- I have no idea why Hone did not show at today’s hui. I’m not even going to bother hypothesising. Attempting to understand the man’s mind is perhaps a futile task. He is hot and cold, hit and miss, yin and yang. One moment it appears he is calculated and considered while merely a breath later he may act erratically and with little lucidity. Hone will never sit around the Cabinet table if he cannot contain himself – he is politically unmanageable. Hone wants to become a minister, but he never will unless he displays some discipline. Hone Harawira, as he is today, is political poison. He will sink any government he is a part of. Hone needs to realise merit is only a small part of ministerial appointment, at the end of the day MP’s become ministers because they can be managed. Hone cannot be managed, therefore Hone cannot become a minister. Ultimately Hone acts on impulse and more often than not he is swayed by the last person he spoke to, normally his mother wife, or Tai Tokerau kaumatua and kuia. He needs to act with a view to the long term.
- On a related note I am perplexed as to why the party decided to delay announcing the outcome of the hui – after all it was predetermined, right? At some point the hopeless Maori Party PR team needs to realise that nothing they do will kill the issue. A media ban is only so effective and a delay in proceedings is utterly impotent. People are not going to forget about this issue and nor will they cool over time. In the interests of resolution the party should be announce the outcome immediately. This is a circus that makes Maori look politically incompetent. UPDATE: The committee came up with “a range of options” which will be presented to the National Council. The final decision is in the hands of the NC. What a drawn out process.
- Peter Paraone intends to stand in the coming election. Yawn.
- Te Arawa team Te Matarae i Orehu are national kapa haka champs.
- Tariana Turia has released a video in defence of the party’s support for the MCA bill. It is pretty silly. It merely confirms the Maori Party has lost the debate. The best Turia can do is continue the ‘it’s not great but the best we can get’ theme. A self defeating narrative.
Second rate journalist Karl Du Fresne, no doubt channeling Peter Dunne, wants to deny our history. Karl wants to ignore the continuing struggle for equal rights. Karl wants us to forget about the fact that Maori are less likely to be offered and receive chemotherapy compared to our Pakeha mates. He wants us to forget about all that other discrimination, like when a Maori woman was denied a job due to her moko. Karl wants us to ignore our ugly history too. Forget about the fact that Maori received smaller relief payments during the depression. Forget about all that land confiscation. Gosh, that scorched earth policy is all in the past. Ultimately Karl just wants us to have a glorified wank over how great our country supposedly is. Get with the program Karl – this country has issues that need confronting. If you can’t appreciate that then go fuck yourself. (For a far more insightful, sober and articulate post on this issue see No Right Turn).
UPDATE: I think I need to apologise for the strong language used at 6. I am not inclined to edit anything I have already written, therefore it will remain. I am very young and many issues make me very angry.
Kia ora Morgan
ReplyDeleteI've watched tariana's video - it is professionally done. The promise line has been scripted for the election but i can't remember those promises - at least not framed the way tariana has done it - it seems like a strawman to me, fake and irrelevant. Some interesting things popped out in the interview -
"sand mining and further oil exploration" are seen as benefits of "customary title" - I suppose it should not be unexpected that some follow the exploitation line but it is still sad.
The select committee lines were LOL.
brand-key is under pressure and he is losing his political capital quickly and this is the person that the maori party leadership have attached themselves to - as Willie jackson said it looks like Pita is going to pash key sometimes.
The latest UN report notes the "extreme disadvantage" facing maori - if the maori party leadership won't listen to the people, then they have to go.
Grasshopper, your anger may subside as you grow older. It may even be replaced with wisdom. In the meantime, you might like to read my article in The Listener (January 29) about how Rangitane and Ngati Kahungunu were ripped off over Lake Wairarapa.
ReplyDeleteKia ora Marty,
ReplyDeleteAe, no doubt it is professionally done. I would not be at all surprised if it was done by the likes of Exeltium.
The sand mining/oil comment speaks volumes. Clearly Tariana, and the party hierarchy, are caught in the grip of a corporate agenda. Maori are not fighting this battle so they can rape the whenua. This is about reclaiming our mana whenua. Framing the issue as one of development rights and profit potential misses the point completely. Yes, development rights may be a nice bonus, but the issue runs far deeper than material rights. Tariana needs to pull her head in, sack her PR team and get rid of the unelected, neolib iwi leaders.
When Key falls so to will the Maori Party leadership. The sooner the better imo.
The release of the UN report makes for excellent timing. The report will make it very, very hard for The Maori Party to support any, even the smallest recommendation, in the WWG report. And as you say, if they won't listen to the people, then they have to go.
One would hope, Karl. In the mean time I will endeavour to track down your article.
ReplyDeleteI posted this comment about a fortnight ago but it didn’t appear for some reason. I’ve re submitted it.
ReplyDeleteI too hope that Hone can resolve his differences and move on. Move on either working for the Maori Party or for himself. The two are mutually exclusive.
It is easy to stand in opposition and make provocative grand statements but to make real progress you have be in power, have policy, clear charted methods, the resources and a mandate to implement them.
Hone risks becoming a charismatic leader of little substance. High entertainment value, lots of rhetoric, a media darling and a newsmaker.
If a leader is elected to power and can’t bring about improvement or implement policy for the good of all then he is no leader at all. It is easy to knock, spit the dummy, refuse to follow agreed decisions and glower with malice, but intimately simplistic “us and them” dogma does not achieve results.
New Zealand is unique. Many (most?) of us have mixed blood; most of us have family who came to New Zealand with good intent for a better life, often to escape rapacious regimes or abject poverty. Yes there were plunderers and philanderers (no race has a monopoly on morality or righteousness). Very few of us can be totally proud of their ancestors in the context of today’s freedoms and enlightenment. What matters more is not “who his father was” but “what his son will be”.
Hone is reminiscent of the recalcitrant employee who constantly mocks and challenges management, who decries his masters for their stance or lack of this or that, but fails when elected or appointed because he can’t see the big picture, lacks inclusiveness, lacks thinking outside the square, lacks innovation and can’t work for the common good.
Life is all about compromise, changes of position that comes from maturity, advances in technology or circumstances, and in spite of the passage of time, sometimes politely agreeing to disagree. Diplomacy, inclusiveness and an open mind will always win out in the end, maybe not short term but long term it will prevail.
We are all immigrants, by boat or plane, who have arrived to the welcoming shores of this far off land.
The challenge for Hone is to enunciate how he will make New Zealand a better place for everyone and specifically how he will improve the quality of life for his constituents?
I’m sure he can make better progress for his constituents working together within the Maori Party than as a maverick independent.
Kia ora anon,
ReplyDeleteI'm unsure why your comment did not appear but I'm guessing there is a character limit.
The Maori Party is perhaps beyond repair, therefore I would rather see Hone stand as an independent. There is no way Hone will ever get anywhere near the Cabinet table as a Maori Party MP. As an independent he stands with his own leverage. But at the end of the day Hone no longer fits within the ideological framework of the Maori Party. In the past the party's greatest strength has been its ideological fluidity. The ability to move left and right and avoid the burden of been labelled a party rooted to one side of the political spectrum. To a certain degree Hone fitted within that mould. However, the party is currently rooted to the right. Utterly caught within a right wing economic agenda and arguably a right wing social agenda, Whanau ora is after all the privitisation of social service - the government absolving responsibilty to the private sector. Now Hone is to the left of Labour on most issues and the party's permanent move to the right does not sit well with him and he is making this known. He is saying move back to the left or lose me and the people. But of course the maori party is not going to move left, therefore, Hone becomes unneeded, an impediment to progress if you will. What i am trying to get at is illustrate that Hone cannot remain within the party and even if he could he is not wanted.
Having said all of that you do make a good point re Hone becoming a charismatic leader of little substance. Hone can provide a catchy soundbite, he can be charming yet divisive and he knows what he and his people want. However, he does not understand power, the nature of it and how to attain it. Some people can manipulate the machinery of government more effectively than others. It is open to question whether Hone is or will be one of those people.
Hone is without doubt a leader. A man the people are willing to follow. It comes down to whether or not he will be an effective and progressive leader.