Good explanation of the history, as usual with Chris. But I don't think that the loss of support from many pakeha voters was just a response to an accumulation of court and Waitangi Tribunal action. It was also a response to what was arguably Labour's foolish action in trying to reform the water-supply system while including a system of governance that looked undemocratic to many. This might have been worked through, but the now-Coalition parties, especially the two minor ones, saw their chance in the lead-up to the election. The existing discontent with the Labour government (which had various elements) was substantially concentrated into hostility to the Treaty and to Maori that need not have eventuated, and that is unlikely to go away. Seymour and Peters are very smart politicians, and will out-manoeuvre the rest, albeit at the risk of head-butting each other into a frenzy, alpha blokes as they are!
The biggest issue is that the treaty has already been redefined several times. The last time was by Palmer himself if I remember correctly who added in the word partnership into policy. Partnership was never mentioned before this as far as I aware.
3 Waters was Arderns kneejerk reaction to someone dying from a water borne pathogen. She was good at knee jerk reactions, like the Covid mandates, and a blanket firearm ban when the police mistakenly gave that Aussie a gun licence to murder. Authoritarian over-reach was her kind solution to any threat, and 3 Waters was the last straw for me and many voters. The involvement of Maori was just incidental, and it was the Labour govt that I didnt trust.
Just as we finally recognized that ‘ first past the post’ ’ was a poor expression of the ‘’democratic project’ here in Aotearoa NZ, “ the will of the people” and “the tyranny of the majority” also needs re-examining and dare I say, updating? To do otherwise is to assume they have some inherent ‘ blessed’ status which sounds a bit too religious and pōrangi for my taste.
I fear that “the will of the people” as mediated through Parliament, is basically turning into the will of older white many propertied owners ( that rings bells), many of whom have not availed themselves of the bi - cultural renaissance this country has been going through over the last forty years.
“Citizen assemblies” are brave attempts to make democracy relevant again. Such imaginative strategies are especially relevant when our elected parliamentarians faced with “wicked problems” are unable or unwilling to find consensual resolutions, assisted as they so often are by the unregulated ( “revolving doors”) attentions of the lobbying cartel. Neither Labour or the “ three headed taniwha” have any appetite or interest in healing this grievous wound to the body politic where “ money doesn’t talk, it swears”. My dad used to say: “Son, we get the governments we deserve”.
It would be great if Pakeha had a better sense of their own (English) constitutional history before approaching the question of the treaty of Waitangi.
Let’s remember the Magna Carta, the founding document- if there is one, of the English constitution is also a very messy ad hoc arrangement. Interpreting the spirit of the agreement (see David Starkey) is a far more useful approach than trying to isolate the precise wording of the document.
The treaty of Waitangi was in my opinion about the messy very ad hoc incorporation of Māori into the Anglo-Saxon world (the treaty is actually unequivocal in stating in article 3- in both texts that Māori are to be regarded as British citizens).
Running a nation state like New Zealand is impossible without being run via parliamentary majorities. Effective PR campaigns by Māori to the majority population will generally be a far more constructive option than trying to hold back the will of the majority
We are in the middle of an undeclared war by the elites on the will of the majority
The latest stunt by Hastings District Council to stack committees with unelected youth, who along with unelected Maori representatives can gerrymander democracy showshow precarious our position is
If the government doesn't change the LGA to ensure majority rule continues then all ratepayers lose
Good explanation of the history, as usual with Chris. But I don't think that the loss of support from many pakeha voters was just a response to an accumulation of court and Waitangi Tribunal action. It was also a response to what was arguably Labour's foolish action in trying to reform the water-supply system while including a system of governance that looked undemocratic to many. This might have been worked through, but the now-Coalition parties, especially the two minor ones, saw their chance in the lead-up to the election. The existing discontent with the Labour government (which had various elements) was substantially concentrated into hostility to the Treaty and to Maori that need not have eventuated, and that is unlikely to go away. Seymour and Peters are very smart politicians, and will out-manoeuvre the rest, albeit at the risk of head-butting each other into a frenzy, alpha blokes as they are!
The biggest issue is that the treaty has already been redefined several times. The last time was by Palmer himself if I remember correctly who added in the word partnership into policy. Partnership was never mentioned before this as far as I aware.
I believe it was Sir Robin Cooke who introduced the partnership concept in his judgment in the Maori Council case
3 Waters was Arderns kneejerk reaction to someone dying from a water borne pathogen. She was good at knee jerk reactions, like the Covid mandates, and a blanket firearm ban when the police mistakenly gave that Aussie a gun licence to murder. Authoritarian over-reach was her kind solution to any threat, and 3 Waters was the last straw for me and many voters. The involvement of Maori was just incidental, and it was the Labour govt that I didnt trust.
Just as we finally recognized that ‘ first past the post’ ’ was a poor expression of the ‘’democratic project’ here in Aotearoa NZ, “ the will of the people” and “the tyranny of the majority” also needs re-examining and dare I say, updating? To do otherwise is to assume they have some inherent ‘ blessed’ status which sounds a bit too religious and pōrangi for my taste.
I fear that “the will of the people” as mediated through Parliament, is basically turning into the will of older white many propertied owners ( that rings bells), many of whom have not availed themselves of the bi - cultural renaissance this country has been going through over the last forty years.
“Citizen assemblies” are brave attempts to make democracy relevant again. Such imaginative strategies are especially relevant when our elected parliamentarians faced with “wicked problems” are unable or unwilling to find consensual resolutions, assisted as they so often are by the unregulated ( “revolving doors”) attentions of the lobbying cartel. Neither Labour or the “ three headed taniwha” have any appetite or interest in healing this grievous wound to the body politic where “ money doesn’t talk, it swears”. My dad used to say: “Son, we get the governments we deserve”.
It would be great if Pakeha had a better sense of their own (English) constitutional history before approaching the question of the treaty of Waitangi.
Let’s remember the Magna Carta, the founding document- if there is one, of the English constitution is also a very messy ad hoc arrangement. Interpreting the spirit of the agreement (see David Starkey) is a far more useful approach than trying to isolate the precise wording of the document.
The treaty of Waitangi was in my opinion about the messy very ad hoc incorporation of Māori into the Anglo-Saxon world (the treaty is actually unequivocal in stating in article 3- in both texts that Māori are to be regarded as British citizens).
Running a nation state like New Zealand is impossible without being run via parliamentary majorities. Effective PR campaigns by Māori to the majority population will generally be a far more constructive option than trying to hold back the will of the majority
We are in the middle of an undeclared war by the elites on the will of the majority
The latest stunt by Hastings District Council to stack committees with unelected youth, who along with unelected Maori representatives can gerrymander democracy showshow precarious our position is
If the government doesn't change the LGA to ensure majority rule continues then all ratepayers lose