Nat insults Indian community
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- Date published:
8:39 am, August 10th, 2017 - 16 comments
Categories: national, racism -
Tags: housing crisis, paul goldsmith, racism
Lots of big stuff going on at the moment, but other stories are significant too. The extent of the coverage of this blunder will be worrying the Nats –
National’s Paul Goldsmith accused of blaming Indians for housing crisis
National Party MP Paul Goldsmith has been accused of racialising the housing crisis after making a bizarre statement to a man who questioned him about National’s lack of a capital gains tax.
Mr Maharaj said Mr Goldsmith interrupted at that point, saying “Yeah, well, you’re [Indian] and she [Ms Parmar] is Indian. You just need to accept it. That’s the way it is.”
Mr Maharaj said he was left in shock.
“I was really disappointed that you could bring up race in a housing crisis when there are 26,000 people in Auckland alone that are homeless.”
“Just because you’re Indian has got nothing to do with it.”
Tertiary minister Paul Goldsmith accused of racism over Indian housing remark
Maharaj, who is half-New Zealand European and half Fijian-Indian, said he posed a “serious question” about whether National MPs’ tendency to own more houses than other parties’ MPs clouded their views on initiating a capital gains tax.
He said that when he used National MP Parmjeet Parmar as an example, Goldsmith interrupted him to say, “yeah well, you’re Indian and she’s Indian, you have to accept that’s the way it is”.
“It really staggered me — for a politician to say something racially offensive,” he said.
“When a young person has a question about the housing crisis and capital gains tax … isn’t that a valid question?”
He says Mr Goldsmith interrupted and said: “Yeah, well, you are – and she is – Indian. You just need to accept it. That’s the way it is.”
Mr Maharaj says he was shocked by the comment.
“[The Minister] was saying that Indians buy lots of houses,” says Mr Maharaj. “Does that have anything to do with the housing crisis?”
Matt Billington, 18, witnessed the exchange, and was also shocked by the Minister’s comments.
“We were like, ‘What? Did he really just say that?'”
“You can’t categorise an entire race of people, and say, ‘Oh, that’s just the way it is; they own multiple houses,'”Mr Billington says.
“It’s a categorisation which, as a Member of Parliament, is disgusting. That’s no way for a human to behave, let alone someone holding a position in the Government.”
An apology from Goldsmith is in order.
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Kua hinga te manawa kairākau o Te Rua Tekau Ma Waru Tiwhatiwha te po! Kakarauru i te po! Ka rapuhia kei hea koe kua riro! Haere e te Ika a Whiro ki o tini hoa kua ngaro atu ki te Pō ...2 weeks ago
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Epsom voters better switch to Labour or Greens.
That’s a bit too ambitious. (Non-National) Epsom voters should switch to Goldsmith, to try to get rid of Act.
And party vote however they see fit.
Isn’t goldsmith the nats candidate for Epsom? Probably just trying to make himself unpopular and lose votes to Seymour.
Get ready for a bump in National’s poll numbers.
Ready—Steady- – — – –??
A pothole is an upside-down bump…
I’ve heard racist talk appeals to National voters.
Nah, get ready for a serious drop as all those insulted by that man’s stupidity stop voting National – permanently.
True colours from the man who models himself on banksy and wanted akl council bylaws to have the homeless removed from the cbd.
Nothing new there, hes disliked by some of the most ardent nats I know as hes even too extreme for them. National chose well putting him in epsom to push the votes rimmers way.
You must be thinking of a different banksy to me. The banksy I’m thinking about would be much more eloquent about it. Thousand words in one picture. And definitely not a right wing attitude.
I guess you’re referring to the fellow who looked so fitting outside court covered in shit.
Stating the obvious, perhaps, but maybe Indians might not vote for National, as well as non-Indians who find this racism offensive.
Minister Goldsmith brings back memories of that other racist wordsmith, former National MP, Lockwood-Smith, with his “They have little hands” comment in 2008.
Chinese sounding house buyers anyone.
Glasshouse and stones me think.
You seem new here, so I’ll cut you a break and point out that Twyford got a right royal bollocking on this site, that includes from myself.
So the glass house reference is at best, a tad lame.
Goldsmith is well to the right in the National caucus so he is even meaner and thinks people who don’t have a home is just tough shit and the market will provide.
Hopefully it was recorded.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sg-4ATrE8n0&w=640&h=360%5D
Rowan Atkinson sums up nacts