John Key has 99 problems and Maori ownership of fresh water is one of them.
The question is can Labour resist being racist about this.
The dilemma is entirely of National’s own making. The issue of fresh water ownership has only come to pass because National privatised energy companies who were reliant on hydro.
Once National had severed the public ownership of water it opened the legal issue of Maori ownership. Key now has to play a difficult balancing act between telling the Iwi Leaders Group what they need to hear about water rights and desperately hushing the reactionary redneck element of the rural-provincial rump of National who see Maori water rights as the end of times.
Hushing those hard white NZers who view the world through very narrow terms will be difficult. Last time this level of paranoia was whipped up by the hard white of NZ, it was over the totally manufactured ‘Maori want all the beaches’ racist panic attack that led to Labour’s appalling land confiscation of the Foreshore and Seabed Act.
It’s important to remind ourselves that the Maori legal challenge that started that conflict over the foreshore and seabed came about only after the Marlborough District Council decided they could sell land titles to glorified boat houses without asking for local Iwi consent because the Marlborough District Council decided they didn’t have to consult with Iwi. In both cases, Maori have only sought legal recourse when local Government or central Government have decided to privatise previously public resources.
These points always get lost in the roar from the knee-jerk outcry middle NZ always deteriorate to whenever Maori attempt to enforce their sovereignty.
None of this matters to the hard white. That Maori are merely fighting for their rights after local or central Government privatise publicly shared resources is lost on them and this makes things very dangerous for National.
Key has to give the Iwi Leadership Group water ownership, he doesn’t have a choice. He’s privatised the water, so he has to offer something back to Maori which acknowledges Maori ownership rights. The problem is that this would be understood locally as paying for water and grate long held racist suspicions of Maori sovereignty.
Northland proved that the regions feel they have been denied any fruits from the Rock Star Economy, add to this resentment the sudden threat of paying for water with the ugly sneer of bigotry and you have all the possible political tension of a Don Brash Orewa speech.
As Judith Collins plots her revenge, will she pick up the dog whistle and blow as she positions for post Key? Will Winston? And if Winston wins, can he make a deal with Labour work if he’s Maori bashed too much?
Or would Labour go there if Key cuts a deal that becomes a lightening rod?
For Labour the argument should be ‘Key has brought this upon himself, if he hadn’t privatised water in the first place we wouldn’t have this legal action by Maori. Labour will nationalise those assets and negotiate directly with Iwi to ensure water is owned by all NZers”.
What might happen is David Shearer, Kelvin Davis and Stuart Nash are let off the leash to do some TV interviews where they belittle Maori aspirations in a ‘we can be anti radical Maaaoris too’ media sound bite tour where one of them (probably Shearer) will hold up the Foreshore and Seabed land confiscation as proof positive that Labour can do the ‘right thing’ on Maori rights.
What will probably happen however is the issue blindsides Labour while they are all standing to attention desperately attempting to show that they are all unified.
Great assessment of water rights Bomber
Oh dear I thought it was a problem for the Natzies, if it plays out as you describe then it would appear not too much has changed for the Labour Party regarding unity of purpose.
So where does politics stop interferring with issues that involve privatisation for the benefit of corporatists, that lead to conflict from those that miss out on the benefitsthey are entitled to.
Yet again, National have painted themselves into a corner, which means they have to negotiate a way out that will give to others, but remain in favour of Nationals control.
Water will, over time become like gold. I would rather Maori had the gold over the Chinese. At least then it benefits New Zealanders.
1000% KIM DANDY
National always put their foot in it, they are so clumbsy like the NatZ wagon with the wheels coming off it Martyn posted a picture of it during the Northland bi-election.
As a kiwi expat I was sitting on the front porch of a place in Florida listening to a short wave radio NZ National news and heard the Shipley NatZ were in trouble again as they are again now yet over another confiscation of Maori land that sparked the 1997 Maori road blockage protest in the Wairoa region.
If it wasn’t for Maori sticking up for land rights they should be entitled to all would have been sold off to Chinese or other nationalities by now.
Good for Maori, this Pakeha will stand at your side as seen in our coat of arms.
Also I will join your march with others to parliament over water rights remaining here rather than being flogged off as they are with almost everything else.
How can the left who just voted for and further empowered Winston Peters who is anti-treaty and panders to the racist white vote dare now complain about National who is positively enlightened in comparison
I voted for Winston not for anything he stands for, but because he’s not National and I know he’ll hold National back from passing reforms on the Resource Management Act.
That was pretty much it.
The lesser of two evils.
Voting for anyone else in the Northland by election was a wasted vote.
@ Perignon
Because Winston Peters is a Machiavellian and a confederate . His job is one of manipulation through subterfuge to help yankee doodle jonky-stien maintain the status quo.
The ‘ Left’ ( what ever that is ) voted for peters out of desperation. What were the options after all ? ( Other than a rebellion and a civil war . )
Do we have options in the future ? Yes, a rebellion and a civil war .
And remember ! This is yankee doodle jonky-stien’s fault . We didn’t ask for this. The future is upon yankee doodle jonky-stien’s head. We just wanted to live in peace, have our jobs and our kids and enjoy our blind luck at being able to live on such a wonderful land.
They did this to us. They will reap that which they sow.
God I could not have said it better Country boy Lindsey Perigo is a known natZ supporter so we shouldn’t be surprised here.
Perigo is so far right of Genghis Khan that he runs the risk of running into left from another direction
Good points.
National should never had sold the assets in the first place.
Since the average Kiwi has to consult with Maori when they put in any minor resource consent it beggars belief that the government while in partnership with the Maori party sold off the power companies without the extensive consultation with Maori about the water.
This serves both right wing purposes. Turn joe blogs against Maori when they have to go through an expensive time consuming process for some mundane resource consent, yet sell off major NZ resources beneath Maori’s feet and then keep Mum through the resulting debacle.
Agree with well analysed likely scenario, whereby stupidly Labour jumps in and takes the limelight and heat on this debacle, leaving Nats (as usual) saying nothing and slinging Crosby Textor discourse through intermediaries to keep the mud going and making Labour and the Maori party look bad.
Also keeps the heat of the Spying revelations.
p.s. Labour don’t get involved in this issue, apart from message “Labour does not want to sell off assets”. Let the Nats front up and the Maori party and Nats debate it together.
Again Greens, Labour, NZ First should be collaborating with the same message. We did not agree with the asset sales. Keep it simple and let the Nats and Maori fight it out on the public stage.
Love the picture.
This mornings gold plated phrase from Shonkey, as seen the Key sound bite featured on “The Nation”
Key says, “we have done a lot with little money”
Privatize ! ! go go PRIVATIZATION – Sell off resources and other state assets to FOREIGN CAPITOL ==>> wealthy Rothschilds ; Germans and Chinese ; Maori’s E T C . . . and they all laugh ; huge investment dividends ; yachts and healthy retirements while enjoying the huge profits when they RAISE THE PRICES ! ! for US to use OUR OWN railroads ; our own hospitals ; our own prisons ; our own media ; our own water and land etc.
Yeh – Jonkey has a ” rock star economy ” based on quick sand and no consideration about the future health and economic stability of our country.
Corporate profits ; driven lobbyists and big pay outs and chapped lips.
Suck up, suck up big time.
The National govt are truly rock stars, go go go.
PRIVATIZE EVERYTHING and screw us and our environment over good.
Love you long time.
Labour – please do not move into being “NATIONAL LIGHT” – Catering to Corporations.
Stop TPPA and stop being so star struck over being part of the UN.
Wake up Labour and show us some guts and some new plans that will turn our economy around and one on the top of the list should be the INDUSTRIAL HEMP INDUSTRY.
Don’t laugh and do not assume that this would lead to more drug abuse. NOT TRUE.
http://hempethics.weebly.com/industrial-hemp-vs-cannabis.html
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