Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi’s suggestion New Zealand is a “puppet” of the United States in responding to the war in Ukraine has been lashed by the Opposition.
The Prime Minister is also among the politicians on Tuesday saying they disagree with Waititi’s comment, which came after the Government last week announced new support for Ukraine as it fights back against Russia’s invasion.
ACT’s David Seymour has likened the comment to that of “conspiracy theorists”.
Waititi told Te Ao Mārama the situation had come about due to the “politics of America, NATO, and other countries”.
“Are we puppets for America? Our actions say so,” the party co-leader said.
He went on to suggest New Zealand stay out of the Ukraine conflict and not “stick our noses in other people’s business”.
If anyone knows anything about being an American puppet, it will be the person sporting a huge American cowboy hat.
It’s outrageous that Rawiri claim NZ is a puppet of America when we are clearly a puppet to China!
Rawiri is absolutely correct however to criticise our acquiescence to the Military Industrial Complex to spend $54billion on a war designed to continue the conflict rather than end it.
Don’t get me wrong, I am anti-Putin, he is a KGB thug with a level of homophobia that borders on outright hate and while I understand the manner in which the West has generated this insecurity, Russia and Russia alone is responsible for this disgusting aggression on the Ukraine.
We have little trade with Russia, so it’s easy to criticise Putin when our business isn’t based there, but lord oh lord, we are so enslaved to China thanks to corporate farmers that it its impossible to criticise farmers for trading with a brutal authoritarian regime because we are such a puppet for Beijing.
I’m looking forward to the corporate Framers of NZ supporting protesting Chinese this week.
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Indeed. Check out the Confucius Institute. Puppet, or colony?
New Zealand is a puppet and will happily dance & cavort to anyone strong enough & powerful enough to pull our strings. Five Eyes? Threaten our trade? Watch us bow & scape, or meekly stand by, or unquestioning, send in our troops to fight other people’s wars.
Exactly. As if Helen Clark didn’t send occupational troops to both Afghanistan and Iraq on American orders.
So, there is an electable party I might vote for next year.
Shit, this and GST off of food and I’m tempted to vote for them, despite they hate my cracker ass.
Almost laughable comment from Waititi.
Someone should ask him. If the Maori Party happened to be Government, who would Rawiri be puppet to. Would the Maori Party lead the way and show us Aotearoians how to live independently in this world. Show us his Māori backbone and tell China, the US, Britain and virtually every other large country, that we are morally superior, but we still want to trade with them. Waititi has already shown us he happily accepts and use’s non NZ goods. He should stick to his racism agenda where he has some understanding of the subject albeit misguided.
A taste of co-governance methinks…
Rawiri is correct in the extent to which NZ is ideologically bound to US Imperialism via the Anglosphere & 5 Eyes arrangement. NZ is economically bound to China, but not under its cultural hegemony like we are to the Yoo Ess Ayy. Ironic given that Trump gave NZ the big finger because of US Farming sector.
Sure support Ukraine in some way–also how about West Papua, Palestine, Kurds–oh I see, not Washington approved. I get it–“we” support only certain people under military attack.
NZ when it comes down to it is a client state bound to exploited by any major power. But, but, America is our friend ’cause 75 years ago in WWII…
TM That’s pretty cogent.
Wow I am astonished at your article Bomber. We are indeed a puppet of the US and have been for many many years despite the PM saying we have independent foreign policy, it is a very very long time since we had independent foreign policies of any kind.
Our involvement in 5 Eyes remains a huge issue where we spy for the US and the others involved.
So the man wears a Texan hat, so what, most Kiwis wear denim and that is soooo American.
I don’t think Ardern meeting with Xi makes us a puppet of China and our criticism of their actions in the Pacific is hardly kowtowing to them.
However in the end it is all about trade and we will do whatever we need to see that we can export to both of these powers.
I have joined the Maori Party because if we get it right for Maori we will get it right for all and they have the best policy on climate change of any party in government.
Very true. The 5 Eyes involvement is incredibly evil. Collaboration in spying on real New Zealanders (i.e. not Larry Paige) and other free people, on behalf of American murderers.
True, true and true.
To be honest I think you’re being a bit hatest. I like his stupid hat. His Moko’s pretty cool too.
It’s a pity he has no understanding of the importance of fostering allegiances between Maori and us odious non Maori. Instead he fosters interracial festering’s which leaves we AO/NZ’ers divided thus ripe and vulnerable to exploitation by Mighty Foreign Money.
Further more: You write @ fabulous MB.
“Russia and Russia alone is responsible for this disgusting aggression on the Ukraine.”
No, they’re not.
Russell Brand:
“Here is my conversation with Professor Jeffery Sachs, we discussed many controversial topics like Ukraine war, Media Lies & Wuhan Lab Leak.”
https://youtu.be/wfXIJd5J_VA
Wikipedia:
Professor Jeffery Sachs
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Sachs
[Ukraine:]
In June 2022 Sachs co-signed an open letter calling for a “ceasefire” in the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, questioning Western countries’ continuing military support for Ukraine.[45] In August 2022 on Democracy Now!, and in September 2022, at the Athens Democracy Summit, Sachs stated that NATO expansion and three decades of militarized American foreign policy were major factors in causing the Russia-Ukraine War.[46][47]
Agree CB. Acknowledging US involvement in NATO winding up Russia, and majorly creating the circumstances for the Ukraine war does not mean any of us support Putin and his private armies.
Rawiri is correct.
We are slaves to the selective morality of the U.S.
ActionStation, etc.
But leftists are dumb.
” We have little trade with Russia, so it’s easy to criticise Putin when our business isn’t based there, but lord oh lord, we are so enslaved to China thanks to corporate farmers that it its impossible to criticise farmers for trading with a brutal authoritarian regime because we are such a puppet for Beijing ”
I’m looking forward to the corporate Framers of NZ supporting protesting Chinese this week.
Oh the hypocrisy is nauseating.
We not just Americas’ puppet also other nations like the UK are our colonial masters.
Rawiris’ comments give me some hope for our democracy, that somebody will question the unthinking blind allegiance to imperium.
As a trading nation we need to be very clear that a multi polar world is emerging, the US$ hegemony is under threat and we are in new dangerous waters. Ukraine should present us with a good picture of the fate of a nation that allows the imperium to run its foreign policy. I’d advocate for armed non aligned neutrality, and principled fair reciprocal trade.
Labour is more like a worn out old marionette jerking from one response to another eventually collapsing to it’s knees to lick the boots of it’s masters. This government can’t even protect NZ shops from thief teenagers and yet we have this delusion that we can partner up with extremists to defeat a nuclear superpower?
Absolutely we are a puppet of America. Anyone using the term ‘conspiracy theorist’ is using out of date terminology and that man in the lycra is a …well he comes from Tauranga, nuf said.
*yawn* its very woke to say that. It is also myopic.
Agree with many comments on this post.
US – 750 military bases in foreign countries.
Russia – 22 military bases in foreign countries.
China – 1 naval base in Djibouti to help counter piracy in the area.
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