Dear Hone, ‘I would feel proud that such people disliked me’

Dear Hone, We have never met, but I wish to write to offer you my support at this time. I was watching One News tonight when Jessica Mutch did her best to “Draw out the Maori MP’s saga.” (for as long as possible) Meanwhile, we were forced to endure the disgusting Rodney Hide’s grovelling public apology. Apart from Rodney’s puerile tastes in travel destinations (Universal Studios - strange choice for a man over 50?) they lavished air time on this mouthpiece of the rich, no doubt keen to “rehabilitate” him in the public’s eyes, so he can get on with stealing public assets and attacking Maori and the poor. I feel it is extremely unfair that you should be targeted for taking time out for a visit to Paris when such bought-and-paid-for mouthpieces of the rich as Rodney Hide, his boss Roger Douglas, and all the rest of them have been doing exactly the same thing for decades. To me it is hypocrisy. Every day plane loads of rich people take off on “business trips”; “sabbaticals”; “intern-ships” etc, all paid for by the taxpayer directly, or the public indirectly via the everyday price gouging that the monopoly corporations use to steal from the New Zealand people. They label you a racist for calling the owners of the country “white mother-fuckers raping the country.” Sounds quite true, if you ask me. My only problem with this statement is it’s not quite technically correct, because these days there are a tiny number of yellow and brown mother-fuckers raping the country too. But you are quite right, most of these capitalist exploiters are white. As you know, these people’s forebears came here and stole the land, fair and square, and they are not about to give any of it back. Well, maybe a tiny bit. I recall a conversation with a senior official of Internal Affairs in 1993 when I remarked about what a good thing the Treaty Settlement Process was for Maori. Mr Wallace responded: “Yes, but it’s our system and we will get ALL of that money back. The Maori will end up like the Canadian Indians, no claim, no money and no redress.” Spoken like a true land thief. Of course where the colonial government couldn’t steal the land, they refused to develop it. The poor roading in the Far North and the Ureweras is legendary, the lack of investment in regional development is an unspoken rule. And you can bet that the key reason the right wing and their mouthpieces in the media object so strongly to your presence in Parliament is that they have a lot more raping and pillaging of the country on their agenda. People like John Key are charged with maintaining a political environment that allows the constant flow of money and resources out of New Zealand to the multinational corporations who own everything. Predominant amongst these are the multinational banks. A Parliamentarian’s role is to act as a safety valve so that outrage at this rapine and pillage can be safely vented, whilst not forgetting to manage the populations expectations for quality of life, downwards. The political landscape has been dominated forever by two neo-conservative parties. Both parties, Labour and National, are practically identical in their stands on about 99% of issues. You only have to look at Labour’s record during their last nine years of office to see this. For example: • They passed the Foreshore and Seabed Act. • Refused to restore the right to strike with the ERA. • Refused to reverse National’s benefit cuts of 1991. • Only a very partial reversal of Bill Birch’s attacks on the disabled from the 1992 and 1998 ACC acts - rights to rehabilitation not restored. • Refused to restore universal access to free tertiary education, they sold those places to fee paying foreign students instead. • Failed to restore standard apprenticeships for trade training resulting in national shortages in every skill category. • Refused to repeal pro-market building regulations National introduced that allow greedy developers and untrained builders to construct leaky houses. Also failed to pass legislation to enable these crooks to be brought to justice or leaky homeowners to be compensated. • Failed to enact legislation to reduce the effects of climate change. What laws did Labour pass? • Draconian Anti-Terror laws, which because of the lack of terrorism in New Zealand were used to racially target and oppress Maori. • Free Trade Acts with various police states, such as market-Stalinist China and marshal-law Singapore. • Ended the moratorium on GE food testing and production. • Passed laws guaranteeing the profits of the big four Aussie banks in New Zealand with taxpayers funds. A truly frightening liability! They continue to allow this cabal to “loan money into existence” via the fractional reserve banking system, where money is only advanced as credit to be paid with usurious interest. This pyramid scheme requires continuous “growth” to avoid collapse, putting un-sustainable pressure on New Zealand’s people and environment and pricing young people out of the housing market. On top of this is Labour’s support for the 2003 war in Iraq by allowing our Navy to patrol in locations that released US warships for aggressive actions, the activities of the SIS locally (e.g. the Zaoui affair, targeting of local Muslims) and NZ military intelligence personnel directly involved in operations on the ground in Iraq. Persistent rumours of SAS activities in Iraq also circulate amongst military family members. Afghanistan also involved the direct participation of the Army in the projection of lethal force against the peoples of the region. This is only a very partial list, but the picture that emerges is of a pro-business, anti-democratic, racist, state-terrorist gang completely as one with the agendas of the most reactionary neo-conservative forces on the planet. I would feel proud that such people disliked me, and I hope you do as well. Regards, Peter de Waal