Category: Economic Issues
Politics has been described as the contest of ideas. It is also the art of manipulation. This was evident during the 13 hour debate on the Prime Minister’s Statement that began on Parliament’s first sitting day for the new year.
Just a few days before Waitangi Day the government announced it has earmarked several million more dollars for Maori projects. During Waitangi Day commemorations it may express its willingness to give iwi leaders a greater say in governance, too - but without providing critical details.
Last week Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern met with her British counterpart Teresa May at 10 Downing Street to discuss a trade deal with New Zealand once the UK leaves the European Union.
On the face of it, the Labour-led Government would have finished last year well pleased with their progress. Their coalition was holding together strongly and the minor parties had each achieved some big policy wins.
On behalf of the New Zealand Centre for Political Research, I would like to take this opportunity to wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas and a happy and healthy New Year! Thank you so much for your encouragement and help over the last 12 months - the NZCPR simply couldn’t achieve what we do without your wonderful support.
It remains to be seen whether New Zealanders will decide the price of the Government’s climate extremism is too high and say enough is enough. The French President has just backed down from raising fuel taxes as a key part of his decarbonisation plan, following extreme protests that had the potential to destabilise the country.
In April 2016, the Royal Society of New Zealand published a report ‘Transition to a low-carbon economy for New Zealand’. The report was deeply substandard in my opinion, and I am not alone. I wrote up my findings and the resulting paper was rejected. I am publishing the original paper and the redacted referees’ reports here to show how serious debate is being suppressed.
This paper is in three sections. The first is a paper I wrote examining claims made by the Royal Society of New Zealand in 2016 on transitioning New Zealand to a low carbon economy. The second is the correspondence with the editor of the Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand. The third deals with the editor of the Journal of New Zealand Studies. While the referees thought the approach to the research was to be lauded, they could not agree with the results, and used the old ruse of nit-picking instead of unravelling the substantive arguments...
Maori privilege is on the rise and at an accelerating pace. Not content with controlling local authorities, and potentially the whole of New Zealand’s coastline, iwi leaders now have their eyes set, not only on the control of fresh water, but of government itself through the right to veto every Bill or regulation that is proposed.
It is well known that today Ngai Tahu is a billion-dollar plus entity, and growing. Ngai Tahu claim that they are under “attack ... led by “fiscal conservatives who attribute our remarkable success to not paying tax.” In this Ngai Tahu are wrong on two points.
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