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The Two Faces of Len Brown

by Whaleoil on September 3, 2012

Yesterday, Len Brown gave his thoughts about the proposed multi-million dollar spendup by the Maori Statutory Board, including bi-lingual street signs (aren’t half of all street names in Maori anyway?), compulsory Maori language in schools (you will recall how the education curriculum is a council responsibility), insulating Maori homes (others can shiver) and plus pork and puha barrel politics like a Maori cultural centre and a sculpture park (high margin make work scheme for the boys and girls).

Len Brown, 10am on Marae Investigates: “Of course it will. It will become a reality. Not all of it. No one gets everything they want but… Good parts of this plan will become a reality because it is our present and our future.”

Len Brown, 6pm on One News: “No! I’m just happy with the way it is, and the way in which it is basically developing organically.”

So which Len do we believe?

The one that told Maori he will turn on the funding tap for ratepayer dosh?

Or the one that told the rest of New Zealand he won’t turn on the tap?

The only thing ratepayers can be certain of is that Len is capable of slapping both his faces silly when the pressure cooker is on.

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  • Pete George

    “including bi-lingual street signs”

    I wonder what the other language version of Papatoetoe will be.

    • Joe Bloggs

      Given the Auckland District Health Board is predicting that 34% of Auckland City’s population will be Asian by 2016, I rather suspect we’ll have bilingual Maori-Simplified Chinese signage…as Loony Len tries desperately to curry favour with the new electorate…

      … and to hell with the 51% European and 18% Polynesian peoples,. Evidently it’s too politically incorrect to mention us…

      • Bunswalla

        Haha – curry favour. Nice one centurion – like it, like it.

    • http://voakl.net/ Ben Ross

      Or Papakura or even Manuaku for that matter.

      Everyone else calls Manurewa that – Manurewa, what does a (Young) Maori call it – South Mall. Something backwards here?

      • http://www.whaleoil.co.nz Whaleoil

        Rewa is generally what Manurewa is called

        • http://voakl.net/ Ben Ross

          That too. South Mall when on the Train, Rewa at other times :P

        • Lofty

          I usually hear it pronounced as ManuWERA, by all and sundry I might add.

        • RightOfGenghis

          Those who don’t live there call it ‘Manuwera’. To the cops and crims based there it’s just REWA as in te pakeha ‘RIWA’

  • Patrick

    Whatever happened to the legislation to force councils to stick to their knitting – street lights, rubbish collection, sewage disposal?

    Every time Lying Len comes up with another stunner think of Rodney – this is the result of the “marvellous” job Hide did setting up the wonderful Super City.

    Too much time with the snout in the trough booking taxpayer funded flights & not enough time spent sorting out the Super City Rodney.

  • maninblack

    why must the council continue to spend and spend and spend. Can they please just stop, and look at the overall financial suituation!

  • AnonWgtn

    Brown may/will soon wake up to the behemoth HE created in the Auckland Maori Council, and the money ratepayers thrown at it.

  • blokeintakapuna

    “Len is capable of slapping both his faces silly when the pressure cooker is on.”
    Yep – he doesn’t even need anyone else to help slap himself silly – although plenty would line up to do so – especially those with HUGE Rates increases.
    Thanks Len – enjoy what you can whilst you still can, because come next election…

  • In Vino Veritas

    I’m more interested in the fact that there is a proposal for compluslory Maori language in schools. I would have thought it more important to Maori that they learn to speak English properly before they introduce Maori, given the importance of English in a global context. If a TV presenter says wakatane instead of fuckatane heshe gets savaged. But a Maori presenter can say “It’s gunna be a gud day fer youse fullas” and no one bats an eyelid.

    • Pokerface

      IVV: Exactly! I have been savaged mercilessly for using Maori words with an English accent – by people as you described above. (They consider their accent as legitimate)

    • Bunswalla

      After the brilliant KiwiBank ads, nobody in our house can pronounce Whakatane any other way then “wacker-tayne” – like the actor pretending to be the corporate Aussie bureaucrat.
      My son takes it off beautifully, even getting the Strine accent just right. Which is a bit of a relief because from the age of about 5 he always called it FUCK-a-tane and tried to work it into every second sentence. No, we don’t live anywhere near the place.

      • Sooty

        Our existing school system is prducing dumb kids that can not read and write. I started school 56 years ago, yes there was the odd one, but not like the teachers are churning out today. If we teach them all maori, what are they going to drop, to fit in maori. More dumber kids? When are they going to teach it. Are they going to make the school day one hour longer each dayand alter all the bus timetables etc.

        • Teachersrock

          I see you have no idea about the actual state of education in NZ, or what it was like back in your day. I suggest you educate yourself first before making such an arse of yourself.

  • Simo

    Could someone have a chat to the nutters on the Maori Statutory Board and communicate the message that Auckland ratepayers will find a way to bury these idiots up to their necks in the mud a couple of meters below the Misson Bay high tidemark. They will discover that ownership of the foreshore and seabed can have some unintended conseqenences

  • tarkwin

    I’m so glad I don’t pay rates in Auckland. The Whangarei Council is pretty hopeless but at least they don’t have an apartheid committee.

    • Gazzaw

      Not yet tarkwin.

    • Joe Bloggs

      ah so you have yet to hear of Len’s Supersize Me scheme – the Much Greater Auckland Supersuper City… your time will come…

      • conwaycaptain

        The Greater Upper North Island Co=Prosperity Sphere.

  • Meg

    Maori being shoved down peoples throats in the schools and on the streets…

    Just another reason not to live in Auckland.

    • Gazzaw

      Don’t think it’s not heading your way Meg.

  • Adolf Fiinkensein

    You need to shop in the third face, the one that is missing. Stick it right in the middle.

    This guy looks just like Rudolf Hess, except Hess had more brains and could fly a twin engine aircraft.

  • Louis M

    Of course Maori should be compulsory – it’s an official language.

    • In Vino Veritas

      So is signing, so you would be arguing to make that compulsory as well? That’d be equally as nutty as making Maori compulsory. Maori is utterly useless to anyone but a Maori. Taking cirriculum time from our children to teach this is an absolute nonsense.

      • Bunswalla

        Anyway, the street signs are already in sign language for the deaf…

      • Alloytoo

        I think they should make signing compulsary for school kids on public transport.

        • Lion_ess

          Can you tell what sign is for Rangitoto’s new name .. Te Rangi-i-Tongia-a-Tamatekapua. Talk about a sucking up to a cultural minority group and wasting tax-payer/rate-payer funds. “Auckland Mayor Len Brown’s was enthusiastic about the name-change, which will be used for official occasions”

        • phronesis

          School kids use sign language all the time, they just have a very small vocabulary.

    • Patrick Starr

      …and Air NZ is the official airline, not compulsory
      to fly them either

    • Lion_ess

      So why do you not write your comments here in maori – that way no-one has to read them

    • Mr_Blobby

      What a load of old shit. Why would you want to make a bullshit made up language compulsory and shove it down people throats? More people around the world probably speak Klingon another made up bullshit language, but people learn it because they want to not because they have to, for free.

      When did we the people decide that it was an official language anyway? No we didn’t some clown woke up one day and thought it was a good idea.

    • Meg

      Rubbish. It is of no use in the real world. If parents want to have their kids learn Maori then they should pay for a tutor after school hours. There are far more important things or even languages for kids to be learning than Maori.

    • Travis Poulson

      An official dying and irrelevant one. There is no benefit whatsoever to learning the language. It’s utterly useless, and serves no purpose to anyone but those wishing to try in vain to maintain their heritage.

  • GregM

    Who runs this country?
    The elected government / councils, or the unelected maori council / waitangi tribunal / maori statutary authority?
    Sack the lot of them, now.

  • Realist

    This is good news for John Ansell’s Colourblind campaign. Once lunatics like Brown overplay their hand moderates will be more receptive to saying this has to stop.

  • steve and monique

    Considering that there is a larger Asian population,we may as well have compulsary Mandarin as well.Let Language studies be voluntary.Then we might just get a real view of what students feel is important to them.

  • cows4me

    Willy Jackson said on Maree that Maori were ratepayers to and asking for 35million was just 1% of the rate take. Willy Jackson is right when he says Maori are ratepayers to but what Willy fails to grasp in his racist brain that Maori also shit, drive a car and go to the library, why then should they then be entitled to extra simply because they are Maori.

    • Lion_ess

      Why does NZ, and the Auckland Council, develop and push racially biased policies at all?

  • http://elephanza.blogspot.co.nz/ Duncan Brown

    It would be called Undulating Area where the Toetoe was the Predominant Feature
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papatoetoe. Can we not just celebrate our differences and the richness of our various cultures without compulsory silliness?

  • johnnymanukau.

    we have a maori cultural and art centre, it is called the museum and thats more than enough. my mother taught me english and my mentor taught me dutch,so maori should teach their whanu maori and not with funds from ratepayers. Get off you butts, stop whinging and start teaching ,but remember there is more important subjects to teach ,other than a useless language. Do you need a list???

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