Bob Edlin: Maori Party announces a pot of gold....

.....or rather, $66m a year – for a new commission at the end of the rainbow

If you think it’s great to learn something that extends your vocabulary, read on.

Then again, maybe it’s not a new word for you, and the writer of this article will be exposing himself as a bloke who hasn’t been paying attention to something which was incorporated long ago in media reports along with a raft of other te reo words.

Bob Edlin: Sovereignty and The Treaty.....

.....the Maori Party aims to nobble Parliament while ACT wants to rid NZ of the Waitangi Tribunal

The Māori Party intends undermining the sovereignty of Parliament – if it can muster the support to implement such a policy – by establishing a “Tiriti Commission” empowered to stall or challenge Government policies and bills presented to Parliament.

Furthermore, it would establish a $220 million fund for “Māori-led constitutional transformation” discussions and working groups.

Bob Edlin: Peters brings Soviet chandeliers into the case for making English an official language ....

Peters brings Soviet chandeliers into the case for making English an official language – and te reo shrouds the Maori Party’s stance

The PoO team – keen to learn who said what during the first reading of the English Language Bill and not tuned into the broadcast of proceedings at the time – turned to Hansard.

Bob Edlin: Double murderer has been freed on parole....

Double murderer has been freed on parole – but would he have been jailed if the Maori Party had been running things 20 years ago?

The New Zealand public learned today that Tauranga double murderer Anthony Doyle has been released on parole after serving 20 years.

It turns out he was freed before the New Year.

Bob Edlin: Maori Party is warned against committing political suicide.....

Maori Party is warned against committing political suicide – but look at NZ First before declaring it dead

Māori Party MPs have been absent from New Zealand Parliament sittings on several occasions due to a mix of disciplinary measures, protests, and internal party matters.

Mike's Minute: Labour talks tough, but it rings hollow

It’s a slightly odd message from Labour over the Māori Party as they try and work out how to deal with them.

The truth is they will need them to form a government if they get their own numbers to a point of victory.

JC: Māori Party Stays True to Its Roots

These people are doing an excellent job of destroying themselves and should be left to get on with their nonsense.

At first glance the headline may appear to have positive connotations. You would be wrong. For some time now we have been watching the unedifying spectacle of two factions within the Māori Party at war with each other. This is where ‘true to its roots’ resonates. Māori have historically been a warrior race. But for the advent of more civility brought about by the, according to the Māori Party, dreadful happening of colonisation, tribal factions might still be at each other’s throats.

Bob Edlin: Electoral law........

Electoral law: if a spiritual leader’s flock needs protection against politicking in churches, what about marae?

New Zealand prides itself on being a secular society, notwithstanding the prayer said at the beginning of each day in Parliament, references to God in the national anthem and two Christian holidays, Good Friday and Christmas Day, being days when most shops are required to close.

But who knew that election campaigning is prohibited in churches?

Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: Are we surprised by these allegations we've heard about the Māori Party?

Listen, go on and tell me that any of the allegations that we've heard about the Māori Party in the last 36 hours surprise you.

Does it shock you in any way to find out that one of their MPs allegedly paid her son $120,000 of taxpayer money, that she couldn't apparently balance her own budget? And that her son allegedly abused parliamentary staff so badly that he was trespassed from the grounds?

Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: Did someone try to stop the Māori Party from hijacking Parliament?

It's happened again, unfortunately - the Māori Party has hijacked Parliament once again with a haka.

It played out like this:

Oriini Kaipara, who's their new MP replacing the late Takutai Tarsh Kemp, delivered her maiden speech because today’s her first day in Parliament. Afterwards, there was a song and the public gallery was involved. She stepped out of her seat into the aisle, onto the floor to receive the song.

David Farrar: Tamihere backs Ferris

Stuff reports:

Te Pāti Māori president John Tamihere says MP Tākuta Ferris was, in essence, correct when he hit out at non-Māori supporting Labour’s Māori electorate campaign.

Tamihere said Ferris could have worded his comments better, but added that he generally agreed with what the MP had said. That is despite Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer telling the Labour and Green leaders that his comments didn’t reflect her party’s views.

Mike's Minute: Labour is watching the Māori Party closely

I see the plan.

Labour is sweating the current Māori Party meltdown, so they have rolled out Willie Jackson, who claims Takuta Ferris is handing political extremists ammunition to paint the Māori Party as too weird to ever do business with Labour.

There are several problems with the plan.

Mike's Minute: The issue Hipkins has with the Māori Party

I have been wondering when the penny would drop and yesterday might have been it.

There were two stories on Chris Hipkins' problems with the Māori Party.

For all the energy the media wants to put into Chris Luxon and his future, the very obvious other side of the coin, if they ever wanted to explore it, lies in the very real issue for Labour in even coming close to putting together the numbers for a government.

Mike's Minute: All Blacks vs The Māori Party

What a contrast Saturday night was.

At Eden Park the rugby as good as you could possibly want.

For all the hype and worry of the week, the All Blacks reminded us that when it all comes together, when it really matters and records of significance are on the line, there is no side in the world that can touch them.

JC: MMP Brought About the MP

If they can’t deal with reality then they are of little use when it comes to running the country and they are more of a hindrance than a help. We don’t need their war dance theatrics and we don’t need their insults.

One of the reasons Kiwis voted for MMP was because they felt the First Past the Post system resulted in a parliament that was not reflective of how they voted. The door was shut on the smaller parties that secured a reasonable amount of support, meaning those who voted for them were not represented. The introduction of MMP was designed to overcome this problem.

JC: Will Willie Win?

Following Cam’s excellent article on Monday regarding Willie Jackson’s attempt to put the Māori Party on the right track, I thought I would add my tuppence worth. The question has to be: will Willie win over the dissenters?

Has Willie ever won anything in his life? He left school, became a freezing worker and got involved with the union movement, has worked in broadcasting and spent time as a politician, which is where he now finds himself. Where he also finds himself now, by the looks of it, is between a rock and a hard place, as does the party he belongs to.

Guest Post: PM must reverse the ‘Power of General Competence’ to stop activism in local government

A guest post by a reader on Kiwiblog:

As powerless ratepayers face the ongoing tyranny of marxist councils over rates bills and the local government minister’s repeated demands for sensible spending fall on deaf ears, the Prime Minister continues to ignore the obvious solution.

Dr Michael Bassett: Maori Party thumbs its nose at Democracy

Have you noticed how contemptuous the Maori Party’s MPs are of democracy? After all, people who self-designate themselves as Maori are only 17% of the population. And amongst them, only a small proportion vote for the Maori Party. The brutal reality is that much higher numbers of Maori support Labour, while the Greens, Act, New Zealand First and National also had many Maori supporters at the last election.

JC: Debate Proves Who to Vote For

The debate in parliament on the censuring of the members of the Māori Party served to prove what a lot of us already knew. The worst thing any of us could do is to vote for any of the three parties on the left. Their views in this debate only serve to highlight what a coalition of the left would do in terms of destroying the country. We would have to endure three years of the most destructive government in our history.

David Farrar: Winston rules out Hipkins

The Herald reports:

New Zealand First leader Winston Peters wants to make it very clear: he won’t be working with Labour after the election if the party is still led by Chris Hipkins. …

“When I ruled out Hipkins in 2023, I ruled him out permanently,” Peters said (he actually ruled out Labour in November 2022, three months before Hipkins became leader).