So yesterday as news of a rather large drop in Labour’s support washed through Judith Collins and National put their thinking caps on. What issue could they raise to really sock it to Labour and prove to the electorate that National is indeed born to rule.
Judith had been fending off allegations that she had said that some people wanted to bottle Police Minister Poto Williams. I don’t know why anyone would think that. Poto is one of the most decent and dedicated politicians I have ever met. Using clumsy language that could be interpreted as a suggestion that violence should be used against her is not something that any politician should ever do.
But Judith and National decided to go full culture war on it and allege there has been this conspiracy to rename Aotearoa New Zealand Aotearoa New Zealand. The response on Twitter was swift and brutal. It was highlighted that under the last National Government the use of “Aotearoa” had occurred regularly.
Of course back then they relied on the Maori Party for confidence and supply. So it was Aotearoa this, Aotearoa that. Even from the Minister of Ethnic Affairs who happened to be Judith Collins used the phrase.
And if you want to see how widespread the use was just check your passport.
But now it is an example of left wing woke identity politics and a woke justice purge of all European names. Better that we name our country after a small Northern Hemisphere country which happened to be the birth place of one of the sailors who “discovered” the South Pacific many centuries after it was actually discovered by Pasifeka than use a descriptive name rooted in history.
I could not believe the timing. Because this week seems to be a really bad week to diss Te Ao Maori.
Te Ao Maori is becoming so ingrained in what we do, how we interact, and how we celebrate.
Collins and the National Party are stuck in a time warp thinking that Don Brash’s 2004 racist Orewa Speech will again swing the electorate back behind them and return them to the dominant position. They do not understand that the country has moved on.
The other weird aspect of this matter is that National is demanding a debate to ban a word that is in wide usage. These free speech warriors who have gone all cancel culture on it.
If David Seymour wants to make a name for himself he should adopt policy to support Aotearoa being one of the country’s official names and give his party a Maori name. National’s liberal wing, whatever is left of them, would start to dissolve his way.
Judith’s grumpy reactionary approach to politics is failing big time. She has shown herself to be rooted in the past when the country is looking to the future and for leadership. I hope she remains leader for a long time. But somehow I don’t think so and her days as leader must be numbered.
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