Without a firm Treaty underpinning, does the colonising of NZ simply prove that might is right?

Dunno if Alf has got a proper grasp on it, but it looks like the Treaty of Waitangi is a bit of a crock.

One mob signed it on the strength of their understanding of what it says in plain English.

The other mob signed it on the strength of their understanding of what it says in Te Reo, their lingua franca.

Trouble is, the meaning of the English version and the meaning of the Te Reo version are different.

What sort of a basis is that for establishing a comfortable relationship between Maori and the Crown, let alone the underpinning of a written Constitution?

The significance of this difference has become awkwardly apparent since the Waitangi Tribunal produced its latest report on how the colonisers treated indigenous persons in the early days.

Keep an eye on Charlie the Chimp – he gibbers, sure, but he would make one helluva great Labour leader

You can have a loser, or a gay…or me.

Up the road an hour or two from Eketahuna, Stuart Nash has been having second and then third thoughts about Labour’s leadership.

He obviously fancies himself in the job but is running hot and cold on the matter, if we are to believe this report.

A third contender could be about to enter the ring for Labour leadership, with MP Stuart Nash reportedly reconsidering his position.

Mr Nash ruled out contesting the leadership last week, leaving Grant Robertson and former leader David Cunliffe the only candidates in the running.

There is some concern the mood for change in the party won’t be satisfied with Mr Robertson as leader and RadioLIVE reports there is lobbying for Mr Nash who is seen as an electable Prime Minister.

If he can bring in Te Tai Tokerau MP Kelvin Davis as a potential deputy it would secure crucial Maori votes. Unions have a 20 percent say in the election primary and it’s understood they’re open to the idea. In caucus there’s also a sizable group who would likely get in behind him.

Great idea … the closer you live to the ticket booth, the cheaper should be your entry fee

A cheaper deal is on offer for locals.

The Waitangi National Trust has concocted a fee-charging formula that should be applied more widely around the country.

Under this formula, people who live close to the Waitangi Treaty Ground are treated more favourably than people who live further away.

The scheme was disclosed in a news item from Radio NZ after the trust decided to make people pay to get into the treaty grounds.

As of Saturday, as Alf understands it, New Zealanders will pay $15 to visit the treaty grounds with children up to 18 free if accompanied by parents or caregivers.

The charge for overseas visitors will remain at $25 with children free.

The Waitangi National Trust is telling us that charging Kiwis is necessary because the drop in tourism caused by the global financial crisis means there are no longer enough fee-paying overseas visitors to subsidise free entry for locals.

This has raised the dander of Kelvin Davis and taken his mind – for now – off his party’s leadership circus (which itself would command an entry fee and pull in crowds of those who enjoy a great farce).

Te Tai Tokerau and the mauling of the Maori Party – a Mair matter of the sums not adding up

Bugger...that looks like the horse Ken Mair told us to back!

Wonder what Ken Mair is up to this morning.

He’s the co vice-president of the Maori Party.

He’s also the tosser who was enthusing just the other day about a three-horse race in Te Tai Tokerau.

The Maori Party was right up there with the others, he reckoned.

Alf’s advice is that if Mair gives you advice – more particularly, advice of the sort that amounts to a hot tip in the third race at Trentham next time out – then ignore it.

If he was tipping winners for a living he wouldn’t earn enough to buy a stale marmite sandwich.

The good people of Tai Tokerau want the wisdom of Solomon – Tariana could do with some of it, too

Poor old Hone is a goner.

No, the good voters of Tai Tokerau won’t be giving him the heave-ho in favour of Labour’s Kelvin Wotzisname.

Despite all evidence to the contrary, they will be sticking with the Maori Party.

Alf has this on the good authority of the Maori party itself, and they should know.

Sure, Turiana Turia made some unflattering remarks about their candidate the other day, but it turns out this was a mistake.

Thank goodness it has not been a mistake so serious that the Maori Party’s optimism has been dented or support undermined.

A snag with cultural differences is working out if you are being welcomed or victimised

"No, I haven't forgotten my manaakitanga - I'm not Maori and this is a stick-up."

It’s heartening to see one bit of Maoridom trying to compensate for some mischief and harm that’s been done by another bit.

According to the NZPA, Maori tourism operators have pitched in to help British tourists who lost cash and passports in a robbery in Whangarei. Good on them.

The thieves grabbed a bag containing “a large sum of cash” and passports at Whangarei Falls, just north of Whangarei on February 3.

Oops. Let’s stick the word “allegedly” into the previous sentence, because so far as is Alf is aware, whoever did what to whom has yet to be sorted out in the courts.

But here’s something we might muse on: the TVNZ report of the robbery said the visitors had been in the country only a week when they were robbed.

So how long should they have been here, to become eligible for an encounter with our indigenous robbers?

Another freedom is about to be crimped as the bureaucrats move in on campers

Labour's response to a violent attack on this campervan? It wants more education of campers.

So some bugger from Christchurch – no surprises there – has been arrested for allegedly trying to set fire to a campervan with two people in it.

Alf is obliged to use words like alleged because this bloke has been charged with attempted murder.

According to the cops, they were called to a Tasman District Council reserve at Tamatea Point in Pakawau, between Collingwood and Farewell Spit, about 5.50am after a couple said someone had shot at, smashed and attempted to set fire to their campervan.

If the couple have given a correct account of what happened, then the someone who did the shooting, smashing and attempted burning has behaved in a very anti-social way.

So what would the Labour Party do?

Oh, yes. It would make campers clean up their act.

Shane Jones is tipped to make a come-back, but who is the tipster and where has Jones been?

And my New Year resolution is to stick to the Walt Disney channel.

Alf is always fascinated by political reports built on a mix of firm quotes and vague tip-offs and understandings.

A splendid example pops up in the Herald today.

Shane Jones (pictured here) is tipped to be handed the Opposition Maori Affairs portfolio and placed on the frontbench as Labour prepares its lineup for the election.

Tipped? By who?

Oh, look.

A big fat clue.

You would expect a bloke called Davis to have a better grasp of what’s going on in Wales

Labour list MP Kelvin Davis, a bloke who was a school principal before becoming a parliamentarian, should go back to school as a bloody student and swot up on Welsh demographics.

Even better, he could bugger off to Wales tomorrow (howz about permanently???) His surname suggests that’s where he belongs.

He would soon find it’s a 50:50 bet the first bloke or bint he bumps into is a bastard.

Was this manaakitanga? Désolé mes amis – it was just another robbery of tourists by nasty thugs

The Grumbles reckoned Northland was a great place, when they toured it some years ago.

They would not recommend a visit there nowadays, alas, after another attack on tourists holidaying in the region.

Let’s face it, even the Prime Minister has been assaulted by stroppy locals in that scenically beautiful but socially troubled neck of the woods.

The Herald reports the latest nasty incident today –

Three French tourists were attacked.

Police said three male Maori, aged between 20 and 30 years, were responsible for the aggravated robbery inside a campervan just south of Mangamuka village on Friday.