I’m always constantly perplexed as to why National ever bothers to go to Ratana each year and be harangued by Maori. When Chris Finlayson was the Treaty Negotiations minister I always thought it was because he enjoyed getting an annual kick in the balls and really enjoyed the spankings.
Speaking of balls, Christopher Luxon seems to have found his, and gave everyone a wee peek at Ratana. It’s a promising and welcome first outing in election year.
National leader Christopher Luxon has addressed the controversial topic of co-governance, saying Labour had confused the term, after he was challenged to not be afraid of it at Ratana Pa.
Luxon said he was enjoying his first visit to Ratana, the Maori religious festival, a place you could “disagree without being disagreeable.”
Speaking to media, he said he had raised his views on co-governance in his speech at Ratana because the Government had been “messy” in its own approach to co-governance.
He said he had wanted to be clear that National did not agree with co-governance in public services, but did want Maori to achieve and get ahead. He did not believe co-governance in public services was the way to do that.
He said departing Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern had not been able to articulate what was meant by co-governance or how far it would go.
He denied that his own party had whipped up fear on co-governance, saying Ardern had not been willing to spend any of her political capital on explaining it “and as a result people have been left behind and now we have fear and division.”
He said the issues facing Maori in their everyday lives were the same as for others – from cost of living to health.
New Zealanders were proud of the Treaty settlement process, Luxon said, and co-governance in that respect had worked, but the recent moves on co-governance had been “messy” and confused people.
On Three Waters, Luxon said it was not too late to repeal the programme because the entities did not come into being until next year.
“It is deeply unpopular and what you have is a government that has not listened at all. But Chris Hipkins has been part of the holy trinity…for the last five years.”
He said it was not believable or credible for Hipkins to now say he wanted to change direction and focus on the economy.
NZ Herald
Luxon is mistaken in thinking that we are confused about what co-governance means and what it entails. We are crystal clear, even if he is not.
Co-governance as elucidated by Labour and enacted via their legislation is all about disharmony and creating two classes of citizens based on who their ancestors were, with Maori being the superior ancestors, trumping all others. It removes equal citizenship and the fundamental democratic principle of one person, one vote which is the law for every public service and public asset in New Zealand.
If it belongs to all of us, it should be governed by all of us, equally.
There is nothing hard to understand about just how divisive Labour’s slavish adherence to race-based politics is. Christopher Luxon needs to get on board with that and fast.
It won’t be good enough to campaign on being like Labour, but less shit. People are hankering for a real and demonstrable change. If Luxon persists in keeping National as a more efficient Labour party then other politicians will fill the void left by National’s woolly thinking.
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