You might have seen Don Brash wandered into Tauranga on Friday, aka “the lions’ den” and have a word about Maori Wards at local council level.
There was the usual bickering, a bit of singing by way of protest at the back of the room, and I strongly suspect no one changed their mind.
To be fair to Brash he is consistent in his message. And I am pleased there are people like him who are prepared in this woke, old day and age full of angst and cancel culture to still speak their mind.
Rupert Murdoch was right last week when he talked of the dangers of this current society. And our seeming inability anymore to be allowed to express a view without the group think brigade launching a campaign to cancel you, fire you, rubbish you, or dismiss you.
Jerry Seinfeld, by the way, is worth looking up. He’s done a couple of podcasts recently. One of them with Kevin Hart where he talks of the need to ignore this current fashion for stamping out anyone not woke. He talks of society, culture, and the current culture is dangerous. But it will pass because culture is fluid.
Keep working, keep believing, and keep turning up is his message, and he’s right.
Meantime, Don Brash flies the flag for increasingly rare amounts of common sense.
Increasing numbers of councils are voting for Maori Wards and increasing numbers of councils are then voting to not have a referendum on those wards thus, until the government changes the law, forcing the community to raise signature by way of petition, to force a vote.
Tauranga got their required five percent and will now have the community decide. And like previous votes around the country, the majority will vote no. That will leave the council out of step with the people who elected them.
This country, especially given its freedom and open democracy, does not move forward by being increasingly separatist. Anyone can stand for council, a board, a seat, a party, a government. There are no barriers.
And in such a system to slice off a chunk of access for race, or indeed for age, gender, or any other particular fascination you may have, is artificial, needless, divisive, and counter-productive.
Right here, right now that view is losing the battle. But as Jerry Seinfeld says culture is fluid, and we will eventually see sense.
And Don Brash will have been shown to be right all along.