Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Dr Aleisha Ward

D Jukic She/her @dejanajuk.bsky.social · 1h

Government to starve teens and their parents of resources to meet targets is par for the course, they kicked people out of energency housing onto the street to meet energency housing targets, people are being refused specialist health appointments to meet health targets…the list goes on #NZpol

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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Reposted by Dr Aleisha Ward

Jenny Wilson Leader of the pack 🐺🐺🐺 @jenchef.bsky.social · 1h

Playing with people's lives to satisfy their ideology.

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Reposted by Dr Aleisha Ward

BtheLane @bthelane.bsky.social · 1h

Aaaaah...now it is clear. Freaking brutal but much clearer.

Cam Bennett @cambennett.bsky.social · 3h

"It's not about the frickin targets" CM Luxon

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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Reposted by Dr Aleisha Ward

𝕯𝖆𝖑𝖑𝖆𝖘™ @dallasbarnett.com · 19h

oh mate. this is going to be massive.

Public Service Association @nzpsa.bsky.social · 1d

📢 1,700 Policy, Advisory, Knowledge and Specialist health workers have voted to join strike action on 23 October. The strike follows the failure of Health NZ Te Whatu Ora to provide an offer during bargaining that fairly reflects their value to the public health system.

A graphic tile that says Breaking news 17,00 Policy, Advisory, Knowledge & Specialist health workers to strike on Thursday October 23. The Stand Together For Health and PSA logos are in the corners.

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Reposted by Dr Aleisha Ward

Watershitdown @watershitdown.bsky.social · 7h

We've had days of headlines about Winston's frickin broken window , meanwhile found gov documents show NZ secretly developing communication systems for war with China .. great piece from Nicky Hager. #nzpol

newsroom.co.nz/2025/10/09/s...

Secret defence notes pointing to sensitive China preparation left at op shop

The National-led government has been avoiding questions about whether it is joining in preparations for a US military confrontation with China. A series of Official Information Act requests on this su...

newsroom.co.nz

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Reposted by Dr Aleisha Ward

Andrew Jull NZRN @andrewjull.bsky.social · 5h

"I will not ignore it. And if that makes me a dog, so be it.
Fuckin' woof."

Emily Writes www.emilywrites.co.nz/dogs/?ref=em...

Winston Peters, the victim.

Winston Peters needs you to know that he's a victim. He's a victim. And his dog is a victim. His house is a victim. What he has been through is worse than anything anyone else has ever been through. W...

www.emilywrites.co.nz

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Dr Aleisha Ward @nzjazzhistory.bsky.social · 6h

I remember that thread! My jaw was on the floor for much of it!

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Reposted by Dr Aleisha Ward

The Author, Séamas O'Reilly @seamas.bsky.social · 7h

I write full time largely because of one thread about getting high with the Irish president. As cringe as it is to admit, my entire life has been massively enhanced by Twitter and ketamine over precisely the same time that those two things have proven less beneficial for Elon Musk.

Conrad Hackett @conradhackett.bsky.social · 23h

Has anything great happened in your life because of social media?

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Imani Gandy Corn 🎃 @angryblacklady.blacksky.app · 7h

Dolly Parton has been a good person all her life. She does so many kind things for people. Compare that to someone like JK Rowling who wakes up every day and decides to be an absolute asshole.

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Reposted by Dr Aleisha Ward

martha @itsmarthintime.bsky.social · 7h

This is one of my favorite quotes from her:

"There's such a thing as innocent ignorance, and so many of us are guilty of that," she told Billboard. "When they said 'Dixie' was an offensive word, I thought, 'Well, I don't want to offend anybody. This is a business. We'll just call it The Stampede.' As soon as you realize that [something] is a problem, you should fix it. Don't be a dumba—. That's where my heart is. I would never dream of hurting anybody on purpose.”

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Reposted by Dr Aleisha Ward

Morgan Davie @fromthemorgue.bsky.social · 7h

#nzpol made this “please vote, friends!” video for insta/fb, thought I’d share here too even though nz folks here have already voted, right? Right

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Reposted by Dr Aleisha Ward

Chris Kluwe @chriswarcraft.bsky.social · 7h

Pretty sure Eleanor Roosevelt is dead

Bobby Silverman @robertsilverman.bsky.social · 8h

Bondi claiming they arrested [checks notes] "the girlfriend of one of the founders of antifa" has me in stitches

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 8h

Bondi: "Bondi: "Just like we did with cartels, we are going to take the same approach, President Trump, with antifa -- destroy the entire organization from top to bottom. We are going to take them apart."

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Reposted by Dr Aleisha Ward

Tory Whanau @misswhanau.bsky.social · 9h

Just got sent this from an article by Bryce Edwards. This is completely false, and he never once fact-checked it with me. My campaign was run by me and my small volunteer team. Comments like this reflect a tired mindset that assumes women can’t succeed in politics without a man pulling the strings.

7:50
:.!=
73)
concerns about transparency and public trust.
The Anatomy of influence - A Wellington case study
Many of the powerful vested interests behind local politicians are barely acknowledged. For example, how many Wellington voters knew that the current Mayor of Wellington, Tory Whanau, had her successful 2022 campaign essentially run by corporate lobbyist Neale Jones?
Jones co-owns and operates the Capital Government Relations firm with fellow political commentator Ben Thomas. The firm is the epitome of the "revolving door"

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Reposted by Dr Aleisha Ward

Char @kiwichar.bsky.social · 7h

What the fuck is wrong with these pathetic little boys? 🙄 #nzpol

Tory Whanau @misswhanau.bsky.social · 9h

Just got sent this from an article by Bryce Edwards. This is completely false, and he never once fact-checked it with me. My campaign was run by me and my small volunteer team. Comments like this reflect a tired mindset that assumes women can’t succeed in politics without a man pulling the strings.

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Reposted by Dr Aleisha Ward

Queen Olivia III @queenoliviaiii.com · 7h

Txt to friend: "have you voted? I can help you drop the envelope off if you like?"

Queen Olivia III @queenoliviaiii.com · 7h

Wellington. please vote, the city needs you.
According to "Inner-City Wellington" it looks like only around 1 in 5 people have voted! I know you voted, but have you checked on your friends? Link to voting drop box locations.
Maybe a cheeky re-post too.

wellington.govt.nz/your-council...

Places to drop off your vote

Locations for orange voting bins and post boxes in Wellington.

wellington.govt.nz

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Reposted by Dr Aleisha Ward

Grumpy @grumpyyetamusin.bsky.social · 7h

NZ's special form of exceptionalism is thinking that RW public policies that are proven failures will, somehow, work here.

Clint Fern @clintfern.bsky.social · 8h

Now this is going to come as a shock but it seems that the Cones Hotline is a complete waste of time and money.

A graph from Newsroom showing Van Veldens Cones Hotline is a waste of money.

Data shows Wellington City Council's cone report outcomes -
Sites found to be in order 54
Closed with no action 35
Out of scope 22
Contractor advised to move cones 5
Council moved cones

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Reposted by Dr Aleisha Ward

Clint Fern @clintfern.bsky.social · 8h

Now this is going to come as a shock but it seems that the Cones Hotline is a complete waste of time and money.

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Dr Aleisha Ward @nzjazzhistory.bsky.social · 7h

Challenge to students- when looking for scholarly journal articles, don't go to the publishers website and sign up for an account (and end up having to pay money!), look in your institution's library catalogue instead. Journals are often available via multiple subscriptions!

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Reposted by Dr Aleisha Ward

Foxy @foxylustygrover.bsky.social · 1d

This government are fools, absolute fools #NZPol

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Susan Edmunds Susan Edmunds, Money Correspondent
susan.edmunds@rnz.co.nz
File pictureNew rules limit benefits for teenagers to those whose parents who earn less than $65,000 a year. Photo: 123rf.com
New rules that limit benefits for teenagers to those whose parents who earn less than $65,000 a year will create perverse disincentives to low-income families taking on more work, commentators say.

The government announced at the weekend that parents need to earn less than $65,529 for 18- and 19-year-olds to qualify for Jobseeker benefits.

The income limit would be set at the cut-out point for a couple with children receiving the Supported Living Payment and would be adjusted annually.

Craig Renney, policy director at the Council of Trade Unions - who is also on Labour's policy council and a former adviser to then-Finance Minister Grant Robertson - said that amount was equal to two parents working 27 hours a week at minimum wage.

What's going to happen to home loan rates? Listen to No Stupid Questions with Susan Edmunds
"That's around three days at work per week each. If the parents earn one dollar above the cap, then their child gets nothing. But if one parent works one hour less - giving up $23.50 a week, then their child now gets $261 a week. The household is much better off if the parents work less.

"In fact, the parents can work 11 hours a week less and the household would still be better off. With secondary benefits kicking in, such as Accommodation Supplement or Working for Families (WFF) - assuming they have other children - then this might even stretch further."

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Reposted by Dr Aleisha Ward

Greta @greta-and-stirred.bsky.social · 18h

What is sticking in the craw of my mind: I can remember not so very long ago listening to a pundit on RNZ talking about how the unemployment rate in NZ was too low. And that was a problem. And now the govt is blaming people for the unemployment they then engineered. The economy is FICTIONAL. #nzpol

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Reposted by Dr Aleisha Ward

Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 1d

Shout out to all the mansplainers who have never won any science writing awards telling me how communication works

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Reposted by Dr Aleisha Ward

Adam Sharp @adamcsharp.bsky.social · 17h

A Māori proverb about laziness is he mahi te āta noho, e kī ana te wheke. It means “Sitting still is working, so says the octopus.”

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Reposted by Dr Aleisha Ward

Mountain Tui @mountaintui.bsky.social · 23h

In 2022, protestors hurled bricks, faeces at police & lit fires. Winston Peters said those protestors just wanted to be "heard" & shook their hands.

This week Peters called the mostly peaceful, law abiding Kiwis outside his home "gutless, spineless, [the] worst" protestors #nzpol

Faeces thrown at police at Parliament protest

Poo was pelted at officers during an early morning operation today to contain the protest at Parliament. The 3.30am operation caught the occupiers off guard with attempts to thwart the plan, resulting...

www.rnz.co.nz

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Reposted by Dr Aleisha Ward

Queen Olivia III @queenoliviaiii.com · 20h

Francine the Lowe’s cat has been found
commonwealthtimes.org/2025/10/06/f...

Francine the Lowe’s cat has been found The Commonwealth Times

Richmond’s beloved resident Lowe’s cat, Francine, has returned back home from a “business trip” to North Carolina thanks to various local organizations and community support.The local calico celebrity...

commonwealthtimes.org

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Reposted by Dr Aleisha Ward

Courtney Vaughn @courtneyvaughn.bsky.social · 1d

Streets are still closed off in front of the Portland ICE facility at 8:30pm. Protesters have gathered on a side street. Dance party in progress.

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