The drama in the retail crime advisory group, a pet project to make the coalition look tough on an issue they ramped up to scare up votes, is the latest in a long line of questionable appointments made by the current government - from anti-human Human rights advocates to former politicians who helped them out.

Check out www.election2026.co.nz for resources and tools to help you decide on who to vote for.

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©️ Paul… The Other One, 2026

There’s lots of groups and demographics the coalition should be scared of - workers, renters, Maori, Pacific communities - but the one we don’t often hear about is young people - het so many of the decisions they’ve made either directly or indirectly impact them negatively - right down to picking an election day right in the middle of Uni exams and dorm moving dates.

Check out www.election2026.co.nz for resources and tools to help you decide on who to vote for.

Why not check out some of my other content - there’s an award winning podcast, a weekly newsletter and more - https://linktr.ee/paul_barlownz

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©️ Paul… The Other One, 2026

The idea of the coalition being led by data and facts in its decision making is most obviously lacking when it comes to climate change - where the coalition has crumbled to lobbyists, flirted with conspiracists and put the future of the people and economy at risk to walk back climate change policies.

Check out www.election2026.co.nz for resources and tools to help you decide on who to vote for.

Why not check out some of my other content - there’s an award winning podcast, a weekly newsletter and more - https://linktr.ee/paul_barlownz

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©️ Paul… The Other One, 2026

There are times when we need to trust our media is looking at content critically and presenting things to us after it’s been checked and researched - like this week when the impacts of severe weather have had immediate and tragic consequences people need to be aware of. And uncritically publishing and laundering partisan content, that erodes that trust.

Check out www.election2026.co.nz for resources and tools to help you decide on who to vote for.

Why not check out some of my other content - there’s an award winning podcast, a weekly newsletter and more - https://linktr.ee/paul_barlownz

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©️ Paul… The Other One, 2026

It feels counter intuitive sometimes, but feeding the trolls online is a bit like feeding a mogwai after midnight - it causes them to spread and reaps more chaos for the ones you care for!

Why not check out some of my other content - there’s an award winning podcast, a weekly newsletter and more - https://linktr.ee/paul_barlownz

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©️ Paul… The Other One, 2026

The countdown has started - and a date been set for the 2026 General Election on November 7.

So what happens now, what can we expect and how do we prepare ourselves?

Check out www.election2026.co.nz for resources and tools to help you decide on who to vote for.

Why not check out some of my other content - there’s an award winning podcast, a weekly newsletter and more - https://linktr.ee/paul_barlownz

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©️ Paul… The Other One, 2026

State of the Nation? More like “look at the state of it - with a fizzier of a speech given to party faithful from the PM, made out to be big news by MSM as he fumbled, misled and screwed up to rapturous partisan support - meanwhile workers hate him, and we’re about to be bombarded with a bunch of people who want you to pay attention to them - it’s 2026, an election year!

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Labour claims a new levy on streamers could net up to $25 million a year and help support the local media industry - so what do the experts say and what does experience tell us might happen?

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©️ Paul… The Other One, 2026

We’re kind of aware of how we get manipulated by parties and promoters to vote for them - but did you know there’s a wide range of hidden ways we might be influenced as well - like stacked scrutinising, foreign influence in diaspora communities and AI Bot Armies designed specifically to influence the election for the highest bidder?

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Elvis once sang that only fools rush in - which may be why the Coalition is really good at it. But when policy and law makers rush, it leads to mistakes and the coalition is really good at those…

Why not check out some of my other content - there’s an award winning podcast, a weekly newsletter and more - https://linktr.ee/paul_barlownz

And if you want to support what I do with a donation, you can do that through this link - https://buymeacoffee.com/paul.theotherone

All your support is really appreciated, especially as we pus for a change of government in 2026!

©️ Paul… The Other One, 2026