It seems the stupidest of actions from the NACTFirst Government.
"The protests on the opening of the 54th Parliament was a signal to the new government.
While Luxon said the protests were “unfair” given they had been in power only a week, the campaign trail leading up to the election had been months, and the coalition parties of the new government have failed to read the room, so to speak.
The new government has failed to read the world as well; it failed to read or ignored the importance many Māori place upon language, culture, and identity.
It seems the stupidest of actions from the NACTFirst Government.
Absolutely designed to appeal to their core base of support.
I'd say absolutely a coldly and clearly considered action. Symbolic (so no pragmatic issues to get in the way – unlike (for example) unwinding 3 waters).
And a strong signal to their base support that they absolutely did mean the things they campaigned on. Probably more important for them than 'reading the world' (whatever that means to Bidois).
The 'Maori only' names for Government departments has been deeply unpopular with a big chunk of the electorate. Not just elderly pakeha (as is often stated).
[NB: I say Maori only – as it has frequently defaulted to being used as the only name of the department used or reported on]
The ‘Maori only’ names for Government departments has been deeply unpopular with a big chunk of the electorate. Not just elderly pakeha (as is often stated).
You’re spreading fact-free, context-less, and nuance-free NACTF talking points and propaganda. Back it up with some evidence and put some (real) effort into it.
Belladonna is certainly not wrong. Many people have no idea what the Te reo name of certain government departments are. These are not bad people, this is something that doesn’t come into their world.
So a story. The industry I work in deals a lot with customers, we speak with them online and over the phone. We also deal with and refer customers to government departments.
All calls and online interactions with our customers are recorded, and a certain percentage of interactions are reviewed by auditors. This is to ensure compliance with government regulations, the safety and security of the customers personal information and their banking etc.
Some bright spark within the team that audits customer interactions decided to start “failing” interactions if the banker didn’t use the Maori name for a government department, They even went so far as failing an interaction because the banker used the English name for the IRD, after the customer asked for clarification after being referred to Te Tarri Take (customer had a tax issue) As the manager of the business unit, I now insist that all failed interactions are referred to either myself or my assistant for review. Prior to this only a compliance breach or an interaction that could result in disciplinary action would come to my attention.
Anyway back to the call where the customer wanted clarification on about Te Tari Takki. The auditor said that we shouldn’t tolerate customers who are “racist”, even though we have a moral and legal obligation to assist all customers regardless of their ethnicity, gender, sexuality, disability, political affiliation.
Who knows? She didn’t provide any context or factual support to back-up her RW talking points. Framing it as a binary of being wrong vs. being right (lower case) is not helpful either. What makes you so certain about it?
Your story of anecdata of customer communications is avoiding the issue raised here too.
Do you and your company disagree with those moral and legal obligations or with the auditor’s (or was it auditors’?) interpretation?
BTW, was your misspelling twice of Te Tari Taake intentional?
These are not bad people, this is something that doesn’t come into their world.
This is a classic straw man argument. I’d have thought that as a manager of a business unit you’d recognise and avoid such a construct. Moreover, something that doesn’t come into my world is not “deeply unpopular” by default; it’s an odd argument that makes you look evasive & defensive.
Incognito, I personally take my legal and moral obligations to our customers seriously, so does my employer. If a customer has been exited from the business, we still hold personal information and them, and they are entitled to access it for at least seven years, if not longer. I expect that my staff treat customers with respect and dignity, at all times. Even those customers who have been exited from the business because of abuse/harassment of staff are to be treated with respect and dignity.
It is not our place to judge customers because they are rich or poor, have a speech impediment or not. And it is certainly not our responsibility place to judge someone for their lack of ability in speaking English or te reo, or any other language. It’s also not our place to judge or correct their spelling, or how they pronounce words. Doing this BTW is a sure fire way for a interaction to head south leading to an satisfactory interaction.
No I haven’t misspelled any word, either intentionally nor unintentionally. If you decide to spell a word differently to me, & feel the desire to comment on how I spell, or pronounce a word, then that is up to you. However from my experience, unless you’re in a training session with someone, jumping in and “correcting” someone is not usually constructive, unless of course you know the person well enough to deliver the message in a way that person will take onboard with out feeling belittled. Not everyone is as pedantic as others are about such things. What is important to you, is not necessarily important to someone else, this is genuinely not an issue, except to insufferable busybodies who have an urge to police others.
As for changing the names of government agencies to “English first”, I don’t ever recall any genuine discussion about changing the name of government agencies to “te reo” first. But I do recall that people were”denounced” if they didn’t agree with it. Essentially the current government is reverting back to what the general population understands.
There are many interesting things about where I work. We talk all day to customers over the phone, we usually lead the conversation, so we can resolve the issues. But often we get a sense of the real person, in a way that we don’t when that same person comes into a branch and is in public. What often strikes me is the genuine decency of the vast majority of people. They are all trying to live their lives, look after their families, protect what little money they have and get some enjoyment from their had lives and families. All they really need is to be listened to (even when they are wrong), feel they have been understood, are valued, and to have their issues addressed and resolved.
Most people probably don’t mind about government agencies having a te reo name, however people need to know or understand who the te reo name refers to. Generally speaking people don’t, & it’s something in my job that I hear everyday. If we have to advise the the customer that they must go to a government department called “te tari taki” and the customer doesn’t know who or what that is, then what is the point of the name change? This is then compounded by self appointed “cultural police” who object when our staff clarify to customers what the customer needs to do, to ensure that the customer fully understands what the customer needs to do to resolve their issues.
BTW, I have come across a customer interaction that was marked down, because the staff member referred to an elderly customer’s husband as the “customers husband” and not “customers partner”.
My employer has no policy on using te reo first and only when referring to government. It is however policy that we have an obligation to the customer, it is our obligation to ensure that the customer understands what we require them to do.
Unfortunately all large organisations have little cliques that from time to time gain de facto authority and then become a law unto themselves. So in this case several auditors see themselves as being at the forefront of “cultural change”. I have remained them that this is not what they are employed to do.
Robert, I've been around long enough to have seen different cliques (from all political sides) talking amongst themselves, coming to a conclusion or decision and then believing that they are right and speak for us all. These people are then firstly horrified, then terribly insulted, that "others" can have a different opinion.
The renaming of government agencies should, in my opinion, be a matter for public discussion. These government agencies exist for the benefit of all citizens, not just a select few who are on the inside. What is the point if we do not have buy in by the citizens? We then get resistance, dissatisfaction from the public, and the change achieves nothing. The lRD, or ministry of health do not improve their services due to the name change. All that happens is that people have no idea what the newly named government agency is. This is something we in my business hear every day, and it's not old white people, most people who we refer to kianga ora (for first home assistance) are young, almost always we have to tell them that kianga ora was housing NZ, and no, it's not just for maori.
Surely the intention with any change is to bring people with you. To do other wise just causes resentment. People vote, and they have the freedom to vote for whomever they wish. As the left especially labour found to their cost.
All government agencies should have the name primarily in english, by all means have a secondary te Reo name. The majority of people in this country have little understanding of te Reo, even young people just out of high school. From my experience te Reo is of little importance to most people, but they may not feel comfortable saying this to you. That then becomes a problem.
BTW, I'm often involved with interviewing new employees. This time of year we take on young people, fresh out of high school. Throughout the year I will have several confidential 1 on 1's with these new employees. My aim is to understand their progress, and to ensure that they know I value their contribution, and how I can assist with their future. I also become aware of problems that I would not normally be aware of. Due to this process I get a good understanding of what is important to younger people. I've come to the conclusion that they are no different than we were back in the 80's.
Ignore the people at your peril, if they don't feel safe telling you what they really feel, they will tell you what they believe you what to hear. We spend 10's of millions on systems (the decision was way above my pay grade) that don't work, employees can't use, they then revert to the old system, which does the job, even though it's old-fashioned and no longer hip.
My old mentor once told me that unless it is necessary to change, it is necessary not to change. We risk spending huge sums of money, with nothing but a superficial appearance that things have changed. While we as managers feel a warm glow of pride of achievement, the employees leave work on a Friday and go to the pub, and complain that management are useless and incompetent. I fully appreciate that employees will always complain about us, but it's dangerous when they are right.
The same happens in politics, the voters are always right, even when you or I think or believe that they are wrong.
“What the government actually does is way more important than what Government Departments are called.”
Boris Sokratov makes a tongue in cheek argument that “Māori names should be immediately removedfrom all government departments” precisely because what they are doing is so negatively perceived.
You seem have a problem with staying in-focus and tend to drift into pet peeves and the likes.
TS is a safe and inclusive public forum aka blog site for robust debate. Commenters bring their views & opinions here to deliberate. Views & opinions, and all the associated feelings & emotions, have a foundation in reality and this reality is a shared (aka common) discernible one.
Please don’t imply that te reo and Māori culture, history and heritage are some kind of fashionable trend, a fad, of “a superficial appearance” that’s hip and the good ole colonial system is the ever-reliable old system that people revert to because (!) it “does the job”.
We’re talking about NZ society here, not about (disgruntled?) employees letting off steam in the pub on a Friday or school leavers having confidential one-on-one evaluation/performance talks with a much more senior manager who’s got fixed & firm personal ideas about how things used to be (in the 80s?) and how they should be again, in society, in/with government, and within his organisation.
Incognito, I have no problem staying focused, you may however be lacking in the ability to keep up. I will put that down to the time of year, presumably you are still recovering from the Xmas festivities.
It's not uncommon for cliques to form, and to adopt behaviours, attitudes, likes and dislikes to make themselves looking good. This is obvious to everyone, except those who belong to those cliques. They are the ones being superficial. In the case of using te Reo as a status symbol, these people lessen the mana of the language.
All employees will be disgruntled with their employers. Just like all citizens will be disgruntled with the current government and the political system. You can't please all of the people all of the time. Disgruntled employees, and disgruntled citizens, are what society is made up of. Everyone is disgruntled if they do not adhere to your ideology. You may dismiss them, but that is a mistake.
We all have a responsibility to the community we live in. As we all move along on our journey of life, we gain experience, good, bad & neutral. From a certain age, as a grown adult, it is our responsibility to guide those younger than ourselves, especially when we have gained a position of responsibility, such as a manager who is responsible for young adults, or a parent with children, and a younger brother who has a nephew or niece. Responsibilities should not be taken lightly, nor too seriously, those who are starting their journey into adulthood do need guidance, they also need the freedom to make mistakes and to learn from them.
I had a mentor who flew Lancaster bombers in WW2, he had some amazing stories from the war, though mostly about english pubs, good mates & flying. He certainly didn't understand my taste in rock music, or casual clothes, or politics. But his guidance, support and encouragement were of the upmost value to me. As I have grown older, I find strength in the advice I received from my elders. It is now my time to be a mentor to those who are younger to me.
Everything and nothing has changed when I compare high school leavers of today, with what we were back in the '80's, except the music and fashion. Social media didn't exist in the form it is today, but ideas still traveled around the world.
One thing that has changed is how we manage, train & retain staff. A lot of what we do now has been due to the mistakes people of my generation were subjected to when we were young. We no longer tolerate bullying, sexual harrisment or many other forms of discrimination in the workplace. Although it may happen, I for one will not tolerate it.
Politics is subjective…or a matter of opinion if you prefer.
The important point of a democracy is that the members of a society who did not support the resulting government at the ballot box are wise enough to understand that despite that fact they are still better off than if they had no ability to participate in the selection of the policies that will govern their (and theirs) lives.
The first point flows in to the second….what other system provides the opportunity to remove an administration that the majority of a society believe are not acting in the interests of that society short of violence?
If you can identify one it may warrant consideration, but (subjectively) I cannot.
The first two paragraphs were virtue signalling and they did not answer the question about the auditing.
You spelled the same words differently each time and neither case was the spelling as used on the official website (Inland Revenue – Te Tari Taake; https://www.ird.govt.nz/). Given the tone and content of your comments, this raised the possibility of micro-aggression and from your latest reaction, this sense of hidden hostility has got stronger.
I don’t know about an official edict to change government names to te reo first and certainly not to “ 'Maori only' names” (according to Belladonna, who’s “certainly not wrong”, according to you) and you may have to do some research to support this before you jump to conclusions, as it were. So, people were “denounced” [were those scare quotes?] by people when disagreeing!? That’s smoke & mirrors stuff right there.
The next paragraph is more virtue signalling, both personal and corporate.
The following paragraph is a bunch of generalisations and hand waving. I take it that the legally required auditors are not the same as those “self appointed “cultural police” “ that you conjured up. As does Belladonna, you make vague statements as if they’re well-known facts and common sense, i.e., commonly accepted ‘truths’. This is the problem that both of you seem to wilfully ignore or deny.
Your last three paragraphs are irrelevant, repetitive, and suggest that you have problems at/with work-related stuff; talk to your HR department (it may have a different name in your organisation).
Incognito, I have not made any spelling mistakes. If you believe that I have, then that is okay with me. You can believe that the earth is flat if you do desire, it is of no concern to me what you believe. You are not at that stage in your life.
It is my personal opinion that people who focus too much on things like spelling, grammar or the correct pronunciation of words are in more dire need of a b@!w job than any white man history. (Credit to Robin Williams). If you’re not white, or male, I apologise to you. But you may have spent way too much time around some straight ass while dudes. You need to learn to look deeper and to seek to understand without judgement.
May I suggest you partake in some really good “electric puha” you may find the experience mind expanding and as a result you may understand the world around differently. Failing that, I suggest you go out into the world, experience real life with real people. Experience the ups and downs, failures and successes. Know what it is like to crash from on high, and then claw your way back, inch by inch, learning from your failures and heartbreaks along the way.
I’m bored with you, you have neither the wit or intelligence to interest me. You obviously are far too young and inexperienced with life. This is not your fault. When you are young you get to the stage where you need to strike out on your own, and to experience life. I wish you all the best. I have little doubt that in the future, when you have learned about life you will become interesting, and much less boring.
In the meantime you seriously need to get laid, man or woman, maybe both. Being stoned may also help you.
[Please correct your email in your next comment, thanks – Incognito]
I don’t doubt that other people share the same feeling and agree with the same general vibe. But that wasn’t the point of my comment. And it really isn’t hard at all to argue from one corner and find like-minded people, Social Media are great for that, BTW – the ‘likes’ are designed for that and to encourage it.
I guess time will tell whether these and other people who supported having names in Te Reo meant what they said at the time and whether the current government changes those people's position and views.
We see a warping of te reo Maori in these circumstances – a negating of its spiritual character in order to refer to more tangible things. “Whakapapa” in those instances merely refers to genealogy, “whanau” to human family.
When I'm sitting on an Auckland AT bus most of the time there is audio going of the next stop coming – first stated in Maori and then English IMO 90% of the people on the bus have no idea what the message in Maori is. I imagine some of that % may be irratated by this – I myself regard it as a sign of the times and that I've gotten old but I wouldn't be surprised if many felt like they were being force fed.
I also can imagine that some people on the bus might sometimes get irritated at the audio in te reo first and English second or the message in te reo at all. But we’re still firmly stuck in social media and talkback reckons.
Well as we all love analogies think of it as a TV that you have to watch but it only plays Maori TV and you don't understand the language and you are being compelled to watch it because some woke individual has decided that it's neccessary for the 'good' of society.
Ignoring or dismissing what people think or say because they do not confirm to your worldview is a mistake. Sometimes going through the discomfort of listening to viewpoints that challenge yours can be a important step in your growth and development.
If you have a mind to become a politician, you ignore the people at your peril. They don’t appreciate being dismissed or as one US presidential candidate did , she referred to a group the people as “deplorables”. If you do this you will rightly lose respect.
Ignore the No Fire signs in the haystack at your peril when you light a match to find your way out of your self-constructed hay-maze chased by imaginary straw men of your own making. Lay off the stuff for a while.
When you repeat RW talking points without any critical commentary and/or correction and without making it clear that you don’t agree with those points then the default assumption is that you do agree with them and that you intentionally repeat them here on TS. In which case scrolling on is not even a matter of an implicit agree-to-disagree but a failure to push back on the RW talking points and on the commenting behaviour.
If you wanted to gaslight people here then you couldn’t have done a better job
The 'Maori only' names for Government departments has been deeply unpopular with a big chunk of the electorate. Not just elderly pakeha (as is often stated).
Even Luxon propagated the idea of "older people" in a misery of "te reo confusion".
“When I have older people in particular, who can’t tell the difference between Te Whatu Ora, Waka Kotahi or Te Pūkenga, that’s a problem,” he [Luxon] said.
“This is the first government that I can recall which has quite explicitly said, ‘we’ll have less of that,’ not ‘we’ll have more of it,’” said Shaw.
“So, this really is an awkward, unsettled moment.”
Seems politically productive (still!) to stir the anti-Māori pot in Aotearoa NZ
If not for Luxon, then maybe for Seymour, and certainly for Peters.
Wasn't aware that "'Maori only' names" was a thing (policy?) for govt depts, but whether or not it was/is, it would be interesting to try to pin down why these names have "been deeply unpopular with a big chunk of the electorate."
Confusion? Fear? Racism? Obvious regressive yearning for more 'convenient' times? Ah, for the days when an incoming National govt would legislate to change "New Zealand Day" to "Waitangi Day" – now that was a name change.
"The arbitrary acts of using English first or removing Māori names function as a form of symbolic violence towards all those who have taken up learning te reo Māori, but particularly towards our mokopuna, tamariki and rangatahi within kōhanga, kura kaupapa and whare kura and to all our kaumātua and kuia who have fought for so long for the revival of the language."
It’s deeply disingenuous to ignore the huge power imbalance in all of this, and in culture wars in general. English and the so-called English (aka colonial), or should I say British, culture was never under any real threat here in New Zealand.
English and the so-called English (aka colonial), or should I say British, culture was never under any real threat here in New Zealand.
That is your view. And it may even be correct. However, there are elements of society which deeply disagree with you, and did, indeed, feel under threat.
Divisive language e.g. characterizing the action as "symbolic violence" makes the separation worse, and closes out any opportunity to negotiate mutually acceptable outcomes.
I don't think anyone is remotely interested in an "opportunity to negotiate mutually acceptable outcomes"…
Given that you’re commenting here on TS, this claim is absolutely, categorically, and demonstratively incorrect and untrue. In fact, if you had any inkling of NZ politics or politics at all then you’d not made such a bizarre assertion. Thus, your comment implies that you’re projecting, at best …
That would mean that people ended up happy, and then there would be no need for political parties.
Here we go again. Where do you stand on this? Can you support your view with facts, data, evidence, anything at all, except a vibe and a feeling??
However, there are elements of society which deeply disagree with you, and did, indeed, feel under threat.
A feeling doesn’t make it real, as in factual. Repeating it often and loudly enforces/reinforces the feeling but doesn’t make it real either. Manufacturing discontent isn’t hard. Further, who/where/what are those “elements”? Are they the same as that “big chunk of the electorate” that you mentioned before?
On the one hand, you gladly (it seems) acknowledge the ‘deep feelings’ of some people (or ‘elements of society’, whatever that means), yet on the other hand, you argue strongly (it seems) against people who feel similarly (?) strong about these actions to call it “symbolic violence”. Yet, you go to great lengths to avoid the appearance of taking sides or a position at all!? At the same time, you draw rather strong conclusions from a relatively innocuous academic term. I’d call that over-reaching.
BTW, I’d love to hear your alternative for “symbolic violence”, if you have any. What do you think captures the essence/meaning of it best, in the given context?
My view isn't particularly important, I was responding to the initial "what were they (as in the government) thinking…..
However, IMO, renaming agencies doesn't really matter much, either way. I will admit to a slight preference for English – but it's not a hill I'd want to die on.
What the government actually does is way more important than what Government Departments are called.
But I'm not the core constituency which the Government is appealing to with this policy.
I acknowledge that some people (on both sides) feel strongly about the issue. Please note the word feel this is all about the way people feel, rather than a 'factual' approach. If you are hoping for an entirely fact-based approach to political policy in NZ, you are doomed to frustration.
Ad has already provided a link to surveys which show a substantial part of the electorate (49%) support English names for Government departments. However, here is the link again.
49% want government departments to be known by their English name = 1.9x more than the 26% who don’t.
But I don't find divisive language to be a helpful approach. It deepens differences, rather than finds a way forward (of course, that may be the intent).
Please note that many Maori were already …. critical… of Te Reo names for Government Departments.
Please note that many Maori were already …. critical… of Te Reo names for Government Departments.
How "many Maori"? Was the 2020 opinion piece that you linked to, critical of te Reo Māori names per se? Reads more like a broad critique of (perceived) patronising tokenism – Smale doesn't strike me as someone who would support anti-Māori (names) legislation.
If the state wants a few Māori words that it wants to adopt, start with the second article of the Māori version of the Treaty of Waitangi. There’s a big Māori phrase in there that the Crown has always tried to avoid – Tino Rangatiratanga. Right now that concept might be more relevant than ever, not just for Māori but for the country as a whole as we face an uncertain future. The political, economic and environmental trends we’ve slavishly followed for decades have been exposed as not only redundant but actually dangerous.
…
Let’s start a conversation about what Tino Rangatiratanga might mean now instead of patronising attempts to use Māori language to continue denying it.
If I made a short list of the "many Māori" "already …. critical… of Te Reo names for Government Departments", Peters and Seymour would be right up there. Not sure about Health Minister CigaReti – he's been (strangely?) silent about this 'transformative' distraction.
Hope Luxon's CEO experience equipped him with skills to pilot NZ away from the turbulence of racial enmity, assuming that's something he wants to avoid. But maybe our new government’s navigation options are limited to regressive legislation, given all those lovely tax cuts. Time will tell.
Please note the word feel this is all about the way people feel…
Noted, and it seems you and Maipi-Clarke are of like mind on this.
“In only a couple of weeks, in only 14 days, this government has attacked my whole world from every corner,” she [Maipi-Clarke] said, listing its proposed changes to Māori affairs. “How can I not take anything personally when it feels like these policies were made about me?”
My view isn't particularly important, … [my italics]
… feel free to scroll on by.
When you comment here, your view is important and how you argue for it.
When you hide behind RW talking points, you can expect to be called out.
When you repeat (without quotes!) RW assertions without criticism, you open yourself to the missing criticism.
When you put up binaries/false dichotomies, as you just did again, you will be called out because it is poor debating.
And when you repeat your dislike of ‘divisive language’ without providing a suitable alternative you’re simply complaining for the sake of it and not being constructive.
Of course, some Māori would object to ‘colonising’ their language. However, it appears that some of those objectors would rather go a lot further in adopting te reo and their way of thinking. As always, a critic’s job is only half done if they don’t provide an alternative or possible solution – the same applies to participating in robust debate here on TS. Obviously, we here are interested in the government’s thinking/reasoning and its PR spin and persuasive arguments, language, and narrative. However, instead of following those party lines, we are even more interested in chipping our own path of deliberation and finding ways forward. At least some of us here are but you don’t seem to be so sure, are you?
The actual equivalence would be: Someone rips out all of the flowers and plants their own = violence. The next person rips out all of the new flowers and replants = violence.
Same actions on both sides. Equally abhorrent to the onlooker who just wants nice flowers, and not have to pay the bills for continuous replanting.
In deciding on whether or not to add a Māori title to the English one we'd been used to using, our organisation consulted with Manawhenua first, accepted their suggestion, then ran with the suggestion. Now we have both. We didn't feel we needed to hold a referendum, nor put the proposal out for public consultation – in reality, not "ripping up the flowers", nor "violence".
Ironically, BD’s attempt at equivalence was a false equivalence in its own right because it was a false equivalence from the outset – a double negative, false-false. She’s beaten more shit out of the pudding than a fan ever could – it is metaphorical violence.
49% of respondents wanted English names in this survey. It beggars belief that they were all elderly pakeha.
Who is asserting "that they were all elderly pakeha"? That would be a nonsense.
Imho, it would be interesting to pin down why Māori names have "been deeply unpopular with a big chunk of the electorate" – I know my father doesn't like hearing te reo, but you can't please (or fool) everyone, at least not all the time.
62 percent (up from 57 percent) of people agreed or strongly agreed that te reo Māori should be a core subject in primary schools
57 percent (up from 53 percent) agreed or strongly agreed that the government should encourage and support the use of te reo Māori in everyday situations
56 percent (up from 51 percent) agreed or strongly agreed that signage should be in both te reo Māori and English
44 percent (up from 39 percent) agreed or strongly agreed that it would be good if all people living in New Zealand spoke te reo Māori and English.
Some Kiwis believe these trends are positive – ka haere tonu te tautohetohe.
National are simply in full continuity with Labour trashing its pro-Maori policies months before the election. It is absolutely clear that this government have massive public support for it.
Neither of them will be given an inch at Waitangi, and nor should they.
But then once Waitangi Day is done, it's back to delivering good policy for all.
If public support for trashing pro-Māori policies is 'massive', then 'the public' has lost it big time, imho. But hey, it's an effective distraction, as others have observed.
Indeed, eroding support for te reo in the public sphere and simultaneously normalising the opposite so that those RW talking points and spreading & repeating them becomes normative, even here on TS. This is not [through] deliberation but [through] persuasion – it doesn’t bode well for any public debate on the Treaty in the push for a referendum.
National believe they can deliver all relevant public services without specific ethnic distinction, and give better results than the previous government.
From social welfare 35% of population, to injury and hospital use, to prisons 52% of total, to renting 85% , lifespan negative 7 years against others, gang membership 77% Maori, the disproportionate needs of Maori are so clear. National will need amazing delivery results to show that not targeting Maori was the right policy idea.
The social conservatives have used identity politics to distract from wealth inequality since the extension of the franchise to all citizens.
Thus they cite liberals doing it, as a progressive threat to an established social and cultural privilege.
Apparently it is some sort of alliance of privilege, religion heritage and culture God and imperial capital mammon – that is ages old. Pre democratic era hierarchy under God, to the manor born Tory'ism and new world order Catholicism in white race nation Protestant Christian dominionism lockstep.
This is why I don't get people blaming the left for this.
In the 90's I met a very well-off women who was talking about "those sluts on DPB". Within the same conversation she then spoke about her son on his trip around Europe sowing his wild oats before coming home to get married. Even spoke of his need to learn and practice before marriage so he could be a proper husband.
No sense of contradiction at all.
The rules they have for themselves versus the rules they (try to) impose on the working class are chalk and cheese. Their moral standards are the emperor's new clothes – always have been. If you have money rules don't apply e.g. monogamy, tax evasion, cash jobs, etc.
I'm pretty sure their objection to sole parents is more that they are not in the workforce working for a pittance more than anything else.
I can ‘move’ it if you reply to Robert @ 1 with a placeholder reply comment. Otherwise I cannot ‘move’ it for you. Alternatively, you copy & paste your own comment (i.e., the one I’m replying to, currently @ 2) in a reply to Robert @ 1, which then effectively becomes a duplicate comment, and I’ll then delete this comment (currently @ 2).
According to young visitors we had the other day this charade of a Govt won’t last until next Christmas. They were very unimpressed with all the repeal under urgency and secrecy. Can’t help but agree with them. If Winston Peters is also starting to look a bit jaded. How long can he keep up the snarling grin. Going to be potholes galore.
IMO depends a bit on the media – if they are "see no evil ,hear no evil, speak no evil" as far these RW loons are concerned it will take longer – I guess we have to hope for lots of "if it bleeds it leads"
In the House, the Opposition will have a glorious time eviscerating the Government – too, too much material to work with. The NACTFirst ministers will become defensive and will be reported upon – they can't keep their cockiness up for long under the prolonged pressure that's coming their way.I think James Shaw's "what evidence have you received…" approach is the one; they've batted it away in the lead up to Christmas, but that's a temporary respite for them – that sort of carelessness cannot be sustained.
A lot will depend on the msm attitude. If they get a sniff of blood in the water, like sharks, they can’t help themselves. A feeding frenzy will ensue.
This is an interview with 'cancelled comic writer' Graham Linehan (Father Ted, Black Books, I.T. Crowd).
It raises some interesting points. 'Gamergate', the ideology of British comedy, the danger of uninformed majorities, The Denton document (avoid the media, don't talk about the issue), "thought terminating cliche".
TOKYO/HOUSTON, U.S. — Growth in the trading of emissions credits has hit a snag, with the effectiveness of carbon offset projects, such as forest conservation, being called into question and demand for carbon offsets plunging.
As airlines and other major buyers of emissions credits have begun to shun the market, carbon credit futures have fallen 90% from their peak, making it difficult for the financial instrument to play a major role in global decarbonization.
Today, I stumbled across a Twitter Meme: the ending of The Lord of the Rings as a Chess scenario: https://x.com/mellon_heads/status/1887983845917564991 It gets across the basic gist. Aragorn and Gandalf offering up ‘material’ at the Morannon allows Frodo and Samwise to catch Sauron unawares – fair enough. But there are a ...
Last week, Kieran McAnulty called out Chris Bishop and Nicola Willis for their claims that Kāinga Ora’s costs were too high.They had claimed Kāinga Ora’s cost were 12% higher than market i.e. private devlopersBut Kāinga Ora’s Chair had already explained why last year:"We're not building to sell, so we'll be ...
Stuff’s Political Editor Luke Malpass - A Fellow at New Zealand IniativeLast week I half-joked that Stuff / The Post’s Luke Malpass1 always sounded like he was auditioning for a job at the New Zealand Initiative.Mountain Tui is a reader-supported publication. For a limited time, subscriptions are 20% off. Thanks ...
At a funeral on Friday, there were A4-sized photos covering every wall of the Dil’s reception lounge. There must have been 200 of them, telling the story in the usual way of the video reel but also, by enlargement, making it more possible to linger and step in.Our friend Nicky ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with members from our team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is methane the ...
The Government’s idea is that the private sector and Community Housing Providers will fund, build and operate new affordable housing to address our housing crisis. Meanwhile, the Government does not know where almost half of the 1,700 children who left emergency housing actually went. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong ...
Oh, home, let me come homeHome is wherever I'm with youOh, home, let me come homeHome is wherever I'm with youSongwriters: Alexander Ebert / Jade Allyson CastrinosMorena,I’m on a tight time frame this morning. In about an hour and a half, I’ll need to pack up and hit the road ...
This is a post about the Mountain Tui substack, and small tweaks - further to the poll and request post the other day. Please don’t read if you aren’t interested in my personal matters. Thank you all.After oohing-and-aahing about how to structure the Substack model since November, including obtaining ...
This transcript of a recent conversation between the Prime Minister and his chief economic adviser has not been verified.We’ve announced we are the ‘Yes Government’. Do you like it?Yes, Prime Minister.Dreamed up by the PR team. It’s about being committed to growth. Not that the PR team know anything about ...
The other day, Australian Senator Nick McKim issued a warning in the Australian Parliement about the US’s descent into fascim.And of course it’s true, but I lament - that was true as soon as Trump won.What we see is now simply the reification of the intention, planning, and forces behind ...
Among the many other problems associated with Musk/DOGE sending a fleet of teenage and twenty-something cultists to remove, copy and appropriate federal records like social security, medicaid and other supposedly protected data is the fact that the youngsters doing the data-removal, copying and security protocol and filter code over-writing have ...
Jokerman dance to the nightingale tuneBird fly high by the light of the moonOh, oh, oh, JokermanSong by Bob Dylan.Morena folks, I hope this fine morning of the 7th of February finds you well. We're still close to Paihia, just a short drive out of town. Below is the view ...
It’s been an eventful week as always, so here’s a few things that we have found interesting. We also hope everyone had a happy and relaxing Waitangi Day! This week in Greater Auckland We’re still running on summer time, but provided two chewy posts: On Tuesday, a guest ...
Queuing on Queen St: the Government is set to announce another apparently splashy growth policy on Sunday of offering residence visas to wealthy migrants. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Friday, February 7:PM Christopher ...
The fact that Waitangi ended up being such a low-key affair may mark it out as one of the most significant Waitangi Days in recent years. A group of women draped in “Toitu Te Tiriti” banners who turned their backs on the politicians’ powhiri was about as rough as it ...
Hi,This week’s Flightless Bird episode was about “fake seizure guy” — a Melbourne man who fakes seizures in order to get members of the public to sit on him.The audio documentary (which I have included in this newsletter in case you don’t listen to Flightless Bird) built on reporting first ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Karin Kirk The 119th Congress comes with a price tag. The oil and gas industry gave about $24 million in campaign contributions to the members of the U.S. House and Senate expected to be sworn in January 3, 2025, according to a ...
Early morning, the shadows still long, but you can already feel the warmth building. Our motel was across the road from the historic homestead where Henry Williams' family lived. The evening before, we wandered around the gardens, reading the plaques and enjoying the close proximity to the history of the ...
Thanks folks for your feedback, votes and comments this week. I’ll be making the changes soon. Appreciate all your emails, comments and subscriptions too. I know your time is valuable - muchas gracias.A lot is happening both here and around the world - so I want to provide a snippets ...
Data released today by Statistics NZ shows that unemployment rose to 5.1%, with 33,000 more people out of work than last year said NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi Economist Craig Renney. “The latest data shows that employment fell in Aotearoa at its fastest rate since the GFC. Unemployment rose in 8 ...
The December labour market statistics have been released, showing yet another increase in unemployment. There are now 156,000 unemployed - 34,000 more than when National took office. And having thrown all these people out of work, National is doubling down on cruelty. Because being vicious will somehow magically create the ...
Boarded up homes in Kilbirnie, where work on a planned development was halted. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, February 5 are;Housing Minister Chris Bishop yesterday announcedKāinga Ora would be stripped of ...
This week Kiwirail and Auckland Transport were celebrating the completion of the summer rail works that had the network shut or for over a month and the start of electric trains to Pukekohe. First up, here’s parts of the press release about the shutdown works. Passengers boarding trains in Auckland ...
Through its austerity measures, the coalition government has engineered a rise in unemployment in order to reduce inflation while – simultaneously – cracking down harder and harder on the people thrown out of work by its own policies. To that end, Social Development Minister Louise Upston this week added two ...
This year, we've seen a radical, white supremacist government ignoring its Tiriti obligations, refusing to consult with Māori, and even trying to legislatively abrogate te Tiriti o Waitangi. When it was criticised by the Waitangi Tribunal, the government sabotaged that body, replacing its legal and historical experts with corporate shills, ...
Poor old democracy, it really is in a sorry state. It would be easy to put all the blame on the vandals and tyrants presently trashing the White House, but this has been years in the making. It begins with Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan and the spirit of Gordon ...
The new school lunches came in this week, and they were absolutely scrumptious.I had some, and even though Connor said his tasted like “stodge” and gave him a sore tummy, I myself loved it!Look at the photos - I knew Mr Seymour wouldn’t lie when he told us last year:"It ...
The tighter sanctions are modelled on ones used in Britain, which did push people off ‘the dole’, but didn’t increase the number of workers, and which evidence has repeatedly shown don’t work. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, ...
Catching you up on the morning’s global news and a quick look at the parallels -GLOBALTariffs are backSharemarkets in the US, UK and Europe have “plunged” in response to Trump’s tariffs. And while Mexico has won a one month reprieve, Canada and China will see their respective 25% and 10% ...
This post by Nicolas Reid was originally published on Linked in. It is republished here with permission. Gondolas are often in the news, with manufacturers of ropeway systems proposing them as a modern option for mass transit systems in New Zealand. However, like every next big thing in transport, it’s hard ...
This is a re-post from The Climate BrinkBoth 2023 and 2024 were exceptionally warm years, at just below and above 1.5C relative to preindustrial in the WMO composite of surface temperature records, respectively. While we are still working to assess the full set of drivers of this warmth, it is clear that ...
Hi,I woke up feeling nervous this morning, realising that this weekend Flightless Bird is going to do it’s first ever live show. We’re heading to a sold out (!) show in Seattle to test the format out in front of an audience. If it works, we’ll do more. I want ...
From the United-For-Now States of America comes the thrilling news that a New Zealander may be at the very heart of the current coup. Punching above our weight on the world stage once more! Wait, you may be asking, what New Zealander? I speak of Peter Thiel, made street legal ...
Even Stevens: Over the 33 years between 1990 and 2023 (and allowing for the aberrant 2020 result) the average level of support enjoyed by the Left and Right blocs, at roughly 44.5 percent each, turns out to be, as near as dammit, identical.WORLDWIDE, THE PARTIES of the Left are presented ...
Back in 2023, a "prominent political figure" went on trial for historic sex offences. But we weren't allowed to know who they were or what political party they were "prominent" in, because it might affect the way we voted. At the time, I said that this was untenable; it was ...
I'm going, I'm goingWhere the water tastes like wineI'm going where the water tastes like wineWe can jump in the waterStay drunk all the timeI'm gonna leave this city, got to get awayI'm gonna leave this city, got to get awayAll this fussing and fighting, man, you know I sure ...
Waitangi Day is a time to honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi and stand together for a just and fair Aotearoa. Across the motu, communities are gathering to reflect, kōrero, and take action for a future built on equity and tino rangatiratanga. From dawn ceremonies to whānau-friendly events, there are ...
Subscribe to Mountain Tūī ! Where you too can learn about exciting things from a flying bird! Tweet.Yes - I absolutely suck at marketing. It’s a fact.But first -My question to all readers is:How should I set up the Substack model?It’s been something I’ve been meaning to ask since November ...
Here’s the key news, commentary, reports and debate around Aotearoa’s political economy on politics and in the week to Feb 3:PM Christopher Luxon began 2025’s first day of Parliament last Tuesday by carrying on where left off in 2024, letting National’s junior coalition partner set the political agenda and dragging ...
The PSA have released a survey of 4000 public service workers showing that budget cuts are taking a toll on the wellbeing of public servants and risking the delivery of essential services to New Zealanders. Economists predict that figures released this week will show continued increases in unemployment, potentially reaching ...
The Prime Minister’s speech 10 days or so ago kicked off a flurry of commentary. No one much anywhere near the mainstream (ie excluding Greens supporters) questioned the rhetoric. New Zealand has done woefully poorly on productivity for a long time and we really need better outcomes, and the sorts ...
President Trump on the day he announced tariffs against Mexico, Canada and China, unleashing a shock to supply chains globally that is expected to slow economic growth and increase inflation for most large economies. Photo: Getty ImagesLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate ...
Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on UnsplashHere’s what we’re watching in the week to February 9 and beyond in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty:Monday, February 3Politics: New Zealand Government cabinet meeting usually held early afternoon with post-cabinet news conference possible at 4 pm, although they have not been ...
Trump being Trump, it won’t come as a shock to find that he regards a strong US currency (bolstered by high tariffs on everything made by foreigners) as a sign of America’s virility, and its ability to kick sand in the face of the world. Reality is a tad more ...
A listing of 24 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, January 26, 2025 thru Sat, February 1, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
What seems to be the common theme in the US, NZ, Argentina and places like Italy under their respective rightwing governments is what I think of as “the politics of cruelty.” Hate-mongering, callous indifference in social policy-making, corporate toadying, political bullying, intimidation and punching down on the most vulnerable with ...
If you are confused, check with the sunCarry a compass to help you alongYour feet are going to be on the groundYour head is there to move you aroundSo, stand in the place where you liveSongwriters: Bill Berry / Michael Mills / Michael Stipe / Peter Buck.Hot in the CityYesterday, ...
Shane Jones announced today he would be contracting out his thinking to a smarter younger person.Reclining on his chaise longue with a mouth full of oysters and Kina he told reporters:Clearly I have become a has-been, a palimpsest, an epigone, a bloviating fossil. I find myself saying such things as: ...
Warning: This post contains references to sexual assaultOn Saturday, I spent far too long editing a video on Tim Jago, the ACT Party President and criminal, who has given up his fight for name suppression after 2 years. He voluntarily gave up just in time for what will be a ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with members from our team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is global warming ...
Our low-investment, low-wage, migration-led and housing-market-driven political economy has delivered poorer productivity growth than the rest of the OECD, and our performance since Covid has been particularly poor. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and poverty this ...
..Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.As far as major government announcements go, a Three Ministers Event is Big. It can signify a major policy development or something has gone Very Well, or an absolute Clusterf**k. When Three Ministers assemble ...
One of those blasts from the past. Peter Dunne – originally neoliberal Labour, then leader of various parties that sought to work with both big parties (generally National) – has taken to calling ...
Completed reads for January: I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson The Black Spider, by Jeremias Gotthelf The Spider and the Fly (poem), by Mary Howitt A Noiseless Patient Spider (poem), by Walt Whitman August Heat, by W.F. Harvey Charlotte’s Web, by E.B. White The Shrinking Man, by Richard Matheson ...
Do its Property Right Provisions Make Sense?Last week I pointed out that it is uninformed to argue that the New Zealand’s apparently poor economic performance can be traced only to poor regulations. Even were there evidence they had some impact, there are other factors. Of course, we should seek to ...
Richard Wagstaff It was incredibly jarring to hear the hubris from the Prime Minister during his recent state of the nation address. I had just spent close to a week working though the stories and thoughts shared with us by nearly 2000 working people as part of our annual Mood ...
Odd fact about the Broadcasting Standards Authority: for the last few years, they’ve only been upholding about 5% of complaints. Why? I think there’s a range of reasons. Generally responsible broadcasters. Dumb complaints. Complaints brought under the wrong standard. Greater adherence to broadcasters’ rights to freedom of expression in the ...
And I said, "Mama, mama, mama, why am I so alone"'Cause I can't go outside, I'm scared I might not make it homeWell I'm alive, I'm alive, but I'm sinking inIf there's anyone at home at your place, darlingWhy don't you invite me in?Don't try to feed me'Cause I've been ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ star is on the rise, having just added the Energy, Local Government and Revenue portfolios to his responsibilities - but there is nothing ambitious about the Government’s new climate targets. Photo: SuppliedLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate ...
It may have been a short week but there’s been no shortage of things that caught our attention. Here is some of the most interesting. This week in Greater Auckland On Tuesday Matt took a look at public transport ridership in 2024 On Thursday Connor asked some questions ...
The East Is Red: Journalists and commentators are referring to the sudden and disruptive arrival of DeepSeek as a second “Sputnik moment”. (Sputnik being the name given by the godless communists of the Soviet Union to the world’s first artificial satellite which, to the consternation and dismay of the Americans, ...
Hi,Back on inauguration day we launched a ridiculous RFK Jr. “brain worms” tee on the Webworm store, and I told you I’d be throwing my profits over to Mutual Aid LA and Rainbow Youth New Zealand. Just to show I am not full of shit, here are the receipts. I ...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the week’s news with regular and special guests, including: on the week in geopolitics, including the latest from Donald Trump over Gaza and Ukraine.Health expert and author David Galler ...
In an uncompromising paper Treasury has basically told the Government that its plan for a third medical school at Waikato University is a waste of money. Furthermore, the country cannot afford it. That advice was released this week by the Treasury under the Official Information Act. And it comes as ...
Back in November, He Pou a Rangi provided the government with formal advice on the domestic contribution to our next Paris target. Not what the target should be, but what we could realistically achieve, by domestic action alone, without resorting to offshore mitigation. Their answer was startling: depending on exactly ...
Photo by Mauricio Fanfa on UnsplashKia oraCome and join us for our weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm today.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news with myself , plus regular guest David Patman and ...
I don't like to spend all my time complaining about our government, so let me complain about the media first.Senior journalistic Herald person Thomas Coughlan reported that Treasury replied yeah nah, wrong bro to Luxon's claim that our benighted little country has been in recession for three years.His excitement rose ...
Back in 2022, when the government was consulting internally about proactive release of cabinet papers, the SIS opposed it. The basis of their opposition was the "mosaic effect" - people being able to piece together individual pieces of innocuous public information in a way which supposedly harms "national security" (effectively: ...
With The Stroke Of A Pen:Populism, especially right-wing populism, invests all the power of an electoral/parliamentary majority in a single political leader because it no longer trusts the bona fides of the sprawling political class among whom power is traditionally dispersed. Populism eschews traditional politics, because, among populists, traditional politics ...
Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. The intention was to establish a colony with the cession of sovereignty to the Crown, ...
Te Whatu Ora Chief Executive Margie Apa leaving her job four months early is another symptom of this government’s failure to deliver healthcare for New Zealanders. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Prime Minister to show leadership and be unequivocal about Aotearoa New Zealand’s opposition to a proposal by the US President to remove Palestinians from Gaza. ...
The latest unemployment figures reveal that job losses are hitting Māori and Pacific people especially hard, with Māori unemployment reaching a staggering 9.7% for the December 2024 quarter and Pasifika unemployment reaching 10.5%. ...
Waitangi 2025: Waitangi Day must be community and not politically driven - Shane Jones Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. ...
Despite being confronted every day with people in genuine need being stopped from accessing emergency housing – National still won’t commit to building more public houses. ...
The Green Party says the Government is giving up on growing the country’s public housing stock, despite overwhelming evidence that we need more affordable houses to solve the housing crisis. ...
Before any thoughts of the New Year and what lies ahead could even be contemplated, New Zealand reeled with the tragedy of Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming losing her life. For over 38 years she had faithfully served as a front-line Police officer. Working alongside her was Senior Sergeant Adam Ramsay ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson will return to politics at Waitangi on Monday the 3rd of February where she will hold a stand up with fellow co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick. ...
Te Pāti Māori is appalled by the government's blatant mishandling of the school lunch programme. David Seymour’s ‘cost-saving’ measures have left tamariki across Aotearoa with unidentifiable meals, causing distress and outrage among parents and communities alike. “What’s the difference between providing inedible food, and providing no food at all?” Said ...
The Government is doubling down on outdated and volatile fossil fuels, showing how shortsighted and destructive their policies are for working New Zealanders. ...
Green Party MP Steve Abel this morning joined Coromandel locals in Waihi to condemn new mining plans announced by Shane Jones in the pit of the town’s Australian-owned Gold mine. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to strengthen its just-announced 2030-2035 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement and address its woeful lack of commitment to climate security. ...
Today marks a historic moment for Taranaki iwi with the passing of the Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill in Parliament. "Today, we stand together as descendants of Taranaki, and our tūpuna, Taranaki Maunga, is now formally acknowledged by the law as a living tūpuna. ...
Labour is relieved to see Children’s Minister Karen Chhour has woken up to reality and reversed her government’s terrible decisions to cut funding from frontline service providers – temporarily. ...
It is the first week of David Seymour’s school lunch programme and already social media reports are circulating of revolting meals, late deliveries, and mislabelled packaging. ...
The Green Party says that with no-cause evictions returning from today, the move to allow landlords to end tenancies without reason plunges renters, and particularly families who rent, into insecurity and stress. ...
The Government’s move to increase speed limits substantially on dozens of stretches of rural and often undivided highways will result in more serious harm. ...
In her first announcement as Economic Growth Minister, Nicola Willis chose to loosen restrictions for digital nomads from other countries, rather than focus on everyday Kiwis. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to stand firm and work with allies to progress climate action as Donald Trump signals his intent to pull out of the Paris Climate Accords once again. ...
The Government’s commitment to get New Zealand’s roads back on track is delivering strong results, with around 98 per cent of potholes on state highways repaired within 24 hours of identification every month since targets were introduced, Transport Minister Chris Bishop says. “Increasing productivity to help rebuild our economy is ...
The former Cadbury factory will be the site of the Inpatient Building for the new Dunedin Hospital and Health Minister Simeon Brown says actions have been taken to get the cost overruns under control. “Today I am giving the people of Dunedin certainty that we will build the new Dunedin ...
From today, Plunket in Whāngarei will be offering childhood immunisations – the first of up to 27 sites nationwide, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. The investment of $1 million into the pilot, announced in October 2024, was made possible due to the Government’s record $16.68 billion investment in health. It ...
New Zealand’s strong commitment to the rights of disabled people has continued with the response to an important United Nations report, Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston has announced. Of the 63 concluding observations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), 47 will be progressed ...
Resources Minister Shane Jones has launched New Zealand’s national Minerals Strategy and Critical Minerals List, documents that lay a strategic and enduring path for the mineral sector, with the aim of doubling exports to $3 billion by 2035. Mr Jones released the documents, which present the Coalition Government’s transformative vision ...
Firstly I want to thank OceanaGold for hosting our event today. Your operation at Waihi is impressive. I want to acknowledge local MP Scott Simpson, local government dignitaries, community stakeholders and all of you who have gathered here today. It’s a privilege to welcome you to the launch of the ...
Racing Minister, Winston Peters has announced the Government is preparing public consultation on GST policy proposals which would make the New Zealand racing industry more competitive. “The racing industry makes an important economic contribution. New Zealand thoroughbreds are in demand overseas as racehorses and for breeding. The domestic thoroughbred industry ...
Business confidence remains very high and shows the economy is on track to improve, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis says. “The latest ANZ Business Outlook survey, released yesterday, shows business confidence and expected own activity are ‘still both very high’.” The survey reports business confidence fell eight points to +54 ...
Enabling works have begun this week on an expanded radiology unit at Hawke’s Bay Fallen Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital which will double CT scanning capacity in Hawke’s Bay to ensure more locals can benefit from access to timely, quality healthcare, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. This investment of $29.3m in the ...
The Government has today announced New Zealand’s second international climate target under the Paris Agreement, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand will reduce emissions by 51 to 55 per cent compared to 2005 levels, by 2035. “We have worked hard to set a target that is both ambitious ...
Nine years of negotiations between the Crown and iwi of Taranaki have concluded following Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/the Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill passing its third reading in Parliament today, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “This Bill addresses the historical grievances endured by the eight iwi ...
As schools start back for 2025, there will be a relentless focus on teaching the basics brilliantly so all Kiwi kids grow up with the knowledge, skills and competencies needed to grow the New Zealand of the future, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “A world-leading education system is a key ...
Housing Minister Chris Bishop and Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson have welcomed Kāinga Ora’s decision to re-open its tender for carpets to allow wool carpet suppliers to bid. “In 2024 Kāinga Ora issued requests for tender (RFTs) seeking bids from suppliers to carpet their properties,” Mr Bishop says. “As part ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today visited Otahuhu College where the new school lunch programme has served up healthy lunches to students in the first days of the school year. “As schools open in 2025, the programme will deliver nutritious meals to around 242,000 students, every school day. On ...
Minister for Children Karen Chhour has intervened in Oranga Tamariki’s review of social service provider contracts to ensure Barnardos can continue to deliver its 0800 What’s Up hotline. “When I found out about the potential impact to this service, I asked Oranga Tamariki for an explanation. Based on the information ...
A bill to make revenue collection on imported and exported goods fairer and more effective had its first reading in Parliament, Customs Minister Casey Costello said today. “The Customs (Levies and Other Matters) Amendment Bill modernises the way in which Customs can recover the costs of services that are needed ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Department of Internal Affairs [the Department] has achieved significant progress in completing applications for New Zealand citizenship. “December 2024 saw the Department complete 5,661 citizenship applications, the most for any month in 2024. This is a 54 per cent increase compared ...
Reversals to Labour’s blanket speed limit reductions begin tonight and will be in place by 1 July, says Minister of Transport Chris Bishop. “The previous government was obsessed with slowing New Zealanders down by imposing illogical and untargeted speed limit reductions on state highways and local roads. “National campaigned on ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has announced Budget 2025 – the Growth Budget - will be delivered on Thursday 22 May. “This year’s Budget will drive forward the Government’s plan to grow our economy to improve the incomes of New Zealanders now and in the years ahead. “Budget 2025 will build ...
For the Government, 2025 will bring a relentless focus on unleashing the growth we need to lift incomes, strengthen local businesses and create opportunity. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today laid out the Government’s growth agenda in his Statement to Parliament. “Just over a year ago this Government was elected by ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour welcomes students back to school with a call to raise attendance from last year. “The Government encourages all students to attend school every day because there is a clear connection between being present at school and setting yourself up for a bright future,” says Mr ...
The Government is relaxing visitor visa requirements to allow tourists to work remotely while visiting New Zealand, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis, Immigration Minister Erica Stanford and Tourism Minister Louise Upston say. “The change is part of the Government’s plan to unlock New Zealand’s potential by shifting the country onto ...
The opening of Kāinga Ora’s development of 134 homes in Epuni, Lower Hutt will provide much-needed social housing for Hutt families, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I’ve been a strong advocate for social housing on Kāinga Ora’s Epuni site ever since the old earthquake-prone housing was demolished in 2015. I ...
Trade and Investment Minister Todd McClay will travel to Australia today for meetings with Australian Trade Minister, Senator Don Farrell, and the Australia New Zealand Leadership Forum (ANZLF). Mr McClay recently hosted Minister Farrell in Rotorua for the annual Closer Economic Relations (CER) Trade Ministers’ meeting, where ANZLF presented on ...
A new monthly podiatry clinic has been launched today in Wairoa and will bring a much-needed service closer to home for the Wairoa community, Health Minister Simeon Brown says.“Health New Zealand has been successful in securing a podiatrist until the end of June this year to meet the needs of ...
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What was the intention here?
It seems the stupidest of actions from the NACTFirst Government.
"The protests on the opening of the 54th Parliament was a signal to the new government.
While Luxon said the protests were “unfair” given they had been in power only a week, the campaign trail leading up to the election had been months, and the coalition parties of the new government have failed to read the room, so to speak.
The new government has failed to read the world as well; it failed to read or ignored the importance many Māori place upon language, culture, and identity.
Given our history, this is rather alarming."
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/kahu/english-first-te-reo-maori-and-the-act-of-symbolic-violence-professor-vaughan-bidois/Y7AOVBTDO5GSJARB76QMBD742U/?fbclid=IwAR1-e2TeRI5vf6sCP5Q4WdD9tgBBSPW6N7CjvKt3iL-oPYgUlEjccNlad4I
Absolutely designed to appeal to their core base of support.
I'd say absolutely a coldly and clearly considered action. Symbolic (so no pragmatic issues to get in the way – unlike (for example) unwinding 3 waters).
And a strong signal to their base support that they absolutely did mean the things they campaigned on. Probably more important for them than 'reading the world' (whatever that means to Bidois).
The 'Maori only' names for Government departments has been deeply unpopular with a big chunk of the electorate. Not just elderly pakeha (as is often stated).
[NB: I say Maori only – as it has frequently defaulted to being used as the only name of the department used or reported on]
You’re spreading fact-free, context-less, and nuance-free NACTF talking points and propaganda. Back it up with some evidence and put some (real) effort into it.
Belladonna is certainly not wrong. Many people have no idea what the Te reo name of certain government departments are. These are not bad people, this is something that doesn’t come into their world.
So a story. The industry I work in deals a lot with customers, we speak with them online and over the phone. We also deal with and refer customers to government departments.
All calls and online interactions with our customers are recorded, and a certain percentage of interactions are reviewed by auditors. This is to ensure compliance with government regulations, the safety and security of the customers personal information and their banking etc.
Some bright spark within the team that audits customer interactions decided to start “failing” interactions if the banker didn’t use the Maori name for a government department, They even went so far as failing an interaction because the banker used the English name for the IRD, after the customer asked for clarification after being referred to Te Tarri Take (customer had a tax issue) As the manager of the business unit, I now insist that all failed interactions are referred to either myself or my assistant for review. Prior to this only a compliance breach or an interaction that could result in disciplinary action would come to my attention.
Anyway back to the call where the customer wanted clarification on about Te Tari Takki. The auditor said that we shouldn’t tolerate customers who are “racist”, even though we have a moral and legal obligation to assist all customers regardless of their ethnicity, gender, sexuality, disability, political affiliation.
Who knows? She didn’t provide any context or factual support to back-up her RW talking points. Framing it as a binary of being wrong vs. being right (lower case) is not helpful either. What makes you so certain about it?
Your story of anecdata of customer communications is avoiding the issue raised here too.
Do you and your company disagree with those moral and legal obligations or with the auditor’s (or was it auditors’?) interpretation?
BTW, was your misspelling twice of Te Tari Taake intentional?
This is a classic straw man argument. I’d have thought that as a manager of a business unit you’d recognise and avoid such a construct. Moreover, something that doesn’t come into my world is not “deeply unpopular” by default; it’s an odd argument that makes you look evasive & defensive.
Incognito, I personally take my legal and moral obligations to our customers seriously, so does my employer. If a customer has been exited from the business, we still hold personal information and them, and they are entitled to access it for at least seven years, if not longer. I expect that my staff treat customers with respect and dignity, at all times. Even those customers who have been exited from the business because of abuse/harassment of staff are to be treated with respect and dignity.
It is not our place to judge customers because they are rich or poor, have a speech impediment or not. And it is certainly not our responsibility place to judge someone for their lack of ability in speaking English or te reo, or any other language. It’s also not our place to judge or correct their spelling, or how they pronounce words. Doing this BTW is a sure fire way for a interaction to head south leading to an satisfactory interaction.
No I haven’t misspelled any word, either intentionally nor unintentionally. If you decide to spell a word differently to me, & feel the desire to comment on how I spell, or pronounce a word, then that is up to you. However from my experience, unless you’re in a training session with someone, jumping in and “correcting” someone is not usually constructive, unless of course you know the person well enough to deliver the message in a way that person will take onboard with out feeling belittled. Not everyone is as pedantic as others are about such things. What is important to you, is not necessarily important to someone else, this is genuinely not an issue, except to insufferable busybodies who have an urge to police others.
As for changing the names of government agencies to “English first”, I don’t ever recall any genuine discussion about changing the name of government agencies to “te reo” first. But I do recall that people were”denounced” if they didn’t agree with it. Essentially the current government is reverting back to what the general population understands.
There are many interesting things about where I work. We talk all day to customers over the phone, we usually lead the conversation, so we can resolve the issues. But often we get a sense of the real person, in a way that we don’t when that same person comes into a branch and is in public. What often strikes me is the genuine decency of the vast majority of people. They are all trying to live their lives, look after their families, protect what little money they have and get some enjoyment from their had lives and families. All they really need is to be listened to (even when they are wrong), feel they have been understood, are valued, and to have their issues addressed and resolved.
Most people probably don’t mind about government agencies having a te reo name, however people need to know or understand who the te reo name refers to. Generally speaking people don’t, & it’s something in my job that I hear everyday. If we have to advise the the customer that they must go to a government department called “te tari taki” and the customer doesn’t know who or what that is, then what is the point of the name change? This is then compounded by self appointed “cultural police” who object when our staff clarify to customers what the customer needs to do, to ensure that the customer fully understands what the customer needs to do to resolve their issues.
BTW, I have come across a customer interaction that was marked down, because the staff member referred to an elderly customer’s husband as the “customers husband” and not “customers partner”.
My employer has no policy on using te reo first and only when referring to government. It is however policy that we have an obligation to the customer, it is our obligation to ensure that the customer understands what we require them to do.
Unfortunately all large organisations have little cliques that from time to time gain de facto authority and then become a law unto themselves. So in this case several auditors see themselves as being at the forefront of “cultural change”. I have remained them that this is not what they are employed to do.
" I don’t ever recall any genuine discussion about changing the name of government agencies to “te reo” first. "
Perhaps you simply missed it.
In any case, the agencies themselves were surely involved in that discussion with regard their own name.
Hardly a matter for public input, I'd have thought.
Robert, I've been around long enough to have seen different cliques (from all political sides) talking amongst themselves, coming to a conclusion or decision and then believing that they are right and speak for us all. These people are then firstly horrified, then terribly insulted, that "others" can have a different opinion.
The renaming of government agencies should, in my opinion, be a matter for public discussion. These government agencies exist for the benefit of all citizens, not just a select few who are on the inside. What is the point if we do not have buy in by the citizens? We then get resistance, dissatisfaction from the public, and the change achieves nothing. The lRD, or ministry of health do not improve their services due to the name change. All that happens is that people have no idea what the newly named government agency is. This is something we in my business hear every day, and it's not old white people, most people who we refer to kianga ora (for first home assistance) are young, almost always we have to tell them that kianga ora was housing NZ, and no, it's not just for maori.
Surely the intention with any change is to bring people with you. To do other wise just causes resentment. People vote, and they have the freedom to vote for whomever they wish. As the left especially labour found to their cost.
All government agencies should have the name primarily in english, by all means have a secondary te Reo name. The majority of people in this country have little understanding of te Reo, even young people just out of high school. From my experience te Reo is of little importance to most people, but they may not feel comfortable saying this to you. That then becomes a problem.
BTW, I'm often involved with interviewing new employees. This time of year we take on young people, fresh out of high school. Throughout the year I will have several confidential 1 on 1's with these new employees. My aim is to understand their progress, and to ensure that they know I value their contribution, and how I can assist with their future. I also become aware of problems that I would not normally be aware of. Due to this process I get a good understanding of what is important to younger people. I've come to the conclusion that they are no different than we were back in the 80's.
Ignore the people at your peril, if they don't feel safe telling you what they really feel, they will tell you what they believe you what to hear. We spend 10's of millions on systems (the decision was way above my pay grade) that don't work, employees can't use, they then revert to the old system, which does the job, even though it's old-fashioned and no longer hip.
My old mentor once told me that unless it is necessary to change, it is necessary not to change. We risk spending huge sums of money, with nothing but a superficial appearance that things have changed. While we as managers feel a warm glow of pride of achievement, the employees leave work on a Friday and go to the pub, and complain that management are useless and incompetent. I fully appreciate that employees will always complain about us, but it's dangerous when they are right.
The same happens in politics, the voters are always right, even when you or I think or believe that they are wrong.
Ignore them at your peril.
“What the government actually does is way more important than what Government Departments are called.”
Boris Sokratov makes a tongue in cheek argument that “Māori names should be immediately removed from all government departments” precisely because what they are doing is so negatively perceived.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/kahu/simeon-browns-right-lets-get-rid-of-all-maori-names-from-government-departments-boris-sokratov/RNHSTVR32BAWVNLQYZFZRXSIII/
You seem have a problem with staying in-focus and tend to drift into pet peeves and the likes.
TS is a safe and inclusive public forum aka blog site for robust debate. Commenters bring their views & opinions here to deliberate. Views & opinions, and all the associated feelings & emotions, have a foundation in reality and this reality is a shared (aka common) discernible one.
Please don’t imply that te reo and Māori culture, history and heritage are some kind of fashionable trend, a fad, of “a superficial appearance” that’s hip and the good ole colonial system is the ever-reliable old system that people revert to because (!) it “does the job”.
We’re talking about NZ society here, not about (disgruntled?) employees letting off steam in the pub on a Friday or school leavers having confidential one-on-one evaluation/performance talks with a much more senior manager who’s got fixed & firm personal ideas about how things used to be (in the 80s?) and how they should be again, in society, in/with government, and within his organisation.
Incognito, I have no problem staying focused, you may however be lacking in the ability to keep up. I will put that down to the time of year, presumably you are still recovering from the Xmas festivities.
It's not uncommon for cliques to form, and to adopt behaviours, attitudes, likes and dislikes to make themselves looking good. This is obvious to everyone, except those who belong to those cliques. They are the ones being superficial. In the case of using te Reo as a status symbol, these people lessen the mana of the language.
All employees will be disgruntled with their employers. Just like all citizens will be disgruntled with the current government and the political system. You can't please all of the people all of the time. Disgruntled employees, and disgruntled citizens, are what society is made up of. Everyone is disgruntled if they do not adhere to your ideology. You may dismiss them, but that is a mistake.
We all have a responsibility to the community we live in. As we all move along on our journey of life, we gain experience, good, bad & neutral. From a certain age, as a grown adult, it is our responsibility to guide those younger than ourselves, especially when we have gained a position of responsibility, such as a manager who is responsible for young adults, or a parent with children, and a younger brother who has a nephew or niece. Responsibilities should not be taken lightly, nor too seriously, those who are starting their journey into adulthood do need guidance, they also need the freedom to make mistakes and to learn from them.
I had a mentor who flew Lancaster bombers in WW2, he had some amazing stories from the war, though mostly about english pubs, good mates & flying. He certainly didn't understand my taste in rock music, or casual clothes, or politics. But his guidance, support and encouragement were of the upmost value to me. As I have grown older, I find strength in the advice I received from my elders. It is now my time to be a mentor to those who are younger to me.
Everything and nothing has changed when I compare high school leavers of today, with what we were back in the '80's, except the music and fashion. Social media didn't exist in the form it is today, but ideas still traveled around the world.
One thing that has changed is how we manage, train & retain staff. A lot of what we do now has been due to the mistakes people of my generation were subjected to when we were young. We no longer tolerate bullying, sexual harrisment or many other forms of discrimination in the workplace. Although it may happen, I for one will not tolerate it.
Voters are indeed always right…especially so when they are not.
The alternatives do not bear consideration.
Care to elaborate?
What alternatives and why should they not be considered, not any of them?
Politics is subjective…or a matter of opinion if you prefer.
The important point of a democracy is that the members of a society who did not support the resulting government at the ballot box are wise enough to understand that despite that fact they are still better off than if they had no ability to participate in the selection of the policies that will govern their (and theirs) lives.
The first point flows in to the second….what other system provides the opportunity to remove an administration that the majority of a society believe are not acting in the interests of that society short of violence?
If you can identify one it may warrant consideration, but (subjectively) I cannot.
When those government agencies you cite, Terry, chose their original English names, did they consult with the public?
If not, why not?
The first two paragraphs were virtue signalling and they did not answer the question about the auditing.
You spelled the same words differently each time and neither case was the spelling as used on the official website (Inland Revenue – Te Tari Taake; https://www.ird.govt.nz/). Given the tone and content of your comments, this raised the possibility of micro-aggression and from your latest reaction, this sense of hidden hostility has got stronger.
I don’t know about an official edict to change government names to te reo first and certainly not to “ 'Maori only' names” (according to Belladonna, who’s “certainly not wrong”, according to you) and you may have to do some research to support this before you jump to conclusions, as it were. So, people were “denounced” [were those scare quotes?] by people when disagreeing!? That’s smoke & mirrors stuff right there.
The next paragraph is more virtue signalling, both personal and corporate.
The following paragraph is a bunch of generalisations and hand waving. I take it that the legally required auditors are not the same as those “self appointed “cultural police” “ that you conjured up. As does Belladonna, you make vague statements as if they’re well-known facts and common sense, i.e., commonly accepted ‘truths’. This is the problem that both of you seem to wilfully ignore or deny.
Your last three paragraphs are irrelevant, repetitive, and suggest that you have problems at/with work-related stuff; talk to your HR department (it may have a different name in your organisation).
Incognito, I have not made any spelling mistakes. If you believe that I have, then that is okay with me. You can believe that the earth is flat if you do desire, it is of no concern to me what you believe. You are not at that stage in your life.
It is my personal opinion that people who focus too much on things like spelling, grammar or the correct pronunciation of words are in more dire need of a b@!w job than any white man history. (Credit to Robin Williams). If you’re not white, or male, I apologise to you. But you may have spent way too much time around some straight ass while dudes. You need to learn to look deeper and to seek to understand without judgement.
May I suggest you partake in some really good “electric puha” you may find the experience mind expanding and as a result you may understand the world around differently. Failing that, I suggest you go out into the world, experience real life with real people. Experience the ups and downs, failures and successes. Know what it is like to crash from on high, and then claw your way back, inch by inch, learning from your failures and heartbreaks along the way.
I’m bored with you, you have neither the wit or intelligence to interest me. You obviously are far too young and inexperienced with life. This is not your fault. When you are young you get to the stage where you need to strike out on your own, and to experience life. I wish you all the best. I have little doubt that in the future, when you have learned about life you will become interesting, and much less boring.
In the meantime you seriously need to get laid, man or woman, maybe both. Being stoned may also help you.
[Please correct your email in your next comment, thanks – Incognito]
Mod note
Since you swiped left, we won’t get laid
Ignoring the passive-aggressive parts, thank you so much for your wonderful advice.
Tonight, I’ll discuss it with my parsnip over a hot coco.
Belladonna and I are usually opposing in our views but I agree with her on this.
I don’t doubt that other people share the same feeling and agree with the same general vibe. But that wasn’t the point of my comment. And it really isn’t hard at all to argue from one corner and find like-minded people, Social Media are great for that, BTW – the ‘likes’ are designed for that and to encourage it.
I guess time will tell whether these and other people who supported having names in Te Reo meant what they said at the time and whether the current government changes those people's position and views.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/126337832/government-and-business-leaders-explain-their-organisations-te-reo-mori-names
On the other hand there is also this perspective.
We see a warping of te reo Maori in these circumstances – a negating of its spiritual character in order to refer to more tangible things. “Whakapapa” in those instances merely refers to genealogy, “whanau” to human family.
https://www.schoolnews.co.nz/2022/09/tokenism-and-te-reo-maori-why-some-things-just-shouldnt-be-translated/
When I'm sitting on an Auckland AT bus most of the time there is audio going of the next stop coming – first stated in Maori and then English IMO 90% of the people on the bus have no idea what the message in Maori is. I imagine some of that % may be irratated by this – I myself regard it as a sign of the times and that I've gotten old but I wouldn't be surprised if many felt like they were being force fed.
I also can imagine that some people on the bus might sometimes get irritated at the audio in te reo first and English second or the message in te reo at all. But we’re still firmly stuck in social media and talkback reckons.
Well as we all love analogies think of it as a TV that you have to watch but it only plays Maori TV and you don't understand the language and you are being compelled to watch it because some woke individual has decided that it's neccessary for the 'good' of society.
Some analogies are useful, to make a point. This one isn’t.
Resorting to lazy labels often means that your point is weak or worse.
Ignoring or dismissing what people think or say because they do not confirm to your worldview is a mistake. Sometimes going through the discomfort of listening to viewpoints that challenge yours can be a important step in your growth and development.
If you have a mind to become a politician, you ignore the people at your peril. They don’t appreciate being dismissed or as one US presidential candidate did , she referred to a group the people as “deplorables”. If you do this you will rightly lose respect.
please fix your email address on your next comment so it doesn’t get caught in Spam.
Ignore the No Fire signs in the haystack at your peril when you light a match to find your way out of your self-constructed hay-maze chased by imaginary straw men of your own making. Lay off the stuff for a while.
"a TV that you have to watch"
Like something from “A Clockwork Orange" you mean?
We’re all glued to screens, large and small; it’s the Zeitgeist of Poltergeist.
Robert asked "what were they thinking" – "they" in this context being ACT/NZF/National.
Of course the response illustrates their talking points!
If it was a rhetorical question – and there is no actual interest in what the government's reasoning might be – then feel free to scroll on by.
When you repeat RW talking points without any critical commentary and/or correction and without making it clear that you don’t agree with those points then the default assumption is that you do agree with them and that you intentionally repeat them here on TS. In which case scrolling on is not even a matter of an implicit agree-to-disagree but a failure to push back on the RW talking points and on the commenting behaviour.
If you wanted to gaslight people here then you couldn’t have done a better job
Even Luxon propagated the idea of "older people" in a misery of "te reo confusion".
Seems politically productive (still!) to stir the anti-Māori pot in Aotearoa NZ
If not for Luxon, then maybe for Seymour, and certainly for Peters.
Wasn't aware that "'Maori only' names" was a thing (policy?) for govt depts, but whether or not it was/is, it would be interesting to try to pin down why these names have "been deeply unpopular with a big chunk of the electorate."
Confusion? Fear? Racism? Obvious regressive yearning for more 'convenient' times? Ah, for the days when an incoming National govt would legislate to change "New Zealand Day" to "Waitangi Day" – now that was a name change.
"The arbitrary acts of using English first or removing Māori names function as a form of symbolic violence towards all those who have taken up learning te reo Māori, but particularly towards our mokopuna, tamariki and rangatahi within kōhanga, kura kaupapa and whare kura and to all our kaumātua and kuia who have fought for so long for the revival of the language."
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/kahu/english-first-te-reo-maori-and-the-act-of-symbolic-violence-professor-vaughan-bidois/Y7AOVBTDO5GSJARB76QMBD742U/?fbclid=IwAR1-e2TeRI5vf6sCP5Q4WdD9tgBBSPW6N7CjvKt3iL-oPYgUlEjccNlad4I
So was it "symbolic violence" for the Departments to be re-branded with Te reo names – and then those names used predominantly?
After all, if it's 'violence' one way, then it's surely 'violence' the other.
This kind of language is deeply divisive.
And, if the Left don't see it – then the hole they dig for themselves becomes even deeper.
It’s deeply disingenuous to ignore the huge power imbalance in all of this, and in culture wars in general. English and the so-called English (aka colonial), or should I say British, culture was never under any real threat here in New Zealand.
That is your view. And it may even be correct. However, there are elements of society which deeply disagree with you, and did, indeed, feel under threat.
Divisive language e.g. characterizing the action as "symbolic violence" makes the separation worse, and closes out any opportunity to negotiate mutually acceptable outcomes.
I don't think anyone is remotely interested in an "opportunity to negotiate mutually acceptable outcomes"…
That would mean that people ended up happy, and then there would be no need for political parties.
Sad, but probably true.
Given that you’re commenting here on TS, this claim is absolutely, categorically, and demonstratively incorrect and untrue. In fact, if you had any inkling of NZ politics or politics at all then you’d not made such a bizarre assertion. Thus, your comment implies that you’re projecting, at best …
Spare us from your dopey straw men.
Here we go again. Where do you stand on this? Can you support your view with facts, data, evidence, anything at all, except a vibe and a feeling??
A feeling doesn’t make it real, as in factual. Repeating it often and loudly enforces/reinforces the feeling but doesn’t make it real either. Manufacturing discontent isn’t hard. Further, who/where/what are those “elements”? Are they the same as that “big chunk of the electorate” that you mentioned before?
On the one hand, you gladly (it seems) acknowledge the ‘deep feelings’ of some people (or ‘elements of society’, whatever that means), yet on the other hand, you argue strongly (it seems) against people who feel similarly (?) strong about these actions to call it “symbolic violence”. Yet, you go to great lengths to avoid the appearance of taking sides or a position at all!? At the same time, you draw rather strong conclusions from a relatively innocuous academic term. I’d call that over-reaching.
BTW, I’d love to hear your alternative for “symbolic violence”, if you have any. What do you think captures the essence/meaning of it best, in the given context?
My view isn't particularly important, I was responding to the initial "what were they (as in the government) thinking…..
However, IMO, renaming agencies doesn't really matter much, either way. I will admit to a slight preference for English – but it's not a hill I'd want to die on.
What the government actually does is way more important than what Government Departments are called.
But I'm not the core constituency which the Government is appealing to with this policy.
I acknowledge that some people (on both sides) feel strongly about the issue. Please note the word feel this is all about the way people feel, rather than a 'factual' approach. If you are hoping for an entirely fact-based approach to political policy in NZ, you are doomed to frustration.
Ad has already provided a link to surveys which show a substantial part of the electorate (49%) support English names for Government departments. However, here is the link again.
https://thefacts.nz/social/social-unity-division-ii/
But I don't find divisive language to be a helpful approach. It deepens differences, rather than finds a way forward (of course, that may be the intent).
Please note that many Maori were already …. critical… of Te Reo names for Government Departments.
https://newsroom.co.nz/2020/09/15/stop-colonising-the-maori-language/
How "many Maori"? Was the 2020 opinion piece that you linked to, critical of te Reo Māori names per se? Reads more like a broad critique of (perceived) patronising tokenism – Smale doesn't strike me as someone who would support anti-Māori (names) legislation.
If I made a short list of the "many Māori" "already …. critical… of Te Reo names for Government Departments", Peters and Seymour would be right up there. Not sure about Health Minister CigaReti – he's been (strangely?) silent about this 'transformative' distraction.
And how might our deputy PM-to-be react to surgeon Ronald's comments? Maybe he'd ask for a less progressive second opinion.
Hope Luxon's CEO experience equipped him with skills to pilot NZ away from the turbulence of racial enmity, assuming that's something he wants to avoid. But maybe our new government’s navigation options are limited to regressive legislation, given all those lovely tax cuts. Time will tell.
Noted, and it seems you and Maipi-Clarke are of like mind on this.
When you comment here, your view is important and how you argue for it.
When you hide behind RW talking points, you can expect to be called out.
When you repeat (without quotes!) RW assertions without criticism, you open yourself to the missing criticism.
When you put up binaries/false dichotomies, as you just did again, you will be called out because it is poor debating.
And when you repeat your dislike of ‘divisive language’ without providing a suitable alternative you’re simply complaining for the sake of it and not being constructive.
Of course, some Māori would object to ‘colonising’ their language. However, it appears that some of those objectors would rather go a lot further in adopting te reo and their way of thinking. As always, a critic’s job is only half done if they don’t provide an alternative or possible solution – the same applies to participating in robust debate here on TS. Obviously, we here are interested in the government’s thinking/reasoning and its PR spin and persuasive arguments, language, and narrative. However, instead of following those party lines, we are even more interested in chipping our own path of deliberation and finding ways forward. At least some of us here are but you don’t seem to be so sure, are you?
"it's not a hill I'd want to die on."
Or puke.
"After all, if it's 'violence' one way, then it's surely 'violence' the other."
Yeah. Someone rips out all the flowers in a flower bed in a park – violence!
Someone sows the empty bed with flower seeds in response – violence!
Right?
Flower power and white flags are deeply offensive and symbolic acts of violence and micro-aggression. Ban poppies!
The actual equivalence would be: Someone rips out all of the flowers and plants their own = violence. The next person rips out all of the new flowers and replants = violence.
Same actions on both sides. Equally abhorrent to the onlooker who just wants nice flowers, and not have to pay the bills for continuous replanting.
In deciding on whether or not to add a Māori title to the English one we'd been used to using, our organisation consulted with Manawhenua first, accepted their suggestion, then ran with the suggestion. Now we have both. We didn't feel we needed to hold a referendum, nor put the proposal out for public consultation – in reality, not "ripping up the flowers", nor "violence".
You've over-egged you pudding, imo.
Ironically, BD’s attempt at equivalence was a false equivalence in its own right because it was a false equivalence from the outset – a double negative, false-false. She’s beaten more shit out of the pudding than a fan ever could – it is metaphorical violence.
49% of respondents wanted English names in this survey. It beggars belief that they were all elderly pakeha.
https://thefacts.nz/social/social-unity-division-ii/
Who is asserting "that they were all elderly pakeha"? That would be a nonsense.
Imho, it would be interesting to pin down why Māori names have "been deeply unpopular with a big chunk of the electorate" – I know my father doesn't like hearing te reo, but you can't please (or fool) everyone, at least not all the time.
Some Kiwis believe these trends are positive – ka haere tonu te tautohetohe.
49% = elderly pakeha + younger would-be-elderly pakeha.
Fify.
Think you've missed a whole lot of other ethnic groups out of your analysis.
Only Waka Kotahi registers in the public according to polls taken on the matter (they've had 15 years to bed it in).
https://thefacts.nz/social/social-unity-division-ii/
National are simply in full continuity with Labour trashing its pro-Maori policies months before the election. It is absolutely clear that this government have massive public support for it.
Neither of them will be given an inch at Waitangi, and nor should they.
But then once Waitangi Day is done, it's back to delivering good policy for all.
If public support for trashing pro-Māori policies is 'massive', then 'the public' has lost it big time, imho. But hey, it's an effective distraction, as others have observed.
https://www.stats.govt.nz/news/te-reo-maori-proficiency-and-support-continues-to-grow/
As Brian Cadogan so clearly observed some weeks ago, the Te Reo push back comes from the 'perpetually outraged'
I can't see these being more than 20% but increasing.
Indeed, eroding support for te reo in the public sphere and simultaneously normalising the opposite so that those RW talking points and spreading & repeating them becomes normative, even here on TS. This is not [through] deliberation but [through] persuasion – it doesn’t bode well for any public debate on the Treaty in the push for a referendum.
Ad …What good Policy is being delivered?
Ad's winding us up.
Right question Patricia.
National believe they can deliver all relevant public services without specific ethnic distinction, and give better results than the previous government.
From social welfare 35% of population, to injury and hospital use, to prisons 52% of total, to renting 85% , lifespan negative 7 years against others, gang membership 77% Maori, the disproportionate needs of Maori are so clear. National will need amazing delivery results to show that not targeting Maori was the right policy idea.
Meh – they'll just talk it up.
Such is democracy….and anyone is able to propose and seek support for an alternative (within a democracy, maybe not so much under an alternative).
Their core base?
A few dim-wits, imo.
49% of respondents – in the survey that Ad linked. They may be dim-wits – but there are hardly just a few of them.
The social conservatives have used identity politics to distract from wealth inequality since the extension of the franchise to all citizens.
Thus they cite liberals doing it, as a progressive threat to an established social and cultural privilege.
Apparently it is some sort of alliance of privilege, religion heritage and culture God and imperial capital mammon – that is ages old. Pre democratic era hierarchy under God, to the manor born Tory'ism and new world order Catholicism in white race nation Protestant Christian dominionism lockstep.
This is why I don't get people blaming the left for this.
In the 90's I met a very well-off women who was talking about "those sluts on DPB". Within the same conversation she then spoke about her son on his trip around Europe sowing his wild oats before coming home to get married. Even spoke of his need to learn and practice before marriage so he could be a proper husband.
No sense of contradiction at all.
The rules they have for themselves versus the rules they (try to) impose on the working class are chalk and cheese. Their moral standards are the emperor's new clothes – always have been. If you have money rules don't apply e.g. monogamy, tax evasion, cash jobs, etc.
I'm pretty sure their objection to sole parents is more that they are not in the workforce working for a pittance more than anything else.
When you ignore facts all you get is emotions. And they are never to be trusted as the soul sauce, if its politics.
Boomer threw a fire cracker at that the day before Christmas. Was a joy to read if you have not.
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2023/12/24/2023-was-the-year-of-feelings-the-new-politics-of-the-neoliberal-subjective/
Divide, distract whenever possible. Biggest bang for the buck was going at te reo, cyclists and walkers etc straight out of the blocks.
The best social division money can buy. Sorry can this be moved under Robert at 1.
I can ‘move’ it if you reply to Robert @ 1 with a placeholder reply comment. Otherwise I cannot ‘move’ it for you. Alternatively, you copy & paste your own comment (i.e., the one I’m replying to, currently @ 2) in a reply to Robert @ 1, which then effectively becomes a duplicate comment, and I’ll then delete this comment (currently @ 2).
https://www.thepress.co.nz/a/nz-news/350138458/we-get-what-they-pay-government?utm_source=stuff_website&utm_medium=stuff_referral&utm_campaign=mh_stuff&utm_id=mh_stuff
Morgan Godfrey equates willis' short sighted canceling of the ferries to muldoons criminal canceling of labours super scheme!
And doe a great job of airing national s lurch to the right.
Wait for the first winter crossing and ferry engine failure. That gets sheeted straight to Willis.
It will take until July for the shine to come off this government, but it will.
Shit doesnt shine.
Hoping for a catastrophe?
A ferry sinking?
A typhoon/hurricane/drought catastrophe to prove our point?
Is that where we Lefties have landed?
Sad.
It is sad.
We are in Opposition.
Deal with.
No new ferries planned to be delivered until 2026 (under the cancelled scheme)
Any disasters before that date will be simply linked to the poor performance of the previous Labour government.
[NB: apparently it's necessary for some commentators to understand that I'm predicting the government's response, not agreeing with it]
I'm confident the public will not read it that way.
According to young visitors we had the other day this charade of a Govt won’t last until next Christmas. They were very unimpressed with all the repeal under urgency and secrecy. Can’t help but agree with them. If Winston Peters is also starting to look a bit jaded. How long can he keep up the snarling grin. Going to be potholes galore.
IMO depends a bit on the media – if they are "see no evil ,hear no evil, speak no evil" as far these RW loons are concerned it will take longer – I guess we have to hope for lots of "if it bleeds it leads"
In the House, the Opposition will have a glorious time eviscerating the Government – too, too much material to work with. The NACTFirst ministers will become defensive and will be reported upon – they can't keep their cockiness up for long under the prolonged pressure that's coming their way.I think James Shaw's "what evidence have you received…" approach is the one; they've batted it away in the lead up to Christmas, but that's a temporary respite for them – that sort of carelessness cannot be sustained.
A lot will depend on the msm attitude. If they get a sniff of blood in the water, like sharks, they can’t help themselves. A feeding frenzy will ensue.
Can I ask the GCSB if this scum bag is in the country?
We have a serious fraud squad if he is, ah?
Trigger warning folks, it degenerates to sexual assault.
Hence if he here, we should arrest him.
Edit: Asking because if I saw him I might assault him, and I’d rather a trial.
This is an interview with 'cancelled comic writer' Graham Linehan (Father Ted, Black Books, I.T. Crowd).
It raises some interesting points. 'Gamergate', the ideology of British comedy, the danger of uninformed majorities, The Denton document (avoid the media, don't talk about the issue), "thought terminating cliche".
Too early to use the p word?
TOKYO/HOUSTON, U.S. — Growth in the trading of emissions credits has hit a snag, with the effectiveness of carbon offset projects, such as forest conservation, being called into question and demand for carbon offsets plunging.
As airlines and other major buyers of emissions credits have begun to shun the market, carbon credit futures have fallen 90% from their peak, making it difficult for the financial instrument to play a major role in global decarbonization.
https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Datawatch/Weak-trading-in-carbon-credits-blunts-world-decarbonization-drive