Ae Marika – 19 March 2013 “You gotta laugh…”

Posted on March 19, 2013 by admin in Ae Marika

You gotta laugh …

We’ve been suffering through the worst drought we’ve seen in decades over the last couple of months, with water resources stretched, all the paddocks going brown and farmers going to the wall, and then the very first day it rains, the clouds roll in, Kaitaia airport gets closed, our plane gets turned back to Auckland and we end up having to drive home … in the rain! Still, at least it’s raining even though we’re gonna need a heck of a lot more before papatuanuku starts getting a bit of her colour back.

And while we’re talkin’ about water, last week the petition against the sale of state assets finally arrived at parliament – a wall of boxes with nearly 400,000 signatures. The Clerk and his staff take a couple of months to check that all the signatures are in order (not too many double ups, and setting aside the signatures of Batman, Robin, Hongi Hika and the like), and then the Speaker presents the petition to the house, after which the government has 12 months to call the referendum. They don’t have to take any notice of the result, but if the referendum is held in election year and it is resoundingly against asset sales, I guarantee you it will have an impact at the ballot box.

Now of course there has also been a BIG run on shares which the Prime Minister says shows that the interest in the sale outweighs the opposition. The easiest way to sort that argument of course will be a referendum with a simple question – do you support asset sales – YES or NO. That will answer it all.

But the shares issue has a darker side, and that is the fact that if you invest, you will want a return on your investment, and the only way to get that return will be through an increase in electricity prices. Those with enough money to invest might not notice the extra cost, but for the great majority of Kiwis who can’t, that price hike is going to really hurt.

And there is another matter that I don’t think investors are aware of, and that is the ruling of the Supreme Court that while they would not stop the sale of Mighty River Power, they made it clear that the Supreme Court (1) recognised the validity of the Maori interest in freshwater, and (2) required the government to provide for that interest. The effect of “providing for that interest” is very likely to have an impact on the value of all shares.

And as a final note on water, I’ve just spoke to the co-chair of the New Zealand Maori Council who tells me that as soon as the Crown are ready, Council will be go back to the Waitangi Tribunal for Stage Two of the hearings, to clarify and define the extent of the Maori interest in water, an interest that has just been given formal legal recognition and protection by the Supreme Court.

And the Ngapuhi Stage Two Hearings are on at Waitangi this week!!

Stage One was probably the best wananga you could ever hope to attend, and the book which came out of those hearings, NGAPUHI SPEAKS, has already been widely acclaimed as the best record of the thoughts, the statements and the aspirations of Ngapuhi chiefs from before the time of the signing of Te Whakaputanga o Te Rangatiratanga o Niu Tireni, up to and including the years immediately following the signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. If you have an interest in the history of the north, then Waitangi is the place to be this week … might see you there.

AE MARIKA is an article written every week by Hone Harawira, leader of the MANA Movement and Member of Parliament for Te Tai Tokerau. You are welcome to use any of the comments and to ascribe them to Mr Harawira. The full range of Hone’s articles can be found on the MANA website at www.mana.net.nz.