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Timothy Gassin

@timothygassin.bsky.social
477 followers 329 following 2.4K posts

Historian, former Chair of Oz Kiwi, and student of Hokkien/Taiwanese. A Melbournian living in Wellington.

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Timothy Gassin @timothygassin.bsky.social · 17h
Absolutely. They're hypocrites if they don't hold themselves to the same standards. However, the reality is no one should be subjected to this nonsense.
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Timothy Gassin @timothygassin.bsky.social · 17h
The same guns as were used in the Christchurch massacre.
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Andrew @openpolicy.bsky.social · 23h
Good thread. This is why treating people who migrate to Aotearoa — even on limited term work permits etc — as human beings with the same rights & entitlements as us is actually good economic policy that would benefit all workers. Treating migrants as a sub-class of 'human resource' stinks. #nzpol
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Timothy Gassin @timothygassin.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
For ordinary workers, the existence of this exploitable pool of labour means that wages and conditions are undermined throughout the economy. For good and honest employers, it means being at a constant competitive disadvantage to their unscrupulous counterparts.
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Timothy Gassin @timothygassin.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
No one benefits from having a large population on people with limited rights and security except for unscrupulous employers who can exploit these people's vulnerability.
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Timothy Gassin @timothygassin.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
These policies are being proposed in a situation in which - unlike in the past - most migrants arrive on temporary visas. The result will be that many who are ultimately granted residence will have to live in NZ for 10+ years before having any real social safety net.
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Dr Bex @drbex.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
The headline buries the lede: ❌️ Cutting benefit rates after 2yrs ❌️ Incr stand down to 26wks (up from 13wks) ❌️ Incr minimum residence period to qualify benefits from 2yrs to 5yrs These are awful, horrifying policies that will drive povery and misery #nzpol www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...
rnz.co.nz
National promises random drug testing for jobseeker beneficiaries
National is promising to introduce random drug testing for those on the jobseeker benefit to ensure they're "ready for work".
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Phil Garnock-Jones @theobrominated.eurosky.social · 07/10/2026
I’m not surprised if NZF has a neonazi. I’m surprised they have a youth wing. #nzpol
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Andrew @openpolicy.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
More punitive behaviour that will lead to ever more people hating the state, and consequently distrusting representative democracy.
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Tom Grundy @tomgrundy.hongkongfp.com · 07/10/2026
Jens Galschiøt, the Danish sculptor behind Hong Kong's Pillar of Shame, has unveiled a new work inside the European Parliament in Strasbourg called The Orange Plague. It shows a naked Donald Trump, covered in 23-carat gold leaf, sitting on the back of a frail man.
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Dr Sarah Hendrica Bickerton 🏳️‍🌈 @sarahhbickerton.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
One of the interesting things is how much 'employment' under the below policy approach is indicative of individual worth & value (in fact, morality). Thus 'unemployment' is constructed as a problem of individual/personal failure, and so the policy 'solutions' are then designed to counter this.
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Dr Bex @drbex.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
$4.5MILLION to ACT and National. Their govt will only benefit the very wealthy. The money is to convince the rest of us to vote against our own interests. Don't.
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Emma Hart @ghet.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Lucky we have a shit-heap of spare lab capacity for processing all these unnecessary drugs tests which will, as these things always, always do, cost more than they save.
rnz.co.nz
National promises random drug testing for jobseeker beneficiaries
National is promising to introduce random drug testing for those on the jobseeker benefit to ensure they're "ready for work".
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Russell Brown @publicaddress.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Just piss off, you desperate creeps. You've done this before, and it was a total waste of time and money. www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...
rnz.co.nz
National promises random drug testing for jobseeker beneficiaries
National is promising to introduce random drug testing for those on the jobseeker benefit to ensure they're "ready for work".
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Lew @lewsos.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Like clockwork, the govt that has done more to destroy employment than any other in decades is trying to get re-elected by blaming people for being unemployed. No solutions, only punishment. Pure cynicism. www.stuff.co.nz/politics/361...
stuff.co.nz
What about drug testing at Parliament? Luxon is ‘quite open’ to it
Follow the election campaign live.
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Timothy Gassin @timothygassin.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
I trust they'll also be introducing random drug and alcohol testing for parliamentarians to ensure they're 'work ready' while drawing a generous taxpayer-funded salary. Surely, they wouldn't want be seen as hypocrites or accused of punching down...
rnz.co.nz
National promises random drug testing for jobseeker beneficiaries
National is promising to introduce random drug testing for those on the jobseeker benefit to ensure they're "ready for work".
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Timothy Gassin @timothygassin.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
'Trump likes gold...In a way, I think he would like this sculpture.'
edition.cnn.com
‘King of Injustice’: Golden naked Trump statue installed at European Parliament | CNN
Inside the European Parliament, politicians are now confronted with a grotesque vision of American power: an 8.5-foot-tall statue of President Donald Trump, naked but for a thin layer of 23-karat gold...
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Tze Ming Mok 莫志明 @tzemingdynasty.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Also, this is advertorial for a university application-padding consultancy
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MW Hyde @mwhyde.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Thread. Anyone who has lived in a Confucian society knows full well that a very, very large number of kids have their childhoods stripped from them by a pointless educational arms race of cram school corruption, class snobbery and stubbornly few matriculation windows. Jamie needs more worldliness.
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Timothy Gassin @timothygassin.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
This hypercompetititive education culture is a significant contributor to collapsing birth rates in a number of countries.
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Timothy Gassin @timothygassin.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Many Asian school systems are awful, forcing children to be in endless competition to get good exam marks and meet arbitrary university entrance requirements rather than actually have a proper childhood.
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Timothy Gassin @timothygassin.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
While I agree school and university standards aren't what they should be, I disagree with almost everything else here.
rnz.co.nz
One of NZ's most educated people: we need to 'crank up the intensity'
We’re far too chilled when it comes to education, says 31-year-old Jamie Beaton, who boasts 12 degrees from various universities - so far.
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Keith Ng @keithng.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
I really do hate the Fantasy Spreadsheet Manager game that elections have become. They were useful as statements of priorities, and yeah, in a broad sense you have to state some minuses to balance the pluses. But they are not a test of "economic management", and treating them as such is a farce.
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Andrew @openpolicy.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
So inspiring.
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Eddie Clark @dreddieclark.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Have a look at this nightmare of the votes:seats conversion in Quebec and then see if you can tell me with a straight face you think reopening NZ's electoral system is a good idea. 25% plus or minus 3 can get 59 or 40 or 19 seats. 12% plus or minus 1 can get you 9 or 0. Absolute nightmare.
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Vicci Ho @vicciho.com · 06/10/2026
If only there is a word that describes someone that focuses on race as a defining factor on their beliefs
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Andrew @openpolicy.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Now I'm wondering about data sources for what percentage of the NZ voting age population has travelled on a train in a country besides Aotearoa in the last 10 years. Because I'm sure that 99.5% of of them had a great experience and said something along the lines of 'I want this at home too.'
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Tze Ming Mok 莫志明 @tzemingdynasty.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
The AT versions were highly sought after during the CRL open days, because people (of many different ages) like trains. Incredible that Luxon thinks that ‘trains suck, no-one will ever take a train, no-one likes trains, what even is a train’ is an attack line that will remotely fly.
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Timothy Gassin @timothygassin.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
So, National wants everyone to vote for them as the sensible, pro-killer-robot party? 🤔
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David Hood @thoughtfulnz.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
18-24 electoral enrolments (as of 4 days ago) with now 3 weeks to go that people can enrol before the election. Data source: elections.nz/stats-and-re... Checking enrolment or enrolling: vote.nz/enrolling/en...
Graph of general electorate areas and (combined General and Maori) enrollment for that area
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Andrew @openpolicy.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Seems to me that it’s gone beyond the normal amount of ‘stretching the truth’ you might expect at an election. National appears to be deliberately breaking its connection with reality and facts; waging a post-truth election campaign.
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Connor Sharp @connorsharp.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
"National leader Christopher Luxon did not want taxpayer funding going into a "white elephant" that was not commercially viable. "Of course we're very committed to our 17 roads of national significance and we make no apology for that." Hmmm which one is a white elephant? #nzpol
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Julie Fairey (she/her) @juliefairey.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Looking through some old stuff and found this cartoon I cut out c1996. They just never really have new ideas, just new packaging. (For younger readers - right wing think tank the NZ Initiative formed out of a merger of the NZ Business Roundtable and the NZ Institute in 2012.)
Photo of a black and white cartoon with a bunch of men sitting around an executive board table. A sign in front reads “Quiet please, Roundtable in session”. From left to right they are saying:
“The govt should get out of education and health…”
“We need more contestability in social welfare…”
“the govt should sell ACC and the post office…”
“We should privatise electricity and roading…”
“Seen the polls? Winston could be the next PM”
“That’s disgraceful. What happened to the New Zealand we all knew and loved?”
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Timothy Gassin @timothygassin.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Health NZ's claims that it can't access governance-level info for a large predecessor organisation and its belief that the public should just accept this are, however, astonishing.
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Timothy Gassin @timothygassin.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Difficulties in retrieving information in a timely manner might be, at least, somewhat understandable after significant organisational change if the info related to low-level operational matters.
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Timothy Gassin @timothygassin.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
I don't think that difficulty of retrieving data from an old filing system should ever be considered an acceptable reason to refuse a request - that would just incentivise poor record-keeping practices.
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Andrew @openpolicy.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
It’s not just ‘troubling’, it’s a breach of s 17(2) of the Public Records Act, which is an offence under s 61 of that Act. Parties promising to ‘strengthen the OIA’ must face the fact that the Chief Archivist can’t or won’t do the job of ensuring compliance, & transfer it to an Info Commissioner.
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Timothy Gassin @timothygassin.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
The Australian government never learns. When a country flagrantly breaches its trade agreement with you and threatens further breaches, you need to retaliate. You get nowhere by offering concession after concession in the hope that suddenly they'll act reasonably or honourably.
abc.net.au
Minister's Trump lamb plan labelled 'ill-informed' by super sector
Trade Minister Don Farrell asks the Trump administration to consider sparing Australian sheep farmers from future tariffs in exchange for Australian investment in America's lamb industry.
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Timothy Gassin @timothygassin.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Funnily enough, Australian transit visas are free while NZ charges $235 for them (but lots of people, including those travelling to and from Aus don't need to get one)
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Timothy Gassin @timothygassin.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
It's the bit I would be worried about too, although, frankly, Aus and NZ's policies are already pretty similar in this regard. For quite a few people, it might actually make things easier, getting rid of the need to get two visas.
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Timothy Gassin @timothygassin.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Given the two countries' immigration authorities already automatically share traveller data (e.g. NZ knows if anyone travelling here has an Australian visa), setting up this sort of arrangement at this point shouldn't be hard.
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Timothy Gassin @timothygassin.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Real change would mean ditching passport requirements, agreeing common policies in relation to third-country nationals, and establishimg streamlined biosecurity and customs processes that needn't be more invasive than the existing quarantine screening between some Australian states.
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Timothy Gassin @timothygassin.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Many of these developments are pretty pointless, even if they happen. Having exactly the same requirements, but simply shifting some things from paper to an electronic device doesn't really make things easier.
1news.co.nz
No passport to show: Luxon promises NZ-Australia border trial
But the passport would not disappear from the process as travellers would have to register online ahead of time.
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Dr Sanjana Hattotuwa @sanjanah.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
The eye-watering sums of funding directed at National, and ACT is something Cooke also writes about. And this doesn't capture disclosed campaign spending, as well as clandestine propaganda funding, offline, and online, leading up to election day. Should all be something MSM writes/talks about more.
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the Juice Media @thejuicemedia.com · 01/10/2026
For our friends in Aotearoa-New Zealand as they head to an election on Sat 7 Nov 🇳🇿 👉 Make sure you’re enrolled to vote: https:/:vote.nz 🚨 Enrolments close October 25!
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Tze Ming Mok 莫志明 @tzemingdynasty.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Good article with the correct amount of @laragreaves.bsky.social touching on the self-selective nature of the recent exodus: You leave cos of no jobs, & everything NZers are traditionally proud of when abroad is being destroyed, while suffering as a migrant under rising xenophobia now infecting NZ.
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🚄Rob✅✅🚆 @robdickinson.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
"If it was my business and my money this is what I would do." Its not a business, and its *our* money, its meant to fund health, infra, police, education Not some techbro datacenter in USA and Nvidia stock price #nzpol www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...
rnz.co.nz
How to cut public sector jobs? A much more aggressive approach to AI
The government's recipe for cutting thousands more public sector jobs demands using AI much more. RNZ looks through 16 documents that led up to Nicola Willis's announcement in May that 8700 jobs would...
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Emmett Macfarlane 🇨🇦 @emmettmacfarlane.com · 30/09/2026
When Quebec first purported to unilaterally amend the Constitution of Canada, few seemed to care. I dove headlong into writing a scholarly treatment calling out the BS: digitalcommons.osgoode.yorku.ca/ohlj/vol60/i... Now QC politicians falsely claim the prov can abandon core institutions of gov't.
digitalcommons.osgoode.yorku.ca
Provincial Constitutions, the Amending Formula, and Unilateral Amendments to the Constitution of Canada: An Analysis of Quebec’s Bill 96
This article critically analyzes provincial authority to unilaterally amend the Constitution of Canada. Via an assessment of the purported amendments in Quebec’s Bill 96, which would recognize Quebece...
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Timothy Gassin @timothygassin.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
The PQ's proposal is complete nonsense and entirely incompatible with the structure of Canadian federaliam. It is their right to advocate independence. However, trying to engineer a constitutional dispute at a time when Canada's (and Quebec's) sovereignty is threatened is grossly irresponsible.
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Timothy Gassin @timothygassin.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Grossly irresponsible governance - mass sackings of public servants without consideration of the cost of their 'AI' replacements or whether 'AI' can actually do their jobs. If Labour forms government, Roche must go.
rnz.co.nz
How to cut public sector jobs? A much more aggressive approach to AI
The government's recipe for cutting thousands more public sector jobs demands using AI much more. RNZ looks through 16 documents that led up to Nicola Willis's announcement in May that 8700 jobs would...
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