Greens use Ratana meeting to attack John Key
Politics soured the atmosphere at Ratana today as the Greens attacked Prime Minister John Key’s “warped and outrageous” grasp of history.
Unusually, all politicians were due to walk onto the marae south of Whanganui together as events marking the birthday of prophet T W Ratana ran late.
But that was where the unity ended.
Greens co-leader Metiria Turei used the occasion to berate Key – who is overseas – for his response to the first part of a landmark Waitangi Tribunal inquiry.
“The prime minister’s response was to knock us several steps back,” she said in a speech to morehu [followers].
“John Key had the gall to claim that New Zealand was settled ‘peacefully’, as if all Maori grievances evaporated into irrelevance on his command.
“But he didn’t finish there. In an attempt to really put us in our place, John Key said Maori would have been grateful for the injection of capital early Pakeha brought with them when they settled in Aotearoa.”
The Greens had no faith in the Treaty settlement process under National, she added.
Finance Minister Bill English hit back immediately saying the Greens were “a bit nasty when they can be” and “barking mad on Treaty settlements”.
Those upset the Greens actually have spine to be political at a political event is like an abusive parent demanding smiles at the xmas party. There is much to be angry about, National’s whitewash of history is just the start.
Interestingly Little at the end of this story does his calm humming and quiet agreement with the thrust of the position Key has taken by being overseas as Little’s continued pursuit of the gravitas of Executive Power tries to entice those in the middle who respect authority.
The Maori Affairs minister also did not see an issue with Key’s absence.
“You try and do the best you can. The prime minister has been here on a number of occasions, in fact ever since he’s been prime minister. He acknowledges that’s an important date, but if you can’t make it, you can’t make it.”
Little said it was important for the country that Key had a presence on the world stage.
Greens will play youngish radical and Labour will play stable centre Dad.
Good for the greens as it has to be time they take off the gloves as todays politics is a corrupt operation set up without any powers given to opposition parties to fight back now.
We are entering the dark period of global totalitarian governance by stealth I feel.
Go Greens Go.
Its a bit rich for Bill English to label anybody “barking mad” when most of the nats economic and social policies come from the far right looney bin of unregulated market capitalist dogma. So cutting your revenue stream by giving massive tax cuts to the rich then funding the deficit by borrowing and selling off assets, thereby losing the revenue stream from them, is not slightly “mad”? But lets talk about “nasty”. Paula Bennet, anybody? Judith Collins? A little bit nasty, no? Jonkey’s text buddy Cam Slater. Jason Ede and Carrick Graham and black ops. Very nasty indeed.
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