via KC News

Ngā Manu Nature Reserve in Waikanae has been awarded $197,685 to upgrade enclosures used in the captive breeding and management of the nationally endangered Whitaker’s skink.

The grant is part of $529,035 in Department of Conservation Community Fund support announced for two conservation projects across Kapiti and Horowhenua.

Ngā Manu’s project is expected to attract a further $234,717 in cash and in-kind support from the reserve and its partners, taking the anticipated value of the work to more than $432,000.

The reserve has a long history of working with the Department of Conservation on breeding programmes for threatened native birds and reptiles. The new funding will strengthen its ability to breed and care for Whitaker’s skink, a species classified as Nationally Endangered.

Ōtaki MP Tim Costley said the funding recognised the practical conservation work being carried out locally.

 “Ngā Manu does outstanding work protecting our most vulnerable native species,” says Mr Costley.

The second regional grant provides $331,350 to Wildlife Foxton Trust for pest and weed control at the Manawatū Estuary, a wetland of international importance. That project is expected to attract a further $844,500 in co-investment.

Together, the two grants are expected to support more than $1.6 million of conservation work across Kapiti and Horowhenua. The regional funding forms part of a nationwide $9.2 million allocation to 20 community-led projects through the 2026 DOC Community Fund. Successful applicants will now work with DOC to finalise funding agreements, with payments linked to delivery and expenditure milestones.

Elucubrations: the act of working out or expressing ideas through intense study or late-night thought, although, particularly in French (élucubration), it also carries a negative pejorative tone and refers to a strange, far-fetched, nonsensical piece of writing or reasoning.

The latter meaning will be experienced with government internal reports and Leftist manifestos.

Those under 40 probably won’t get this.

All the drone and missile provocations by NATO in Ukraine and the promises made by Macron, von der Lyin’ and Der Reichsführer to attack Russia in 2030 have caused Russia to build up a big stockpile of Oreshnik and Kinzahl missiles to retaliate with. Moreover, a big problem is that NATO’s boomerang sanctions have hurt the EU a lot more than Russia, particularly when it comes to energy. There is no likelihood that the EU warmongers could attack Russia and not suffer a huge defeat.

Wouldn’t a return to peace and prosperity be the intelligent way to go? But the UK/EU are run by lunatics.

by Chris Beck

TOP wants you to believe its land tax is a “fair trade” for income-tax cuts. Don’t fall for it. An income-tax cut can disappear with the next Budget—but once politicians establish an annual tax on the land beneath your home, that tax can be increased forever.

Here is the brutal reality:

1. Your mortgage ends. The government’s bill doesn’t.

You could work for 30 years, pay off every cent and finally own your home—only to receive another bill every year simply because you still live there. Lose your job? Retire? Become sick? The land-tax meter keeps running. If your neighbourhood becomes desirable, you could be taxed on paper gains you never received.

2. It puts a target on retirees’ homes.

Many pensioners are asset-rich but cash-poor. They may own a valuable home, but they cannot eat its “equity.” If payment is deferred, that isn’t kindness—it means the tax debt accumulates against the property. The government gets its money when the home is sold or the owner dies. The family inheritance and the retirement safety net are quietly eaten away, year after year. It would be a bugger to need residential care and discover the equity you worked a lifetime to build has been drained by tax.

3. Renters won’t escape.

Politicians can claim landlords will carry the cost, but landlords will try to recover it through higher rents—or sell. If enough rental properties disappear, tenants face fewer choices, tighter supply and still more pressure on rents. A tax attached to rental land does not magically vanish; somebody ultimately pays.

4. Farmers could be punished for needing land to produce food.

A software company can generate millions from a small office. Farmers and growers require large areas of land to operate. Unless comprehensively exempted, a land tax risks hammering productive businesses simply because their work requires acreage. Churches, charities, Māori landowners and community organisations could face similar cash-flow pressure where valuable land produces little income.

5. It could turn falling house prices into a negative-equity trap.

A deliberate reduction in land values might sound wonderful—until recent buyers discover their mortgages exceed the value of their homes. They would be trapped, unable to sell without carrying debt away from the sale. A sharp enough correction could also damage construction, household confidence and financial stability.

Why would anyone sacrifice for decades to buy a home if the reward is a permanent government invoice for continuing to own it?

This isn’t merely “tax reform.” It changes homeownership from something you can finally pay off into something the state can charge you for indefinitely.

A vote for TOP’s land tax is a vote to let the government nibble away at your property equity—one annual bill at a time. Protect your home, your retirement and your family’s future. Say NO to the land tax.

 Chris Beck’s original post: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/14o7FVtPa6H

Flock has 120,000 cameras tracking cars across America, no warrant required. Over 5,000 police agencies have signed on. This isn't crime fighting. This is mass surveillance of every American, and a violation of our 4th Amendment rights. pic.twitter.com/LW67xSOAMN

— Rand Paul (@RandPaul) August 20, 2026

One advantage of mass surveillance is that crime rates drop, but there are big concerns about how Leftist regimes like the one we had under Comrade Jacinda will use them to monitor political opponents — she was definitely obsessed with doing that.

You win one battle like Mandatory Country of Origin Labelling on meat – and ten more crazy things pop up. No – we do not want the FDA or any company pretending that anything “similar” to egg white is really egg. And every American has the right to know. This is as outrageous as… https://t.co/ELBs0bfBym

— Lara Logan (@laralogan) August 20, 2026

Maybe the Leftist Legacy Media will stop promoting the Toppers now?

The Taxpayers Union responded to the PSA boss:

𝐔𝐧𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝟗 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 “𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐦”

Public Service Association National Secretary Fleur Fitzsimons’ claims that the Opportunity’s plans to remove 2,000 bureaucrats would ‘harm public services for generations’.

Responding, Taxpayers’ Union spokesman James Ross said:

“Between June 2025 and March 2026, the public service grew by 1,881 bureaucrats. There are still 17,284 more bureaucrats today than before the last Labour Government.”

“Does Fleur Fitzsimons seriously expect taxpayers to believe that unwinding just over nine months of bureaucratic bloat would somehow be the catastrophe the public service’s union mates are claiming?”

Taken from the recently created ‘high level’ path option near Queens Road.