Bob Edlin: No, it’s not the Treaty which grants privileges to Māori – it’s politicians

Politicians eagerly do what the Treaty of Waitangi does not: they dispense favours and privileges to Māori.

They want to establish “partnerships” not because the Treaty demands them, but because they claim to be invoking “principles” established more than 100 years after the treaty’s signing.

The treaty’s role in treating Māori and non-Māori equally is mentioned on the Human Rights Commission’s website:

David Farrar: Small but promising change

Mark Mitchell released data on crime. The summary was:

Kerre Woodham: How would you rank the Police Minister?

The hīkoi we were discussing last week has gone down the country through the weekend, rolls into Wellington City, and should arrive at Parliament around midday. Police say they don't expect any problems, certainly nothing like the descent into chaos we saw at the end of the last demonstration at Parliament. We'll see.

Chris Lynch: Gang members to be stopped at border ahead of Canterbury event

The Government is taking action in response to overseas members of the Mongols gang attempting to enter New Zealand for an organised event in Canterbury from November 7-10.

Police Minister Mark Mitchell said, “The Immigration Minister and I are working closely together, alongside Police, Customs and Immigration New Zealand (INZ), to respond to an organised Mongols event in Canterbury.”

Kerre Woodham: Let the police get back to policing

There simply must be a better way of dealing with mental health patients rather than relying on police. For years now, police men and women have been left to pick up the pieces of broken minds because of a lack of resources within the beleaguered mental health sector. But more than the lack of resources is the lack of will on the part of the mental health sector. When you're overworked, when you're under resourced, and you have somebody else doing the heavy lifting, (that is the police) why on Earth would you make more work for yourself?

Kerre Woodham: Where was the buy in from the police?

Late in the show yesterday, Police Commissioner Andrew Coster along with Police Minister Mark Mitchell announced they would be introducing a National Gang Unit to crack down on gang crime and gangs’ anti-social behaviour.

Cam Slater: How Thick Is Ginny Andersen?

Ginny Andersen always struck me as being stupid and thick. Yesterday morning she proved she is also thoroughly nasty. Have a listen to this audio from Mike Hosking’s show:

Mike's Minute: My thoughts on Ginny and Mark

It's one of life's oddity's when it comes to things playing out publicly, that what might have exploded one day, doesn’t on another.

The tragedy of Efeso Collins quite rightly became yesterday's political story, and in doing so, saved Ginny Anderson from greater scrutiny and, perhaps, embarrassment.

David Farrar: Labour MP calls Police Minister a paid killer

The Herald reports:

labour's police spokeswoman, Ginny Andersen, claims Police Minister Mark Mitchell was “paid to kill people” and has asked him whether he kept a “tally of how many you shot” while providing private military services in Iraq.

Heather du Plessis-Allan: Mark Mitchell was thrown under the bus today

I feel sorry for Mark Mitchell. He's been thrown under the bus and made to look silly today.

But I think he was just telling the truth, and I suspect we’re all going to find that out in about two years time.

So what’s happened is that the coalition agreement between National and NZ First promised that we would get another 500 police officers in the first two years of this Government.

Richard Prebble: The honeymoon was over before the marriage certificate was signed

A neighbour last week asked me did I think TV One news was biased against the new government? I replied, “absolutely”.

One can take a typical news bulletin such as last Sunday. The 6 o’clock news led with a Pharmacy Guild’s poll that said we like free medicine. This was not news. TV One news on 13 November had already run a Guild funded survey supporting free prescriptions. Chemists would rather bill the taxpayer than their customers.

Tim Dower: Mitchell's letter wasn't meddling, it was managing

Now we've had a full day to digest Mark Mitchell's letter to the Police Commissioner, was he actually out of line to release that?

His Labour predecessor said on this show yesterday that Mark Mitchell was huffing and puffing, talking up a big game and chest beating.

Francesca Rudkin: We all want to feel safe in our homes

I'm quite impressed that Mark Mitchell has made his letter of expectations to the Police Commissioner, Andrew Coster, public.

Of course, it's normal for an incoming Police Minister to outline expectations to the Police Commissioner, a Commissioner, who's often been employed by the previous government. But this is the first time it has been released.

Point of Order: Labour and National at odds over Operation Cobalt....

....and the govt’s policies to bring gang criminals to book

Law and order was raised at Question Time in Parliament yesterday after an exchange of press statements on the issue – and the treatment of gangs – between National MP Mark Mitchell and Police Minister Ginny Andersen.

The Question Time duel was triggered when Mitchell asked if Andersen stood by her statement that she believed New Zealanders “feel safer” – and, if so, why?

The Minister said she stood by her full statement at that time it was given.

Point of Order: New poll (does the mainstream media know about it?) affirms Ardern govt is on the back foot

The Ardern government may feel pleased it hasn’t fallen lower in the latest Roy Morgan poll, but there wasn’t much to cheer about, particularly for those MPs who it indicates face being banished to the political wilderness come election day.

The key element in the poll – the fourth in a row in the Roy Morgan sampling to show a change of government, were there to be an election now – is the decline in net country direction from -5% to -12.5%, as has been pointed out by another pollster, David Farrar.

The gender breakdown of the direction question is also pertinent: in February women were + 8% but are now -6%.

Of course, Covid is still dominating the headlines in the mainstream media, few of which level any kind of criticism at the Prime Minister – and there was barely a mention to be found in the media of the Roy Morgan poll.

Point of Order: Williams has faith in data on Police recruiting but gang growth numbers are – a bit bent?

Police Minister Poto Williams was responsible for one of just two new ministerial press statements at time of checking on what the Beehive mob are up to.

She was obviously delighted to be able to end the week with something to crow about (she used the word “celebrated”):