I voted for Te Pâti Māori when they first entered the Whare Pāremata and they were fresh. I’ve always wanted them to do well but I lost faith in them when they opted to join Key’s ratbag lot. I understand why they did it and I respect their reasoning but somewhere in my soul it didn’t add up at all and it still doesn’t. I don’t know what Te Pâti thinks of that because I simply walked away from them. I’ve remained loyal in my heart to their intention, but it certainly took a long time for me to forgive them for partnering up with the coloniser party. Political loyalties matter to me but I’m also capable of moving if I see real change. I’ve mostly voted Labour throughout my life but have occasionally deviated for some ethical reason or other. I dumped Labour after the Foreshore and Seabed debacle, and when the Clark and the Party walked away from Georgina Beyer’s Gender Identity Bill. Even after all those years it’s hard to respect Georgie for letting it happen with the slightest protest. That was such a betrayal on every level. It’s the best example I can think of where not taking an opportunity has left us in limbo ever since.
Maybe I’m not that forgiving after all because the pain caused by the 2007 police raids on alleged paramilitary training camps in the Urawera’s which saw members of the Armed Offenders Squad and Special Tactics Group brutally execute search warrants throughout Aotearoa still runs deep. These raids were justified using the Terrorism Suppression Act and, according to the cops, were the result of more than a year of surveillance that ‘uncovered and monitored’ the ‘training camps’, training camps that simply didn’t exist.
Somebody was telling colossal porkies, and Prime Minister Helen Clark still denies that she had any prior knowledge of the raids or that were going to happen. Sorry Helen, but I call utter bullshit on that
The Solicitor-General at the time David Collins declined to press charges against anyone under the Terrorism Suppression Act legislation and only Tame Iti and Te Rangikaiwhiria Kemara were convicted but of firearms charges and they did time as scapegoats for the cops and for the government for what was the most massive political cock up in my lifetime.
Yes, I’m still pissed about it, and the images of those terrified kids on their school bus will haunt me forever.
We had to wait until 2013 for the publication of the Independent Police Complaints Authority (IPCA) report following its investigation into complaints about police actions during the raids, particularly those relating to roadblocks and the execution of search warrants. The IPCA concluded that although the planning and preparation for the execution of search warrants was “largely in accordance with policy”, the planning and preparation for the establishment of roadblocks in Ruatoki and Tāneatua was “deficient” and a number of aspects of the police raids were “contrary to law and unreasonable”. The police spokesman for the Labour Party acknowledged that innocent people had been “unnecessarily frightened and intimidated” and in 2014 the Police Commissioner formally apologised to the Ruatoki community and Ngāi Tūhoe for police actions during the raids.
In my opinion, noapology would ever be enough to erase the memories of the terror inflicted by the state on the people of Ngāi Tūhoe on those awful days and it took the election of Dame Jacinda Ardern to enable me to turn my face back to Labour and I have absolutely no regrets about that.
I have to say I’ve been hugely impressed with Te Pâti Māori this time around and I can really understand the importance they place on not taking a backward step with this Trumpist government. I really appreciate Rawiri and Debbie taking every opportunity to hold the coalition’s feet to the fire because it’s the least that they deserve. If Seymour’s socks caught fire, I’d happily let his feet toast in perpetuity. While I’m a fan and a staunch supporter, this does not necessarily mean, I will cast my vote for them in 2026 as there are times when political expediency rules the heart – but I am with them in every other way.
dykiegirl 