‘Fraid you’re wrong on this one, Eddie.

Hence my argument – if it were the case that Labour thought that then what a stupid strategic mistake.

OK, if National see this as meaningless isn’t it worth considering the fact that the MP does not? Labour sided with National, not the MP.

And not just sided with the “its all worthless side” but chose to insult the MP and a lot of other people at the same time who might think more highly of the DRIP and who might have considred voting Labour.

Labour could have supported the DRIP and given an undertaking that they would implement this more thoroughly than National. Would that have been so hard? Is there no one in Labour with any brains?

There’s been a whole series of such incidents with race relations and Labour have failed miserably. I tend to suspect these were not random mistakes.

I also know that it did not always have that status.

And in fact the Maori Land Court itself had very little statutary powers before 1975.

You may correct if I am wrong but you will find I am not.

I said it was meaningless because without a commitment to implementation, it’s, ah, meaningless. At least Labour understood what the DRIP meant in practical terms. National only ever offered the Warehouse version of the real thing.

Yet ultimately our governments line will be what it is now – at the time the Convention came into effect the possession of the land of the indigenous people was only that guaranteed under the law we have now (as per Treaty settlements and the F and S Act).

It changes everything only in principle, not in practice.

Eddie by sneering at this country’s signing on to the UN Declaration, you are ignoring the historic triumph achieved by Maori around the recognition of the Treaty of Waitangi.

You are also covering up for the ugly facts behind the Labour Government’s reluctance to sign up to the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People’s because at the time it went against the then Labour Government’s efforts to resurrect the failed free trade MAI .

The Multilateral Agreement on Investment demanded that countries opened up their economy and resources with zero impediment to foreign control and investment including removal of any challenge from traditional or native title.

Labour was seeking to do the same thing on a bit bit basis, seeking Free Trade Bilateral (instead of Multilateral) Agreements with anyone they could, even with monstrous regimes like communist China.

The foreign policy of the last Labour Government was so closely tied up with Free Trade that it shaped this country’s foreign policy to oppose the international recognition of traditional or Native title as an impediment to Free Trade.

The Seabed and Forshore legislation was also shaped by the desire to make New Zealand an easier place for foreign investment. Not long after this law was passed prospecting rights to the ironsands resource of the West Coast was granted to an Australian multinational minerals company.

I see very little introspection from you on the Labour Party’s motives for attacking Maori gains.

And I genuinly fear that your attitude bodes ill for the future.

Eddie on your record, I fully expect that there will be many more attacks on Maori coming from you. In this I foresee you joining the inevitable National, ACT and New Zealand First witch hunt against Tuhoe during next years election campaign.

Hopefully you will prove me wrong.

Eddie if you choose to ignore the Labour Party’s role in the alienation of Maori and instead continue your line of sectarian attack politics, I fear it will not help your goal for a return of a Labour Government, but instead cement in place of an even more right wing National led administration.

L

L

Doesn’t matter what National do in this term. Now that the declaration is signed the way is clear for any future government to undertake whatever implementation they can gain a mandate for. This is why the opportunity should have been taken by Labour when it was presented.

Again: short-term, blinkered tactical thinking. It’s like a fucking cancer.”.

Maybe you’re right Lew but it’s easy to say this with the benefit of hind-sight. Can empathise with the sentiment though.

From Marty G’s post “Can the Maori Party save itself?”

For all the fine sounding analysis and dissection of the past two days, I think this comment says it all !

you mean to say Labour agrees with Key?

how much better strategy it would have been had Labour supported the MP and then had National saying it was merely aspirational. Labour would then have had the moral high ground. But no, they threw that away and threw in some nastiness for good measure.

I wonder if its hurt pride or a lurking racism that makes Labour act so stupidly.

Very like how Labour acted over the Maori TV coverage of the RWC. Instead of supporting that they played the race card with how it was all a waste of taxpayers money and then when there was a clear breach between Key and some of his ministers Labour had nowhere to go. Accept down, which is where they went.

But I gather that Labour is in no mood to hear that message I can only conclude that it will take a shift towards the younger MPs before Labour will come to its senses.

Quite separately is the ‘political’ issue. National are trying to soothe their own voters by saying they will do nothing in response to signing it. The MP (with the exception of Hone Hawarira) are using the rhetoric of how (willingly) helpful National (aka Key) have been in supporting Maori ‘aspirations’ and hence giving National political credit.

Now, either the Maori party is playing politics and being deceitful (yes, it’s everywhere in politics but that doesn’t mean it isn’t what they are doing) by claiming that National are supportive of Maori aspirations in this regard or Key is being deceitful (i.e., actually he DOES support Maori aspirations through this declaration) or the Maori Party (with the exception of HH) really think National supports their aspirations when it doesn’t. The irritation hinges on this web of deceit (of course, I could also mention the difficult political position it places Labour in should it become the government anytime soon).