Political analysis and commentary shaping the progressive debate in Aotearoa New Zealand, focused on power, policy, and accountability.
There were lots of positives at Waitangi this week. There was also a lot of gloss, driven by hope (and perhaps primed by Shane Jones hospitality). Labour promised that it will be accountable to Maori. That promise faces a major test next week, as the Crown responds in the Waitangi Tribunal’s inquiry on the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA).
I’ll be the first to openly admit that I could have prioritised my own education on te ao Māori far more than I have, and that I am guilty in that regard. I take responsibility for that and I’m not proud of it. But I wish our systems of education, which must also extend beyond formal institutes of learning, might come to the table with this understanding too
Jacinda’s intentions and those of her Maori caucus colleagues are unquestionably benign. But in political circumstances as fraught as these, good intentions are seldom enough. If, as the revisionist historians insist, Maori sovereignty was never ceded to the Crown, then the descendants of the Waitangi signatories’ determination to reclaim it; to exercise it; is entirely reasonable.
In their first 100 days Labour has offered us “not-National” policies but little else – unless a Woman’s Weekly Prime Minister is considered in the common good.
The National Party in Government, especially during the neo-liberal era, has had a habit of foisting stupid education policies onto the rest of us, which are intended to act as the ‘thin edge of the wedge’ towards privatisation
On 2 November last year – and still smarting from a colossal rebuff from NZ First – Bill English was unabashedly vindictive at losing out on coalition talks to form a fourth National-led administration;
Since former Fiji military leader Voreqe Bainimarama carried out his “coup to end all coups” in 2006 and ushered in his authoritarian regime, he has reset electoral rules, abolished communalism in order to pull the rug from under the old chiefly elite, and provided the first non-communal foundation for voting in Fiji. A new book assesses his political role as he faces another election this year.
Despite the Prime Minister’s pregnancy, this government represents a modified status quo and change will be incremental and conservative (note the debate and votes on medicinal marijuana), and in many instances Labour will be more aligned with National than the Greens.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP and his White House staff are convinced America’s “Deep State” is out to get them. They’re probably right.
The government has announced goals to halve child poverty in three critical measures over the next decade. These are realistic and achievable targets that will be welcomed. However, it is wrong for the government to delay the introduction of their boost to working for families for a further five months until July.