"Some of those people who have been going around the country moaning about co-governance: One, they don't know what they are talking about; and two, they are people that I've always described as the sour right.
"They don't like change, they dream of a world that never was and never could be, they ignore the facts unless it suits them, they are utterly miserable."
Chris Finlayson describes the ACT Party and its voters.
1. All citizens of New Zealand have the same political rights and duties
2. All political authority comes from the people by democratic means including universal suffrage, regular and free elections with a secret ballot
3. New Zealand is a multi-ethnic liberal democracy where discrimination based on ethnicity is illegal
Delusional defiance of contract law won't get them far. Treaty principles can only be identified in Te Tiriti, not by collective hallucination. Racial harmony in Aotearoa depends on what Maori believe they contracted into in 1840.
I suspect ACT's attempt to define what the principles of the treaty mean will serve an important (if controversial) purpose….who can honestly say what the phrase "Priciples of the Treaty of Waitangi " means in practice?
If we are to use the Treaty as a basis for how we are governed then it might be important to determine exactly what it means.
I agree, but that triad of theirs looks suspiciously like a blatant attempt to escape from reality. Seymour is gambling on viability of their reframe but on what basis would it get traction? Pakeha solidarity? Not a chance.
If the principles were durable nowadays it would be evident to many; contemporary wordings would already be circulating. More than 30 years of contemplation hasn't distilled into anything like that. Co-governance hasn't been proclaimed nationwide as a treaty principle – yet it is a feasible contender, having accumulated a bunch of laws implementing the notion…
The principles of the Treaty are ours to work out. That's because by talking about the principles we have pragmatically retreated from the actual words of the Treaty. In particular from the Maori version of Article 2 because it emphasises the "status and authority" of Maori over lands and taonga – a notion that is intolerable to the contemporary non-Maori majority because it implies something greater than mere property rights.
The important thing is not to let the ACT Party decide what the principles are.
"The Māori version of article 2 uses the word 'rangatiratanga' in promising to uphold the authority that tribes had always had over their lands and taonga. This choice of wording emphasises status and authority."
Your link
I suspect that most people would have no firm position on article 2 as there is no agreement/.understanding of what that entails….indeed there isnt even a consensus on the meaning of rangitiratanga.
If you object to the use of the 'principles' of the Treaty as opposed to the meaning of either/both versions then you will likely make any agreement even more improbable as the principles were determined to allow the Treaty to be applied in contemporary context.
I don't object to the talking about "the principles". I think we are stuck with them just as you say – because the actual wording is unclear and open to very different and maybe quite radical interpretations. By talking about the principles we have an opportunity to de-radicalise the discussion and to acknowledge the practical implications of nearly 200 years of history since it was signed.
But we can still mess it up badly. And it seems to me that the political opportunism of NACT in wanting to regain office at all costs this year, has made it more likely that we do.
What is interesting about it is the lack of co-governance: the Crown is specified as sovereign. The partners refer to Crown plus chiefs who signed, so the relevance to now is questionable.
While ACT may have intended its referendum as a vote catcher they may in fact end up doing the country a favour in that a discussion about the place of the ToW in NZ governance may result….and not necessarily in the way they intended.
Precisely. Consciousness-raising is good. Folks get to clarify their thinking and discuss any opaque points.
We ought to retain the original intent of the British govt along with acknowledging what the chiefs believed they signed up to, but relevance today is more in spirit than letter of the law to me.
That said, can't deny legal precedence established in court, which can only be replaced by parliamentary majority.
I can't see how anyone acting in good faith could take issue with people wanting to know and have defined exactly what 'the principles' are. This is not a racist or anti Maori or any other. It is a perfectly reasonable position to hold and is simply a request for information and clarity.
If you can't tell me what the principles are then don't expect me to abide by them….How could I, I don't know what they are…..
Then there's the legal side of things…..
All that aside I don't agree with what is documented here as the ACT party's principles. I think Iwi should come up with a definition of the principles that they all agree with and then pass this onto parliament for debate, voting or whatever process is needed. Obviously anything to do with defining the principles of the treaty would require widespread agreement from all parties including the crown.
ACT's underlying paranoidic fear is that the sins of their Mr Monopoly ancestors will come back to haunt them and they are determined to shut the Maoris up and prevent that from being publicised.
Give it a chance I'm sure once rimmer, Baldrick etc strike a deal after results are finalised the wealth transfer, public transport knee capping, cuts to already underfunded area's etc will resume.
National has totally hoodwinked the electorate if they believe this new government will be one of change. National is not and never has been a party of change.
I'm pretty sure that the National Party led some pretty significant changes.
Not saying they were necessarily 'good' changes – but pretty significant movement on the social and political landscape.
Also, remember, that it was this National Government which passed MMP. Not to say they wanted it – but to do them credit, they implemented the will of the electorate following the referendum.
It was a binding referendum, so they had to implement it.
It would be fair to say they didn't have to hold the referendum in the first place (although Bolger had promised one, so it would have been a very unpopular U-turn). But after the result the decision was no longer theirs to make.
Given the other policies that Bolger did a quick U-turn on, holding a referendum (when the National Party very clearly did not want a change away from FPP) – would have been just another broken promise. At the very least, to change from binding to indicative referendum (at 53.8%, they could have made an argument that the desire for change wasn't 'overwhelming')
And, equally fair to note, that the Lange government did not go to the polls in 1987 with a referendum, nor did the Palmer/Moore government in 1990.
Once a government is formed, only its policies and actions will matter. Not one single voter will cast a vote at the next election "because they took too long 3 years ago".
New Zealand households send 18% of their income to enrich the largely Australian shareholders of the major banks, but everything is fine and perfectly normal in our little economic colony of Australia.
"…The Reserve Bank yesterday said by mid 2024, New Zealand households will be spending around 18 per cent of their income on interest payments…"
Does it really matter where the shareholders are from?
At the end of the day they are large banks and whoever owns them doesn't change the fact that they are ……..(list descriptive expletives here)
But to be fair, banks can (mostly) only behave within the rules and laws that our politicians set for them.
I guess you have to be fair to the politicians as well in that we are the ones who elect them so some blame may lie with us.
Although to be fair to us, I can't think of any parties or people up for election who were advocating the sort of things that I think should happen to the banking sector
So I blame the banks and banking / monetary system, which I always have and always will detest; and to a certain extent gutless politicians.
Jacinda and Ashley (and co) were so wonderful in the Covid response. History will be kind to them. Luxon would have caved in to business and opened the borders.
Compare and contrast NZ with the UK and its disastrous Covid response and huge death toll.
"As the pandemic approached, then raged, no one – from the prime minister to the cabinet secretary to the health secretary – seems to have realised how bad they, specifically, were at their own jobs. Now that we’re seeing some of the receipts for their backstage chaos and deadly incompetence, the major takeaways are this country’s systemic inadequacy and the sheer monumental unsuitability of the specific set of people charged with dealing with the crisis. It’s like putting the Real Housewives in charge of the Manhattan Project.
I do, however, think it was notable in this day and age that every single Downing Street pandemic press conference bar one was fronted by a male politician. Covid decision-making didn’t pass the Bechdel test. The mood was months and months and months of guys who knew best standing at a podium telling the public they had it all under control. Look, you know, I’m a big advocate for this kind of positive discrimination, but hearing about the backstage bitching, the emotionalism, the cliques, the endless drama … well, like me, you may be wondering if men are really suited to these important jobs. Might they not be happier simply staying at home?"
we learned from the diary of the government’s former chief scientist, Patrick Vallance, that Johnson came to believe that Covid was “nature’s way of dealing with old people”. Yes, if you were one of the many, many old people who voted for Boris Johnson in 2019, this week was the moment it formally emerged that he was extremely relaxed about you moving on to the great suckers convention in the sky.
Bad maths. About 75% of Covid deaths occurred in those over 70, who wouldn't have been taxpayers, but would have been on National Super. At about $25,000 per year, it would have saved $375,000,000
The UK's response was disastrous by what measure? Cumulative excess deaths (the only measure that matters) stands at around 10%, about the same as Spain, Italy and Singapore. Another group of countries are clustered around 5%, including Norway, Sweden and Australia. Over the course of the pandemic the UK was at the upper end of stringency of pandemic restrictions comparing with other developed countries. Interestingly, there is almost no correlation between stringency of restrictions and excess death rate. Sweden never closed its schools and never locked down, and yet its results are better than most developed countries.
New Zealand is unique in that it closed itself off from the world completely for a long period. No other developed country could do that to the same extent, except for Australia. It had the odd side effect of making excess deaths significantly negative for a long period as we skipped two flu seasons. If you remove that effect then our excess deaths sit at around 5%.
It's very fashionable to comment about how disastrous the UK response was, but little of the commentary is based on data. Most of it appears to spring from a dislike of Boris Johnson.
Read the Guardian reports on the UK Covid enquiry Patrick…it turns out that the UK response was a complete shambles. (Anybody paying attention knew this already)
I calculated on a pro-rata population basis that NZ would have had 14,000 extra deaths if we had mimicked the UK response. Other people say 20,000.
But forget the deaths and cast your mind back to our economy working well with the closed borders. Rugby and cricket games attended by many thousands without fear of infection. The economy cranking along.
We were so lucky to have Jacinda and Ashley there, and not some slave to business like Luxon/Johnson. Try to back away from your political prejudice and look at the actual numbers.
Now, Christchurch scientists Chris Oze and Megan Danczyk have a carbon-free way to pull them from olivine. The pair needs $10 million to build their first plant before their idea could “reverse” climate change, Oze said.
From next year, the proposed $10m pilot plant could transform one tonne of olivine per day into refined minerals – saving up to three tonnes of carbon pollution. Olivine – “the most abundant rock on Earth” – is combined with acidic liquid, and transformed into an elemental soup using renewable electricity, Danczyk said. The iron, silica and magnesium are separated and can be sold – replacing other mining operations.
Typically, cement factories emit lots of carbon dioxide when they transform limestone into lime – but the team’s silica can replace up to 30% of the lime required. “Cement’s one of the largest carbon dioxide emitters, globally,” Danczyk said. The iron could go to steel-making factories, again helping to reduce the impact of these high-emitting facilities.
But the magnesium has got the project the most attention – even catching the eye of the X Prize, a global climate tech competition sponsored by Tesla and SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk. Fellow billionaire Bill Gates is also supporting Aspiring Materials through his green tech programme.
The scientists are American but doing Green tech here in Aotearoa, An enterprise worth developing for our future, with US/NZ collaboration.
As we await the election's final results tomorrow, here's where we're at:
Labour’s woes are, though, just one example of a wider malaise facing political parties the world over, especially on the left. It is almost a cliché in some circles to talk of the “interregnum”, but that is where political parties find themselves: in a world where neoliberalism, however defined, is near-dead, but no coherent political platform has emerged to replace it.
Author Max Rashbrooke is a senior research fellow in the School of Government at Victoria University. I presume he discounts the Green alternative due to the 30 years the Greens have spent failing to impress it into the minds of influential academics. The Greens in parliament would probably suggest lack of relevance for that.
Across the Atlantic, “Bidenomics” is reinvigorating industrial policy, lifting working-class incomes and driving action on climate change
If so, Biden will win a 2nd term. Is his formula applicable here? Yes, with a tweak or 2. The Greens have established the basis for using the 2nd & 3rd elements of that triad, so we just need Labour to provide the first.
I’ve always looked at his stuff warily. He’s not as bad as Bryce, but he’s not enormously interested in helping out the lower echelons with any urgency.
Whenever I've heard him on RNZ in the past he has seemed to have socialist interests at heart. I see there's a youTube talk he gave to the Fabian Society (where leftists were hanging out a century ago).
Re your reference to lack of urgency, that could just mean he's typical Labour, eh?
The Greens have picked up a new MP, Kahurangi Carter, who was 14th on the party list. She ran for in the Christchurch Central electorate, which was won by Labour’s Duncan Webb.
Dunno if this got covered yesterday- but welcome to National world where workers entitlements are paid because of charity and a generous ‘donation’.
Unwrapping this a bit- if the workers were working and the company didn’t have the money to pay their salaries and holiday pay, then there should be convictions. We’re talking about theft in my book, done by trading while insolvent.
We’re going to see more absconding of responsibility. We’ve already seen that their climate change strategy is na-uh. We’ve heard Bill English priming charities to pick up the human cost leaving beneficiaries 17K behind will do.
Here there’s talk of an investor ‘pulling out’, but surely the buck has to stop with somebody? They’re in a business and that sounds like a BS excuse to me.
These are contractual rights, workers property which they’ve already worked for being transferred to someone else. It’s not a gift or a donation. It is someone partially covering theft by someone else.
I think this is to do with the insolvency provisions – where staff and contractors are considered to be unsecured creditors – and only get paid out after the secured creditors (typically banks, and other finance companies) have had their cut.
I've felt for a long time that this is wrong. We see it happening every time one of the developers goes broke – the sub-contractor tradies don't get paid, can't retain (unpaid-for) goods and materials, and often struggle to even get their tools back off site.
I'd like to see a law change, which would require companies to:
Bank annual leave entitlements as/when they are accrued – in a trust account.
Personal liability from directors/owners if staff payments (e.g. IRD PAYE, Kiwisaver, annual leave entitlements) are not correctly accounted for and transferred [It's too easy for companies to 'raid' this money to cover up profitability issues]. And, if that means that the director/owner loses their house, my grief would be controllable.
Pay tradies/sub-contractors, in full, first, out of progress payments (not last, after the banks)
Ownership of goods/materials remains with the subcontractors, until paid for by the developer. Lack of timely payment can attract penalties.
In insolvency cases, direct liability to staff (wages) and subcontractors (work to date) is paid for, before secured creditors. If there is not enough in the current accounts to do this, then this can be clawed back from directors/owners. This should be administered by the Insolvency Practitioner, and immediate liens placed on all property owned by (or in a beneficiary trust for) the directors/owners, until this charge is fulfilled.
Director responsibility should be backdated 6 months – no resigning the week before, to get out of the responsibility.
And the kind of financial sleight of hand, where all of the business assets are owned by one ‘company’ while the staff are paid by another (with no assets) – should be a legal fiction so far as the Insolvency Practitioner is concerned (i.e. it might make financial sense for a profitable company, but shouldn’t be a way of evading responsibilities for one being wound up).
I haven't been personally affected either, but had many conversations with friends and family who are in the 'tradie' economy. The way that developers continue to (legally) rort them is astounding (AND has a major impact on building costs- since the builders have to cover the costs incurred as a result of the poor-business-practice of the developers).
Yet to see any political party brave enough to address this issue. Right won't – because it would be a 'bar' to legitimate capitalism – and they don't want to piss-off the major developers, banks and financiers involved; the Left won't – because they regard self-employed as mini-capitalists – and it's much less important than the chardonnay-socialist issue of the day.
This is the kind of ‘working class’ policy which really matters in West Auckland (and the equivalents in other cities).
It’s the mindset of how that is reported too which prevents any change.
People are considered ‘lucky’ to have a job, rather than they have skills which the employers need.
Here we’ve seen a kind ‘donation’ to cover someone’s IMO verging on criminal negligence. The focus is on how plucky the company is and how good the donator is rather than the basically theft of pay and holiday pay.
We’re told an investor went for cigarettes and didn’t come back. How is that allowable? I’ve not seen that questioned or explained.
We’ve seen the slow pace of justice with Mainfreight. We need to see a change in reporting and mindset to allow a climate for any other changes. As you say without action by unions and worksites, don’t expect anything to happen. This election was a classic of what couldn’t be done.
I don't think there was any assumption in the original comment over whether the donor was left or right. However, having 150K in ready money, may inform that conclusion.
Headline, coming soon … the future of the "waka jumping law".
It's gone under the radar so far, but if/when there is some kind of deal between National and NZF, there might be some amusing amnesia:
National Party electoral spokesman Nick Smith said the bill was “the worst” of the entire term of Parliament and was passed solely because Peters was worried about a repeat of his term in power in the late 1990s, when several of his MPs split off to keep the Jenny Shipley-led government intact.
“This law change is the product of the paranoia of one member who simply wants the power to be able to fire his caucus as a consequence of his personal experience in 1996, and never in a democracy should our electoral law be dominated by one particular person's vendetta and experience.”
The Waka jumping law is one of those things everyone in the governing elites hate because it dares to hold them to a standard of behaviour that the vast majority of ordinary people find completely reasonable.
Her third objection is “a referendum at a time when the descendants of the rangatira who signed Te Tiriti are a relatively small minority in the wider population would give them relatively little say in the matter”.
I wouldn't believe Luxon on many things, but I do believe him when he says he won't have a Treaty referendum. Buying a huge row, to achieve nothing? Not just a question of principle: among the many negative consequences, he'd be losing members of his own caucus.
Luxon is in a prime position to form the pathway to our bicentennary with the Treaty just 17 years away. If anyone remembers Sesqui 1990.
Ardern did her honourable best to build a new bridge to engagement with te ao Maori with the formation of Matariki.
If the last two years have shown us anything, it's shown us some really dumb ways to engage the broader population about the Treaty (not assisted by bad faith actors from within parts of Maori and European alike touring and marching up and down the country).
I expect Luxon will concentrate on fiscal and economic rectitude issues, alas.
I have a lot of faith in the whole of the people of New Zealand that we can hold an intelligent conversation about our constitutional arrangements, and that they include the Treaty.
It took both sides of the House to show we did it with MMP, we did it with the Honours system, we did it with the Supreme Court.
If Labour, Greens and Maori Party said that together they are preparing for 2040 in a manner that won't silence people and will lead to a clear constitutional platform, then the collective left would immediately have something to work on together going into 2025.
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Placards and mourners outside the Kilbirnie Mosque following the Christchurch terror attack: MSD has terminated the Kaiwhakaoranga service, which has been used by 415 families since the attacks. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The Government’s pledge to only cut ‘back office’ staff rather than ‘frontline’ services is on increasingly shaky ground, with ...
There’s been a few smaller public transport announcements over the last week or so that I thought I’d cover in a single post. Fareshare I’ve long called for Auckland Transport to offer a way to enable employer-subsidised public transport options. The need for this took on even more importance ...
Parliament’s speaker had no option but to refer Green MP Julie Anne Genter to the Privileges Committee for her behaviour in the House last Wednesday evening. The incident, in which she crossed the floor to wave a book and yell at National Minister Matt Doocey, reflects poorly on Genter and ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Who likes being sneered at? Nobody. Worse yet, when the sneerer has their facts all wrong, and might well be an idiot.The sneer in question is The adults are in charge now, and it is a sneer offered in retort to criticism of this new Government, no matter how well ...
When in government, Labour pushed to extend the Parliamentary term to four years, to reduce accountability and our ability to vote out a bad government. And now, they're trying to do it through the member's ballot, with a Four-Year Parliamentary Term Legislation Bill. The bill at least requires a referendum ...
A ballot for a single Member's Bill was held today, and the following bill was drawn: Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill (Hūhana Lyndon) The bill would prevent the government from stealing Māori land in breach of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. It ...
Simeon Brown, alongside Wayne Brown, is favouring a political figleaf now in exchange for loading up tens of millions in extra interest costs on Auckland ratepayers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s is pushing back hard at suggestions from Local Government Minister Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown ...
Buzz from the Beehive One headline-grabber from the Beehive yesterday was the OECD’s advice that the government must bring the Budget deficit under control or face higher interest rates. Another was the announcement of a $1.9 billion “investment” in Corrections over the next four years. In the best interests of ...
Chris Trotter writes – Had Zheng He’s fleet sailed east, not west, in the early Fifteenth Century, how different our world would be. There is little reason to suppose that the sea-going junks of the Ming Dynasty, among the largest and most sophisticated sailing vessels ever constructed, would have failed ...
David Farrar writes – Two articles give a useful contrast in balance. Both seek to be neutral explainer articles. This one in the Herald on Social Investment covers the pros and cons nicely. It links to critical pieces and talks about aspects that failed and aspects that are more ...
The tikanga regulations will compel law students to be taught that a system which does not conform with the rule of law is nevertheless law which should be observed and applied…Gary Judd KC writes – I have made a complaint to Parliament’s Regulation ...
The future of Te Huia, the train between Hamilton and Auckland, has been getting a lot of attention recently as current funding for it is only in place till the end of June. The government initially agreed to a five year trial, through to April 2026, but that was subject ...
TL;DR: Hamas has just agreed to Israel’s ceasefire plan. Nelson hospital’s rebuild has been cut back to save money. The OECD suggests New Zealand break up network monopolies, including in electricity. PM Christopher Luxon’s news conference on a prison expansion announcement last night was his messiest yet.Here’s my top six ...
A homicide in Ponsonby, a manhunt with a killer on the run. The nation’s leader stands before a press conference reassuring a frightened nation that he’ll sort it out, he’ll keep them safe, he’ll build some new prison spaces.Sorry what? There’s a scary dude on the run with a gun ...
Hi,I know it’s been awhile since there’s been any Webworm merch — and today that all changes!Over the last four months, I’ve been working with New Zealand artist Jess Johnson to create a series of t-shirts, caps and stickers that are infused with Webworm DNA — and as of right ...
The OECD’s chief economist yesterday laid it on the line for the new Government: bring the deficit under control or face higher Reserve Bank interest rates for longer. And to bring the deficit under control, she meant not borrowing for tax cuts. But there was more. Without policy changes—introducing a ...
After a hiatus of over four months Selwyn Manning and I finally got it together to re-start the “A View from Afar” podcast series. We shall see how we go but aim to do 2 episodes per month if possible. … Continue reading → ...
In 2008, the UK Parliament passed the Climate Change Act 2008. The law established a system of targets, budgets, and plans, with inbuilt accountability mechanisms; the aim was to break the cycle of empty promises and replace it with actual progress towards emissions reduction. The law was passed with near-universal ...
Buzz from the Beehive Local Water Done Well – let’s be blunt – is a silly name, but the first big initiative to put it into practice has gone done well. This success is reflected in the headline on an RNZ report:District mayors welcome Auckland’s new water deal with ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate ConnectionsA farmworker cleans the solar panels of a solar water pump in the village of Jagadhri, Haryana Country, India. (Photo credit: Prashanth Vishwanathan/ IWMI) Decisions made in India over the next few years will play a key role in global ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – The Children’s Minister, Karen Chhour, intends to repeal Section 7AA from the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 because it creates conflict between claimed Crown Treaty obligations and the child’s best interests. In her words, “Oranga Tamariki’s governing principles and its act should be colour ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealand’s foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. ...
Brian Easton writes – This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be (I will report on them ...
TL;DR:Winston Peters is reported to have won a budget increase for MFAT. David Seymour wanted his Ministry of Regulation to be three times bigger than the Productivity Commission. Simeon Brown is appointing a Crown Monitor to Watercare to protect the Claytons Crown Guarantee he had to give ratings agencies ...
Today New Zealand First will introduce a Member’s Bill that will protect women’s spaces. The ‘Fair Access to Bathrooms Bill’ will require, primarily in the interest and safety of women and girls, that all new non-domestic publicly accessible buildings provide separate, clearly demarcated, unisex and single sex bathrooms. This Bill ...
The Green Party is welcoming Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ continuation of Hon. James Shaw’s cross-party work on climate adaptation, now in the form of a Finance and Expenditure Committee Inquiry. ...
The National Government plans to cut 390 jobs at ACC, including roles in the areas of prevention of sexual violence, road safety and workplace safety. ...
The Government has been caught in opposition to evidence once again as it looks to usher in tried, tested and failed work seminar obligations for job-seeking beneficiaries. ...
The Green Party is welcoming the announcement by the Minister Responsible for RMA Reform Chris Bishop to approve most of the Wellington City Council’s District Plan recommendations. ...
David Seymour has failed to get the sweeping cuts he wanted to the free and healthy school lunch programme, Labour education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
Hon Willie Jackson has been invited by the Oxford Union to debate the motion “This House Believes British Museums are not Very British’ on May 23rd. ...
Green Party MP Hūhana Lyndon says her Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill is an opportunity to right some past wrongs around the alienation of Māori land. ...
A senior, highly respected King’s Counsel with decades of experience in our law courts, Gary Judd KC, has filed a complaint about compulsory tikanga Māori studies for law students - highlighting the utter depths of absurdity this woke cultural madness has taken our society. The tikanga regulations will compel law ...
The Government needs to be clear with the people of the Nelson Marlborough region about the changes it is considering for the Nelson Hospital rebuild, Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
Ministers must front up about which projects it will push through under its Fast Track Approvals legislation, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
A high-level New Zealand political delegation in Honiara today congratulated the new Government of Solomon Islands, led by Jeremiah Manele, on taking office. “We are privileged to meet the new Prime Minister and members of his Cabinet during his government’s first ten days in office,” Deputy Prime Minister and ...
New Zealand voted in favour of a resolution broadening Palestine’s participation at the United Nations General Assembly overnight, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The resolution enhances the rights of Palestine to participate in the work of the UN General Assembly while stopping short of admitting Palestine as a full ...
Introduction Good morning. It’s a great privilege to be here at the 2024 Infrastructure Symposium. I was extremely happy when the Prime Minister asked me to be his Minister for Infrastructure. It is one of the great barriers holding the New Zealand economy back from achieving its potential. Building high ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced the upcoming Budget will include new funding of $571 million for Defence Force pay and projects. “Our servicemen and women do New Zealand proud throughout the world and this funding will help ensure we retain their services and expertise as we navigate an increasingly ...
New Zealand’s ability to cope with climate change will be strengthened as part of the Government’s focus to build resilience as we rebuild the economy, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “An enduring and long-term approach is needed to provide New Zealanders and the economy with certainty as the climate ...
Jobseeker beneficiaries who have work obligations must now meet with MSD within two weeks of their benefit starting to determine their next step towards finding a job, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “A key part of the coalition Government’s plan to have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker ...
A new standalone Social Investment Agency will power-up the social investment approach, driving positive change for our most vulnerable New Zealanders, Social Investment Minister Nicola Willis says. “Despite the Government currently investing more than $70 billion every year into social services, we are not seeing the outcomes we want for ...
Check against delivery Good morning. It is a pleasure to be with you to outline the Coalition Government’s approach to our first Budget. Thank you Mark Skelly, President of the Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce, together with your Board and team, for hosting me. I’d like to acknowledge His Worship ...
Your Excellency Ambassador Meredith, Members of the Diplomatic Corps and Ambassadors from European Union Member States, Ministerial colleagues, Members of Parliament, and other distinguished guests, Thank you everyone for joining us. Ladies and gentlemen - In diplomacy, we often speak of ‘close’ and ‘long-standing’ relations. ...
The Therapeutic Products Act (TPA) will be repealed this year so that a better regime can be put in place to provide New Zealanders safe and timely access to medicines, medical devices and health products, Associate Health Minister Casey Costello announced today. “The medicines and products we are talking about ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop, today released his decision on twenty recommendations referred to him by the Wellington City Council relating to its Intensification Planning Instrument, after the Council rejected those recommendations of the Independent Hearings Panel and made alternative recommendations. “Wellington notified its District Plan on ...
Rape Awareness Week (6-10 May) is an important opportunity to acknowledge the continued effort required by government and communities to ensure that all New Zealanders can live free from violence, say Ministers Karen Chhour and Louise Upston. “With 1 in 3 women and 1 in 8 men experiencing sexual violence ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government will be delivering a more efficient Healthy School Lunches Programme, saving taxpayers approximately $107 million a year compared to how Labour funded it, by embracing innovation and commercial expertise. “We are delivering on our commitment to treat taxpayers’ money ...
New research on the impacts of extreme weather on coastal marine habitats in Tairāwhiti and Hawke’s Bay will help fishery managers plan for and respond to any future events, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. A report released today on research by Niwa on behalf of Fisheries New Zealand ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters will lead a broad political delegation on a five-stop Pacific tour next week to strengthen New Zealand’s engagement with the region. The delegation will visit Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, and Tuvalu. “New Zealand has deep and ...
There has been a material decline in gas production according to figures released today by the Gas Industry Co. Figures released by the Gas Industry Company show that there was a 12.5 per cent reduction in gas production during 2023, and a 27.8 per cent reduction in gas production in the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins tonight announced the recipients of the Minister of Defence Awards of Excellence for Industry, saying they all contribute to New Zealanders’ security and wellbeing. “Congratulations to this year’s recipients, whose innovative products and services play a critical role in the delivery of New Zealand’s defence capabilities, ...
Welcome to you all - it is a pleasure to be here this evening.I would like to start by thanking Greg Lowe, Chair of the New Zealand Defence Industry Advisory Council, for co-hosting this reception with me. This evening is about recognising businesses from across New Zealand and overseas who in ...
It is a pleasure to be speaking to you as the Minister for Digitising Government. I would like to thank Akolade for the invitation to address this Summit, and to acknowledge the great effort you are making to grow New Zealand’s digital future. Today, we stand at the cusp of ...
New Zealand is urging both Israel and Hamas to agree to an immediate ceasefire to avoid the further humanitarian catastrophe that military action in Rafah would unleash, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The immense suffering in Gaza cannot be allowed to worsen further. Both sides have a responsibility to ...
A new online data dashboard released today as part of the Government’s school attendance action plan makes more timely daily attendance data available to the public and parents, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. The interactive dashboard will be updated once a week to show a national average of how ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced Rosemary Banks will be New Zealand’s next Ambassador to the United States of America. “Our relationship with the United States is crucial for New Zealand in strategic, security and economic terms,” Mr Peters says. “New Zealand and the United States have a ...
The Government is considering creating a new tier of minerals permitting that will make it easier for hobby miners to prospect for gold. “New Zealand was built on gold, it’s in our DNA. Our gold deposits, particularly in regions such as Otago and the West Coast have always attracted fortune-hunters. ...
Minister for Trade Todd McClay today announced that New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will commence negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA). Minister McClay met with his counterpart UAE Trade Minister Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi in Dubai, where they announced the launch of negotiations on a ...
New Zealand Sign Language Week is an excellent opportunity for all Kiwis to give the language a go, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. This week (May 6 to 12) is New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) Week. The theme is “an Aotearoa where anyone can sign anywhere” and aims to ...
Six tertiary students have been selected to work on NASA projects in the US through a New Zealand Space Scholarship, Space Minister Judith Collins announced today. “This is a fantastic opportunity for these talented students. They will undertake internships at NASA’s Ames Research Center or its Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), where ...
New Zealanders will be safer because of a $1.9 billion investment in more frontline Corrections officers, more support for offenders to turn away from crime, and more prison capacity, Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell says. “Our Government said we would crack down on crime. We promised to restore law and order, ...
The OECD’s latest report on New Zealand reinforces the importance of bringing Government spending under control, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The OECD conducts country surveys every two years to review its members’ economic policies. The 2024 New Zealand survey was presented in Wellington today by OECD Chief Economist Clare Lombardelli. ...
The Government has delivered on its election promise to provide a financially sustainable model for Auckland under its Local Water Done Well plan. The plan, which has been unanimously endorsed by Auckland Council’s Governing Body, will see Aucklanders avoid the previously projected 25.8 per cent water rates increases while retaining ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
By Repeka Nasiko in Suva “Justice has won,” says Fiji’s acting Director of Public Prosecutions John Rabuku following the sentencing of former prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama and former police commissioner Sitiveni Qiliho. Speaking to The Fiji Times, Rabuku said that while they welcomed the judgment by acting Chief Justice Salesi ...
The foreign affairs minister has landed in Solomon Islands for the first leg of his Pacific tour, and an audience with the newly elected Prime Minister. ...
PNG Post-Courier New Zealand High Commissioner Peter Zwart and PNG Defence Minister Dr Billy Joseph welcomed a C-130 Hercules to Port Moresby this week to support Papua New Guinea’s response to the March 24 earthquake and recent severe flooding. “Papua New Guinea has requested New Zealand’s assistance to transport emergency ...
Grub Street King Luxon rode through the streets Of King’s Landing, and was troubled By the sight of hungry urchins in the mud. “Who would be the best of my Lords To deal with this negative optic?” He pondered. The answer came to him instantly. “Seymour!” he said to himself. ...
“The Bill does not provide environmental protection, good quality decision making, certainty, public participation or speed. It should be withdrawn.” ...
RNZ News Television New Zealand has breached its collective agreement with the E tū union when deciding on discontinuing programmes, the Employment Relations Authority has ruled. It was announced in March that 68 staff members who work for news programmes Midday and Tonight, consumer justice programme Fair Go, current affairs ...
Asia Pacific Report Barangay New Zealand’s Rene Molina has interviewed the country’s first Filipino Green MP Francisco Hernandez who was sworn into Parliament yesterday as the party’s latest member. This is the first interview with Hernandez who replaces former Green Party co-leader James Shaw after his retirement from politics to ...
An Australian Strategic Policy Institute report says Pillar Two could raise the industry to state of the art capability - or "crush" it "under the weight of the globe's biggest player". ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marlene Longbottom, Associate Professor, Indigenous Education & Research Centre, James Cook University ShutterstockThis article contains information on deaths in custody and the violence experienced by First Nations people in encounters with the Australian carceral system. It also contains references to ...
“Instead of following along countries that are investing in death and better ways of killing people faster, we need to invest in life and in making Aotearoa a fair, just and equitable place where everyone has what they need for a dignified life.” ...
MARIAMENO KAPA-KINGI, TPM MP FOR TAI TOKERAU This Government will not waver in its mission to exterminate Māori. CHRISTOPHER LUXON Oh well look you know I don’t think that hard-working Kiwis want to hear language like that. It’s just really unhelpful rhetoric. My Government is genuinely committed to advancing outcomes ...
The body positivity movement started with women confronting the unrealistic expectations and unrepresentative portrayals of them in media and advertising. Men weren’t part of it … their bodies hadn’t been sexualised to the same extremes and they didn’t really need it. But now that’s changed. And in a warped sort ...
The New Zealand comedy legend takes us through her life in television, including the time she hugged Elton John and the unshakeable legacy of a girl named Lyn. In 1981, Ginette McDonald stood on the stage of Auckland’s St James Theatre and directly addressed Queen Elizabeth II. It was a ...
An essay by Lily Duval from the just-released anthology Otherhood: Essays on being childless, childfree and child adjacent.I was 22 when my friend Alice gave birth in the living room of our pokey Addington flat. She laboured in the blow-up pool for hours. Garish fish swam along the inflated ...
Ella Borrie on the best books about motherhood she’s come across so far. Over the past few years I’ve been drawn to books about motherhood. I’m fascinated by the joys and horrors of becoming a parent. The question of children also feels more pressing than it used to. It’s like ...
Out of gift ideas for mum? You can’t go wrong with a bottle of toilet cleaner and a new squeegee. Emily Writes is the writer and editor of Emily Writes Weekly. This week marks five years since I published a post on The Spinoff about Mother’s Day marketing titled ‘A ...
My husband is posted overseas for 12 months and I’m armed with an expensive, newfangled vibrator. Will I miss him? The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.A few days after my husband leaves, a new sex toy arrives at the front door. Nestled ...
Jaimie Baird’s new book Here Today Gone Tomorrow is a record of four decades of graffiti and street art in Wellington, told through more than 1,200 photographs. He spoke with Joel MacManus about what inspired the book. How did you first get interested in photographing street art? I remember ...
Editor Madeleine Chapman looks back at a busy week where food of all political leanings dominated. Sometimes you’re just going about your week thinking you’ve got a good handle on what might be coming as far as news topics and then someone (usually a politician) says something so ridiculous that ...
In a week of cold rain and frost, the climate in courtroom four upstairs at the Invercargill courthouse was simmering with restrained indignation. At times it felt like the famous Mexican standoff scene from Reservoir Dogs, or, as someone watching the proceedings described it, there was so much throwing of ...
A banner notification alerts me to the fact that I’ve received an Instagram message from @felicity.loves. She always comments on my posts. I shouldn’t have opened the message, but clicked on the notification before rationalising this. OMG! Are you in Wellys? X I debate not replying, but Instagram will inform ...
In Melbourne’s hardscrabble western suburbs where AFL – Aussie rules football – is a state religion, Callum Donaldson has been quietly grafting away, four months into an odyssey that he hopes will take him to another promised land: the NRL. It was a solid 2023 for the softly spoken 20-year-old ...
Pacific Media Watch Television New Zealand Pacific correspondent Barbara Dreaver has been made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to investigative journalism and Pacific communities in a ceremony at Government House, reports 1News. She has been the Pacific correspondent for 1News since 2002, breaking many ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Tuesday’s budget will respond to the deepening public agitation over Australia’s housing shortages by pouring new money into crisis accommodation for women and children, social housing and infrastructure. A specially-convened national cabinet late Friday ticked ...
By Kaneta Naimatu in Suva Journalists in the Pacific region play an important role as the “eyes and ears on the ground” when it comes to reporting the climate crisis, says the European Union’s Pacific Ambassador Barbara Plinkert. Speaking at The University of the South Pacific (USP) on World Press ...
Aldora Itunu is back in the Black Ferns squad after a three-year absence. The last of her 24 internationals was an underwhelming loss to France (7-29) in Castres to conclude the disastrous 2021 Northern Tour. The powerhouse prop won a Rugby World Cup in 2017 and thought she was done. ...
The fight to control major transport policy and projects in Auckland has burst into the open again, with councillors rejecting Mayor Wayne Brown’s latest attempt to steer things more under his influence. Councillors from the left and right broke ranks on the mayor’s bid to control Auckland Transport more directly ...
Exhausted by the general election campaign, horrified by the twilight zone of coalition negotiations, distracted by the silly season and waiting for the honeymoon to begin, Raw Politics has been in hibernation since October. From today, we’re back. Our weekly political video show and podcast returns for ...
By Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk Authorities in the small town of Boulouparis have commemorated Armistice Day on May 8 with a new memorial honouring New Zealand soldiers who were stationed in New Caledonia during World War II. The ceremony took place in the township on the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sara Dehm, Senior lecturer, international migration and refugee law, University of Technology Sydney The High Court unanimously ruled today that the Australian government can keep asylum seekers in immigration detention indefinitely in cases where they do not “voluntarily” cooperate with their own ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kim Munro, Lecturer, Creative Industries and Digital Media, University of South Australia Twenty-four hours after the release of Macklemore’s pro-Palestine protest song Hind’s Hall on social media on May 7, the video had already notched up over 24 million views. In ...
Failing to anticipate the complexity of the consenting system is being cited as the the current builder's shortcomings, an Infrastructure Commission review says. ...
Failing to anticipate the complexity of the consenting system is being cited as the the current builder's shortcomings, an Infrastructure Commission review says. ...
350 Aotearoa is calling the Environment Select Committee’s decision to allow oral submissions from just 40% of individual, unique submitters who asked to speak to the committee ‘a disgraceful blight to democracy’. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Helal, Assistant Dean (Sustainability), The University of Melbourne Dubai skylineAleksandarPasaric/Pexels Since ancient times, people have built structures that reach for the skies – from the steep spires of medieval towers to the grand domes of ancient cathedrals and mosques. Today ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Edward Musole, PhD Law Student, University of New England Girts Ragelis/ShutterstockRecent trends show Australians are increasingly buying wearables such as smartwatches and fitness trackers. These electronics track our body movements or vital signs to provide data throughout the day, with ...
Papua New Guinea experienced a significant earthquake on 24 March in East Sepik and there has also been recent flooding there and in surrounding provinces. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Yousuf Mohammed, Dermatology researcher, The University of Queensland Maridav/Shutterstock You wake up, stagger to the bathroom and gaze into the mirror. No, you’re not imagining it. You’ve developed face wrinkles overnight. They’re sleep wrinkles. Sleep wrinkles are temporary. But as your ...
The Environment Select Committee has just announced that 60 percent of individuals who asked to speak at the hearings will not be heard. This equates to almost 700 people who made individual submissions and more than 1000 more who made a form submission. ...
The Royal New Zealand Ballet is performing Swan Lake around the country. What kind of dream does the ballet sell?Before going to see the Royal New Zealand Ballet perform Swan Lake, I had about as much familiarity with the plot of this ballet as could be expected from having ...
A new poem by Auckland poet Eamonn Tee. High Tide at Local Maxima It is only going to get worse. The streams will be narrow and fickle. The week will bend and buckle like a pot-bellied waist. You will make it to the weekend with one ...
The New Zealand entrepreneur behind beauty business Ethique is gearing up to launch a new eco-venture. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Our thirst for a tasty bevvy is insatiable, but it comes with a hefty plastic price for the planet: 580 billion ...
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Chris Finlayson describes the ACT Party and its voters.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2023/11/election-2023-what-stands-in-the-way-of-the-act-party-s-plan-for-a-treaty-of-waitangi-referendum.html
ACT is using this triad:
Delusional defiance of contract law won't get them far. Treaty principles can only be identified in Te Tiriti, not by collective hallucination. Racial harmony in Aotearoa depends on what Maori believe they contracted into in 1840.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2023/11/election-2023-what-stands-in-the-way-of-the-act-party-s-plan-for-a-treaty-of-waitangi-referendum.html
I suspect ACT's attempt to define what the principles of the treaty mean will serve an important (if controversial) purpose….who can honestly say what the phrase "Priciples of the Treaty of Waitangi " means in practice?
If we are to use the Treaty as a basis for how we are governed then it might be important to determine exactly what it means.
I agree, but that triad of theirs looks suspiciously like a blatant attempt to escape from reality. Seymour is gambling on viability of their reframe but on what basis would it get traction? Pakeha solidarity? Not a chance.
If the principles were durable nowadays it would be evident to many; contemporary wordings would already be circulating. More than 30 years of contemplation hasn't distilled into anything like that. Co-governance hasn't been proclaimed nationwide as a treaty principle – yet it is a feasible contender, having accumulated a bunch of laws implementing the notion…
The principles of the Treaty are ours to work out. That's because by talking about the principles we have pragmatically retreated from the actual words of the Treaty. In particular from the Maori version of Article 2 because it emphasises the "status and authority" of Maori over lands and taonga – a notion that is intolerable to the contemporary non-Maori majority because it implies something greater than mere property rights.
The important thing is not to let the ACT Party decide what the principles are.
"The Māori version of article 2 uses the word 'rangatiratanga' in promising to uphold the authority that tribes had always had over their lands and taonga. This choice of wording emphasises status and authority."
Your link
I suspect that most people would have no firm position on article 2 as there is no agreement/.understanding of what that entails….indeed there isnt even a consensus on the meaning of rangitiratanga.
If you object to the use of the 'principles' of the Treaty as opposed to the meaning of either/both versions then you will likely make any agreement even more improbable as the principles were determined to allow the Treaty to be applied in contemporary context.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principles_of_the_Treaty_of_Waitangi
I don't object to the talking about "the principles". I think we are stuck with them just as you say – because the actual wording is unclear and open to very different and maybe quite radical interpretations. By talking about the principles we have an opportunity to de-radicalise the discussion and to acknowledge the practical implications of nearly 200 years of history since it was signed.
But we can still mess it up badly. And it seems to me that the political opportunism of NACT in wanting to regain office at all costs this year, has made it more likely that we do.
That heptad from 1987 seems to be viewed as the status quo:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principles_of_the_Treaty_of_Waitangi
What is interesting about it is the lack of co-governance: the Crown is specified as sovereign. The partners refer to Crown plus chiefs who signed, so the relevance to now is questionable.
While ACT may have intended its referendum as a vote catcher they may in fact end up doing the country a favour in that a discussion about the place of the ToW in NZ governance may result….and not necessarily in the way they intended.
Precisely. Consciousness-raising is good. Folks get to clarify their thinking and discuss any opaque points.
We ought to retain the original intent of the British govt along with acknowledging what the chiefs believed they signed up to, but relevance today is more in spirit than letter of the law to me.
That said, can't deny legal precedence established in court, which can only be replaced by parliamentary majority.
100%
I can't see how anyone acting in good faith could take issue with people wanting to know and have defined exactly what 'the principles' are. This is not a racist or anti Maori or any other. It is a perfectly reasonable position to hold and is simply a request for information and clarity.
If you can't tell me what the principles are then don't expect me to abide by them….How could I, I don't know what they are…..
Then there's the legal side of things…..
All that aside I don't agree with what is documented here as the ACT party's principles. I think Iwi should come up with a definition of the principles that they all agree with and then pass this onto parliament for debate, voting or whatever process is needed. Obviously anything to do with defining the principles of the treaty would require widespread agreement from all parties including the crown.
ACT's underlying paranoidic fear is that the sins of their Mr Monopoly ancestors will come back to haunt them and they are determined to shut the Maoris up and prevent that from being publicised.
Good gravy just give us the Specials already. And a coalition agreement.
Well and truly time we had a clear government again.
Labour still in charge, Hipkins still the PM. The situation shows the propaganda that NZ voted for change is a myth.
Give it a chance I'm sure once rimmer, Baldrick etc strike a deal after results are finalised the wealth transfer, public transport knee capping, cuts to already underfunded area's etc will resume.
National has totally hoodwinked the electorate if they believe this new government will be one of change. National is not and never has been a party of change.
The 90s are calling!
I'm pretty sure that the National Party led some pretty significant changes.
Not saying they were necessarily 'good' changes – but pretty significant movement on the social and political landscape.
If reactionary and regressive policies count as change I guess you are right.
Change is change.
Also, remember, that it was this National Government which passed MMP. Not to say they wanted it – but to do them credit, they implemented the will of the electorate following the referendum.
It was a binding referendum, so they had to implement it.
It would be fair to say they didn't have to hold the referendum in the first place (although Bolger had promised one, so it would have been a very unpopular U-turn). But after the result the decision was no longer theirs to make.
Given the other policies that Bolger did a quick U-turn on, holding a referendum (when the National Party very clearly did not want a change away from FPP) – would have been just another broken promise. At the very least, to change from binding to indicative referendum (at 53.8%, they could have made an argument that the desire for change wasn't 'overwhelming')
And, equally fair to note, that the Lange government did not go to the polls in 1987 with a referendum, nor did the Palmer/Moore government in 1990.
Everyone was so over the current crew, that they voted for the other crew, not expecting any change.
And fwiw, i think Chippy rather spend some times with his new Coalition partner then with his party and his government.
You sound like Paddy Gower.
The result doesn't arrive faster if we sit in the back seat and ask daddy "Are we there yet?".
Graeme Edgeler patiently explains:
Final vote delay criticisms not fair, but daily updates could work – Edgeler | RNZ News
Once a government is formed, only its policies and actions will matter. Not one single voter will cast a vote at the next election "because they took too long 3 years ago".
New Zealand households send 18% of their income to enrich the largely Australian shareholders of the major banks, but everything is fine and perfectly normal in our little economic colony of Australia.
"…The Reserve Bank yesterday said by mid 2024, New Zealand households will be spending around 18 per cent of their income on interest payments…"
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/301000306/newsable-tricky-times-might-prompt-wave-of-small-new-businesses
Does it really matter where the shareholders are from?
At the end of the day they are large banks and whoever owns them doesn't change the fact that they are ……..(list descriptive expletives here)
But to be fair, banks can (mostly) only behave within the rules and laws that our politicians set for them.
I guess you have to be fair to the politicians as well in that we are the ones who elect them so some blame may lie with us.
Although to be fair to us, I can't think of any parties or people up for election who were advocating the sort of things that I think should happen to the banking sector
So I blame the banks and banking / monetary system, which I always have and always will detest; and to a certain extent gutless politicians.
Half the shares in their banks are owned by international funds …
Jacinda and Ashley (and co) were so wonderful in the Covid response. History will be kind to them. Luxon would have caved in to business and opened the borders.
Compare and contrast NZ with the UK and its disastrous Covid response and huge death toll.
"As the pandemic approached, then raged, no one – from the prime minister to the cabinet secretary to the health secretary – seems to have realised how bad they, specifically, were at their own jobs. Now that we’re seeing some of the receipts for their backstage chaos and deadly incompetence, the major takeaways are this country’s systemic inadequacy and the sheer monumental unsuitability of the specific set of people charged with dealing with the crisis. It’s like putting the Real Housewives in charge of the Manhattan Project.
I do, however, think it was notable in this day and age that every single Downing Street pandemic press conference bar one was fronted by a male politician. Covid decision-making didn’t pass the Bechdel test. The mood was months and months and months of guys who knew best standing at a podium telling the public they had it all under control. Look, you know, I’m a big advocate for this kind of positive discrimination, but hearing about the backstage bitching, the emotionalism, the cliques, the endless drama … well, like me, you may be wondering if men are really suited to these important jobs. Might they not be happier simply staying at home?"
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/nov/01/boris-johnson-dominic-cummings-covid-inquiry-no-10
I liked this bit:
A fun estimate of the tax paid from those that survived is abt 300 m per yr
(20000 people at est ave tax of 15 k each)
Bad maths. About 75% of Covid deaths occurred in those over 70, who wouldn't have been taxpayers, but would have been on National Super. At about $25,000 per year, it would have saved $375,000,000
Point abt ages fair,
[please fix the typo in user name in your next comment, thanks – Incognito]
Mod note
OOPs sorry.
Sloppy fingers
Nat Super is Taxed though
The UK's response was disastrous by what measure? Cumulative excess deaths (the only measure that matters) stands at around 10%, about the same as Spain, Italy and Singapore. Another group of countries are clustered around 5%, including Norway, Sweden and Australia. Over the course of the pandemic the UK was at the upper end of stringency of pandemic restrictions comparing with other developed countries. Interestingly, there is almost no correlation between stringency of restrictions and excess death rate. Sweden never closed its schools and never locked down, and yet its results are better than most developed countries.
New Zealand is unique in that it closed itself off from the world completely for a long period. No other developed country could do that to the same extent, except for Australia. It had the odd side effect of making excess deaths significantly negative for a long period as we skipped two flu seasons. If you remove that effect then our excess deaths sit at around 5%.
It's very fashionable to comment about how disastrous the UK response was, but little of the commentary is based on data. Most of it appears to spring from a dislike of Boris Johnson.
Read the Guardian reports on the UK Covid enquiry Patrick…it turns out that the UK response was a complete shambles. (Anybody paying attention knew this already)
I calculated on a pro-rata population basis that NZ would have had 14,000 extra deaths if we had mimicked the UK response. Other people say 20,000.
But forget the deaths and cast your mind back to our economy working well with the closed borders. Rugby and cricket games attended by many thousands without fear of infection. The economy cranking along.
We were so lucky to have Jacinda and Ashley there, and not some slave to business like Luxon/Johnson. Try to back away from your political prejudice and look at the actual numbers.
Seems like a potential Green solution:
The scientists are American but doing Green tech here in Aotearoa, An enterprise worth developing for our future, with US/NZ collaboration.
As we await the election's final results tomorrow, here's where we're at:
Author Max Rashbrooke is a senior research fellow in the School of Government at Victoria University. I presume he discounts the Green alternative due to the 30 years the Greens have spent failing to impress it into the minds of influential academics. The Greens in parliament would probably suggest lack of relevance for that.
If so, Biden will win a 2nd term. Is his formula applicable here? Yes, with a tweak or 2. The Greens have established the basis for using the 2nd & 3rd elements of that triad, so we just need Labour to provide the first.
Rashbrooke is NZ institute or some such isn’t he?
I’ve always looked at his stuff warily. He’s not as bad as Bryce, but he’s not enormously interested in helping out the lower echelons with any urgency.
Could be getting him wrong though: https://www.maxrashbrooke.net/
Whenever I've heard him on RNZ in the past he has seemed to have socialist interests at heart. I see there's a youTube talk he gave to the Fabian Society (where leftists were hanging out a century ago).
Re your reference to lack of urgency, that could just mean he's typical Labour, eh?
Haha very good. Yes, what with the specials favoring the left it was a bit pointed that Labour got none of them.
And so far the media is scarcely reporting, if at all, that the Greens have picked up a seat.
Here she is…
Dunno if this got covered yesterday- but welcome to National world where workers entitlements are paid because of charity and a generous ‘donation’.
Unwrapping this a bit- if the workers were working and the company didn’t have the money to pay their salaries and holiday pay, then there should be convictions. We’re talking about theft in my book, done by trading while insolvent.
We’re going to see more absconding of responsibility. We’ve already seen that their climate change strategy is na-uh. We’ve heard Bill English priming charities to pick up the human cost leaving beneficiaries 17K behind will do.
Here there’s talk of an investor ‘pulling out’, but surely the buck has to stop with somebody? They’re in a business and that sounds like a BS excuse to me.
These are contractual rights, workers property which they’ve already worked for being transferred to someone else. It’s not a gift or a donation. It is someone partially covering theft by someone else.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/133220032/supie-workers-to-receive-final-pay-after-substantial-anonymous-donation
I think this is to do with the insolvency provisions – where staff and contractors are considered to be unsecured creditors – and only get paid out after the secured creditors (typically banks, and other finance companies) have had their cut.
I've felt for a long time that this is wrong. We see it happening every time one of the developers goes broke – the sub-contractor tradies don't get paid, can't retain (unpaid-for) goods and materials, and often struggle to even get their tools back off site.
I'd like to see a law change, which would require companies to:
And the kind of financial sleight of hand, where all of the business assets are owned by one ‘company’ while the staff are paid by another (with no assets) – should be a legal fiction so far as the Insolvency Practitioner is concerned (i.e. it might make financial sense for a profitable company, but shouldn’t be a way of evading responsibilities for one being wound up).
https://archive.ph/LGjf4
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/supie-collapse-why-online-supermarket-didnt-have-enough-cash-to-pay-staff/LSRPISR3AZERLCUZ7HPDDPFUHU/
I'm with you Bella. I've been fortunate enough to never have been affected.
But I've seen so many of my workmates and tradie colleagues go to the wall that I'm surprised more violence hasn't occurred.
Something has to change or we peasantry won't survive
I haven't been personally affected either, but had many conversations with friends and family who are in the 'tradie' economy. The way that developers continue to (legally) rort them is astounding (AND has a major impact on building costs- since the builders have to cover the costs incurred as a result of the poor-business-practice of the developers).
Yet to see any political party brave enough to address this issue. Right won't – because it would be a 'bar' to legitimate capitalism – and they don't want to piss-off the major developers, banks and financiers involved; the Left won't – because they regard self-employed as mini-capitalists – and it's much less important than the chardonnay-socialist issue of the day.
This is the kind of ‘working class’ policy which really matters in West Auckland (and the equivalents in other cities).
Agree Belladonna. That would be responsible.
It’s the mindset of how that is reported too which prevents any change.
People are considered ‘lucky’ to have a job, rather than they have skills which the employers need.
Here we’ve seen a kind ‘donation’ to cover someone’s IMO verging on criminal negligence. The focus is on how plucky the company is and how good the donator is rather than the basically theft of pay and holiday pay.
We’re told an investor went for cigarettes and didn’t come back. How is that allowable? I’ve not seen that questioned or explained.
We’ve seen the slow pace of justice with Mainfreight. We need to see a change in reporting and mindset to allow a climate for any other changes. As you say without action by unions and worksites, don’t expect anything to happen. This election was a classic of what couldn’t be done.
What makes you. presume a Nat paid the donation..? More a leftie action I would have thought..
I don't think there was any assumption in the original comment over whether the donor was left or right. However, having 150K in ready money, may inform that conclusion.
Case 11 of the UNGA oversight of UNSC dereliction of purpose
Russia begins its end of year bombardment of civilian areas of Ukraine.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-67283305
Headline, coming soon … the future of the "waka jumping law".
It's gone under the radar so far, but if/when there is some kind of deal between National and NZF, there might be some amusing amnesia:
National Party electoral spokesman Nick Smith said the bill was “the worst” of the entire term of Parliament and was passed solely because Peters was worried about a repeat of his term in power in the late 1990s, when several of his MPs split off to keep the Jenny Shipley-led government intact.
“This law change is the product of the paranoia of one member who simply wants the power to be able to fire his caucus as a consequence of his personal experience in 1996, and never in a democracy should our electoral law be dominated by one particular person's vendetta and experience.”
Dead rat spat back up: Green Party vote to repeal waka jumping law with National, infuriating Winston Peters | Stuff.co.nz
It's such a bad law that Luxon will
scrap itaccept it.The Waka jumping law is one of those things everyone in the governing elites hate because it dares to hold them to a standard of behaviour that the vast majority of ordinary people find completely reasonable.
Dame Anne Salmond has written a piece against holding a referendum on Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/ideasroom/dame-anne-salmond-on-treaty-referendum
Her third objection is “a referendum at a time when the descendants of the rangatira who signed Te Tiriti are a relatively small minority in the wider population would give them relatively little say in the matter”.
I agree with this objection 100% (cf. my comment https://thestandard.org.nz/seymours-bad-faith-treaty-policy/#comment-1969019).
I wouldn't believe Luxon on many things, but I do believe him when he says he won't have a Treaty referendum. Buying a huge row, to achieve nothing? Not just a question of principle: among the many negative consequences, he'd be losing members of his own caucus.
Luxon is in a prime position to form the pathway to our bicentennary with the Treaty just 17 years away. If anyone remembers Sesqui 1990.
Ardern did her honourable best to build a new bridge to engagement with te ao Maori with the formation of Matariki.
If the last two years have shown us anything, it's shown us some really dumb ways to engage the broader population about the Treaty (not assisted by bad faith actors from within parts of Maori and European alike touring and marching up and down the country).
I expect Luxon will concentrate on fiscal and economic rectitude issues, alas.
I have a lot of faith in the whole of the people of New Zealand that we can hold an intelligent conversation about our constitutional arrangements, and that they include the Treaty.
It took both sides of the House to show we did it with MMP, we did it with the Honours system, we did it with the Supreme Court.
If Labour, Greens and Maori Party said that together they are preparing for 2040 in a manner that won't silence people and will lead to a clear constitutional platform, then the collective left would immediately have something to work on together going into 2025.