The campaign against asset sales that Labour and the Greens are running has become dangerously mixed up with Maori claims to water ownership.
The Maori Council's bid to delay the partial privatisation of four state-owned energy companies was at first seen as a welcome new angle of attack.
But the Waitangi Tribunal hearings, where the council is seeking a finding that the share sales should be put on hold until water ownership claims are resolved, is being used as a platform for radical demands.
The focus has shifted from the asset sales programme to whether or not Maori should own water.
It has created conflict between the Government and the Maori Party and ignited trenchant anti-Maori comment on talkback radio.
As he deals with this, Prime Minister John Key knows exactly what he is doing.
His critics say he should have kept his mouth shut, but there was no way he could allow the perception to creep in that the Government would ever allow Maori to own water.
The fact that the issue has even arisen seems ridiculous because no Government would countenance such a claim, but that hasn't stopped submitters arguing fiercely that Maori have an absolute right to own water.
Key couldn't have shot that down more firmly than he did: "My position is rock solid and it isn't going to change - no one owns water. We would utterly dispute that Maori own water."
The council expects the tribunal to find in its favour, and Key couldn't stay silent on that either when he was under media pressure to explain what happens next.
Tribunal findings aren't binding on the Government, he pointed out, and could be ignored.
Those words brought an outcry from the council, Maori commentators and the Maori Party.
Tariana Turia's strange interpretation was that Key had "given permission for people to attack Maori".
He was also accused of showing disrespect for the tribunal, disregarding its processes and undermining its mana.
The Maori Party is again in the invidious position of having to defend its support agreement with the Government in the face of criticism from MPs like Hone Harawira - which is what the party's foot-stamping is mostly about.
"They're like chihuahuas yapping at their master and then coming back to their kennel for a feed," said Harawira, meaning Turia and Pita Sharples aren't prepared to put their money where their mouths are and pull the plug on the agreement which has given them ministerial portfolios.
Turia and Sharples say they want an urgent meeting with Key, but he hasn't obliged them and that's another indication of his reluctance to do anything that could be perceived as favouring the stance they have taken.
He said he didn't have time this week because of his travel schedule, which was less than convincing.
The Maori Party then believed the meeting would take place on Monday but Key changed that to around the middle of next week.
While Labour always enjoys divisions between the Government and its partners, it needs to be very careful about the way it handles the water ownership fiasco.
On this issue it can't afford to be equivocal any more than the Government can.
And it hardly needs reminding just how seriously Maori rights issues can threaten a Government.
When Helen Clark was prime minister she faced an Appeal Court ruling that raised the remote possibility that Maori could claim freehold title to beaches.
She reacted with the Foreshore and Seabed Act, putting the entire coastline into Crown ownership.
The fallout from that was far more serious than anything likely to result from the row over water rights.
Clark knew she couldn't take any chances. So does Key.
NZN