Chris Trotter: Jackson's Trap.

Willie Jackson is caught in a trap of his own making. Three groups, tasked in April with developing a detailed plan for implementing the provisions of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) have steadfastly refused to play the bureaucratic game the Minister for Māori Development has forced upon them. In essence, they have delivered Jackson an offer neither he, nor the Cabinet, can accept. Their “Declaration Plan”, clearly politically unacceptable, has been kept under wraps for months.

Non-plussed, Jackson asked the plan’s authors: unidentified representatives of Te Puni Kokiri, Pou Tikanga (Iwi Leaders Group) and the Human Rights Commission; to present a revised document for Cabinet’s consideration by July. With November fast approaching, the document’s authors have yet to respond. It is difficult to interpret this tardiness as anything other than a deliberate effort to run down the clock on Jackson. The Declaration Plan’s authors appear confident that their failure to adhere to the Minister’s consultative timetable will make it virtually impossible to organise an effective public response prior to the 2023 General Election.

Mike Butler: Tikanga weaponised

“Tikanga”, which is generally defined as “Maori custom”, is being introduced in New Zealand, setting behaviour rules for everyone not just of part-Maoris, and there is no clear outline of what it entails, according to retired scientist John Robinson.

Dividing a Nation – the return to tikanga, chronicles tikanga back to the beginning of Polynesian migration to New Zealand and shows that modern tikanga is being used as a political weapon that creates racial discord.

As a scientist, Robinson was alarmed at absurd demands of the Royal Society of New Zealand for “matauranga Maori”, or “the Maori way of thinking” to be used as the basis for scientific work in New Zealand.

Mike Butler: No retreat on race-based funding

Just eight years ago, the headline announced “Government in retreat over race-based funding”(1). The nation was heading for a general election. National Party leader Don Brash had delivered his nationhood speech on the drift towards racial separatism the preceding year that had sparked a surge in his party’s support -- the biggest gain by a political party in a single poll in Colmar Brunton's polling history.

The “retreat over race-based funding” was part of the Labour government’s strategy to recoup the ground lost to National in the February poll. The interesting aspect of the Herald report was that no one seemed to know a total cost of race-based funding.

Mike Butler: Its biculturalism as usual at TPK

Governments with their different policies come and go but policies that further partnership, protection, consultation, and compensation for Maori continue. Why? Much responsibility for the exponential growth of biculturalism can be traced to the government’s Maori department, Te Puni Kokiri, and its "policy wahanga".

The "policy wahanga" aims to improve “citizenship outcomes for Maori in key social and economic domains through whanau-centred approaches; and on the ongoing Treaty of Waitangi based partnership relationships between the Crown and hapu and iwi”, according to the Te Puni Kokiri website. (1)

Mike Butler: Try discussing Maori privilege

Try talking about Maori privilege in polite society. You will be called a racist and reminded of all the poverty, bad housing, educational disadvantage, and general under-performance that Maori have been made famous for. This is a story of separation and privilege that we all must face some day.

In 2003, in a report commissioned by Te Puni Kokiri (the Government’s Maori affairs department), the Institute of Economic Research said that Maori were paying slightly more in tax than they received in transfers --if they paid $2.404 in tax they received $2.312 in social benefits.

Mike Butler: Ducking for cover over spending

Issues at the Maori Language Commission, publicised in the past week by the Dominion Post, show that the State Services Commission, Te Puni Kokiri, and Maori Affairs Minister Pita Sharples, need to take steps to introduce the level of accountability that is expected in government departments.

The Dominion Post revealed:

1. Overpayments to board members of $124,000 not required to be repaid.