Tau Henare and the baubles of retirement

Written By: - Date published: 9:30 am, April 12th, 2014 - 16 comments
Categories: john key, national, same old national - Tags:

Tau Henare

In news this week Tau Henare announced his retirement from Politics at the forthcoming election. This was not surprising. He was placed well down on the list at the last election and with talk of Alfred Ngaro being parachuted in to be the candidate in Te Atatu Tau’s chances looked grim.

So he has joined the long list of National MPs leaving Parliament this year.

There is a silver lining for Tau. His experience in the trade union movement and in politics is apparently being recognised by his being appointed to be the chair of the Board for Maori Television.  I presume the offer was something that he factored into his decision to retire.

It makes you wonder what incentives were offered to the other retiring MPs.  For instance John Hayes showed signs of trying to fend off a well publicised challenge but then went meekly.

Key’s reputation as a smiling assassin is well deserved.  National has or will lose 15 MPs who served this term.  And there has been little or any sign of public dissent.  It makes you wonder what is occurring to persuade so many MPs to give up the baubles of office.

And lefties should be very afraid about the calibre of the likely replacements.  As commented recently by Felix

Anyone who won’t have the stomach for the extreme right-wing blitzkrieg the central committee has planned for the third term is out, and will be replaced by obedient, subservient little Randian ideologues and proto-fascists who owe their entire career to the leadership.

National is transforming into ACT on steroids.

If anyone on the left need a reason to get involved in their party of choice this is it.

16 comments on “Tau Henare and the baubles of retirement ”

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  1. Morrissey 1
    12 April 2014 at 9:43 am

    Tau Henare, Simon Bridges, Michael Bassett. Te Atatu has a lot to answer for.

  2. fisiani 2
    12 April 2014 at 9:43 am

    Can I have a link to your claim re Maori Television or are you just inventing a rumour to make a headline.

    • mickysavage 2.1
      12 April 2014 at 9:50 am

      It is in the post fisi. The relevant passage from Drinnan’s article is:

      “Tau Henare has been tipped to replace Georgina te Heuheu as chairman of Maori TV, but it is not clear when he might take up the job.

      Henare has announced he is stepping down from politics and is understood to be keen on the Maori TV chairman’s role.

      Tau Henare
      Tau Henare
      Te Heuheu’s tenure officially ends in March next year, but the board’s appointment of the new chief executive of Maori TV, Paora Maxwell, has been contentious, and there have been suggestions she could step down early to focus on other interests.”

    • North 2.2
      12 April 2014 at 10:37 am

      Idiot FizzyAnus at it again. It’s not stated as a fact, fool. It reports what is being ‘said’. Nothing more. What is a fact is that in the North Henare’s repute says he’s a self seeking irrelevancy, remarkable only as a koretake kupapa, a trough guzzler. He’s a risible spectacle lived high on the hog for years as a ShonKey Python arselicker.

      ‘Ray Henry’ of the union indeed. What a joke.

    • Tracey 2.3
      12 April 2014 at 1:57 pm

      the links have to be clicked on for you to be able to read them.

  3. Once was Tim 3
    12 April 2014 at 10:26 am

    God save MTS!

  4. marty mars 4
    12 April 2014 at 11:44 am

    Cushy jobs for exMP’s is par for the course though isn’t it on both sides.

    However I too am concerned about the likely replacements for the cogs leaving – a third term for key and the gnats will be a shocker for those most disadvantaged in our society.

    Very good point Mickey about getting involved – we must get involved and we must work bloody hard.

    • Colonial Viper 4.1
      12 April 2014 at 3:17 pm

      Cushy jobs for exMP’s is par for the course though isn’t it on both sides.

      Labour can only rarely arrange such cushy post-parliamentary jobs for exiting MPs. That’s one reason so few of them exit quite as gracefully as the NATs. Although head of the undertakers union made me laugh.

  5. captain hook 5
    12 April 2014 at 11:52 am

    he will bugger it all up for sure.

    • Richard Christie 5.1
      12 April 2014 at 2:41 pm

      That’s probably the plan and NAct’s dearest hope for the service.

      After all, MTS is last vestige of public service tv in NZ.

  6. The Baron 6
    12 April 2014 at 5:52 pm

    Usually I can take your biased political fanboi-isms with the right degree of ridicule.

    But when you’re being a hypocrite as well as a numpty, Greg, it’s all a bit much.

    So tell me how your connections to the Labour Party justified your government appointments please? Conveyancing lawyer and part time councillor aren’t really the calibre of person LTNZ needs now is it? And how do you otherwise claim you were right for the Film and Literature Review Board?

    Seems to me you’re just fine with partisan appointments to friends – just only when it’s for you.

    • mickysavage 6.1
      12 April 2014 at 8:02 pm

      I was not promised an appointment to get me to resign from Parliament. And I was qualified for those positions the pay rates for which were well below my usual charge out rate. And you have no idea about my experience.

      Your comment raises interesting issues. I can see why most left wing bloggers prefer to remain anonymous. Because otherwise they get attacked personally and the merits of what they say gets ignored.

      • newsense 6.1.1
        12 April 2014 at 11:31 pm

        you can see when someone with the profile and prestige as Dame Anne Salmond or the Human Rights Commission gets bullied why. If there is a ‘reminder’ about who funds them or a suggestion that they should keep out of politics, with the head on the parapet of the PGF already….

  7. JK 7
    12 April 2014 at 6:18 pm

    You’re forgetting The Baron that Greg P has never been an MP – and that is what this post is about …. Nat MPs being offered goodness knows what to step down, so the way is open for far right-minded corporate people to get into Parliament via the National Party.

  8. Will@Welly 8
    12 April 2014 at 8:51 pm

    Please say it isn’t so. Tau has brought Maoridom into disrepute with his wallowing in Parliament. What he will do with Maori Television doesn’t bear thinking about.
    As for the clean out, Labour take note – either shift to the left, ditch the free-loaders, or be lost in the swirling abyss.

  9. Dave_1924 9
    13 April 2014 at 1:44 pm

    Hmm – so implying Nat MP’s and associates get baubles and Labours don’t kind of ignores; Steve Maharey at Massey, Michael Cullen on the Kiwibank Board, the many board seats for Ken Douglas and those are just of the top of my head. pretty sure if we did a long trawl through all the SOE’s, Quangos, etc we would find during every major parties time in power a swing of political allegiances of the membership of their boards as people retire/are moved on and replace by new appointments.

    Clearly board memberships – especially of public sponsored entities, should be filled by those with the best experience and qualifications, with consideration to making sure diverse backgrounds are covered. nothing worse than a monotone board of people with the same background and life experiences…

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