0 "Mana" Cartoon of the Day - 31 May 2014

We spotted this pictorial commentary of political events this week, and it was too good not to publish:

Hone may have his manna, but we know his price now. He is a political prostitute. And although we despise Sue Bradford's politics, she has walked away from Mana with mana. For that she should be commended.

0 MegaMana's first casualty

The Internet-Mana Party has been officially formed, but within 45 minutes it has had its first defection. Sue Bradford has just told Sean Plunket on RadioLive that "Sucking up to German millionaires is not my vision of the future" and has resigned from Mana. 

There's no word yet as to whether John Minto will have a similar attack of principles and bail out. We've said in the past that Sue Bradford's politics are completely opposite to ours, but she has risen in our esteem for not being blinded by Dotcom's bluster and bank balance.

Attention turns now to who will lead the Internet Party. Could it be Kim Dotcom's candlelit friend Martyn Bradbury? Please let that be so!

0 Harawira and Dotcom to marry

Gimme a hug Big Fella!

Stand by for an engagement announcement at 11am this morning; Audrey Young from the Herald reports:

Mana leader Hone Harawira is this morning expected to announce a formal deal with Kim Dotcom's Internet Party to jointly contest the September election.
The marriage of convenience is designed to maximise the chances of both parties gaining MPs in the next Parliament.
It is likely to involve the creation of an umbrella alliance - with both the "Mana" and "Internet" names in the title.
It will be registered with the Electoral Commission, enabling both parties to present a single combined list in the same way the Alliance did in the 1990s with various component parties, including the Greens, NewLabour and Mana Motuhake.
Mr Harawira is the sole Mana MP and holding on to his seat is critical.
If he retains his Te Tai Tokerau seat on September 20, the new alliance will be able to claim its percentage of the party vote even if it falls under 5 per cent.

If the Internet Party were not tied to an electorate seat, it would have to get 5 per cent of the party vote on its own before getting seats in Parliament.
For its part, the Mana Party will almost certainly get a lot more profile than it otherwise would during the campaign.
The Internet Party is likely to stump up with a bigger war chest than Mana could though the extent of joint campaigning has yet to be announced.
The Electoral Commission donation declarations yesterday revealed that Mr Dotcom, an internet mogul, gave the Internet Party $250,000 on May 14.

Audrey Young is dead right to call this a "marriage of convenience". It is a cynical manipulation of electoral laws designed to give a voice to a party which at this point has no leader, no candidates, and the only noticeable policy being preventing Kim Dotcom from being extradited to the USA.

The next round of donations declarations will be interesting.  A donation of $250,000 from Kim Dotcom to the Internet Party was declared yesterday, but no donations seem to have been declared to date by Harawira's party. That is something to be followed with interest in coming months, because we're sure that there will be a dowry paid in this "marriage of convenience"

During his speech in the Budget Debate, Hone Harawira said this:

MORE INCOME INEQUALITY between the rich and the poor, with National’s policies creating an environment where the richest 1% of NZers own 16% of the country’s wealth while 50% of NZers own less than 5%, and where the income of the top 1% has risen nearly 10 times faster than that of the bottom 10%. 

It's really ironic that Harawira seems to have decided that if you can't beat the 1%, you join them. What say you this morning Sue Bradford?

MORE INCOME INEQUALITY between the rich and the poor, with National’s policies creating an environment where the richest 1% of NZers own 16% of the country’s wealth while 50% of NZers own less than 5%, and where the income of the top 1% has risen nearly 10 times faster than that of the bottom 10%. - See more at: http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2014/05/16/hone-harawiras-budget-speech-last-night/#sthash.Ystne9bn.dpuf

MORE INCOME INEQUALITY between the rich and the poor, with National’s policies creating an environment where the richest 1% of NZers own 16% of the country’s wealth while 50% of NZers own less than 5%, and where the income of the top 1% has risen nearly 10 times faster than that of the bottom 10%. - See more at: http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2014/05/16/hone-harawiras-budget-speech-last-night/#sthash.Ystne9bn.dpuf

MORE INCOME INEQUALITY between the rich and the poor, with National’s policies creating an environment where the richest 1% of NZers own 16% of the country’s wealth while 50% of NZers own less than 5%, and where the income of the top 1% has risen nearly 10 times faster than that of the bottom 10%. - See more at: http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2014/05/16/hone-harawiras-budget-speech-last-night/#sthash.Ystne9bn.dpuf

0 The Mana implosion begins

A week is said to be a long time in politics. But the last 24 hours have seen plenty happen within the Mana Party; the Herald on Sunday reports:

Sue Bradford and other leading Mana Party figures have walked out of the party's AGM over its decision to continue negotiations towards an alliance with Kim Dotcom's Internet Party.
After discussions which went into the night at Mataikotare Marae near Rotorua yesterday, Mana's branches "unanimously'' agreed to move forward with the negotiations.
The party has given its leaders a month to negotiate, before they put any proposed alliance out to the party's local branches for consultation.
However, Mana President Annette Sykes this morning said : "Our movement, I was concerned that it may be fragile and some of our membership - I don't know whether some have chosen not to come back today.''
"There's quite a number. We're not talking hundreds, but we're talking people who I think are leaders young and old and they are principled people who I have respect for. They've gone back to reflect with their branches.''

Ms Bradford this morning confirmed she was among those who had walked out.
"We left us last night so she perhaps includes us among those people because there was deep debate, deep dissension and resistance to the idea of going into an alliance with the Internet Party.''
"Some of us, both Maori and Pakeha, are really disturbed by the idea of going into an alliance with a neo-liberal billionaire.''

Kudos to Sue Bradford and the other members of Mana who can hold their heads high. They have put principles ahead of dirty deals, and Kim Dotcom's tainted money.

What is left of the Mana Party is a joke. Principles have been abandoned, and instead, the promise of clutching the hem of Dotcom's rather ample garment is now what drives the party. And don't get us started on Hone Harawira; in terms of venal behaviour, he makes Winston Peters look like Mother Teresa.

The implosion of the Mana Party has begun. We warned several weeks ago that this would end in tears, and that now seems almost a certainty. 

And in the meantime, Cameron Slater has pointed out a huge disconnect between what Dotcom told Mana members yesterday, and previously published details about his upbringing. Like David Cunliffe, Dotcom brings different messages to different audiences.

Haere ra Mana Party. Don't say we didn't warn you.