Hone resigns

33 comments on “Hone resigns ”

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1. Lanthanide 1

   11 May 2011 at 5:11 pm

   I wonder how the 6-month rule applies here, exactly. I assume it’s straight out Calendar months and not some technical mumbo-jumo ‘average’ month (eg the kiwisaver tax credit ends up being $1042.86/year – $20 a week because there are actually 52 and 1/7 weeks in a year).
    
   I guess it’s if the vacancy occurs within 6 months of the election date, which is currently 26th November. 20th of May is a Friday, but 19th of November is a Saturday. So it looks like Key can probably move the general election to just 1 week earlier, and then vote with 75% majority from Labour to stop the by-election? Guess he’d need support from Labour first though.
   • Rich 1.1

     11 May 2011 at 6:14 pm

     You think Labour would be complicit in cancelling an election to help National?

     With Goff at the helm, probably?
     • Lanthanide 1.1.1

       11 May 2011 at 6:19 pm

       I think given how this has all played out, Labour wouldn’t want to cancel the by-election at this point – they’ll be rubbing their hands that the MP have broken their agreement with Hone, significantly widening Labour’s chances of winning the remaining Maori electorates.
        
       But if the Maori Party hadn’t have done that, and the “$500k wasted on a by-election” line had gotten more traction, then Labour very well could’ve done a deal and come across looking fiscally prudent.
       • Rich 1.1.1.1

         12 May 2011 at 12:13 pm

         Incidentally, have the political writers on the Dom Post never read the Electoral Act, or are they just trying to spin that a by-election cannot be held within 6 months of an election?

         (That’s almost the opposite. A by-election *must* be held if an MP resigns right up to parliaments dissolution (when they stop being an MP anyway), *unless* it’s 6 months or less to the election *and* parliament votes by a 75% majority to cancel it).
   • Deadly_NZ 1.2

     12 May 2011 at 2:37 am

     Maybe Wodders could run in Te Tai Tokerau on the ACT ticket.
   • Rob 1.3

     12 May 2011 at 9:00 am

     I very much doubt they would work with National on that unless it becomes a battle by media where National frames the by-election as Labour’s fault.
     • Lanthanide 1.3.1

       12 May 2011 at 10:26 am

       “battle by media where National frames the by-election as Labour’s fault.”
        
       Which is entirely possible and the logical thing for National to do, given they have no principals.
       • Colonial Viper 1.3.1.1

         12 May 2011 at 10:27 am

         I hope National go down this media road.
2. Sam 2

   11 May 2011 at 5:48 pm

   If Harawira had ben genuine he would have resigned the day he left the Maori party. Just like Chris Carter should have resigned the day he got dumped by Labour.
   • Colonial Viper 2.1

     11 May 2011 at 6:11 pm

     Just like Richard Worth should have resigned before he was pushed? Pansy Wong when she lost her portfolios, instead of dragging on collecting tax payers money?

     But you are right, Rodney Hide should give it up now instead of sitting back to receiving his Ministerial pay.

     And why shouldn’t the Prime Minister go right now since he has no interest in running the country any more and is already sorting out exit plans?

     Harawira is seeking a mandate from the people, more than you can say for Brash, his National backers, or his corporate takeover of ACT.
     • Lanthanide 2.1.1

       11 May 2011 at 6:17 pm

       Sure, Brash took over Act, but he hasn’t somehow slipped into parliament through a back door or anything.
        
       He’ll get his mandate from the people at the general election, and it’s highly likely they’ll win Epsom with Banks on board and National promising not to campaign there. It would be quite unlikely that Act would poll so poorly to not bring in at least 1 other MP, so Brash will probably be back. He could even win his own electorate if he picks one sufficiently right-wing.
       • Colonial Viper 2.1.1.1

         11 May 2011 at 6:19 pm

         Brash isn’t in Parliament but after his corporate take over he now gets to be puppet master.

         Directing the future of the MPs in ACT who *were* actually elected.
         • Lanthanide 2.1.1.1.1

           11 May 2011 at 8:26 pm

           People who voted for Act, voted for the Act party. This is how the Act party behaves. I don’t think Brash is betraying their electoral mandate at all.

           You could even go so far as to suggest that actually Brash is acting in their best interests – Hide was unlikely to win Epsom, but Banks + Brash almost certainly will. If anything, Hide betrayed his electoral mandate with his perk-slurping behaviour and hypocrisy.
           • Colonial Viper 2.1.1.1.1.1

             12 May 2011 at 10:30 am

             They not just voted for the party Lanth, they voted for the ACT List. A very short list.

             Where was Brash on that list?

             Now, if you want to argue that Brash is really acting in the best interests of ACT 2008 voters – why wasn’t that put to a democratic vote of ACT members? Or the Epsom electorate?
     • Sam 2.1.2

       12 May 2011 at 1:04 am

       I disagree about Rodney Hide, he has not resigned from the ACT party, unlike Hone Harawira and Chris Carter who left the parties they were elected with.
       Your argument about Richard Worth and Pansy Wong is flawed because they were members of the National party when they left.
     • RWNJ 2.1.3

       12 May 2011 at 10:08 am

       “Just like Richard Worth should have resigned before he was pushed? Pansy Wong when she lost her portfolios”

       You forgot about Taito Phillip Field Loota
       • Colonial Viper 2.1.3.1

         12 May 2011 at 10:16 am

         lol 🙂

         Field got put in jail. Maybe you think Worth and Wong should as well?
3. Jenny 3

   11 May 2011 at 6:33 pm

   ‘
   You’re right Lanthanide, Brash hasn’t slipped into parliament through a back door, for now he is quite content to manipulate his new party’s affairs in the house of parliament through the sewers.
4. North 4

   11 May 2011 at 8:11 pm

   Nobody should forget that Turia resigning as a Labour MP precipitated a by-election which one imagines cost something in the region of half a million dollars.

   All this stuff about the cost isn’t even about the money – it’s about trying to make Harawira look like an electoral dole bludger and a profligate, entitled spender of “our” money.

   Remember that the outcome will be determined by an electoral roll comprised of Maori – neither chattering middle class Pakeha nor redneck racist Pakeha. Not to say the groups identified are mutually exclusive. There’s undoubtedly an overlap. Maybe a case of the former being less visibly ugly than the latter. It doesn’t matter anyway. It’s Maori going to the polls – not them.

   Finally it has to be said that so much of the commentary we hear is the product of a glib, seemingly assured Pakeha perspective, voiced by people who are SO Pakeha in their view that they fail to appreciate the existence of a real, live, and operative Maori perspective. This includes matters electoral I venture. And quite poetically it muscles up every time Harawira gets abused. As in the half million dollars which so exercises the media and its non-Maori consumers – “wah wah wah……”.
   • Toby Keith 4.1

     11 May 2011 at 9:53 pm

     But Hone’s party is going to full of chattering Pakeha, the ones who dotn ever shut up and tell people whats best for them, Locke, Bradford, Minto, they are the ones pulling the strings, so Maori can either vote for a party for them, or the NewZealand communist party now known as Te Mana, Brilliant tactics by Socialist Aotearoa and Global Peace and Justice, too bad it seems some Maori cant see they are being used.
     • Colonial Viper 4.1.1

       11 May 2011 at 9:59 pm

       I hope NZ gets a true workers/socialist political party, one which believes in communal enterprise, co-operatives, mutual organisations and solidarity across society.

       too bad it seems some Maori cant see they are being used.

       Too late, the Maori Party already did that.
       • millsy 4.1.1.1

         11 May 2011 at 10:09 pm

         “I hope NZ gets a true workers/socialist political party, one which believes in communal enterprise, co-operatives, mutual organisations and solidarity across society.”

         Ill tell you right now mate, it should be one where Hone Harawira’s not allowed to join. The guys a liability.
     • Draco T Bastard 4.1.2

       12 May 2011 at 12:39 am

       But Hone’s party is going to full of chattering Pakeha, the ones who dotn ever shut up and tell people whats best for them,

       I didn’t know that National and Act members were changing parties…
5. millsy 5

   11 May 2011 at 10:07 pm

   Hone will be wiped out. If not in the by-election, then in November.

   So will the Matua Toms in the Maori Party.

   The Mana party and the Maori party will be consigned to the dustbins of history, together with Mana Motuhake, Mana Maori, Mana Wahine, and all the other Maori attempts at forming a purely Maori political party.
   • Lanthanide 5.1

     12 May 2011 at 12:18 am

     This is the 4th Maori party with the name “mana”? Crazy.
     • marty mars 5.1.1

       12 May 2011 at 12:51 am

       For me it’s the whakapapa of the Mana Party and the connection to the struggle for equality.
   • North 5.2

     12 May 2011 at 8:46 am

     Anything “Maori” in the political context will be wiped out according to Millsy. Perpetually apparently. And by implication, very properly so.

     That is a reflection of a sick, fearful outlook. New Zealand is not JohnKey/DonBrash/Maggie Barry Inc. You kick and kick and kick a man…….eventually.

     Do you not know anything about human nature Mr Arrogant, Entitled, Born to Rule, Pakeha Perspective ? What YOU think about Harawira is deliciously irrelevant…….good thing too !
   • North 5.3

     12 May 2011 at 8:57 am

     Anything “Maori” in the political context will be wiped out according to Millsy. Perpetually apparently. And by implication, very properly so.

     That is a reflection of a fetidly fearful and I suspect racist outlook in Millsy. New Zealand is not in its essence JohnKey/DonBrash/Maggie Barry Inc. You kick and kick and kick someone…….eventually.

     That said I love Millsy’s wish list of an outright exclusion of the demon Harawira. For the good of the nation I guess………ha ha ha……..so silly !

     Do you not know anything about human nature Mr Arrogant, Entitled, Born to Rule, Pakeha Perspective ? What YOU think about Harawira is deliciously irrelevant…….good thing too !
6. Andrew K 6

   11 May 2011 at 10:52 pm

   I think Hone, his supporters and , helpfully, Pita Sharples have made it quite clear that the Mana Party is not a Maori party, it is a party that is advocating for the interests of all working class people. As it happens, a significant portion of the working poor happen to be of maori descent.
   George Orwell, ‘1984,’  “If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face — forever.”
   I don’t think Maori need reminding it was under the auspices of a Labour regime that a police paramilitary unit carried out the assault on Tuhoe. All Hone Harawira need do is regularly question Kelvin Davis’ roll in the attack.
   
   
   
7. marty mars 7

   11 May 2011 at 11:32 pm

   Hone said he would do it and he did it – that is integrity and a good sign for the Mana Party, they obviously have the numbers which shows support and Hone is walking the talk. And now he is going to be out there doing what he does best – talking and connecting with the people – I’m looking forward to this by-election and Hone’s massive win.
   • Pascal's bookie 7.1

     12 May 2011 at 7:43 am

     I’m looking forward to this by-election

     So am I Marty.

     I’ll probaby keep my big mouth shut, for the reaons North outlines (comment 4), but I think it’s great that there is going to be a by-election in a Māori seat with huge media focus and a perception that it will be a three way fight.

     Usually the perception is that the Māori seats are either a foregone conclusion, or that the only story they have to tell is a national story about what Māori relationships are like with the Labour party at the moment.

     Pākehā could learn a lot by just paying attention to this one and not interpreting it as being all about them and what it means for their own fantasy league strategising.
8. Joe Carolam 8

   11 May 2011 at 11:33 pm

   Why left wing socialists are supporting the Mana Party-

   an interview with Mike Treen from Unite union here-
   http://socialistaotearoa.blogspot.com/2011/05/aotearoanew-zealand-new-working-class.html

   and a statement from Socialist Aotearoa’s Nicola Owen here-
   http://socialistaotearoa.blogspot.com/2011/04/socialists-support-birth-of-mana-party.html
9. vto 9

   12 May 2011 at 12:34 am

   Go Hone!

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