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# Is He Talking about This Palmer?
- URL: https://goodoil.news/he-is-talking-about-this-palmer/
- Published: 2023-01-08T18:30:00.000Z
- Updated: 2023-01-08T07:50:57.000Z
- Author: Guest Post
- Tags: Books, NZ, NZ Politics, Politics, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2024-07-16 22:34

**Jim Cable**

---

> **Adrian Rurawhe’s summer reading list perfect for political nerds**  
>  
> Does your break involve reading or watching or anything?  
>  
> ‘‘Yes, I’ve got three books waiting. The first is *Kawai* by Monty Soutar, he’s a historian, Maori professor. He wrote *Nga Tama Toa*, about Maori in the Second World War, and *Whitiki! Whiti! Whiti! E!* about the First World War. ‘‘This is his first novel, *Kawai*, I haven’t read it yet but it was released a month or two ago. I’m really looking forward to reading that, because I’m pretty sure it will be historically correct.  
>  
> ‘‘I’ve also bought *Yes, Minister* by Christopher Finlayson. I’ve heard that’s a good read, but it might be good for a bit of a laugh. He’s a character and very witty. I imagine he’s chosen the name *Yes, Minister* for a reason.  
>  
> **‘‘Then there’s a completely nerdy one, I don’t even want to admit it. It’s one about democracy in Aotearoa New Zealand by Geoffrey Palmer and his granddaughter, Gwen.**  
>  
> **‘‘The main reason I want to read this is to see if it’s something I can recommend to people, to learn about democracy in New Zealand.”**  
>  
> Page 8, *DomPost* – 4 January 2023

Compared with his predecessor, Adrian Rurawhe, Speaker of NZ Parliament, seems a fair and even personality – so I found it curious that when it came to matters of democracy he’d choose to swot up on Geoffrey Palmer’s perspectives.

**Palmer?** Who as a university professor autocratically derided students in his lectures? **Palmer?** Who sought National’s candidacy in Nelson for the ’75 election but pulled back on discovering he couldn’t be appointed candidate without contesting selection?

**Palmer?** Who wanted MMP for NZ’s electoral system and stacked his Royal Commission with judges who’d secure his wants?

**Palmer?** Who underhandedly devised the phoney concept “Treaty principles” and answered Richard Prebble’s question in Cabinet as to what the term meant with, *“Don’t worry, it’s meaningless.”*

**Palmer?** Who implemented the “meaningless” term “Treaty principles” to initiate the totally unjustifiable and – after 47 years, still not concluded – the 3rd round of Treaty “settlements.”

Many have constantly proclaimed and sought to posture the tenets of “democracy” – but as upheld by fact-denying, advantage-attaining manipulation, Palmer’s practical record on democracy is something else. Along with Kentucky Fried kakapo, it simply isn’t bankable.

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