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• Post #2742361

  @leighelse Nice!

• Post #2742360

  RE: https://mastodon.nz/@paulhellyer/116384529097695209 Crowds are chanting 'Ruszkik' haza! right now in Budapest as the city celebrates the downfall of Orbán and FIDESZ. #hungary

• Post #2742359

  I wonder if there will be a run on shredders in Hungary over the coming days? #hungary

• Post #2742358

  My daughter said to me as we shared a train ride into work this morning, "Today's the first day I feel proud for what Hungary has done." #hungary #TrainLife

• Post #2742357

  RE: https://journa.host/@fulelo/116393917447392924 Such a joy to hear and see this!

• Post #2742356

  A gentle plea not to re-center the victory of the Tisza party and the defeat to FIDSEZ to be about other countries or their politicians. This is a victory for Hungary and Hungarians and should be celebrated as such. While it will reverberate more widely in the coming months, let's not make it about other countries, especially the US. Not tonight anyway. #hungary

• Post #2742355

  Life was different back then. An advert for Cadbury's Continental Chocolates. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUK0ZGXuuI0

• Post #2742354

  A fascinating article about the concerns of EU members - and the activities of their intelligence agencies - about the soon-to-be-former Hungarian Foreign Minister, Péter Szijjártó, and his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov. The EU and their agencies were worried that Szijjártó was an asset of the Russians, and were 'listening in' to his calls. The release of a transcript of Szijjártó and Lavrov just before the elections were likely a warning shot by the EU and their intellige...

• Post #2742353

  I have watched quite a number of short videos from social media of election night in Hungary, especially Budapest. The thing that struck me was the sheer joy everyone felt. People were so unbelievable happy. Singing on the metro, high-fiving each other as the went up and down the escalators, cars stopping and people hugging strangers. You could feel the absolute happiness people felt at the defeat of Orbán and the success of Magyar. Such a wonderful night. #hungary #election #happiness

• Post #2742352

  @cameraobscura Wonderful! That's a very moving piece of writing and captures the joy so many felt - and are still feeling. Great link too. Thank you.

• Post #1180550

  When life comes at you fast.

• Post #1150082

  One of the significant features of the election was that the winning Tisza Party won 93% of the electoral seats which are decided on a 'first-past-the-post' basis. Many of these seats are rural and in small towns which are typically conservative in outlook. The result is a country-wide rejection of FIDESZ and the way it has run the country. Especially the corruption and the attendant increase in inequality (sound familiar?). The Tisza Party is a centre-right party so many of i...

• Post #1129127

  Getting ready for Sunday when we will visit the local Hungarian Embassy and lodge our postal vote in the elections! #Hungary #election #Tisza

• Post #1121726

  Budapest, October 1956. 'Ruszkik Haza!' translates as "Russians Go Home!" and was widely used during the revolution. When the last Soviet troops finally left Hungary in June 1991, the day was marked with a citywide festival in the capital called 'Budapesti Búcsú' or Budapest Farewell. At last night's huge demonstration in Budapest, seventy years on from 1956, Hungarians were once again having to shout, 'Ruszkik Haza!'...

• Post #1115700

  Orbán has conceded! 🇭🇺 #Hungary

• Post #1005983

  You can't make this stuff up. A US Vice-President openly and publicly campaigns for Orbán, all the while decrying EU "interference" in Hungary. The world's gone mad. #Hungary #Orbán https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/apr/07/jd-vance-eu-interference-hungary-election-viktor-orban

• Post #871814

  Well played, Otago Daily Times! "Albatross colony may be relocated after mineral find" https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/albatross-colony-may-be-relocated-after-mineral-find

• Post #836647

  This is a good news story on many levels. Wonderful recognition for a song from Aotearoa and it seems Hollywood went about acquiring rights to use 'Pō Atarua' in Project Hail Mary in the appropriate manner. And for the importance of digitising our cultural assets where possible. That has ensured that this song, its performers (the Turakina Māori Girls Choir) and the copyright holders have been properly recognised and rewarded. https://thespinoff.co.nz/pop-culture/26-03-2026/how...

• Post #836645

  Incredible really. Bishop tells an infrastructure sector audience today that the fuel crisis could get ugly. "It's a scary prospect and I'm not 100% sure the public have quite worked it out yet". (Business Desk, sadly paywalled.) Well whose responsibility is that, do you think? We have banged on about this before, but Luxon is incapable of showing anything remotely like leadership and it is literally his job to do so. That comes with the title, 'Prime...

• Post #836643

  Our voting papers for the Hungarian elections on 12 April have arrived. We will vote in person at the Embassy here in Wellington - the only option. By Hungarian electoral law, voting must be start at 6:00am local time so we are planning to be among very first in the world to vote. Hungary has an MMP style system but we only get a party vote, and not an electoral vote as well, as we aren't registered at an address in Hungary. We will do our bit to ensure Hungary gets the government it s...

• Post #836641

  This photo was taken in a bathroom at my Unnamed Government Agency a few days ago. It always reminds of what it was like to have a government that led us through the crisis of COVID and could communicate so clearly and so well. The sign, which must be 6 years old by now, remains in great condition and is standing the test of time very well. Bit of a metaphor really.

• Post #757074

  Word on the the public sector street is that MBIE (Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment) is urgently seeking a number of policy staff to work on the National Fuel Plan - which does already exist, see link below. Start straight away and there will be a 7-day roster. MBIE has experience at this sort of thing because of the excellent work they did with the COVID response. I have no doubt that the public sector is up to this, despite the lamentations of the right-wing about &#3...

• Post #754833

  Ah dear. So, according to Luxon it's everyone for themselves, and damn your neighbour, when it comes to saving fuel in response to the current crisis. According to the Stuff article below, "Asked what the government was asking Kiwis to do to save fuel, Luxon said it would be up to each person on how they navigate it." So hoarding petrol's OK, is it? So, fuck you I've got mine, is how we are going to get through this? Honestly, he is just the pits....

• Post #648557

  One of the hallmarks of a leader is to provide moral clarity in the time of crisis - what are the right and the wrong things to be doing. Spain's PM, Pedro Sánchez, has clearly demonstrated that in his response to the US and Israel war on Iran. I liked that he said, paraphrasing, "It is the function of a government to protect and to improve the lives of its citizens." and that should be the test of any government's response, especially, but not only, in a time o...

• Post #518381

  As you would sadly expect our government has delivered a full-throated support for the actions of the US and Israel in starting a war with Iran. It reads in part, "Iran has, for decades, defied the will and expectations of the international community. The legitimacy of a government rests on the support of its people. The Iranian regime has long since lost that support. In this context, we acknowledge that the actions taken overnight by the US and Israel were designed to prevent Iran fro...