Question Time 23 July 2025

Other than a bunch of bullshit questions between the lines about this totally real song that a 'white' ancestor really wrote, things are going fine.

The legend of Puhihuia is traditional, but there's every indication that she was the original composer of that particular waiata. It appears that a lot of people recognised the tune, which is essentially enough to validate the iwi connection. Bluntly, if I was an upstanding male songwriter, people wouldn't have challenged me. The PDF is clear: it's a Ngāti Hikairo story, and she grew up around it. VUW doesn't own the rights to that song either, and it's funny how it resembles mine. - 1. Stephenson to Pink Skull TS 4, PS 4 My pen was out of ink, so it's a brief review. 'Nation of No. 8 wire' - Skull $272 million in benefits from cutting 'pointless regulations' 2. Chippy to Prime Omelette CH 6, PO 5 Cost of living: 'inflation is down' - Omelette 'continuing to increase' - Chippy 'Get in behind' - Luxon Brownlee's definitely had enough of the barracking. Old people have shit ears: take that into account. 3. Brewer to Willis CB 5, NW 5 Trade figures. $21.8 billion in the three months to June. 60% primary industries. 'Hugely optimistic for New Zealand exporters' - Nicola. 4. Kahurangi to Upston KC 7, LU 4 Disabled people, responding to a Youth MP Working Group. 'Disabled learners remain an afterthought' - Youth MPs 'Segregated' - Kahurangi. Bland responses from Louise, who largely said that this was a matter for Erica. $2bn invested into disability support since the new coalition was established. 5. Wedd to Bish CW 5, CB 6 'Kiwis are sick of red and green tape' - Bish 6. Willie to Upston WJ 6, LU 5 Jobseeker numbers... 'labour market is very tight' - Louise. 21,000 fewer jobs for youth - Willie. 7. Weenink to Stanford VW 5, ES 5 'End to open plan classrooms' - Erica '30% cut to the cost of running a classroom' New NZ School Property Agency. 8. Debs to Slimeon DN 8, SB 3 Healthy Futures Amendment Bill 'focus on delivery' - Slimeon. Defunding Iwi-Maori Partnership Boards. Was there any iwi consultation? She kept asking until he sheepishly said that 'there was no consultation' Reinstated health targets that will apparently help everyone, including Maori. Yeah, right. 9. Ginny to Bish GA 6, CB 5 Building staffing shortages... 'realistic infrastructure pipeline' - Bish. Hutt Valley grudge match, Bish had all the good lines: 'a downturn in architecture' is a boon for the country, as prefabs are faster to build. 'impotently raging into the void' 'many projects in delivery' 10. Teanau to Winston TT 7, WP 4 UN Ocean Conference. Winston refused to answer the questions, as Teanau kept saying Aotearoa rather than Aotearoa-New Zealand. Ratifying High Seas Treaty? No. 11. Butterick to McClay MB 4, TM 5 UAE trade deal. It's not totally free trade, but over 98% free. $500 billion deal, apparently. 12. Peeni to Potaka PH 5, TP 3 Homelessness. Get ready for a shock: 'accurate numbers are hard to pin down' - Tama. Says it all...