National desperate to hide redneck influence for their big blue tent strategy

Government's talks with Tuhoe back on
Controversial Treaty of Waitangi negotiations with Tuhoe resumed on Friday. Prime Minister John Key yesterday denied negotiations had ever stopped. However, Tuhoe sources said they felt the meeting on Friday was the formal recommencement of talks after a breakdown following comments by Mr Key in May. Mr Key broke with convention then by announcing in the middle of negotiations that the Government would not accept a settlement with Tuhoe that included sole ownership of Te Urewera National Park. Tuhoe claimed they were about to sign an agreement in principle with the Crown before the comments.

Poor old Chris Finlayson, he's a nice bloke and very bright and when in May John Key screwed him by ripping up the Tuhoe deal Chris had worked so hard on because white focus groups from Aucklands North Shore spooked Joyce and McCully in the Caucus one had to really feel for Finlayson, and todays U-turn announcement is a slight victory.

The reason why National are desperate to start avoiding redneck opinion polls from Aucklands North Shore is because National are desperate to hold the middle ground as part of their big blue tent strategy. With Labour going left, National need to hold the middle ground more than ever as their own rump redneck 'burn-the-Welfare-state-and-privatize-the-lot-brigade' simply isn't enough to govern. U-turning on the Tuhoe deal is meant to pacify an angry Maori Party who are sensing that post 2011 hard right National will be an increasingly difficult sell to their electorate.

Interesting to note that Shane Jones is gunning for Pita Sharples as Labour gamble knocking the Maori Party out of contention altogether...

Labour MP aims to run against Sharples
Labour MP Shane Jones will try to topple Maori Party co-leader Pita Sharples in next year's election by challenging for his Tamaki Makaurau seat.

Mr Jones has confirmed to the Herald he will seek the nomination to stand for Labour in the Maori electorate, which has been Dr Sharples' stronghold since the Maori Party entered Parliament in 2005.

His challenge will end an apparent tacit agreement by Labour not to stand strong candidates against the two Maori Party co-leaders, who rely on their electorate seats rather than the party vote to be in Parliament.

It will at the least cause Dr Sharples some discomfort in the seat where half the voters gave their party vote to Labour last election.

...45% of those currently unemployed are between 15-24 and a massive chunk of them are Maori, the mana enhancing relationship used by National to make them look much more moderate than they actually are for their big blue tent strategy has provided the Maori Party with sweet FA to convince their overwhelmingly Labour Party voting electorate that Sharples has done enough to get them through the recession.

2011 will not be the cake walk so many on the right are pretending it will be.