Category: Politics
Last Thursday representatives from 12 nations - New Zealand, Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Singapore, the US, and Vietnam – gathered in Auckland to sign the biggest free trade deal in history.
Widespread criticism about Trans Pacific Partnership, Maori and the Treaty of Waitangi forced me to reread a big chunk of the TPP and previous free trade agreements and to study every element of the criticisms being levelled against the TPP and Maori.
Last week, Prime Minister John Key reminded New Zealanders that governing the country in an MMP environment is all about numbers. Or, to be more precise, the number 61 - the number of votes the government needs to pass laws in this 51st Parliament.
Twelve years ago Don Brash, as the then leader of the National Party, delivered a landmark speech to the Orewa Rotary Club: He dared to confront the issue of separatism. While the response from some was predictably shrill, the message resonated with enough voters to rebuild National's support from what had been a crushing election defeat under Bill English
National’s concession to tribal demands for fresh water was signalled during the partial privatisation of the State-owned power companies in 2012. It was at that time, that the government’s rhetoric appeared to change.
On the 6th August 2015 the “Iwi Chairs Forum” and Local Government New Zealand Inc. signed a Memorandum of understanding dealing with a wide range of matters including the management of fresh water in New Zealand. In the same month the Forum held a Hui which has published a report dealing with its aspirations relating to fresh water.
Sweden's open borders immigration policy, which has been described as the closest thing they have to a national religion, has been responsible for the country being swamped by refugees and asylum seekers. Almost 200,000 entered Sweden in the last year alone. Migrant services are unable to cope, and the peace and stability of the country is now at risk.
When it opened 15 years ago, the Öresund Bridge was seen as a glistening symbol of the new Europe. Sweden and Denmark had been joined together by a motorway with no border controls, fusing together economies and even blurring national identities.
When he launched the initiative to choose a new flag, the Prime Minister said he wanted to give New Zealanders an opportunity to reflect on our culture and the things we hold dear. But while there’s been a lot of discussion about flags a wider discussion about what it means to be a New Zealander has been much less forthcoming.
It would be great to see Human Rights Commissioner Susan Devoy take on a real problem, instead of wasting time on hoary old sillinesses like dropping the word Christmas from our summer vocabulary.
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