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people say 'but the cost of solar, EVs, batteries'. Well, yup, buying the kit for a complete transition would cost ~1% of GDP for 15 years.. but guess what, we currently spend 2.5% of GDP importing oil each year Getting off oil saves money & protects us from supply disruptions

https://nitter.poast.org/ClintVSmith/status/2028987836519928035#m

Published: March 4, 2026 00:16

people say 'but the cost of solar, EVs, batteries'. Well, yup, buying the kit for a complete transition would cost ~1% of GDP for 15 years.. but guess what, we currently spend 2.5% of GDP importing oil each year Getting off oil saves money & protects us…

maybe, just maybe, willing putting ourselves at the end of a long, highly vulnerable supply chain for our energy isn't a good idea. Instead, we could invest in our own renewable electricity to slash our need for oil and avoid needing LNG entirely

https://nitter.poast.org/ClintVSmith/status/2028985726935929090#m

Published: March 4, 2026 00:07

maybe, just maybe, willing putting ourselves at the end of a long, highly vulnerable supply chain for our energy isn't a good idea. Instead, we could invest in our own renewable electricity to slash our need for oil and avoid needing LNG entirely …

TPU calling on the govt to drop the taxpayer subsidised LNG import plan

https://nitter.poast.org/ClintVSmith/status/2028966479937585428#m

Published: March 3, 2026 22:51

TPU calling on the govt to drop the taxpayer subsidised LNG import plan New Zealand Taxpayers' Union (@TaxpayersUnion) Political courage isn’t announcing new funding, it’s cancelling failed programmes. —…

The LNG terminal is expected to reduce electricity prices by only 5% reduction vs doing nothing (& be much more expensive than solar, heat pumps etc) If the wholesale price of gas is 15% higher than modelled, the 'savings' disappear. LNG becomes worse than doing nothing

https://nitter.poast.org/ClintVSmith/status/2028896825026212009#m

Published: March 3, 2026 18:14

The LNG terminal is expected to reduce electricity prices by only 5% reduction vs doing nothing (& be much more expensive than solar, heat pumps etc) If the wholesale price of gas is 15% higher than modelled, the 'savings' disappear. LNG becomes worse…

greens increase their support by 40% in a month

https://nitter.poast.org/ClintVSmith/status/2028691326464905406#m

Published: March 3, 2026 04:37

greens increase their support by 40% in a month 120 Aotearoa (@120Aotearoa) BREAKING Party Vote | Roy Morgan. National: 31% (-3.5) Labour: 30% (-0.5) Greens: 14.5% (+4) NZF: 9% (+0.5) ACT: 8% (-0.5) TPM: 2.5% (-0.5) D: January 27 - February 22 |…

sounds like something that someone who has supported the Iranian regime would say

https://nitter.poast.org/ClintVSmith/status/2028635175266218370#m

Published: March 3, 2026 00:54

sounds like something that someone who has supported the Iranian regime would say Newstalk ZB (@NewstalkZB) Chris Luxon: Prime Minister says he has never supported the Iranian regime newstalkzb.co.nz/on-air/mike… —…

I think Luxon would be better just being straight up that he supports the war on Iran. It might not be popular but it likely has low salience to how swing voters will vote. And he wouldn't be out there looking shifty and foolish.

https://nitter.poast.org/ClintVSmith/status/2028554823386509739#m

Published: March 2, 2026 19:35

I think Luxon would be better just being straight up that he supports the war on Iran. It might not be popular but it likely has low salience to how swing voters will vote. And he wouldn't be out there looking shifty and foolish. Lew (@LewSOS) Not…

locking our economy into LNG imports would be one of the stupidest economic decisions of the past 50 years

https://nitter.poast.org/ClintVSmith/status/2028531467131957490#m

Published: March 2, 2026 18:02

locking our economy into LNG imports would be one of the stupidest economic decisions of the past 50 years

as predicted, any end to the decline in job numbers will be spun by some as mission accomplished, even though we're over 100,000 jobs short of the 2023 employment rate. see the tiny upward movement at the end of this graph? that's "the charge", apparently.

https://nitter.poast.org/ClintVSmith/status/2028264205049278530#m

Published: March 2, 2026 00:20

as predicted, any end to the decline in job numbers will be spun by some as mission accomplished, even though we're over 100,000 jobs short of the 2023 employment rate. see the tiny upward movement at the end of this graph? that's "the charge",…

Latest monthly jobs figures show there are 47,000 fewer filled jobs than two years ago (normally the economy adds ~50,000 jobs per year) Workers' total pay packet is up 3.3% in two years, but inflation has been 5.4% & population growth 1.6%. So, real wages per capita down 3.6%

https://nitter.poast.org/ClintVSmith/status/2028237023145046018#m

Published: March 1, 2026 22:32

Latest monthly jobs figures show there are 47,000 fewer filled jobs than two years ago (normally the economy adds ~50,000 jobs per year) Workers' total pay packet is up 3.3% in two years, but inflation has been 5.4% & population growth 1.6%. So, real…

a few comments saying 'why don't we just produce our own oil'? -we never had enough oil to meet demand - so always exposed to intl prices -we haven't found any in 22 yrs. Reserves 92% depleted -we always exported our (light/sweet) crude. Marsden was built for medium/sour imports

https://nitter.poast.org/ClintVSmith/status/2028209336112329064#m

Published: March 1, 2026 20:42

a few comments saying 'why don't we just produce our own oil'? -we never had enough oil to meet demand - so always exposed to intl prices -we haven't found any in 22 yrs. Reserves 92% depleted -we always exported our (light/sweet) crude. Marsden was built…

I feel like Luxon might genuinely not realise when he's not answering a question. 5 or 6 times on RNZ, he was asked whether NZ supports the attacks on Iran and kept saying how bad the Iranian regime is but not saying whether NZ supports the attacks.

https://nitter.poast.org/ClintVSmith/status/2028184590091952242#m

Published: March 1, 2026 19:04

I feel like Luxon might genuinely not realise when he's not answering a question. 5 or 6 times on RNZ, he was asked whether NZ supports the attacks on Iran and kept saying how bad the Iranian regime is but not saying whether NZ supports the attacks.

we spend 11b a year to import climate-damaging fossil fuels from despots. every time something disrupts global trade, the price we pay spikes, flowing on to the price of everything that uses fossil fuels. Getting off oil helps secure our sovereignty & economy

https://nitter.poast.org/ClintVSmith/status/2027837654654717995#m

Published: February 28, 2026 20:05

we spend 11b a year to import climate-damaging fossil fuels from despots. every time something disrupts global trade, the price we pay spikes, flowing on to the price of everything that uses fossil fuels. Getting off oil helps secure our sovereignty &…

I spoke to a guy who was having to work over xmas to get software ready for councils for the new granny flat rules but doesn't it mean no need for council consents? yeah, but assessing whether a project is eligible for no consent is as complex as assessing a consent application

https://nitter.poast.org/ClintVSmith/status/2027515719462883533#m

Published: February 27, 2026 22:46

I spoke to a guy who was having to work over xmas to get software ready for councils for the new granny flat rules but doesn't it mean no need for council consents? yeah, but assessing whether a project is eligible for no consent is as complex as…

Imagine thinking 'god, how embarrassing it is for international tourists to see we have a homelessness problem?' and rather than that inspiring you to fix the problem by housing people, you come up with a half arsed attempt to hide them out of sight.

https://nitter.poast.org/ClintVSmith/status/2027279708078154216#m

Published: February 27, 2026 07:08

Imagine thinking 'god, how embarrassing it is for international tourists to see we have a homelessness problem?' and rather than that inspiring you to fix the problem by housing people, you come up with a half arsed attempt to hide them out of sight. …

I noticed the crime numbers being discussed this week are a survey, not the actual Police statistics According to the Police stats, there were 78,000 assaults in 2025, up 1,100 from 2023 (1st graph). 9,100 sexual offences vs 8,600 in 2023 Unclear why the survey is so different

https://nitter.poast.org/ClintVSmith/status/2027241976664580397#m

Published: February 27, 2026 04:38

I noticed the crime numbers being discussed this week are a survey, not the actual Police statistics According to the Police stats, there were 78,000 assaults in 2025, up 1,100 from 2023 (1st graph). 9,100 sexual offences vs 8,600 in 2023 Unclear why the…

some economists have been predicting since late last year that the fall in job numbers is about to stop (apparently, this would be enough to declare victory). Unfortunately, the fall continues. Week 3 of 2026 was down 9,300 jobs on Week 3 of 2025 and down 45,500 on 2024.

https://nitter.poast.org/ClintVSmith/status/2027131207763595426#m

Published: February 26, 2026 21:18

some economists have been predicting since late last year that the fall in job numbers is about to stop (apparently, this would be enough to declare victory). Unfortunately, the fall continues. Week 3 of 2026 was down 9,300 jobs on Week 3 of 2025 and down…

banning gang patches is a lot like the 'move along' orders for homeless people. Doesn't actually address the problem, but it looks like doing something, and it makes the problem less visible. It's a good policy if all you care about is marketing

https://nitter.poast.org/ClintVSmith/status/2026899122775794071#m

Published: February 26, 2026 05:56

banning gang patches is a lot like the 'move along' orders for homeless people. Doesn't actually address the problem, but it looks like doing something, and it makes the problem less visible. It's a good policy if all you care about is marketing Tim…

Lines companies have to build wires to handle peak loads. Peak load is driven by households heating air & water Help families install heat pumps, hot water heat pumps, solar, batteries, demand flexible devices Lower peaks loads = lower cost of living https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/587826/power-concerns-lines-companies-urged-to-consider-non-network-solutions

https://nitter.poast.org/ClintVSmith/status/2026522239043313924#m

Published: February 25, 2026 04:58

Lines companies have to build wires to handle peak loads. Peak load is driven by households heating air & water Help families install heat pumps, hot water heat pumps, solar, batteries, demand flexible devices Lower peaks loads = lower cost of living …

a quarterly plan sounds like a good idea to keep policy work progressing & set the direction, in theory. But never really worked it rapidly became an exercise in filling the page to look busy, and that only served to highlight the lack of notable actions

https://nitter.poast.org/ClintVSmith/status/2026480448080326896#m

Published: February 25, 2026 02:12

a quarterly plan sounds like a good idea to keep policy work progressing & set the direction, in theory. But never really worked it rapidly became an exercise in filling the page to look busy, and that only served to highlight the lack of notable actions …

one objection to solar as part of the LNG alternative is 'solar makes most of its energy in summer'. yup, but we can store it by using hydro less Is there enough storage in the dams? Yup Right now, we're burning gas & coal to keep the dams fuller for winter. Use solar, instead

https://nitter.poast.org/ClintVSmith/status/2026140576706625663#m

Published: February 24, 2026 03:42

one objection to solar as part of the LNG alternative is 'solar makes most of its energy in summer'. yup, but we can store it by using hydro less Is there enough storage in the dams? Yup Right now, we're burning gas & coal to keep the dams fuller for…

gas tax. a tax to raise $2.7b to be spent on subsidies for fossil fuel imports.

https://nitter.poast.org/ClintVSmith/status/2026139530932453409#m

Published: February 24, 2026 03:38

gas tax. a tax to raise $2.7b to be spent on subsidies for fossil fuel imports. NZ National Party (@NZNationalParty) National is the party of responsible spending and lower taxes. —…

What's the solution to the problem of tourists seeing our homeless Kiwis?

https://nitter.poast.org/ClintVSmith/status/2026109479872581774#m

Published: February 24, 2026 01:38

What's the solution to the problem of tourists seeing our homeless Kiwis?

'we took $13b off low income workers' pay equity and gave it to landlords and the wealthy - so, where are you going to get the money to restore pay equity?' ... that might not be the unsolvable problem it's being pitched as

https://nitter.poast.org/ClintVSmith/status/2025734939313070431#m

Published: February 23, 2026 00:50

'we took $13b off low income workers' pay equity and gave it to landlords and the wealthy - so, where are you going to get the money to restore pay equity?' ... that might not be the unsolvable problem it's being pitched as ACT New Zealand (@actparty) …

it says something that the concern isn't for our fellow New Zealanders who are sleeping on the streets, but that foreigners might see our secret shame. And the answer isn't to fix the problem but to literally sweep them under the carpet.

https://nitter.poast.org/ClintVSmith/status/2025701078600487099#m

Published: February 22, 2026 22:35

it says something that the concern isn't for our fellow New Zealanders who are sleeping on the streets, but that foreigners might see our secret shame. And the answer isn't to fix the problem but to literally sweep them under the carpet.

Kiwi voters: our top concerns are the cost of living, the economy, and healthcare. Luxon: I hear you. Here's a new tax on your electricity, a $90 a week tax to cross the harbour bridge, and I'm going to get the cops to spend more time hassling the homeless.

https://nitter.poast.org/ClintVSmith/status/2025690757701816796#m

Published: February 22, 2026 21:54

Kiwi voters: our top concerns are the cost of living, the economy, and healthcare. Luxon: I hear you. Here's a new tax on your electricity, a $90 a week tax to cross the harbour bridge, and I'm going to get the cops to spend more time hassling the…

going to a fancy restaurant and having the vibe taken down by a homeless person and, rather than thinking 'we've got to improve housing, employment, and mental health so people aren't homeless', instead, thinking 'get this person out of my sight' is the most Luxon thing ever

https://nitter.poast.org/ClintVSmith/status/2025689920304812447#m

Published: February 22, 2026 21:51

going to a fancy restaurant and having the vibe taken down by a homeless person and, rather than thinking 'we've got to improve housing, employment, and mental health so people aren't homeless', instead, thinking 'get this person out of my sight' is the…

why not do it now? Take a vote around the Cabinet table. National has the majority. let the other parties invoke agree to disagree if they want.

https://nitter.poast.org/ClintVSmith/status/2025676352196943921#m

Published: February 22, 2026 20:57

why not do it now? Take a vote around the Cabinet table. National has the majority. let the other parties invoke agree to disagree if they want. NZ National Party (@NZNationalParty) The Hauraki Gulf is Auckland’s playground. If re-elected, National will…