In some countries the people fight for democracy but here we are helping iwi to water it down

Mrs Grumble has been dipping into some dictionaries to check out the meaning of democracy.

Here’s one of the results:

Full Definition of DEMOCRACY

a : government by the people; especially : rule of the majority

b : a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections

And here’s another:

de·moc·ra·cy (dĭ-mŏk′rə-sē)
n. pl. de·moc·ra·cies

1. Government by the people, exercised either directly or through elected representatives.

2. A political or social unit that has such a government.

3. The common people, considered as the primary source of political power.

4. Majority rule.

5. The principles of social equality and respect for the individual within a community.

Then there’s the idea of one person, one vote.

Maori Party congratulates former co-leader – but she also is reminded she has retired from politics

Have they got one of these things for my mouth?

A bit of political howz-yer-father within the Maori Party seems to have escaped the attention of the news media. This is not surprising, because the news media seem to be under instructions to ignore anything that happens unless it involves a road accident, a drowning, a mountain climb gone wrong, or some other form of tragedy.

Maori Party co-leaders, fair to say, joined others in congratulating Tariana Turia for the damehood thing that was bestowed upon her in the New Year Honours.

But they short-changed her in the whakapapa department by overlooking the papa side of her bloodline.

Hon Tariana Turia (Ngāti Apa, Ngā Wairiki, Ngā Rauru, Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Whanganui) will forever be remembered in our nation’s history as the founding co-leader of the Māori Party. The Māori Party is the only indigenous party to be elected to New Zealand’s Parliament and to operate as an independent voice both in parliament and government.

Mayor Judd favours doing things by halves – and he wants all of NZ to accept his power-sharing model

And then I have this idea of putting all council seats aside for the tangata whenua…

About two months ago, the Mayor of New Plymouth was getting kudos from the Maori Party – and no doubt from lots of other Maori leaders – for acknowledging that our indigenous persons are special and should be given special treatment.

His council had just voted for a Maori ward by seven votes to six.

But he was getting plenty of stick, too, from folks who had the temerity to be miffed at the Mayor’s tinkering with their democratic structure (and doing it on the strength of a very close vote)..

One councillor – a true democrat – had the balls to oppose the move and resigned in protest.

The mayor, Andrew Judd, showed troubling signs of being confused about what he was up to.

The Flavell formula for prospering in international markets – less song and dance and more hard sell

Mind you, we can’t get too much cargo into the holds of the Maori fleet.

Dunno quite what to make of something Te Ururoa Flavell has been bleating about.

According to a newspaper report Alf read today, he was banging on about some outfit called Maori Inc.

Moreover, he was offering the leaders of this organisation some commercial advice.

But what is the extent of his commercial experience?

That would depend on what he did before becoming an MP, one imagines.

Institutional racism is bad if it puts you behind bars but it’s good if it gets you into Parliament

The Maori Party is happy to go along with some forms of institutional racism.

“I keep this handy to deal with Winston Peters.”

Indeed, it encourages them and will excoriate critics who suggest they be got rid of.

It all depends on the nature of the outcome and who are the beneficiaries.

Winston Peters spotted a few of the Maori Party’s favoured forms of racism early this year (and for his troubles was denounced by the Maori Party, the greenies and the lefties).

Mr Peters, speaking at Ratana Pa, says his party would never support “separatist” Maori Party policies such as having separate Maori units in prison, the separate Maori social welfare system Whanau Ora and the Tino Rangatiratanga Flag.

Mr Peters says he could not work with the Maori Party as long as it keeps “separatist” policies.

“You can’t have a Crown that’s composed of two different groups – the rest and Maori. Either we’re all together or we’re all going to be separate,” he says.

Jamie has stuck his neck out on that special law stuff and – yep – has smartly been told he is a racist

Which one is regarded as special by that UN thing we signed?

It looks like the special treatment of our indigenous persons is shaping up as a campaign issue – if it isn’t quickly snuffed.

It also looks like anyone who says our indigenous persons are given special treatment will be denounced as racists.

Alf accordingly would never raise such questions.

He wonders about the political wits (and balls) of those who do.

One of them is ACT Party leader Jamie Whyte. Another is New Zealand First’s Winston Peters.

According to a report from Radio NZ, they both say ordinary Maori do not benefit from what they call race-based laws.

But the Maori Party – bless them – said the ACT Party and New Zealand First are vying for the redneck vote.

And they say Jamie’s ideas have no place in New Zealand politics.

If they have no place in our politics, of course, they can’t be discussed.

End of story.

Our changing population mix is bothering the tangata whenua – will the Asians want special funding too?

Alf is bound to sit up and take notice, when warnings are sounded about the future of special arrangements for our indigenous people.

He is apt to think there should be no special arrangements for anyone – not based on race, anyway – but the horse bolted on that one years ago.

Vast sums of money are dished out from the public purse each year for Maori purposes and increasingly special seats are provided around council tables and in other public bodies for Maori appointees.

Never mind. It’s all in the name of the Treaty partnership, and we shouldn’t question these arrangements – not too shrilly, anyway – lest the indigenous portion of our citizenship get the idea we disapprove of giving them a helping hand.

We get a whiff of the problem that is looming (if it hasn’t already arrived”) from an Asia NZ Foundation survey.

It shows Maori views on Asian immigration have deteriorated in the past year. While most New Zealanders increasingly saw the benefit of Asian immigrants, 44 per cent of Maori believed New Zealanders were more negative towards people from Asia compared with a year ago.