Tag Archives: Maori Party

Keith Locke’s Head of State Referenda Bill Voted Down

Posted on by Brad Heap

It is a great shame that the National Government along with the support of the Act, Maori, and Progressive parties tonight voted down Keith Locke’s Head of State Referenda Bill.

The sooner New Zealand becomes an independent nation the better. I do not mind if we become a state of the larger nation of an independent Australia or if we become an independent nation in free association with an independent Australia. But there is one thing I feel strongly about and that is New Zealand should no longer be a colony of Great Britain.

Some may argue that we already have independence through the Statute of Westminster however this is not full or true independence.

What has particularly got my back up tonight though is the arguments of the Maori Party in the debate. Below this post is the full speech given by Rahui Katene in which she argues that any move towards becoming a republic would run foul of the Treaty of Waitangi.

What a missed opportunity this is. The Treaty of Waitangi has been a source of much argument and problems for years, the founding of the Maori party was birthed in a disagreement over the Treaty of Waitangi on matters to do with the foreshore and seabed. There are a number of factions within Maoridom who do not agree with the treaty and some iwi who did not sign it and to this day do not want to!

A move to a republic gives the nation of Aotearoa New Zealand a chance to make things right, a chance to get a second go at creating a nation. However, the very politicians who represent a party that was born out of a disagreement over the interpretation of a badly worded treaty do not even want a discussion on the issue at a select committee.

I want to know if the Maori Party was forced by the National Party to vote against the bill, or if it did so on its own merits. In either case I have lost a lot respect I had for that party as a party of free thinkers. You can’t always fix the past, you certainly cannot hang onto the past, the best way forward is to always do what is best for the future and that is an independent republic of New Zealand.

Hone Harawira on Q+A

Posted on by Brad Heap

It was refreshing to get up this morning and see a politician on TV saying it how it is. No spin, or PC bullshit, just straight opinion.

http://tvnz.co.nz/q-and-a-news/q-hone-harawira-interviewed-guyon-espiner-2755040

GUYON Sure but you’ve got, I mean last time you were protesting about Labour’s actions, this time the Maori Party is actually in government essentially, and it’s the same result, doesn’t it show that no matter what’s tried they’re not listening to Maori?

HONE I think what it shows is that clearly the Maori Party is an independent voice, doesn’t really matter whether Labour’s in power or National’s in power, if we have something to say on behalf of Maori we will say it, regardless of our relationship with government, regardless of whoever’s in Opposition.

There was a few things I took issue with this morning with the interview. The Maori party is the voice of the people who voted for it, not all Maori, in fact more Maori did not vote for the party.

GUYON Okay, I’ve heard Ministers including Rodney Hide say look they want Chinese representation, they want Indian representation, and Maori representation on this Super City, I mean how well understood do you think that the concept of tangatawhenua is in the general population, and even in the government?

HONE First of all, Rodney Hide talking about Chinese representation and Indian representation, is just a red herring quite frankly, he’s just trying to muddy the waters.  What we’re talking about here…

GUYON But that argument though – sorry to interrupt Hone – that argument does seem reasonable to many people doesn’t it, that you have different ethnicities and that they should have different levels of representation on a council along with Maori.  I mean your argument presumably is well you have a tangatawhenua status, I’m just asking you how well do you think that that is understood?

HONE I don’t think it is very well understood, but that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t be pushing for it.  Now this isn’t about us not supporting Pacific representation particularly, Asian or anybody else, but as the First Nation People of Aotearoa, and as the tangatawhenua, as the people who have been giving land for the settlement of Auckland for two hundred years, there’s an obligation on the Crown to recognise the right of Ngati Whatua, and Tainui, and all of the hapu and iwi around this area, representation on this council.

GUYON Is it as simple as that, is it as simple as saying…

HONE It is, actually it is that simple.

Exactly. It is that simple.

GUYON Is it as simple as saying I have certain constitutional rights because I was here before you were here?

HONE No, I don’t think it’s certain constitutional rights, because we don’t have a constitution, but…

GUYON But they are constitutional rights to have specific representation on the Auckland City Council, or to have specific Maori seats of which you hold, that is a certain constitutional right isn’t it?

HONE At the moment we have Maori seats in the national parliament, that works fabulously well because now for the first time in 150 years of parliamentary democracy in this country, we actually hear what Maori people think regardless of whether Labour’s in power or National’s in power, we finally hear what Maori people have to say.  It’s an intelligent voice and it’s an independent voice and it’s a very positive voice.  Now we think that if it can work at a national level it can certainly work at every other level.

GUYON And why don’t you think that the National Party gets it?

HONE Quite frankly I think the National Party does get it, and that’s the reason why John Key decided to buddy up with the Maori Party, I think they get it, I think that they’re under pressure from rednecks and others to try and stop it, but at the end of the day I think they get it and I wouldn’t be surprised if John Key goes along with it, on the basis that he went along with the flag.

This is where Hone pulls the first punch. National are spread too thin and trying to please everyone.

…HONE We are the tangatawhenua, that gives us rights according to the Treaty, we never dreamed up the Treaty somebody else did, but it gave us rights, one of them was partnership, that partnership was never meant to be just at one level or at another level, it was governance right across the country.  Now what we’re saying here is that in the same way that the Maori Party’s presence in the House is creating a new dynamic, and a vibrant dynamic, it can happen here for Auckland, and if we genuinely want Auckland to be the Super City alongside Sydney, New York, Paris, London, Rome and everywhere else, let’s build on that dynamic, let’s give Maori those seats, that’s number one, and then I genuinely would love to see about give years down the track, us seriously consider how we are going to include the Pacific population at that Council as well.

GUYON Okay we talked a little bit about whether Pakeha are understanding the Maori world, let’s just flip this around and see what sort of attention you pay if any to the Pakeha world view.  You said in 2004 and I quote you here – ‘the only people who are going to vote me into parliament are going to be Maori, what’s Pakeha think that’s something that Tariana Turia and Pita Sharples are gonna have to deal with.’  Do you care what Pakeha think?

HONE I do care what Pakeha think, but I’m the MP for Tai Tokerau, I’m very realistic about my role in the party and that is to promote the Maori world view as often as I possibly can.  The day I stand for a general seat is the day I’m six feet under quite frankly.  I stand for a Maori seat, I stand for the seat of Tai Tokerau, the only people who are gonna vote me in are Maori, so I try to get strength out of understanding what it is that Maori want to achieve and then try to translate it into an environment that you and I can live with.

Being honest to where your roots are is a good thing. Local loyalty first, plus you can’t please everyone.

GUYON The Maori Party didn’t stand a candidate in Mt Albert, why not?

HONE Oh, actually we’re enjoying sitting on the sidelines and having a laugh at what everybody else is doing over there, making fools of themselves over the Waterview criminal bypass and a few other activities that they’ve got planned over there.

Hehe… Waterview criminal bypass.

GUYON I guess I asked the question though because do you want Pakeha to vote for you.  If you look at your electorate results, you did very well in the seats obviously but you don’t get a lot of party votes.  Do you see as part of the future of the party, Pakeha voting for the Maori Party?

HONE Oh thousands of Pakehas do, but our first obligation is to Maori.  Once we’ve cleaned out the whole seven seats, once we hold them all what will happen is a lot more Maori are gonna see what possible by us being in parliament, and they will flood back to the Maori seats, we will grow those seats to about ten, once we get to about ten, and once we are firmly entrenched as the independent Maori voice in parliament, we can then look to be all things to all people, but if we tried that now we would die tomorrow.  We have to be very clear, we  have to be very focused about being the Maori voice in parliament and providing an opportunity for the rest of the country to see how positive that can be.

10 Maori Seats… personally that is a scary thought because I do not believe in the need for race based seats, however because of the silly 5% requirement they are necessary. And yes as a Pakeha I would consider voting for The Maori Party, like The Greens they are honest about what they stand for.

GUYON Before I move on to some of the specific things you have and haven’t achieved in parliament, can I just ask you – Trevor Mallard famously said that he was an indigenous Pakeha from Wainui O Mata, do you think that Pakeha can ever be indigenous in New Zealand?

HONE And I think Pat Hohepa said just because a cat is born in a banana box doesn’t make it a banana.  I have no issues whatsoever with Trevor Mallard feeling indigenous, that’s up to him, and congratulations to him, and if he’s part and parcel of this culture such that he thinks that way that’s great, but there can only ever be one tangatawhenua, that’s Maori.  We are the bananas, he’s the cat.

Exactly. I am 5th or 6th Generation NZ (can’t remember which), I have no connections to anywhere else in the world, however, Hone is correct in stating there is only one tangatawhenua.

GUYON I’ll take your word on that.  I just want to take you through some of the things that you wanted to achieve before the election and let’s see how you’re going.  You wanted to take GST off food, you wanted to wipe taxes for those earning under $25,000 – you wanted to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour, I mean none of that’s got a remote chance of happening has it?

HONE We also wanted a review on the Foreshore and Seabed Act, we also wanted to try and get the Maori flag recognised, we also wanted a constitutional review and we’ve got all of them.

GUYON So you think you’re doing alright?

HONE No, we could be doing a hell of a lot better, but in terms of where things are at, and the fact that in 150 years there’s never ever been an independent Maori Party in the House.  I think we’re doing okay, you know it’s only six months, six months on after 150 years of nothing – we’re not doing too badly.

Exactly.

GUYON Tazers – you bitterly oppose those, we’ve  just heard this morning that the government’s gonna spend ten million dollars rolling out tazers and the Police Association wants a tazer in the hands of every cop in the country, is that a good thing?

HONE Did you see that cop that they tazered on TV?  He was screaming, and when he fell down he landed on a mat.  Now just imagine if they did it right here, fall on the side of that he’d crack his head open, he’d probably die.  Now is that a good thing?  You put it into the hands of every Police Officer in New Zealand and you know what a crap bunch some of them can be, do you really want to put that in the hands of people who are going to use it as standover on different populations?  It just so happens to be that those other populations are going to be Maori and Pacific Islander.

GUYON So you see that as a race issue – tazers?

HONE Well no, not so much as a race issue but I think it’s certainly an issue about torture, and I think it’s an issue about trying to deal at that end of the problem instead of back at this end.  If you want to deal with crime, you deal with the causes of crime, you deal with poverty, you deal with the opportunities that people don’t have and you create avenues for the whole country to move beyond what we are at the moment.

Exactly.

GUYON You talked about that constitutional review that you’ve secured with the support agreement, what do you hope to come out of that?

HONE Well we don’t have a constitution in this country, and I’d like to see come out of it a constitution, that’s gonna take ten years, at least ten years, then everybody in the country’s gonna want to participate, but I want to see in there clearly the status of the Treaty protected once and for all, not in this bit of legislation, but not this this this and the other thing, but that the Treaty is protected and adhered to by all level of governance in this country, that’s really what I want to see achieved, and I think it’s very easy to do.  I think all it takes is a bit of courage, a bit of vision and a bit of positivity.

Bring on the republic.

GUYON You said earlier – I mean the main thrust for the Maori Party has been though on the repeal of the Seabed and Foreshore, you called it racist legislation at the top of this interview.

HONE Absolutely, filthy racist piece of legislation, I’ll tell you why.  If this is a hundred percent of the foreshore and seabed in this country, this much of it here is owned by private New Zealanders, the Foreshore and Seabed only applies to this bit here, the bits that Maori are after, so it’s a racist piece of legislation, it doesn’t apply to the whole of the foreshore and seabed, only the bits that Maoris want, racist piece of legislation, it’s gotta go.

GUYON And what are you hoping to achieve out of this review, I mean have you got a replacement?

HONE I think at the moment the numbers in terms of the review going all round the country talking to Maori and Pakeha is 90% for repeal, 8% for partial repeal, 2% don’t repeal, so it’s to repeal.  The trick is what we put in its place and that’s gonna be the big issue and we’re gonna be running a series of wananga before legislation comes into the House, to try and identify if we got rid of this what would we rather have, so that we go to the next stage in terms of legislation with a more positive view that’s going to – one, guarantee that title to Maori – two, make it inalienable so we can’t ever sell it, so it’s not about profit for Maori, and three, so it guarantees access to all New Zealanders.  Those are the three issues really, and I think that we can all live with that one Guyon.

I do not know that much about the issue, but the whole way it was dealt with was wrong.

GUYON Would you like to lead the party one day?

HONE Ah no, because leadership of the party requires a measure of diplomacy and tact I simply don’t have the talent for.

Hehe, Hone for PM.

This is only part of the full interview check out the link at the top for the full thing. Well worth watching.

At least the media commentators understand MMP even if the politicans don’t.

Posted on by Brad Heap

From: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10539439

With regards to the Maori Seats, Overhangs, 5% thresholds, electorate seats and United Future trying to take a line on removing them:

“United Future has been one of the more anomalous features of the political landscape since the introduction of MMP. In 1996 and 1999, Dunne carried his electorate, Ohariu-Belmont, but his party’s shares of the vote (0.9 and 0.5 per cent respectively) would not have seen it in Parliament otherwise; in 2002, United Future got eight MPs, partly by feasting on the remains after National’s massacre and partly because an electronic worm in a leaders’ debate responded positively to Dunne’s repeated intoning of the phrase common sense.”

…

“By the last election United Future’s boilover of support had noticeably cooled: the party got three MPs, one of whom has since defected. And in the latest Herald-DigiPoll survey, it is at the very bottom of the party-vote pile, on a paltry 0.2 per cent.

Right now, Dunne is the very last person in our politics who should be complaining about a party’s over-representation in the House on the strength of its showing in electorate contests. That same poll has Maori Party support at 2.4 per cent well short of what it needs to get list seats in Parliament, but some 12 times as much as United Future can muster. Dunne has always had a wildly inflated sense of his place in the scheme of things, as his tantrum on election night in 2005 famously demonstrated, but numbers like those should give even him pause for thought.”

This is MMP:

“The influence that the Maori Party may exert in the formation of the next Government will strengthen the argument of those who feel that, under MMP, small-party tails are wagging large-party dogs. But that does not, of itself, argue for the abolition of the Maori seats. NZ First, Act, United Future and the Progressives have all, at different times and to different extents, exerted influence disproportionate to their mandate. That is MMP.”

…

“There is an argument to be had as to whether a party-vote threshold, perhaps lower than the existing 5 per cent, should have to be crossed before local success can deliver a seat in Parliament. But the need for that discussion arises because of all the minor parties and the different demographics of their constituencies. It is not an issue raised by the case of the Maori Party alone.”

I personally think that the 5% rule should be removed and if you win enough votes to get a seat you get it. Or if this is going to bring too many “randoms” into parliament and create 12 headed monsters then make it 3 MPs like they do in some other MMP countries. (I also think no party should be able to get over 35% of the vote but lets not go there).

And from: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10539435

“It seems strange that the media still promote poll results as if it’s merely a contest between National and Labour. It’s actually between a Clark-led centre left coalition and a Key-led centre right coalition. At present it’s too close to call.”

…

“Smith’s unguarded comments expose a nasty side of the Nats that won’t be lost on the Pacific Island and other migrant communities.

If the publicity of these comments even knocks 1 or 2 per cent off National’s vote it may be the difference between winning and losing, and certainly puts it at the mercy of the Maori Party.

It will make it harder for the Maori Party to convince its supporters that National has changed its spots and be considered a possible coalition partner. Maori voters overwhelmingly prefer Labour over National.

National’s post-election price to the Maori Party was always going to be high. Polls show the size of Parliament will increase to at least 125 seats and therefore make it almost impossible for National and its right-wing allies to get a majority without the Maori Party.

National would probably have to repeal the foreshore and seabed legislation and guarantee the future of the Maori seats for the Maori Party to risk its electorate base. It’s a big ask, of course, but after nine years in the wilderness I think the Nats would trade their grandmother if they had to.”

…

“Clark and Key understand that they are almost certain to have to deal with the Maori Party if they want to be prime minister. If we believe the polls, Clark’s best chance of keeping her job is if the number of MPs in Parliament is increased above 120 because of an overhang.

If that happened National and its allies would just fall short of a majority of MPs. This would only happen if the Maori Party won more electorate seats than its party vote percentage allowed. Ironically Labour’s slim chance to remain in government may happen if the Maori Party defeats it in the seven Maori electorates and National won’t repeal the seabed and foreshore legislation. How delicious.”

And ironically at the end of the day it could be Labour losing the Maori Seats that keeps them in power. Politics, nothing is ever clear cut.