Posts Tagged ‘Tariana Turia’

Maori Party turns against beneficiaries

Written By: - Date published: 12:16 pm, April 30th, 2010 - 24 comments

The Nat/ACT/Maori Party government has seen 55,000 more people go on benefits. They want to work. There aren’t enough jobs. How to make life worse for families fallen on hard times? How about cut their benefits? Benefits are meant to go up with inflation. CPI. The tobacco hike puts up CPI. Government should put up […]

Pollyanna Finlayson ignores reality

Written By: - Date published: 10:33 am, April 26th, 2010 - 21 comments

The other day, Chris Finlayson described himself as a Pollyanna – it’s an American term (of derision) for someone who sees everything as positive, ignoring unhappy realities. Finlayson is all bouncy and optimistic, selling his ‘no-one owns it’ ‘solution’ to the F&S issue. But I have not heard a single Maori leader who agrees with his offer or anything like it.

Can we save the Maori Party?

Written By: - Date published: 12:37 pm, April 21st, 2010 - 125 comments

Rodney Hide was furious at John Key for signing the Declaration of Indigenous Rights behind his back but he’ll get over it. ACT is getting tonnes of real policy wins. What’s disturbing is seeing the Maori Party celebrating a ‘win’ then meekly rolling over when Key tells them it’s meaningless. Why does this keep happening? Because the Maori Party is stuck. And, sadly, each loss just mires them further.

Indigenous Declaration part of Nats’ clever game

Written By: - Date published: 2:30 pm, April 20th, 2010 - 69 comments

Pita Sharples, like Labour, thinks the Declaration of Indigenous Rights matters. John Key sees a meaningless piece of paper, the signing of which costs him nothing. This, along with giving Tariana Turei Whanau Ora, is part of National’s clever manipulation of the Maori Party. The Maori Party leadership is co-opted, ready to roll over on the real issue- the foreshore and seabed.

You know your policy sucks when…

Written By: - Date published: 12:42 pm, April 9th, 2010 - 21 comments

Even Guyon Espiner is concerned about the lack of quality analysis and policy design. If the government were serious about helping families in need it’s priority would be getting people back into work and better pay and conditions for low income workers. The fact that is has gone with this Whanau Ora nonsense shows it has no real intention of tackling the causes of this country’s social ills.

Whanau Ora minister, Foreshore sell-out

Written By: - Date published: 10:25 am, April 9th, 2010 - 13 comments

Maori activists who want a better deal on the foreshore and seabed can rest assured that the Maori Party is about to sell them out. Tariana Turia just got herself a shiny new portfolio as Minister for Whanau Ora, whatever it is. Do you really think she’s going to give up a control over a policy that National has agreed to just for her? Do you really think she’ll stand strong on her principles over the foreshore and seabed if it means losing the Crown limo?

Will Maori Party stand firm on foreshore & seabed?

Written By: - Date published: 9:12 am, April 6th, 2010 - 12 comments

The Maori Party was established to win the right for iwi to have what they believe are their rights to use the economic potential of the foreshore and seabed. National’s offer does not deliver on that. Will the Maori Party fold? Early indications are mixed. Hone Harawira will stand strong but a patsy question from rahui Katene last Thursday suggests the leadership might be willing to roll over.

Maori Party ambushed

Written By: - Date published: 2:02 pm, March 30th, 2010 - 29 comments

The Maori Party says it was ambushed on National’s welfare reform policy, which Tariana Turia opposes. The Minister and the Associate Minister are at odds on the issue. Does this mean that the Maori Party will be making a stand? Don’t hold your breath…

Nats favour Turia, screw Sharples

Written By: - Date published: 10:42 am, March 19th, 2010 - 25 comments

Seats on the supercity, 3 strikes, tertiary cuts, national standards, RWC TV, ETS, foreshore and seabed (soon enough). The list of issues that the Maori Party has been shafted by National on keeps growing. Yet Tariana Turia’s ill-defined ‘Whanua Ora’ policy, which looks like nothing so much as privisation by stealth, gets carte blanche. What’s going on here?

ACT’s ugly racist face exposed

Written By: - Date published: 11:51 pm, February 28th, 2010 - 57 comments

Former ACT Deputy Leader Muriel Newman has launched into a racist tirade that amounts to ‘bloody bludging Maoris’. Incredibly, Rodney Hide agrees, saying that Maori have a culture of dependency. To ACT, poverty isn’t the result of an unequal and unfair economic system, it’s a lifestyle choice. They say Maori are morally deficient and to blame for their poverty.

What is Whanau Ora? 2

Written By: - Date published: 7:49 pm, February 15th, 2010 - 41 comments

Asked to explain his billion dollar policy Key says: “Whanau Ora is a way of saying we’re going to measure outcomes, instead of just inputs into a family to give greater flexibility to a third party private provider”. I take that to be a long way of saying “I don’t know what Whanau Ora is”.

You’re not a doctor, Tariana

Written By: - Date published: 7:30 am, January 26th, 2010 - 46 comments

Tariana Turia got her stomach stapled to tackle her diabetes and it seems to have worked. She wants more people to get the operation. If stomach stapling is a cost-effective way to treat diabetes and will prevent the need for other medical care I think that’s great. What I don’t want to see happen is […]

Dumb and dumber on the dole

Written By: - Date published: 1:49 pm, January 15th, 2010 - 13 comments

So, Tariana Turia has (eventually) come out against Paula Bennett’s pointless policy of making people on the unemployment benefit reapply after a year. Of course, Turia is for work-for-the-dole, which is just as stupid. Looks like there will be a show-down, a fight between the two dumbest welfare policies. I predict that Turia will meekly back down, […]

What is Whanau Ora?

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, December 10th, 2009 - 16 comments

Family Commissioner Jan Pryor says she can’t give a definition of Whanau Ora, Tariana Turia’s pet programme that Pryor’s Commission will be helping to run. What a bunch of utter crap. Saying that she can’t give a definition because she is “a middle class white woman” is totally unacceptable. This isn’t some academic activity, we’re […]

Maori Party schism inevitable

Written By: - Date published: 3:22 pm, November 13th, 2009 - 39 comments

The Maori Party was never going to be a sustainable political vehicle. No political movement that tries to exist in defiance of the material conditions of its constituents can be, and the economic interests of the wealthy Maori elite and the Maori working class are simply incompatible. The Maori Party has to continually choose which […]

If you believe in it, put something on the line

Written By: - Date published: 7:21 pm, August 25th, 2009 - 54 comments

It’s a strange day when you’re praising Tau Henare. But at least he’s standing up for Maori seats, unlike the pathetic display from Pita Sharples. Henare’s email brought to public attention Hide’s bullying threat to resign over the seats. Today, he kept up the fight having a go at Hide for his wag the dog tactics […]

The Maori Party’s commitment to democracy

Written By: - Date published: 12:46 pm, May 16th, 2009 - 60 comments

In an epic last-ditch defence of Aucklanders’ right to be consulted on the removal of their democracy, Labour and the Greens are currently filibustering the government’s enabling legislation in Parliament by forcing a vote on thousands of new amendments. Their objective is simple, they want to get the bill off to a select committee and […]

Tariana Turia answers your questions

Written By: - Date published: 7:42 am, May 7th, 2008 - 41 comments

We’re very pleased to have Maori Party co-leader Tariana Turia respond to your questions as part of our Interview the Leaders series. Question to all leaders: Of which of your achievements in politics are you most proud? I am most proud of having played a part in the creation of a movement which has given […]

Interview the leaders VI: United Future

Written By: - Date published: 4:47 pm, April 28th, 2008 - 19 comments

Thanks to ACT leader Rodney Hide for participating in our ‘Interview the leaders’ series this morning. Our next leader is the Maori Party’s Tariana Turia. The general question remains: Of which of your achievements in politics are you most proud? For the two other questions we’ve gone with Higherstandard’s question: Can you envisage a NZ […]

Clark’s answers delayed

Written By: - Date published: 4:33 pm, April 23rd, 2008 - 25 comments

We had hoped to have the answers for our ‘interview the leaders‘ series from Helen Clark today. I talked with the PM’s office and they explained the questions are with Clark, she’s been busy travelling, and we’ll have them as soon as they come back. So, they’ve asked for an extension and I said ‘fair […]

Interview the leaders V: Maori Party

Written By: - Date published: 2:10 pm, April 21st, 2008 - 41 comments

Even amateur, part-time bloggers sometimes make mistakes, and last week we didn’t send Clark her questions until Wednesday, rather than Monday, due to a miscommunication between ourselves. So, we extended her deadline to this Wednesday. We’ll post her replies when we get them. In the meantime, here are the questions to ACT’s Rodney Hide that […]