Chris Luxon argues we don’t know what co-governance looks like. He's wrong, we do. And we do because the fans of co-governance keep telling us that we have had forms of co-governance for years.
Things like seats on councils based on race, that's co-governance. We have a newly formed Māori Health Authority. They are commissioners for specific health purchases and policy for Māori as well as co-commissioners on policy for the rest of us, that's co-governance.
So, is Luxon running for the hills because he doesn’t want to buy a fight or is he genuinely confused?
Then we were told a couple of things by the Prime Minister. Firstly, that we aren't going to have a separate Māori Parliament. That’s clever and I'll come back to that.
But she also told us consultation will be under way this year. That's a problem if you believe they are remotely interested in anything any of us has to say. It's window dressing. They know what the plan is, they are rolling it out, and what the rest of us have to say will go nowhere.
The clever bit from the Prime Minister is the separate Parliament, it's one of her tactics, and it avoids the real issue by delivering clarity on the most absurd example.
He Puapua covers everything. That, in itself, is clever. It put forward every possible scenario from the moderately interesting to the bizarre. That way, you get what you want by diverting attention.
Reaction always goes to the extreme. So, while you jump up and down about a Parliament, they can busy themselves telling you no such thing will happen while at the same time soothing your angst with a promise of consultation. But also, before you know it, Three Waters is underway, as is the launch of the Māori Health Authority.
So National has to work out where to stand on this stuff because ACT are clear. My bet is there is a chunk of New Zealand who finds this stuff unsettling, dangerous, and wasteful. It’s the sort of lightning rod issue that will be a magnet for votes.
The great hope, of course, is that this year is wasted with consultation. And like the fair pay agreements and Three Waters, before you know it will be election year and the polls will have cemented Labour's plight in such a parlous state that the panic will be full blown, and anything further eroding their chances of another term are placed on the backburner.
Meantime, beware of those who promise consultation, and tell you there is nothing to see here.
But she also told us consultation will be under way this year. That's a problem if you believe they are remotely interested in anything any of us has to say. It's window dressing. They know what the plan is, they are rolling it out, and what the rest of us have to say will go nowhere.
The clever bit from the Prime Minister is the separate Parliament, it's one of her tactics, and it avoids the real issue by delivering clarity on the most absurd example.
He Puapua covers everything. That, in itself, is clever. It put forward every possible scenario from the moderately interesting to the bizarre. That way, you get what you want by diverting attention.
Reaction always goes to the extreme. So, while you jump up and down about a Parliament, they can busy themselves telling you no such thing will happen while at the same time soothing your angst with a promise of consultation. But also, before you know it, Three Waters is underway, as is the launch of the Māori Health Authority.
So National has to work out where to stand on this stuff because ACT are clear. My bet is there is a chunk of New Zealand who finds this stuff unsettling, dangerous, and wasteful. It’s the sort of lightning rod issue that will be a magnet for votes.
The great hope, of course, is that this year is wasted with consultation. And like the fair pay agreements and Three Waters, before you know it will be election year and the polls will have cemented Labour's plight in such a parlous state that the panic will be full blown, and anything further eroding their chances of another term are placed on the backburner.
Meantime, beware of those who promise consultation, and tell you there is nothing to see here.
Mike Hosking is a New Zealand television and radio broadcaster. He currently hosts The Mike Hosking Breakfast show on NewstalkZB on weekday mornings.
3 comments:
There is no such thing as co-governance. There is only apartheid and tribal rule.
Luxon's problem is that he is woke and rather weak, I suspect.
He spent too many woke years in the rarified atmosphere of top-level corporate life and he'll probably never recover.
He appears not to have any strong beliefs or principles - apart from enforcing vaccine mandates which he is rabid about.
He's a bit of a John Key...on steroids.
The best thing that could happen is that National voters grow a pair...if there's anything left down there at all...and defect to ACT in support of the co-governance referendum.
It probably won't happen. They'll be too busy deciding whether to buy more shares in a debt-laden AirNZ. Because, after all, their leader used to run it.
Luxon needs to get his sh*t together !!
All of us can see that "co-governance" is actually [co] sovereignty.
This is the exact sovereignty that the chiefs ceded completely to the Crown in 1840, and confirmed at Kohimaramara in 1860.
So - in simple clear terms "co-governance" is a flagrant and direct breach of the Treaty of Waitangi !!!!
Get real, Mr Luxon !!!
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