Category: imported_weekly
With the financial crisis forcing governments around the world to tighten their belts the call for welfare reform is growing stronger. Welfare becomes a serious problem for society when it impacts on family structure and functioning, creating incentives for family breakdown and intergenerational dependency.
Last Thursday, TVNZ’s current affairs programme Close Up asked viewers “Do Maori have a special place in this country?” The result was overwhelming - 81 percent of the 40,000 respondents said “No”, Maori do not have a special place.
Former British Prime Minister Harold Wilson once quipped, “A week is a long time in politics”. Last week was a long time in politics! Within one week new forces have emerged at both ends of New Zealand’s political spectrum: on the left in the form of MP Hone Harawira with his new Mana Party, and on the right the former National Party leader and reformist Don Brash with the takeover of ACT.
The demands by the Maori elite are as relentless as a rising tide. Not content with securing the future ownership of the public’s foreshore and seabed - including invaluable mineral resources which should belong to all New Zealanders not privatised to corporate iwi – Maori leaders are now coming back for more. This time they want $600 million of taxpayers’ money for iwi to pay for something they should arguably be doing for themselves - teaching their children the Maori language.
It is disappointing that two government initiatives announced over the last week aimed at reducing New Zealand’s appalling rate of child abuse, appear more focussed on criminalising law-abiding citizens than changing those government policies that are at the heart of the child abuse crisis. The first is a change to the Crimes Act, being promoted by the Minister of Justice Simon Power, that will criminalise people associated with families with at-risk children if they don’t report their concerns to authorities.[1] The second is a longer term Green Paper project, led by Social Development Minister Paula Bennett, that will look at the introduction of 'mandatory reporting', whereby teachers, doctors, and other professionals associated with children will be criminalised if they fail to alert authorities to suspected ill-treatment.[2]
In the same week that the Coastal Coalition took a step towards forcing greater accountability on Parliament, by initiating a Citizens Initiated Referendum to repeal the Marine and Coastal Area Act and restore public ownership of the foreshore and seabed, National was trying to change Parliament’s rules to reduce accountability! Treaty Negotiations Minister, Chris Finlayson is attempting to gerrymander the Parliamentary process to enable a raft of Treaty settlement bills to be fast-tracked into law before the November election. [1]
It was the British philosopher and MP Edmund Burke who first described the media as the “fourth estate”. During a parliamentary debate in 1787 to usher in press reporting of the House of Commons, he said: “There were three Estates in Parliament, but in the Reporters Gallery yonder, there sat a Fourth Estate more important far than they all.”
With the budget fast approaching, National is finally being forced to do something about a government sector that has grown far too big. According to Treasury, since 2005 “government spending has ballooned by about 50 percent – twice the rate of Government revenue growth and twice the rate of economic growth”.[1] As a result, core Crown expenses that were an affordable 29 percent of the economy in 2005, have now blown out to an unaffordable 35 percent.
There appears to be a growing undercurrent of disillusionment with New Zealand’s system of representative democracy. Some are saying our elected members of parliament are turning their backs on voters who put them into office. Instead of representing the public’s views, they are displaying an appalling arrogance by belittling those who dare to voice a contrary opinion.
Few know much about a shadowy and powerful group of tribal elite that have become a driving force behind the acquisition of public assets. While they first argued for Treaty settlements to put right historic wrongs, they are now successfully claiming assets as an indigenous right. Most people don’t realise how deeply this group has penetrated the Maori and National parties.
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