Category: Democracy

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The Maori Seats in Parliament, an Anachronism

Currently there are seven Maori electorates in Parliament. Six are held by persons claiming Maori ethnicity and who belong to the “Maori Party.” Notwithstanding widespread calls for the abolition of the Maori seats no member of the coalition has shown any inclination to table legislation to that effect.


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Budget Review

The Coalition will need to keep a laser focus on eliminating wasteful spending and reducing the size of the State sector if the New Zealand economy is to really take off and deliver the prosperous future to which we all aspire.


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Time for Reform

If Sir Roger is right in his prediction that none of the existing political parties will support the proposed reforms because they don’t want to relinquish their tight-fisted grip on power, then we  will need an army of Kiwis who are prepared to help us create the momentum we will need for a change of this scale...


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Budget 2024: Policy Solutions to New Zealand’s Funding Problems

Most politicians are tribal, they support their political party right or wrong, often in the hope of getting a ministerial job down the line. I never fitted into that category of politicians. For me, policy always came first - that is policy I believed to be in the best interests of New Zealand. Today, I still find it impossible to stay silent...


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New Zealand Budget - May 2024: There’s got to be a better way

This article calls on all New Zealanders to be clear-eyed about the state of social services, particularly health, education, welfare and superannuation, and acknowledge that without major changes the system will inevitably collapse under its own weight. No government has had the courage to face up to the fundamental structural flaws of our present system.


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Unwinding Labour’s Agenda

Using Letters of Expectation Labour’s Ministers were able to put He Puapua into effect, away from the spotlight of public scrutiny, transforming institutions into agents of radical indoctrination. Under their directives virtually every government organisation was required to prioritise the Treaty and Maori interests. Such requirements are now endemic.


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Mana or Money

A cynic, or perhaps a realist, would conclude that the cultural agenda that’s now confronting New Zealand is being driven by money not mana. It’s time for the cancer of cultural appeasement to be removed – it’s been tolerated for far too long.


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Coastal Court Action Flies Under the Radar

Before MACA became law, Finlayson reassured critics that only around 2000km of New Zealand’s 20,000km coastline — or roughly 10 per cent — would end up being under the control of iwi and hapu via customary title. That promise looks to be hollow.


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Coalition Promises

For a Government committed to equal rights that has pledged not to advance policies “that ascribe different rights and responsibilities to New Zealanders on the basis of race”, including iwi appointees on Fast-track expert panels represents a gross betrayal.


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Censorship

Censorship comes in many forms, some subtle and some not so but the overall effect is the same, some person, or group does not want you to exercise your freedom of choice and speech on a given topic.