Category: imported_weekly
Last week New Zealanders saw yet another example of minor parliamentary parties, that secure only a fraction of the vote in a general election, having disproportionate power under MMP. In such circumstances, instead of proportional representation, which advocates of MMP argue is a cornerstone value, the system serves up disproportional representation and policy compromise.
Last week the World Economic Forum published its Global Competitiveness Report, ranking 148 countries on their productivity and prosperity. For the first time, New Zealand appeared in the top 20 at 18th place, compared with the 23rd last year and 25th the year before. Australia dropped out of the top 20, to 21st place.
Tribal leaders continue to make on-going demands for new rights and privileges based on claims of Treaty partnership and Maori sovereignty. The question that needs to be asked is whether such partnership and sovereignty claims are valid. The first example, which uses the Treaty partnership argument, is the situation in the Far North where iwi leaders are claiming guardianship rights over the region - “as affirmed in Te Tiriti o Waitangi as Treaty partners”.
The sudden resignation of Labour Leader David Shearer last Thursday has thrown the spotlight onto Labour Party politics. After just 20 months in the job, he decided to call it quits explaining that he no longer enjoyed the full confidence of his caucus colleagues. Some clearly believed he was not capable of leading the Party to victory in 2014.
State-owned energy company Meridian Energy is likely to list on the New Zealand stock exchange in October as the government takes the next step in the partial privatisation of state-owned assets. The company has now finalised a contract with the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter shareholders Rio Tinto and Sumitomo for lower priced power until January 2017 - the smelter uses 40 percent of the Meridian’s generating capacity.
Over the weekend, Prime Minister John Key announced a new tranche of reforms for the Resource Management Act: “New Zealand needs planning law that enables economic growth and jobs, as well as providing strong environmental outcomes. The changes we are introducing are about striking that balance between our environmental responsibilities and our economic opportunities.
The Government Communications Security Bureau legislation is now back in front of Parliament. Introduced by former Prime Minister Helen Clark under urgency in 2001, the original Bill was designed to establish a proper legislative framework for the GCSB, which had been operating since its creation in 1977 as a non-statutory organisation.
The welfare reforms that came into force this month have been described as the biggest changes to the benefit system since the original Social Security Act was passed into law in 1938. The underlying generosity of that scheme - which created a wide range of assistance measures including the Sickness, Invalids’, Unemployment, Emergency and Widows’ Benefits - is attributed as helping to keep Labour in power until 1949.
With just a week to go until the consultation phase of the government’s constitutional review comes to an end, if you haven’t already sent in a submission, you have until 5pm Wednesday July 31st to do so. The review has focussed public attention on the exercise of constitutional power in New Zealand. In doing so it has become clear that the Maori sovereignty movement has made significant progress towards their goal of the co-management of the country.
A campaign is presently underway to convince the public that racism in the government sector is responsible for the poor social outcomes of Maori. Predictably the solution offered is preferential treatment for Maori - by enshrining the ‘principles’ of the Treaty of Waitangi into law.
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