National's ETS to include special treatment for Maori

Negotiations with iwi are not the only negotiations taking place around the Emissions Trading Scheme. Government is also talking with businesses to plant trees on governemnt land to earn carbon credits and government has also sought to reduce the costs to agriculture to support them through the transitional phase and reduce the likelihood of an economic decline. Yet none of these other discussions are highlighted even though they will costs the tax payer more than the Treaty Settlements. Why? Because we still live in a country so riddled with racism - a country of people that still vomit at the idea that Maori may remotely benefit from any negotiations. To say that Maori will not pay taxes as a result of the ETS is idiotic! Maori will pay taxes like everyone else and Maori will pay taxes on behalf of the agriculture sector which emits more than 50% of carbon dioxide into the air. And I can tell you the majority of people involved in the Agriculture sector are not Maori, but hey who cares...lets just worry about the small percentage of support iwi are getting and forget about the rest...

yet it is the only

Chargone... you're such an idiot. Thats Moari land they're talking about. The crown owned land is the land that taxpayers are going to pay for. Thats right... Maori are real Landlords and we all know that they are owed billions by Nz governments that hand over the bill to the taxpayers in which Maori are. Everybody pays tax in NZ; its required by the law. Racism- something thats existed in NZ for just a little over 2.5 centuries. Nazi party- What do you think the national front is?????? Steve, you should do what other people tell you. Especially what the government tells you. You both could march down Wellington and kick up a stink there at the beehive. Especially if you have a problem. But I guess you don't have the gumption for that... unlike a minority thats has all the right to do so.

let the moari govern aoteroa if you think they should get nothing. Take out the haka from the all-black also. And don't forget why the tourists come to nz... its not to dee how european the place is.

Nick smith is a joke why should the maoris get a special deal and the rest of us tax payers pay for them to get rich again and again.
We should not have to pay anything at all.
And yet nick smith says acc in in money promblems why not stop sending maoris the money and put it into acc and the health system and been that acc made a surplus last finical year one wonders how many more lies nick smith will come up with
The goverment can not see the wood for the trees!!!

How in the name of all that is holy is this NOT racism? screw 'reverse' racism. there's nothing 'reverse' about it. I'm not actually sure the problem is MMP. in fact, I'm fairly sure the problem is NOT MMP. the problems are many. people voting based on old irrational FPP habits, institutionalised racism, if of an unusual stripe, the very concept of 'representative' democracy, ineffective governors and monarchs who do not use their powers to step on such idiocy (that being the entire POINT in their existence in our system), the party system (which is one of the most anti-democratic concepts i've ever come across save those which outright state an opposition to democracy) there are many problems, and many reforms needed [and before someone starts jumping up and down about becoming a republic, that actually makes most of the issues Worse in NZ's situation, whatever it might do in general] I, personally, take it as a symptom of the fundamental flaws in our nation that we even HAVE a distinct Maori party. how can such an entity be anything BUT racist? at a fundamental level, that is the point in their Existance. this is not to say that they do not have the right to form such a party and attempt to move things in the direction they w ant, the same as anyone else, but the fact that they can be successful enough to be a going concern, let alone achieve this kind of stupidity, says very bad things for the state of this country. mind you, it could be worse. we might still have an actually functional nazi-equivalent party actually getting votes. congratulations, New Zealand Voting Public. you can recognize the most well known historic evil. let's try those that are actually still relevant and present next, hey?

I agree with previous correspondence When are going to stop handing out to Maoridom, These handouts only increase the growing racist attitutes in the country. Where is the goverment who will be brave enough to make change.

No wonder there is a lot of prejudice in this country when the Maori get special treatment what is the matter with this country we are all kiwis and should all be treated equal the situation sucks

We don't own a car, we don't have any petrol driven motors on our property, that includes lawn mower we use a push mower, our 1/4 acre is surrounded with trees as well as 15 - 20 fruit trees on the property and we get the same bill as everyone else, something is fundamentally wrong here. Don't let this be a racial issue, some people have cut a deal with a shady government, you should be throwing your stones at the government that the people of NZ voted in not Maori. It is the Maori party's role to get the best deal they can, but the buck stops with the National Government.

One of the reasons I and many Kiwis, both Maori and White have moved to Australia is because we are fed up with these double standards of so called 'Maoridom' and the gravy train-handout mentality. In Papua New Guinea it was and still is known as the cargo cult syndrome. Just hold out your hand and wonderful things will be given to you. This however is a simple naivety in PNG. In NZ it is corruption at its worst. It is highly motivated by handout money and reverse racism. This should be brought into the light and exposed for what it is. Another similarity to PNG is the revisiting of compensation claims. If the NZ taxpayer thinks the payments from the past will satisfy this hungry business of Maoridom, it will not. Simply because like a five year old throwing a tantrum and getting their way, this behavior will be the only way they know to get what they want, and they will repeat it until such time as a strict 'parent' will put a stop to it. Another path Maoridom is perusing, is calling anyone who challenges their corrupt ways, a racist. Racism is only effective when it has power behind it. Like criticizing the Jews, they cannot be challenged because they have accumulated too much power and therefor must be above criticism. These corrupt politicians must be disempowered or they will only become like Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe and use reverse racism terminology to excuse and justify any sort of behavior. Stand up NZ and stop wasting money we haven't got. Get back the notion of one country and common sense. Mark

Anybody who plants trees should get the carbon credits - after all, some use it to offset their own emissions, so why should they be made to pay twice? It was the Labour party which confiscated the carbon credits from the owners of trees. Had they not done so, a lot more trees would have already been planted.