The idiom “foxes in the henhouse” goes back at least as far as the 1580s. It describes a set of circumstances in which someone who should not be trusted has been chosen to protect someone or oversee a situation. The choice involves someone directly unsuitable for the task, such as choosing a bank robber to guard a bank. You are probably starting to get the picture regarding the Labour Party Maori Caucus.
The Maori Caucus MPs in this government are behaving like predators loose among the prey. They have been allowed so much power it is akin to putting foxes in the henhouse. The two leading foxes are without doubt Willie Jackson and Nanaia Mahuta. These two have important roles in Cabinet. Jackson is Minister of Maori Development and Mahuta is the Associate Minister. She also holds, as we know only too well, the Local Government portfolio. In my view, these two are behaving in ways which are hostile to the kind of democracy we believe in.
Jackson gave a bizarre interview a couple of weeks ago on Q+A, appearing with David Seymour. It was a big mistake on the part of Jackson to front with Seymour as on the rational front one is not comparing apples with apples. Jackson, like many of his caucus colleagues, has a lot to say, mostly incoherently. According to Jackson, “democracy has changed.” What is that even supposed to mean? Jackson was asked but couldn’t say. To me, it has sinister implications for anyone not of Maori extraction.
Jackson can’t define democracy because the dictionary definition of the word doesn’t suit his narrative. Put simply, his form of democracy is the tail wagging the dog. When it comes to his idea of co-governance the same applies: the tail wags the dog. This is not democracy as we know it and not democracy as we want it. Jackson is trying to implement his own agenda, which is anything but democracy. He is doing this through the power of numbers in the Maori Caucus and is taking advantage of a weak party leader. Either that or it is at Ardern’s behest.
Jackson is in the henhouse, he would have you believe, fighting to get more money for, and to improve the lot of, his people. How successful has he been? Not very, if the facts and figures are to be believed. Unsurprisingly, that’s par for the course. Maori are consistently used by Labour as voting fodder. History shows they have fared much better under National governments, both in terms of Treaty settlements and in trying to improve their lot in life. Labour, on the other hand, are more than happy to have them rely on welfare handouts.
The desire for a Maori Health Authority is nothing more than a means to extract even more money from the taxpayer. Maori health for Maori, if in fact it would work, could have been done from within the Department of Health with the same results. Setting up a separate entity with hundreds more civil servants won’t do anything to further improve the health outcomes of Maori.
Mahuta is ruffling even more feathers in the henhouse. For starters, she’s removing councils’ water assets which are owned by the ratepayers. Councils will lose control of these to four regional bodies with iwi input. This is nothing more than a back door means to involve Maori in ownership of water, something they have long argued for. The evidence for this is, even though the large majority of councils are against Three Waters, Mahuta will ram it through the House after a sham consultation process.
Another definition of fox in the henhouse is “Someone who will or intends to exploit or manipulate something, some place or someone for their own personal gain”. In Mahuta’s case, it has become a matter of public record that her family appear to have benefited from her ministerial portfolios. It transpires that her husband and first cousin, William Gannin Ormsby, a director and sole shareholder of Ka Awatea Services Limited:
- Works with local government and central government
- Finds business opportunities for Maori
- Advises on regulatory functions
- 2 family members, Tamoko Ormsby and Waimirirangi Ormsby, also Directors of Ka Awatea, part authorised He Puapua
- William, Tamoko and Waimirirangi were appointed to an expert panel on Waste Strategy for NZ.
Mahuta’s sister, Tipa Mahuta, seems to have profited also:
- Co-chair of Maori Advisory Group, part of 3 Waters
- Co-chair of Waikato River Authority
- Co-chair of Maori Health Authority
- Member of Waikato Regional Council
- Member of Te Maruata, a subcommittee of LGNZ, which advises on local government policies and legislation.
Before going any further it is worth remembering that John Key relieved Judith Collins of her portfolios due to a possible conflict of interest with her husband’s involvement in Oravida. So far, from Ardern and her Government, it appears that the approach is ‘there’s nothing to see here’. According to a NZ Herald article, the contracts awarded to family members are worth $90,000. In the same article, a spokesperson for Minister Mahuta said, “The Minister has had no involvement in the appointment of family members.”
Therefore are we, the public, who apparently reside at the thick (mentally) end of town, supposed to see no conflict of interest at all? Never mind foxes in the henhouse; pigs are now flying past the window.
To even try to insinuate there is no conflict of interest beggars belief. I call on either Christopher Luxon or David Seymour to demand an enquiry into how these family members obtained all these positions. Most are related directly to Mahuta’s ministerial portfolios. As Winston Peters points out, accusations of nepotism must be addressed.
It is becoming increasingly obvious that Ardern has no control over her Maori Caucus and probably no wish to exert any. They are simply being allowed to run amok with taxpayers’ money and no accountability is required. Next there will be separate Maori Authorities in all the major portfolio areas and the country will officially become Aotearoa. The caucus needs to be reined in and they need to start acting like they are part of a western democracy rather than some third world dictatorship.
Maori, for example in South Auckland, aren’t going to benefit from any of this duplicity. All they’ll see is an increase in their water bills. It looks like Jackson, Mahuta and the Maori elite will do very nicely thank you.
Ardern is showing her weakness as a leader, a person good at the fluffy stuff but hopeless when the hard stuff has to be addressed. She needs to start exerting some influence over her Maori Caucus. For their part, they need to re-evaluate where they fit in a democratic New Zealand that operates under the Westminster system of governance.