Flavell holds a begging bowl out to National

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Te Ururoa Flavell must have a death wish.

The Maori Party co-leader indicated this week he would once again back National if the Maori Party gets MPs into parliament. There was no criticism of John Key or the government. Just a supplicant’s plea to be noticed after the election votes are counted.

The extraordinary story says in part:

Maori Party co-leader Te Ururoa Flavell has indicated his party would back National again if it wins the most votes at September’s election.

Mr Flavell says the party would need to wait and see what happens at the election before making any decisions.

As has happened previously, Mr Flavell says the party would go back to its supporters to determine which major party it should support.

But he says the party that wins the most votes would have a greater chance of getting the Maori Party’s backing.

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“It would stand to reason that if one party has a greater majority than the other single parties then the sense would say that you would probably go with them,” Mr Flavell told Radio New Zealand.

This is no surprise to anyone who’s watched the Maori Party in recent years. It’s been a beggar at the rich man’s table – attending to National cap in hand and waiting quietly to be noticed and hopefully for a few crumbs to fall into the Maori Party’s begging bowl.

There’s barely the pretence of dignity – just a modern-day colonial scene so degrading to Maori and so loved by National. These are the “friendly Maori” of yesteryear.

Commentators have been saying for a long time that the Maori Party has to put the boot into National and distance itself from the government’s policies which have driven tens of thousands of flax-root Maori families into deepening poverty.

Since the Maori Party joined up with National Maori unemployment has increased from 8% to 14% but not a word of criticism from Flavell or the Maori Party.

But instead of criticism they sit quietly at National’s side and ask us to judge them on the size of the crumbs in their bowl.

Surely it can’t be as simple as Flavell being blinded by personal ambition for a ministerial role and a big increase in salary? Surely the man is bigger than this. Or has he a death wish?

I’ve said before that if one were to pick an electorate which could decide the 2014 election it would have to be Waiariki where Mana Movement President Annette Sykes is mounting a determined campaign to unseat Te Ururoa Flavell and bring an end to the Maori party and its support for National.

On current polling this would mean three less votes for National and at least one more for a Labour, Greens and Mana supported change of government. With a close election the vote in Waiariki will be critical.

Failure for Flavell would a be a good result for Maori and a good result for the country.

24 COMMENTS

  1. I was driving through Rotorua the other day past Te Ururoa’s electoral office on the main road & first thing that came to my mind after seeing his picture on his building was your over,finished. I think Annette Sykes will win as the Maori Party has definitely lost it’s way additionally let our people down.

  2. John Flavell is doing exactly the right thing, because National have done more for Maori than the left ever have. That Maori are disproportionately represented in all the wrong data is something Maori need to be held accountable for themselves at an individual and community level.

    • National certainly has done more for Maori than the left ever have. More to jail, more into the dole queue, more into benefits, more into Australia and more into poverty.

      • Governments don’t make people commit crimes Mike. They don’t deprive them of education, and they don’t prevent them working either. On the other hand, Maori and Pakeha alike know the debt they owe to people like Doug Graham for the way the treaty settlement process has been conducted, and for repealing the disgraceful Foreshore and Seabed legislation passed by Clark and her band of merry men.

        • That’s awesome. Can you give some examples of how exactly this National government has benefitted Maori? Having a little Maori heritage, naturally I am interested how they have been advantaged over the last five or so years.

          • Absolutely!

            There have been considerably more Treaty settlements under National than under Labour.

            The investment in housing at Ratana.

            Getting the Maori Party into Government, including a number of ministerial positions.

            The introduction of Charter schools.

            Repeal of the Foreshore and Seabed legislation.

            And on, and on.

            Labour’s lazy when it comes to Maori issues. They took the Maori vote for granted for far too long, and did little or nothing to advance Maoridom.

    • Oh yeah, the ol’ lazy Maori rhetoric, real original. Laissez-Faire Racism at its finest. I guess those of a humble standing either don’t buy or don’t see the fruits of the Neoliberal unethical-work-ethic propaganda, the Right so piously espouses, when in action.

  3. Agreed. The one time I gave the Maori Party my vote (because of the seabed and foreshore Act) the treacherous bastards sold out to National. I will never trust them again.

    • I hate the way Mana are always compared to the Maori Party.
      The Left will never get anywhere if we replicate the right by voting on image, rather than policies.
      I hope you are a right wing troll Tim?

      • Just not a fan of obvious Bulls**t.

        Whether its from John “i cant remember” Key or Mana cuddling up to KDC then calling out the Maori party for the same thing.

        This is the first election im eligible to vote in, it seems apparent that both sides are as bad as each other. Its a bit sad really.

        • Yes, but one group or other will run the country after September 20, so whether we like it or not we have to take a side.

        • Care to show us where, when and how Mana have cuddled up to KDC?
          I know Hone met KDC a couple of months ago, is that what you are referring to?
          Yes, Hone met KDC, but that was it. The media have spun lies about Mana again, for obvious reasons.
          When you say that “both sides are as bad as each other”, do you mean Mana and the Maori Party? Because if you do, that’s just not true, not even close.
          Perhaps you should try going along to a meeting at your local Mana branch to see how it works. It’s a party that makes its decisions from the ground up – the shaggy dog stories emanating from the NZ Herald have no bearing on Mana and what the movement stands for.

          Get involved, you’ll be surprised.

          • No both sides referred to the left and the right of the political spectrum. It seems the majority of political parties use the media to spin their

            I know I’m only young but if you that any politician meets with KDC without a political agenda you have to be naive.

            I’m sure the Mana movement does good work and I have nothing against them at all.

            And yes we will have to choose sides, the difficult part is if your interests lie somewhere in the middle who do you lean towards.

            • I think the differences between the left and right of the spectrum are massive. Also, the way in which the media frame them is very different. Mana get portrayed as extreme, and perhaps to some of the morons in our media Mana are extreme? We live in a world where people think there is no alternative and any policies that admit our economic system is failing us gets labeled as ‘extreme’.
              But going back to your point about Mana cuddling up to KDC, there is no evidence of that. Hone met with KDC and had a talk, that is it. Here’s Hone’s account of what happened, and so far I’ve seen nothing at all that makes me think anything else happened.
              If you’ve combined media reports with your inherent distrust of politicians, then you’ve come to the wrong conclusion.
              Hone is not a typical politician, and Mana is not a typical political party. The whole Mana/Internet Party thing is a myth.
              KDC doesn’t hold any political weight at the moment because he hasn’t even announced his policies, it doesn’t look as though the Internet Party will win an electorate, and the Internet Party won’t come close to 5%. Hone meets people all the time, he meets religious leaders regularly, but that doesn’t mean he’s going start representing their views, nor does it mean he’ll start a Catholic/Mana Movement.

              If you are interested in Mana, here is their economic policy, and here is Hone speaking with no smoke and mirrors from the media (so you get an idea of what he stands for).
              If you can find anything from the leaders of Mana suggesting Mana are going to support KDC I’d love to see it. So would everyone else.

              *If you find intrinsicvalue agreeing with your point, then you can pretty much guarantee something is intrinsically wrong

    • I too find this article all rather ironic given what’s going on between Mana and the yet to be formed Internet Party.

      Perhaps John’s next article could explore this relationship and explain how it will lead to superior outcomes for Mana voters?

  4. The Maori Party by being at the table have got more than the Greens have being continually in opposition.

  5. Te Ururoa Flavell must have a death wish.

    Death wish 3. Sounds as if he’s a reverse Charles Bronson; joins the thugs to take revenge out on, and murder, his whanau.

    Considering this news, I suspect his death wish will be his political suicide.

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