Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive - 19/6/23

No honeyed words on the Beehive website about Meng Foon – nor about the role of ethnicity when priorities for surgery are decided

Two ministers and/or their press secretaries have gone missing in action.

Cam Slater: Why Governments Do a Friday Dump

There is a reason governments do a Friday bad news dump. It is to hide other news that is usually unpalatable. And so it was last Friday as we salivated over Meng Foon’s conflict of interest drama that saw him effectively sacked. While we were talking about that we missed yet another indiscretion by Stuart Nash:

Point of Order: While the PM gloried in citizenship announcement.....

....our media were helping us weigh the even-handedness of Meng Foon

You might have the impression the PM went to Australia simply to claim the credit for persuading the Albanese Government to make it easier for Kiwis to become Aussie citizens.

He had succeeded where other New Zealand prime ministers had failed.

This impression was fortified when he said:

Cam Slater: Meng Foon Donated to Kiri Allan’s 2020 Election Campaign

His job is supposed to be politically neutral, but his donations prove otherwise

It has been revealed that another minister, this time Kiri Allan, has a donor problem. That donor is Meng Foon, who is also the Race Relations Commissioner. He has made substantial donations, both in kind by way of subsidised rent for Kiri Allan and in cash.

A.E. Thompson: Our Non-White and Female Rights Commission

Tusiata Avia writes and performs hate-fuelled material such as 'poetry' stating that she and "a car full of brown girls" are going to drive around looking for "white men" or any of the descendants or incarnations of Captain Cook and 'f... them up' with a pig hunting knife.

Meng Foon's belated response to numerous complaints about this poem stands in contrast with his strong, fast public responses to even the most innocuous things that might offend non-white people. 

Peter Winsley: Racialism, advocacy of violence in poetry and mātauranga Māori

It was a pleasure to read a recent opinion piece by Giselle Byrnes and Meihana Durie on research funding for Māori. It responded to a piece by former academic Dr Steve Stannard. While I largely agree with Dr Stannard, both pieces were written in a civil and respectful way. How depressing then that race brings out the worst in us, as shown by a “poem” from Tuisata Avia, and another flare up in the debate around mātauranga Māori, this time featuring Dr Tara McAllister.

Tuisata Avia’s poem is entitled “250th anniversary of James Cook’s arrival in New Zealand”. It reads:

Garrick Tremain: Artistic licence

 Here is Garrick Tremain's cartoon commentary on the inconsistent Race Relation's rulings! 

Karl du Fresne: Meng Foon should pull his head in

Going by what little I know about him, Invercargill mayor Nobby Clark doesn’t strike me as a man likely to back down in a fight.

And neither should he. Meng Foon’s call on him to apologise for using the n-word should be brushed aside as the grandstanding it is. The Race Relations Commissioner should pull his head in.

Graham Adams: It’s open season on white men

Tusiata Avia’s provocative poem opens the door wide to more robust opinions being expressed in public — but only if you’re brown.

Poet Tusiata Avia — with the help of Stuff’s editors — and Māori Party co-leader Rawiri Waititi have exposed the double standards of what is considered to be acceptable speech in New Zealand.

After Waititi recently posted an image of Captain James Cook being killed in Hawaii in 1779, Avia extended the celebration of his murder to killing his descendants.

Waititi wrote on his Facebook page on Valentine’s Day:

Chris Trotter: A Real Revolution?

Suppose they made a revolution, and nobody noticed. Suppose the “Cabinet Office” ordered the nation’s public servants to implement an unmandated revolutionary transformation of New Zealand, and they complied. Suppose one of the leading authorities on Te Tiriti o Waitangi, Dame Claudia Orange, confirmed that this revolution was, in fact, a done deal.

This is what Dame Claudia told the NZ Herald’s Audrey Young:

David Seymour: Racial Discrimination By Te Pāti Māori Must Stop

Te Pati Maori has been engaging in racial discrimination on its website with claims of genetic superiority, but when notified, New Zealand’s Race Relations Commissioner Meng Foon refused to publicly stand up to it.

Te Pati Maori’s sports policy on its website makes the following claim:

“It is a known fact that Maori genetic makeup is stronger than others.”

The notion that some racial groups are superior or inferior has been discredited, used to justify racial discrimination and, when taken to its extreme, resulted in some of history’s worst crimes. It is deeply concerning that a sitting New Zealand political party is promoting such a divisive idea.

The Platform: Truly Tolerant Campaigning Guidelines

Last week, Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ), in association with Race Relations Commissioner Meng Foon released their Inclusive Campaigning Guidelines, a series of recommendations on how local government candidates are expected to conduct themselves during upcoming local elections.

On its surface, it would appear to carry good intentions, promoting principles such as inclusion, diversity, and respectful debate. However, under closer scrutiny the façade crumbles and the guidelines reveal themselves for what they really are: an attempt to suppress debate around crucial issues.

Bryce Edwards: Labour’s sensible taihoa on hate speech law

The Government has delayed the introduction of its fraught hate speech law reforms, and there’s strong speculation they’ll remain on ice until after the next election. In fact, they may never see the light of day again.

This is a win for those who have argued that the reforms are likely to be counterproductive, impinging on human rights, including political freedoms and speech. Although the Government’s motivation might have been good in wanting to clamp down on what people can legally say, in practice the reforms were badly thought through and would have a chilling impact on political debate. 

Famously both the Minister of Justice Kris Faafoi and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern were unable to adequately defend or explain their new rules last year, which gave weight to the argument that they were dangerous and knee-jerk.

Karl du Fresne: Never mind democracy - off with his head!

Meng Foon, the recently appointed race relations commissioner, thinks newly elected Tauranga city councillor Andrew Hollis should resign because he said on Facebook that the Treaty of Waitangi was “a joke” and “past its use-by date”. The new mayor of Tauranga, Tenby Powell, agrees.

Never mind that more than 7500 people voted for Hollis, making him the second most popular candidate for the four “at large” council seats. Never mind that many of the people who voted for him quite possibly share his view – rightly or wrongly – about the Treaty.

Clive Bibby: A departing Mayor shares his thoughts

The retiring Gisborne Mayor Meng Foon (recently appointed as the next Race Relations  Conciliator) is well qualified to share his thoughts about the selection criteria used in choosing candidates to make up the next lot of district Councils and Health Boards.

Given his lengthy meritorious tenure as the leader of the Tairawhiti region, his advice is timely and worthy of consideration by us all.