Tamihere now struts about the place issuing grandiose demands to the Labour Party, where he was once a cabinet minister, that it should surrender the six Maori electorate seats which it holds in the current Parliament to the Maori Party. Instead it should concentrate on winning party votes from Maori in the seven Maori electorates. Tamihere says he believes that such a strategy would ensure victory for Labour, the Greens and the Maori Party in October. He hasn’t told us which seat he expects to stand for, but you can bet your life that he wants to grab one of them. His real worry is that his whole shonky personal fiefdom will crumble if it's subjected to careful scrutiny by a new government. His personal loans from taxpayer-funded Waipareira, his web of family connections, and money for the Maori Party could all be threatened. In his view, what Chris Luxon has designated the “Coalition of Chaos” can save him. Which is all the more reason why Labour and the Greens must lose.
The push towards Maori tribalism that Labour never mentioned at the time of the 2020 election, raced ahead under Jacinda Ardern, Nanaia Mahuta and Chris Hipkins. Three Waters, He Puapua, Te Whatu Ora and co-governance, where the Maori aristocracy appoints people to boards rather than have them nominated by an organization answerable to Maori at elections, let alone be directly elected by Maori themselves, are just some of the decisions taken by the current Labour government as it moves away from the bedrock democratic principle of one person-one vote. As a self-appointed member of that Maori aristocracy, Tamihere wants to ensure his personal fiefdom gets a favourable tick from the government when it finally comes under the microscope. The worst part of all this is that Willie Jackson appears to agree with him. According to the Herald of 31 May, Jackson’s main worry is that now doesn’t seem to be the right time to hand over the Maori electorate seats. But, by inference, once the election is over, he’d be prepared to reconsider. Beware! We were caught last election with Labour saying one thing on the stump and doing something different afterwards.
The strange thing about all this is that ordinary Maori have been prepared over the years to trust the Labour Party to look after their interests. Money budgeted for them has always been expected to reach them for health, education or cultural purposes, for example. Times, however, have changed. Who would have thought that the party of Micky Savage and Peter Fraser would eventually collapse into one willing to assist the Maori aristocracy to cream off money intended for the disadvantaged, lending it to themselves with no strings attached, and appointing their mates and relatives to boards, councils and trusts? Not appointed by those responsible to the wider public, but “placed” by the new Maori aristocracy. Ordinary folk are now starting to confront the reality that Labour no longer stands for them. Rather, “their” party is in the grip of those who are already privileged.
Thomas Cranmer’s article should be closely studied by every candidate for Parliament in October. It contains some useful information about John Tamihere, with warnings about how not to conduct oneself when one works for a registered charity in receipt of taxpayer funds.
The push towards Maori tribalism that Labour never mentioned at the time of the 2020 election, raced ahead under Jacinda Ardern, Nanaia Mahuta and Chris Hipkins. Three Waters, He Puapua, Te Whatu Ora and co-governance, where the Maori aristocracy appoints people to boards rather than have them nominated by an organization answerable to Maori at elections, let alone be directly elected by Maori themselves, are just some of the decisions taken by the current Labour government as it moves away from the bedrock democratic principle of one person-one vote. As a self-appointed member of that Maori aristocracy, Tamihere wants to ensure his personal fiefdom gets a favourable tick from the government when it finally comes under the microscope. The worst part of all this is that Willie Jackson appears to agree with him. According to the Herald of 31 May, Jackson’s main worry is that now doesn’t seem to be the right time to hand over the Maori electorate seats. But, by inference, once the election is over, he’d be prepared to reconsider. Beware! We were caught last election with Labour saying one thing on the stump and doing something different afterwards.
The strange thing about all this is that ordinary Maori have been prepared over the years to trust the Labour Party to look after their interests. Money budgeted for them has always been expected to reach them for health, education or cultural purposes, for example. Times, however, have changed. Who would have thought that the party of Micky Savage and Peter Fraser would eventually collapse into one willing to assist the Maori aristocracy to cream off money intended for the disadvantaged, lending it to themselves with no strings attached, and appointing their mates and relatives to boards, councils and trusts? Not appointed by those responsible to the wider public, but “placed” by the new Maori aristocracy. Ordinary folk are now starting to confront the reality that Labour no longer stands for them. Rather, “their” party is in the grip of those who are already privileged.
Thomas Cranmer’s article should be closely studied by every candidate for Parliament in October. It contains some useful information about John Tamihere, with warnings about how not to conduct oneself when one works for a registered charity in receipt of taxpayer funds.
Historian Dr Michael Bassett, a Minister in the Fourth Labour Government, blogs HERE.
8 comments:
I am offended by the term "aristocracy" when referring to Tamihere or Jackson.
Indeed, but let's face it, it's just te ao Maori. Nothing at all new about the (all) too human condition of looking out for oneself first, but having removed the ability to have slaves, it's not surprising that for some Maori the tradition of nepotism and now the colonialist's currency are now very much to the fore. We are kidding ourselves to expect anything else, for time and time again we have seen this activity repeated. And, after all, JT, & his certainly his pal Willie J, are multi-millionaires and have lifestyles to support.
But it's always the same. Those championing the cause and claiming the poverty of their people, are personally doing very nicely thank you.
I am offended by the lowest common intelligence quotient of any voters who will vote for Labour, Greens or TPM in October.
Racism has never been ok and now more than ever. The Maori "aristocracy" (gag) can go and jump off the cliff asap and take their tikanga and principles with them. A little shove wouldn't hurt.
MC
Maori Mafia want chaos alright. But of course someone else has to pay for it.
Dear Michael Bassett.
You make the statement - "Micky Savage and Peter Fraser would eventually collapse into one willing to assist the Maori aristocracy to cream off money intended for the disadvantaged, lending it to themselves with no strings attached" .....
Would you apply this same mantra to Ngai Tahu, who achieved one of the biggest & best Treaty Settlements, thanks to the National Party, and unbeknownst to the Public at large had a clause with in the multi page document, that allowed them "to hold their hands out to the Govt of the day, if & when any other Treaty Settlement was made , in that they get a "monetary handout" as well. There is specific wording, in their Treaty Settlement that alludes to this, and was (strangely) reported on around the time a Treaty Settlement was being concluded for Wairarapa based Iwi.
It is also interesting that this Tribal Entity (Ngai Tahu) operates as a Trust and is reputed to have a large financial purse.
Many NZ Media "related to Willie Jackson" making mention in 2016 he was not associated with Labour, but "engineered" his way onto the Labour List and as was "reported at the time ensured his placement was elevated to with in the "Top 20", to ensure he had a "better opportunity" to gain a Ministerial Posting/ which he did. You now have to look at "his Ministerial track record since then" to understand his motives.
Interesting to see you state - that "Ordinary folk are now staring to confront the reality that Labour no longer stands for them". I think you will find, Sir, that "rot" started with Lange and was carried on by Clarke.
Me, I am ANON, resident of New Zealand.
It is disturbing that actually highly educated and intelligent people who read nothing much more than MSM for news have become so gullible.
Anecdotally and from my experience it is frequently simple fairly uneducated people who are more discerning.
Brainwashing and propaganda are terrible evils. Thank you for your articles, Michael.I just wish excellent articles like this could become MSM , like it used to be NZ. It could a tear to my eye that this foulness has happened.
Whilst many of the antics of Tamahere are repugnant to most non maori (colonists?) that is far from the case with fellow maori. Aggression, bombast, deceit and artful manipulation are a vital part of the culture. Also putting it over the colonists. Early settlers Polak, Maning, E J Wakefield report the constant striving of maori to cheat them. Endless claimants to the same land based on some chance or contrived association. Manipulation of bags of potatoes, flax so weighed and counted twice etc. Far from being lost, for a good try mana was gained even when thwarted.
I read in the newspaper of a maori convicted for transferring a pile from some state funded maori support group to their personal account. Most of these detected not uncommon events are blatantly obvious. One wonders what the organisations with intelligent financially literate inherently cunning senior operatives acting in unison get away with? The burden for the Auditor General must be overwhelming. And being a govt dept it probably now impossible for him to recruit truly independent staff not pro maori.
There were seeds of destruction, I see, in particularly the changes in education in the Fraser government. Combined with Beeby they brought in progressive education which gradually cancelled out traditional values and teaching methods. One of the tenants of progressive education is a sentimental view of human nature and this includes native peoples like Maori. Commonsense shows us the foibles of human nature are universal as Robert writes about on this blog. Surely we need to be wary of these and apply civic controls western culture painfully learned, only over many centuries.
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