pn893. The Green Party: Stuck in the Middle with James and Marama. Removing the rot at the top.

While the planet burns, the Green Party thinks about changing the composition of its leadership and another blow is struck for political irrelevancy. 

GIVEN THAT the ideology of identity politics swept through the Green Party some time ago, it seems almost inevitable that out of the swamp of confused woke thinking there should emerge a proposal to change the male and female co-leadership to one where the male position will be replaced by one open to 'any gender'. 

And, according to conservative columnist Matthew Hooton, one of these two positions will have to filled by a Maori. If this is true it will be good news for the consistently under-performing Marama Davidson.

The proposals, such as they are, appear to be driven by the Green MP's. This isn't surprising because they have a bad habit of acting independently of the party membership. These self-proclaimed 'progressive' politicians continue to act in a decidedly unprogressive and autocratic manner as far as the decision making process is concerned. Indeed one of the main criticisms of disillusioned and departing Green Party members, some in senior positions, has been that the party executive has not held the caucus and leadership to account over policy decisions. 

pn886. Prominent Māori leader Moana Jackson passed away today

UPDATE. Full video as he is returned to his marae. Watch and listen here.

Dr Moana Jackson (Ngatī Kahungunu, Ngatī Porou), a leading lawyer and one of New Zealand’s most prominent academics on Te Tiriti o Waitangi and Māori rights, has died after a long illness with cancer. Māoridom, academics, politicians and many followers of Jackson’s work mourn his death. 

Jackson has worked across education, law and academia. He was involved in his generation’s most significant movements and events, including working on the seabed and foreshore cases, the 1995 Moutoa Gardens occupation, and as a teacher as part of efforts to revitalise te reo Māori. 

He was a vocal critic of the government's foreshore and seabed legislation in 2004 and the October 2007 police 'terror' raids. He resigned as patron of the Police Recruit Wing 244 due to his opposition to how the raids were conducted saying, "I do not buy that this was a racially-neutral act". In 2009 at Omahu Marae in Hastings he said: "Those who take power unjustly defend it with injustice."