"And then along came John"

Mr Tamihere elected to the newly expanded board (15 members) of the Waipareira Trust. As per the general rule of Maori politics, it was a rowdy, messy affair with many surprising (interim?) resolutions that promise much nasty future infighting. How's this?

Waipareira whanau members forced the board to back down on a constitutional amendment passed last month aimed at preventing Mr Tamihere's re-election.

Yup, that sounds like marae politics to me. LOL - Disregard all the decisions of previous hui, ignore the constitution (and those 'annoying' legal obligations), then vote spur-of-the-moment on the prevailing whims of whomever happens to be present.

John claims he's concerned that $9mil of the trust's shares and assets is unaccounted for. He has his sights set on chief exec, Reg Ratahi, who reckons:

"I've heard from associates [that] he's coming back for utu, and that's not the right reason to go back on any board"

ROTFL! You betcha he's out for some payback! C'mon, Mr Ratahi, you know as well as I, the significance of retribution as a motivating force in 'Maori affairs.' Why the feigned indignation?

OTOH, I'm not a huge John fan for various reasons and past experiences.
OTOH, It'd be churlish to deny his many achievements. Channeled properly, his considerable talents (wasted otherwise) would be an enormous asset for any Maori org.
That he clearly enjoys much support from the Waipareira whanau speaks for itself. That's the Maori political equivalent of saying, "the people have spoken."
So be it!

Hard to swallow...
A mini-union frenzy is brewing as Matt McCarten urges Starbucks workers to down their aprons in support of a campaign to increase minimum wage. Many staff appear disgruntled with their scarce pay - which makes you wonder why they signed their employment contract in the first place...

Couldn't care less, either way. After Starbucks decided against sending any of their coffee to the US troops in Iraq, I haven't patronised them since, and have no intention to do so ever again.
Besides, Real Maoris drink Instant! ;-)