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Speaker 1: Grumbling and discontent in regional New Zealand is going louder

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Speaker 1: and louder, and Wellington ought to pay attention. By Wellington,

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Speaker 1: I mean the beehive. The latest was Dunedin. Thirty five

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Speaker 1: thousand people turned out and protest at the weekend, waving signs.

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Speaker 1: I had Nikola Willis swinging on a wrecking ball. The

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Speaker 1: wrecking ball was a picture of Luxeon's head. The reason

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Speaker 1: the government should heed and listen is because of the

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Speaker 1: size of the protest. Thirty five thousand is the biggest

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Speaker 1: in decades. But it wasn't just your usual mob of

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Speaker 1: rent a crowd and serial protests. It was normal people,

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Speaker 1: normal people Now Dnedan normally doesn't vote read So do

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Speaker 1: you bother listening if you're the government, Well, the problem

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Speaker 1: is it's not just Duned and it's everywhere. Give me

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Speaker 1: a region and I'll give you a grievance. Central North

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Speaker 1: Island plant closures, Marlborough fairy cancelation, Tatadua, the tolling of

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Speaker 1: the Munumtu Gorge, the West Coast health cuts. Now I

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Speaker 1: think the government will compromise on Dunedin, but for most

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Speaker 1: of the rest of the regions, waving placards and marching.

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Speaker 1: The message will be simple. Blame labor. They spent with

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Speaker 1: Gayer bandon during and after COVID, inflation ran rampant, and

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Speaker 1: now we're having to come in and clean it up.

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Speaker 1: This is what they'll say. That's why we need toll

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Speaker 1: roads to get these things finished. That's why we need

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Speaker 1: to downsize massive new hospitals. It's why we have to

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Speaker 1: cut that bridge or that school or this funding. The

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Speaker 1: question for the government is are these people going to

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Speaker 1: turn around and vote labor and anger, And the answer

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Speaker 1: is probably not, especially not if they're swing voters. People

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Speaker 1: understand generally why we are in this mess, and most

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Speaker 1: are just trying to sway the current government, not change

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Speaker 1: it completely. For more from News Talks B listen live

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Speaker 1: on air or online, and keep our shows with you

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Speaker 1: wherever you go with our podcasts on IR Radio.