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Speaker 1: So the good news about the arrival today of this

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Speaker 1: protest is that after today, of course it's over. Thank god.

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Speaker 1: This has been one of the more misrepresented activities in

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Speaker 1: recent years. Hard to know what it's actually about, or

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Speaker 1: whether those taking part even know what it's about. I mean,

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Speaker 1: is it about the Principle's Bill? Is it about a

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Speaker 1: general attitude towards the government and Maori policies? As a

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Speaker 1: pr stunt for the Maori Party? Perhaps most importantly of all,

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Speaker 1: what does it achieve? And the answer, of course is nothing.

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Speaker 1: The bill, if that's what it is about, dies after

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Speaker 1: the Select Committee process, and even if it didn't, although

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Speaker 1: you are more than justified to protest, a protest doesn't

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Speaker 1: change the right of a government to do what they

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Speaker 1: promised they were going to do. It's called democracy. I mean.

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Speaker 1: Democracy is slightly complicated by MMP, which may or may

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Speaker 1: not produce what you thought it might when you voted.

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Speaker 1: But democracy, ironically is what led to MMP in the

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Speaker 1: first place, because we all voted for it. So the

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Speaker 1: two winners from my view out of the so far

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Speaker 1: are the Maori Party, who've got a lot of attention

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Speaker 1: and drummed up good numbers in various parts of the

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Speaker 1: country for their campaign. They have of course alienated themselves

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Speaker 1: from many, but one they don't care, and two you

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Speaker 1: were never voting for them anyway. The other is David Seymour, who,

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Speaker 1: whether you agree with him or not, has argued coherently

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Speaker 1: and eloquently not performing so well. We include here the media,

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Speaker 1: who yet again have sided too often with the protest.

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Speaker 1: I saw a reporter. I mean, I gave you the

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Speaker 1: examples before, but I saw a reporter singing, you can't

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Speaker 1: make this stuff up, literally singing as part of her reportage.

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Speaker 1: I saw a reporter dispute official figures from the police

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Speaker 1: for the turnout, as though a disputed is in fact

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Speaker 1: part of journalism these days. Jenny Shipley talking of civil

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Speaker 1: war was an astonishing thing, as any of I've seen

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Speaker 1: in recent times. At least Chris Finlason and weighing and

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Speaker 1: kept his head in a country with real and serious problems.

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Speaker 1: A bill destined for the waistbin is not worth the

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Speaker 1: energy this has been given. Priorities are all over the place.

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Speaker 1: We have looked shabby, we've looked unhinged, we've looked violent,

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Speaker 1: we've looked low rent. We are not living up to

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Speaker 1: expectations of our potential. This is not the country I

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Speaker 1: grew up and or indeed love. It is a wayward

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Speaker 1: place at the moment and desperate need of some serious

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Speaker 1: leadership and even more discipline. For more from the Mic

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Speaker 1: Asking Breakfast, listen live to news Talks at B from

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Speaker 1: six am weekdays, or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.