A couple of weeks ago I asked Tariana Turia a question in the house about the international evidence supporting a ban on tobacco displays, something that she has publicly supported even though her colleague Tony Ryall has dismissed the idea.
I was working on the basis that the National Party ministers aren’t listening to their partners in the Maori Party. But as the questioning continued (amidst a volley of points of order regarding what Mrs Turia is and isn’t responsible for) it turned out that even though Tariana has publicly asserted her support for banning point of sale tobacco advertising, she has at not time advised Minister Ryall that he should go ahead with the select committee recommendation that tobacco products should be out of sight.
Which got me thinking: Just what is she doing?
So I asked written questions to see which groups actively campaigning for greater tobacco control she had met with. Of the 15 organisations I asked about she had met with just 3 – Te Hotu Manawa Maori, Te Reo Marama (TRM) and ASH.
It’s probably not fair to expect her to have met with them all, but the two she hadn’t met that stuck out like a canine’s proverbials were the Cancer Society and the Smokefree Coalition, the two organisations leading the campaign against Tobacco Displays.
I don’t think anyone really expected Maori Party ministers to have all that much say in this Government. But just how much effort is Tariana putting in to making her voice heard?
she probably doesn’t have to make much of an effort to have her voice heard – she gets listened to, unlike when she was with Labour.
And if Labour don’t think that Te Hotu Manawa Maori and Te Reo Marama are leading anti-smoking organisations then I can see why she had to make such an effort to have her voice heard wihtin Labour – and to no avail.
I can really see why the Maori Party formed – this idea that seperate Maori-focused health groups shouldn’t be taken seriously isn’t a good look.
He didn’t say that THMM/TRM weren’t important, his point was that Tariana has only met with a small number of the important players in the movement for a ban on cigarette displays. He didn’t say anything about not taking Maori-focused health groups seriously.
Why do you blame Labour for not taking THMM/TRM seriously when National aren’t listening to them at all? The point of this post was to illustrate how Tariana Turia isn’t pushing the ban that she is supposedly a huge supporter of. It’s not that she’s not being listened to by National, it’s that she isn’t saying anything!
Thanks D-Low, you’ve got it in one. No comment there whatsoever about the quality of the people she’s met with, just the quantity.
She’s too busy planning the menu for her feed-a-thon.
Neil won’t like anything anyone says that is Left Leaning, that’s ok. Your point that she is so avid yet has barely met with anyone who can inform her view is a little strange, this is not entirely unusual though. Foreshore and Seabed she got it wrong too, Iwi found the law works, but don’t let the facts get in the way aye.
I wouldn’t be surprised if no one was listening though Ian, there needs to be something to listen to. You don’t see big Gezza B trying to argue that Nick Smith doesn’t have responsibility either do you, that’s because love him or hate him, Smith is competent.
This is the Maori Party though, scream from the rooftops, do nothing, then complain you weren’t listened to and that this is symptomatic of an institutionalized racism. Why would you let them do anything, considering their ideas, such as criteria-free entry to university, are so ridiculous and backward looking.
I am really concerned at the strategy the Labour MPs seem to be employing in relation to the Maori Party. Rather than attacking the Maori Party MPs, driving them closer to National and making Labour seem even more anti-Maori, it would be great to see Labour supporting the Maori Party MPs to make policy changes that both parties would support. As someone who voted for the Maori Party at the last election, I became very concerned about their decision to work with the National Party, and will be looking very, very carefully at how the Maori MPs operate and what they are able to get out of this arrangement to see whether I should vote for them next time around. The only thing that seems clear to me at the moment is that if the Labour MPs continue with this approach, I certainly couldn’t consider returning to vote for Labour at the next election.
I would love to work with Tariana on the tobacco displays issue and if she can introduce a govt bill to that effect I’ll throw everything I’ve got behind it.
As I said in my post, when I first raised the question in the house I was seriously working on the basis that Tariana wasn’t being listened to by National. I wanted to point that out and point out that I support her position. But it was dissapointing to hear her say she had not advised Tony Ryall on the matter.
Supplementary question – what is the Maori Party doing?
It seems to me that Pita Sharples, although Associate Minister of Education, is trying to play “good cop” to Heather Roy’s “bad cop”.
The pair of them are involved in ritual hand wringing, telling us how much they care about issues dear to the hearts of Maori (they think), while creating a “smoke screen” (forgive the pun) for their National Party masters and mistresses!
As Associate Ministers of Portfolios, I expect them to be showing more assertive leadership than they are currently doing. Baubles of office come to mind. Blow the whistle on them Iain, and Trevor.