Christopher Luxon, we have had enough! You can’t keep acting against your voter base: the ones you rely on for your bread-and-butter votes that will get you over the line in next year’s election. On matters of race, we are in last straw territory. There are thousands of us now seething as we witness this never-ending pandering to Māori. I’m not talking about the majority of Māori who live like the rest of us, I’m talking about the continual pandering to the likes of the fella in the cowboy hat.
It is a mystery to me why Luxon is doing this. He is attempting to accommodate those more likely to give him two fingers rather than thanks. These types don’t give a damn about anyone but themselves. And the average Māori, like the rest of us, doesn’t give a damn about them, either. We don’t buy the narrative that what is being done is for the benefit of everyone: these actions are clearly race based.
I see Minister of Maori Development Tama Potaka has made seven new appointments to governance roles in Māori entities, bringing leadership, expertise and experience to the organisations to further support Māori development. That we can probably live with, while adding the proviso that they need to start paying tax like any other business.
Where we part company is the comments by the minister when he says this will help advance te reo Māori revitalisation, strengthen the Waitangi Tribunal and realise the social and economic potential of Māori. According to Minister Potaka this benefits Māori and everyone. Really? How? What has any of that got to do with his role as Māori development minister? What has it got to do with Māori businesses?
I think I know the sort of reply I would receive from the minister. A whole lot of gobbledygook about how when Māori prosper we all prosper. If that is the case, we are not buying it. Of course Māori should prosper: we should all prosper, but not in a race-based setting. Māori businesses should be on the same footing as any other.
I take it te reo revitalisation means a million of us will be confidently using te reo Māori by 2040, as stated in the article. Well, all I can say is good luck with that. As for the Waitangi Tribunal, we don’t want it strengthened: we want its wings severely clipped.
This is not the way to retain support and win over swinging voters. We are lucky to have other parties on the right where we can put our vote. Luckily for the prime minister, the left is not an option as that side of the House is chock full of Hamas sympathisers. But, Luxon and National are misreading the room. We want to live as one people and not in a country where endless amounts of preferential treatment are given based on race. In business, as everywhere, there should be a level playing field.
The prime minister needs to realise the economy, which is in a hole not entirely of the government’s making, is being held back by iwi and hapū. There is little point talking about growth and appointing Nicola Willis as minister to encourage it if this sort of nonsense is allowed to carry on. It has to stop. Surely this completely destroys the point of the fast-track legislation. I know of one company which has now given up due to excessive opposition and says that even the fast-track legislation is not solving the problem of achieving business goals and success.
Whatever is available to be accessed in any given area of government should be the same for everyone. We can never live as one people unless this is the case. The race issue may not rate highly in the polls, but there are many of us dismayed at the broken promises littering the right side of politics regarding it. This situation must be corrected. Our patience is running thin.
The polls, while not to be taken too seriously at this point in the election cycle, are nevertheless telling a story: one that illustrates the fact that there is significant disillusionment and irritation with the course the government is on. We see this as a negative to equality and putting all of us on the same footing. We do not object to assistance being given on the basis of genuine need. What we do not agree with is our money being used to support what amounts to a race-based system.
I think Luxon’s business skills are a definite advantage to this government; however, I think his political skills are severely lacking. I urge him take some advice because this government is seriously in need of a change of direction. His personal poll rating should be giving him pause for thought and a rethink on his own performance. The government is suffering because of it.
I am not suggesting the party change him as leader, but I am suggesting he, as leader, needs to change for the good of the party. We don’t need the Māori Party and we don’t need the seats they stand in or sit on. The situation must be addressed. What happens between now and the next election is critical to the outcome of it. Luxon needs to act now!
