Some local mayors just don’t seem to understand they serve at the behest of their community. The iconic leader of this hall of shame is of course Andrew Judd, the current, and soon to be former, mayor of New Plymouth. But he is not alone.
Joining Andrew Judd is Masterton District Council Mayor Lyn Patterson. She, along with Councillors Mark Harris, Graham McClymont, David Holmes, Chris Peterson, Jonathan Hooker and Doug Bracewell, voted last week in favour of two unelected iwi representatives, with voting rights, being appointed to key council standing committees. Masterton locals were not given the right to determine whether they too wanted a race-based council – they had no say.
Opposing the move were Councillors Gary Caffell and Brent Goodwin. They said councillors were only given 24 hours notice of the proposal and the vote.
As if that was not bad enough, with the 2016 local body elections effectively just months away – and these new arrangement not expected to be in place until July – this decision has clearly been designed to bind the future council. Mayor Patterson justified her actions by saying that the proposal “emerged from the council’s 2015-25 Long-Term Plan process, to promote a genuine partnership with Maori as required by the Treaty, particularly on environmental issues”.
In recent years, only two other district councils have changed their constitutional balance through iwi appointments with voting rights – without recourse to the community at large. Jenny Rowan pushed that decision through in Kapiti in 2012 and Steve Chadwick in Rotorua in 2014.
The Kapiti Coast District Council appointed three Maori representatives with voting rights to the council’s standing committees, just weeks ahead of the 2013 local body elections. The mayor, Jenny Rowan, said, “It has been a long journey to get to this point. My belief has always been that the Tangata Whenua of this district as our treaty partners should be involved in the decision making process, to challenge, inform and assist us in developing the best outcomes for this district.”
Just weeks later, she lost the mayoralty. Unfortunately the new mayor and council did not hold a poll of local residents and ratepayers to seek their views of the decision.
In Rotorua, the Lakes Council Mayor Steve Chadwick pushed through a proposal to have two local Te Arawa board representatives sitting on Council committees with voting rights. Supporting the Mayor were Councillors Charles Sturt, Karen Hunt, Tania Tapsell, Dave Donaldson, Merepeka Raukawa-Tait, Janet Wepa and Trevor Maxwell – and opposing, were Councillors Mike McVicker, Glenys Searancke, Mark Gould, Rob Kent, and Peter Bentley.
Mayor Chadwick said, “For 25 generations, Te Arawa have shared their life force with the community and this will continue for our futures and those to come. This partnership allows Te Arawa to be at the table; two representatives on council committees who can contribute to the direction of our district.”
Not allowing the public to have a proper say on the contentious issue of voting rights around the council table, through a district-wide referendum process, is an outrage. It is after all, their council – supposedly representing the community at large.
The point is that by giving unelected vested interests voting rights, the Mayor and supporters have altered the balance of power on their council. This has the potential to swing the local authority vote, enabling councils to pursue agendas that might not have been possible before such appointments were made.
But not only are such appointments undemocratic, they are also manipulative, since appointing iwi representatives with voting rights onto councils exploits a loop-hole that exists in the law.
While Section 19Z of the Local Electoral Act 2001 sets out the mechanism by which local authorities can establish iwi representation on councils through the creation of Maori wards, Section 19ZB enables local voters to challenge such decisions through a binding poll of electors – if supported by 5 percent of registered electors. It is an acknowledgement that defining a council by race, marks a substantive change to local government.
However, no such safeguard applies when councils appoint Maori representatives onto councils with voting rights – despite the effect being the same as creating a Maori ward. No doubt when the law was drafted, the idea that Maori could gain representation on councils by the back door – through appointment rather than election – was not even contemplated.
Accordingly, it is time that this loophole in the Local Electoral Act was closed, by enabling the public to demand a binding poll – if supported by 5 percent of registered electors – whenever a council tries to change the constitutional makeup of a council through the appointment of unelected representatives with voting rights.
This would require a simple amendment to Section 19ZB to add an option (c) – so it would read: “A specified number of electors of a territorial authority or regional council may, at any time, demand that a poll be held on the question whether, un-elected representatives should be appointed onto council committees with voting rights”, where a ‘specified number’ of electors means a number “equal to or greater than 5 percent of the number of electors enrolled as eligible to vote at the previous triennial general election”.
Whenever they are asked, communities have said they do not want their local democracy defined by race. Residents and ratepayers in the Waikato, Nelson, Wairoa, Hauraki, the Far North, and New Plymouth, have voted against Maori wards for their District Councils with an average 70/30 split.
Had the people of Masterton, Rotorua and Kapiti been asked, it is highly likely that they too would have rejected race-based representation.
Not only are the public opposed to local government being defined along racial lines, but they also strongly object to the assertion by iwi groups that they are above the Rule of Law and should not need to be subjected to the democratic process to gain the right to sit around a council table.
In 2014, the newly elected New Plymouth District Council Mayor Andrew Judd was persuaded that six local iwi should be appointed to the Council with voting rights. But his plan was defeated by a Council vote.
Undeterred, Mayor Judd then called for the establishment of a Maori ward. That was narrowly approved by the Council, but then challenged by local citizens.
Local resident Hugh Johnson explained that he called for a referendum because voters should have a say in a change as fundamental as the establishment of a Maori ward: “I believe we are one country, one lot of people, not divided. The Maori seats in Parliament separates the Parliament and we don’t need to spread it out into the local government area. It’s as simple as that. If you wanted to get voted on council, you go through one voting system.”
The poll result that followed was definitive – 83 percent voted against the creation of the Maori ward, with 17 percent in favour.
The result showed how little support there is for race-based democracy. Most people believe that almost anyone can get voted onto a council, if they are prepared to work hard enough. They know that Maori do not need special treatment to get elected – and there are many examples all around the country to show that this is the case. So rather than demanding special privileges based on race, the public believes that iwi should embrace the democratic process – like everyone else – through candidates who will put in the effort to get themselves elected.
Given the clear message sent by the people of New Plymouth in the referendum, one would have thought that Mayor Judd would have finally realised that local democracy is about letting people have their say, and respecting their views – whether or not one agrees with it.
But apparently not.
Mayor Judd, effectively called his New Plymouth constituents ‘racists’ – and put forward the proposition that the Government should change the law to require that half of all local authority council representatives are Maori.
This week’s NZCPR Guest Commentator, journalist and historian Mike Butler, who has outlined the myriad of attempts by vested interests to tribalise local government, explains what happened next:
“The champion of Maori wards in New Plymouth, the newly elected mayor Andrew Judd, announced to the nation on May 5 on Seven Sharp that he would not stand for a further term because people spit on him at supermarkets, and that he was a ‘recovering racist’ since he read guilt guru Robert Consedine’s book Healing our history.
“After such a massive defeat on the Maori seats vote, instead of accepting the vote Judd lodged an official complaint with the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues against the New Zealand government for permitting such a poll.
“There are two things that voters loathe: elected representatives running an agenda they did not mention during the voting period, and elected representatives ignoring voter opinion. Judd did both of the above.
“Judd went further. He urged Maori Party co-leader Te Ururoa Flavell to present a petition to Parliament to set up Maori wards on every district council in New Zealand without requiring a public vote.”
For Andrew Judd to make such a complaint to the United Nations is astonishing and raises serious questions about judgement – especially since he has been using the New Plymouth Office of Mayor to progress a radical separatist agenda.
Instead of condemning Andrew Judd for using his Office to incite racism, the Race Relations Commissioner has called him an ‘everyday hero’ for promoting his racist proposals.
But in reality, his actions have been so extreme that one wonders whether consideration should be given to the introduction of recall elections in New Zealand. This is a mechanism that is available in a number of jurisdictions around the world – including Canada, Switzerland, Venezuela, the UK and the US – that allows citizens to remove elected officials from office, if they end up deviating strongly from their election platforms. The trigger for votes of no-confidence is usually a petition signed by a sufficient number of voters.
The point that mayors Andrew Judd, Lyn Patterson, Jenny Rowan, and Steve Chadwick do not appear to understand is that this whole issue is about democracy, not race. New Zealanders strongly support the fundamentals of democracy – one person, one vote, with all constituents treated equally under the law. And they want to see our nation moving forward together – as one people – not as a country divided by race.
So what does the law actually say about Maori involvement in local government?
The Local Government Act 2002 requires councils to “provide opportunities for Maori to contribute to the decision-making processes of the local authority”, as well as to consider ways of fostering the development of Maori “capacity”.
However, the Act is also clear in the fact that councils must prioritise the good of the whole community. That’s why most councils around the country have discharged their responsibilities by establishing Maori liaison committees or advisory boards. By law, they are not required to do any more than that.
And that’s why the decisions of the mayors and councillors who have appointed iwi representatives, with voting rights, onto their councils – without seeking the view of their local communities through a district-wide referendum – is so wrong. While they no doubt hope their arrangements will bind all future councils, each new council should review such decisions – and ask their communities what they think as well, through a binding referendum process.
Whether they like to admit it or not, councillors voting in favour of appointing unelected iwi representatives with voting rights onto their councils, are putting their personal views ahead of the views of their electorate. What’s worse is that they are doing so in a way that denies voters their right to accept or reject race-based representation on their council. That is simply unacceptable.
THIS WEEK’S POLL ASKS:
Do you agree with the Race Relations Commissioner that Andrew Judd is an ‘everyday hero’?
*Poll comments are posted below.
*All NZCPR poll results can be seen in the Archive.
THIS WEEK’S POLL COMMENTS
| Race Relations Commissioner should adopt a neutral position. | Roger |
| It causes me great concern that we have people in public positions in NZ who are willing to by-pass the democratic process in order to get their own way. Mr Judd has thrown his toys out of the cot because he did not get his own way. Also when will we get a Race Relations Commissioner who is not a politically correct puppet? | Gifford |
| The race relations commissioner is very naive. | Trevor |
| No way! | William |
| definately not …ignorant yes!! | Dianne |
| Every citizen can stand for election in their local body elections – it is wrong that anyone is given voting rights on a council unless they were democratically elected by the community! | Jenny |
| No, No, No. His electorate overwhelmingly said no. “Suck it up” Mr Judd, Daddy said no but I’ll run to mummy ie UN Indigenous Forum. Maori are more than capable of standing on their own two feet. | Fiona |
| Self serving interests undermine the rest of hardworking Kiwis. | Anne |
| Should be removed from office. | Keith |
| Andrew Judd is the Racist. One People, one Vote each. | Bill |
| Not only is this practice undemocratic, it also costs the ratepayer! Such “appointees”, I assume, also get paid … | Dave |
| Up until 1967, I was very proud of our Maori as I worked with them on a daily basis. Going overseas for 4 years & coming home in 1971 we feel that our race relations are going backwards at a great rate | Tony |
| She is about as misguided as he is. | Craig |
| NZ needs to bring back “First past the post politics” not race or creed. | Wayne |
| The race relations commissioner is deficient and divisive. | David |
| The Race relations office is as racist as Andrew Judd. NZ has gone mad, Not only this, but Govt., Local bodies are either renaming or creating new Maori names on just about everything and News paper are using maori word more and more. Don`t they realise that 99% of New Zealanders speak and even write in English and wouldn`t have any idea what they actually mean. To have a laugh – Gerry Brownlee (National – the party for private enterprise.) in the Christchurch rebuild entered into a sub lease for public servants notably hospital staff to occupy a building to be built and owned by Ngai Tahu a Maori Trust paying no tax. It`s unbelievable and so laughable. When are New Zealanders going to wake up? | Robert |
| Wigger deserves to have his severed head stuck on a pike! | Reuben |
| Judd is no hero he is a traitor to the principles of democracy and should be seen as such. This is communism by stealth. The act should be cause to impeach Judd and disband his council. Key has responsibility to rule or cause the parliament to examine the local body rules that allow this travesty and amend the law to reflect democracy by specifically prohibiting such events. The Lame Duck minister of Justice should be at the forefront of upholdin democracy and its principles by he is too busy orchestrating his own litany of lies namely the giveaway of community resources to scam opportunists under the scam of treaty partnership and other hilarious fantasies emerging from the brown wash tribunal. If Key cannot or will not control this erosion his party will loose and the situation will deepen in crisis until a revolutionary pushback emerges at even greater cost. to the community, even to the point of making the country vulnerable to a new wave of unstoppable immigration. | Richard |
| You have to wonder how he ever got to the position that allows him to do this, along with the fools that agree with him. | Bill |
| NO,NO,NO All these people should pull their head out of the sand and listen to the people. | Rod |
| How can someone be declared an “everyday hero” when they enforce race based policies on a community. All persons representing any community must be elected by that community and not get a voting ability through a back door way. | Keith |
| The man is an arrogant pratt who thinks he is above the views of his voters. Recall is definately needed in order to show these sorts of idiots to the door. | Ronmac |
| You have to wonder if the race relations commissioner has any idea what racism is. | Bob |
| I have no doubt that Dame Susan an extremely good squash player would ever have entered the court with a Maori opponent knowing she had to give her a three point start in each game, based on her race. | Frank |
| The way TVNZ dealt with the New Plymouth situation as abuse instead of dealing with anti-democratic issues is an outrage. The real racists are Susan Devoy, the undemocratic Mayors & their complicit councils, Louisa Wall( Labour MP), Scott Morison and Miriama Kamo whose Friday night TV prog, I will now boycott and of course Andrew Judd. | Monica |
| An elected representative with his own undisclosed agenda ! | Kevin |
| Shame on him! | John |
| Obviously the ‘current’ Race Relations Commissioner has tunnel vision! | Don |
| He does not understand the word democracy. | Barry |
| Appalling support from the Race Relations Commission of Judd, but sadly one I have come to expect. | John |
| Why do we have elections. | Alan |
| Neither he or the half witted squash player are hero’s, they are tax and rate payer funded racists, these morons obviously have no idea of NZs history, do they really think that maori were peace loving conservationists that wore white feathers in their hair and hugged and kissed each other everyday? The sooner this pair of loonies are out of office the better. I was under the misguided belief that a race relations commissioner was supposed to be unbiased and blind to colour, but obviously I am wrong, this one can’t see any colour but brown, and as for the other idiot, words escape me, how could he possibly expect to go against the majorities wishes, then complain to the united nations and get away with it. I really hope the lunatic never gets another job in this country. I would spit on him as well if I had the opportunity. Good riddance. | Stevo |
| Completely nonsensical – and at variance with her role. | Jack |
| Quite the reverse. He is promoting apartheid. I wonder which side he was on in 1981? | Kerry |
| By sneakily moving unelected people into power democracy is eroded. Hitler did not act alone!! | Peter |
| He is a racist! Everyone has the ability to be elected to Councils irrespective of race. Hard work and honest get their just rewards – not race-based decisions or views. | Sandy |
| Certainly not – his actions are deplorable. | Carl |
| For goodness sake Maori get there by working for the position not given it on a plate the New Plymouth Mayor is in my mind an egotistical man who likes to be in the limelight. | John |
| He is a twat who is blind to equality and is a reverse racist. | Roger |
| I just cannot believe that councillors are even being allowed to bring in extra seats on a non voting basis. This is reverse racism at the extreme. Here are maori carrying on about how Europeans are racist and Europeans then openly allow maori to be racist back. I just can’t understand it. Surely one seat one vote for all New Zealanders | Peter |
| Susuan Devoy should resign. | Charles |
| I would brand Judd a traitor to his community. | Rod |
| This is a democratic society. | Greg |
| My feelings are that he is stepping on everybodies right to have a vote as to who will represent them on council. Too many appointments are being made round the country of unelected personnel. We are being deprived of our rights by the clowns. | John |
| And an idiot. | Fraser |
| Andrew Judd was quite happy to accept the Democratic Electoral System to get elected to the Mayoral Position when it suited him, but now when it doesn’t suit him he calls it a rascist system. | Urban |
| She should be replaced as her stated views are in themselves racist. | Irvine |
| When is this nonsense of partnership to be buried for good. Maori ceded sovereignty and obtained all rights of British citizenship (this took some time to achieve but is a fact now). Time to stop re-writing NZ history and dispense with the Waitangi Tribunal the source of much racism in NZ. | Phil |
| If Maori want to get on the council then they should campaign like a anyone else to get voted in. | Tony |
| Why are these politicians so anti-democratic? | Leigh |
| Andrew Judd is the racist and is certainly not a everyday hero. I guess I can’t put into print what I really think of him | Neil |
| Wake up. | Randall |
| Another piece of disturbing information!! We are facing a ‘new normal’ situation here. The simple fact is that the RRC and Judd cronies are only members of a 5th column organized and instructed by Maori leaders to act to further undermine, weaken and destroy New Zealand’s democratic system ( or what is left of it)And Key and HIS cronies plus all the other pathetic appeasers in the Beehive have sanctioned and tolerated these insidious moves far too long and are part and parcel of this mess we are in. Only radical political measures can stop this runaway train and this will not happen without some sort of painful upheaval. | Michael |
| Not in your life. | Clark |
| Maori were 2nd to New Zealand. They are not native or indigenous, two words which the treaty is based around. if the community wants maori representation then they will be voted on to council. They will then be there by right. | Rick |
| Judd used his casting vote to achieve approval for a Maori Ward which is an accepted incorrect way of using it. He should have voted for the status quo. He has read one book and is an authority. Susan Devoy is unsuited to be a race relations commissioner as she can’t differentiate between important issues. Her views should be” squashed”. 2 Maori who have confirmed that they will be standing for the New Plymouth council state publicly that they don’t agree with Maori Wards. Who on earth elects these race relations commissioners?? They seem to choose a bunch of fruit cakes. | Mike |
| THE COMMISSIONER IS RACIST. THEY HAVE TO BE TO GET APPOINTED. | KEVIN |
| It’s disappointing if people really did spit on him, abuse him and his family, etc, that is disgraceful, but he is a coward, not a hero, running to the big guns to try to get his detractors punished. | Hilary |
| No way. He’s an idiot who wants to suck up to the people who carried out genocide in killing off the the real original people of NZ – the Mori Ori – bet no one is prepared to take that to the world court. | John |
| No he is the worst kind of racists. | Athol |
| One man One Vote, One country One People. | Don |
| The man is an absolute idiot & NZ does not need people like him in positions of power going against what the majority of people want. It should not be possible to be appointed to a Council, you have should have to be voted onto it by the people. | David |
| One has to wonder what the Race Relations Commissioner is hoping to achieve by describing Andrew Judd as an ‘everyday hero’. She obviously wants to tribalise local government and move away from the democracy that most of us want for NZ. The only way for this country of ours to get rid of the problems caused by tribalism is to treat EVERY person as an equal and to make Judd and the Commissioner redundant. | Ernest |
| We should all be subject equally to the same laws; everybody has a chance to get elected to public bodies such as councils; there should be no votes for unelected groups. | Glenn |
| Judd had the opportunity to appoint a Maori councillor as his deputy but chose not to. After being soundly voted down in the referendum. He childishly called ‘his’ electorate racists, rather than accept that they were defending democracy. Judd will go down as an everyday zero. | Morris |
| No way, he’s just the opposite. | Brian |
| Most definitely not. | Don |
| We are in NZ with New Zealanders, keep racism OFF the table! | Gerard |
| Only elected members should have seats on any council. et al. | Walter |
| Everyperson must be voted onto council including all Maori. | Bruce |
| Hero? NO! He is trying to lead our nation down the path of apartheid. All unelected representatives on councils, adminsitrative boards are guilty of the same. Let’s stand up and force our councils to seek the people’s views and remember that THEY ARE ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES TO SERVE, NOT TO MAKE AND FORCE THEIR OWN DECISIONS ON US. | Cecelia |
| Isn’t the idea of handing out positions so Maori have their votes apartheid. Surely they should be elected like other people on committees and councils etc. | Elizabeth |
| Surely promoting one sector of society based on race is the very definition of racist. Judd is not even trying to recover from being a racist. He is getting worse and wants to drag everyone down to his level. | Russell |
| Andrew Judd & his ilk are the cancer poisoning our country & its people.. like all cancers it needs removing asap. | Wayne |
| Race Relations Office should be closed forthwith. | Robert |
| He is only making it more difficult for the country becoming “One People”. | Rob |
| She should lose her job, such arrogance has no place in her appointment. | David |
| Andrew Judd is misguided in his presumptive power. the Race Relations Commissioner can be commended for supporting someone who stands up for what they believe, despite being outnumbered, but that does not mean he or she can overrule the democratic process. | Vic |
| Do you need to comment. One man one vote I thought we lived in a democracy. | John |
| These sort of people are traitors to having equal rights for all New Zealanders. | Maurice |
| He is a racist. | Barry |
| A big NO. | Kelvin |
| To stand for segregation, worse, State organised segregation should be denounced as what it is institutionalised racism. | Lionel |
| The man is a totally arrogant idiot who has clearly not been sufficiently educated to understand simple phrases like ‘one people’ or ‘one nation’ or anyone can stand for election’. | Alan |
| He clearly has no idea of the maning of ‘democracy’ -to give power to any group which uis not sancioned by free election is the antithesi of goverment by the freely elected majority. It is also using race as the basis for such undemocratic action,which makes it a hundred type worse. He calls hiself ‘a recovering racist’ he is clearly the reverse-leaping down the slippery slope of racisism by trying to influence the goverment of the whole by the appointment of unelected persons to governing bodies by reason of their race. If this is not ‘raceism’ I cannot imagine what is! | Douglas |
| He is a racist putting his self serving agenda before that of the community he was elected to represent. | Garry |
| How can the Race Commissioner justify keeping her job? | Peter |
| So much for democracy. He is a disgrace! | Graeme |
| But typical. The Race relations Commissioner should be renamed the Pro Bro Commissioner as the decisions are always pro bro. | Carolyn |
| Nobody promoting ‘racism’ (as Judd and his supporters do) is any kind of hero. How do we allow such idiots like him to gain such prominent positions in NZ politics? – and what may be worse, retain them. | John |
| One person, one vote. | Lindsay |
| Race relation Commissioner should be sacked as he is the racist | Jack |
| He is a rabid racist! | Malcolm |
| Democracy is elected representatives, one vote per person. Anyone can stand for election, they just need to put in the effort. | Claire |
| He is out of order and should by sacked forthwith. | Theodorus |
| Who is she to wade into local politics? That she makes any comment at all on what is a democratic process is way beyond her mandate. For his part, Andrew Judd is a self-aggrandizing figure who has run roughshod over democracy and divided his community. Shameful. | John |
| I question the fitness of the Race Relations Commissioner to continue in his position as Commissioner. | Ken |
| Andrew Judd is a racist. | Robert |
| Andrew Judd’s actions have been underhanded, arrogant, and damaging. The last thing any district or country needs is special privilage based on race. Just ask any of the failed states that have tried it. | Kynan |
| This is not Democracy. Are we two races, or are we all New Zealanders. one roll for all and one vote for all. | Richard |
| I consider him to be an everyday IDIOT!! | Jim |
| An “everyday prize p***k” more likely for not declaring his racist views prior to standing for election. | Bruce |
| Who could? He wants an advantage for Maori. Surely that is blatant racism in any ones language. | Eric |
| Everyday Nero for whom is left open – of course. | seymour |
| If Maori can not be bothered to work hard and get voted in think of the damage they can do to those who have put the effot in to get elected by the people for the people. | John |
| No I certainly do not agree that he is An Everyday Hero. | Suzanne |
| Makes me question the Race Relations bias. | Jim |
| Judd has read fiction posing as history and swallowed it thereby exposing himself as a nut-case. | Don |
| Another FARCE and Racial attack by Crazy Maori nonsense. | Lance |
| It appears that being pro-Maori is part of the Race Relations Commissioner’s job description. This office has discreditted itself in the eyes of the general NZ public. | Tony |
| Judd is fortunate he only got spat on in the supermarket. A more appropriate description for this fellow would be “Everyday Zero”. | Carl |
| Strikes me that he is an attention seeking individual trying to make people feel guilty if they have a different view. One vote per person is the basis of democracy and that must not be undermined for political gain of one group over another. | Catherine |
| What a bloody joke!! | Shane |
| He is perpetating the myth of “partnership. | Peter |
| Everyone should have a single vote only. | Louise |
| It is further proof of encroaching racism. | Patricia |
| As Govenor Hobson said to the Chiefs: We are one peopled. Race Relations Commissioner needs tro be sacked ASAP. | Terry |
| No. He’s an absolute moron. An every day disaster! | Alan |
| This is purely raced based and against the whole democratic rights of New Zealand and should not happen. | Digby |
| What happened to one law for all??? | Gareth |
| Absolutely not. | Terry |
| How did such a person end up in the position she holds? She needs to study what is happening with the Waitangi Tribunal and the ones running it!! | Laurence |
| Just how easy it is to demean a word, term or phrase. HERO is not a term or word that I would use to describe this racial ignoramus, or for that matter any of his followers. Try this logic on with the world of money managers and their ilk. Would it have worked with the lads at Merril Lynch. How would it have survived with our great leader. Look at the latest cock up visited on us by that august leadership team in charge of the Auckland City Councils purchase of a new building. Those imbeciles are regarded as qualified to make decisions that in all reality they should be executed for. This surely is an example of If you dress an idiot in a suit, it is after all that, still a bloody idiot. You have a tried and proven system of democracy in our current manner of elections and process. Why would you elect to have some cod piece or two come along and shape a cities or countries future by way of a gerrymander. What system was in place to elect chiefs, is this the same method, if it indeed it was, it goes a long way to explain some of the problems we Maori have in our domestic violence figures. We as a people have to stop looking for shortcuts to being successful, and back up the hard yards with knowledge and pride in our efforts and successes that we will leave for those that will follow in our footsteps. In short good Ruddance to you cobber. | Wiremu |
| The message to Devoy and others re our abhorrence of race based councils or anything else does not seem to be getting through. Perhaps giving party vote to Winston might wake central government up. He is the only one against all the separatist crap coming down. | John |
| ACTUALLY I THINK HE’S AN EVERYDAY JERK. AND SO IS THE RACE RELATIONS COMMISIONER. | ROSS |
| If Maori are good enought to be elected on their own merits then thats ok. But to just appoint them willy nilly is just plain f****g crazy. Grow up New Zealand. | Graham |
| Absolutely no. Glad to see he has been dropped. | Graeme |
| No, he is a racist and as such should be condemmed for his divisive rantings. | Bryan |
| What next half the council not elected? | Peter |
| Absolutely not. | William |
| Idiot. | Al |
| Susan Devoy is a devicive woman. Why can’t everyone be treated equally under the eyes of the law? | rob |
| To IWI, almost into veneration for a Saint category, as a part Maori he no doubt, will figure strongly in the future as a champion for more Maori ‘appointments’ along with Dame Susan.Devoy. As the Nazi Party also used the appointment system to eventually dominate German politics can we surmise that we can look forward to an ‘Call appointed member Parliament’? Just think of the savings from those costly general and local elections, not to mention the fact that those being appointed would have no need to promise the public the world anymore. We would in all probability, have to accept that our Maori Elite will need another Chamber in Parliament; how about a ‘House of Future and popup Claims’ for a start. But that on reflection would be superfluous, as they would have by then, total control. ‘The funeral of New Zealand democracy will be held, with great ceremony in accordance with the dead tradition of Magna Carta; with naturally the ashes being removed quietly from New Zealand to avoid dissent.’ | Brian |
| Definetely not. | Winifred |
| Certainly NOT. | David |
| There should be no Councils with a special maori seat and also have voting rights. This is not in the Treaty. A maori can stand up for council at election time and if he or she is elected well and good. | Frank |
| He’s way out of touch with public opinion! | Brian |
| This sort of rubbish Is causing racial disharmony in NZ. | Graeme |
| The office of the Race Relations Commissioner should not exist. What has happened to upholding individual rights? A nation of individuals standing before one LAW !!! | Don |
| The race relations commissioner is a blatant racist, she may have been a great squash player but she’s way out of her depth here. One wonders why she was selected for the job and what qualifications does she have that enables her to be in such a very powerful position, I suspect the powers that be were looking for someone with very limited knowledge that they could manipulate and be there to cop the flack for Govt agendas. Democracy is dead and buried in this country. | Stevo |
| Utter nonsense. | Russell |
| Stupid not heroic. This attitude actually un-democratic. Democracy has no place for promotion of one group over another. If this goes through NZ will no longer be a truly democratic country. Partnership means equality not one group more equal or privileged over the rest. | Nick |
| I want democracy not racism. | Laurie |
| I guess he is a hero if the objective is to segregate and emphasis the differences between races rather than becoming a melting pot where we work together for a positive future. | Jay |
| If such a small minority can influence government, local or national, against the wishes of the majority, then democracy doesn’t work. | Gary |
| New Zealand is losing our democratic basis, led, unfortunately by the Prime Minister. | Peter |
| Totally non democratic. | Anthony |
| He is an uninformed idiot like most newly converted are! | Brian |
| More like “zero”. | Wayne |
| Judd an ‘everyday hero’ ? The Race Relations Commissioner must also believe in fairies…Judd has clearly been brain-washed and should also refrain from reading fairy stories. Clearly , he has lost all perspective of the fundamentals of democracy – one (wo)man, one vote and certainly not this race-based charade that is permeating our society. | Tony |
| This is blatant racism and the perpetrators need to be publicly identified. No one should be appointed to any council unelected by the people, the Govt should remind the race relations councillor (De Voy) that supporting this is totally undemocratic, along with all the mayors and councillors around the country. If maoris want to get on the councils, they put their hands up the same as everyone else and maybe get ELECTED ! NOT appointed. This racism would not be tolerated in any other country, I suspect those who support it are of a particular political persuasion. | David |
| One person = one vote. We have fought war to retain democracy and it looks like we will have to keep fighting! | Don |
| Words fail me!!!!! | Maurice |
| Good grief NO. He is just exacerbating any existing racist problem(s). | Geoffrey |
| And Gareth Morgan is pushing this rascist rubbish on Facebook. He was so patronising to my “rascist” ( his words”) and suggested I should ask the kiddies, as they were learning this separist stuff (t of W) in schools. Indoctrination? I am fed up with this rascist nonsense, encouraged by the present weak spineless govt. | Carolyn |
| Judd is an “everyday” fool who in reality has no place in any sort of politics. | Peter |
| I do not approve of what was done at all. We are, or should be, a one nation – but we are totally divided and I hate living in a country that is that way inclined. We should all get to where we are on our merit not because of our colour. I am not happy. | Kerin |
| Seperatism must be avoided. | Mick |
| He is like a spoilt child who throws his toys out when he doesn’t get his way. | Kevin |
| I live in NP. Judd would not get 15% of the vote if he stood. He is not a stable person. | LGF |
| Amazing what a little bit of elected power can do to a supposedly intelligent person. He is there because he was elected on a platform that appealed to his constituants. To turn against that is power gone to ones head. He will pay for that for a very long time unless he moves from the area and possibly changes his name. | Brian |
| We do not need a race relation committee. Stop treating those poor miss treated Maori screamers holding out their hands for more priveleges. and more money. Make them work, and clean up their family life. Kids to school. Make jail a real jail. | Johan |
| How many more of these idiots are going to crawl out of the woodwork, with their divisive ideas? Legally the voting process says, one person, one vote. That says it all. We’re all NEW ZEALANDERS. If you want to split the definitive, let’s recognise, the Chinese, the Australians. the Raro tongans, the Dalmations and the many other sundry races that make up New Zealand nowadays. We’re ALL New Zealanders and those who seek to divide us , should pack a bag and get off overseas to find a country more accommodating of their views and I think they’d struggle hard to find one. | John |
| Unbelievable madness on the part of Andrew Judd and those that appear to support his thinking. Didn’t we protest against apartheid years back. | Adrian |
| He remains a racist, whatever his opinion of himself may be. There was NO partnership, we are all equal. | Mike |
| I can not recall a RRC who was not racially biased ! | John |
| They are both twats. | Brian |
| Susan Devoy is an “everyday idiot ” as far as I am concerned. She clearly has no idea of democratic principles of one person one vote. | Wah |
| Susan Devoy is a waste of space and the RRC should be abolished. | Steve |
| This idiot has demonstrated a breath-taking arrogance towards the wishes of his electorate. Calling him a hero is a gross insult to genuine heroes who perform remarkable and useful deeds. He is an unremarkable and worthless pencil pusher. | Charles |
| FROM “OKLAHOMA”POOR JUDD IS DEAD!GOOD THING! | TIM |
| She, the RRC is a squash player full stop.and should never have accepted her now job. | Raewyn |
| We need a new Race relations Commissioner, clearly. | Bernard |
| His guilt shows in his face! | Colin |
| Andrew Judd is not a hero. He is a racist. | Wayne |
| You gotta be joking. He would have to be the most bigoted, racist bastard on two legs. A fitting departure for him would be to be tarred and feathered and dragged out of town on a rope tied to a horse. Jesus life is hard enough to face without idiots like him being in charge of a council. | Ralph |
| She was a great sports woman!! | Bruce |
| A lost soul who should stay lost. | Tim |
| One person, one vote. Forget about race. | Rob |
| He is the type of person who wants to kill democracy and foster separatism. | Mark |
| Racist got is more like it. | Peter |
| It is disgraceful that the Race Relations Conciliator is involving herself in this debate! She has no mandate and when I read of their staff of over 60 people I would demand her resignation and the dismantling of this unnecessary and costly bureaucracy. | David |
| Nothing heroic at all in his underhand actions! | Frank |
| He is trying to back pedal and it is not working he has no right to be in Public Office his lack of honesty to his local people. | Laurel |
| Fully support the logic in the article written in your newsletter. | Ian |
| Appointing non-elected members of the public onto council, regardless of race, is Undemocratic. | Wayne |
| Where did the Race Relations Commissioner get that idea from. Just ridiculous. Perhaps that person should be stood down as well. | Cornelis |
| Equal rights for equal kiwis. | Richard |
| He’s an everyday idiot! As is the Race Relations Commissioner. Democracy appears to be dying at a rapid rate in NZ and we should all be afraid… Very afraid! | Maddi |
| His cat-o-nine tails must be worn out by now! I’ve never subscribed to the “sins of the fathers” idea. I refuse to feel guilty for acts done over a century before I was born, even if the perpetrators were my ancestors (they weren’t). YOU CANNOT NEGATE PAST INJUSTICES BY CREATING CONTEMPORARY ONES. | Lesley |
| An emphatic NO!!! The pathetic creature has been totally indoctrinated by the twisted legislation foisted on this nation over the last forty odd years. Tell him. Learn to read, and read the Treaty and other letters and documents of that time. With both eyes. | Colin |
| How on earth did that man ever fool the good people of New Plymouth. Something in the water I think! | Chip |
| Andrew Judd is a self-centred weasel who took the easy way out to avoid the well-merited backside-kicking party his electorate had planned for him. Like all zealots he a) knows better than anyone else and b) welcomes martyrdom to glorify his views. He is now making a virtue out of necessity. Steve Chadwick’s husband is John, a pretty laid-back Maori lawyer, so she doesn’t even pretend to be unbiased. | Mike |
| He’s a fool. | Neil |
| Andrew Judd appears to support a form of undemocratic racial apartheid. | Bryan |
| She should go …..an absolute disgrace, in fact the office should go as well, as all we get from it is half baked ideas. Haven’t seen a decent statement come from her since appointed.. | Neville |
| ‘Dudd’ Judd is one sick puppy! In his interpretation of history, he reinforces the old adage that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. | Paul |
| Mr Judd could never be considered a hero while he promotes undemocratic non-elected, appointments that have the right to vote on by-laws and regulations that impinge on the registered voting electorate. I am most disappointed that the Race Relations Commissioner sees his actions as the heroic way to foster unity of purpose within the citizenry of New Zealand. Indeed it is now time for her to fall upon her sword for promoting race-based privilege.. | Michael |
| Very well written. | Dick |
| The man’s an idiot, and the Race relations Commissioner is so biased it’s unbelievable. What qualifications did she have to get that position? | Doreen |
| Judd is not a hero in just the same way that Devoy is not a Race Relations Commissioner worth having. | Peter |
| We do not want another South Africa! | Gerard |
| All it takes to lose our freedoms, including one person one vote is that good people do nothing and we will lose them by stealth. | Ken |
| He is a complete idiot. I do hope that other local politicians see the stupidity of his actions. | Allan |
| Certainly not. | Roy |
| The race relations office should be removed, it is only causing disruption and ill-will among everyday Kiwi’s and is a complete waste of time and resources. One persons warped view causing trouble where none existed before. | Benjamin |
| Both of them are serious contenders for the ” Wally Award “ | Chris |
| More a halfwit. We should learn to treat one another as individuals and not as members of groups. | K |
| How could any normal thinking person agree with the race relation commissioner this racism is getting beyond a joke why are we pandering to such a small part of our population if they want on councils get voted on like any body else. | Russell |
| He is a Racist, A Fraud Elected with no Mandate try and push unelected part Maori to Council. | Greg |
| We don’t need race based politics in this country, particularly of those who are less of the ethnicity they claim to be than of an other or others. | Graeme |
| Judd is anything but a hero. He, along with the Race Relations Commissioner and others of the same ilk, are perpetuating the ever increasing racial divide in this country. Until such time as the Waitangi Treaty /Tribunal get put to bed and assigned to history this country will never be a truly peaceful nation I won’t hold my breath on that one. | Mike |
| When is New Zealand going to learn the basics of democracy? Every councilor and politician must be elected on merit NOT on race. | Graeme |
| A dangerous precedent, totally unacceptable. | Keith |
| He did not have a mandate after the last election to impose special Maori seats, and a referendum to that effect was defeated. He might be a hero if he was prepared to stand for mayor again on that ticket. | Virginia |
| “Dame” Andrew is cut from the same sad pattern as Dame Susan. Failures both of them. | John |
| He is very misguided! | Peter |
| His actions are appalling. He is a Chardonay Liberalist and should be shunned by Alfred thinking Kiwis regardless of race. | Allan |
| The Race Relations Commissioner is showing her complete ignorance of the meaning of racist, and her lack of understanding of what the word Democracy involves. | Owen |
| How much more crap is this country going to put up with one country one people, I am a white New Zealand tax payer that has descended from four generations of new Zealanders, I am sick of being treated as a 2nd class citizen. | Allen |
| Rather an everyday simpleton. | Robert |
| How arrogant. | Jill |
| She is a disgrace and a product of cultural hegemony that has warped her thinking. A great squash player, but a disaster in her race relations role. She should be sacked as she is not meeting the views and needs of the bulk of NZ society. | Tom |
| Pity that the RRC are unaware that we do not have any true Maori’s living in this country. | Tom |
| I take extreme exception to Mr Judd’s self-description as a “recovering racist.” He thus impliies that I am a current racist. I flatly refute any such accusation. | Brian |
| People of this ilk are so far removed from every day reality! They live in some ideological dream world, which has no place except in writing fiction stories! NOT in running a city or a country. | Hugh |
| Maori should stand like any one else and be voted in. Why should they just have seats given to them. People died in wars so people can vote who they want there. | Robert |
| We had the same problem in Rotorua, which caused quite an uproar in the community, but unfortunately the mayor won. | Douwe |
| He and Devoy are the racists and idiots. | Ian |
| What in hell is she thinking, not of NZ. | David |
| If you think you are good enough then get democratically elected like everybody else and not use the race thing to gain advantage. This is racism. | Alan |
| The RR Commissioner is busy painting herself into a indefensible corner. | Peter |
| How did we end up with a racist Race Relations Commissioner??? | Dennis |
| Andrew Judd was put into office by the people for the people. The peoples decision is called democracy. The Race Relations commissioner needs to finr other employment. | George |
| So who is pulling the Race Relations Commissioner’s strings? What a dumb thing to advocate!! | Neil |
| Do they still hang traitors? If not, they should (if they still did, there wouldn’t be many so-called politicians left in NZ!). | John |
| The man is misguided and has abused his elected position. Perhaps he should be exported to an undemocratic country as he certainly fails to understand the principles of a democracy. . | Chris |
| Andrew Judd is a sickly, racist appeaser. He believes that people should have special rights and privileges because of the colour of their skin. The office of Race Relations Concilliator should be deconstructed and the cash that is saved in that exercise should be devoted to some useful infrastructure construction. Such as a sewerage upgrade in one of the hundreds of small communities who have issues with such things. | Dianna |
| Just a waste of space, A bleeding heart wrist wringing apologetic liberal. | Mike |
| Sick of the preferential treatment that Maori receive, and the underhand ways that Maori still employ to get their noses in the financial trough !!! | Kevin |
| He is a racist. | Geoff |
| The commissioner has her head in the sand again | Bruce |
| One person one vote irrespective of race. If you want a voice on council, get voted there legitimately and democratically. | Graeme |
| A completely undemocratic twit would better describe this man! | Sylvia |
| Does this Mayor’s brain function at all? | James |
| The race relations commissioner is a moronic puppet. | Trevor |
| ONE COUNTRY FOR ALL. | Anon |
| An uninformed decision like others she has made. | Albie |
| I am really surprised that our esteemed race relations commissioner could make such a stupid error of judgement. What is wrong with the Dame. Left her judgement on the squash court? | Chris |
| Absolutely not!! Merely grandstanding!!! | Alastair |
| I agree that we should all have one vote regardless of race. No special privileges for anyone. | Marlene |
| Let Maori stand for election like ANY other person – anything else is ‘apartheid’ in reverse – we are meant to be ‘one nation’ and not divided by race or any other entity. | Hylton |
| The Race Relations Commissioner has overstepped her position as an independent person. In making those remarks she has shown a clear racial bias. She can think what she wants but the meaning of ‘words’ are the final arbiter of a persons neutrality. | Maureen |
| As far as I’m concerned both are brown nosing idiots, if a maori earns a seat no problem but when people say the indigenous people who the maori are not should, be given rights that they have not earnt we are heading for more trouble than what is happening now. | Richard |
| He is a racist. | Terry |
| Andrew Judd does not have the right to apply promote or support democracy. His actions are that of a dictator and should never be held up as a leader of democratic people. His supporting councilors lack knowledge, integrity and should never be seen to be suitable to stand for election to or given an appointment where democracy of a community is primary. | John |
| Mr Judd is a racist by implying Maori are incapable of being elected. | Henry |
| There should never be any unelected member of any council. It not only smacks of reverse racialism , but it undermines democracy which we need to protect at any cost or become an Elitist autocracy resulting in tyranny and Fascism. | Emanuel |
| The agenda of government is to bring division into NZ initially started by Labour in the 70’s and happily carried on by subsequent government NWO puppets. | Rowan |
| This is the inevitable result of APARTHEID in NZ where one mixed race group masquerading as Maori have separate seats in parliament and special privileges. Wake up from your apathetic slumber NZ’ers. The insidious APARTHEID mechanism is working. We need to rename and resurrect HART. Halt All Racist Tricks. | Geoff |
| What this Mayor has done is undemocratic. | Alton |
| Judd and others of his ilk need to take heed of what they are proposing – a racial division in society and in our country. This will lead to grave and undemocratic events where none existed before. The next step is separatism or as it was in Sth Africa – Apartheid and a split and dis-unified nation. | Brian |
| Judd wants to force his will ahead of democracy. | Brett |
| We are suppose to be a democracy we have never had special race based seats in local government. and nor do we need them. If Andrew Judd believes in Race based local government then he should resign and nominate a Maori for Mayor!! | Les |
| How dare the Commissioner calls him a HERO and who is a racist and dividing our community ?? ANDREW JUDD. from NP resident of some 65 years. | Harry |
| Both are grossly misguided. | Dave |
| The man is walking around blind folded. | Eric |
| Absolutely Not. He has no idea how the majority of New Zealand feel. | Deb |
| He wasn’t elected on the policies he then determined to push through. He needs to study democracy 101 to see the folly of his actions. Pity he didn’t stand again to give the voters a chance to throw him and his racists policies out. | Roger |
| The RRC should go back to playing squash!! | Ross |
| It is very apparent on the face of the facts that THE RACE RELATIONS COMMISSIONER IS VERY RACIST and should be dismissed from that position. | David |
| Andrew Judd & the rest of them should be made to hold a referendum to see if the Local Ratepayers what Unelected members on the council, It should not happen. | Geoff |
| A weakling more like it. | Ian |
| Andrew Judd & his ilk are destroying our democracy. They seem determined to turn NZ into a corrupt third world nation. | Fiona |
| The best way to stop the rot regarding racial preference for Maori is to bombard the public with the names of these racists at the time of the local body elections in October. The people involved in the discrimination will certainly not publicise their views on the matter at this time. | John |
| This man is an ego-maniac seeking to accumulate gratuatous worth via illegal and race-based impositions that run completely against the concept of democratic representation. That we have no binding law to prevent this heaps shame on all succeeding governements throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. | Victor |
| If ever we needed proof that the RRC and the present incumbent are a total waste of oxygen, then this latest idiotic quote is conclusive. | Rod |
| Must be democratic The representative must be there by the will of the people. The position must be earned. The representative contribution to and vision needs to be very clear for the local community. | Dene |
| What race relations? Maori first, then everybody else? Time to leave New Zealand if it is not stopped. | Folkert |
| He is the exact opposite. These cunning sods hope to pass it before the next local body election so the next council is stuck with it. If they had any guts they would make it an election issue and see themselves voted out as people react to this stupidity. He should be sacked along with the equally stupid Race Relations Commissioner and any other who audacity to try the same in any other council in the country. | Colin |
| It has to be asked just where does our Race Relations Commissioner come from.how did she qualify for the position. | Bryan |
| More racially based degrading decisions without refering to the ratepayers ,,sad. | IAN |
| He has stirred the separatists into action. | Murray |
| One person, one vote ~ one nation. | Terry |
| Andrew Judd is one sick man and deserves to be spat at. The thought of having racist savages on any council is beyond belief… and without being elected ! This is a very sick country. | Des |
| Any New Zealander should be able to stand on their merits and not RACE based. This is RACISM plain and simple and MUST not be allowed. O.K we are now going to have a Council with ALL Pakeha’s and no other race representation ??? WOW wouldn’t there be a HUGE fuss if that happened ?? | Andrew |
| He is a guilt tripper! | Willy |
| Democracy? | Don |
| The word is “apartheid”! | Mike |
| One has to question the thinking of the Race Relations Commissioner when she made comment about Judd. She herself has completely disregarded the voice of the people who voted on the referendum. She really should have stuck to squash playing, How that qualifies her for her current role astounds me. | Ray |
| The race relations commissioner is themselves bigoted, misinformed and nothing but racist themselves and should be renamed the racist commissioner. | Sue |
| No – he’s an everyday prat who encourages the maori grudge industry. | Aunty Pods |
| The commisioner is is prone to silly statements regrettably. | Phil |
| This person has certainly run his race. Thank goodness a change in personnel is on its way. | Derek |
| Definitely not! | Lyn |
| That comment belittles real heroes. | Terry |
| Judd is an insult to Maori. He must believe that Maori are an inferior race who need special privileges to be equal with the rest of society. Truth is, there are Maori with integrity, who are willing to stand for council in the normal democratic way. The directive for all of the separative nonsense has to be coming from central government, Key & his cronies pandering to the wishes of their racist partner, the Maori Party. Susan Devoy has obviously been been instructed to condemn any-one who dares to suggest that Maori should have equal rights not special privileges. Note how she is going after Mike Hoskin.. | A.G.R. |
| Out and out racism .. One country . One people . One vote. Let them stand in proper election method, if the people want them , the people will vote for them! | Kabe |
| How wrong can you be! | Eric |
| The Commissioner should be looking for another job. | Dennis |
| He is thumbing his nose at the democratic rights of the ratepayers by ignoring the fact that he lost the proposal to appoint Maori members with voting rights. Members who are ELECTED democratically are the only ones who should have voting rights. | Kerry |
| I am sick of these do-gooders looking backwards and not forwards. We elect people to plan for the future not dwell on the past. | Bruce |
| Just more pro Maori apartheid. | Selwyn |
| It’s time he learnt that we kiwis value our democracy. That he was supposed to be representing the wishes of the people and not his or those of a select few. The majority spoke, he didn’t listen. Bad move. | Brenda |
| Not in a million years. A pinky liberal of the worst kind. | Lee |
| Judd is a racist of the very worst kind. We need the very best people available on councils and there are many Maori who qualify but they must be elected on merit NOT race. | Bruce |
| The Race Relations Commissioner should be replaced. She is clearly unsuitable to be holding her present appointment. | Terry |
| She is another out and out racist. | Bruce |
| Everyone regardless of race etc has a say or can stand for council. An appointment based solely on ones race/ethnicity is wrong. Imagine the outcry if it was any other race being appointed. Its just the sad effect of political correctness gone mad. | Tracy |
| The guy is an idiot masquerading as a mayor supposedly representing his electors – get thee hence S…n. | Trevor |
| He is an idiot – any Maori can try to be an elected councillor just as much as any other New Zealander- and some do. | Moyra |
| Most certainly not. He is in my humble opinion the exact opposite! | Jackie |
| As per the Tui advert “yeah right”. | John |
| What is the point in having local body elections when elected officials selfishly choose to ignore the basic premise of the democracy that allows them to represent us. | Gary |
| The current race relations commissioner is way out of her depth and the office should not exist. | Mike |
| This completely unacceptable & undemocratic disease has to be eliminated once & for all. | Alan |
| Certainly not. | Garry |
| I believe that everyone should apply to be a councillor without any race based slant. Next Maori would , I suspect, if canvassed ass a whole, would agree. It may be just the rednecks who want to push through their agenda based on their race, and we as a country are simply rolling over and showing our belly, so of course they are going to take every advantage. Why wouldn’t they? | Mel |
| It Is high time that there is only one law in NZ and that is for all who live iin NZ regardless of race. | Morrin |
| Our apathy has allowed John Keys to be a Dictator. Andrew Judd should not be ‘allowed’ to do the same in council. What is it about these two individuals think that they know better than we do? What kick backs are they receiving that they are going against the wishes of those they represent? | Carol |
| This is encouraging racism in a country which was running as an example of unity to the world, we should NEVER follow USA it is the more racist than SA was. | brian |
| Do these people understand the meaning of the word racist? It means to make decisions based on race!!!!!!! HELLO!!!!!!!!!!! | Andy |
| Unfortunately we have a racist Race Relations Commissioner who is blinded by the arguments of racist activists who favour minority “Maori” being given total control of the country over the majority. | Rog |
| Andrew Judd is an everyday racist clown. | Derejk |
| Fools aren’t heroes. | John |
| Arrant nonsense: the man is a fool. There is NO ‘Treaty partnership’ : this is an invention of activist judges who have wildly exceeded their statutory brief. The more that this anti-democratic nonsense of racially separatist political representation persists, then the more this country will tear itself apart. One can only hope that the outcome of the next General Election is such that New Zealand First holds the balance of power, and that a condition of its support for the formation of a government is that all reference to the Treaty is abolished from all legislation, that race-based representation is declared unlawful, and that the Waitangi Tribunal is, for good measure, swiftly disbanded. | Graham |
| I am absolutely aghast at such a statement. | Albert |
| ABSOLUTELY NO!!! | Monty |
| Susan Devoy needs to join the REAL world. Why can’t these Maori stand for election to get on council. And who chooses the Iwi member. I bet it’s not the rate payers. | Richard |
| No elected representative can/ should be able to even consider moving toward, let alone changing the democratic structure of an elected board unless he campaigns on that platform and the council; decision itself has a 75% majority of voter support. | Mark |
| We are one of, if not the most, racist western countries in the world. And it is institutionalised racism. And I blame the National Govt for allowing and in some areas encouraging this. It is a disgrace. | Mike |
| Absolute rubbish. | Barbara |
| Every Race Relations Commissioner in New Zealand seem to become more racist as time goes on. I can’t see the point in having such an office, when they all seem to be anti every one except Maori. Andrew Judd is an idiot, and carrying on to the United Nations just confirms it. | Lorraine |
| This is another attempt to give the part Maori special rights over all the other Nz citizens . | Jock |
| Apartheid hero. | Peter |
| He is a pathetic individual and not a hero. | Bernard |
| How long before these progressivists force apartheid on NZ? | Peter |
| No. Time to recognise we are all equal. | Jeff |
| He forgot who the stakeholders are who elected him- who they represent – and basically undermined our principle of democracy. | John |
| Good riddance to racist Judd we got rid of the mayor in Nelson that tried to do the same thing. If I was Maori I would be ashamed are they saying they are too dumb to get elected democratically. | John |
| This only adds to the march of a divided society. There should be no instance of race based division for any reason at all. | Wayne |
| That the race relations commissioner believes that Andrew Judd is an “every day hero” for his beliefs on Maori representation on council belies the fact that she is unfit for the job. She should resign immediately. That the Government allows this nonsense to carry on belies the fact that they are incompetent to govern. They should go back to the people immediately. | Kevan |
| The Commissioner is a racist fool. | Geoffrey |
| Typical leftie Mayor who thinks he can sneak this sort of crap in under the blanket of public apathy… | Graeme |
| He’s a self loathing scumbag. | Brent |
| Is Consedine’s book the only one that Susan has read then? Incredible. | Paddy |
| Racism again, should not be tolerated. | Edward |
| It is sickening to think that this can actually happen. | Murray |
| Undemocratic and racist. We pakehas have had enough of privilaged racism in this country. | Tony |
| Profoundly short sighted dribbler. | Roy |
| If the race relations commissioner believes race relations can be advanced outside the rule of law and local body democracy she should on a modicum of self reflection resign in shame. | Richard |
| He is a racist! | Neil |
| Andrew Judd is in extreme disgrace for creating racial division in his council with unelected members. It is high time democratic rule is restored in NZ. | Peter |
| He is the opposite the Devil who because he has some power wants to do what he wants not what the community wants. | Cherryl |
| He has been bought. | Colin |
| The Race Relations Commissioner has already made her bias in favour of Maoris rights to carry out all sorts of racist policies abundantly clear. The temporary Maori seats in Parliament should have been abolished last century or the century before. This would have avoided the nonsense of the undemocratic appointment of Maoris to local councils.This distortion of local body voting decisions in favour of the gimme policy cannot be allowed. In the six councils that have done the right thing and called for a referendum of voters on the question of democratic elections the move has been soundly defeated. The problem will continue to surface until Government makes it compulsory for a referendum to be called before this major change to democracy is considered. We in Nelson even have such people as the Editor of the Nelson Mail decrying Mike Hoskins for his recent comments on TV, against Andrew Judd. | Chris |
| There is a very slippery still small but growing underbelly niggling away to breaking down New Zealand’s FREE democratic process that if not nipped in the bud now will eventually lead to total anarchy. And our vote chasing politicians are smugly, arrogantly and silently buying into it in a big way. | Stuart |
| Definitely not! He is an outright racist promotong racist views seeking to establish apartheid. | Trevor |
| I agree with Hoskins and that is anyone can get a council by a vote at the polls held for that purpose. anything else is racism. | Ian |
| ‘Racism’ is discrimination based on race. Local Authority seats based on race is ‘discrimination based of race’. Therefore Local Authority seats based on race is racism. Not hard to understand Mrs Race Relations Commissioner. | Garry |
| He is just under informed on electoral reform and its outcomes. | Dick |
| Two people in the wrong job!! | Robert |
| He is racist,no doubt a hero to certain factions of Maori!! | Peter |
| Like many NZers I’ve had enough of race-based policies. We’re all NZers but these separatist policies will ultimately be self defeating & cause bitter divisions. Very dangerous – & sad! | Heather |
| Andrew Judd has shown himself to be a sanctimonious drip. (Same as Devoy). | John |
| He has been hijacked by the “rewrite history” lobby, which sees the method of redressing so-called past “wrongs” is to have control of local governemnt by a series of unelected representatives based on racial selection. While the NZ form of “democracy” is a far from perfect system of government, it is far preferable from one with criteria for office based on non-elected racial nominees. Who does the nominating??? | Andrew |
| Not only are these mayors showing rascist tendencies, they haven,t done their homework. NOwhere does the Treaty say it is a “partnership” That is a very modern day rewrite of history some of the Maori elite are trying to push as fact. Time some of these people were made to go on a compulsory course to learn their history. Democracy is important and we should fight to retain it! Being in their ivory towers seems to affect rational thinking with many of these politicians both local and national. | Gail |
| He’s the racist. | Nevkath |
| She is ‘Nuts’. | Pete |
| Libel laws prevent me saying what I really think of that DipStick… | Donald |
| Where’s the “Hell no!” option??? | John |
| The man’s loony! | John |
| I would not call a person pushing an unwanted personal agenda any sort of hero. | John |
| All should be elected by those eligible to vote and not ever be appointed (dictatorship by a few!!!). | Kevin |
| How can you call Andrew a hero when what he was trying to do was un democratic and racist a Race Relations Commissioner is a fake and should not hold such a position. | Ken |
| The Race Relations commissioner is the biggest racist this country has. All she ever does is condemn people who do not want race defining everyday life in NZ. We should be one country united by our aspirations for a future as one people all equal under the law. Judd is the opposite of an ‘everyday hero’! | Bryan |
| NZ should ban “race” from our statutes, as they have done in France, Belgium, Sweden and Austria. It is being used to divide the country and gain privilege. It is a totally destructive weapon. | Lorraine |
| Andrew Judd should have stood down the moment he realised that he was unable to accept the public’s view on the Maori seat referendum. The Race Relations Commissioner’s position should be abolished – she has become the worst racist of all. | Jordan |
| Judd is no everyday hero. He’s the opposite. | Paul |
| All of those mayors who introduced unelected iwi representatives with voting rights onto their councils should be voted out at the next election. | Dennis |