Goldsmith is really dangerous because he might be smart enough to know what he is doing, but does it anyway. The people he seems to admire will never be a part of the future of Aotearoa, watching our Olympians embrace te reo and biculturalism points to a better future. We just need to get through this last hurrah from the entitled boomers…
Another insightful analysis Tui, I certainly learnt more about the man including his conversion experience to hard right neo-liberalism. For a clever low key under the radar sort of guy is the Australian letter business a misstep by him? Or is it simply arrogant power's gone to his head behaviour? I mean surely he and Luxflakes didn't set out to insult the entire Australian nation with those dumb remarks.
It's probably just how they want the world to be, and remember many of their activities fall under the radar. There is just too much to cover with them. Sometimes, like the cancer drugs broken promise, it gets bigger. Even with health, they didn't fund the doctors they promised - medical and mental health. They didn't fund hospitals. They didn't fund GPs as Seymour promised he would. There are often so many things they get away with that they probably act with impunity often.
And no I don't think they set out to insult Australia but Luxon is typically coached on what to say, and if you listen to his words, he is echoing Goldsmith's version to Benedict Collins.
"Oh it's nothing, it's just keeping it simple and relaxed" etc. but Luxon just makes it sound plaid and odd and so he didn't get away with it.
Unfortunately the selection process (& shortage of ethical qualified people who want to be associated with them?) for National & Act & NZ1st is going to give us politicians like Goldsmith - not a surprise but a deep disappointment that the Treaty minister is a racist colonialist by his own words & actions.🤬 (and another one who can't lie straight in bed)
It is one of the few political stories I ENJOYED this week about the Aussie recipient of the sanitised invite to Matariki saying he had know what Aotearoa meant for 40yrs due to Split Enz TAKE THAT Mr Aotearoa Culture Minister 😉(incidentally 6 months in a leaky boat would be a good punishment for the likes of Mr Goldsmith 🛶)
As I've said before, & others have echoed here & elsewhere, Te Reo is now so "normal" as part of our discourse that I don't even register it as surprising when our Olympic athletes mouth the national anthem in Maori when they win a medal, or all our commentators sprinkle Te Reo throughout their interviews. My younger relatives who grew up with this as "usual" will NOT go back, and I hope they get to rule sooner rather than later - my job is to support their efforts eh? 🫂👍🏾
This is a really enlightening article, thank you for sharing. On the face of it I had thought Goldsmith comes across like Doug Graham, but he is clearly not an old-school conservative that believes in democracy and upholding social contract.
I was really struck by your comment about violence being easily stirred up by those that would use disenfranchised people as tools. Owen Jones shows how anti-Islamic, anti-immigrant agendas espoused by political elites in the UK are creating conditions for violence. He also calls out the media. The right are willing to sow division as a way of securing and maintaining power, at any cost. https://youtu.be/fL65T-XuGLk?si=2zT6aGA2AbXlBk45
Thank you for this insightful comment Stephen. I completely agree and it's very disturbing. re: Goldsmith, I'd never looked into him before but saw hm on TV quite regularly and he always seemed affable and harmless - based on appearances.
Yes Goldsmith is dangerous because he always sounds plausible. If, as he says he's found his family. Did the leopard change his spots, or was his prior beliefs just expediency to achieve a cushy number. Drunkle Winnie seems to be of a similar ilk
I thought about this one. I couldn't find the quote yesterday but I believe it was Nicky Hager who said Farrar and Williams from Taxpayers Union/Curia are "mouthpieces for hire" or the equivalent.
And then Goldsmith was referred to as a "historian fore hire."
Now...what do they have in common?
And yes, Winnie. Going from talking in the highest ideals about cherishing and protecting our media, the Fifth Estate, to becoming a Brexit Russian operative friend and attacking and discrediting our media is a polar opposite that can only be explained by a few things.
Would prefer to see some moral consistency in those considered leaders. I don't think they deserve the word 'leaders' though, that much is clear now - more like stragglers who can't keep up with an evolved society.
A good critique of Goldsmith. What is the difference between hard right neo-liberalism, and left wing neo-liberalism ? Goldsmith does stick to colonizers viewpoint, and ignores all the stolen tribal land and the inequity arising from it. But I think Seymour is more dangerous and dogmatic.
My observation is that Ministers, such as Doug Graham who become Treaty Ministers, seem to suffer from a change of heart after listening to the history. Peters is an exception but also an uncle Tom
Winston, I presume you mean they had a change of heart in being more sympathetic to Maori?
Graham was a National Minister I see.
This is the baffling thing here isn't it? You have a 'historian for hire' that once saw the atrocities and commented "Māori had suffered “in landlessness and social and economic marginalisation on a scale comparable to, if not more severe than, some of those areas affected by confiscation.”
Yet once he meets a few worldly rich guys changes his tune to the extreme end of claiming that was actually all good for them anyway.
Yes. It seems to me that when these hard-line ministers get involved with ariki on the marae they have to listen and observe and they become mellow-ministers. Peters is an exception to the rule but he is the consummate politician
Goldsmith is really dangerous because he might be smart enough to know what he is doing, but does it anyway. The people he seems to admire will never be a part of the future of Aotearoa, watching our Olympians embrace te reo and biculturalism points to a better future. We just need to get through this last hurrah from the entitled boomers…
"Goldsmith is really dangerous because he might be smart enough to know what he is doing"
There's a few of those in their government. But I have to say until I dug in, Goldsmith had me fooled. Disappointing, the lot of them.
And yes, I think many do embrace it - what a wonderful thing it truly is Keith!
Another insightful analysis Tui, I certainly learnt more about the man including his conversion experience to hard right neo-liberalism. For a clever low key under the radar sort of guy is the Australian letter business a misstep by him? Or is it simply arrogant power's gone to his head behaviour? I mean surely he and Luxflakes didn't set out to insult the entire Australian nation with those dumb remarks.
It's probably just how they want the world to be, and remember many of their activities fall under the radar. There is just too much to cover with them. Sometimes, like the cancer drugs broken promise, it gets bigger. Even with health, they didn't fund the doctors they promised - medical and mental health. They didn't fund hospitals. They didn't fund GPs as Seymour promised he would. There are often so many things they get away with that they probably act with impunity often.
And no I don't think they set out to insult Australia but Luxon is typically coached on what to say, and if you listen to his words, he is echoing Goldsmith's version to Benedict Collins.
"Oh it's nothing, it's just keeping it simple and relaxed" etc. but Luxon just makes it sound plaid and odd and so he didn't get away with it.
Anyway that's my take. Cheers.
BREAKING: Goldsmith Announces ‘Kiwi’ To Be Removed From Government Press Releases After Learning It Is ‘A Māori Word’
‘Hard-working Kiwi Taxpayers’ To Be Renamed ‘Hard-Working New Zealand Taxpayers’
Very good. Thanks for the chuckle, Andrew. In the ad: Coming to a dystopian future near you!
Unfortunately the selection process (& shortage of ethical qualified people who want to be associated with them?) for National & Act & NZ1st is going to give us politicians like Goldsmith - not a surprise but a deep disappointment that the Treaty minister is a racist colonialist by his own words & actions.🤬 (and another one who can't lie straight in bed)
It is one of the few political stories I ENJOYED this week about the Aussie recipient of the sanitised invite to Matariki saying he had know what Aotearoa meant for 40yrs due to Split Enz TAKE THAT Mr Aotearoa Culture Minister 😉(incidentally 6 months in a leaky boat would be a good punishment for the likes of Mr Goldsmith 🛶)
As I've said before, & others have echoed here & elsewhere, Te Reo is now so "normal" as part of our discourse that I don't even register it as surprising when our Olympic athletes mouth the national anthem in Maori when they win a medal, or all our commentators sprinkle Te Reo throughout their interviews. My younger relatives who grew up with this as "usual" will NOT go back, and I hope they get to rule sooner rather than later - my job is to support their efforts eh? 🫂👍🏾
Yes Cindy! 🙌 🙌 Love it. Thank you.
Why would they want us to be so dumb that we can only speak one language? It’s an insult to all of us.
Yes I’m opting for the last hurrah theory.
I’ve always thought the dual language and Te Reo signs is a matter of charm and pride. Exactly as you say - why would they even think we want that?
This is a really enlightening article, thank you for sharing. On the face of it I had thought Goldsmith comes across like Doug Graham, but he is clearly not an old-school conservative that believes in democracy and upholding social contract.
I was really struck by your comment about violence being easily stirred up by those that would use disenfranchised people as tools. Owen Jones shows how anti-Islamic, anti-immigrant agendas espoused by political elites in the UK are creating conditions for violence. He also calls out the media. The right are willing to sow division as a way of securing and maintaining power, at any cost. https://youtu.be/fL65T-XuGLk?si=2zT6aGA2AbXlBk45
Thank you for this insightful comment Stephen. I completely agree and it's very disturbing. re: Goldsmith, I'd never looked into him before but saw hm on TV quite regularly and he always seemed affable and harmless - based on appearances.
Thanks again.
Thank you Tui. Thorough and useful.
You’re welcome 🙂
Yes Goldsmith is dangerous because he always sounds plausible. If, as he says he's found his family. Did the leopard change his spots, or was his prior beliefs just expediency to achieve a cushy number. Drunkle Winnie seems to be of a similar ilk
I thought about this one. I couldn't find the quote yesterday but I believe it was Nicky Hager who said Farrar and Williams from Taxpayers Union/Curia are "mouthpieces for hire" or the equivalent.
And then Goldsmith was referred to as a "historian fore hire."
Now...what do they have in common?
And yes, Winnie. Going from talking in the highest ideals about cherishing and protecting our media, the Fifth Estate, to becoming a Brexit Russian operative friend and attacking and discrediting our media is a polar opposite that can only be explained by a few things.
Would prefer to see some moral consistency in those considered leaders. I don't think they deserve the word 'leaders' though, that much is clear now - more like stragglers who can't keep up with an evolved society.
A good critique of Goldsmith. What is the difference between hard right neo-liberalism, and left wing neo-liberalism ? Goldsmith does stick to colonizers viewpoint, and ignores all the stolen tribal land and the inequity arising from it. But I think Seymour is more dangerous and dogmatic.
My observation is that Ministers, such as Doug Graham who become Treaty Ministers, seem to suffer from a change of heart after listening to the history. Peters is an exception but also an uncle Tom
Winston, I presume you mean they had a change of heart in being more sympathetic to Maori?
Graham was a National Minister I see.
This is the baffling thing here isn't it? You have a 'historian for hire' that once saw the atrocities and commented "Māori had suffered “in landlessness and social and economic marginalisation on a scale comparable to, if not more severe than, some of those areas affected by confiscation.”
Yet once he meets a few worldly rich guys changes his tune to the extreme end of claiming that was actually all good for them anyway.
Yes. It seems to me that when these hard-line ministers get involved with ariki on the marae they have to listen and observe and they become mellow-ministers. Peters is an exception to the rule but he is the consummate politician
Accurate description of Peters in a nutshell. Thanks.