The Point of Order Trough Monitor almost missed the handout of some $5 million to Māori tribes, the announcement of which was preceded by a press statement headline and 300 words of te reo.
Having found the English text a few paragraphs down in the statement, we were disappointed to find no monetary measure of the government’s generosity to the chosen tribes. But who got how much can be found on the website of the Office for Māori Crown Relations, an agency which – if ACT was to call the shots after the next election – would be abolished.
That promise triggered Māori Development Minister Willie Jackson to demonstrate what he learned in Charm School by saying of ACT leader David Seymour:
“It’s not about him being a useless Māori, it’s about him being a dangerous politician actually.”
Kelvin Davis said the funding he was announcing was available for iwi Māori to develop resources and host events that focus on building greater awareness of te kāhui o Matariki.
He might have started by explaining in the English-language bit of his press statement what “te kāhui o Matariki” means. He might also explain if funding is available for (a) non-iwi Māori and/or (b) Kiwis embraced by the “Crown” part of the Office for Māori Crown Relations,
The Matariki Ahunga Nui fund is the name of this trough, by the way. It supports Māori-led kaupapa or initiatives celebrating mātauranga or knowledge about te kāhui o Matariki.
The Minister for Youth, Priyanca Radhakrishnan, was not so coy when it came to talking money.
She burst into life with her first press statement since March 25 to announce a $15 million boost over four years for youth development services, to be included in Budget 2022.
Transport Minister Michael Wood tossed a few million dollars into his press statement, too, when he welcomed the opening of the tender processes for Auckland Light Rail and the Additional Waitematā Harbour Connections project.
“We have seen just this week Auckland Airport announcing a $300 million-plus Transport Hub development, which will specifically cater for future mass rapid transit to the airport. By pushing ahead with this project, we are giving certainty to business to make important commercial decisions now, to plan around critical infrastructure.”
And:
“The Government’s investment in regional infrastructure is also continuing to deliver results with today’s opening of the Kawakawa roundabout, marking the official completion of $21.5 million in state highway improvements for Northland.”
Point of Order is a blog focused on politics and the economy run by veteran newspaper reporters Bob Edlin and Ian Templeton
4 comments:
I am sorry but there is no way I could make a respectful comment about the above mentioned MPs.
Is any other Kiwi not fed up with all this nonsense? Can we have a show of hands please? One country, one people, no troughers. We simply can't afford it.
This is what happens when a minority group is elevated to mystical status.
You get incompetents like Kelvin Davis, who doesn't look Maori and doesn't have a Maori name spouting forth in Te Reo to cover up all the government waste, incompetence, inefficiency and sheer graft knowing that nobody will dare question him, otherwise he can jump up and shout racist at them. He'd be more accurate shouting at a mirror because he is the racist.
The Labour Maori caucus and the Maori Party are all cut from the same cloth. They are focused only on themselves and their circle of elites and care nothing for the rest of us who fund everything they demand money for.
After decades of being told how special they are they now ooze entitlement and expect to be given without question.
New Zealand only has itself to blame for encouraging sympathy and compensation for alleged but largely unsubstantiated claims of Maori victimisation. We have a generation of media and academic elites who revel in it.
It only makes Maori dependent and expectant and breeds understandable resentment in the 83%. Something most of our politicians have been unable to see for decades, ACT excluded.
Opening the tender process for Auckland light rail, Waitemata Horbour project et al. I recall Maori business are to be given preferential treatment for Govt supply.
Corruption abounds everywhere, and racist to boot.
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