Waitangi Tribunal

Mark Solomon has broken ranks with the greedy, grasping Maori Council who are intent on gang style standover to extract cash form the government:

An influential iwi leader may have given the Government’s legal team a boost as it prepares to mount a defence to a Maori Council bid to stop its flagship asset sales programme.

Ngai Tahu iwi leader Mark Solomon told TVNZ’s Q and A yesterday that he does not believe that any sell-down of the southern state power company Meridian would have any impact on Ngai Tahu’s rights and interests in water.

That is exactly the argument the Crown will be mounting in the High Court at Wellington tomorrow against the part sale of the first SOE off the block, Mighty River Power.

He also disagreed with the finding of the Waitangi Tribunal that it would be a breach of the Treaty of Waitangi if the Government proceeded to sell shares without first providing Maori with a remedy to recognise their rights.

He pointed out that that tribunal had also said that a sell-down of 49 per cent did not prevent the Government from addressing the rights and the interests of Maori – a contradiction the Government has similarly pointed to on several occasions.

“Personally I do not believe that the sell-down of parts of Meridian will affect Ngai Tahu’s rights and interest to water,” Mr Solomon said.

Bob Jones is a national treasure. His column yesterday in the Herald was a ripper:

So, the comical Ngaruawahia ex-truck driver who can’t speak Maori and struggles with English but calls himself King of Maoridom despite his realm ending at his letterbox has declared Maori own the rain. That’s excellent news. I assume His Majesty will accept liability for inflicting millions of dollars of flood damage annually through Maori rain supply mismanagement. He can ponder that when sitting on the only throne he’ll ever occupy, namely in his lavatory.

Pulling the royal pretender’s strings is his court jester, Underpants Morgan, a man evidently of Welsh ancestry and probably a direct descendent of Cardiff-born Henry Morgan of piracy notoriety. But that was the 17th century. Try this owning-everything-by-right racket in the valleys today, boyo, and you will discover your Welsh kin are not big on humour.

Another blowhard claimed Maori own the wind. He has a point, given the amount they generate at these hooey babblefests.

But be assured, soul-selling barristers, driven by their wallets, will shamelessly go to bat for them, twisting and turning the meanings of an anachronistic 170-year-old vague treaty.

Don’t hold back Bob. Really tell us what you think.

Let’s cut to the quick. Despite the euphemistic deceit about “resources” and the “Crown”, what these parasites seek is for hard-struggling Kiwi workers to give them money without them having to work for it. It’s that simple. They’re a disgrace, not only to Maori but to the human race.

John Key should call an early election on this “who owns the rain, wind, air and everything else” issue and National would receive a massive majority. The dilemma facing Labour is tricky. David Shearer is a sensible man, as are most of his parliamentary colleagues who would all deplore this despicable attempt at bludging off taxpayers. But what to do – vote with the Government, abstain, or vote against?

Labour should firmly state their support for clarification legislation otherwise they’ll wave goodbye to their blue-collar voters who will be up in arms over this we’re-entitled-to-live-off-you-all claptrap.

He echos my stand-over theme too.

It’s all reminiscent of 1951 when the waterfront gangsters held the country to ransom, deplored then even by the Federation of Labour. Prime Minister Holland went to the country with the winning election question of “who runs the country?” Labour was doomed after their leader, Walter Nash, weakly stated he was “neither for nor against”. That fence-sitting contributed to National ruling the roost for 27 of the next 33 years.

He is disdainful of the Greens.

The Greens face a similar position. Some of them would assert that Maori should receive free breakfast in bed and cars, both clearly promised in the Treaty as the Waitangi Tribunal would undoubtedly confirm. But should they side against the public anger on this issue, they would be decimated in a snap election.

Sigh…that would indeed be bliss. Perhaps it is time for that election.

Maori are suggesting they will boycott consultation and say that there is little point in attending. I’d go further and suggest there is little point in negotiating with economic terrorists and brown-mailers.

The chairman for a hapu behind the Maori Council’s Waitangi Tribunal claim on water says he sees little point in the Government’s hui with Maori, which begin today in Hamilton.

Pouakani chairman Tamati Cairns say his hapu had been invited and members would be attending today’s hui.

Pouakani this year succeded with their Supreme Court challenge to the Crown’s assertion of ownership of the Waikato River near Mangakino where Mighty River has a series of dams.

Pouakani, which has said it is prepared to go to the High Court to halt the Mighty River sale if necessary, was still working through the issues associated with its Supreme Court victory. That meant the narrow focus of today’s hui meant in would be of little use to the hapu.

Thankfully John Key isn’t fazed. Nor should he be. It just plays into his hands because when the Government fronts up to court and tells them that he tried to consult but they refused to attend it will be a bonus point to the government case.

The proverbial Rubicon has been crossed with Maori attitude to water and then to wind. The goodwill of most New Zealanders evaporated almost overnight. National needs now to take a strong stance otherwise shameless political charlatans like Winston Peters will fill the void.

As I blogged earlier it is now us or them, Maori have declared war on the government and all of New Zealand. Now the truck driver’s spokesman has delcared that john Key is “culturally ignorant”. At least that is an improvement on “white motherf*cker”

Rhetoric around Maori water claims stepped up yesterday with leading Kingitanga spokesman Tuku Morgan calling Prime Minister John Key “culturally ignorant”.

It was his response to Mr Key having rejected as “plain wrong” King Tuheitia’s proclamation at a 1000-strong water hui last Thursday that Maori had “always owned the water”.

The Government will tomorrow begin its series of consultation hui over the Waitangi Tribunal’s “shares plus” concept – a way to give Maori a stake in state-owned energy companies the Government plans to float.

The first hui is with Tainui tribes in Mr Morgan’s heartland of Hamilton. But the sessions are invitation-only.

Yesterday, on Marae Investigates, Mr Morgan was asked what he thought about Mr Key saying the King was wrong about Maori owning the water. He replied: “That once again says the Prime Minister is culturally ignorant, and that’s unfortunate.”

The Herald on Sunday editorial asks a valid question…just who is running the country? The government? or Maori?

Most people were surprised when the Government postponed the part-privatisation of Mighty River Power after a Waitangi Tribunal decision. Not a few were also dismayed. Having expected the Prime Minister to plough ahead with the sales programme, they were left to ask who was actually running the country.

Worryingly, that perspective is gaining ever-widening currency, so much so that there is now good cause to consider whether a line on all Maori claims must soon be drawn in the sand.

A line certainly needs to be drawn and John Key needs to be ready with a nuclear option. That is legislation to end the silliness once and for all.

 That is not a novel notion. All the main political parties have planned to impose a time limit on the Treaty of Waitangi settlement process. They have varied only in the timing of that deadline and the caveats attached to it. Even the Maori Party has chimed in. Claims had been used by politicians to “bring Maori into contempt and ridicule by branding the process a gravy train,” said co-leader Pita Sharples in 2005. “It is, therefore, in the country’s best interests that the claims be settled as fast as possible to remove this negativeness.”

The water claim and other silliness won’t go away. And National’s belief that they can win in the courts is erroneous. They should just ask themselves how they have gone in court before, and look at the activist judges arrayed before them.

John Key must be prepared to legislate and then he must be prepared to fight an election on it as well.

Let’s see how that pans out for Maori?

Maori have shown that they do not see New Zealand as one nation, they see it as us vs them, and so it will be.

New Zealanders have, by and large, never resented the principle of compensation for wrongs. But as the process has dragged on, they have become increasingly agitated over the taxpayer funding associated with it. Now, that gravy-train annoyance has advanced to another plane. Many people feel the flood of Maori claims is engendering only divisiveness, and that the time has come to move on as a country.

In that context, the row over Maori water rights is shaping to be even more contentious than that over the foreshore and seabed. As much was underlined by this week’s national hui, which resolved to fund a Maori Council challenge to the Mighty River part-sale unless the Government settled issues of proprietary rights over water before the share float. Maori resolve was also reflected in King Tuheitia’s declaration that “we have always owned the water”.

Maori have been having a lend…the metaphoric Rubicon has been crossed.

Maori have decided that rather than just deal with each iwi’s claims for water that they will band together and try and extort even more from the taxpayer, even if iwi have no valid claim over water. On the plus side this is the fastest I have ever seen Maori move.

“Full and final” was as much of a lie as the Treaty having a cap.

Obviously $1,790,000,000 is not enough, they want it all:

A hui on water has called on the Government to halt asset sales till it negotiates a deal recognising Maori rights and interests with a new pan-Maori body.

It has also urged Iwi to “stand down” from individual negotiations with the Government on the effect of the sale of shares on the state owned power companies on their  Treaty claims. The resolve to present a united front could throw the governments timetable for selling the SOE shares into turmoil.

The hui follows a Waitangi Tribunal report calling on the Government to delay the sale of shares in the State owned power companies till a way to recognise Maori rights and interests in water is agreed.

The tribunal also called for a national water hui, which the Government rejected.

As momentum behind the water issue grows today’s gathering turned into a hui of national proportions.

As well as Maori leaders, groups including Kohanga Reo and Maori incorporations are represented, and all political parties except National.

The Maori king closed the hui urging Maori to join forces in their fight over water rights.

This is nothing short of stand-over. Watch the video on the Stuff site and watch as speaker after speaker says that this will carry on and on and on.

Since this press release is form David Rankin I suspect it is satire, though with Maori claims these days I suspect it may not be. Still the parallels between water and wind are the same…unfortunately even if it is satire it is highly likely that some iwi (I Want It) out there will lodge a claim.

As the Government prepares to negotiate with Maori over ownership of rivers, a Waitangi Tribunal claim is being finalised for Maori to earn a dividend for the use of wind for commercial electricity generation.

Ngapuhi political commentator and Hone Heke Foundation chairman, David Rankin, has been approached by a cohort of hapu representatives to act as spokesperson for the claim.

“I’m not yet convinced about the full merits of the claim,” says Mr Rankin, “but in my preliminary discussions with the hapu representatives, they make some good points and I am hopeful that they will be able to get their claim finalised over the next few months.”

According to Mr Rankin, the planned claim will insist that a pan-tribal body be established to manage shares in commercial wind-generated electricity, and to exercise a casting vote on where wind turbines can be located.

Mr Rankin says that Maori entitlement to the wind can be justified under article two of the Treaty of Waitangi, which guarantees Maori full and exclusive ownership of all their properties. “Traditionally, the wind was regarded as a deity in Maori society, and Maori do not consider the Crown have the right to use it without Maori consent.”

Mr Rankin is encouraged by the recent Tribunal claim for water, and believes that the claim to wind will lead on to other areas of property rights such as aerospace.

UPDATE: It isn’t satire…David Rankin is deadly seriously…in a batshit crazy kind of way.

John Key has made it clear that the dopey “shares plus” idea of the Waitangi Tribunal is unworkable in law and in practice. But that doesn’t stop Maori advancing their greedy claims on anything that moves. It has always been about money for them, all the mumbo-jumbo about a connection with the land, and guardians of resources is a convenient cover for naked greed and feather-bedding for the bro-racracy.

The powerful Waikato-Tainui iwi may press for smaller tribes affected by the Mighty River sale to receive shares on credit until their Treaty claims are settled when the Government consults them on the partial sale of the company.

Prime Minister John Key said yesterday that the Government was postponing the sale plan until between March and June next year.

The Maori Council, which was threatening a court challenge to the sale plan, hailed the decision as a vindication of its claim to the Waitangi Tribunal.

But last night, it warned that the Government’s planned consultation with iwi affected by the Mighty River sale would not necessarily prevent a court challenge.

They are like the Mongrel Mob or Black Power doing standover in your driveway. If you pay they go away…for now…then come back repeatedly once they have established you willingness to submit to their standover. It never ends.

I suspect John Key has been clever in kicking this to touch for a few months, he meets the criteria the liberal courts will want for consultation and will deliver up asset sales anyway, with a good healthy dose of reality for the rest of New Zealand that caving in to standover is not good for the country.

I was on the Huddle last night with Larry Williams and Josie Pagani.

Our topics were:

• The government response to the Waitangi Tribunal report.
• Then we’ve got the Auckland Maori Statutory Board  for the Auckland council wanting to lots of pie in the sky things with ratepayers money.
• And last but not least, a free hit on Colin Craig and his Key is “too gay” pamphlets.

I am on the Huddle tonight at 1740 with Larry Williams and Josie Pagani.

Our topics will be:

• The government response to the Waitangi tribunal report.
• Then we’ve got the Auckland Maori Statutory Board  for the Auckland council wanting to lots of pie in the sky things with ratepayers money.
• And last but not least, a free hit on Colin Craig and his Key is “too gay” pamphlets.

You can listen online, and I will post the audio tomorrow morning as usual.