Category: Maori Issues
The Constitutional cake is finite. To increase the power of one group will diminish the rights of all other groups. The creation of one privileged minority group with either powers of veto, or to extract rent from necessary economic developments will damage New Zealand international competitiveness, suppress wealth creation, and give rise to widespread social resentment.
The 1986 Royal Commission on the Electoral System, which recommended that MMP replace FPP as New Zealand’s voting system, also recommended the abolition of the Maori seats on the basis that MMP would adequately increase the Parliamentary representation of minority groups including Maori.
On March 5, New Zealand held its census. And for four months starting next Monday, 25 March voting-age New Zealanders of Māori descent will have the option of switching between the Māori and general electoral rolls. The results of the census, and the Māori Option will be used to draw electorate boundaries for the next two general elections.
Over the last two weeks our constitutional review public information campaign advertisement has been published in newspapers across the country. We used the ad’ to inform the public that a review of our constitutional arrangements was taking place - and to encourage them to get involved. After all, public awareness is a key pre-requisite for any constitutional change process, and a Research New Zealand survey published in April had indicated that only a third of New Zealanders had even heard of the government’s review.
The deadline for feedback on the draft Auckland Unitary Plan closed on Friday, 31 May. Assuming Aucklanders can navigate their way around the council’s Unitary Plan website and delve into its labyrinthine text and maps successfully, they will discover many hidden marvels such as the raft of policies that racially privilege Maori over all other Auckland residents.
They say a week is a long time in politics. For the Leader of United Future, MP Peter Dunne, the last few weeks in Parliament must have seemed like an eternity. His fall from great heights has been sudden and surprising.
The Waitangi Tribunal was established by the Kirk Labour Government in 1975 through the Treaty of Waitangi Act as a permanent commission of inquiry into alleged breaches of the Treaty of Waitangi by the Crown. In 1985, as a result of intense lobbying by the iwi elite, the Lange Labour Government extended its jurisdiction to cover historic claims going back to 1840.
A conspicuous absence in the Constitutional Advisory Panel’s “conversation” is debate about the role of the Waitangi Tribunal, a body that exerts disproportionate influence over public life. The Waitangi Tribunal is the “elephant in the room”.
Like it or not, the Maori Party’s constitutional review is providing the public with an opportunity to have a say on the future of New Zealand’s constitutional arrangements and our democracy. This $4 million review of our constitution was part of their 2008 coalition deal with the National Party.
The New Zealand Labour Party has embraced the politics of diversity wholeheartly and with little self-criticism since the 1970s. This presentation explains the ‘cultural turn of the Left’ and its unintended and damaging consequences.
Loading ...
