I don’t imagine Im alone in my thinking, but for me, candidates who choose to stand in Māori Electorate seats should have firm positions on tino rangatiranga because anything less and they mentally transfer power to the coloniser and surely that’s not what those seats are for

I am also of the view that at General Elections we vote on social not economic policy. Many just try to hide their less than liberal or progressive social views behind the ‘economy’.

Our economic frameworks are effectively designed and set by MFAT + MBIE + Treasury + RBNZ. Both major parties take advice from these agencies and very rarely challenge it in a radical sense because these agencies have specific understandings, insights, and relationships that…

endured for longer than each sitting govt and will continue to do so. BUT as we have seen with the Wellbeing and Living Standards Framework, these shifts in frames to social outcomes can influence change in other places such as trade and economic policy.

We can actually attribute that shift in frame to the cumulative efforts of the Māori Party, Mana Movement, Greens and Labour Māori - and to some extent the Bill English faction of National (ie. social investment initiatives) - that made the timing for that shift possible.

The timing was the coinciding of a surge in appetite for change and the election of the best possible leader to enact the frame change domestically and internationally.