Hone Harawira takes on the Maori Party...

Hone Harawira takes on the Maori Party...




Mana Party leader Hone Harawira has threatened electoral war against the Maori Party after claiming it broke a deal struck with him when he resigned from its ranks in February.



Maori Party president Pem Bird last night confirmed the party had resolved to stand a candidate against Hone Harawira should he call a by-election in Te Tai Tokerau.



Mr Harawira today said that went against an agreement brokered between him and the Maori Party before his resignation from the party, where he said he would not field candidates in Maori electorates in return for the party not standing against him in Te Tai Tokerau.



The deal was now off and Mana was considering standing candidates in every Maori electorate, Mr Harawira said.



"Despite massive pressure by many people to put candidates up against the Maori Party MPs, I have resisted the temptation because I believe it is important to stand behind a promise you make.



"Mana accepts that the agreement is effectively redundant because of the Maori Party's actions. Whether Mana will now offer a strong candidate in every Maori electorate at the general election will be a matter we will determine after the by-election."



He said he would strongly contest the Te Tai Tokerau seat against any challengers and painted the Maori Party as a potential ally of new Act leader Don Brash.



"The voters of Te Tai Tokerau have two clear choices; an un-named candidate whose party is happy to join Don Brash, or a candidate who has already stood up to Brash and has always shown a commitment to Maori rights.



"I look forward to seeing what choice the voters of Te Tai Tokerau make."



A Maori Party spokeswoman said Mr Harawira was the one who broke his deal with the party when he announced he may force a by-election in Te Tai Tokerau.



The deal included an agreement Mr Harawira would remain an independent MP up until the November general election, she said.



Mr Bird said it was up to the Mana Party whether it wanted to contest the other Maori electorates. "We are prepared for any eventuality."



Maori Party leader Tariana Turia said she believed the abusive behaviour directed at her by Mr Harawira's mother and sister Titewhai and Hinewhare Harawira in a hui at Waitangi's Te Tii Marae showed they were nervous about Hone's chances.



"Otherwise why would you come to a hui that wasn't your hui, threaten people who were attending by writing their names down and being rude and abusive?"


The Labour Party, if it decides to stand a candidate, could gain from the controversy - they could come through the middle and take back the seat they lost a few years ago. Labour always takes a majority of party votes anyway.



Acknowledgements:  NZ Herald staff

Maori statistics in the criminal system...

Maori statistics  in the criminal justice system...




It's being suggested racial profiling could be behind a disproportionate number of Maori in the criminal justice system


It's being suggested racial profiling could be behind a disproportionate number of Maori in the criminal justice system.



Rethinking Crime and Punishment is calling for a research institute to be established to look into why the system is dominated by Maori.



Director Kim Workman says Maori are imprisoned at a rate of over seven times that of non-Maori, and are 11 times more likely to be refused bail.



"That should be telling us that something is wrong with the way the criminal justice system is administered," Mr Workman says.



He says there's been little action taken by any government to look into what's behind the statistics, and if we could work out what the causes are, the number of Maori going through the system could be reduced.



According to Mr Workman, there's evidence of racial bias towards Maori, as they are more likely to be stopped and questioned by police.



"Because they're stopped and questioned more, are more likely to find out stuff, like they haven't got a current warrant of fitness, or their seatbelt's not properly fixed. And so they end up getting charged more.



"That leads to a deterioration of relationships, and can actually end up with some of those kids who might have avoided having a criminal record, getting one." Mr Workman says.


KR says: There may be some truth, but the facts will determine that whatever the reason New Zealanders of Maori descent get into trouble with the law, use drugs and abuse alcohol. They head statistics concerning gang activity in NZ too. Some will say they may have that addictive gene, and warrior behaviour. Actually it is a load of baloney - there is nothing brave in how young Maori, mainly, abuse women and children and kill babies!

Acknowledgements: © 2011 NZCity, NewsTalkZB

The NZ National Party show their true colours, tinted with racism...

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The NZ National Party show their true colours, tinted with racism. The Tuhoe claim for the Urewera National Park has been rejected by John Key - might get part management of the lands?

The credibility of the so-called Maori Party has to be questioned too!  How can they continue to prop up these racists in the National Party?

Ngapuhi should also get the message - they will get  nowhere with their inverted racist claims as well.

There is only one nation - New Zealand - and only one New Zealand Government. Its just the National and Act parties which are so rotten!

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Foreshore and Seabed attitudes hardening. Really?...

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Foreshore and Seabed attitudes hardening.  Really?


"Hone Harawira, Maori Party MP, says proposed customary rights which are determined by Crown are hardly what Maori want.



Maori attitudes towards the Government's foreshore and seabed proposals may be hardening if feedback given to Maori Party MP Hone Harawira is anything to go by.



The major elements of proposals being discussed include vesting the zone as a public domain and allowing Maori to go through the courts to establish customary title.



Last month Maori Party co-leader Pita Sharples spoke positively about how customary title could work for and potentially be accepted by, iwi.



"If they get customary title basically, they've got the run of the roost over all decision of occupations and control over the beach."



However, MP Hone Harawira, says Maori he has spoken to makes it clear that Maori want property title resolved in the final legislation.



"As long as those customary rights can be determined by the Crown and extinguished by the Crown, then they are hardly the customary rights that Maori want anywhere in the country."



Consultation on the foreshore and seabed proposals is due to finish at the end of this month."



KR's Opinion:





The question that should be asked is: Which Maori attitudes are hardening?  Nobody should own land below the high water mark. The majority of Maori live away from their home maraes and wouldn't be regularly involved in their affairs. It is the Maori Party, which has a minority of the total Maori vote, that is pushing the Foreshore and Seabed Act change. Maori do not have the legal right to ownership of the F&S. Maori are not indigenous to New Zealand; they are the first immigrants to this country. Maori are entitled to continued customary usage and perhaps a role as guardian and caretaker of the lands therein. Non-Maori are also legally entitled to access to the beaches and coasts that they have enjoyed since 1840 as well.

It is the State not the so-called Crown,  that should own and mange the Foreshore and Seabed. The public domain is a legally wishy washy sort of title for the land below the high water mark in my opinion.







Acknowledgements: © 2010 NZCity, NewsTalkZB