Mike's Minute: Why are we only just now getting the Waitangi Tribunal review?

Am I right to inquire just what it is that Tama Potaka has been doing for a year and a half?

How many times have you heard me ask the Prime Minister on a Monday, when is the Waitangi Tribunal decision being made? What is Potaka doing with this activist tribunal?

Well, on Friday we got the answer.

He is going to have a review.

I thought that's what he was already doing. That’s why I thought we had been waiting so long.

The impatience I was showing in asking the Prime Minister is not "when is he announcing a review"? It's, when is the Government snipping the wings of taxpayer-funded activists that have lived well past their use by date?

The tribunal was set up 50 years ago to settle historic grievances. To a large extent, they have done that.

The fact some remain outstanding is an indictment on the people who haven't settled and various Governments who have refused to put deadlines in place.

But the majority of the intent of the tribunal is over.

Having ticked that box, they saw a future in a lot more money and work offering increasingly radical views for anyone who was bored and angry and wanted to take a case, so they could get a judgement to beat the Government of the day over the head with.

This current Government, perceived by the aggrieved as a particularly nasty lot, have kept the tribunal flat out filing complaints and receiving damning reports. None of it means anything because the tribunal has no real legal standing.

None of this is complex. Yet Potaka has been sitting there doing Lord-knows-what, to finally muster up a press release on a Friday to tell us at long, long, long, last we'll get a couple of people to wander off for a few months and come back with an opinion the Government wants, so they can do what they should have done all along - call a halt to the circus.

Once again we remind you - no small amount of the support that got this Government to power was predicated on the idea that enough was enough on the Maori overreach front.

Delivery has been painfully slow.

Potaka has been dragging the chain.

Is it possible part of the reason this Government has failed to fire more, is simply because their talk was a lot more attractive than their action?

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Am I right to inquire just what is it that
Tama potark has been doing for a year and a half.
I mean, how many times have you heard me ask
the Prime Minister on a Monday, when's the white tangy
decision going to be made? What is potarka doing with
this activist tribunal? You've heard me say that over and over. Well, Friday,
we've got the answer. He's going to have a review.

(00:20):
I thought that's what he's been doing. That's why I
thought we've been waiting so long. The impatience I was
showing and asking the Prime Minister is not when's he
announcing a review? It's when is the government snipping the
wings of the taxpayer funded activists that have lived well
past the use by date. The tribunal was set up,
if you can believe it, fifty years ago, to settle

(00:41):
historic grievances. They have to a large extent done that.
The fact that some remain outstanding is an indictment on
the people who haven't settled and various governments who have
refused to put deadlines in place. But the majority of
the intent of the tribunal's over. Having ticked that box,
they saw a future in a lot more money and
a lot more work, offering increasingly radical views. For anyone
who was bored and angry, I wanted to take a
case so they could get a judgment to beat the

(01:02):
government of the day over the head with this current government,
perceived by the aggrieved as particularly nasty, have kept the
Tribunal flat out, filing complaints and receiving damning reports. None
of it means anything because the Tribunal has no real
legal standing. None of this is complex for goodness sake,
Yet Potarker has been sitting there doing lord knows what
to finally muster up a press release on a Friday

(01:23):
to tell us a long, long, long, long, long, long last,
He's going to get a couple of people to wander
off for a few months and come back with an
opinion the government wants so they can do what they
should have done all along, which is call a halt
to a circus. Once again, we remind you, no small
amount of the support that got this government to power
was predicated on the idea that enough was enough. On

(01:43):
the mari over each front, delivery has been painfully slow.
Po Tarker has been dragging the chain. Is it possible
part of the reason this government has failed to fire
more than it has is simply because their talk was
a lot more attractive than their action. For more from
the Mike Asking Breakfast, listen live to News Talks at
B from six am weekdays, or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.