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Another shooting in NZ

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Author Topic: Another shooting in NZ  (Read 182 times)
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reality
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« on: January 29, 2016, 06:37:08 pm »

...its ok..it was only our alternative govt shooting itself in the foot.....really doing their best to lose the next election...and so early  Shocked
..this must be Littles cunning plan to get closer to business...as he says is his aim Roll Eyes


NZ exporters concerned after Labour's TPP talks

11:04 AM Friday Jan 29, 2016

New Zealand exporters say they are concerned that a political consensus on trade has been lost after the Labour Party came out against the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

ExportNZ executive director Catherine Beard said in the past exporters had been able to rely on the support of both main political parties on trade.

"This has helped our exporters succeed in new markets and earn valuable revenue for New Zealand," she said.

"Exporters are now feeling some dismay at the thought that our future trade prospects could be limited by political disagreement."

Ms Beard said it was difficult to understand why Labour supported the China free trade agreement but not the TPP, "when they are similar in all major respects". She described Labour's position on the TPP as a step backwards for the country's export competitiveness.

Labour Party leader Andrew Little confirmed earlier this week that his party would oppose the 12-nation trade deal because it would undermine New Zealand's sovereignty.

The party's Maori caucus was also concerned that the trade deal could affect the Government's Treaty of Waitangi obligations.

Maori Development spokesman Kelvin Davis today said that Maori opposition to the historic trade deal was growing by the day.

He said the Iwi Leaders Forum had come out against the deal after meeting with Trade Minister Todd McClay.

"Maori leaders, academics, clinicians, the CTU Runanga and the Maori Women's Welfare League are firmly against the deal. Ngati Whatua, Ngati Paoa, Ngati Te Ata and Ngati Whanaunga each confirmed they would not perform the powhiri for the signing of the TPPA."

Labour's position on the TPP has not been unanimously backed by its caucus.

Foreign affairs spokesman David Shearer is facing censure for speaking in support of the TPP in an interview with the Herald earlier this week.

Labour's trade spokesman Phil Goff has also publicly backed the TPP, but Mr Little said he had given permission to Mr Goff to take his own position because of his long-standing connection to the agreement which he initiated while he was Trade Minister.

- NZ Herald
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reality
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« Reply #1 on: January 30, 2016, 05:30:25 am »

"Unless Labour can make a better case for its outrage, its gamble to oppose the TPP could backfire."

...what ..it didnt already Shocked


Audrey Young: Labour leader gambles in opposing trade deal

5:00 AM Saturday Jan 30, 2016Add a comment

Anti-TPP policy is strongly favoured by unions and caucus left.

Three guesses who Labour's trade spokesman is ...

David Shearer? No, foreign affairs (at least he still was last night).

Grant Robertson? No, finance.

Phil Goff? No, defence.

All three having been talking trade this week, but no.

Three more guesses.

David Parker? No, he was it when David Cunliffe was leader.

Clayton Cosgrove? No, he was it when David Shearer was leader.

Maryan Street? No, she was it when Phil Goff was leader, and is out of Parliament anyway.

Get the picture?

No wonder Labour's messages have been anything but clear.


It is in fact Dunedin MP and former reverend David Clark, and has been since last November in Andrew Little's first-anniversary reshuffle.

But the Trans-Pacific Partnership is far too major an issue at present to be handled by Clark.

For the next few months, Little himself and Robertson will be de facto trade spokesmen.

On National's side, too, Steven Joyce is doing the heavy lifting instead of the new Trade Minister, Todd McClay.

This past week, without doubt, has been Little's worst week as leader.

It began with uncertainty over Labour's TPP position and ended in disunity.

I wrote last week that this will be the year we see whether Little has merely papered over the cracks in Labour or if he has plastered over them to make them watertight.

I didn't realise we'd get the answer so quickly. It's definitely a paper job so far.

It has hardly been an ideal run-up to his state-of-the nation speech tomorrow in Albert Park, Auckland.

Labour says the TPP undermines New Zealand's sovereignty.

Goff's interview with me undermines Labour's arguments.

Little has made a huge call in recommending to his caucus that the party should oppose the TPP and the signing next week.

It has been a policy, however, that may have been hard to resist.

It was strongly supported by the unions that elected Little leader, and by the caucus left that wanted Robertson to be leader.

It is an issue that pits Little against John Key on a trust-me basis.
It is an issue that pits Little against John Key on a trust-me basis when Little has yet to build up his own bank of political capital.

It means his party has ended the bipartisan approach to free trade that has effectively operated since the fourth Labour Government started removing tariffs.

Labour has taken a gamble in dispensing with the prevailing orthodoxy.

With four of the last six Labour leaders supporting TPP, it makes Little's sales job to the public all the harder.

But Little and his advisers must have calculated that Labour will make net gains from its new position.

It's very hard to see how, but there are some possibilities.

The campaign against TPP is not just around the signing in Auckland next week; it will run the course of the parliamentary process for the national interest analysis (NIA) and related legislation.

It is clearly not just a campaign against TPP; it is a campaign against National, using TPP as the totem.

The aim of the campaign is not just to highlight the flaws in TPP but to use it as a rallying point throughout the year, to build a movement against the Government and its friends in big business.

By joining the Greens and New Zealand First on TPP, Labour will cement its relationships with prospective coalition partners.

Labour needs to become the natural ally of New Zealand First to regain the Government benches.

The campaign won't stop the TPP laws being passed in New Zealand - law changes which will take effect only if and when TPP enters into force in two years.

But if it is not passed in the United States this year, the left in New Zealand will be able to claim a victory of sorts.

So just how outrageously does the TPP undermine New Zealand's sovereignty? Not much, according to Goff.

All international agreements, including New Zealand's membership of the International Labour Organisation and the World Trade Organisation, place restrictions on members and the ultimate sovereignty, to withdraw membership, is retained.

Trade deals are about liberalisation. They don't say: "We want freer trade and freer investment but, by the way, we reserve the right for our opponents to reverse that in a couple of years."

Labour's two main objections are that there is no special provision for it to impose a ban on house sales to foreigners and that overseas companies and governments will be able to make written submissions on proposed laws or regulations that affect them.

As Goff pointed out this week, it would have been better to have the exception on house sales.

But was it really reckless negligence not to include an exception that has never been part of New Zealand law?

As Goff pointed out, a future Labour Government will still be able to stop foreigners from buying houses but it will have to do it with existing law, eg, applying a tax of any amount on foreigners buying houses in New Zealand - 100 per cent shoulddo it.

And in fact there is nothing in the TPP that could stop Labour passing any law it wanted. It would have to face the consequences - a possible dispute with a disappointed house buyer.

The concerns Little and Robertson have expressed about the possible influence of outsiders on New Zealand's laws or regulations is harder to fathom from Labour.

It is straight out of the Evil Multinationals and US Bullies chapter of the Alliance manifesto.

It chooses to see New Zealand as a potential victim when it comes to having to consult over laws affecting other parties or allowing submissions to be made rather than, for example, an opportunity for the likes of Fonterra or New Zealand to oppose the protectionist subsidies in the next US farm bill.

It is not unusual for a country that is making law changes that affect other countries to consult.

We would expect to be treated this way if another country was making laws that affect New Zealand.

Being required to consult is not a loss of sovereignty.

Unless Labour can make a better case for its outrage, its gamble to oppose the TPP could backfire.

- NZ Herald
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Alicat
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« Reply #2 on: January 31, 2016, 09:05:46 am »

Yet more of this ....

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reality
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« Reply #3 on: February 05, 2016, 03:08:03 pm »

..maori shoot themselves in the foot ...again...lower their significance..again Roll Eyes

..get used to it because elements in maoridom will never be happy until they run the show..it will never happen but they are going to have fun trying Tongue...meanwhile the taxpayers pay Shocked


Claire Trevett: PM's absence devalues day

9:35 AM Friday Feb 5, 201643 comments

Soon after Prime Minister John Key announced he would not be going to Waitangi, two Maori wandered across Te Tii Marae slowly waving a United Tribes flag chanting, "John Key abandons Waitangi. Dead man walking."

That may be the view of those at the marae, but Mr Key's decision not to attend after a week of to-ing and fro-ing and changing rules and conflicting messages will be welcomed by many who could not see why he should put himself through ritual humiliation at Te Tii every year.

Mr Key's decision is understandable. There is only so long a Prime Minister can sit and look as if he is at someone else's beck and call.

But those with a sense of the importance of Waitangi Day will feel some regret and disappointment - as they did when former Prime Minister Helen Clark decided she would not put the office of Prime Minister through such an event again. For Key to take such a step is even more astonishing, given he attacked Clark's decision.


In 1995, the formal ceremonies at Waitangi were cancelled because of protests over the Government's fiscal envelope. This time it was something far less worthy - bickering over whether the Prime Minister could discuss the issues of the day. Te Tii has always been the place for that. Marae elders disagreed in the past, but praised Key for having the guts to front up anyway. Former Prime Minister Jenny Shipley returns to Waitangi every year and is warmly welcomed.

Key hoped to go somewhere with a "more festive atmosphere".

More festive maybe, but more meaningful for the leader of the nation? No.

Debate on this article is now closed.

- NZ Herald
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Alicat
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« Reply #4 on: February 05, 2016, 03:38:28 pm »

Rather a generalisation - that implies it is ALL Maori rather than a few. I think it was TWO that were seen wandering across Te Tii Marae.
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reality
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« Reply #5 on: February 05, 2016, 03:49:29 pm »

It is maori leadership in Northland that has "devalued the day"

...they are the people charged by maori generally with representing maori..unless of course maoridom does not operate with a democratic process....but I am happy that waitangi day is not as likely to make world news that the pm will not be attending..its just an embarrassment to the country to see people behaving in such a primative manor  Roll Eyes

...but kj may still get to cast his eye over some prime buttocks which he will make him very....uhmm..happy Tongue

..I have heard that "Rent-a-protester"are very busy this year...offering a very good service..and the crime rates go down while they are busy Tongue
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reality
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« Reply #6 on: February 06, 2016, 08:00:39 am »

"Despite the fact that Labour leader Andrew Little appeared before an Australian select committee to give evidence on an immigration law affecting New Zealanders, one of his primary objections to the TPP is that it gives other countries the right to make written submissions on new laws affecting them."

..yup...hes confused Wink


Audrey Young: Harawira and Co. do heavy lifting on TPP

5:00 AM Saturday Feb 6, 2016

Then we saw Harawira's clumsy over-reach in a bid to debate TPP with Key at Waitangi. Photo / Christine Cornege

When today's TPP protesters are sitting round singing songs of struggle and reminiscing about where they were at the battle of February 4, they will claim a series of victories.

First, they mustered a decent sized march. Not as big as the one against mining on conservation estate, or the foreshore and seabed, but a respectably large march in Auckland, undoubtedly bolstered by Labour's formal opposition to the deal.

Next, they shut down the Auckland traffic system with their carefully executed occupations akin to strategic disruptions during the Springbok tour.

Not much fun if you were in the traffic but it was very cleverly done using a small group for maximum disruption.

Third, they forced a celebration lunch by TPP ministers at Villa Maria winery after the signing of the agreement to be abandoned because of security concerns.


(That one will probably get its own folk song written about it).

But the biggest victory of all, that they forced the Prime Minister to abandon his trip to Waitangi to mark Waitangi Day.

It will become legend that John Key bottled out of Te Tii because he wasn't willing to face the opposition to TPP from Maori.

From their point of view, these past few days have been causes of celebration.

In the longer term, John Key has had more to celebrate about the opposition in the past few weeks.

The linkage of TPP critics to Treaty of Waitangi activists settled the issue for many TPP doubters - the sort who think: "If Hone Harawira thinks the TPP is bad for the Treaty of Waitangi, it must be good."

Then we saw Harawira's clumsy over-reach in a bid to debate TPP with Key at Waitangi.

That, combined with the circus at Te Tii over whether the Prime Minister could say anything about TPP, resulted in a silent chorus of Kiwis saying "don't go".

Linking the Treaty to TPP has been a disaster for the left.

Even in his ignorance about what the TPP says, Harawira has helped Key.

Harawira went on RNZ's Morning Report on January 21 to claim Maori were near unanimous in not wanting the TPP to be signed on the basis there was "no mention" of Maori in the TPP, there was "no mention" of the Treaty of Waitangi in the TPP and there was "no mention" of the protections for Maori through the Waitangi Tribunal in the TPP.

The fact that he was wrong and the reverse is true did not change his opposition; he just found other reasons to oppose it, as did Labour when the final deal met almost all of its bottom lines.

Labour has decided to rest its opposition on issues of sovereignty and democracy.

Despite the fact that Labour leader Andrew Little appeared before an Australian select committee to give evidence on an immigration law affecting New Zealanders, one of his primary objections to the TPP is that it gives other countries the right to make written submissions on new laws affecting them.

[The Government] has been content to think that most voters won't care about TPP and will simply be reassured by Key.
Labour is calling that undue influence by other countries in New Zealand's democratic processes; others might call it common sense or natural justice.

TPP critics have bemoaned the fact that there is no provision in the trade deal giving Maori the right to have a say on New Zealand law.

That is because it has never been in doubt.

It not only preserves the right of the Government to give Maori more "favourable treatment" to meet its obligations under the Treaty of Waitangi, it will require the Government to address findings of the Waitangi Tribunal in the Wai 262 claim, as regards intellectual property relating to plants, within three years of the TPP entering into force.

The TPP critics are hardened and experienced campaigners.

Until their own-goals of the past few weeks, they have been effective - they could not complain they don't get their fair share of media coverage, including in the Herald.

They have largely controlled the public discourse, even when many of their fears have not been realised over the journey of the TPP.

We heard that TPP talks would collapse and they didn't; we heard that Barack Obama would never get fast-track authority from Congress and he did; we heard that TPP could destroy Pharmac and it doesn't; we heard its investor-state provisions would provide big business with big payouts in secret tribunals - and instead the rules have been tightened and they have been opened up to the public.

As the US Trade Representative Mike Froman said on Thursday, they share concerns about being sued and are clearly motivated to close loopholes.

The TPP critics have been on campaign footing from the outset. Opposition has been unrelenting and co-ordinated.

The Government hasn't.

Instead it has relied on three things to sell the deal: the trust voters have in John Key's assurances, any assurances; literature produced by Ministry of Trade officials; and a hope that others with the most to gain from the deal, such as business, agriculture, and regional New Zealand, will go in to bat for the deal.

The Government has been let down by the business community whose response has been nothing short of pathetic. A letter here, a press release there.

New Trade Minister Todd McClay is doing a reasonable job for someone who has been in it for less than two months.

But the Government could be forced to rethink its strategy and enlist more ministers into action.

A letter released to the Weekend Herald by McClay on consultation with Maori is instructive, if late in the process.

A speech by Treaty Minister Chris Finlayson on the finer points of TPP and Treaty could be enlightening.

But instead of co-ordinating a campaign, it has been content to think that most voters won't care about TPP and will simply be reassured by Key in his weekly media spots.

The good news for the Government is that Hone Harawira and his friends just made its sales job a lot easier.

- NZ Herald
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