Geoff Parker: Anti-Māori Talk, Pro-Māori Funding

Author’s note: This article is offered in the spirit of strengthening political credibility through honest engagement with the record, rather than as an argument against any party or leader.

Winston Peters and Shane Jones have built a political brand on railing against what they call “race-based policy”, “co-governance excesses”, and the supposed capture of the state by Māori interests. Their language is sharp, performative, and deliberately confrontational. It resonates with voters who feel alienated by identity politics and who believe governments should treat all citizens equally.

But there is a problem. A very large one.

Insights From Social Media

Steven Mark Gaskell writes > Welcome To The Newsroom: Leave Objectivity At The Door, Bring Your Cultural Fluency

There was a time when journalism prided itself on objectivity, scrutiny, and a healthy dose of scepticism toward those in power. But welcome to 2025, where the newsroom’s guiding principle is no longer “hold power to account,” but rather, “don’t ruffle cultural feathers unless they’re Pākehā.”

Tony Vaughn: Racial Romanticism Is Not Policy - The Cost of Coddling a Myth

David Seymour committed the cardinal sin of contemporary politics - he told the truth! Race-based funding is racist. A statement so obviously true that it ought to be stitched onto the curtains of the Beehive and should be self-evident to anyone with an IQ above room temperature. Yet, predictably, Tama Potaka emerged, starch-shirted and squinting in moral indignation, to denounce Seymour's comments as “unhelpful.” No, Mr Potaka. What is truly unhelpful is the systematic diversion of public funds into a racial fantasy built on grievance economics and revisionist nostalgia.

Ele Ludemann: Who’s running this show?

David Farrar received an email alerting him to the Solicitor General’s new guidelines for prosecutions which started:

. . . “Research over many years has consistently found that Māori are significantly overrepresented in the criminal justice system at every stage, including as victims, and we recognised at the start of the project that the discretion to prosecute may contribute to that. The Guidelines expressly reference these disproportionate impacts and assist prosecutors by providing guidance about the matters to factor into their decisions. I am grateful to the kaitiaki and kaimahi of Ināia Tonu Nei for their wisdom, generosity and commitment. These Guidelines are much better for their input” says Ms Jagose.” . .

NZCPR Weekly: The Abuse of Power

Dear NZCPR Reader,   

In this week’s NZCPR newsletter, we expose the Government’s sinister attempts to mislead the public over their planned abolition of a crucial democratic local government safeguard and we explain why their actions should be of such concern to every New Zealander, our NZCPR Guest Commentator Dr Don Brash explains why there is no need for racially-based electoral systems in New Zealand, and our poll asks whether you believe that the Local Electoral (Maori Wards and Maori Constituencies) Amendment Bill should be withdrawn.

*To read the newsletter click HERE.
*To register for the NZCPR Weekly mailing list, click HERE.  

Bob Edlin: Race-based Aging Policy

We are all getting older, but some of us (according to the Minister of Health) are getting older much faster than others.

“Older” New Zealanders have been defined for policy purposes in a press statement that emerged from the office of Health Minister David Clark at the weekend.

And guess what?  Being “older” depends not on when you were born but on your  ethnicity, which is something we define for ourselves.

A distinction between “older” Maori and Pacific people, compared with the rest of the country’s “older” people,  was drawn at much the same time as the government was affirming its  funding of another race-based programme.