Jones should be sacked
Shane Jones underscored Christopher Luxon’s weakness by telling him publicly that he needed to “take off your kneepads” when receiving a visit from foreign leaders without repercussion.
Politics
racism
2.8% of New Zealand population outbound in 2 years as division widens
OPINION: I visited Facebook recently and noticed some fake accounts (you know the ones with AI pictures depicting Māori in an unfavourable light, along with NZ flags featured prominently, as if love for a country is about a piece of cloth), and there’s a distinct anti-Indian sentiment being cultivated on the platform
Treaty what treaty?
The Government’s all out assault on te Tiriti o Waitangi continues. And this time supposed liberal Erica Sanford is engaged in the latest assault.
On The Shameful, Incompetent Decision On Palestine
The last time New Zealand put itself on the wrong side of history was when a New Zealand rugby team toured apartheid South Africa just after schoolchildren were gunned down on the streets of Soweto.
What does this Government have against Te Reo Māori?
Erica Stanford’s removal of te reo words from reading books is the latest of a series of attacks on te reo Māori by this Government.
Seeing Is Believing
A video post, starring Christopher Luxon, Chris Hipkins, Nicola Willis and Winston Peters. Featuring Debbie Ngarewa-Packer as star prosecutor.
Culture wars and the Waitākere Ranges
Claims have been made that Auckland Council is giving away rights to the Waitākere Ranges to local iwi. But the claims suffer from that important characteristic of not actually being true.
Keep on Digging
The latest outbursts and brain farts from the great Kumara of the North…
Open to all today in Nick’s Kōrero – Shane Jones calls climate change ‘woke’ and says, ‘Send the Mexicans home’.
This Government’s day of shame
David Seymour thinks that opponents to his bill cannot explain what it is they are opposed to but ignores the clear advice of 40 Kings Counsel who have written to the Government telling it that the bill is itself a breach of the treaty.
Act’s revenge on the Waitangi Tribunal
In what must be the most unsuitable appointment decision ever made Richard Prebble has been appointed to the Waitangi Tribunal.
Will This Be a One-Term Government?
Elliot Crossan at System Change Aotearoa reviews the past year. Despite the tepid public support for this government’s problematic actions, he warns that ‘The Right Is United By Power — Don’t Underestimate Them’
Towards the abyss
Yesterday it was confirmed that Act’s Treaty Principles Bill had been approved by Cabinet for drafting and introduction into Parliament in November this year. Get ready for the circus to start.
Is the Treaty Principles Bill dead or has it just suffered a flesh wound?
Even though National and NZ First have ruled out supporting Act’s Treaty Principles Bill beyond the first reading David Seymour thinks that the Bill has a chance of succeeding and wishes to proceed with introduction of the bill.
The Government thinks that Local Government should determine what works best for them*
* unless they want to set up Maori wards.
The week Luxon lost his moral mandate to lead
The last week has shown how Christopher Luxon has no understanding of New Zealand’s history and no appreciation about how dangerous Act’s proposed Treaty Principles Bill is.
National wants to hide huge potential rates rises caused by canning of Three Waters
Someone should tell the Taxpayer’s Union. Some Local Councils are planning to put rates up by double digit figures. And the Government is planning on exempting them from discussing this with ratepayers.
Hipkins goes on the offensive
Chris Hipkins has upped the ante in the election campaign by directly calling out the right’s use of dog whistle racism.
Seymour’s bad faith Treaty policy
ACT’s proposal to put the potential meaning of the Treaty of Waitangi up for popular vote in a referendum is absurd dog whistling of the worst sort.
Iwi Kiwi 2.0
In 2005 the National Party went full on racist with attacks on supposed Maori privilege which almost won the party power. Looks like they are going to try this tactic again.
Meri Kirihimete
Even on the one day of the year that is meant to be a day of peace and calm and family some people get triggered by the use of Te Reo.
Rage and the Woke
The past couple of years has seen a significant increase in far right activity and rapidly increasing racism.
Ardern is apparently to blame for National having racist supporters
Yesterday on Morning Report Chris Luxon pivoted from a question about National supporters expressing distaste for Te Ao Maori to blaming Jacinda Ardern for not burning up political capital on co governance.
The Freedumb Protesters give protesting a bad name
As a principle the right to protest is important. But the freedumb protesters making outlandish claims and at the same time plagarizing the language of progressive protest movements deserves to be called out.
Demand the debate
In two separate leaks it has emerged that Judith Collins privately briefed Don Brash on National’s demand the debate campaign and that Brash wrote to wealthy donors seeking $300,000 for an Iwi Kiwi style billboard response.
Colonisation and widespread theft of Maori land is apparently good for them
Paora Goldsmith, who last hit National headlines for botching up National’s alternative budget, has again hit the headlines and for the wrong reasons. And this time members of his caucus publicly disagree with him.
Collins’ really bad take on te Tiriti
Last weekend Judith Collins spoke to the Northern Regional Conference of the National Party and gave as crude an analysis of te Tiriti as you can imagine.
UK Labour suspends Corbyn for stating the obvious about anti-semitism in the Party
Following a report into anti-semitism in the UK Labour party, Corbyn said it exists in the Party but it is over-stated and the campaign against it is politically-motivated by opponents inside and outside the Party. He was instantly suspended from the party and had the whip removed by leader Sir Keir Starmer, which seems excessive and will cause further discord. Corbyn is not an anti-Semite.
National wants to open up our borders, unless you are Indian, Pakistani or Korean
National Backbench MP Hamish Walker has claimed that Queenstown is to be invaded by people from India, Pakistan and Korea when the reality is the Government is considering using empty Hotels for quarantining returning kiwis.
Protesters, Anarchists, Agitators and Lowlifes
Donald Trump has planned to hold a political rally on the day used to celebrate the abolition of slavery at a place where one of the worst examples of white brutality on black people using advertising material containing nazi symbols. All in the middle of a global pandemic.
National has a discipline problem
Yesterday saw two back bench National MPs unintentionally set National’s position on the Government response to Covid 19 and on Hamilton City’s decision to take down a statute that was repugnant to Waikato Tainui. What has happened to their messaging discipline?
Is there something wrong with Judith being white?
Judith Collins has responded to criticisms that National’s front bench has no diversity by asking if there was something wrong being white and then saying she was sick of being demonised for her ethnicity.
Moana Jackson on Bob Jones
“You cannot have free speech, if you make some people less free”
No mates Simon
The repercussions from Simon Bridges’ disastrous Waitangi performance continue to reverberate. His suggestions that Māori seats and the Waitangi Tribunal should be done away with have resulted in the Māori Party indicating it is more likely to support Labour after the election.
Why UK Labour lost? Part 5: Antisemitism
Originally posted onNick Kelly’s blog
UK Labour and antisemitism
Nick Kelly deals with issues of antisemitism that the UK Labour Party has faced.
Slapdown
Jacinda Ardern has publicly slapped Shane Jones down for blatantly racist comments by requiring Immigration Officials to reverse a policy change that was adversely affecting Kiwis who have recently entered into arranged marriages.