Wayne Hay

Incredible that the NZ Herald’s political editor Thomas Coughlan, managed to whip up a nationwide full media frenzy from a nonsense story from five backbench MPs that most New Zealanders have never even heard of. The five MPs are: Tim van de Molen Barbara Kuriger Andrew Bayly Sam Uffindell Joseph Mooney Now that they’ve been named on ZB this morning, it’s laughable that the media is still treating this as a serious story. This was about as far from a credible coup as you can get.

Rugby fan . School/club then provincial team to support . Then Super . Then we ask them to support 12-15 All Black tests . And they are time poor . And watch other sports . Design more fan focussed system .

🚨 JUST IN: President Trump responds to backlash over an image he posted which seemed to depict him as Jesus "It's supposed to be me as a doctor making people better, and I do make people better. I make people a lot better!"

🚨“WE GOT HIM! My fellow Americans, over the past several hours, the United States Military pulled off one of the most daring Search and Rescue Operations in U.S. History, for one of our incredible Crew Office Members, who also happens to be a highly respected Colonel, and who I am thrilled to let you know is SAFE and SOUND!” - President Donald J. Trump 🇺🇸

Getting economic management wrong during the Iran conflict will have long-lasting consequences that are difficult to unwind. We saw this in the aftermath of Covid where decisions led to debt reaching $120b and inflation hitting a 32 year high. This saw mortgage rates and other prices skyrocket. Kiwis are still grappling with the effects of that today. National wants to ensure those mistakes are avoided. Responsible economic management matters most when the world is volatile and unpredictable. By fixing the basics in the economy, we have been repairing the post-covid damage done by Labour: - We’ve reined in wasteful spending saving taxpayers $43b to date in unnecessary expenses - This has lowered interest rates, meaning Kiwis’ average mortgage repayments are down by as much as $10,000 - We’ve lowered taxes, and, - Our economy has been growing again, which means exporters and businesses doing well and more job opportunities. Latest data shows 1.1% growth over the last 6 months of 2025 with growth still expected to continue, even with the conflict. Sticking to National’s careful economic plan is how we can best insulate New Zealand and New Zealanders against this global shock and protect New Zealand’s future.

Great start to the PM’s presser, immediately setting the tone and agenda by discussing potential economic impacts of the war in Iran - what matters! Anyone from the press gallery still asking about last week’s poll is going to look out of touch and petty.