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OPINION: If the old saying that ‘political leaders are the reflection of our society’ is true, we need to have a good hard look at ourselves.
The bar seems to be set depressingly low to get into Parliament and the list of fairly average behaviour by sitting MPs is long.
Most recently we have National MP David MacLeod failing to declare $168,335 in donations – similar to former transport minister, Labour’s Michael Wood, ‘forgetting’ to sell his airport shares.
Many of the holier-than-thou Green MPs have disgraced themselves recently: Julie-Anne Genter, Darlene Tana and, of course, Golriz. The list goes on.
And let’s not forget the economic mess left behind by Grant Robertson and friends.
To paraphrase Thomas Jefferson, ‘The politicians you elect are the politicians you deserve’.
OPINION: Your old mate reckons townie Brooke van Velden, the Minister of Workplace (or is it Woke Place) Relations is now showing how underemployed she is as a minister by initiating an investigation into whether young children should be banned from collecting eggs on farms and feeding animals.
OPINION: There's an infamous term coined by a US general during the Vietnam war, specifically in reference to the battle of Ben Tre: "We had to burn the village to save it."
OPINION: The sudden departure of Jim Ward, manager of Molesworth Station for 24 years, highlighted some major dysfunction in the way conservation estate is managed in this country - the biggest problem, as the Hound sees it, being idealogues who harp on about "taonga" and use all means possible to block sensible commercial operations on conservation land.
OPINION: While the destruction of NZ's oil and gas industry by Jacinda Ardern's band of merry vandals was virtue signalling on a heroic scale - producing no environmental benefit whatsoever - the politician vowing to make that industry whole again, Shane Jones, is not above a bit of virtue signalling of his own.
OPINION: Your old mate's ear has been chewed off recently by farmers voicing their displeasure with the National Party, particularly relating to how they're treating their farmer base.
Fonterra has unveiled the first refrigerated electric truck to deliver dairy products across Auckland.
Research and healthcare initiatives, leadership and dedication to the sector have been recognised in the 2025 Horticulture Industry Awards.
Virtual fencing and pasture management company Halter says its NZ operations has delivered a profit of $2.8 million after exclusion of notional items.
Manuka honey trader Comvita slumped to a $104 million net loss last financial year, reflecting prolonged market disruption, oversupply and pricing volatility.
The Government has struck a deal with New Zealand's poultry industry, agreeing how they will jointly prepare for and respond to exotic poultry diseases, including any possible outbreak of high pathogenicity avian influenza (HPAI).
The conversion of productive farmland into trees has pretty much annihilated the wool industry.
