We see the same old potholes every rainy season, but this 'southern ocean' nonsense is just an excuse to waste more taxpayer money on crackpot scientists.
A local resident, Dave Marshall, says he’s seen it all before. "It’s basic common sense—if you leave a leaky pipe long enough, you’ll flood your kitchen," he fumed on the Mount Maunganui Community Noticeboard. "Now they want millions to study how the southern ocean warms up, when everyone knows it’s just the sun doing its job. Stop over-complicating the weather and fix our bloody roads first."
His rant, which has since gone viral locally, cuts straight to the frustrations of practical folks who reckon the endless climate studies are a "funding lolly scramble" while the main street looks like a war zone.