Cronyism in action

So, the government has just announced that they will be establishing more charter schools - because clearly one failure resulting in a private company running off with millions of dollars of government funding isn't enough. They've also announced a new "independent" entity to support them, run by ACT crony Jenny Gibbs and Maori Party crony Tariana Turia. So, pork all round for the support parties then.

Entirely coincidentally, the Maori Party announced their opposition to Labour's bill to abolish charter schools. Which looks simply corrupt, as if they're just protecting one of their own. Its a perfect example of how National's crony politics has eaten away at our democracy and trust in politics. If they weren't appointing cronies, the Maori Party's support could be taken as principled. But because their people personally profit from this policy, their support for it can only be regarded as corrupt.