Team of One

David Seymour demands attention.

Oh, it's a mystery to me
We have a greed, with which we have agreed
And you think you have to want more than you need
Until you have it all, you won't be free

Songwriter: Eddie Vedder

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Cancer is an uninvited, unwelcome intrusion that grows with uncontrollable division until it kills its host. Last night, as I watched the news, it occurred to me that David Seymour's Treaty Principles Bill, and his other selfish libertarian views, have a similar impact on our society. Such is his spread that he’d even reached the sports news.

You’ve probably heard about the All Blacks' haka yesterday morning before their game against Italy at the Allianz Stadium, home of Juventus FC.

At the start, TJ Perenara, as fine a leader of the haka as the All Blacks have ever had, added a section supporting the hīkoi opposing Seymour’s malignant bill.

Ko tenei haka mo te tangata katoa o Aotearoa
Toitu te mana o te whenua
Toitu te mana motuhake
Toitu te tiriti o Waitangi

Which translates as:

This haka is for all NewZealanders
The sovereignty of the land is guaranteed
The independence is guaranteed
The Treaty of Waitangi is guaranteed

Perenara said, “Leading the haka is special in any moment, and to be able to lead it tonight, especially with the unification of our people back home ... I think we all saw the people that took part in our hīkoi that we saw over here and the unity that was shown and how our country has all come together.

For us to be able to acknowledge the unification of our people, all of our people — not just tangata whenua, but tangata katoa of Aotearoa — is something that was important to us and something that's important to me. It was really cool.”

I have long admired TJ’s willingness to defend his beliefs. That must be hard sometimes, as rugby clubs are hardly a hotbed of liberal views.

For some reason, 1 News decided that David Seymour’s views on the matter were also relevant, helping further the illusion that two positions here deserve equal coverage.

The architect of this blight on our nation said, “The challenge for people who oppose the Bill is to explain why they are so opposed to the basic principle of equal rights.”

Which is a complete and utter load of bullshit and a favoured tactic of young men far to the right who think they’re a lot smarter than they actually are. For example, the sorry little creeps doing the work for the Taxpayers’ Union.

No such challenge exists, David. We don’t want to debate, listen to you ask for examples, or even correct your ignorance. We want you to shut up and go away (please note that “shut up” and “go away” were not my first choice of words).

Image: BeFunky.

It’s a dumb false argument, and there is no need for TJ Perenara, or anyone else, to engage with it.

You don’t negotiate with cancer. You take action to stop it spreading and defeat it as quickly as you can. As the news continued, I posted the following, and it soon became apparent from the replies that many were feeling the same:

Debbie: “Yup. Definitely. He doesn't work for Kiwis.”

Mary: “Definitely — corrupt, uninformed, manipulative, cruel, entitled, racist — to name a few things. Unfortunately, he’s cunning and knows how to play politics.”

Jeremy: “Most definitely. His loyalties are to offshore corporate entities whose only aim is to extract profit, with no thought of what is best for Aotearoa's people and other non-human lives. He and the Atlas Network are a disease in our society.”

Craig: “The most dangerous ideologically driven politician we've ever had. I used to laugh at him, but now I realise he's a genuine danger and to be taken seriously.”

Carol: “Absolutely - he’s a wrecker & destroyer of the NZ we were once so proud of. A country that valued giving everyone a fair go and living in relative harmony.”

Robin: “He wants everyone to have the same rights. I want to know what and whose rights he's talking about, the right to what? Beautiful housing, great education, well-paid jobs, quick and excellent health care, the best food on the table, nice holidays, tax evasion, luxury cars and yachts, etc.”

Some might find the suggestion that Seymour’s attack on our society makes him an enemy to be inflammatory; the right can be such crybabies, but I’m not advocating blowing anyone up, not like David Seymour did with the Ministry for Pacific People.

What I’m saying is this is a kōrero that no one asked for; it is hugely damaging to our society, to race relations, and our international credibility as a progressive nation.

Seymour has no mandate to have this debate with his 8% of the vote, even if he has used it to increase his support base from the few percentage points of selfish, wealthy white men who desperately do not wish to contribute to society.

Meanwhile, the so-called Prime Minister remains asleep at the wheel.

It cannot be that the Hīkoi was a major statement, and now we move on with the submission process politely. Allowing Seymour to spin his bullshit about equality to the feeble-minded who believe some sort of Māori privilege exists in this country or to racist pricks who know it doesn’t and yet seek to take more even as they themselves are already privileged.

David Seymour does not deserve the respect of having a discussion over this; his intentions are malevolent towards our society, driven by his own political advantage and, no doubt, the financial advantage of his backers.

I admire the All Blacks taking a stand; they represent all of us, as TJ said of the haka in his opening line. Seymour does not. His views are an attack on our society, a small-minded, selfish view of the world that this Kiwi, for one, thinks is not what Aotearoa is all about.

How about you? Do you see Seymour’s bill as a healthy debate or the dark fantasy of someone out of touch with our society?

Here is Eddie Vedder with Neil’s lad, Liam Finn and the song Society.