New Left party hopes fade
March 12th, 2011 at 11:06 am by David FarrarMartin Kay in the Dom Post reports:
The chances of a broad-based Left-wing party rising from the ashes of Hone Harawira’s meltdown with the Maori Party have been dashed after he made it clear that any group he led would have to be Maori-focused.
Former Greens MP Sue Bradford – who has been closely associated with speculation that a new party was being planned – said the prospect of one being in place for this year’s election were now slim after Mr Harawira indicated he wanted a “more Left-wing Maori Party”.
Ms Bradford has said she would be interested in discussing a more generalist party that campaigned on a broad range of issues, but Mr Harawira’s comments suggested he was not interested.
I never thought Hone would want to lead a non Maori party. Maori nationalism is what he is all about.
There is a way they could try and do it – copy the Alliance structure. Have Hone as Leader of the “Mana” party and Sue as Leader of the “Left” party. The Mana Party could become a constituent part of the Left Party and that would mean if Hone retains his seat, then the Left Party would gain a List MP if they received around 30,000 party votes.
However that would mean that Hone’s party is subservient to the left party, and bound by the rules of the left party with regard to how they determine policies, list ranking, leadership.
Related posts:
- Bradford says she will lead
- Maori Party schism looks likely
- Will the Maori Party have peace in our time?
- Maori Party Leadership
March 12th, 2011 at 11:11 am
I don’t see Hone, having the electorate seat that all this would depend on, being subservient to another party.
Vote:March 12th, 2011 at 11:13 am
These groups on the far fail when their positions become clear.
Vote:March 12th, 2011 at 11:15 am
The failure to form a party seems strange.
NZ is never short of losers, disaffected people who believe others owe them a living, racists with an unquenchable thirst for public funds under the name of treaty claims (oops, they are already together as the Maori Party), bludgers of all colours, loafers and idlers who will never seek employment, and other non-entities.
All of the above should be able to join forces under the enlightened guidance of the peaceful and civil native Harawira and the urbane Bradford.
Way to go, comrades!
Vote:March 12th, 2011 at 11:16 am
I don’t see Hone getting enough party votes to get the opportunity to be subservient to a wider electorate.
Vote:March 12th, 2011 at 11:19 am
The Alliance self-destructed because it had a leader who did his own thing and refused to be bound by what his colleagues thought. Surely Bradford and McCarten have not forgotten already. The idea of being under Hone’s leadership should fill them with horror. And why whould Hone want them?
Vote:March 12th, 2011 at 11:28 am
Meanwhile, new right party hopes grow.
Fran O’Sullivan’s piece in Herald very interesting (with reports of secret Epsom polling):
Vote:http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10711763
March 12th, 2011 at 11:48 am
Interesting that they are looking to try and roll Hide and Act rather than complement them and try another electorate – I guess they see Epsom as easier, and it eliminates direct competition.
John Banks or Don Brash are hardly going to inspire as a fresh force in politics.
Vote:March 12th, 2011 at 11:50 am
Oh no! The John Hatfield Family Party is not going to feature Bradford and McCarten. Not good news for Bumber, the Village idiot of the Left who was full of bullshit about that grand coalition gaining 5 seats and stopping National from winning in November.
Vote:March 12th, 2011 at 11:51 am
>There is a way they could try and do it – copy the Alliance structure.
Obviously MMP is open to all sorts of manipulation… But why shouldn’t ACT and National stand on a government alliance basis that would ensure that ACT’s party votes weren’t wasted if Rodney loses Epsom?
Vote:March 12th, 2011 at 11:55 am
Fucking blind leading the blind. Why doesn’t Hone just go away and boil his head?
Vote:March 12th, 2011 at 12:05 pm
In a way I’m disappointed. As a far left party would have robbed the Greens of votes. This would have been a great way for the country to be rid of the faux environmentalists and their associated fuckwittery once and for all.
Vote:March 12th, 2011 at 12:20 pm
Hatfield and Jimbo Anderton are like 2 peas in a pod .. my way or the highway. Neither can handle not being listened to so had to go it alone.
Vote:March 12th, 2011 at 12:32 pm
But wouldn’t it be fun to watch the disintegration of a party that contained both Sue Bradford and Hone Harawira? It would be a very entertaining slow-motion train wreck.
Vote:March 12th, 2011 at 1:01 pm
McCarten will be distraught. He has been positively drooling over and supplicating himself at Hone’s feet in recent Herald articles…
Vote:March 12th, 2011 at 1:12 pm
The Maori Party agreeing to not stand a candidate against Hone is gutless. The voters in Tai Tokerau should have at least a chance to choose whether to have a radical or Maori Party MP.
Course the racist Maori seats shouldn’t exist at all but that’s another matter
Vote:March 12th, 2011 at 1:45 pm
Ha ha! That’s the problem with malignant c#nts, they don’t get along to well.
Fade away now losers.
Vote:March 12th, 2011 at 2:08 pm
“racists with an unquenchable thirst for public funds under the name of treaty claims”
Back in the 80s, I was often pissed off by some of ‘the left’ who would have a knee-jerk reaction of dubbing everyone they didn’t like ‘racist’. I’m quite glad to see this practice has now stopped on ‘the left’ and been taken up by ‘the right’.
Vote:March 12th, 2011 at 2:08 pm
Don’t you worry, rouppe. Labour-lite will do away with the Maori seats very quickly.
Vote:Actually, that would be a good contender for Tui billboard of the month.
March 12th, 2011 at 2:29 pm
The new “leftie” party faces the same dilemma as Winston Peters; everything they do, they’ll have to pay for it themselves. And wouldn’t you know it; pollies from the left far better at spending OPM (Other People’s Money) than they are at dipping into their own pockets.
Vote:March 12th, 2011 at 2:42 pm
# Sam Buchanan (223) Says:
March 12th, 2011 at 2:08 pm
Back in the 80s, I was often pissed off by some of ‘the left’ who would have a knee-jerk reaction of dubbing everyone they didn’t like ‘racist’. I’m quite glad to see this practice has now stopped on ‘the left’ and been taken up by ‘the right’.
Vote:……
Frog and Toad still keep their hands in.
March 12th, 2011 at 2:43 pm
A real shame, the whole world was looking forward to the prospect of this party being formed and then watching as the inevitable meltdown happened and the thing imploded. It would have been worth staying up late to watch.
Vote:Bradford and Hatfield both have a lot in common, empty heads and big mouths being the first two that come to mind, couple this with the desire to live out of other peoples pockets, we can call this one a near miss.
March 12th, 2011 at 3:15 pm
Hatfield will form some sort of “party” in the run up to the election to tap into the rights of “a party leader” including the additional dosh such a title can claim. The troughmaster general, the coiffured chameleon have made it their very own welfare funded political lifestyle so even a dumbfuck like Hatfield will be on to that. Mummy will be party secretary and one of the thugs from the beach can be party president. The only hitch as I see it will be that the leeches will mop up all the dosh and actually campaigning wont get funding. That said how much of the serious money from existing MSD funding can they divert, millions I guess.
Vote:March 12th, 2011 at 3:15 pm
“I never thought Hone would want to lead a non Maori party. Maori nationalism is what he is all about.”
Not sure if Hone is a Maori Nationalist – but he’s certainly focused on Maori. I never thought he’d go with some ‘left’ party, I think it’s been mostly been the media jumping to conclusions, and, not really having much of a clue about Maori politics, just assuming Hone will clump with ‘leftists’.
Vote:March 12th, 2011 at 3:51 pm
…if they received around 30,000 party votes
Fat chance. You can just imagine it. A potential HoneSue voter trying desperately to decide whether or not to do their traditional Green vote or take a chance on the new kids on the block who look very capable indeed of fulfilling the lifelong
Vote:obsessiondream of at last, bringing about the socialist republic.March 12th, 2011 at 3:52 pm
What does it mean, other than Harawira is a racist?
Shame on his electorate for voting in a thuggish character of little intellect and scant work ethic who does little for his people other than acting as self-publicist of dubious credentials.
As a very lazy MP, he does not deserve a seat in the House, but you can say that’s democracy, I guess.
Vote:March 12th, 2011 at 4:17 pm
Who would want their name linked with a half wit like homer harawira??opps other half witted leftist maori nationalists from his tribe
Vote:March 12th, 2011 at 4:29 pm
We don’t need a new Left party.
The National Party is no longer truely conservative ,so the left needn’t worry. And the Maoris will get everything they want off ‘em to boot.
Vote:March 12th, 2011 at 4:37 pm
What a pity. I love watching the left getting together to fight the good fight and then eating each other.
I guess Sue and Maaaaaaatt realised Hone would win the eating contest.
Vote:March 12th, 2011 at 5:00 pm
Harawira and Bradford are too alike (both: fat, dumb and lazy) to be able to co-lead any party.
Great wet-dream fantasy for McCarten etc., but….still-born.
Vote:March 12th, 2011 at 5:07 pm
Hone would have liked Sue being fat.
Vote:March 12th, 2011 at 5:14 pm
Hone who?
Vote:March 12th, 2011 at 5:29 pm
You mean more flesh to chew on?
Vote:March 12th, 2011 at 5:31 pm
I want this left wing party to get up and running, they will only take votes from the Apartheid party and the Greens, we could then end up with very few Apartheid MP’s and no Greens.
I could handle a John Hatfield as a lone racist MP if it meant the end of the Greens.
Vote:March 12th, 2011 at 5:38 pm
I will live for the day when some voyeur cameraman posts a video on Europorn of big bruv handling Johnny.
Vote:March 12th, 2011 at 5:39 pm
All this posturing and speculation (on the right as well) will ultimately damage MMP. Not that I’m complaining…
Vote:March 12th, 2011 at 7:09 pm
I could handle a John Hatfield as a lone racist MP if it meant the end of the Greens.
The Greens won’t die off unfortunately, they will only become stronger. Their mentalness has a strangle-hold on one of the main channels. John Campbell is their Minister of Propaganda.
All this posturing and speculation (on the right as well) will ultimately damage MMP. Not that I’m complaining…
Why? It’s never been damaged by posturing and speculation before. Why now, all of a sudden?
I will live for the day when some voyeur cameraman posts a video on Europorn of big bruv handling Johnny.
Can you let us know when it turns up Johnboy?
Vote:March 12th, 2011 at 7:14 pm
reid
“The Greens won’t die off unfortunately, they will only become stronger”
Can’t see it, the Greens are polling badly, between elections is the time they normally hit there high point at around 10%, for them to be currently polling at between 5%-7% is not a good sign, remember, they always do a lot worse than they expected on election day.
Vote:March 12th, 2011 at 7:26 pm
annie 12:32 I was looking forward to just such a spectacle. After all, the various leftist factions hate each other at least as much as they hate the ‘right’. Bugger.
cheers
David Prosser
Vote:March 12th, 2011 at 7:40 pm
Perhaps BB you’re seeing what you want to see.
The Greens will never die off till their average base becomes less than 5% and its been consistently tracking well above that for over a decade. This at a time when their core issues (AGW, Peak-oil) are becoming celebrity values which pushes them into the middle-class housewife belt which is what Lucy Lawless and Alanna Curry epitomise.
That means in any strategic sense their base is advancing not retreating and on top of that as we all know the whole definition of “centre” in NZ is very skewed to the left as well so they are in danger of becoming perceived by NZ’rs as a mainstream party, with all that entails.
I don’t want it either, but there we are.
Vote:March 12th, 2011 at 7:57 pm
Well Big bruv/Reid, the way to get what you want is to separate left wing nonsensical policy from that of legitimate environmental concern, but sadly the likes of yourselves don’t appear to give a rats rectum about the environment so “there we are”.
Vote:A respect for this land should be a core value of every Kiwi, but it isn’t.
March 12th, 2011 at 8:14 pm
How dare you Shunda assume I don’t give a rat’s rectum for our precious planet, our jewel of beauty and life.
Yes, I think AGW remains a completely unproven and misunderstood working hypothesis and this is because it was launched on the world before it had been fully discussed, debated, tested and broadly agreed amongst the scientific experts. Instead there was a highly finessed media campaign. Think back – how and when did you first become aware of AGW as a critical issue? All this screams bullshit to me. Sorry, it just does. Furthermore, my position is sound according to scientific methodology since it treats the current data skeptically not favourably. But that doesn’t seem to matter to the hysterical losers who label people like myself “deniers.”
It’s difficult to discern values from a persons words but easy from a persons actions however that requires personal acquaintance which you have never had of me so I’ll discount with your permission your assessment of my personal value structure vis-a-vis my respect for this land as a Kiwi. Hope that’s OK with you.
Vote:March 12th, 2011 at 8:40 pm
reid, I am 100% with you on your summation of global warming, I think Copenhagen was an effing joke, perhaps the biggest farce in world history.
Vote:I will say this, if NZers had a wholesale respect for the land we live on, why would there even need to be a green party at all?
The fact is, we collectively have an attitude not much different than the contempt for all things ‘native’ that the first British settlers had. The bush was in the way, and to hell with it and everything in it.
March 12th, 2011 at 8:53 pm
The fact is, we collectively have an attitude not much different than the contempt for all things ‘native’ that the first British settlers had. The bush was in the way, and to hell with it and everything in it.
I don’t get that Shunda, could you please expand?
Vote:March 12th, 2011 at 9:07 pm
Reid, a mainstream respect for the environment would obviously make a green party obsolete.
Vote:I may be wrong about you, but I am not about the majority, and the National party certainly couldn’t give a rats about the environment.
March 12th, 2011 at 9:18 pm
From Frogblog
———————-
Clowns to the left of me, racists to the right… [Coastal Coalition]
Published: August 19, 2010
by frog
Comments
bygolly
Posted November 10, 2010 at 11:55 AM
I think it is sad that this debate/issue is driving a wedge between most Green Party Members. So much so that alot of members are dropping out. Alot of us are fed up with all of this Maori Rights contention, that they won’t be voting for the Green Party as a consequence. Is this issue important enough for all G.P. supporters to loose out entirely at the next election?! I also find that other changes are occuring, such as the emphasis on Maori culture, at all Huis/ conferences etc. Such as : the guest speakers are usually Maori; Maori language is being used alot; Moari songs being sung etc. I love the culture for its difference & quality, but politically speaking it is unpopular with the majority of N.Z.rs, who are mostly non-Maori. This is in fact political suicide. Keep Maori issues in the Maori Party, that is why they were formed. If you don’t agree with this then maybe you should think about joining the Maori Party instead? Cheers.
Vote:http://blog.greens.org.nz/2010/08/19/clowns-to-the-left-of-me-racists-to-the-right%E2%80%A6/
March 13th, 2011 at 12:28 am
I was surprised to see the display in Te Papa that showed that Maori actually destroyed huge amounts of native bush before the white man even arrived in New Zealand. I get sick of all this stuff about the settlers being all bad and the Maori are bloody saints who know how to look after the land and their people, etc!
Vote:March 13th, 2011 at 12:52 am
Anthony, the truth is we are all as bad as each other and it needs to change regardless of whether you’re tanned or lily white.
Vote:March 13th, 2011 at 8:22 am
1. This whole Hone splinter faction is a total non event. The fact that this sent even a very small ripple through the world of NZ politics just illustrates the disproportionate power that the MMP system lends to those already integrated into the cogs of power.
2. The fact that NZ has race based parties and that Hone was not lynched by public opinion for his behaviour over the last year just illustrates further how much of a sacred cow Maori are in this country and how the rest of NZ, doesn’t care about what goes on in Wellington. If Hone was white, Chinese, Indian or Russian for example he would have long been investigated for hate crimes or inciting hate or something like that by the race relation commissioner, who I may add, just sat through the whole Hone affair and not uttered one comment, for fear of being branded anti Maori/racist.
3. Why does everyone keep calling Hone’s splinter faction left wing, It clearly reeks of national socialism and can consequently be described as far right/ fascist.
Vote:In fact, all the labels in NZ politics are strangely skewed. We need to rename all the parties National- Mildly Conservative. Greens – Hippie Social Engineering Party , Maori Party – Reverse Apartheid Party, Labour – Strangely out of Touch Coalition.
March 13th, 2011 at 8:53 am
Anthony:
Re: Pre-European destruction of NZ vegetation.
Maori used Fire in two ways – for land clearance prior to cultivation, and, especially in the South Island, to ‘herd’ Moa to ‘killing points’ where they could be more readily disposed-of, although no doubt there was the occaisonal bit of ‘roast chicken’ along the way. So prevalent and frequent was this latter use of fire in what we now know as ‘Canterbury’, that the creation of the tussock plains on the scree-country of the Eastern Southern Alps has been attributed to this activity – evidently ‘pre-maori’ the region, in common with the rest of NZ. was bush-covered.
The use of burning-off for land clearance was a normal method of land clearance for stone-age cultures as doing-so both clears land for settlement without use of easily-blunted stone tools, and provides potash (in the form of ash) for vegetable planting, the vegetables, in NZ’s case being the Kumara (not the common kumara which we use now, but a smaller tuber) and bracken-fern – a plant which appears aas ‘first-coloniser’ after bush has been burnt-off, and was a staple of Maori diet.
It became ‘unfashionable’ in the late 20th-Century to ascribe ‘slash and burn’ practices to pre-European Maori, when it was found that the modern European could be ‘conned’ into believing that all bush destruction was entirely their fault, and hadn’t occured before they arrived) and that the myth of a ‘Golden Age’ of Maori culture (pre-European of course) could be perpetrated quite easily – especially if you were a graduate of Auckland University and could use your academic background as a very persuasive ‘lever’ for the purpose. Remember, that, according to this ‘truth, ‘ before the European turned-up and ‘ruined’ everything. Maori were living in a society where everything was ‘sweetness and light’ and that the reported inter-tribal wars and cannibalism were merely inventions of fevered European minds determined to use any means possible to justify their cause. That Maori used fire to destroy the local flora (and Fauna – the Moa) is part of this ‘truth’.
Thought you might like to know . . .
Vote:March 13th, 2011 at 9:00 am
Anthony, the truth is we are all as bad as each other and it needs to change regardless of whether you’re tanned or lily white.
……..
Yes and No:
Michael King
In the first half of the nineteenth century, however, individual iwi considered carrying their martial culture beyond the shores of New Zealand. At least three expeditions of conquest were planned: to Samoa, to Norfolk Island, and to the Chatham Islands, which did not become part of New Zealand until 1842. All these proposed expeditions were dependent on finding transport to those places: and that meant finding a European ship’s captain whose vessel was available for charter; or it meant Maori commandeering a vessel for the purpose.
In the event there were no expeditions to Norfolk Island or to Samoa because the necessary transport was not secured. But there was an invasion of the Chathams Islands. Two Taranaki tribes then based in Wellington, Ngati Tama and Ngati Mutunga ki Poneke, hijacked a European vessel in 1835 and had themselves—a total of 900 people—delivered to Chatham Islands. There they takahi’d or walked the land to claim it; ritually killed around 300 Chatham Moriori out of a total of around 1600, and enslaved the survivors—separating husbands from wives, parents from children, forbidding them to speak their own language or practise their own customs, and forcing them to violate the tapus of their culture, whose mana was based on the rejection of violence.
Was this a superior form of colonisation to that imposed by European on Maori? Did it respect the dignity and customs of the colonised? Did it acknowledge the mana whenua of the tchakat henu or indigenous people of the Chathams? It did not. It was what might now be called an exercise in ethnic cleansing. When Bishop Selwyn arrived in the islands in 1848, it was to discover that the Maori called Moriori “Paraiwhara” or “Blackfellas”; and it was to report that the Moriori population continued to decline at a suicidal rate as a consequence of kongenge or despair. Moriori slaves were not released and New Zealand law was not established on the islands until 1862, twenty years after they had become part of New Zealand. And it is that twenty years of neglect of fiduciary duty on the part of the Crown that is the basis for the Moriori claim to the Waitangi Tribunal, heard in 1994, but still not reported upon.
Vote:http://sof.org.nz/origins.htm
March 13th, 2011 at 9:14 am
Immigrant, you are incorrect in at least two of your labels.
Maori are an apartheid party – no reverse about them.
The “Greens” are in fact Red.
Vote:March 13th, 2011 at 9:20 am
And then in the wave of modern immigration came from India, China, South Africa, and Eastern Europe, bringing NZ closer to the modern world. These people actually just wanted to work and cared little for the historical issues, that while interesting, had no impact on their everyday lives. They worked hard and looked towards the future, encouraging the NZers that came before them to stop crying a river about what happened in the past, but instead build a bridge and get over it, so that NZ can be a beautiful modern, country.
Vote:March 13th, 2011 at 9:24 am
MT_Tinman
Yeah my labels may not be the most accurate, feel free to come up with alternative party names. We should make that a Sunday Cup challange.
Vote:March 13th, 2011 at 10:29 am
On last nights bun-fight Back benchers I saw Wallance ask the labour woman “is it o.k for an unmarried woman to have 7 kids?” the labour woman said “she mightn’t have known her partner was going to leave her” Kevin Hague (alleged green) side stepped by saying “that’s not the point, the point is there are no jobs for them anyway!”
Vote:March 13th, 2011 at 10:29 am
And National is mildy conservative no more. In fact, Labour-lite has become a slimmer version of its cousin, the despised socialist Labour Party.
Actually, does anyone know what today’s National Party stands for? A great mystery.
Vote: