The National and ACT Party are just playing racist bullshit games to stop Māori moving from one electoral roll to another between elections.
The reasons they can’t move between rolls at the moment is bureaucratic nonsense. The argument is that the electorates have to numerically be a certain size, which is fine for the pedants at Stats NZ, but it robs indigenous people of political representation, and surely their rights to Universal Suffrage eclipse the rights of a bunch of anorak wearing Wellington bureaucrats who get off on numerically correct electorates.
Each election there are thousands of complaints from Māori who want to change electorate rolls but can’t, that’s a very large number of voters who are being disenfranchised each election.
National and ACT scream it allows Māori to ‘game’ the election.
You mean like the way ACT and National ‘game’ the election in Epsom?
The role of the Government is to make political representation easier, not harder and what National and ACT are doing here is needlessly playing to their racist support base who hate the idea of Māori having electorates of their own in the first place.
I mean ACT want to banish the Māori Electorates so asking their opinion on anything to do with Māori voting rights is like asking Trump’s thoughts on electoral fraud, in that it’s always going to end in a metaphoric cross burning of some description.
National and ACT are playing petty race politics here and it’s very ugly.
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What you asking is for the opposition to be the bigger person when over the course of the last 18 months Labour, Mallard and the PM have run rough shod over them with respect to select committee processes, access to public officials, official documents and the running of parliament. Perhaps if the government didn’t play silly little political games themselves then silly little political games wouldn’t be thrown back at them.
I remember Labour being dicks in opposition as well therefore this is just politics 101. My advice to the government is if this is so important stop ramming bills through parliament and crying racist when the opposition opposes them. There needs to be some Koha for National to accept this – Labour are being parliamentary cheapskates.
Be the bigger person Jacinda – you might just start to save your sinking, rat-infested ship.
“What you asking is for the opposition to be the bigger person when over the course of the last 18 months Labour, Mallard and the PM have run rough shod over them with respect to select committee processes, access to public officials, official documents and the running of parliament. Perhaps if the government didn’t play silly little political games themselves then silly little political games wouldn’t be thrown back at them.”
Reminds me of the 9 years from 2008 Frankie, you just choose YOUR right wing leanings perspective. Many a very late night National passed members bills during those long 9 years, many bills kiwis were unaware of.
In your eyes Labour are dicks in government and dicks in opposition. Sorry Frankie nothing new in your views there and your starting to sound like the couple Kraut and Bob/John.
Fair comments Bertie but it still doesn’t take from the argument that you can’t behave like smug bullies and then faint surprise when the opposition gives you the middle finger the one time you need them.
I don’t think they are playing at all. This is a serious and well considered political strategy. They are leaning into the “anti woke, white backlash” undercurrent that pervades Western democracies and it is garaunteed to harvest votes at the next election. National will probably back off the explicit rhetoric and leave that to Act but make no mistake this is deliberate and well thought out and is going to get worse.
This Labour government would be the most racist of any I have known and the rift will be hard to mend .I think it will lead to the downfall of Labour as pakeha feel sidelined .
Yes Trevor that’s plain to see.
But is it really when you have blue glasses on?
How is that at all possible Trevor? Labour are including Maori in decision making, have multi national ministers, Samoans, Chinese,Eritreans,Indians etc and you throw crap out hiding behind a party that won’t include Maori and believe that two Indians are better than one Chinese, even that statement is so racist you should be horribly ashamed of your comment. The fact that Bob agree’s should be a reminder that you are demonstrably wrong.
Maybe Trevor is angry cos Labour dosen’t accommodate bigoted pakeha.
They do support racist Maori .
The statement you talk about was made by a Maori and this is at the heart of what I see as a problem. It seems to me that there is a reasoning that only White people are racist especially if they are critical of action that serve one race and not the other .I take the flu vaccine as a point of reference. Free at 55 for Maori 65 for White . There are plenty of white people who are suffering poverty. In Chch 2 Maori are being appointed to Ecan .They have full voting rights as elected members why ?
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/368902/bridges-ross-comments-labelled-ugly-and-racist
Political Grandstanding l think?
Testing the wind? Will it affect their polling?
What could the leverage out of this?
It’s worth fucking about with the polls when you’re 9pts ahead and on the ascendency ay?
As for the Maori register. It shouldn’t be an issue.
15% of the population are not all going to jump on the waka. I think it was only about 283,000 at the last election that we’re on the Maori roll.
” You mean like the way ACT and National ‘game’ the election in Epsom? ”
OH YES.
Be a cold day in hell before that is ever pointed out in…maaaiinnstream !
Correct Mosa, I wonder whether the NZ Heralds Paula Bennett or Steven Joyce or Matthew Hooten or Audrey Young or Mike Hosking will highlight the shady National/ACT gaming of an election?
Some indigenous NZers are luckier than others in having an option of 2 rolls. Many do not have that option.
Yet many, sorry all white have never even suppressed. Many English immigrants collect two pensions, the indigenous aren’t so lucky.
Just a correction there Bert . My English pension and Australian pension goes straight to the NZ government If I had had a private pension plan that is regarded as second income and taxed at 30 per cent.
So you have two into one, well done Trevor. My close english friend has two.
Nobody on the either electoral roll is “disenfranchised”
Easy solution. Just abolish the seats and lower the threshold to 4%
NATZACT are doing a mini don brash which seems to be working. If you remember Don after his Orewa speech he lifted Natz polling from 23% to 47% and let John Key to lead the party. he asked him to raise NZ wages/salaries closer to Australia so Key immediately raised GST, borrowed $2bn and gave tax cuts to the rich. He the invited the property speculators to drive his hill billy rockstar economy which saw house/land prices double in 5 years. This is what luxon will do – only the rich will benefit from the Natz not you disillusioned grumpy old right wing tory men. I must say the Natz dirty politics team are very active this year but afraid a lot of failures lately. Whats their next move.
As a person eligible for the Maori roll – I say scrap the maori seats and throw out the majority party’s. Maori/Green/ACT/NZF. Now wouldn’t that be a parliament.
But if they do stay I’d like to choose before every election. Only makes sense to verify the roll before every election, doesn’t it?
So, perhaps we (NZ) need to have a vote on the future of the Maori seats?? Unless Labour is worried they might lose up to 7 Maori seats..?
Just a correction there Bert . My English pension and Australian pension goes straight to the NZ government If I had had a private pension plan that is regarded as second income and taxed at 30 per cent.
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