It's All Over Now

Aotearoa rejects Seymour's Treaty Principles Bill.

Well, he runs around with every racist in town
He spent all our money playing his pointless game
He put us out; it was awful how he tried
Tables turn, and now his turn to cry

With apologies to writers Bobby Womack and Shirley Womack.

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Eight per cent, asshole, that’s all you got.

Smiling?

Let me re-phrase…

Eight per cent assholes - that’s all we got. Fewer than I thought.

If you’re wondering what the heck I’m talking about, this is a breakdown of submissions on the Treaty Principles Bill. I appreciate that it looks more like an analysis of Seymour’s school lunches, given the landslide in opinion against his offering.

Was Seymour a good loser? Did he look at the result and admit that almost nobody supported his bill, take it on his highly punchable chin, and say, “Fair cop - I've been an arrogant prick. Nobody wants this. I’ll stick to my knitting of transferring wealth from the poor to the rich. Sorry about all that.”

Yeah, not so much. There’s not a humble bone in his body, that man, even when he’s been humbled in front of the nation. What a leader, eh?

Over the top lads, he said, these Māori have had it too good for long; there’s too much privilege; it’s just not fair. C’mon, who’s with me? Now there he is, halfway across no-mans-land, turning to find that the only people following him are the Hobson’s Pledge mob, and they’re having real trouble getting their walkers out of the trench.

Of the 307,000 submissions, 8% supported his bill, 90% opposed it, and 2% had no view. So, the level of support for his bill was essentially the same proportion of people who voted for ACT at the last election—8%, a disastrous result for someone who has trumpeted that most New Zealanders supported him.

Bizarrely, he’s still making that claim despite it being blatantly untrue—not that that generally discourages him from making statements.

Seymour is still calling for a referendum and promising he will never stop fighting for “freedom” or whatever term he uses to cloak his anti-Māori intent, even as the Select Committee suggests his bill ought to be taken out the back and shot.

C’mon David, I thought you were all about death with dignity?

Seymour certainly had no dignity in yesterday’s press conference on the matter. I posted the following as it began:

Now that Seymour has blown $6m on his divisive but pointless bill, can anyone take his crusade against waste seriously again?

Seymour was in no mood for the truth. He bristled, chest puffed most unconvincingly, with indignation and denial. I commented: “Watching him live, just outright lying, saying there is overwhelming support despite the vast majority of submissions opposing his bill. He's being particularly arsey.”

But don’t take my word for it; you can watch it here if you want:

Not only was Seymour in no mood to face the truth, but he certainly didn’t want to hear any from the reporters. When they asked about the cost of his bill, he was condescending, making absurd claims that it didn't cost $6m because the people who worked on it were being paid anyway. Can you imagine how far a left-wing politician would get making such a suggestion?

Some things he said were downright odd, for example: “I'm very proud that ACT has had the bravery, the articulateness and the patriotism to bring a difficult issue to the fore that people want to debate.”

What an odd thing to say. How is stirring up racial division and trying to undermine a treaty patriotic? It seems the opposite to me, but that wasn’t even close to the weirdest thing he said.

When asked whether Māori have equal rights in practice in this country, his response included: “Not all Māori are disadvantaged. I’m Māori; I don't feel disadvantaged, thank you very much.” I nearly fell off my chair. Sorry. What now?

Joe said, “Just because he Whakapapa Māori doesn’t mean he can speak on behalf of Māoridom and abandon our indigenous rights.”

Lisa said, “Correction- he has Māori DNA - he isn’t Māori - that’s not a t-shirt you can chuck on when it suits and take off when it doesn’t.”

Jane, who is not given to negativity and is calm and considered, said, “He is the thing that I most loathe and despise.”

Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke. Photo: Samuel Rillstone, RNZ

I don’t want to talk about hating people, not even him, but I hate what he stands for, what he’s done to our country with this bill, and most of all, what he will continue to do as long as there is an audience for his poisonous distortions.

It’s not a good look, is it?

The man who said we should slash what we spend feeding kids because money is tight is happy to blow all this money on a vanity project to expand his voting base with those who struggle with the insufficiency of their white privilege and who might otherwise vote for one of his coalition partners.

I appreciate it’s only six million dollars; it’s not going to solve all our problems, but it does add up to about sixty public servants losing their jobs to have to pay for it and at the very least, he could have used the money to buy the kids some fresh fruit for lunch, to go with their processed brown crap.

Despite David’s denial, it is clear that momentum is picking up to put this thing to bed as soon as possible, possibly as early as next week. I'm sure this will have been a millstone around National’s neck, and they would dearly like to be rid of it, I’m sure.

In fact, National was so emboldened by the news that one of their MPs even said something rather than continuing his vow of silent complicity on the subject.

From the NZ Herald:

“Thank goodness that is coming to cremation day,” said Potaka, the Māori Development Minister.

“Nehu [burial] day is coming, folks. Nehu day is coming for the Treaty Principles Bill. Can’t wait to see that nehu day.”

Take a hint, Seymour. This is so clear-cut that even the cowardly Potaka dared say something, albeit in injury time, with the conclusion already beyond doubt. Some folks commenting on my page were not particularly impressed at this 11th-hour discovery of a backbone.

Katie said, “He has proven that his words don't necessarily follow through with his actions—he is not someone I would ever trust.”

David put things in perspective, saying, “Where were any of the government when it mattered?”

Gina: “A totally unnecessary cremation; how many operations at Nelson Hospital would that money have paid for?”

There is regret as we reach the pending demise of this hated bill.

Not at the wasted money, although that was pretty shabby from a government that is cutting funding for vital services, but at what Seymour has put this country through and will continue to for as long as he can find people willing to broadcast his claims and people to listen to them.

But we should celebrate because, thanks to hundreds of thousands of us, a tsunami of public opinion has washed away this poison. So be proud.

It often doesn’t feel like there is much we can do. We march and sign petitions, and it seems they fall on deaf ears. However, the roar of opposition to this bill from you and your fellow Kiwis was so strong that they couldn’t ignore us.

Even if the bill's architect has clamped his hands over his ears and continues to yell that the majority support his bill to drown out the truth.

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Have a great day, all you lovely people. Here are the Rolling Stones with “It’s All Over Now.” It very nearly is. 🙂