Latest news with #TePātiMāori
NZ Herald
a day ago
- Politics
- NZ Herald
Unlucky Luxon's popularity hits new low
A recent poll found 49% of New Zealanders have an unfavourable impression of Prime Minister Christopher Luxon. Photo / Mark Mitchell KEY FACTS Despite economic challenges, Christopher Luxon remains safe as National Party leader, but faces a difficult potential second term. According to this week's Freshwater Strategy-Post poll, Luxon is now as unpopular as Te Pāti Māori (TPM). The poll found that 49% of New Zealanders have an unfavourable impression
Scoop
2 days ago
- Politics
- Scoop
Te Pāti Māori Stands With The Cook Islands
Te Pāti Māori is calling out the deep hypocrisy of a government that insists on sovereign trade relationships while denying them to our Pacific whanaunga. While Prime Minister Christopher Luxon is in China forging trade agreements with Māori exporters, he is punishing the Cook Islands for doing the same. "This is not about diplomacy, it's about control. This government is using funding as a weapon against one of our closest whanaunga for exercising its own sovereignty' Te Pāti Māori Co-leader, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. 'The Cook Islands has a unique free association agreement with New Zealand. While they're self-governing, New Zealand provides defence and foreign affairs assistance when requested. Yet this aid relationship is now being weaponised as a tool of political obedience. "As Māori, our whakapapa binds us to the peoples of Te Moana-Nui-A-Kiwa. Our relationship with the Cook Islands is not one of dominance, it's one of shared ancestry, migration, and struggle. What this government is doing violates that sacred connection' said Ngarewa-Packer. Te Pāti Māori demands the government immediately reinstate the funding to the Cook Islands and publicly reaffirm its commitment to genuine free association and respectful relationships that treat each other as equals.
Scoop
2 days ago
- Politics
- Scoop
Govt Fuels Crisis By Scrapping 3500 Homes
Te Pāti Māori is condemning the coalition government's decision to halt thousands of state housing builds, and to sell off public land, calling it a direct attack on vulnerable communities. 'Homelessness in Aotearoa is surging under this coalition government and today they have announced that they are gutting 3500 new homes form the housing stock' said Te Pāti Māori MP for Tāmaki Makaurau and spokesperson for Housing, Takutai Tarsh Kemp. 'This government is obsessed with making sure the numbers on their account books look good rather than the number of people on the streets. 'They have no care in the world for those thousands of people who have no shelter over their heads because this government have made them homeless, have cut their benefits, and have done nothing to address the cost of living. 'This is austerity in a nutshell. Punishing the poor, Māori, women, and other minorities for the mistakes of the rich. 'They are gutting the housing stock, sanctioning those on benefits, slashing pay equity claims, and cutting nearly 20,000 jobs from the public sector. 'This government is intentional about manipulating the economy whilst the people suffer. The livelihoods of the people in this country are more than just an expense' concluded Kemp. Te Pāti Māori will commit to building more social housing, we will ensure that all new homes are accessible, and we will treat housing as a right, not a business. If we were in charge, all tangata whenua and tangata tiriti would have access to warm, dry homes.
RNZ News
2 days ago
- Politics
- RNZ News
More than half of voters back proposed penalty, or harsher, for Te Pāti Māori MPs, poll suggests
Te Pāti Māori MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipa-Clarke at Parliament, after the first reading of the Treaty Principles Bill in November. Photo: RNZ/ Samuel Rillstone More than half of voters consider the proposed penalty for three Te Pāti Māori MPs over the Treaty Principles haka to be either appropriate or too lenient, polling shows, ahead of the debate on the matter resuming on Thursday afternoon. That debate - which had potential to become a filibuster - was cut short when Leader of the House Chris Bishop unexpectedly postponed it last month. The Privileges Committee - which recommends punishments for breaking Parliament's rules - proposed a 21-day suspension for the co-leaders Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, and seven days for MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke. It means no pay, no ability to vote on legislation, and no presence in Parliament for the duration. The latest RNZ-Reid Research poll asked for voters' views on whether the punishment fit the crime. Overall, more people - 37.0 percent said it was "about right"; while 36.2 percent said it was "too harsh"; 17.2 percent said "too lenient", and 9.6 percent said they did not know: a 54.2 percent majority then backing the punishment or thought it should be stronger, in line with the coalition parties' view. The result puts opposition parties - which all labelled the three-week ban disproportionate - in a difficult position. Broken down by voting preferences, more than half of Labour's supporters (51.2 percent) backed leader Chris Hipkins' view the suspensions were too harsh, but a sizeable number thought the punishment fair (29.8 percent) or too lax (8 percent). Greens supporters were more convinced with three quarters (75.3 percent) calling the punishment too harsh, but still 12.4 percent said it was about right and 3.8 percent too lenient. Surprisingly, 9 percent of Te Pāti Māori's supporters also labelled it too lenient, although a clear 80.8 percent called it too harsh, with just 6.2 percent saying it was about right. The results for the coaltion voters were more predictable, far more National, ACT and NZ First supporters saying it was too lenient, compared to those calling it too harsh. But Speaker Gerry Brownlee, of the National Party, appears to be in the latter camp - he called the punishments "very severe" and "unprecedented" when setting down the original debate on Parliament's calendar. He pointed out no MP found guilty of contempt had previously been suspended for more than three days. The Privileges Committee recommendation was also only backed by coalition parties, despite convention dictating the MPs on the committee should aim for consensus. Those responding to RNZ's questions may have known these facts from media reporting - or they may not. Bishop's postponement of the debate took the teeth out of opposition criticisms the government wanted to keep the punished MPs from commenting on the Budget - as it turned out, the co-leaders did not speak in the Budget debate anyway. Budget delivered, MPs return to the debating chamber to discuss the punishment after Question Time today. The length of the debate rests ultimately in Brownlee's hands, and he has signalled a willingness to let it continue until all views were thoroughly aired. Whether parties actually want to filibuster - given the poll, and the risk of voters' patience for politicians talking about themselves wearing thin - is far from certain. Hipkins says a few of his MPs will speak, but they will not be running down the clock with endless speeches. The Greens' co-leaders have said they think the MPs should not be suspended, and they plan to scrutinise the decision "to the highest degree". But Te Pāti Māori is eager to put the matter to bed. "Just got to hurry up and get it over and done with and let's sort it out, otherwise we'll be hanging around here waiting and waiting and waiting. Just, they've made their verdict - let's just get it done," co-leader Rawiri Waititi said. This poll of 1008 people was conducted by Reid Research, using quota sampling and weighting to ensure a representative cross section by age, gender and geography. The poll was conducted through online interviews between 23-30 May 2025 and has a maximum margin of error of +/- 3.1 percent at a 95 percent confidence level. The report is available here .
Otago Daily Times
3 days ago
- Politics
- Otago Daily Times
Letters to the Editor: English, Māori and the DCC
Dunedin City Council. PHOTO: GERARD O'BRIEN Today's Letters to the Editor from readers cover topics including the scope of the new English curriculum, the "disgraceful behaviour" of Te Pāti Māori, and matters for the DCC. Curriculum three bags full of the proverbial The report "Scope of new English curriculum scary" (ODT 14.6.25) is itself scary. The first item to spring to mind is grammar. "The explicit teaching of grammar we think is really useful [gosh], but we are concerned that we don't have time to upskill our teachers in that space." We have, it seems, teachers of a language who lack proficiency in the grammar of that language. I can attest to this, having spent some years dealing with university students who didn't know what a part of speech was, who couldn't parse a sentence and certainly couldn't correct a mistake because they had no clue about what was wrong. You can't fix a machine if you don't know how it works, though knowing that 16-year-olds have a grasp of the Oxford comma is a comfort. Then there is the literature. "The insistence on Shakespeare and a 19th century work for senior students seemed Eurocentric and the absence of any reference to the Treaty of Waitangi was odd." Firstly, there appears to be a belief that, culturally at least, the world ends somewhere about the low-tide mark. Still, if the National Library can dispose of thousands of books because they are not NZ-focused or read very often, one can understand a degree of myopia in lesser mortals. Secondly, of the various periods of English literature since the 15th century, the dramatic literature of the Elizabethan-Jacobean period and the prose of the post-Romantic have been perhaps the most universally influential of any. For good or ill they reflect the philosophical, social and political forces that shape our lives today. To deprive intelligent teenagers of the experience because they don't on the face of it tell "our stories" is irresponsible. Thirdly, and here I put my head on the block, what on earth does the Treaty of Waitangi have to do with all this? Harry Love North East Valley It's a disgrace There has been much criticism of the so-called "disgraceful behaviour" of the three Te Pāti Māori politicians for their haka in Parliament. Apparently, the correct behaviour Māori should adopt, when again faced with the threat of losing mana they have gained in recent years, is to accept their fate with quiet resignation. The same scenario is being played out in Israel/Palestine where the outraged Israeli colonialists are taking thousands of Palestinian lives in retaliation for the surprise October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas in response to decades of severe oppression. Disruption in our Parliament is regrettable but the dominant colonialist ruling parties of this country need to take a long hard look at how they have contributed to the strong push back reaction by Te Pāti Māori. Also, some reflection by these ruling politicians themselves on their own questionable behaviour would not go amiss. For example, Shane Jones' labelling of senior members of the judiciary as communists would be an excellent place to start. Also, Chris Bishop's recent outburst at the Aotearoa Music Awards was a revelation of this government's fervent belief in their colonialist superiority. Jenny McNamara Gore Real cause of mayhem Gerrard Eckhoff is at it again (Letters 7.6.25). With regard to the current massacre still going on in Palestine and the cause for this can he please read and contemplate the letters of the Otago Staff for Palestine group and Sam Bosshard (ODT 26.5.25), and Phillipa Jamieson (28.5.25) re the real cause of the mayhem in Palestine. Karl and Leoni Schmidt Helensburgh Council should only consider relevant matters Last week the ODT reported dissent between the mayor and councillors regarding the appropriate consultation on the city's next "kill some car parks without due regard to affected businesses" project. I believe staff are to produce yet another report. In Saturday's paper Cr Garey is reportedly going to urge an elected committee of council to support action against Israel. No four-month consultation is proposed with all the various experts and affiliations with different points of view. To allow equal and unemotional decision making would require senior staff to perhaps start a separate department to monitor all the world's troubles — Gaza, Israel, Ukraine, India, US ad infinitum Don't forget the lowly ratepayer who has to pay for said research which will neither change nor solve anything. I believe Dunedin City councillors' first and main priority should be to combine their skills and concentrate on things that they were elected to properly research and influence such as pipes, paving, playgrounds, and relevant community infrastructure. They must work together to limit our indebtedness and continuing rates increases. Peter Ashcroft Mosgiel Address Letters to the Editor to: Otago Daily Times, PO Box 517, 52-56 Lower Stuart St, Dunedin. Email: editor@
