Hone Harawira is getting the band back together

Written By: - Date published: 10:00 am, June 20th, 2016 - 54 comments
Categories: election 2017, hone harawira, mana, Maori Issues, Maori seats - Tags: , , , , ,

Mihingarangi Forbes interviewed Hone Harawira on The Hui yesterday.

MF: It’s been said that when it comes to politics the only Maori party that lasts is the one with the guitar.

She introduces Harawira with a humorous analogy of Mana’s recent history and whether he will get the band back together.

MF: are you putting the band back together?

HH: yes, absolutely, look no offence to the 25 Maoris in parliament, they’re kind of like hardly noticeable eh? You’ve got to have someone in there who is a fighter, somebody who won’t be cowed by party politics, or parliamentary politics and who’s going to stand and say what needs to be said whenever it needs to be said. And I think Kelvin’s tried, I think Marama’s tried, but they keep getting squeezed back into that party box. Māoridom needs a fighter, not just a backing vocalist 6 rows back.

On the Make Up of Mana

MF: and who’s going to be lead singer, is Annette Sykes, will she be part of that mix? In Waiariki?

HH: she’s good on the vocals, natural lead singer. Doesn’t need notes, she just sings naturally.

MF: any other back up singers? What about Sue Bradford and John Minto?

HH: well we’re looking at Jordan Winiata, for bass player. But John and Sue and them, they really don’t have the rhythm eh, so …

MF: so they’re not in the band?!

HH: no, no, no… they may be roadies, helping set up the gig and break things down…

On Other Parties

MF: so it is the Mana Party, it won’t be any other…

HH: It’s Mana… Mana’s back in town.

MF: are you going after the Māori Party votes?

HH: Oh, I’ve had approaches from one, two, three, four different people within the Māori Party. I don’t want to prejudice what’s going to happen as a result of those discussions but I’m happy to talk to them about ways and means in which we’re not necessarily having to  stamp over one another.

MF: so you’re open to looking at a mix? Lots of people have raised Mana/Māori before, or you’re just going to have talks.

HH: since the day I won my seat, and I remember Hine Brown asking me that question and I said, way back then, I said my door will always be open for discussions with the Māori Party, and that remains the same today.

On Labour

MF: Andrew Little though, would he work with you, could he work with you or would you work with him?

HH: I think he sings from a different song sheet that boy. And it’s not exactly the song sheet that fits the Mana profile. He seems to be a nice enough guy. But he keeps bouncing around from trying to sound tough to trying to sound centrist. And I just think the leader of the Labour Party should have made up his mind by now, that Labour was never meant to be a party of the centre, it’s meant to be a party of the left. A party fighting for the working class. The old working class doesn’t really have a champion. The poor don’t have a champion. That’s Mana space these days.

MF: when we talk about Labour, let’s talk about Kelvin Davis […] how sure are you that you could win that seat back off him?

HH: I’m not going in to win it back off him. I’m going in it to win the seat back for Mana. Because the people of Tai Tokerau deserve Mana back in the house. And I’m the man to take it there. No offence to Kelvin, but that’s the game.

On Mana Policy

HH: Feed the kids, I know John Key’s talking feed the kids now but I’m talking about realistically feeding the kids. When you’re talking about feeding the kids you’re also talking about housing the homeless. And you know I have to say I felt a little bit embarrassed about everyone jumping in their vans for the night. In vans with good air conditioning, all that kind of stuff, nice warm vans. I mean if you want to do something like that, you go pick up a homeless person, they’re not that hard to find… come back to my place for the night. I mean that’s what you do if you really want to try and make a difference. So yeah, there will always be those things, that are desperately needed at that level.

MF: What Mana is good at

HH: yeah what Mana is good at.

The interview had more on Davis, what happened with Internet/Mana, a bit on Harawira’s health, and a nod towards the Green Party. Full interview from The Hui is here.

Stuff: Who will Mana work with? Maori Party, Greens, possibly Labour, possibly NZ First. Definitely not National, United Future or ACT.

 

Hone Harawira Mana Party conference

 

 

 

54 comments on “Hone Harawira is getting the band back together ”

  1. weka 1

    I wanted to let Harawira’s words have their own space in the post because NZ has a bad habit of misrepresenting people from outside the mainstream, especially Māori. So I didn’t put my own thoughts in the post. Fwiw, here’s what I heard from the interview.

    Harawira was blunt at the start about the other MPs in parliament, and came across as thoughtless and offensive in the way he put it. That’s a shame because what he really appears to be saying is that Māori need a voice in parliament that is unconstrained by other politics and policies within political parties. One of the MSM outlets had him later clarifying that yesterday, but I couldn’t find them again last night.

    Mana is Mana on its own again, and is going to be more focussed on Māori.

    Mana can work with the Māori Party quite easily, probably in a similar way to the MoU that Labour and the Greens have i.e. an agreement to work together and not undermine each other.

    Harawira thinks Little is a decent person. He thinks that Labour should be a party that overtly represents the working classes in a political sense but doesn’t. When asked if he can work with Little he points to the differences in their policies and approaches to class, and that Mana want to champion the poor.

    He sees regaining the TTT seat as being about bringing something that Te Tai Tokerau people want.

    Mana will base it policies in its work with flax roots issues like child poverty and homelessness, and that the solutions to those things need to be more real.

    • Colonial Viper 1.1

      Is there evidence that Hone understands why he lost his seat, and why MANA never got the traction that it deserved.

      I don’t understand how MANA reorienting itself to “be more focussed on Māori” is going to get MANA on the road to being a mass movement.

      • weka 1.1.1

        He talked about his perspective on what happened with KDC, and with polling pre-election.

        “I don’t understand how MANA reorienting itself to “be more focussed on Māori” is going to get MANA on the road to being a mass movement.”

        Maybe they’re thinking they can help their people more by doing it this way? I don’t know, and my interpretation was on the basis of a single interview and where he was saying that Bradford and Minto would be in a more supporting role. He didn’t talk about it a lot. It’s probably a bit early to be speculating on what their long term plan is. I’m guessing they will take time to rebuild the party and given their grass-roots focus, I’d guess we won’t see a lot of that from this distance.

        • Colonial Viper 1.1.1.1

          Its obvious why Internet MANA failed and that’s because he spent too much time, energy and money all over the country, instead of creating an effective turn out strategy in his own electorate. It’s nothing more than that. 700-800 more votes and both Hone and Laila would have been kicking arse in Parliament all term making National look like the crap they are and making Labour look even more small target middle class focussed.

          As for re-invigorating MANA as a grass roots movement, at a local level I’ll be able to tell that from on the ground in Dunedin over the next few months as to what the local activists down here are doing/not doing.

          • save nz 1.1.1.1.1

            @CV – Hone failed because the left and right and MSM kicked up a massive smear campaign against him and KDC.

            InternetMana doubled their votes, if this had been a fair election (without smearing and dirty politics, and stupidity over Te Tai Tokerau, they would all be in parliament and very likely Labour would have got more votes and everything would have been different.

            I was shocked that after dirty politics revelations that Labour and Greens did not seem to want to know. I don’t know if this was because their advisors told them to stay on topic or what went down, but minimising and dismissing the revelations was crazy. Maybe they thought they addressed them, but MSM was always putting on sound bytes with the Labour and Greens being dismissive of Mana, KDC and dirty politics. Key was missing in action on the issue.

            BTW a herald poll showed that most people agreed with KDC rather than Key.

            Labour and Greens should have stayed neutral and pointed it all back to National on the issue and left Key to fight KDC by himself.

      • Richardrawshark 1.1.2

        Pie in the sky dream, Hope for a bit of tax payer cash for the Harawira cause.

        Hone see’s a gapping gap in Maori representation since they all got the hump with Labour and Maori party, he’s making a grab for power sad fella.

        Hone, Bradford, Minto scary stuff.

    • Aaron 1.2

      What are you talking about Hone coming across as thoughtless and offensive?
      You must have sent me to an interview from a parallel universe because in the video I watched he said it in a very calm matter of fact way.
      It amazes me how even at a website like this people still can’t get their heads free of the MSM smearing of Hone Harawira. Really Disappointing.

      • weka 1.2.1

        Go back and reread my comment. The whole reason I wrote the post was because of the smearing that was going on and I wanted people to be able to respond to Harawira’s actual words. Which is what I did.

        I was referring specifically to the part where he basically said that all the Māori MPs in parliament currently are cowed by party politics and are hardly noticeable. I also explained that it was unfortunate that he phrased it that way because the point he was trying to make was interesting.

        I don’t think the current Māori MPs are hardly noticeable, and I don’t think all of them are cowed by party politics. Harawira did talk about this more elsewhere where he expressed it less offensively, but I can’t find it now (I assume it’s been removed).

        • Pasupial 1.2.1.1

          I haven’t watched the interview (haven’t registered with TV3 so it won’t play). But I certainly hope that; in reference to Māori MPs, he was a bit complimentary towards Turei for championing his Feed the Kids bill after last election. Also, whatever you might think of him; Peters is certainly noticeable in the house!

          This piece on TDB shows that the band metaphor is a theme that they are likely going to go with. At least he didn’t say that they were on; “a mission from god”, even if the reception has been akin to an R&B group playing Rawhide in a country bar:

          “Everyone’s been missing the MANA sound so we’re getting the band back together.
          “Annette will be lead singer, we’ll have Jordan on bass, I’ll play lead guitar, and I’ll get Kereama and the Ratana Boys on percussion. John Minto’s a little ‘rhythmically challenged’ so we might get him to head up the roadie crew!”
          “I got a bell from Metz, and she’s keen on doing a guest appearance or two.
          And I’ve jammed with Te Ururoa before and that went real well so … you never know. And if he wants to play lead that’s fine with me” said Harawira with a chuckle “It’s the music that matters”

          http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2016/06/19/were-puttin-the-band-back-together-mana-movement-returns-for-2017-election/

          • weka 1.2.1.1.1

            I enjoyed the BB reference!

            He didn’t say much about Turei other than that they get on well.

        • Aaron 1.2.1.2

          Hone is talking about them being hardly noticeable from the point of view of his constituency. Arguably the most visible Maori MP has been Kelvin Davis but the people he’s being trying to help don’t even live in New Zealand!

          To be clear, I think his attempts to help the people in Aussie detention centers should be applauded but it’s a sign of how wedded to the mainstream he is that he had to go out of NZ before rocking the boat.

          You’re right, incidentally, that you prefaced your post with reference to smearing – in hindsight I’m guessing you were more aware than I am that some of TS’ audience is hostile to Hone. It kind of feels like you had to throw them some meat so they would keep reading.

          • weka 1.2.1.2.1

            Hone is talking about them being hardly noticeable from the point of view of his constituency. Arguably the most visible Maori MP has been Kelvin Davis but the people he’s being trying to help don’t even live in New Zealand!

            I missed that, but given he was on national television I think lots of people would. I took him to be referring to the Māori MPs being not noticeable in parliament and NZ. Plus the whole cowed thing. He did mess up the message there and it’s something he does that I think he needs to work on to get better at what he is doing. I can see past it, lots of people won’t (and I’m not talking about the MPs necessarily).

            You’re right, incidentally, that you prefaced your post with reference to smearing – in hindsight I’m guessing you were more aware than I am that some of TS’ audience is hostile to Hone. It kind of feels like you had to throw them some meat so they would keep reading.

            I prefaced it because there was a smear post up on ts yesterday that was fairly typical of the general smears that go on all over the place about Harawira and Mana. I wanted people on ts to have the chance to hear his words directly. There’s a broad range of responses to Harawira here, from full support to full antipathy. So no, I didn’t need to throw them some meat, that was done yesterday.

            IMO that bit about Māori MPs was a bum note in an otherwise good interview. I led with it in my comment because I addressed the points chronologically.

  2. Hone is far from perfect and I think he needs to be more humble publically which he is in person. Hone is not Mana but he can be the sharp bit at the tip of the spear.

    • Richardrawshark 2.1

      “Hone is far from perfect and I think he needs to be more humble publically which he is in person. Hone is not Mana but he can be the sharp bit at the tip of the spear.”

      Are you calling Hone a [edited]

      remember twisting everything I said yesterday kid.

      [no he wasn’t calling Hone that. Your comment was likely cause a derailment. Please take any personal arguments to Open Mike. Or better yet, let them drop and focus on the politics – weka]

      [lprent: I’d add a warning. Your comments on Hone in the last few days appear to me to be more motivated by your various forms of bigotry than anything else. Continue making comments that don’t carry any argument and I will simply ban you.

      I really can’t be bothered dealing with commenter’s mental issues over and over again and having them disrupting a reasonably rational debate. I suspect you don’t understand yourself well enough to understand your own issues and therefore are unlikely to be able to control yourself. So any ban that I am forced to issue will be for some time.

      This is your warning, and I’d suggest that you read the policy before attempting a response.

      I’m putting you on auto-moderation so your comments can be checked before publication. ]

      • marty mars 2.1.1

        [that was unnecessary too. Please stick to the politics – weka]

      • Richardrawshark 2.1.2

        Fair enough and that’s twice in 2 days you have rounded on me when I had already been warned and ceased, it had infact already been taken care of.

        You come along later on and added several lines. The other day you accused me of something I didn’t do, if you had read further down you would have seen that.

        I was wrong to have replied as I did To Marty, condisdering he abused the fuck out of me yesterday in a total rant..maybe I held a grudge. I had kept it hush and quiet so long.

        [Richard, can you please keep to the topic of the post. If you want to talk about other things, please take them to Open Mike, that’s what Open Mike is for. – weka]

      • Richardrawshark 2.1.3

        [off topic and personal grudge comment removed – weka]


        [Mate, read LP’s note to you above and let this stuff go. TRP]

    • Aaron 2.2

      Really bizarre that you think Hone needs to be more humble. I could go on about the racial implications of your comments but just want to say tht I watched that video (as I said above) and thought he was calm, even handed and humourous.

  3. save nz 3

    Good post. I feel sorry for Hone, he just wants to do what is right for his people. I like he is no 1 on that. He is a fighter and that is what Maori need – not someone representing them to ‘be at the table’ with National when they are just enabling them.

    He has been f*&ked over by the MSM even more than Labour and some in the left are putting the boot in too.

    I don’t hear Hone closing the door to Labour either. Calling Little ‘a nice guy’ is not putting the boot in. Labour/Mana can have unofficial co operation – they don’t need a MoU.

    Also the MSM have hijacked the discourse on Mana and Labour. In my view 1 million didn’t vote for Labour BECAUSE they appeared very hostile to left of centre parties Mana and Greens last election which confused voters and meant labour did not seem to stand for anything – more taxes but did not support Greens on environment and Mana on poverty. Basically had nothing for anyone. I do NOT blame Cunliffe for that. There were a huge range of things that went wrong last election and I think Labour and Greens have learnt from it.

    No one expects Labour and Mana to be joined at the hip and best buddies, but they can have a cordial and strategic relationship to get a change of government.

    • Jenny 3.1

      The Right have become experts at working MMP to their advantage.

      The Left need to catch up.

      If Labour want to send a message to the country that they are serious about removing the current government, then nothing would make this message louder and clearer than an accomodation with Hone Harawira and the Mana Party.

      And there can be very little doubt that that message would be heard loudest and clearest in the Maori electorates.

      The Mana Party may even agree to stand down in Waiariki to give Labour the margin to reclaim this seat from Tuaroa Flavell.

      This would remove not one, but two supporting MPs for the National government. Without a seat, the Maori Party List vote would not be counted. Tuaroa Flavell and Marama Fox would both be out.

      Unlikely?

      In his speech to the Green Party AGM Andrew Little said that a government he led would “Feed the Kids”.

      This is a clear reference to Hone Harawira’s Feed The Kids campaign and private members bill, that very nearly succeeded, but was voted down by the government.

      http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/10480843/Mana-calls-for-Feed-the-Kids-support

      Little knows that like Cunliffe before him, lose this election and your out.

      If Andrew Little feels that he is the man to head a Labour led government then he must give it all he has got.

      Postscript:

      It has been reported that on leaving the stage at the Green Party AGM, back stage thinking that he was not being witnessed Andrew Little raised both arms in the air in triumph.

      And he had every right to. His speech was the best one delivered at that conference.

      In my opinion it was a speech for our time.

      The way forward to electoral success is clear.

      Following the Green Party AGM a poll was released showing a bump in support for the Labour led opposition parties. Most commentators put this bump in support as a sign that the Labour/Green Party MoU was greeted favourably by the electorate.

      While a Labour/Mana accomodation (going from radio talkback comments and comments here) would not be greeted with the same approval from the general (majority Pakeha), electorate, that doesn’t matter, because how it would be perceived in the Maori world that counts.

      And Maori perceive Hone Harawira in a completely different light to that of the Richardrawsharks and the Pakeha radio talkback callers.

      It may be harder and not as well received but at some level this is what must be done, if we are to get the Nats out.

  4. AmaKiwi 4

    We need clear, uncompromising voices on the Left. Welcome back, Hone.

  5. Greg 5

    To much deadwood in Mana party to float a Waka.
    Hone needs to go it alone as a independent, it only needs one seat.
    And Key had to stitch one up for Act to be a far right bouncy ball.

    • whispering kate 5.1

      I see Hone as an activist politician and that’s not a bad thing, he may be coming in right at the perfect time with so many homeless, and kids going without food or shoes etc, young people renting all their lives because of high cost housing. He has a sincere way of putting across his views and last time he was electioneering he was dignified and concerned and surprised a few sceptic people, he had mellowed out and matured. He will always be a crusader and activist for the under-class of this country and maybe its time we had a “saviour” of sorts like Bernie Sanders, who has the will and the charisma to galvanise those in the electorate who have forever given up on voting because of their mantra “what have they ever done to help me”.

      I like the guy and I think he has learned a lot about his merging with Dot Kom – he just needs to get exposure and go to halls and walk the streets and talk with the people up North – the MSM won’t help him at all but he has more depth in spades than the present lot who are in Government with their smarmy insincerity and lies. I personally knew sceptics at the time of the last election and they were impressed how he conducted himself in debates and interviews. The underclass need a miracle and we are short on the ground of people who genuinely want well for them, Hone does, so who knows, he may attract a groundswell of support and I welcome that for it will bring about a point of difference for voters next year.

      • Tiger Moutain 5.1.1

        well said

        what you see is what you get with Hone–Mana, Movement of the People (rhymes nicely with “movement of jah people” B. Marley “Exodus”; the alienated and exploited will not get an unequivocal voice via the mainstream parties so all power to Mana’s efforts

  6. BM 6

    Andrew Little has to rule out going into coalition with Mana, if he doesn’t the lefts slim chances of victory in 2017 will become nonexistent.

    • save nz 6.1

      Nice to know you are so concerned, BM.

    • Lanthanide 6.2

      Hard to say whether he could do that, or not, because L + G made a bit of a deal about being willing to work with any other party that wants to change the government.

      Mana obviously does, so this suggests the L + G are willing to work with them.

      Exactly on what grounds of course has to be considered, but it would suggest they can’t just rule Mana out entirely?

  7. Ad 7

    Hone would do better for people just setting up his own NGO to help Maori.

    There’s an interesting trajectory comparison between Hone and John Tamihere. Both passionate, irascible, easy to offend and to be offensive, similar age, and highly charismatic. Tamihere was an MP for a while, but was terrible at it, was effectively fired, and went back to being his own man.

    Now, granted, I don’t like John Tamihere as a person. But he’s chief of a major NGO now, with property holdings, large contracts, and does spectacular volumes of good and effective work in his community. And has done over several decades.

    Hone should have never tried to get back into politics. He was terrible at it. Achieved nothing and pissed people off and left in a huff. Hell, if you’re going to fall out with the hard left Greens for being too compromised, you’re going to fall out with everyone. Like Tamihere, apart from a few within a narrow constituency, he is loathed.
    If helping the poor was his motivation, he would have chosen the path that would have done that. He didn’t.

    Hone is all about Hone, Hone in the Game of Politics, as we see above: most of it is about who is in, who is out, who he can settle scores with, who he will align with.

    Figure it out Hone and go and do some actual good in the world.

    • weka 7.1

      Tamihere seems suited to the corporate world, Harawira not so much. I think the point is that he’s flax roots, so that’s the mahi he’s going to do. That alone is a good enough reason to have him in parliament, because who else is there representing that aspect of NZ?

  8. Chooky 8

    There is a lot of covert racism and dirty politics as regards Hone Harawira and Mana

    …and Dotcom was made a scapegoat

    …Laila Harre and the Internet Party was also smeared ( Dotcom was argued to be her “sugar daddy”…as if she was an unprincipled opportunistic woman without talent except sexual…this was a sexist attack on a highly educated, competent and experienced REAL Left politician)

    ….clearly the Mana /internet Party was a big threat to the purported ‘Left’ as well as jonkey nact Right

    …and what was the role of Simon Lusk?… and who paid him?

    This makes a lot of sense

    http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2016/06/20/andrew-little-john-key-declare-war-on-hone-harawira-and-mana-movement/

    Go Hone Harawira and Mana Party

    • Pasupial 8.1

      The RNZ article referenced in that TDB piece is fascinating (and not authored by Bradbury for those averse to him), dating from November last year:

      Simon Lusk also claimed on Story he had been instrumental in unseating Mana Party co-leader Hone Harawira in the last election. Unnamed “businessmen” had paid thousands for that, he said. And in conversation with his co-host last Monday, Duncan Garner said money had been paid to get Maori electors to vote in Te Tai Tokerau… The following day, Duncan Garner posted a statement from Simon Lusk…

      Iwi now have extensive databases of members who they can easily mobilise. Assembling a team of 50 or 100 iwi members to get out the vote is straightforward, legal and effective if it is possible to raise some koha.

      He added that “if you’re not paying for votes or offering anything in exchange for a vote, or treating,” it is not against the law. But that statement didn’t answer key questions: How much was paid? By whom? And for what purpose?

      http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/mediawatch/audio/201779410/dirty-politics-players-back-in-the-frame

    • save nz 8.2

      +1 Chooky

      Parliament and MMP is about representation. Have the Maori party done a good enough job for Maori – that is the question, or have they made things worse for Maori over the past 8 years?

      Would Hone Hawawira do a better job?

      I personally think so.

      • Chooky 8.2.1

        yes and not just Hone Harawira…Annette Sykes is an amazing woman , as is Laila Harre …and John Minto is great too….I would love to see them ALL in Parliament….even just for raising hugely the quality of debate

        …they would make mince- meat of jonkey nact who is churlish, boarish and childish

        …they would cut a swathe for the Left in policy and principle

        New Zealand really would be for New Zealanders and the poorest would be looked after

    • Puckish Rogue 8.3

      I don’t think anyone was seriously suggesting that Laila Harre was sleeping with KDC (he has a type and she isn’t close to that type) but rather suggesting that as he was holding the purse strings she’d be dancing to his tune

      And when you consider what KDC is about and what Laila Harre is about then yes it was a very strange pairing made up by one person hating John Key and desperately trying to stay in NZ and the other wanting to be a politician and not worrying too much where the money was coming from

      I do find it interesting though that sue Bradford is being shunted aside, while I may not agree with much of what she says no one can deny that she probably has one of the highest levels of integrity (if not most) of any current NZ politician

      • save nz 8.3.1

        +1 (Sue Bradford) no one can deny that she probably has one of the highest levels of integrity (if not most) of any current NZ politician

  9. b waghorn 9

    Sounds like he wants to take mana down a more separatist path than the inclusive style prior to the last election ,if that’s the case I hope he gets no momentum.

    • weka 9.1

      What makes you think separatist b?

      • b waghorn 9.1.1

        “. But John and Sue and them, they really don’t have the rhythm eh”

        Sounds like the honkies are allowed to hang round in the back round ,but their not Maori eh

        • weka 9.1.1.1

          And if he is right and they’re not a good fit for his constituency? What then? Should he include them anyway because they’re non-Māori?

          • b waghorn 9.1.1.1.1

            Why were they ok for his constituency last time and not this time? Could it be hes blaming them for manas death?

  10. Andrew 10

    Hone Harawira is one of those people that exist simply to fuck the Left. Greens and Labour should pledge loud and clear that they will not deal with those incoherent crazies.

  11. whispering kate 11

    Labour isn’t so different to National, they just tweak about the edges of legislation and don’t make the big changes this country needs for the underclass and underprivileged.. Both National and Labour, for their own expediency sake’s have crept to the middle and the extreme right don’t like it and the extreme left don’t either. Once upon a time there was a party which represented the working people and there was a party which represented the business side of the country. Now there is no point of difference. It used to be much simpler for the population to know emphatically what side they were on and voted accordingly. Winston doesn’t make it any easier as well as he is a loose cannon and can go any way which way he chooses. I can see why so many people just don’t bother to vote as its always the same old same old.

    Labour lost its mojo with Roger the pig farmer and they have never been a party for the working side of the country since, the voter needs a brain transplant to work out what the parties are going to do once they are in power. This country used to have guts and stood up for important issues, now the politicians are too scared stiff and too PC to make a decision, any decision, which will impact and make, and I mean make a difference for this country.

    By the way the Herald rang after my month’s marketeering free trial after I had given it up 3 years ago and they got an ear’s full of what a load of tripe it was and how it had made a good litter tray liner for our moggie and not to bother us again.

  12. Chooky 12

    This is interesting…clearly Andrew Little doesnt like Hone Harawira much

    http://m.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11659421

    …”Mr Little told the Herald that today’s comments were “typical trash-talk” from Mr Harawira.

    Labour was focused on changing the Government he said, and was not about “bagging others”.

    Asked if Labour would work with Mana, Mr Little said the party was not in Parliament at present and he was clear about working with parties that were.

    “If you have a look at his track record — he came in to Parliament with the Maori Party, left them because he couldn’t work with them, went off with Kim Dotcom and got kicked out of Parliament. His track record is one of spectacular political misjudgments.”

Recent Comments

Recent Posts

  • National’s new MP; the proud part-Maori boy raised in a state house
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    1 hour ago
  • Climate Adam: Battlefield Earth – How War Fuels Climate Catastrophe
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    10 hours ago
  • They do not speak for us, and they do not speak for the future
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    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    14 hours ago
  • Another attack on te reo
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    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    14 hours ago
  • For the record, the Beehive buzz can now be regarded as “official”
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    16 hours ago
  • Climate Change: Failed again
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    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    16 hours ago
  • Gordon Campbell On The Government’s Assault On Maori
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    17 hours ago
  • Rising costs hit farmers hard, but  there’s more  positive news  for  them this  week 
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    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    17 hours ago
  • ROB MacCULLOCH:  Newshub and NZ Herald report misleading garbage about ACT’s van Veldon not follo...
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    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
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  • Top 10 for Wednesday, December 6
    Even many young people who smoke support smokefree policies, fitting in with previous research showing the large majority of people who smoke regret starting and most want to quit. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere on the morning of Wednesday, December ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    20 hours ago
  • Eleven years of work.
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    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
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  • Why we're missing out on sharply lower inflation
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    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • How Did We Get Here?
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    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    1 day ago
  • At a glance – Has the greenhouse effect been falsified?
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    1 day ago
  • New Zealaders  have  high expectations of  new  government:  now let’s see if it can deliver?
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    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    2 days ago
  • You won't believe some of the numbers you have to pull when you're a Finance Minister
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  • Pushback
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    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    2 days ago
  • Defence ministerial meeting meant Collins missed the Maori Party’s mischief-making capers in Parli...
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    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    2 days ago
  • Threats of war have been followed by an invitation to join the revolution – now let’s see how th...
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  • Top 10 for Tuesday, December 4
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    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Nicola Willis' 'show me the money' moment
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    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
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  • CRL costs money but also provides huge benefits
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    2 days ago
  • And I don't want the world to see us.
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    2 days ago
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    2 days ago
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    3 days ago
  • You cannot be serious
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  • A promise kept: govt pulls the plug on Lake Onslow scheme – but this saving of $16bn is denounced...
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    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • CHRIS TROTTER: The Maori Party and Oath of Allegiance
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    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • BRIAN EASTON:  Forward to 2017
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    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Climate Change: Fossils
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    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago
  • GEOFFREY MILLER:  NZ’s foreign policy resets on AUKUS, Gaza and Ukraine
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    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on the government’s smokefree laws debacle
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    3 days ago
  • Top 10 links at 10 am for Monday, December 4
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    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • Be Honest.
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    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: New Zealand’s foreign policy resets on AUKUS, Gaza and Ukraine
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    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    3 days ago
  • Auckland rail tunnel the world’s most expensive
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    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • First big test coming
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    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    3 days ago
  • The Song of Saqua: Volume III
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    3 days ago
  • Chris Bishop: Smokin’
    Yes. Correct. It was an election result. And now we are the elected government. ...
    My ThinksBy boonman
    4 days ago
  • 2023 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #48
    A chronological listing of news and opinion articles posted on the Skeptical Science  Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Nov 26, 2023 thru Dec 2, 2023. Story of the Week CO2 readings from Mauna Loa show failure to combat climate change Daily atmospheric carbon dioxide data from Hawaiian volcano more ...
    4 days ago
  • Affirmative Action.
    Affirmative Action was a key theme at this election, although I don’t recall anyone using those particular words during the campaign.They’re positive words, and the way the topic was talked about was anything but. It certainly wasn’t a campaign of saying that Affirmative Action was a good thing, but that, ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • 100 days of something
    It was at the end of the Foxton straights, at the end of 1978, at 100km/h, that someone tried to grab me from behind on my Yamaha.They seemed to be yanking my backpack. My first thought was outrage. My second was: but how? Where have they come from? And my ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    4 days ago
  • Look who’s stepped up to champion Winston
    There’s no news to be gleaned from the government’s official website today  – it contains nothing more than the message about the site being under maintenance. The time this maintenance job is taking and the costs being incurred have us musing on the government’s commitment to an assault on inflation. ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • What's The Story?
    Don’t you sometimes wish they’d just tell the truth? No matter how abhorrent or ugly, just straight up tell us the truth?C’mon guys, what you’re doing is bad enough anyway, pretending you’re not is only adding insult to injury.Instead of all this bollocks about the Smokefree changes being to do ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • The longest of weeks
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    5 days ago
  • Suggested sessions of EGU24 to submit abstracts to
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    5 days ago
  • Under New Management
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    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • While we wait patiently, our new Minister of Education is up and going with a 100-day action plan
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    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • DAVID FARRAR: Hysterical bullshit
    Radio NZ reports: Te Pāti Māori’s co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer has accused the new government of “deliberate .. systemic genocide” over its policies to roll back the smokefree policy and the Māori Health Authority. The left love hysterical language. If you oppose racial quotas in laws, you are a racist. And now if you sack ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #48 2023
    Open access notables From this week's government/NGO section, longitudinal data is gold and Leisorowitz, Maibachi et al. continue to mine ore from the US public with Climate Change in the American Mind: Politics & Policy, Fall 2023: Drawing on a representative sample of the U.S. adult population, the authors describe how registered ...
    6 days ago
  • ELE LUDEMANN: It wasn’t just $55 million
    Ele Ludemann writes –  Winston Peters reckons media outlets were bribed by the $55 million Public Interest Journalism Fund. He is not the first to make such an accusation. Last year, the Platform outlined conditions media signed up to in return for funds from the PJIF: . . . ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 1-December-2023
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    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    6 days ago
  • Shane MacGowan Is Gone.
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    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to Dec 1
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    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • 2023 More Reading: November (+ Writing Update)
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    6 days ago
  • Forward to 2017
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    PunditBy Brian Easton
    7 days ago
  • Questions a nine year old might ask the new Prime Minister
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    7 days ago
  • Questions a nine year old might ask the new Prime Minister
    First QuestionYou’re going to crack down on people ram-raiding dairies, because you say hard-working dairy owners shouldn’t have to worry about getting ram-raided.But once the chemist shops have pseudoephedrine in them again, they're going to get ram-raided all the time. Do chemists not work as hard as dairy owners?Second QuestionYou ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    7 days ago
  • Finally
    Henry Kissinger is finally dead. Good fucking riddance. While Americans loved him, he was a war criminal, responsible for most of the atrocities of the final quarter of the twentieth century. Cambodia. Bangladesh. Chile. East Timor. All Kissinger. Because of these crimes, Americans revere him as a "statesman" (which says ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    7 days ago
  • Government in a hurry – Luxon lists 49 priorities in 100-day plan while Peters pledges to strength...
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    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    7 days ago
  • DAVID FARRAR: Luxon is absolutely right
    David Farrar writes  –  1 News reports: Christopher Luxon says he was told by some Kiwis on the campaign trail they “didn’t know” the difference between Waka Kotahi, Te Pūkenga and Te Whatu Ora. Speaking to Breakfast, the incoming prime minister said having English first on government agencies will “make sure” ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    7 days ago
  • Top 10 at 10 am for Thursday, Nov 30
    There are fears that mooted changes to building consent liability could end up driving the building industry into an uninsured hole. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere as of 10 am on Thursday, November 30, including:The new Government’s ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    7 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on how climate change threatens cricket‘s future
    Well that didn’t last long, did it? Mere days after taking on what he called the “awesome responsibility” of being Prime Minister, M Christopher Luxon has started blaming everyone else, and complaining that he has inherited “economic vandalism on an unprecedented scale” – which is how most of us are ...
    7 days ago
  • We need to talk about Tory.
    The first I knew of the news about Tory Whanau was when a tweet came up in my feed.The sort of tweet that makes you question humanity, or at least why you bother with Twitter. Which is increasingly a cesspit of vile inhabitants who lurk spreading negativity, hate, and every ...
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    7 days ago
  • Dangling Transport Solutions
    Cable Cars, Gondolas, Ropeways and Aerial Trams are all names for essentially the same technology and the world’s biggest maker of them are here to sell them as an public transport solution. Stuff reports: Austrian cable car company Doppelmayr has launched its case for adding aerial cable cars to New ...
    7 days ago
  • November AMA
    Hi,It’s been awhile since I’ve done an Ask-Me-Anything on here, so today’s the day. Ask anything you like in the comments section, and I’ll be checking in today and tomorrow to answer.Leave a commentNext week I’ll be giving away a bunch of these Mister Organ blu-rays for readers in New ...
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    1 week ago
  • National’s early moves adding to cost of living pressure
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    1 week ago
  • Backwards to the future
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    1 week ago
  • New initiatives in science and technology could point the way ahead for Luxon government
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    1 week ago
  • Treaty pledge to secure funding is contentious – but is Peters being pursued by a lynch mob after ...
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  • How long does this last?
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    1 week ago
  • National’s giveaway politics
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    1 week ago
  • CHRIS TROTTER: Who’s driving the right-wing bus?
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    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 week ago

  • Minister sets expectations of Commissioner
    Today I met with Police Commissioner Andrew Coster to set out my expectations, which he has agreed to, says Police Minister Mark Mitchell. Under section 16(1) of the Policing Act 2008, the Minister can expect the Police Commissioner to deliver on the Government’s direction and priorities, as now outlined in ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    11 hours ago
  • New Zealand needs a strong and stable ETS
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    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    13 hours ago
  • PISA results show urgent need to teach the basics
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    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Collins leaves for Pacific defence meeting
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  • Working for Families gets cost of living boost
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