Category: imported_weekly
Five years ago, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous People, Rodolfo Stavenhagen, visited New Zealand to consult with Maori. In the report he subsequently produced, he urged the then Labour Government to recognise Maori rights to self determination. In particular, he recommended that the government support the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, that they repeal Crown ownership of the foreshore and seabed, and that they undertake a constitutional review in order to entrench the Treaty of Waitangi.[1]
“…long term worklessness is one of the greatest risks to health in our society. It is more dangerous than most dangerous jobs in the construction industry or working on an oil rig in the North Sea, and too often we not only fail to protect our patients from long term worklessness, we sometimes actually push them into it inadvertently…”
In Thursday’s budget speech the Minister of Finance, Bill English announced that this budget had four main objectives: “The first is lifting the long-term performance of the economy. The second is reform of the tax system, to make it fairer, more sustainable and more supporting of economic growth. The third is better delivery of public services, to make them better for users of those services and better for taxpayers. The fourth is to maintain firm control of the Government's finances, so we can return to budget surpluses and pull back our rising debt.”[1]
Last Monday, a teacher at Te Puke High School was stabbed in the neck and back with a kitchen knife by one of his students. The boy’s whanau said that the 13-year-old had been brought up by his grandmother because his father was in prison. There is speculation that the attack was gang-related – part of an initiation process for earning gang stripes. Reports indicate that the school has a culture of bullying, and the offender had been suspended earlier in the year for fighting with other students. However, the principal advised there was no formal record of any bullying claims. Police placed the boy in the care of Child Youth and Family.
Prime Minister John Key has just told party faithful in the Wairarapa there is no room for separatism in New Zealand. In defensive mode over the party's Maori policy agenda he said some of what we do in this area will, I understand, challenge you and other New Zealanders. In recent months the Government has proposed a repeal of the Foreshore and Seabed Act, supported the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, announced the roll-out of the whanau ora welfare policy and it is making haste on a raft of Treaty of Waitangi settlements with iwi. Mr Key said he did a deal with the Maori Party after the last election, despite already having the numbers to govern because I believe it is in the long-term interests of New Zealand.”
On Saturday some 20,000 people marched down Queen Street protesting against the government’s proposals to mine conservation land. The rally was organised by Greenpeace with some protesters bussed in from the Coromandel and others coming from Great Barrier Island. The well-orchestrated rally demonstrated how business-like environmentalism has become.
There are turning points in public affairs when parliamentary parties cross an invisible line. We saw it when former Prime Minister Helen Clark forced her government to support the anti-smacking law against the wishes of the public. No, the sky didn’t fall in, but a resolve developed that ensured she lost her premiership.
Extract from an interview between the Minister of Treaty Negotiations Chris Finlayson and TV3’s Duncan Garner: "So would it allow for instance an iwi with a customary title say in the Bay of Plenty to do a partnership deal with if you like the Chinese government who come forward with a 100 million dollars and say we want to build a number of resorts on your land, lease it to us over 100 years, would Maori with customary title and iwi be able to get away with that?"
The government’s discussion document outlining their proposal for foreshore and seabed legislation was launched at the beginning of Easter.[1] The period for submissions ends on April 30th. The Attorney-General Chris Finlayson, who is leading the process, has stated that he is interested in the views of New Zealanders. Yet, because of his unseemly haste, most non-Maori have no idea that the review is underway. Considering the importance of the foreshore and seabed in the lives of all New Zealanders, this situation is both unacceptable and undemocratic.
If you once forfeit the confidence of your fellow citizens, you can never regain their respect and esteem. It is true that you may fool all of the people some of the time; you can even fool some of the people all of the time; but you can’t fool all of the people all of the time. - Abraham Lincoln
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