The surge in support for the ACT Party and their exceptionally radical agenda is not just a problem for National to manage, it is a problem for New Zealand to manage.
MMP over the last 30 years has always generated hand breaks in the middle to blunt the extremes of the Right and the Left, this has built pent up frustration on the opposite ends of the political spectrum and this election that frustration is threatening to rupture.
ACTs radical agenda has double digit support and the weakness of National means ACT will be able to push much of their radical agenda through including a referendum to redefine the Treaty using nothing more than a simple majority referendum.
Seeing as Māori are only 16.5% of the population, there’s no way a referendum on their rights by majority vote is anything other than an abuse of process.
The idea that Māori will simply accept the majority redefining the Treaty and then have it foisted upon them willingly seems to ignore our 183 year history.
The protest backlash ACT are going to generate by redefining the Treaty will trigger scenes of conflict well beyond the mandate protests on Parliament’s Lawns last year.
The question is can National stop ACT from starting civil unrest and talk them down from this Referendum?
Is Chris Luxon a strong enough leader to stop ACT from starting a referendum that could tear the country to pieces?
First published on Waatea News.
The car says all, he’s a clown. Roger Douglas is probably in the backseat.
No wonder Brooke Van Velden wasn’t keen on teaching NZ history. It’s a bit inconvenient when you are trying to erase it.
I suggest not walking through a metal detector with that much irony.
But I thought you liked radical agendas: Transformative Policies, Meaningful Change. Welcome to John Stuart Mills ‘Tyranny of the majority’! LOL
(PS it will be good for Māori in the long run because it will mean we’ll stop treating them as if they’re special little fragile flowers)
And how would you know what is good for Māori Andrew are you speaking as an ordinary Pakeha?
So why are pakeha so scared of us? Perhaps it is you who is the special little flower.
Calling Winston. Calling Winston. The only politician that could navigate this minefield.
It seems strange you do not like Act yet want to change election rules to allow more radical parties to emerge .
I doubt if Act would finish up being as radical as their electioneering says .We have had years of Labour and National not doing diddle squat once elected in all areas . Once they realized they were losing the majority of normal voters and in turn losing seats they would water down . IA sure the average Maori is like the average pakeha who wants politicians out of their lives and for the radical to go away..
If polls closer to election show this, than Labour voters could vote strategically for NZ First or TOP to put a handbrake on ACT.
Good thinking – or maybe ACT voters could vote Green to put a handbrake on Labour
National won’t agree to a referendum. It is not a deal breaker for ACT since they know National won’t agree. ACT have other priorities. In education, in justice, and in business regulation and taxes.
If the stupid labour party hadnt revised the Treaty Of Waitangi then ACT wouldnt even be talking about it. We are just going from stupid Willie Jacksons extreme to David Seymours extreme. None of this is surprising.
Stone age or modern age. The future is now! Look forward, not backwards.
Or – The idea that non-Māori will simply accept the minority redefining the Treaty and then have it foisted upon them willingly seems to ignore our 183 year history.
On the one hand I don’t believe the majority should vote on the rights of a minority.
But on the other hand
You can’t have radical constitutional reforms without consent from the electorate in a democracy.
A referendum on whether minorities should be given the same legal rights in employment, healthcare, housing would be inhumane.
A referendum on constitutional arrangements is not the same thing and like it or loath it, will happen in some way or shape sooner or later.
These days 183 years qualify as “history”.
We’re in the middle of a constitutional coup which will remove equal political rights.
The claimed justification is the treaty is an equal partnership
If you’re going to degrade the political rights of 85% of the population by claiming the treaty says we can then expect some major blowback
I think a peaceful referendum on the political meaning of the treaty is the best we can hope for!
ACT didn’t go from 1% to 15% for no reason. The failure of labour to address mainstream NZs concerns plus their obsession with all things Maori has triggered a backlash, and ensured that a large pool of voters will never vote for them again. Own goal, big time.
This freak, Seymour, engaged in weeks of negotiations to pull his pussy little car up on his pussy little stage.
If we still had strong unions, this freak would be afraid to appear in public. As it should be.
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