteO
kiwikurt.bsky.social
The forestry industry doesn't actually have to be this evil. It's a choice
dejanajuk.bsky.social D Jukic She/her @dejanajuk.bsky.social · Jan 17
Forestry Companies care not a jot for the people/communities/environment they destroy in their quest for increasing profits. The concern is that the Government could well be on their side against the wishes of people and their elected Councils. It’s reprehensible. #nzpol
Forestry group urges Government to remove legal accountability for slash
Forestry industry leader forecasts “social and economical meltdown” in Gisborne unless things change.
www.stuff.co.nz
January 17, 2026 at 7:47 PM
pete0.bsky.social
It's unbelievable to think that a mainstream web site is fully accessible to anyone who wants to create child or fake porn. When did this become mainstream?

www.stuff.co.nz/world-news/3...
Mother of Elon Musk’s child sues over explicit Grok images
Ashley St Clair alleges AI tool created sexualised images of her, including as a minor.
www.stuff.co.nz
January 16, 2026 at 5:53 AM
pete0.bsky.social
Meanwhile, the NZ PM, busy working from home, has been unable to comment on multiple international situations, but has proudly focusing on the key issues he thinks kiwis care about

#nzpol

www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/christoph...
January 11, 2026 at 2:20 AM
pete0.bsky.social
It's a sign of the times to see Elon Musk has turned pedophilia into a chargeable service

“Image generation and editing are currently limited to paying subscribers. You can subscribe to unlock these features.”

www.stuff.co.nz/world-news/3...
Musk's Grok chatbot restricts image generation after global backlash to sexualised deepfakes
The chatbot, which is accessed through Musk's social media platform X, has in the past few weeks been granting a wave of what researchers say are malicious user requests to modify images, including pu...
www.stuff.co.nz
January 10, 2026 at 1:21 AM
pete0.bsky.social
Holy sh*t 🫣

Security can be hard - but that is no reason to fail the basics of checking who you are talking to.

Highly recommend reading the whole thread. And then think about how many checks and balances have failed (or been circumvented) to get to this point, and how that differs from the PR
keithng.bsky.social Keith Ng @keithng.bsky.social · Jan 8
Specifically, MMH confirmed that there was no server-side compromise, just abuse of the API, and that one user-level stolen credential was involved.

That means the hacker queried the API using one user credential, and was able to trick the API into giving out 127,000 users' files.
January 8, 2026 at 9:18 AM
pete0.bsky.social
NZ has a dearth of business reporting, with just a couple of exceptions. We have more journalists covering sport and entertainment than sport, and (seem to) take more stories from social media than the business world

Which makes www.nzherald.co.nz/business/com... a complete (shallow) embarrassment
'Excited about what AI can offer': Meridian chief eyes next wave of change
Meridian CEO Mike Roan will be focusing on building new generation capacity in 2026.
www.nzherald.co.nz
January 8, 2026 at 3:51 AM
pete0.bsky.social
This is a good read, and should be a reminder as we go into an election how a vendors public statements can be meaningless

Lets hope there are repercussions, not just for 126,000 kiwis, but for the business that claimed it took security seriously in public, and short changed us in private
January 5, 2026 at 8:32 PM
Reposted by PeteO
cjs.nz
A long shot, but if anyone might know anyone that works for the Parliamentary Service:
Please consider removing the Radware protection from your RSS feeds. These feeds are designed to be read by computers and shouldn't require a Human JS challenge every time someone wants to access it! #nzpol
January 5, 2026 at 4:14 AM
pete0.bsky.social
Why can't NZ have politicians like this, who look beyond the next 36 months, who consider the implications, who can express the issue and the solution in a rationale way? We don't even have this calibre of politician in Central Govt.

And to do it all with an Australian accent? Awesome!
asherwolf.bsky.social Asher Wolf @asherwolf.bsky.social · Jan 4
Deputy Lord Mayor of the City of Sydney, Jess Miller
January 4, 2026 at 8:25 AM
Reposted by PeteO
dmondom.bsky.social
If they’re not careful the FIFA Peace Prize is gonna mean nothing
January 3, 2026 at 2:51 PM
pete0.bsky.social
I don't think many kiwis will be surprised by the cynical misleading of the NZ public outlined in the article

It's worthwhile remembering it is the exact opposite of what Ministers said in Parliament - www.beehive.govt.nz/release/ivl-...
3 September 2024 IVL increase to ensure visitors contribute more to New Zealand The International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy (IVL) will be raised to $100 to ensure visitors contribute to public services and high-quality experiences while visiting New Zealand, Minister for Tourism and Hospitality Matt Doocey and Minister of Conservation Tama Potaka say. “The Government is serious about enabling the tourism sector to grow as part of our overall goal of doubling exports in 10 years. International tourism plays a hugely important role in the New Zealand economy, with international visitors spending over $11 billion in the year ending March 2024,” Mr Doocey says. “But international tourism also comes with costs to local communities, including additional pressure on regional infrastructure and higher upkeep and maintenance costs across our conservation estate. “The IVL was introduced in 2019 as a mechanism to ensure international visitors were contributing directly to these costs, the vast majority of which are paid for by New Zealand taxpayers and ratepayers.” “Public consultation by the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE) found 93 per cent of submitters supported raising the IVL, with the main rationale being an increase would be reasonable to help cover the costs of tourism.
January 3, 2026 at 10:54 PM