Monday, January 30, 2006

Modern day Maori Wars


Pita Sharples is declaring war on the culture of dependency.

Dr Sharples said there was too much dependency on welfare in Maoridom - something Labour had not addressed.

"It's like a kid - if you keep giving your kids everything, at the end of the day they don't have the skills and knowledge to do it themselves."

More prisons and welfare agencies were not the solution, he said.


He is right. The proportion of Maori on benefit is steadily rising. Four in ten single parents on welfare are Maori. And that will affect coming generations.

But this isn't the first time Pita Sharples has made these encouraging noises. Where is the Maori Party policy on welfare?

3 comments:

Peter Cresswell said...

Lindsay, I think you may be a trifle optimistic. Good noises, for sure, but while he is all too aware of the audience he will get for those noises, what he means with word like 'dependency' and 'self-determination' are I suspect a little different than what you and I mean by them.

I do not believe in any way that the Maori Party is promoting true independence from government, merely a reshuffling of how government money is spent, and by whom.

An antediluvian oligarchy of the brown anointed is their aim, IMHO. I say as much on my own blog today.

Lindsay Mitchell said...

You are probably right but I am respectfully giving him the benefit of the doubt by asking for their policy. I sent a brief request by way of a letter to the NZ Herald.

Peter Cresswell said...

Good for you. :-)