Politicking Is Only a by-Product

Lindsay Mitchell has been researching and commenting on welfare since 2001. Many of her articles have been published in mainstream media and she has appeared on radio,tv and before select committees discussing issues relating to welfare.

Henry Cooke from Stuff says:

ACT voters are definitely more likely to be susceptible to racialised politics than the average voter.

It contains a odd word. “Susceptible”.

In the context of the piece, the word “susceptible” implies that as an ACT voter I am being manipulated by the party.

Quite the contrary. I am relieved that there are some MPs in the house who share the same views as I do.

Yes, politicians play at politics. That’s their job. To get elected to implement or protect the ideas of those who vote for them.

But the politicking is only a by-product of any issue that causes deep division.

Cooke can write his smug opinion pieces framing He Puapua as a mere plaything the right have latched hungrily onto – despite some of what it contains being already under way. He fails to mention the compulsory history curriculum demanded by the report. Or the UN submission confirming New Zealand wants to lead the world in enshrining the rights of indigenous people.

In the first half of last century I would have fought for the rights of Maori to be treated equally under the law. There were instances when this did not happen and that was wrong.

But to go beyond individuals having equal rights – for instance He Puapua clearly states that in some cases Maori would have greater say over resources – is dangerous and unworkable. It also invokes a chill about collectivism or tribalism which will not serve Maori equally.

We need to heal the division of the past (why the Waitangi Tribunal existed before it moved into the area of policy advocacy) and move forward together all sharing the same democratic framework.

I can’t remember a time when this simple idea felt more remote.

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