Wow.
I love this…
David Seymour says he doesn’t ‘believe’ comment from Christopher Luxon on Treaty Principles Bill
ACT leader David Seymour is refusing to back down on his controversial Treaty Principles Bill, saying he believes the Prime Minister’s opinion can be changed.
Seymour believes Prime Minister Christopher Luxon was “nervous” after Waitangi and could still back his Treaty Principles Bill despite ruling out doing so.
But questions remain about why the Bill is even getting to the Select Committee stage if National won’t support it beyond its first reading.
…the realisation to everyone at how weak Luxon is has started to sink in.
Verity Johnson’s column this week is merciless on this point…
How is Christopher Luxon a bridesmaid in his own government?
You know I almost, almost feel sorry for Luxon, our resident sugar free John Key.
Now, part of that is the same sympathy I always feel for Elvis impersonators. Because why would you want to build your whole personality on being almost-but-not-quite someone else?
But the feeling I’ve been getting lately is sadder, stickier, far more uncomfortable. It’s the same one you get at the wedding when the Maid of Honour completely upstages the Bride.
Maybe she’s hotter, louder, nastier, crazier, or punches the groom in the face before spewing everywhere and stealing the table decorations. Whatever it is, she’s the only thing anyone remembers. And that’s exactly how this coalition government feels like right now.
Luxon could be the most beautiful bride in the world, floating out the Beehive like Venus emerging from her clamshell. And yet all anyone notices is the Maid of Honour David Seymour. (And occasionally the Best Man Winston Peters.)
…it’s not the quick yellow ACT jumps over the lazy blue dog, it’s the quick yellow ACT AND the Silver NZ First Fox jumps over the lazy blue dog.
TDB warned how Seymour and Winston would manipulate a woefully inadequate Luxon, they both signed into being a Government after they realised how easily whipped Luxon was.
For the next Deputy Prime Minister to highlight how nervous and weak Luxon was at Waitangi is nothing less than a slap in the face and only manages to prove the power dynamic at play.
Here’s how David gets his Treaty Principles amputation through.
He cuts a deal to support NZ First’s desire to damage the Waitangi Tribunal in return for voting David’s Treaty Referendum Bill as a conscience vote as opposed to a referendum.
David dumps the referendum element of his Bill making it a different Bill that Luxon can hand on heart claim isn’t the same Bill.
Luxon will know that while 35% of his National cosmopolitan vote are horrified at the racism this will all throw up, he’ll also know 65% will love it.
This will be happening at the same time Trans National Mining Interests are attempting to have laws watered down so they can start mining immediately and killing off requirements to listen to Māori concerns will be central to the strategy for that exploitation.
David will argue that such an important decision requires leadership and political courage via a conscience vote because the Left have made the referendum so toxic it could start violence (I know, the fucking audacity right?)
That will spark an enormous petition writing campaign pushed by the right wing think tanks to target National electorate MPs to vote for the Bill complete with roadshows.
What Luxon is claiming to promise is that National will only allow the cross to be erected, lit and some people in pointy white costumes to dance around the flames, but then Luxon will pull it all back from the brink???
Metaphorically he’s allowing a cross burning but is drawing the line under an actual Klan rally.
Charming.
Does anyone believe Luxon has the power to stop Winston and David?
This is why this Government is so dangerous, because Luxon is the weakest National Party Prime Minister ever and the extremes of the Free Market Right and the Conspiracy Theory alt-right are gaining policy wins while the challenges most Kiwis face are left unaddressed.
In a power vacuum, the craziest parts of NZ First and ACT culture war revenge fantasies are the only policy platforms advanced.
Commentators pretending this is a moderate Government are only pretending.
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Coalition governments of unlikely bedfellows are becoming more frequent as one party rule falls apart.
Public disagreements, arguments even biffo is common in Asia, Europe and Latin America.
Get used to it.
This govt. is nothing less than MAGA NZ style and the small number of switch Natzo voters, and larger group of non voters, allowed it to happen.
The other factor obviously was a majority Labour govt. that allowed undemocratic “Cap’n’s Calls” on wealth tax.
The conscience vote option has been of concern since the three amigos put this rancid govt. arrangement in place. Luxury Luxon gets technical deniability while the filthy legislation proceeds.
The whole scenario is a combination of authoritarian populism, running a two track strategy-public face/back channel-and a degree of voter disengagement and volatility post peak COVID.
Letting the racism cat out of the bag is a lot easier than putting it back in. Luxon’s lust to be PM and prove he is a deal maker has created this situation. He is either being willfully ignorant of what he has started or he is willfully misleading the public with his platitudes. He is playing with fire, he either stops this now or it will become an inferno.
he does not have the balls to do anything
One doesn’t so much need balls but instead to try the truth.
In my opinion, Luxon’s a sacrificial corporate lacki to sling shot hideous little seymour into power and all aided and abetted by his rogernome neo-liberal defender and wing-thing right wing sychophant winston peters.
Remember bullies at school? They were only bullies until they were knocked on their arses.
Luxon, seymour and peters are only there because we forgot that most important maxim. ” In times of peace we must be most vigilant. ”
We were all happy, certainly happier than we are today, back in and up to 1984. Then roger came by swinging his little axe. Since then, Labour, national, act, etc etc are the same fucking thing man. We should be very, very concerned.
Lets see what else comes sniffing around the back door besides Atlas.
@ Maori. I’m a pasty pakeha and I’ve seen a lot of evil shit done at a boardroom level and through and through our producer boards.
None of which was done by Maori. @ Maori? You, are our greatest ally. Keep The Treaty! Do not let it out of your sight! No matter what!
Now. Dear Mr King Charles. Sorry to hear about your man-bits. But … Help! Help! Heeeeeellllp!
It will ignite into direct action of all sorts including some unexpected! There is a lot of unity at the moment between the different strands of Māoridom, Iwi and Māori businesses included, not just Hikoi leaders.
Incel Dave is in for a pummelling. Plus he does have long standing connections to Atlas Network. Checkout page 7 of the 2008 Atlas Report.
https://admin.atlasnetwork.org/assets/documents/financials/22209874-Atlas-Year-in-Review-2008_1.pdf
Act are attacking Te Tiriti not just for Māori bashing purposes, but to enable international capital to further exploit NZ resources.
Christ Tiger I can see why Seymour is an entitled little Atlas prick.
Cant imagine him ever having a real job.
Yes, Squeaky Clean, Such people do not just pop up fully formed, they usually have had extensive training and support. There are YouTube vids on Casey Costello being involved with Atlas Network too–I’m not keen on YT videos–too many crazies for me.
They get away with it by running the “two track” strategy that Nicky Hager identified in “Dirty politics”–a public persona plus a largely unseen back channel of activity and contacts.
There seem to be no shortage of people on both sides of this issue who would welcome an inferno. However it does remain to be seen whether the ‘one person one vote Hobson pledge’ types would be willing to come out from behind their keyboards. If push comes to shove will they be willing to take to the streets and actually push and shove any Maori they see.
I don’t welcome a repeat of ’81 Springbok Tour type division, but definitely won’t be on the sidelines if it happens.
Hobson’s people I have met in the North are more the dark, grumpy, mutter into their beer in a shed types, but the occupation of Parliament grounds demonstrated that some of them will show their faces in public.
This weeks Hikoi to Waitangi went through a number of East Coast white retirement areas and got a generally favourable vibe leader Reuben Taipari told me. No doubt the antis stayed on the keyboard.
Do you really think Winston will step aside and let the prat take over as deputy PM? Watch this space and pass the popcorn.
As things stand, and hopefully, he’ll crash the coalition of Kaos about 18 months in.
Not to underestimate Seymore, because I know @Martyn thinks Eeeore Seymore is highly intelligent.
Though he’s not dumb, I make a distinction between intelligence and the ability to think critically and alter thinking when the facts change, and animal cunning (as in a shit house rat programmed for survival). Learned behaviour, habit, ideology, polly-wanna-cracker parrot fashion ‘learnings’ in this space going forward.
My reckons are Seymore has elements of both, but he’s certainly not the brains of Britain.
Combine that with the fact that we’re in the era of the narcissist, he’s a dangerous little runt.
What he is doing is nothing, our rather naive PM seems to think contentious issues will go away if he ignores them long enough. He has opened the door for all the misogynist, racist, and discriminative ilk to divide our country further.
We should name Luxon Pandora because he has opened the box and consigned Aotearoa to hell and soon there will be no turning back
Civil disorder is inevitable whilst this ATLAS agenda is being pursued.
No wonder the Coalition of Chaos is permitting facial recognition (https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2024/02/shop-owners-itching-to-follow-foodstuffs-use-of-facial-recognition-technology-retail-nz.html)
and new taser rollouts (https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/350172628/new-tasers-coming-police-officer-near-you).
These and other tools will now clearly be required for the future they are forcing on us, once they’ve stripped away remaining protective legislation preventing their rapacious donors from totally parasitising the public domain (or what’s left of it).
So much for taking care of the “squeezed middle” they bleated about with crocodile tears throughout their election ‘campaign’.
All you easily led Nat voters enjoying your $250 a week tax cut?
Ha ha ha ha ha ha!
The local labour movement — now thoroughly infiltrated by the Third Way political machine — is apparently incapable of putting forward an alternative which cuts through the noise of race-baiting chauvinism.
Arbitrarily dividing the workers along racial lines, and then channeling any discontent into opposing nationalistic and clan-based camps, is hardly new — and the way it was defeated by organised labour is now many decades old.
If all working people are granted substantial ownership of the economy (and by extension, genuine democratic control of the state institutions), on an equal basis without special privileges, then any race-based revanchism quickly becomes an irrelevant historical relic.
There seem to be no shortage of people on both sides of this issue who would welcome an inferno. However it does remain to be seen whether the ‘one person one vote Hobson pledge’ types would be willing to come out from behind their keyboards. If push comes to shove will they be willing to take to the streets and actually push and shove any Maori they see.
Luxon is a political naïf. Winston, and to an extent Seymour are running rings around him – and they also know where all the bodies are buried. There are parallels with Wayne Brown who didn’t have a clue about how difficult being the Mayor of Auckland is. Ah well, you get what you pay for I guess.
The longer the Labour Party is the weak neutered namby pamby wokester party the coalition will run rampant.
Let’s see if Chloe can galvanise the Greens in the way she’s proposed.
Under those circumstances, Labour actually risk becoming irrelevant to the left leaning electorate unless they are able to radically reorientate away from failed neoliberal models.
As I watch the exact behavior that I predicted would be most likely from the rabble NZ has seen fit to yolk itself to, when they were confirmed as government, I can recall the anger, and frustration with Chippy throwing the towel in early, especially when it emerged there was still a chance for a 4 way coalition govt, (unfortunately including NZF) late in the process…
But now…….? Was Chippie just making the bet that this mob would fall apart, and force another election on us? We all know what would happen to the tory conglomerate then..
This isn’t a prediction, just a consideration of possibilities..
Seymour can’t lose
He’s guaranteed a full public debate which the media can’t ignore at which he will be selling 1 The government rules.
2 Property rights are sacrosanct
3 All citizens are politically equal
Over 60% of the population support that The Principles of TOW be clearly defined now, after all debate being suppressed for the last 3 years.
That number will grow
Even if he loses he’ll use the 2026 election as a de facto referendum. If the Nats are shown to be in the way they’ll get hammered as will Labour
Ps. I wouldn’t put life and limb on the line on the majority not fighting back if they have to
“Debate being suppressed”. By who? It’s only the twerking freeloader from Epsom that had it as an issue.
I’m no genius but most of our pollies seem to be of low intellectual capability
All the mainstream media, The greens, TPM and Labour are doing is trying to head off at the pass the uncomfortable realization that most New Zealanders agree with Seymour’s principle bill.
Like it or not eventually public opinion will win.
What are the MSM doing to head it off? Is asking Seymour a question about his bill not talking about it? Ffs
I smile at all the flack heaped on Luxon but here is a man who has earned millions of dollars and invested it wisely to make him comfortable for life and do thinks he wants to do rather than needs to do just like John Key.
He decided politics was his ambition. He got his wish a tad sooner than planned but he excepted the challenge and took on a party wracked with dissent and in 2 years was able to lead the party to success at the polls and brought together 2 other parties with a hatred of one another to form a coalition .
There have been a few mistakes along the way but none that really matter to most people. So while there are a few on this blog who run him down I doubt if they could achieve as much.
Jesus Trevor. are you fantasising about becoming the 5th member of the dorky Christmas photo? No issue that he made millions but do have an issue that he only represents those with lots of millions.
The racist genie got let out of the bottle in 1975 and it powers have been growing since ably assisted by the judiciary and various governments
The government requested and funded He Pua Pua report, along with subsequent government funded hui, only with selected Maori was only the latest and most overt iteration of a demand for total Sovereignty.
The majority for the first time are going to be allowed to debate their status as citizens in NZ.
Don’t be at all surprised if they demand all citizens are politically and legally equal