> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # “THE FEAST OF FOOLS: A TANIWHA DECONSTRUCTS THE RIGHT’S CIVIL WAR” - 6 December 2025 - URL: https://www.themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz/the-feast-of-fools-a-taniwha-deconstructs/ - Published: 2025-12-06T07:26:28.000Z - Updated: 2025-12-06T07:26:28.000Z - Description: THE CANNIBALS AT THE FEAST - Author: Ivor Jones The Māori Green Ltn - Tags: Newsletter, #substack, #substack-type-newsletter, #substack-access-everyone, #Import 2026-02-18 20:13 [Paywalled](https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/24d7ry3rvk6m7qfhc4tjc/Who-is-bankrolling-push-to-dump-Nicola-Willis-as-finance-minister%5F-Fran-O-Sullivan-NZ-Herald.pdf?rlkey=7fdg90o41zm9g2epgzfj2eaw1&st=7a01oa8l&dl=0&ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz) Good evening Aotearoa, They are eating themselves alive—and New Zealand is paying the price. This is not a battle between heroes and villains. This is a putrefaction. Nicola Willis is a neoliberal architect complicit in austerity and poverty. Fran O’Sullivan is the cheerleader of capital, shielding the powerful while feigning scrutiny. The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union is a foreign-funded hit squad. And the right-wing factions—Willis, Seymour, Peters, Hooton’s various masters—are locked in a war for control that masks their shared contempt for ordinary people. **The Real Story:** > They all want the same savage brutality. They differ only on the *pace* and the *messenger*. ### This essay exposes the rot beneath the spectacle. --- ## **NICOLA WILLIS: THE SMILING AUSTERITY ARCHITECT** Fran O’Sullivan’s article reads as *misdirection*. Yes, the Taxpayers’ Union is bankrolled by tobacco and foreign ideologues. But Willis is **not the victim here**. She is their **accomplice**. ## **The Record of Cruelty** Willis promised to lift 80,000 children out of poverty by 2028, but as [1News reported](https://www.1news.co.nz/2025/05/25/govt-committed-to-2028-child-poverty-target-despite-forecast-willis/?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz), Treasury forecasts now show she will miss *all three targets* badly. After-housing-costs poverty is projected to hit 18.4% by 2029, nearly double the 10% target. Yet Willis sits with [a $9.3 billion deficit](https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/575459/government-deficit-of-9-point-3b-shows-progress-finance-minister-nicola-willis-says?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz) and continues to slash. **The Ledger of Destruction:** - **Public sector:** Over [10,000 jobs have been slashed](https://waateanews.com/2025/06/13/public-sector-job-cuts-reach10000/?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz) from the public service. - **Māori Development:** The Ministry of Māori Development (Te Puni Kōkiri) was forced to [axe 38 roles](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/kahu/public-sector-cuts-maori-development-ministry-te-puni-kokiri-to-axe-38-jobs-psa-not-impressed/PL4YHUYHSZGZ5G6H5LZP3J72XY/?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz), directly erasing Māori employment. - **Housing:** The PSA revealed that [Kāinga Ora’s capacity was devastated](https://www.psa.org.nz/news-media/maori-and-pacific-communities-face-devastating-impact-from-kainga-ora-job-cuts?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz), with teams dedicated to Māori housing halved. - **The Payout:** While services burned, Willis delivered a [$2.9 billion handout to landlords](https://www.labour.org.nz/news/release-economy-goes-backwards-under-incompetent-coalition-govt/?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz) and a $6.6 billion “investment boost” for business. **The Lie:** Willis claims the tax cuts “don’t add up”? Wrong. They add up *perfectly*—for the wealthy. Analysis by [Jack Tame on Q+A](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3bHY0sT4P4&ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz) exposed that three times as many households were made worse off by her 2024 Budget than received the maximum promised cut. [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/b1/cd/b1cd2cb0-95e8-4ee7-ad91-84123e3121bd/content/images/public/images/7b6a91fc-5736-4671-a617-17905660db9e_1050x656.jpg)](https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/575459/government-deficit-of-9-point-3b-shows-progress-finance-minister-nicola-willis-says?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz) ## **Willis’s Fiscal Fakery** O’Sullivan praises Willis for “fiscal discipline”—but the data shreds this narrative. As [RNZ reported](https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/575459/government-deficit-of-9-point-3b-shows-progress-finance-minister-nicola-willis-says?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz), the deficit remains stubbornly high. Willis: - **Broke her surplus promise:** The return to surplus has been pushed out to 2029 or beyond, as confirmed by [Treasury forecasts](https://www.1news.co.nz/2025/05/25/govt-committed-to-2028-child-poverty-target-despite-forecast-willis/?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz). - **Borrowed to fund tax cuts:** She borrowed $12 billion to fund $10 billion in tax cuts, a move [Labour accurately described](https://www.labour.org.nz/news/release-economy-goes-backwards-under-incompetent-coalition-govt/?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz) as deficit financing masquerading as “fiscal responsibility.” - **Lied about numbers:** Before the election, she dismissed economists who questioned her math, calling them “pessimistic,” yet [RNZ confirmed](https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/497995/election-23-nicola-willis-hits-back-over-economists-doubts-on-national-foreign-buyer?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz) those economists were right. **The Core Deception:** Willis sells herself as the “adult in the room,” but she is a **true believer** in the 1991 austerity script. Her “tightness” is ideological, not mathematical. She chose to cut public services instead of raising capital gains tax—the very **choice** that puts children into poverty. [Subscribe now](#/portal/signup) --- ## **FRAN O’SULLIVAN: THE BOUGHT SCRIBE** O’Sullivan’s article is **propaganda with a byline**. She asks “Who is bankrolling the push?” while simultaneously *being* bankrolled by the same neoliberal ecosystem she claims to critique. ## **The Conflicts O’Sullivan Doesn’t Disclose** O’Sullivan lists her title as “Head of Business, NZME.” She omits her role as [Managing Director of NZ Inc.](https://newzealandinc.com/profile-fran-osullivan/?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz), a “business intelligence firm” helping corporates engage with China. She is the [Co-chair of the China Business Summit](https://nz.linkedin.com/in/franosullivan?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz) and sits on the [Pacific Economic Co-operation Council](https://nzchinacouncil.org.nz/people/fran-osullivan/?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz), a trade forum run by global elites. **The Cui Bono:** O’Sullivan profits from business-friendly government. Austerity cuts regulation and labour standards—music to corporate ears. Her scam is dialectical misdirection: by critiquing the Taxpayers’ Union’s “dark money,” she positions herself as the *referee* rather than the *player*. **The Red Flag:** O’Sullivan’s piece quotes Ruth Richardson with reverence, citing her “fiscal warrior” credentials. This is not critique. This is **alignment**. [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/b1/cd/b1cd2cb0-95e8-4ee7-ad91-84123e3121bd/content/images/public/images/046fbf55-ecda-43e3-9293-29f2e63ef81e_1456x1173.webp)](https://muckrack.com/fran-osullivan/bio?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz) --- ## **THE TAXPAYERS’ UNION & ATLAS NETWORK: FOREIGN AGENTS WITH A CAUSE** O’Sullivan is correct on *one point*: the Taxpayers’ Union is bankrolled by opaque international sources. But this is not a scandal—it’s **the entire business model of neoliberal capture**. ## **The Verified Money Trail** The NZTU has received grants from [British American Tobacco (BAT)](https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/in-depth/517506/jordan-williams-on-why-the-taxpayers-union-went-to-panama-to-debate-vaping?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz) and lobbies against tobacco tax increases, even as smoking drives disease among Māori. Jordan Williams, the NZTU’s executive director, admitted this connection in an interview with [RNZ](https://www.rnz.co.nz/programmes/30-with-guyon-espiner/story/2018938627/jordan-williams-on-what-the-taxpayers-union-really-is-and?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz). Furthermore, the [PSA has documented](https://www.psa.org.nz/journals/understanding-atlas-how-a-right-wing-network-is-building-global-influence?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz) that the NZTU is a member of the **Atlas Network**, a US-based ideological consortium bankrolled by right-wing foundations. Training, seed money, and policy templates flow from Washington through Atlas to the NZTU. **The Symptom:** Casey Costello, a former NZTU board member, is now Associate Minister of Health—responsible for tobacco policy. The tobacco industry funds the NZTU; the NZTU funds politicians; politicians deregulate tobacco. ## **Why Is the Right “Eating Itself”?** Here lies the darkest truth: **they’re not eating each other. They’re dividing the spoils.** The NZTU wants **faster, deeper cuts**. Willis wants **measured austerity**. Seymour (ACT) wants **privatization**. Peters wants **economic nationalism**. But all of them agree on one thing: **the state must shrink, the market must expand, and the poor must pay**. Ruth Richardson, the architect of 1991’s “Mother of All Budgets,” which [doubled child poverty](https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/05-06-2025/ruth-richardsons-state-honour-is-a-slap-in-the-face-for-the-poor?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz), is now chair of the NZTU. She is publicly [pushing Willis to go further](https://www.1news.co.nz/2025/06/15/ruth-richardson-calls-for-super-age-hike-warns-of-fiscal-crisis/?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz). Willis resists—not on principle, but on *political optics*. [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/b1/cd/b1cd2cb0-95e8-4ee7-ad91-84123e3121bd/content/images/public/images/d984d223-4168-47f6-9ff4-15b2613c1c4c_860x537.jpg)](https://www.rnz.co.nz/programmes/30-with-guyon-espiner/story/2018938627/jordan-williams-on-what-the-taxpayers-union-really-is-and-who-funds-it?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz) --- ## **MATTHEW HOOTON: THE MERCENARY WORDSMITH** O’Sullivan doesn’t mention Hooton by name—she quotes him obliquely—but Hooton is the *choreographer* of this putrefaction. As [The Pāepae investigated](https://www.thepaepae.com/who-funds-matthew-hooton/38861/?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz), Hooton is a PR consultant who leverages his media platforms to amplify his clients’ interests. **The Question:** Is Hooton working for ACT (Seymour), for Willis/Bishop factions within National, or for the Taxpayers’ Union? The answer: **Yes**. Hooton is a political mercenary. His commentary *always* serves a paying client. He launders dark money through “opinion” columns, and his financial backers remain undisclosed. [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/b1/cd/b1cd2cb0-95e8-4ee7-ad91-84123e3121bd/content/images/public/images/9d93b972-e93c-4271-a1af-c75f366ffadd_850x510.webp)](https://thespinoff.co.nz/media/24-09-2024/matthew-hooton-don-brash-and-the-defamation-drama-behind-a-deleted-podcast?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz) --- ## **THE HUMAN COST: QUANTIFYING THE MĀORI DEVASTATION** While O’Sullivan writes columns, and Willis balances spreadsheets, and Hooton sharpens his rhetorical knives—**whānau are dying**. - **Unemployment:** As [Labour highlighted](https://www.labour.org.nz/news/release-maori-and-pacific-people-hit-hardest-by-lack-of-jobs/?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz), Māori unemployment has surged to **9.7%**. - **Public Sector:** [Waatea News confirmed](https://waateanews.com/2025/06/13/public-sector-job-cuts-reach10000/?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz) that public sector cuts have reached 10,000, disproportionately affecting Māori roles. - **Poverty:** Child poverty targets are being missed, with [1News reporting](https://www.1news.co.nz/2025/05/25/govt-committed-to-2028-child-poverty-target-despite-forecast-willis/?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz) that material hardship is rising for Māori and Pasifika children. This is not collateral damage. This is **the intended outcome**. Austerity is a **choice**. Every deficit cut is a choice to fund it through welfare cuts, public sector cuts, and reduced services—rather than through capital gains tax or wealth tax. > **The Conclusion:** The question is not: Who is bankrolling the push to dump Willis? > **The question is:** Why does every faction agree that children should go hungry to pay for business tax breaks? > **The answer:** Because they all serve the same master—capital. And capital has no conscience. ## *Koha Statement* *Only Support this mahi if you are able: Koha.Kiwi | Substack | Bank: HTDM 03-1546-0415173-000* *All koha sustains free mātauranga Māori journalism. No paywall, no corporate interference.* ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/b1/cd/b1cd2cb0-95e8-4ee7-ad91-84123e3121bd/content/images/public/images/4a27f120-2d05-4a29-8d70-ceb01e9f3d37_1024x1792.png) Ivor Jones The Māori Green Lantern Fighting Misinformation And Disinformation From The Far Right