THE DISASTROUS POLITICS OF MARAMA DAVIDSON

Although Marama Davidson might even think all publicity is good publicity, it's unlikely that the Green Party will not be damaged by her recent headline-making comments. 

SINCE BEING appointed a Minister outside cabinet in 2020, Green co-leader Marama Davidson has made the headlines for reasons only remotely connected to her work as the Minister for the Prevention of Family Violence and Sexual Violence and as an Assistant Minister for Housing with special responsibility for homelessness. She has obviously taken on board Oscar Wilde's observation: 'There is only one thing in life worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.'

Yes, it is clear that Marama Davidson works on the principle that all publicity is good publicity because no smart politician would deliberately set themselves up for a critical lambasting the way Davidson has.

First, in August last year, her work as a temporary sales assistant for Whittaker's Chocolate earned her a mild reprimand from the Cabinet Office. It reminded her of the Cabinet rule that ministers should not promote products or services on any form of media.

This incident raised a few laughs with many but her most recent headline-making activities have been rather more serious. Many people have taken exception to her defending a protest that violently attacked a lawful and peaceful meeting in Albert Park merely because the protesters did not like what Posie Parker and a number of women speakers were threatening to say.

To make things worse, an excitable-bordering-on-hysterical Davidson proclaimed that it was 'white cis men' who were responsible for all the world's violence. This is a sweeping claim and one, of course, that is not true. The 2022 data says that local domestic violence was committed predominantly by males with 71 percent of the total offending. The data also tells us that in terms of ethnicity, 51 percent of the violence was committed by Maori, 29 percent by Europeans, 11 percent by Pasifika while 2 percent of the offending was committed by Indians and one percent by Asians.

Despite being wrong, Davidson has still not apologised for comments. But given her reactionary ethno-nationalist views, she's unlikely to do so anytime soon. 

But her efforts to backpedal away from her outburst did result in a farcical attempt by Davidson to 'clarify' her comments in Parliament. That her explanation did not actually make sense did not matter to Prime Minister Chris Hipkins who gratefully grabbed the life buoy that Davidson threw him. Hipkins said he accepted her 'clarification'. What Davidson said was gobblygook but Hipkins was more than happy to embrace it.

Davidson also excused her comments because an alleged clash with a motorbike had left her, she claimed, 'in shock'. This resulted in her walking happily down the street with her brain disengaged from what was coming out of her mouth. It should also be noted that her version of events is being contested in the social media. 

But why is Marama Davidson only ever in the media for stuff like this? Why does she not make the headlines for something more productive - like her ministerial work? That's the work she gets paid a lot of money to do but seems to do...not a lot of. She does so little that the media are left with little to report. Last year Newshub reported that since being appointed a Minister outside Cabinet in November 2020 she had issued just eight press statements and introduced no new legislation.

In both the areas of homelessness and domestic violence she has achieved little.

Davidson cannot be held responsible for the Labour Government's failed housing polices. But, under her watch, homelessness has continued to increase. New Zealand now has one of the highest levels of homelessness in the OECD.  A recent report says that some 103,000 unfortunate people can be categorised as 'de-housed'.

And Davidson has also had little positive impact as Minister for the Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence. Domestic violence remains on the increase. New Zealand is ranked as the worst developed country in the OECD for family violence. 

While she marched down the street with her companions, Davidson shouted that she was tangata whenua. This was a refreshingly accurate statement from her. But it has not done working class Maori much good because she has been, like the Green Party she co-leads, an uncritical supporter of the Labour Government for the past six years. While she talks a big game about economic and political justice for Maori she has continued to support economic policies that run counter to the interests of working class  Maori. Instead of holding the Government to account, she has mainly attacked the Opposition.

Behind the window-dressing of Marama Davidson's race-based politics is a co-leader of a political party loyal to neoliberalism and the 'free market'. Working class Maori deserve much better than this.