Herald rates the Maori Party
October 6th, 2008 at 9:30 am by David FarrarClaire Trevett rates the Maori Party in the Herald:
- Performance Rating: 7/10
- Assets and liabilities: co-leaders biggest asset, inexperience of other MPs may be a liability
- Successes and failures: Has maintained strong discipline, failed to repeal Foreshore & Seabed Act
- Policies: entrench Maori seats, more Treaty clauses in legislation, no tax on first $25K of income, no GST on food, minimum wage to $15 an hour, company tax lowered to 25% for small businesses
- Needs to do: Keep explaining explaining why it is keeping options with both major parties open
October 6th, 2008 at 9:34 am
The Maori apartheid system in NZ really needs to be abolished over the next decade. Might help Sharples and Co begin to get a tad more real if there was a timeframe put on phasing out the anachronism that is the ‘Maori Seat’.
That said they are more credible than the greens, if the MP could steal all the greens voters (the slightly saners ones), theyd do OK.
Vote:October 6th, 2008 at 9:56 am
I can’t blame the Maori Party for working the numbers. At least they’re off their back sides working hard for it. Good on them.
Vote:October 6th, 2008 at 10:00 am
How ’bout:
Needs to: explain where the hell money is going to come from for keeping tax off the first $25,000 of income.
Vote:October 6th, 2008 at 10:03 am
Apparently John Key is linking the Maori seats to the Treaty as if the Treaty has something to do with the initiation of the Maori seats in the first place. Could someone here in comments let me know exactly what the Treaty has to do with the Maori seats?
Vote:October 6th, 2008 at 10:07 am
Needs to: turn up for multi party debates. Neither the Maori Party nor United Future are bothering to send someone to an election debate in Queenstown. The MPs can’t be everywhere but surely there’s a candidate who won’t shame themselves or the party who could turn up to fly the flag: http://homepaddock.wordpress.com/2008/10/06/only-68-for-multi-party-debate-in-queenstown/
Vote:October 6th, 2008 at 1:24 pm
Claire Trevitt-
A hopeless whitewash. What’s the elephant in the room? Maori Sovereignty.
ASK THEM WHERE THEY STAND ON THAT..!!!!!
Vote:October 7th, 2008 at 7:35 am
How can any sane person see any benefit in removing GST from food or from anything else for that matter. This is dangerous stuff. The Maori Party and Winston First get onto it and suddenly Winnie claws back the lunatic fringe and he’s in parliament with 15 seats.
http://mywitsend.co.nz/economics/169
1. The cost of administering exceptions would be huge. Who will pay for the resultant bureaucracy? No prizes for guessing that.
2. What are these basic food items from which the tax will be dropped? Cheddar cheese? What about French camembert? Whole fresh South Island hoki? What about canned caviar? Who decides? Yet another layer of public servants.
3. When we remove the 12½% GST on food does anyone really believe that the price will stay down? Not on your Nelly. When GST was added all those years ago prices didn’t rise by 10%. Commercial reality kept a leash on. By the same token, removing GST will only result in a temporary reprieve.
Inflationary pressures already in existence will push prices back up almost immediately. The market charges what the market will bear. You’ll pay.
4. When the Treasury coffers are short a billion or two dollars forgone in basic tucker GST, who’s going to pay? No fooling you eh? Damn right, Ewen Mee will pay one way or another.
The GST will come off, the unfettered food prices will rise, and tax will rise as well.
5. And we’ll have the aforementioned bureaucrats to pay to boot.
Vote: