HEADLINE

LUXON DOESN’T WANT TO BE FRIENDS WITH TE PĀTI MĀORI

The week before last, National Party Leader Christopher Luxon told Newstalk ZB that he refused to form a government with Te Pāti Māori, stating that it would be a “coalition of chaos”. Luxon has ruled out any arrangement with the party, despite the fact that they’re likely to be National’s ticket into government.

Polls last week showed Labour and National were neck and neck, with Labour at 35.9%, only just ahead of National’s 35.3%. Assuming Te Pāti Māori wins an electorate, they would have the five key seats to the successful coalition, so Luxon’s prejudice may cost him if he wants to be Prime Minister. Co-Leader of Te Pāti Māori Debbie Ngarewa-Packer has stated that National has “nothing in common” with Te Pāti Māori. The party would prefer to work with a “party focused on [...] transformational change” and therefore they wouldn’t be interested in collation anyway.

INCREASINGLY COLD WEATHER AIN’T THE ONLY THING THAT’S GOT PEOPLE SNIFFIN’

Cocaine. A phenomenon sweeping the nation. Use of the drug has increased across the entire country, with Auckland continuing to “consume the most cocaine per capita”. The NZ Police tested wastewater at ten different sample sites across the country, and reportedly use of the drug is up 70%. "Cocaine consumption across sample sites increased [...] to an average of 1.6 kilograms per week," said the Police. MDMA consumption, however, is seeing a decline, with use down 28% on average per week. Methamphetamine usage is also decreasing, dropping 17% on average.