Māori Caucus need to fire themselves!

Opinion Piece

8th December 2022

Brian Tamaki

Why is everyone so afraid of Nanaia Mahuta, Willie Jackson and this Māori Caucus?

Some jokingly refer to them as the ‘first fifteen’. If that’s the case, they’d have to be the lamest team to ever take the field, with so many dropped balls and very few wins. It's time they were subbed off the field.

I’ve been calling this Māori Caucus out for a long time, along with their mates in high places, as they are the Māori Elite who are lining their own pockets and give no regard to everyday Māori who are struggling.

Under Labour, Māori have never had so much government funding...yet very little of this money has reached grassroots Māori. This Māori caucus has received $1 billion every year over the past 5 years. That’s more than the collective Treaty settlements to date. The Māori economy is now worth a staggering $70 billion. Who is benefiting from this? No one seems to have a straight answer. It’s all hidden under a cloud of secrecy. To put that in perspective, there are 775,836 Māori in New Zealand. If this Māori economy was divided up, that would be $90,225 per Māori. Yet unbelievably Māori are the worse off they have ever been across all statistics...health, education, poverty, homelessness, justice, housing, crime and more.

I see the fallout every day with Māori families, who have been let down by government, as we work to restore them through our self-funded ManUp programmes. This government is harming Māori, more than they’re helping them.

What a complete joke Kelvyn Davis’ $98 million prison reformation plan has been that he rolled out in 2019 around the same time he banned the ManUp programme from entering prisons to help men for free. His plan was supposed to reduce reoffending and incarceration. The latest stats reveal that the prison population in NZ has decreased by 24% under Labour, while violent crime has increased by 21%. Yet another dropped ball by this Māori Caucus.

Nanaia Mahuta’s underhanded dealings should have sent her packing long before now, as too the rest of the Māori Caucus’ behaviour. Never has there been a more unscrupulous lot.

It’s time to call out this rort that is the Māori caucus. What a joke!

The Three Waters and entrenchment debacle...co-governance...changing the name of New Zealand to Aotearoa...none of it is urgently needed by everyday Māori who are struggling to put food on their tables and a roof over their head. There are way more pressing issues this Māori caucus should be prioritising.

This Māori caucus should do what is honourable and stand themselves down, as their report card shows they’ve not delivered for Māori.

It’s time to bring through genuine Māori in politics who actually care about the people, and who know how to bring about transformation that really makes a difference.

Freedoms New Zealand will provide such champions for Māori.

LET’S MAKE NZ GREAT AGAIN!

LET’S MAKE NZ ONE AGAIN!