Post by Kiwi Frontline on Feb 14, 2019 10:33:40 GMT 12
WAITANGI WEEK MESSAGES
She then announced that the Government was setting up a $20,000 Mayoral Relief Fund to help the community get back on its feet.
The initial reaction of many of those following developments would have been incredulity – $20,000 to support a community devastated by fire compared with pledges announced in the lead up to Waitangi Day of over $220 million to appease Maori.
After the PM’s announcement Labour’s public relations machine would have gone into overdrive. It didn’t take long for the clarifications to begin to appear – the $20,000 was an “initial” pledge from the Government; the funds were in “addition” to other support from the Ministry of Social Development, Housing New Zealand and the Ministry for Primary Industries; a further $50,000 was available to help farmers and growers in the region…
But in that rare moment of clarity, before the Government’s PR team kicked into action, the inequity of the Prime Minister’s $20,000 funding promise to assist a distraught community, compared to the $220 million in political favours for Maori sent New Zealanders a clear message about this Government’s priorities: appeasing Maori voters is the key to Labour’s re-election and takes precedence; helping those in crisis is secondary.......
Read Dr Muriel Newman’s latest NZCPR newsletter here > www.nzcpr.com/waitangi-week-messages/#more-28592
She then announced that the Government was setting up a $20,000 Mayoral Relief Fund to help the community get back on its feet.
The initial reaction of many of those following developments would have been incredulity – $20,000 to support a community devastated by fire compared with pledges announced in the lead up to Waitangi Day of over $220 million to appease Maori.
After the PM’s announcement Labour’s public relations machine would have gone into overdrive. It didn’t take long for the clarifications to begin to appear – the $20,000 was an “initial” pledge from the Government; the funds were in “addition” to other support from the Ministry of Social Development, Housing New Zealand and the Ministry for Primary Industries; a further $50,000 was available to help farmers and growers in the region…
But in that rare moment of clarity, before the Government’s PR team kicked into action, the inequity of the Prime Minister’s $20,000 funding promise to assist a distraught community, compared to the $220 million in political favours for Maori sent New Zealanders a clear message about this Government’s priorities: appeasing Maori voters is the key to Labour’s re-election and takes precedence; helping those in crisis is secondary.......
Read Dr Muriel Newman’s latest NZCPR newsletter here > www.nzcpr.com/waitangi-week-messages/#more-28592