Latest news with #anti-Māori
Scoop
4 days ago
- Politics
- Scoop
'I've Had A Wonderful Life': 90 Years Of Jim Bolger
Jim Bolger, who was the prime minister between 1990 and 1997, turned 90 on Saturday. He reflected on the last nine decades of his life on Sunday Morning - after having celebrated with a "big gathering" of family, friends, and neighbours. On his political career, Bolger said the biggest issue was to get Pākehā to "face up to the reality that we owed Māori". "We took big steps in the economy, and got the economy going, and all the rest, but the country and society is more than the economy," he said. "Māori ... had been badly, badly treated by the early settlers, we owed Māori redress and change. "I put that higher than managing the books, as it were, with the help of others, and of course you're always helped by others, but the Treaty principles and recognition that the early European settlers did not treat Māori fairly, I think was hugely important." Bolger said he did not understand those, such as David Seymour - who had also been sworn in as deputy prime minister on Saturday - who "want to diminish the role of Māori in New Zealand". "They were here first, they were here very much before everybody else, and they have been part of our history from that time on." He said the current prime minister, Christopher Luxon, needed to tell Seymour "to shut up with his anti-Māori rhetoric" - and to thank Winston Peters for what he's doing in foreign affairs - "because I think he's doing that job well". "Winston's a very interesting political figure, there's no question about it. He's certainly left his mark on politics in New Zealand." Bolger said his Irish ancestry helped him engage emotionally and attitudinally with Māori. "I sort of instinctively knew what it was like to be treated as second-class citizens, and Māori were treated as second-class citizens. And some people still want to do that." Bolger grew up in coastal Taranaki, and said he was not taught "a single word" about the invasion of a pacifist settlement at Parihaka, but was taught about War of the Roses in England. Reflecting on his life outside of his political career, he could not say what he was most proud of - "I think it'd be foolish to try and select one over another." He began as a farmer - from helping his neighbour to milk cows at nine, to leaving Ōpunake High School at 15 to work on the family dairy farm, and owning his own near Rahotu at 27. He got married and moved to a sheep and beef farm in Te Kūiti two years later. Bolger then joined the National Party and was an MP, the leader of the opposition, and then the prime minister after National won the 1990 general election. He later became New Zealand's Ambassador to the United States, was elected Chancellor of the University of Waikato, and has been the chairman of a number of state-owned enterprises and other organisations. Bolger was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal in 1977, the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal, the New Zealand Suffrage Centennial Medal in 1993, and was appointed a Member of the Order of New Zealand in 1998. He also has nine children and 18 grandchildren. "They were all important and very interesting positions to have, and I enjoyed it," Bolger said. "When you get to 90, and reflecting back over my variety of positions I've had across the world, and the countries I've visited, which are without number, there's so many, that it's just been very fortunate. "I've had a wonderful life with a wonderful wife and family, and it's all been good." As for advice he would give to New Zealanders, Bolger said the main thing would be to listen to others. "Don't try and dictate to them, listen to them, see what they're saying, see what their issues are, see what their concerns are, and then you might be able to make a sensible suggestion to help their lives. "And if you approach it from that direction, you know, how can I help this person or that person, then I'm sure you'll be much more satisfied with your life, and hopefully, they will be better off."
Otago Daily Times
4 days ago
- Politics
- Otago Daily Times
'I've had a wonderful life': Former PM turns 90
Jim Bolger, who was the prime minister between 1990 and 1997, turned 90 on Saturday. He reflected on the last nine decades of his life on Sunday morning - after having celebrated with a "big gathering" of family, friends, and neighbours. On his political career, Bolger said the biggest issue was to get Pākehā to "face up to the reality that we owed Māori". "We took big steps in the economy, and got the economy going, and all the rest, but the country and society is more than the economy," he said. "Māori ... had been badly, badly treated by the early settlers, we owed Māori redress and change. "I put that higher than managing the books, as it were, with the help of others, and of course you're always helped by others, but the Treaty principles and recognition that the early European settlers did not treat Māori fairly, I think was hugely important." Bolger said he did not understand those, such as David Seymour - who had also been sworn in as deputy prime minister on Saturday - who "want to diminish the role of Māori in New Zealand". "They were here first, they were here very much before everybody else, and they have been part of our history from that time on." He said the current prime minister, Christopher Luxon, needed to tell Seymour "to shut up with his anti-Māori rhetoric" - and to thank Winston Peters for what he's doing in foreign affairs - "because I think he's doing that job well". "Winston's a very interesting political figure, there's no question about it. He's certainly left his mark on politics in New Zealand." Bolger said his Irish ancestry helped him engage emotionally and attitudinally with Māori. "I sort of instinctively knew what it was like to be treated as second-class citizens, and Māori were treated as second-class citizens. And some people still want to do that." Bolger grew up in coastal Taranaki, and said he was not taught "a single word" about the invasion of a pacifist settlement at Parihaka, but was taught about War of the Roses in England. Reflecting on his life outside of his political career, he could not say what he was most proud of - "I think it'd be foolish to try and select one over another." He began as a farmer - from helping his neighbour to milk cows at nine, to leaving Ōpunake High School at 15 to work on the family dairy farm, and owning his own near Rahotu at 27. He got married and moved to a sheep and beef farm in Te Kūiti two years later. Bolger then joined the National Party and was an MP, the leader of the opposition, and then the prime minister after National won the 1990 general election. He later became New Zealand's Ambassador to the United States, was elected Chancellor of the University of Waikato, and has been the chairman of a number of state-owned enterprises and other organisations. Bolger was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal in 1977, the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal, the New Zealand Suffrage Centennial Medal in 1993, and was appointed a Member of the Order of New Zealand in 1998. He also has nine children and 18 grandchildren. "They were all important and very interesting positions to have, and I enjoyed it," Bolger said. "When you get to 90, and reflecting back over my variety of positions I've had across the world, and the countries I've visited, which are without number, there's so many, that it's just been very fortunate. "I've had a wonderful life with a wonderful wife and family, and it's all been good." As for advice he would give to New Zealanders, Bolger said the main thing would be to listen to others. "Don't try and dictate to them, listen to them, see what they're saying, see what their issues are, see what their concerns are, and then you might be able to make a sensible suggestion to help their lives. "And if you approach it from that direction, you know, how can I help this person or that person, then I'm sure you'll be much more satisfied with your life, and hopefully, they will be better off."
NZ Herald
24-05-2025
- Politics
- NZ Herald
Māori will have nothing to fear from me when I'm Deputy Prime Minister
Seymour said Act is not an anti-Māori party and Māori have nothing to fear from him. Being Māori Act has been a driver of policies some people have criticised as divisive - like the scrapped Treaty of Waitangi Principles Bill and the Waitangi Tribunal Review. National, Act and NZ First all wanted the Māori Health Authority - created to address health inequities faced by Māori - scrapped. Labour MP Willie Jackson once labelled Seymou r a 'useless Māori and New Zealand's most dangerous man because of his policies.' Seymour though, said he's proud of his whakapapa - which he received through his late mother, Victoria. 'There are people who try to paint me as anti-Māori, despite me being Māori. I'm very proud of my heritage,' Seymour told the Herald. 'My maternal grandmother's McKay family came to New Zealand last century and arrived in Gisborne in about 1907. The Faithfull's, on my mum's dad's side, lived in the Dargaville area,' he said. 'The Faithfull's were related to descendants of Maraea Te Inutoto from Waimate North. She was a high-status member of Ngāti Rēhia. We understand that she and her husband Stephen Wrathall settled near Taipā. She's my great-great-great-grandmother. That's my Māori whakapapa.' Defending Act Seymour said Act is a party of open minds and open arms. 'Act is the party of tino rangatiratanga. That's the ability for each of us to self-determine and not be put in someone else's box,' he said. 'People have these empty slogans about me, but when I ask them to tell me an example of something I've said or done to support their view that I'm racist, they can't,' Seymour said. 'Despite protesting that they have to move on from the past and be more respectful of diversity, the media often report Māori are one homogenous group who think as one and speak with one voice.' he said. 'That's not true and quite offensive to say that about any group.' Asked about the scrapping of the Māori Health Authority, the promotion and then demise of the Treaty Principles Bill, the review of the Waitangi Tribunal and the minimisation of Te Reo Māori for teachers and public servants, Seymour said: 'As New Zealander's of any ethnic background, you have equal rights, based on your needs. Nothing has been taken away, except for institutions that attempt to divide us into homogeneous groups of people based on race. 'New Zealand is made up of people from a mosaic of backgrounds. 'My colleague Karen Chhour is a Māori. She is also European and has a husband who was a Cambodian refugee. She can draw on all those heritages. 'But it seems bizarre that Karen and her children should have to choose between a Māori Health Authority or a non-Māori Health Authority. She is as representative of New Zealand's whakapapa as anybody. Needs not race ' Needs Not Race, which is an Act Party policy and adopted by the Government, says that we should be focusing on the need of each person" Seymour told the Herald. Seymour said there are many Māori who do very well and don't need government support or assistance. 'So let's help the people in need and not focus on their ancestry.' In September a New Zealand Medical Journal editorial in the name of six public health academics said the 'needs not race' directive was 'an affront to scientific and public health knowledge' and 'requires explicit rejection' from health professionals and scientists as it was not evidence-based. Lead author Dr Belinda Loring, a public health physician at the University of Auckland, said ethnicity was an evidence-based marker of need within the health system. The editorial noted that New Zealand's bowel screening programme was initially based on age, which failed to recognise that more than half of Māori cancers occurred before the screening threshold of 60 years. 'Suggesting ... 'colour-blind' variables may be better proxies for health need than ethnicity is blatantly untrue and misleading, and encourages weak analytical science and will likely lead to greater waste of public resources due to less effective targeting of resources towards groups with highest need,' the editorial said. 18 months in Government Looking back over the first 18 months of the coalition government, Seymour said his best and worst moments of being a Māori MP came at Waitangi when he tried to speak at the marae. 'I had an amazing 24 hours in February, when people took away my microphone at Waitangi and were afraid to let me speak,' he said. '24 hours later, I spoke as a associate education minister at the opening of the St Stephens that was reopening as a Māori charter school. 'Through charter schools we are giving Māori a choice to go to a Māori school or to the state school.' Asked why Māori would consider voting for Act, Seymour said it was simple. 'Because you are a person with hopes and dreams and you want the opportunity to realise those dreams. You don't want to be typecast or tied up in red tape. 'You just want a chance to use your time on earth the best way. 'You want a job, good education for your children and a thriving economy. 'I have no reason to believe that a person with Māori heritage is likely to want that less than anyone else.'
Scoop
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
Regulatory Standards Bill Will Whitewash Te Tiriti From Law
The Regulatory Standards Bill has officially been introduced to Parliament. This bill will have the effect of replacing Treaty Principles in law with Act Party principles. Christopher Luxon is set to pass it early next year, cementing his legacy as the most anti-Treaty and anti-Māori Prime Minister we have seen in generations. 'This is constitutional sabotage' said Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi. 'The Regulatory Standards Bill is a Trojan Horse that will erase the mana of Te Tiriti from all current and future laws. It will give the Minister for Regulations, David Seymour, more power than the Prime Minster & Parliament' Waititi said. On Friday, the Waitangi Tribunal found the Crown breached Te Tiriti o Waitangi by proceeding with the Regulatory Standards Bill without any consultation with Māori. This is despite 88% of public submissions opposing the bill. The Tribunal also found Treaty principles were deliberately excluded in the design of the bill, and that the principle of 'equality before the law' risks erasing our preexisting rights as tangata whenua. This Bill comes to Parliament in the same week three Māori MPs face the most severe suspensions history for performing a haka in opposition to the Treaty Principles Bill. It comes one week after the Government announced that it is reviewing the Waitangi Tribunal, one month before their inquiry into the bill was set to take place. The Government is currently removing Treaty Provisions from 28 laws. Without these provisions, our treaty rights in law will be outweighed by David Seymour's principles. 'The Regulatory Standards Bill fulfils the intent of the Treaty Principles Bill. Only this time, it has the Prime Minister's full support" said co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. 'We mihi to the Toitū Te Tiriti movement, and the 13,000 Tangata Tiriti and Tangata Whenua who joined their urgent claim against this bill' Ngarewa-Packer said.
The Spinoff
12-05-2025
- Politics
- The Spinoff
Act takes a victory lap as Waitangi Tribunal faces government review
The government says its review will help the tribunal navigate the coming decades. Critics say it's an ideological attack in disguise, writes Catherine McGregor in today's extract from The Bulletin. A half-century check-up… The Waitangi Tribunal is undergoing its first-ever formal review, nearly 50 years after the body was established. Announced last week by Māori development minister Tama Potaka, the review aims to examine whether the tribunal's scope, processes and legislative mandate remain fit for purpose. Potaka stressed the review would not predetermine the tribunal's future but was necessary due to a ballooning workload and the near-completion of historical settlements. The four-person (two Māori, two Pākehā) Independent Technical Advisory Group, chaired by Bruce Gray KC, is due to provide recommendations by September, with legislative proposals expected before the end of the year. … Or a political ambush? Opposition parties have rushed to condemn the review. Labour's Willie Jackson said it was outrageous that 'the most anti-Māori government I've seen in my lifetime is now conducting a review of the watchdog that at least keeps a lot of Māori, a lot of New Zealanders safe'. The Greens' Māori development spokeswoman Hūhana Lyndon called it a 'disgrace' while Te Pāti Māori's Tākuta Ferris said he was 'absolutely disgusted' by news of the review. Others offered more nuanced perspectives. Speaking to Te Rina Kowhai for Te Ao Māori News, former Treaty negotiations minister Chris Finlayson said a review was long overdue, but it should focus on the many bureaucratic hurdles to full implementation of the tribunal's findings. Writing in the NZ Herald (paywalled), Audrey Young argued that accusations of a 'hatchet job' were premature: 'To suggest any organisation is above review is not remotely realistic in 2025.' Also speaking to Te Ao Māori News, Treaty law scholar Carwyn Jones agreed the tribunal must evolve but warned the government's framing of the review as a return to 'original intent' – as promised in the NZ First-National coalition agreement – was misleading: 'It seems … they think the original intent of the tribunal was to look at historical claims' when that was never the case, he said. At the time of the Waitangi Tribunal's establishment in 1975, it only heard claims relating to current government actions. The historical claims process began in 1985, after the Lange Labour government expanded the tribunal's mandate to investigate grievances dating back to 1840. Act says the quiet part out loud While Potaka has maintained a measured tone, coalition partner Act has not held back. In a media release welcoming the review, David Seymour described the Tribunal as 'increasingly activist' and in need of being put 'in its place'. The rhetorical chasm between the two coalition partners is the inspiration for Hayden Donnell's piece in The Spinoff this morning, in which he quips that Seymour has shown remarkable dedication to combatting the government's own PR. 'Media organisations like to say they can cut through spin like Aragorn's sword Andúril through orc flesh,' he writes, 'but few of them demolish government messaging more brutally than the second-largest party in the government.' A long history of hostility Act's antipathy toward the Waitangi Tribunal is nothing new. The party has long portrayed the tribunal as an unelected force undermining democracy, with Seymour last year floating the idea that it should be 'wound up for its own good'. In March, former Act leader Richard Prebble resigned from his short-lived appointment to the tribunal, telling Stuff's Joel Maxwell he didn't initially know what he was getting into and 'was not aware how extreme their reinterpretation of the Treaty is'. Treaty lawyer Annette Sykes was among those who suspected Prebble's tribunal tenure was a publicity stunt: 'Was this really only a media ploy on the part of the Act party? If it is then it really shows how desperate they are.'
