Address correspondence to geoff.fischer@xtra.co.nz
1 August 2010
"Our dairy farms".
Political rhetoric frequently employs the first person plural ( "we" and "our") to imply a social, ethnic, local, or national community of interest. When Green Party politicians speak of "our national parks" they are implying that the people of New Zealand have the rights and responsibilities of ownership of parklands, including the right to use and enjoy, and the responsibility to protect and maintain. Strictly speaking the institution of the state holds title to the national parks, and the state exercises those responsibilities through its various agencies such as the Department of Conservation, but there is a common expectation that the state acts on behalf of the people, and cannot use, or dispose of the national parks in ways which conflict with the popular will. Our dairy farms... click here to read more ...
30 July 2010
Crafar farms
The dodgy background of the Chinese prospective buyers, and the eminent status of the New Zealanders who they have employed to argue their case, namely former National Party Prime Minister Jenny Shipley, and former broadcasting chief Bill Ralston, are interesting features of the Chinese "Natural Dairy" bid for the Crafar farms .
If New Zealanders are concerned that "their" most productive dairy farms might be sold to the Chinese, should they not be even more worried when "their" politicians and media personalities are for sale to the highest bidder?
It is people like the Crafars, Jenny Shipley and Bill Ralston who constitute
the real problem for New Zealanders - not the Chinese, or any other foreign
investors. Foreign control has become endemic thanks to the
greed, stupidity, and corruption of the colonial regime. The
Crafar farms saga - click here to read a previous post...
Afghan war.
Labour Prime Minister Helen Clark had a raft of reasons for taking the country to war against the Afghan Taleban. She wanted to show solidarity with New Zealand's traditional allies, Britain and the United States of America, at a time when Tony Blair's Labour Party held power in Westminster while her own New Zealand Labour Party sat on the Treasury benches in Wellington. As a staunch feminist and secularist, she was also ideologically committed to the Afghan war. She perceived the Taleban to be religious fundamentalists, male chauvinists and social reactionaries. As such they were anathema to Clark and the feminist/gay wing of the Labour Party. The right-wing of the party, represented by current leader Phil Goff were, was equally enthusiastic. Goff proudly announced that a member of his family was serving in the US forces in Afghanistan. Even the Green Party, which is generally to the left of the Labour Party on matters of war and peace, was equivocal in its approach to the conflict, being critical of US actions, while maintaining that "our" (meaning the regime's) forces were doing a "good job". Only a small segment of the left - such as John Minto's Global Peace and Justice Association, and the Ploughshares group of Waihopai fame - opposed the war on principle.
But now the Afghan war is inexorably drawing to a bloody conclusion.
In the shock of eminent defeat, troops sent to "save Afghan women from
the tyranny of the Taleban" are machine-gunning Afghan village girls in
cold-blooded reprisals for Taleban attacks, while the architect of New
Zealand involvement, Helen Clark, after declaring that she would have the
top job in New Zealand or none at all, absconded to New York where she
now enjoys a lucrative career as a United Nations bureaucrat.
Secular feminism, as represented by Clark, has been debased by its association
with the monarchist regime, to the point where it only functions to excuse
the personal ambition and selfishness of a privileged elite, while the
Taleban, who know too well the meaning of humility and self-sacrifice are
gaining support amongst all sections of Afghan society.
The score in this last round of the West's "great game" will be Secular
feminism 0, Islamic fundamentalism 1.
22 July 2010
Corruption in the military.
Following disclosures that New Zealand military personnel had corruptly misappropriated United Nations funds, New Zealand's Minister of Defence has publicly admitted that corruption is a "cultural problem" in the armed forces of the Realm. He is not far off the mark. Corruption has taken root in the New Zealand Defence Forces for much the same reason that it has become firmly established within the Immigration Service, whose role is to administer immigration policies under which New Zealand citizenship is effectively on sale to the highest bidders, no questions asked. It is a situation designed to undermine the integrity of any person who takes up a career in the Immigration Service. The role of the military is to support and assist corrupt foreign governments like that of Hamid Karzai in Afghanistan, and New Zealand troops will almosts inevitably be corrupted by the very nature of the job. Where will it end? Watch this space...
20 July 2010
Claim of right
The "provocation" and "claim of right" controversies are part of a wider
trend within the regime as it seeks to limit accountability in some areas
of society, to impose ever greater restrictions in others, and to reduce
the role of the judicial system as arbiter and judge. Proposed changes
to employment law remove a crucial area of employment relations from the
jurisdiction of the courts, and make employers unaccountable for their
actions. click here to read more...
19 July 2010
RMANZ
Over the years I have disagreed with the Republican Movement of Aotearoa New Zealand on a number of issues, and those differences persist. However I must now acknowledge the willingness of the present editor of the Republican Newsletter to give space to my opinions in the latest issue. The decision of the editor, Savage, to open his columns to contrary opinion is in the best tradition of New Zealand republicanism.
My recent experience is that Savage does not give carte blanche to contributors, but works pro-actively to ensure that any case is as clearly reasoned and succinctly expressed as possible. I commend his editorial approach to others. It augurs well for the progress of the republican movement.
RMANZ confines its political aspirations to the abolition of the monarchy
in order to achieve the broadest possible political backing, which
means that the organisation can only have an indirect influence upon the
detailed design of a future republic. But that indirect influence,
when used to foster vigorous intellectual debate combined with a
spirit of friendship towards those of contrary opinion, can put heart
and soul into the Republic of Aotearoa.
14 July 2010
The Crafar Farms saga
The Green Party is publicly proclaiming that "highly productive" land
in New Zealand should not be sold to foreign buyers. Statements by
Green Party leader Russel Norman come hard on the heels of his tussle with
Chinese security men on the steps of parliament, and were made in the context
of the proposed sale of the "Crafar" dairy farms to the Chinese company
"Natural Dairy". It would appear that Norman is particularly
concerned by the prospect of Chinese ownership of New Zealand farms, and
particularly concerned by the sale of "highly productive" (read "dairy")
land.... The Crafar farms saga - click
here to read more...
21 June 2010
Russel Norman’s protest on behalf of Tibet
When political activists become Members of Parliament, they change their
way of doing things. They are expected to act with more decorum
than the typical radical activist. They issue press statements,
where in a previous life they might have joined in rowdy demonstrations
or acts of civil disobedience. They avoid activities which
may lead to physical confrontation, or risk arrest for some real or alleged
breach of the law... click here
to read more...
22 April 2010
The regime's retreat from democracy.
It comes as no surprise that Keith Locke's Head of State Referenda Bill, which would have given New Zealanders the right to vote on whether the British monarch should remain as Head of State in New Zealand, was voted down at its first reading in the New Zealand Parliament. This is one sign of the regime's increasing unease with democratic institutions. Among the others: In Auckland, democratically elected local governments have been abolished to make way for a larger, more powerful regional government which has been modelled along the lines of the fascist Italian corporate state. And in Canterbury, central government has sacked the elected members of the regional council, and replaced them with its own appointees, headed by Dame Margaret Bazley, who not only boasts a royal honour, but pleads the same moral justification as the Queen for her "right to rule" over the people of Canterbury.
Bazley states that she is "just doing a job" and therefore should be
allowed "to get on with it". Like most committed fascists,
Bazley sincerely believes in her own vision, political prowess, right to
rule and personal destiny. She believes that she is good for
New Zealand. But the need to keep power and authority in the
hands of unelected leaders like Elizabeth Windsor and Margaret Bazley
exposes the fundamental weakness of the regime. Despite controlling
the mass media and all the machinery of government, it has been unable
to exert effective control over the political attitudes of ordinary folk.
Its response has been to retreat from democratic process. As
that retreat progresses, the regime will be left with no solid political
ground upon which to make a final stand..
The non-binding declaration on indigenous rights.
There are some New Zealanders who believe that words only have value when they are used to express a truth. And there are others who believe that words can be used formally, in ways which have no association with the truth, as a shibboleth to open the way to a personal or political promised land.
The Maori Party pledges allegiance to the Queen for reasons that have little to do with loyalty to the institution of the British monarchy. The National Party government signs the non-binding declaration on indigenous rights for reasons which have nothing to do with giving or restoring rights to Maori. No one makes any serious attempt to either expose or obfuscate these sham declarations. The National Party is content that the Maori Party have made a false oath of allegiance to the Queen, and the Maori Party is content that the National Party has made a false commitment to indigenous rights.
The regime is not only in retreat from democracy. It is also in retreat from the truth.
31 March 2010
The Waihopai verdict: a blow for the regime.
A Wellington jury's decision to acquit Adrian Leason, Peter Murnane and Sam Land on charges of burglary and wilful damage, arising out of their attack on the Waihopai spy base, has sent shock waves through the regime. From the verdict, we may safely infer that the jury accepted that the three accused genuinely believed that their action would help to save the lives of innocent civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan. And it is not unreasonable to infer that the jury must have had some sympathy with the defendants and their professions of faith in order to find them credible. It also follows that the jury must have doubts about the justification for the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan, and for the regime's military alliance with the United States and the United Kingdom.
The panel of twelve jurors was selected more or less at random from the population of Wellington city, which is the heart of government in New Zealand. And all twelve jurors would have agreed to the verdict. That extraordinary result provoked a storm of impotent fury from the regime's mass media organisations and from sources that speak for the United States government. It also lead to mutterings within the regime that the freedom of juries to convict or acquit as they see fit may be curtailed. But such moves to limit popular influence within judicial or political processes would be self-defeating. The regime is clearly out of step with the people. It will not be able to impose its will in perpetuity.
The APN vendetta against Brian Tamaki.
The APN media empire is currently devoting considerable resources to a vendetta against the Destiny Church and Bishop Brian Tamaki. As National Radio's Mediawatch has observed, in the normal course a newspaper or any other journal of record will report, comment upon, and analyse events of public significance. But in the present case, there is no recent news event which APN can use to justify its anti-Tamaki campaign. There have been no surprising revelations, no fresh scandal, and no allegations of criminal wrong doing by either Brian Tamaki or the Destiny Church.
Brian Tamaki has been particularly criticised for requiring a personal oath of allegiance to himself as Bishop of the Destiny Church, and a tithing system. But the regime itself demands an oath of personal allegiance to the monarch, Queen Elizabeth. And where Tamaki persuades his followers to pay tithes, the state compels even its poorest subjects to hand over a much higher proportion of their income in taxes. Tamaki has also been reviled on account of his ambition and perceived vanity. Yet material ambition and the cult of celebrity are among the core values of the colonial regime, which is in no position to claim the moral high ground over the likes of Brian Tamaki.
In these circumstances it is fair to ask "What motivates APN?" The similarity between the current campaign against Brian Tamaki and the equally baseless 2008 vendetta against Winston Peters is suggestive. Tamaki and Peters are both charismatic and socially conservative Maori whose appeal and aspirations extend beyond the boundaries of Maoridom. They are challenging the political establishment for the hearts and minds of the population as a whole, and enjoying a fair measure of success, in contrast to more or less exclusively ethnic organisations like the Maori Party or the Ratana Church, which can be effectively incorporated as a "minor support party" or "ethnic religious movement" within the existing power structures. APN is worried by the implications of Tamaki's religious fundamentalism, just as it was worried by the implications of Winston Peters' economic nationalism. To be specific, APN is worried that their respective movements may not be successfully contained within marginal population groups, and safely directed along paths that are acceptable to the regime.
And they have reason to be concerned. Since the days of imperial Rome, nationalism and religious fundamentalism have been the two most potent forces undermining the foundations of empire. The same phenomenon brought the Soviet empire to its knees, presently threatens the integrity of the Peoples Republic of China, and is wreaking havoc for the Anglo-American empire throughout central Asia. The Iranian revolution and the ongoing insurgencies in Iraq and Afghanistan has demonstrated that the combination of nationalism and religious fundamentalism constitutes a more intractable threat to western imperialism than any secular ideology.
To this point Tamaki has not challenged New Zealand's political subordination to Anglo-American imperialism. He accepts the argument that New Zealand should remain in a military alliance with the United States of America, and that the British monarch should remain as New Zealand's head of state. But the Tamaki/Peters attempt to blend social conservatism, economic nationalism and imperialist politics will be unsustainable in the longer term. Economic and cultural nationalism will eventually and inevitably find expression in authentic political nationalism, and the chances are that religious fundamentalism in New Zealand will take a radical turn, as it already has throughout the margins of the Anglo-American empire..
The Destiny Church is a relatively easy target, reflecting the human weaknesses of its founder. But the regime should be careful what it wishes for. It remains on relatively safe ground with a man like Brian Tamaki who palpaby enjoys his good suits, comfortable house, and his luxury yacht. A truly ascetic and charismatic religious leader, in the mould of Mullah Omar or Ruhollah Khomeini, would bring the fire of revolution. And that is something which the regime can do without.
1 March 2010
Gareth Hughes is a Green Party list Member of Parliament who has pledged
allegiance to a royal family which he himself describes as comprising "an
old lady and her quirky kids who live on the other side of the world".
On his own admission he has done so in order "take my seat in the House
of Representatives". Right now it suits Gareth to make a show of
allegiance to "an old lady and her quirky kids". At some future
time, he suggests, it may suit him even better to make an oath of allegiance
to "the people of New Zealand". But why would any one believe
his profession of allegiance then, if they cannot take him at his word
now? to read Gareth's statement click
here...
10 February 2010
Why is the Australian-owned APN media empire all of a sudden telling
us that New Zealand needs a new national flag which would signal
the end of the colonial relationship with Great Britain? ... The
flag debate - click here to read more ...
12 November 2009
Two prominent Maori - Bishop Brian Tamaki and Hone Harawira MP for Tai
Tokerau - have stirred up media storms in recent weeks.
Tamaki had the temerity to require an oath of allegiance from members of
the Destiny Church which he heads, while Harawira gave offence by his use
of profane language in an email in which he criticised "white people" for
"raping" the land. The regime's mass media organisations have
made a meal out of these events. But while Tamaki and Harawira
are both deserving of criticism, the regime's response amounts to an
extraordinary display of hypocrisy. Tamaki
and Harawira - click here to read more...
21 October 2009. Nandor Tanczos writes
in the Waikato Times
"I would love us to become a republic
Watching some historical films about the English monarchy and the parasites
that surround them has re-inspired a powerful republican sentiment in me.
It is not that I dislike the Windsors, but they are the result of more
than a thousand years of in-breeding and (sometimes fatally) hostile family
dynamics.
Who on earth would want them as our Head of State?" to
read more from Nandor Tanczos click here
24 September 2009. Lizards.
From So long and thanks for all the fish by Douglas Adams:
'No' said Ford '...On its world the people are people. The leaders
are lizards. The people hate the lizards and the lizards rule the
people.'
'Odd,' said Arthur, 'I thought you said it was a democracy.'
'I did,' said Ford. 'It is.'
'So,' said Arthur, hoping he wasn't sounding ridiculously obtuse, 'why
don't people get rid of the lizards?'
'It honestly doesn't occur to them,' said Ford. 'They've all
got the vote, so they can all pretty much assume the government they've
voted in more or less approximates to the government they want.'
'You mean they actually vote for the lizards?'
'Oh yes,' said Ford with a shrug, "of course.'
'But,' said Arthur, going for the big one again, 'why?'
'Because if they didn't vote for a lizard,' said Ford, 'the wrong lizard
might get in. Got any gin?'
11 August 2009. SAS deployment to Afghanistan-
in a brief diversion from the dispute in Rotorua, in which I am pretty
well fully engaged at present, I address the issue of the deployment of
New Zealand SAS forces to Afghanistan. Looking beyond Afghanistan
to the end of colonial rule in New Zealand, a republican constitution for
Aotearoa will have to specify that the military forces of the state shall
never be deployed beyond the shores of these islands. ...
SAS deployment to Afghanistan - click
here to read the text
23 July 2009. the republican is going into recess for an indefinite period, during which time I will be in Rotorua, where the District Council is in the process of building a new international airport and is claiming the right to destroy the trees on my half acre of land at Te Ngae without compensation or restitution, so as to allow larger commercial airliners to fly at low altitudes over the eastern suburbs. Reports on the dispute will appear on the website www.TeNgaeTrees.com (all lower case).
The Iranian presidential election. The republican normally has little to say about the domestic politics of foreign states. However I make an exception for the "disputed" Iranian election both for personal reasons (I spent a couple of months seconded to the Iranian Jihad e Sazandegi in 1998) and because the fate of the Islamic Republic of Iran has implications for republicanism everywhere... The Iranian election - click here to read more
Richard Worth MP is on the way out of parliamentary politics. It is now evident that Worth sought sexual connections with female Asian immigrants in exchange for providing them with jobs on government boards. His is a pathetic case, about which one would not normally give a second thought except for the fact that it exposes how cynically New Zealand political parties exploit ethnic minorities... Richard Worth - click here to read more
Honour Bound: How the honours system is used as a method of social control. Most New Zealand politicians approach the "honours system" with circumspection. Or, to be blunt, they beat around the bush. Labour Party leader Helen Clark abolished knighthoods because they were reminiscent of an English class society which New Zealanders had chosen to leave behind them. National Party leader John Key reinstated knighthoods for the same reason... Honour Bound - click here to read more ...
“The War on P” By all accounts, both statistical and anecdotal, New Zealanders rank high among the world users of mind-altering drugs. At the present time crystal methamphetamine, or “P” is a particular worry because of its association with extreme and unpredictable acts of violence. There is also concern about other illicit drugs, such as cocaine and marijuana, and licit drugs, such as alcohol and tobacco. But does the public discourse address the real issues behind drug use?......... The war on P - click here to read more ...
Is Melissa a Racist? When the National Party list Member of Parliament Melissa Lee blurted that the State Highway 20 motorway would stop “criminals from South Auckland” targeting homes in Mount Albert, she was making a claim that was at best contentious, and at worst silly. But was it racist? ..... Is Melissa a Racist? click here to read more ...
The “Siege of Napier” : It’s just anthropology. Young males roam in packs. Older males settle down and become territorial. Successful societies develop effective ways of sublimating or containing these instinctual behaviours, but in dysfunctional societies they become a source of violence and social instability. Jan Molenaar was one of the young men whom the New Zealand state enlisted into its military forces and trained to use firearms. ... The Siege of Napier - click here to read more
The Royal Commission on Auckland Governance was an anti-democratic means to an anti-democratic end. The “three wise men” of the Commission have proposed a major centralisation of government in the Auckland region which will concentrate power in fewer hands, and greatly increase the political influence of the mass media, large corporations and centralised business organisations. It is a change which will have repercussions not only for the working classes of Auckland (who are already severely marginalised politically) but also for the multitude of local lawyers, accountants, doctors, small business people and other worthies of the regime who have traditionally enjoyed the status and responsibilities of local government office click here to read the full text
A letter to the Queen of the Realm of New Zealand, Elizabeth Windsor "..... I address you now as the Queen of the Realm of New Zealand, as a fellow human being, and a person of conscience. The New Zealand Oaths and Declarations Act is an evil which has been designed to prolong your unpopular rule...." click here to read the full text
A letter to the Governor-General of New Zealand, Anand Satyanand. ...the House of Windsor will not be able to permanently entrench itself at the head of the Realm of New Zealand by such a crude legal device.....I suggest that it is in your interests to capitulate as swiftly and as gracefully as you are able. If the Crown continues to restrict membership of the House of Representatives in ways which violate the sensibilities of moral and patriotic New Zealanders, then it will forfeit any claim to legitimacy and will be deposed all the sooner...." click here to read the full text
A Blast from the Past. From the republican archives dated November 1996, five years before the September 11 attack on the World Trade Centre in New York, six years before the Anglo-American invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, and before the Arabic word "Al Qaeda" became familiar to the mass of westerners, comes the warning: "When a new millennium dawns .... we shall see the West absolutely committed to a rational, secular and liberal economic and social system and its armies ranged up against the comprehensive moral absolutism of Islam." . To read more archived material from last century click here
The Oath of Allegiance At the opening of the 49th New Zealand Parliament all elected members were required to swear an oath of allegiance to Queen Elizabeth, and her heirs and successors according to law. As has been the case with previous parliaments, some of the new members of New Zealand’s purportedly “democratic” legislature baulked at being required to swear allegiance to the hereditary monarch of a foreign state... The Oath of Allegiance - click here to read more ....
The property fetish and other forms of deviant economic behavior. In 2008 the price of residential property in New Zealand began to decline after having risen sharply for nearly a decade. The change in fortunes will be seen as a vindication for successive governors of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand who have moralised about New Zealand’s “poor savings record” while deploring New Zealanders’ enthusiasm for investment in residential property. The objection to residential property investment is a valid one. Housing is not a productive form of capital, in the manner of farms and factories. ... The Property Fetish - click here to read more...
John Key and the Maori Party National Party leader John Key's invitation to the Maori Party to join a National Party government has been seen as an act of political grace and wisdom. The Maori Party's acceptance of his offer, on the other hand, has provoked surprise and criticism from the left, apparently based on the mistaken premise that the Maori Party is a party of ideology, which it is not. John Key and the Maori Party - click here to read more...
Race problem? What Race Problem? Three months ago the Chinese community in Auckland staged a mass demonstration in implicit support of China's right to rule over Tibet. A month back they demonstrated in even larger numbers under the auspices of the Asian Anti-Crime Group against a perceived crime wave directed against the Asian community. These unprecedented, but entirely predictable, demonstrations of Asian discontent, have roots which go deeper than the immediate and stated causes. Race Problem? click here to read more...
On Freedom and the Nanny State Fashions change within the political institutions and propaganda organs of the regime, but, as the saying goes, the more things change the more they remain the same. A year or two past, the stock political epithet was "politically correct". Such a term can not withstand close analysis, and while the regime has its ways of obstructing or avoiding serious political analysis, as time passes, like water dripping on to stone, reason tends to prevail over silliness.... On freedom and the nanny state - click here to read more
Why buy New Zealand made? “Economic nationalism” is the idea that the citizens of a nation, either individually or collectively, should own and manage its economic assets. It is normally an adjunct of political nationalism, which assumes that all who dwell within a defined geographic area share a common interest, and are subject to political institutions which are unique to, and make exclusive claims over, the particular territory. By this definition, political nationalism in New Zealand is compromised .... Why Buy New Zealand Made? click here to read more ...
A Presidential Election? In a rather presumptuous political stunt the Republican Movement of Aotearoa is running an “electoral process to select a suitable President for a New Zealand Republic”. Lewis Holden, Chair of the RMA, announced the five top candidates for the presidency (in alphabetical order) as: Professor James Belich, Jim Bolger, Dr Claudia Orange, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, and Sir Wilson Whineray..... A Presidential Election - click here to read more...
Winston Peters: A Political Obituary. "Peters the political outsider"..... "New Zealand First a socially conservative and nationalist party" ...... "It’s not about Asia. It’s about Australia"..... "the progress that Winston Peters has made towards improving relations with the United States has only exacerbated the anger of the pro-American Australian-owned mass media"..... Winston Peters: A political obituary... click here to read full text
Herald Columnist Offers his Life for Our Freedoms. New Zealand Herald columnist Paul Thomas suggests that society should measure a person’s worth according to whether “they accept Voltaire’s formula: “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it”. This proposal will be well received by the considerable number of bloggers and political poseurs who proclaim Voltaire’s supposed dictum as their guiding principle in life... Herald Columnist - click here to read more
The Green Party and the Emissions Trading Scheme.
Before the 1999 parliamentary election I asked a Green Party candidate
why she wanted to be a Member of Parliament. Her answer (“Because
I’m tired of being poor and I’m tired of being powerless”) revealed her
fundamental misapprehensions about the nature of poverty and power....
The
Green Party and the Emissions Trading Scheme - click here to read more
"You can't have it both ways" says Greg O'Connor of the Police Association, the man who has the unenviable job of justifying every questionable killing, every brutal assault and every case of misconduct by the New Zealand Police. O'Connor was trying to make the point on Radio New Zealand that you can't have a New Zealand Police that refrains from using violence New Zealand Police - click here to read more
Media pap. Four articles in last week's New Zealand Listener which provided nothing of substance never-the-less combined to show what is wrong with the Listener, what is wrong with the APN media empire, and, from a broader perspective, what is wrong with New Zealand. The Listener's cover story was about a young man with dual New Zealand citizenship who died fighting for the armed forces of a foreign state.... Media pap - click here to read more
Democracy under threat is the slogan under which the APN media empire, publishers of the New Zealand Herald and New Zealand Listener have campaigned against the New Zealand government's Electoral Finance Act, and, implicitly, against the New Zealand Labour Party's attempt to secure a fourth term on the Treasury benches. Democracy under threat - click here to read more
Correction and apology: [14 June 2008]: Lewis Holden, Chairperson of the Republican Movement of Aotearoa, states that contrary to what I wrote in my article on the RMA he is not a salaried state servant The reference to his being "financially dependent" on the New Zealand state is therefore also incorrect. I therefore withdraw and apologize to Lewis.
“Tribute 08" was one of those extraordinary occasions when all elements of the regime come together in a common cause - in this case by “honoring” the New Zealand government’s Vietnam war veterans. One dissenting voice was that of Chris Trotter who argued bravely, and forcefully, on Radio New Zealand National that the Vietnam war was unjustified and that the veterans should be held morally accountable for their role in the conflict... Tribute 08 - click here to read more
Ploughshares action at Waihopai The Ploughshares activists who launched a courageous and well-executed assault upon the Waihopai spy base deserve to be congratulated on their efforts. Nothing can change the fact that the Waihopai facility has been constructed and is operated for purely evil purposes. The base is there to collect information on any threat to Anglo-American hegemony, and the information so-gathered is used to identify those who will be targets for punitive action by the imperial regime. Ploughshares at Waihopai - click here to read more
Chinese imperialism versus British colonialism Last week's demonstration in support of their homeland by thousands of Chinese New Zealanders seems to have come as a rude shock to the regime. It should not have. The only explanation for the surprise was that the government and the media had fallen victim to their own propaganda. Chinese imperialism - click here to read more
Anzac Day Notwithstanding the adolescent handwringing by New Zealand journalists and politicians over the "quest for a national identity" there are two days in the calendar which they solemnly promote as celebrating the supposed basis of that "national identity" which they are otherwise at a loss to define. Those days are February 6, the anniversary of the day on which there was an act of cession of sovereignty to the British crown (Waitangi Day) and April 25, the anniversary of the day on which, in concert with Australian and British forces, New Zealand colonial troops invaded the territory of a people living on the other side of the world who had never by the wildest stretch of imagination constituted a threat to New Zealand's security or legitimate national interests.... Anzac Day - click here to read more
The Oaths Modernisation Bill For more years than I can remember, the New Zealand Parliament has imposed an oath of allegiance to the British crown as a test of fitness for citizenship, election to political office, service in the judiciary, the police force, the legal profession and the education system. This oath consisted of the words "I swear that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second, Queen of New Zealand, her heirs and successors according to law.." The Oaths Modernisation Bill - click here to read more
The Republican Movement of Aotearoa The "Republican Movement of Aotearoa" claims to be the only genuine republican political organisation within New Zealand. Perhaps surprisingly, it seems to draw a certain measure of support from Members of Parliament who do not take their oath of allegiance to the crown all that seriously. But the support of Parliamentarians comes at a price, as I discovered when at the suggestion of RMA Chairperson Lewis Holden I wrote a piece for the RMA Newsletter on the Oaths Modernisation Bill... The Republican Movement of Aotearoa- click here to read more
Why do I oppose the Crown? I am opposed to the Crown not just because it is anachronism, or because it is an alien, intrinsically racist, sexist and sectarian institution. It may be all of these things. But there is a much more fundamental reason for my opposition to the Crown. I am opposed to the crown because it is the model for a culture of moral irresponsibility that has had an insidious influence within New Zealand society... Why do I oppose the Crown? - click here to read more
Can "eminent persons" really "manage the process of
change" in New Zealand? One-time New Zealand Prime Minister
and former World Trade Organisation head Mike Moore has publicly raised
the banner for a "managed" process of constitutional change in the country.
Both National Party leader John Key and Labour Party Prime Minister
Helen Clark say that New Zealand will "inevitably" make the transition
from a realm of the British monarchy to independent republic "at some stage".
But it is a change which neither of the leading political parties are willing
to champion or in any way to encourage...
Can "eminent
persons" really "manage the process of change" in New Zealand? click here
to read more
Moore political knavery Former New Zealand Prime Minister and ex-World Trade Organisation boss Mike Moore, who now enjoys the dubious honor of being a regular New Zealand Herald political columnist, has plumbed the depths of political hypocrisy with an article in praise of "political dissent". ... Moore political knavery - click here to read more
Who has the right to bear arms? Everyone
has the right to take measures to defend themselves, their families and
their community against external threats, aggression, or oppression.
That right of self-defence extends to the right to bear arms. On
that basis, the people of Aotearoa, whether Maori or Pakeha, have a natural
right to possess and bear arms....
Who has the
right to bear arms?- click here to read more
The Ruatoki Raid In the uproar that has been generated over "military style training camps" in the northern Urewera, the first point to be made is that Ruatoki based Tuhoe activist Tame Iti has not assembled any kind of serious para-military force. Ruatoki, at the end of a long "dead end" road from Taneatua lined either side by the homes and villagers of Tuhoe loyalists, could have been relatively easily defended by any reasonably well armed militia.. The Ruatoki Raid - click here to read more
A Solemn Oath (from October 1996) This year a change took place in the requirements for the naturalisation process which transforms an immigrant into a "New Zealand citizen". It had nothing to do with the "points" system which ranks prospective citizens by their wealth, existing family connections in New Zealand, occupational skills, state of health and so on. And from the government's point of view, it was not a change at all, but rather a correction of an "anomaly" which had existed for as long as New Zealand has been under the authority of the British crown. A Solemn Oath - click here to read more
On Democracy (republished from the Islamist website RevertsAloud 2006) An article by David Warren, which first appeared in the Ottawa Citizen, February 01, 2006 rhetorically asks "Can Islam and democracy co-exist?". Warren believes that coexistence between Islam and democracy is not possible because in his view, “Democracy is not just voting. Democracy is a whole bourgeois way of life, and a method for resolving disputes peacefully. It is not essentially compatible with millenarian religious schemes.” .... On Democracy - click here to read more
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The purpose of the republican website is to provide
a forum for serious analysis and discussion of New Zealand political economy.
I welcome comment or criticism, and invite submissions from readers.
Should I decline to publish a submitted article, I will publish a brief
note explaining why publication was declined.
"The New Zealander leads a two-fold life: the sporting life in which
he considers himself to be a patriotic being, and the economic life, in
which he acts as a private individual, regards other New Zealanders as
a means, degrades himself into a means, and becomes a plaything of alien
powers..." Karl Marx "On the New Zealand Question"
: )