Last Refuge of a Scoundrel

You do want your freedom, don't you?

I wanna be FREE! Don't wanna be judged; I wanna be me
It's easy to see stereotypes are cutting me deep
I pray every day doesn't mean I'm gonna get my way
But Look how we get displayed. We need to get this straight

Lyrics of Freedom by Tipene Harmer.

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Nothing says a right-wing populist speaking hollow words based on fabrications and false fears like the word “Freedom”.

It’s a no-brainer; you do want to be free, right?

Of course, the people who use the word “Freedom” often do so as a smokescreen to the fact that they’re busy removing your actual freedoms and rights. Don’t look over here at how I’m changing the way of life you’re quite happy about - look over there - be afraid, your very freedom is at stake.

And so it was that David Seymour said something even sillier than usual yesterday, on the opening morning of oral submissions on his Treaty Principles Bill.

Yes, during his submission, the man who will soon be Aotearoa's Deputy Prime Minister said the way that the Waitangi Tribunal had defined the principles was “incompatible with freedom under the law, a free society”.

He then added, “And that’s why we’re stacking the Waitangi Tribunal with new members who want to leave the Treaty in a museum and get on with all being Kiwis together.”

I’m kidding; he didn’t say that last part; instead, he said, “Dividing people into racial groups is the definition of racism”. Which, in case you’re wondering, it isn’t.

The fine folks at Merriam-Webster define “racism” as “the systemic oppression of a racial group to the social, economic, and political advantage of another.”

So, that's pretty much what has happened since Pakeha arrived on these shores. Yet, somehow, Seymour has his brain wired so that rather than seeing Māori as victims of racism, he sees any attempt to address past and present prejudice as a racist attack on anyone who is not Māori. Or those like David who are Māori but don’t identify as such.

It must be a strange place inside David Seymour’s brain to operate such faulty logic. Not to mention Jacinda Ardern there, ever-present, not paying any rent, and probably making sourdough - more on that in a bit.

A few folks had comments on Seymour’s declaration that the Treaty Principles are incompatible with freedom:

Zach: “Rubbish, we are one of the most free countries in the world. We have a lot of rights as citizens. Man, that guy is on another planet.”

Maggie: “Whose freedom is he talking about? The developers and exploiters who want free access to build and drill wherever they please?”

Kirsty: “Still pisses me off. He's even getting a space for oral submission. It's not like the media don't give him a platform whenever he wants one. Select committees are meant to be his turn to LISTEN to others FFS. Anti-democratic and corrupt, but what's new?”

David Seymour at the Select Committee imposed over the hikoi. Image: BeFunky, original photo: David Seymour Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone.

Susan: “Seriously delusional. I am so in awe of the eloquence and determination of the submissions opposing this expensive (both financially and socially) farce of a bill. If only those who believe there’s nothing wrong with its idea of ‘equality’ were watching because they would learn so much from these amazing speakers.”

Te Ariki: “Personally, I think he has successfully fulfilled the necessary requirements to have a s*x toy thrown at him at Waitangi this year.”

I suggested “some of his cheap and nasty school lunches” as an alternative missile instead; they must have enough preservatives to outlast us all.

So where was the Prime Minister in all this? You’d think he would have been there, apologising to all those who had to take the time to speak against Seymour’s bill due to his coalition negotiations.

No Means… Yes?

Despite coming from a generation that was taught that “no” always means “no,” our Prime Minister has been trumpeting that he doesn’t want to hear that word and will only be happy with a “yes.”

While writing that last bit, I thought I should include the phone number for a helpline. So, I think we’ll leave that analogy right there.

As Willie Jackson points out, Christopher Luxon is quite good at saying “no” when it suits him.

It’s just a shame that he didn’t say “no” to David Seymour when he said he wanted to debate the Treaty's role in modern-day New Zealand.

Mr Luxon should not just have said “no” to the ACT leader; he should have told him to take a “running jump” and added that “no leader worth that label would ever entertain such a scurrilous attempt to rile up racial hatred for political gain.”

But he didn’t, and others must fill the leadership vacuum he has left.

ACME Anvils

Perhaps someone like Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa Packer, who yesterday had a great opportunity to clarify things for Mr Seymour but lacked the equipment.

I posted the following, saying… “Crowdfunding for an anvil for Debbie. C'mon people, give till it really hurts...”

Needless to say, some of the kind folks commenting on the post generously offered to pay for a whole anvil themselves.

Maurice suggested, “Haha, why not one of Nicola's Corolla Ferries? Isn't that the accredited order: Hammer, Dumbbell weights, Anvil, Grand Piano, Ship? Meep, Meep!”

Meanwhile, as all of this was going on, Nicola Willis was focussed on remote workers from other countries and David Seymour was comparing truancy to Covid and showing he’s obsessed with sourdough and Jacinda, which just quietly, I think would make a great name for a cafe.

Take your pick, “Sourdough & Jacinda”, “Obsessed with Sourdough”, or simply “Seymour’s Obsession” - please comment if you have any suggested menu items for that last option.

Willis welcomes remote working, unless you’re a Kiwi.

Nicola’s announcement hardly qualifies as a gimmick; in fact, it was hard to believe they were going to the trouble of making an announcement on it. Essentially, it’s a hot desk service for overseas companies, and they get to locate their workers in New Zealand for free.

A good mate of mine said, “What's ya spin on this? Good or bad, and why?”

I replied, “It's basically nothing; it will have minimal impact either way. She's taking the piss, having spent last year telling Kiwis not to work from home but to get back in the office.

This simply permits people who live and work overseas to work remotely here for up to nine months. I suspect folks are already doing that because if you're not employed by a local company, who cares? It makes no difference to us.

There is no significant tax for the government besides a bit of GST; I suppose we have to cover their healthcare and whatnot, depending on reciprocal arrangements with their country.

It's advantageous for the individual and their company, but it doesn't really benefit New Zealand, and I imagine it could be exploited with sham offshore companies as a front.”

Mind you, that didn’t stop the Prime Minister from claiming it was some sort of game-changer this morning.

From the Herald, “Prime Minister Christopher Luxon hopes the new ‘digital nomads’ reforms announced yesterday will boost New Zealand’s tourism industry back to pre-Covid levels.”

In case you’re wondering, Stats NZ says we had about 700,000 fewer visitor arrivals last year than in 2019. So, that’s a heck of a lot of foreigners flying all the way to NZ to work remotely.

A pandemic of truancy

As for Seymour, has anyone told him that he’s in government and not in opposition?

Good lord, man. Stop complaining about the problem and fix it; for goodness sake, you’re not some interested bystander having a moan. You’re the actual Assoc. Minister of Education. Or is that simply a role to observe and point out that privatisation would fix everything?

Speaking of privatisation, the Greens are concerned about the Government’s intentions, and so should we all be.

Preparing for Privatisation

As covered in RNZ yesterday, the Greens accuse the Prime Minister of softening his language on privatisation.

Chlöe Swarbrick says Christopher Luxon's language on privatisation has "substantially softened". Photo: RNZ.

In October last year, the Green Party co-leader asked the PM whether his government was choosing to underfund things like hospitals, schools, and ferries, setting them up for failure and paving the way for them to be sold.

At that point, Luxon fled the building, shrieking to his colleagues, “They’re on to us. Shred the evidence. It’s every man for himself.”

Of course, he didn’t do that. Instead, he condescendingly said that Swarbrick was in a “very dark and conspiratorial mood.”

In yesterday’s article, Chlöe told RNZ, “The prime minister and his offsiders accused me effectively of being a conspiracy theorist, and yet we've seen in the last few months that that language has substantially softened, and the prime minister has used euphemisms like 'international investment' when talking about potentially privatising future public infrastructure.”

Swarbrick has written to the Prime Minister saying, “We are requesting that you urgently show necessary leadership and put this issue to bed once and for all, committing to keep public services and key infrastructure in the ownership of the people of this country.”

Nicola Willis was asked whether privatisation was necessary for New Zealand's economic growth and said:

“The private sector has a role to play. If you look to our energy markets for example, there is widespread private ownership of some our energy generation. If you look at our ports, there is private investment in our ports, in our airports. So there is a role for the private sector and the disciplines that it brings.”

So that’s reassuring. Privatisation can really shake things up. For example, before the development of the energy markets that Willis points to, I had no idea that electricity could be so profitable. Imagine the benefits it could bring to water and all sorts of things. Still, probably need that pesky Treaty out of the way first, eh?

Because that’s what this whole palaver over the Treaty is about. Selling this country out from under us, and yet some are so gullible that they fall for the cries of Freedom.

You want to be free, Aotearoa, don’t you? Have a good one, all you lovely people, and thank you very much for supporting this kōrero. ❤️💚🤎

To end today, here’s Tipene Harmer with Freedom.