In 2013 my uncle showed me where the Chinese government had built the police and justice buildings for free along with the indoor and outdoor stadium. Ruta Mave writes.

He said it was for free, because it didn’t cost us anything to build. I had to say Uncle nothing is ever for free. 

Unfortunately, how true are those words, the taxpayer has been paying through the nose for the repairs and ongoing maintenance of their substandard workmanship for the past ten fifteen years, and still the CIP government continues to buy into their promises.

China is a big red flag at the moment.

We have been dealing with China for 28 years. Many of our businesses rely on Chinese products, as in New Zealand.

Most of the world is dealing with a dependency on cheap and flimsy products in kitchenware, toys, furniture and vehicles.

However, when it comes to infrastructure projects, China has clearly demonstrated they cannot produce long term reliability, you get what you pay for.

Dancing with the dragon or haka with the taniwha is how Thomas Wynn described the latest escapades of PM Mark Brown and from the many comments on Facebook there is definitely panic in the disco. The beating red lights have turned to fluro-strobe and it is stirring up the crowd.

Along the way Mark Brown has been shuffling, balancing along the see-saws of every tri-partisan agreement where he sits in the middle and when one side goes down, he runs up to the other. No loyalty, no equal contribution to the mix just slides from handout to handout.

He says he had “consultation with the people” which means he spoke to the Ariki about having our own passport. He gave a "Let me be clear, transparent, clarity, integrity” speech for the nation, just before he boarded the plane to China.

“Open and honest dialogue and transparency is an expectation of good governance and we will ensure the people remain informed every step of the way.”

Then he announces he will tell the people what he has signed with China after it is signed. He is a wolf in sheep clothing speaking with a forked tongue.

Whose side is Brown on? The people signed a petition against using China for Te Mato Vai, he said they were fine, the petition got thrown out. The engineer said the Chinese workmanship was substandard, Brown said it was fine. The project fails, Brown says bring in New Zealand and we will sue the Chinese. Then 120 million dollars later he says the Chinese are fine and what’s more a week ago he let the Chinese take credit for a job well done.

For the 60 years anniversary. He used to describe it as an independent nation now he says self-government. Either way, we have never stood independently. We continue to create dependency on other countries to save us from our self-government who have nearly always served the ‘him-self’ in charge, not the people. 60 years has created and generated an endemic community of entitlement, corruption and low ethical standard of political leaders.

As a country of 17,000 the size of a small suburb, we can’t sustain ourselves with all the millions we have been given. Winston Peters on his last visit dropped 16 – 30 million to us for infrastructure et al, Saudi Arabia promised 55 million to the Pacific so where has it gone?

We have unfinished roads, failing police leadership, poor health and education but Brown says we are a developed nation who needs to be respected as an equal. Tourism brought in half a billion dollars last year. Where is the money?

Brown was pushing cryptocurrency at one point. No more information on a CI flagged ship suspected to be carrying Russian oil and cutting the cable in Scandinavia.

Meanwhile, three million dollars is being spent on the Manihiki airport. Who is it for? We can safely say it is not for pearls. August 2023 immigration officers are appointed for the Pa Enua.

Excuse me for being cynical but their surnames are Puna and Tapaitau. The same as those currently in jail for theft and fraud. They are responsible for giving visas to the “many small craft or vessels” visiting our Pa Enua. Chinese whispers say, they are already visiting, in front of our noses all along.

Brown took his wife Daphne, probably for safekeeping so if he does lose his political seat, she can take it over until he returns, like the other wives Puna and Tapaitau. He has taken the seabed minerals management, so people, you can forget making lots of money from mining.

Brown is going to discuss agriculture and fishing so there goes our land and ocean, we don’t have anything else to trade.

Forget customary rights, we will be like throwing sticks and stones against warships.