I mean, wow, here we were. We were expecting this big debate over the Māori Party punishments to drag on for days, if not weeks, and overshadow the Budget - and the blinking thing didn't even last an hour. It got postponed to next month.
What happened was, in retrospect, very simple and very obvious, just a move from the Government.
It came to the Government's turn to talk about it - and up pops Chris Bishop, Leader of the House. He says - hey, I move it gets postponed, and guess what, it gets postponed because the Government has the majority in the House, so they simply voted for that, and there we go, clear air for the Budget.
Most relieved, I would say, would be the Government, because it means that they do get clear air for the Budget on Thursday.
Most bummed out, I would imagine, would be the Māori Party - who'd even gone to the effort of organizing a protest on the full court of Parliament.
So basically, what's happened is we put this thing to bed for a few weeks because of a checkmate move from Chris Bishop.
But while we've got this pause, can I just make an observation?
It's quite remarkable how quickly this has gone from being a thing about the deliberate flouting of rules consistently by a party doing it as part of a PR strategy to being a thing about the National-led Government using parliamentary process to banish MPs they don't like, thereby turning us into a "banana republic".
This is the kind of reportage that I'm reading at the moment. Suspending the Māori Party MPs threatens democracy.
It is a drastic step that looks, on the face of it, undemocratic. Those are two different articles, by the way - it seems to be a theme that's emerging.
But hang on a minute here, because it's going to take a lot to convince me that this is the case of a heavy-handed Government silencing innocent dissent - because I haven't forgotten how we got here.
I haven't forgotten that the Māori Party planned to disrupt Parliament that day. They planned to disrupt it - and then they carried out that plan.
I haven't forgotten that Debbie Ngarewa-Packer pointed her fingers in the shape of a gun at another MP and that the Māori Party refused to turn up to the Privileges Committee when they were asked to - and when they were supposed to.
I haven't forgotten that that the Māori Party refused to apologize and accept they've done anything wrong and that the Māori Party then leaked the recommendations of the Privileges Committee, which is against the rules, and that the Māori Party co-leaders have said that they will do this again - most likely with the Regulatory Standards bill.
I haven't forgotten any of that stuff. And it's remarkable to me how quickly people want to turn this into a bad Government story instead of a bad opposition story.
And it's also remarkable to me how quickly people have forgotten what this party did to end up here today.
Heather du Plessis-Allan is a journalist and commentator who hosts Newstalk ZB's Drive show HERE - where this article was sourced.
11 comments:
And they can’t be let to forget! Any lesser punishment will just see a repeat performance. One used to respect Māori and the Haka-no more.
Heather, the only people who have (conveniently) forgotten are those that lean left, are white guilt racist morons and the legacy mainstream media. Every other reasoned silent majority New Zealander who followed the saga knows exactly how we got here.
Sadly the silence is not golden because the media like every drama NZ has wants this government taken down and they are doing it by foul means at every junction. Daily we have a diatribe of LEFT, GOOD.....right BAD and they wonder why they are at 32% and falling.
Disagree Heather. Your thinking is far left mentality. You are siding with the perpetrator. Think of the victim for a change. Let me put it to you this way: if you behaved like the maoris in question, ie, write lies about people behave like a nutter, make racist statements, do you think you would still have a job?
No, and neither should you have a job. As an example, What about the made up lies you had written about people, how do you think they would feel. How would you feel if someone made up false statements about you and published them on social media. Another example you could also use your position to make racist comments etc
Now, I know you are far better than that, and even though we all have the ability to behave like the maori party personnel, we all chose not to. But when it's constant and threatening its time to get rid of the rotten fruit. The ban is a slap on the wrist. It should be longer. If it were anyone else, they would not have a job. Please stop defending these lunatics. Karma is just starting to catch up with them.
Its not remarkable to me because on the whole the MSM are left wing activists.
And they still haven't furnished their financial returns to the expected standard. They are, unquestionably, thumbing their nose at Parliament; the Government's sovereignty; and they're pulling substantial salaries for seats that fundamentally shouldn't exist. The easy and entirely appropriate solution is to remove those race based seats, permanently. Do any of our current politicians have the moral and ethical intellect and fortitude to seek such?
We all know the answer.
It goes further back than this. Let's not forget that te Pati Māori should never have been in Parliament in the first place. By refusing to swear allegiance to the Crown on the basis the Māori did not cede sovereignty automatically should prevent them from (a) voting in the house, (b) attending Parliament as MPs and (c) getting paid. We failed to insist upon these and now we're paying the price...
The race based division is driving New Zealand to an apartheid third world nation.
A truly progressive move would be to end ALL official recognition of race or ethnicity in all legislation.
With race/ethnicity no longer having official status, there could be:-
NO more race-based seats or race-specific party in Parliament.
NO more race-based wards in local government.
NO more census questions about ethnicity.
NO more co-governance, and NO more basis for claims of unending victimhood.
NO Waitangi Tribunal !
Was this behavior acceptable before the Waitangi Tribunal was set up ?
No
Was it acceptable before Ardern was elected ?
No
Would it have been acceptable to Ardern while she was in power ?
Certainly, yes
All this is leading to forcing He Puapua on NZ
Good point ... what has happened to the investigations into the various financial and voting shenanigans? Why do I even have to ask - where is the watchdog media?
Agree - and it is just starting on June 5. Then, tikanga will come into the picture - centre stage. Ms Ngarewa Packer claimed this as her defense - and Potaka sympathized. Now Potaka's special committee( Chair: Adrian Rurawhe - which will consider how to integrate tikanga into Parliament) could be linked to the TPM haka saga in some way. TPM might still get some sort of ban.... but this special committee might support the principle of tikanga in Parliament. ( As the Supreme Court does for the law.)
Potaka might be going for a much bigger prize - i.e. the end of the Westminster system.
What amazes me is the level of rhetoric which maori so eagerly disseminate and absorb. There have been articles here claiming varius reduced IQ levels for maori. For many of the front line players and most supporters seems these reports were correct. Incredibly RNZ soothingly and supportively reports.
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