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Saturday, April 22, 2023

Breaking Views Update: Week of 16.04.23







Saturday April 22, 2023 

News:
Waitangi Tribunal tackles constitution
The Waitangi Tribunal is to look into the extent Aotearoa’s constitutional and electoral arrangements fit in with the guarantees found in Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

Tribunal member and University of Auckland Professor Emeritus David Williams says the Kaupapa Inquiry is a chance to consider what a constitution would look like if Te Tiriti was its basic foundation.

He says when the New Zealand Constitution Act was enacted in 1852, it was set up for the colonising settlers to have power and authority and it’s been like that ever since, permitting a tyranny of the majority.

Professor Williams says a crucial aspect of the inquiry will be to identify opportunities to enable Māori iwi and hapū to revitalise tikanga Māori and give practical effect to tino rangatiratanga.....
See full article HERE

UN Called On To Keep Government On-task With Indigenous Rights
Indigenous rights experts have urged the United Nations to keep the Government on track with actions to uphold the rights of Indigenous Peoples in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Speaking to the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in New York on Wednesday, Te Kāhui Tika Tangata Human Rights Commission’s Rongomau Taketake, Claire Charters highlighted the stalled progress of the national action plan to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (the Declaration).

“Until it was paused, the process of developing the plan was commendable. It reflected equal governance authority of tangata whenua bodies and the Crown, as premised in te Tiriti o Waitangi and in international law.....
See full article HERE

'We need to value them': Why Harete Hipango got National back in Māori politics
She said her desire to stand in a Māori seat was to give a signal that National respected Māori voters.

Hipango’s selection as National's candidate for Te Tai Hauāuru signifies a significant change for the party, which was once a vocal opponent of the Māori electoral option. That option allows Māori to choose if they vote in the general electorates, or the Māori electorates, at general elections.

Even recently, National Party leader Christopher Luxon told RNZ the existence of the Māori electoral option "doesn't make a lot of sense".....
See full article HERE

Iwi owner keen on co-management of beach reserve
The iwi that owns a Taranaki beachfront campground reserve is backing a proposal to co-manage their land with the local council.

Ngāti Mutunga have owned Onaero Reserve since it was returned in the iwi’s 2005 Treaty settlement, but the deal demands it remains a recreation reserve administered by New Plymouth District Council.

Taranaki councils are increasingly sharing management and governance duties with iwi and hapū, despite vocal election-year objections that politicians are eroding democratic control of public assets.

But the typical co-management arrangement is turned upside-down at Onaero, where Ngāti Mutunga is the landowner sharing control with NPDC.....
See full article HERE

Online wānanga promotes tino rangatiratanga
Four Taitokerau rangatahi what to bring understanding of tino rangatiratanga to a new generation.

Kapa-Kingi triplets Eru, Heemi and Tipene and Northland councillor Phoenix Ruka have developed an online wananga series Never Ceded.

Eru Kapa-Kingi says younger Māori are keen to learn what the Treaty of Waitangi did and didn’t do.....
See full article HERE

Sallies Māori ministry reboot follows Tiriti failings acknowledgment
The Salvation Army says it's taking steps to better serve the needs of Māori, after revealing tangata whenua are around 40 per cent of the 150,000 people who access services from the charity each year.

Ian Hutson, head of the Salvation Army’s Social Policy and Parliamentary unit told Waatea he's asked Anglican Bishop Te Kitohi Pikaahu to form a Māori Ministry Rūnanga to provide strategic guidance to the organization.

Hutson says the partially government-funded organization has not always been as responsive to tangata whenua as it should be and it wants to better implement Te Tiriti o Waitangi.....
See full article HERE

Policing hub in Tāneatua opens with Tūhoe partnership
Police and iwi have opened what they say is one of the most progressive and community-oriented stations in the country, in Tāneatua.

The station is the first in the country to feature external signage exclusively in te reo Māori.

“The partnership with the community reference group has been imperative in getting this project just right for police and the community, and creating an environment in which everyone can thrive," he says.....
See full article HERE

Articles:
Jason Smith: The overlooked part of Three Waters

Graham Adams: Labour’s Three Waters refresh is a tragi-comedy

Labour Delivers Control of Fresh Water to Maori – Muriel Newman.

Who Owns Water? - Anthony Willy

Propaganda:
Finding flow turns attendance tide 

This Breaking Views Update monitors race relations in the media on a weekly basis. New material is added regularly. If you would like to send Letters to the Editor in response to any of these articles, most media addresses can be found HERE

Friday April 21, 2023 

News: 
Māori worker injures in workplaces outnumber any other ethnicity 
Today Te Roopu Marutau o Aotearoa held the first Māori health and safety conference in Kirikiriroa, with the aim of promoting a ‘by Māori for Māori’ approach to achieve equitable outcomes for Māori workers.

According to New Zealand’s primary workplace health and safety regulator WorkSafe, there are 103 work-related injury claims for every 1000 Māori full-time workers. That's compared to 83 claims for every 1000 Pākehā workers.

He Taonga Consultants director Tane Cook from Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi presented on Haumaru Tāngata, a Māori-centred framework to reduce workplace injury and fatalities. This research was also supported by ACC and has now been highlighted as the platform Te Roopu Marutau o Aotearoa will launch from.

Cook said that, if tikanga such as pōwhiri for manuwhiri, were included as part of inductions, this would create better and lasting relationships, developing and actioning pono (truth), tika (doing things properly), and aroha (with love). “And it is tikanga like these that will get our people home safely to their families after mahi,” Cook said.....
See full article HERE

System fails to deliver teachers with reo
A staunch advocate of education in the Māori language says it’s long past time for a specialist Māori teachers’ college.

He says for 20 years his runanga has pleaded for a centre training Maori teachers who can teach or relieve at any school.

“The point of difference would be that we would be matauranga-Maori focused....
See full article HERE

End of court challenge opens door for Marutūahu settlement
A Marutūahu leader is calling for Auckland iwi to come together after Ngāti Whātua Ōrakei dropped its appeal of a long-running case over whether it held exclusive mana whenua over Tāmaki Makaurau.

He says there is a lot of common ground among Auckland iwi, and they all work together on big projects like Auckland light rail the Tūpuna Maunga Authority.....
See full article HERE

Indigenous media tackle global challenges at UN in New York
Indigenous media from around the world have gathered at the United Nations to share experiences and strategise joint responses to the threats and opportunities facing their organisations, and people.

The article recognises the right of indigenous peoples to establish their own media in their own languages and to access all forms of non-indigenous media without discrimination.

Whakaata Māori was doubling down on operating as an indigenous organisation, Taurima told delegates, rather than producing indigenous content, through a colonial lens.

“Whakaata Māori is working actively to not just to bring language and culture to our screens but also to ensure that our language and culture is embedded in everything that we do. On-screen, behind the screen, in front of the mic, behind the mic, in everything that we possibly can do.”....
See full article HERE

Pharmac announces new Deputy Medical Director Māori
Te Pātaka Whaioranga – Pharmac has welcomed Dr Kiri Prentice (Ngāi Tūhoe and Ngāti Awa) to the newly established role of Deputy Medical Director Māori.

Chief Medical Officer Dr David Hughes explains that the role has been established to weave mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge) across Pharmac’s decision making processes and help to strengthen relationships across the health sector with a focus on improving health equity for Māori....
See full article HERE

600ha mega solar farm in Waikato set to power 70,000 homes
A mega solar farm development set for Waikato has turned another leaf with an agreement signed between the international developer and manawhenua.

The Kawenata (Memorandum of Understanding) between Te Riu o Waikato (a cluster of 12 north Waikato marae) and international solar developer, Island Green Power, signalled the start of a long-term agreement.

Te Riu o Waikato chair, Tawera Nikau, said at the signing that the project would mark a long-term relationship with the developers while looking after the taiao (environment).....
See full article HERE

Manawatū District Council seeks to correct its name with macron addition
A request is being made to the New Zealand Geographic Board to formally adopt a macron in the name of Manawatū District Council.....
See full article HERE

Articles:
Derek Mackie: Tutuing with Three Waters exposes the real Chris Hipkins

G P Stephenson: Maori Do Not Own the Water

Propaganda:
Morgan Godfery: Party that will decide next government exists on a different axis 

Thursday April 20, 2023 

News: 
Marae programme gets 1000 unlicensed drivers legal 
A marae-based driver licensing programme is setting whānau on a road to a bright future and new lifelong goals.

The Manukau Urban Manukau Authority (MUMA) in South Auckland manages a free driver licensing programme - funded by the Ministry of Social Development - from the Nga Whare Waatea Marae in Mangere.

The programme is turning the tide on appalling justice statistics where young unlicensed, mainly Māori, drivers go on to be trapped in the justice system.....
See full article HERE

Russell readies for possible name change back to Kororāreka
Submissions to restore the name Kororāreka closed yesterday, and a result by the Geographic Board is due back later this year.

Kororāreka Marae Society chairperson Deb Rewiri has held a series of public meetings about the proposal, which has been open for submission for the last three months.

Rewiri was confident the majority were in favour.....
See full article HERE

Articles:
Bruce Moon: That “Treaty” - a few reflections

Propaganda:
History of the tiriti fraud

Iwi initiative aims to stop people falling through health system cracks 

Wednesday April 19, 2023 

News: 
Long-running Ngā Wairiki Ngāti Apa project Pou Kōrero receives $249,999 in government funding 
Iwi organisation Te Rūnanga o Ngā Wairiki - Ngāti Apa has secured $249,999 in government funding for its “Pou Kōrero: Speaking For Our Ancestors” initiative.

“We’ve started researching and trying to recapture what we call our mātauranga - our traditional knowledge base,” he said.

The money comes courtesy of the Te Pūnaha Hihiko: Vision Mātauranga Capability Fund, which is administered by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE).

It is designed to strengthen capability, capacity, skills and networks between Māori and the science and innovation system.....
See full article HERE

Case of funding inequity for kura to be heard by Waitangi Tribunal
The claim from Te Rūnanga Nui o Ngā Kaupapa Māori o Aotearoa concerns Crown practices, which it argues continue to marginalise Māori in the education system.

It is 38 years since the first full-immersion kura kaupapa opened.

Since then, there has been a tug of war between the Crown and Te Rūnanga Nui over who has authority to decide how Māori are taught and learn.

The rūnanga wants to establish a parallel system of funding for matauranga Māori learning.....
See full article HERE

Go-it-alone mayor irks iwi
A Māori ward councillor in the Gisborne District Council says the mayor and chief executive were warned unilateral decision-making would lead to an iwi backlash – and that’s exactly what has happened.

Meanwhile, Ngāti Porou Rūnanga chair Selwyn Parata says Ms Stoltz’s decision shows the mayor doesn’t know how to partner with mana whenua.....
See full article HERE

First National MP in 20 years to run in a Māori electorate
Harete Hipango has been selected as National’s candidate in Te Tai Hauāuru - the first time the party has run in a Māori electorate since 2002.

Scandal-prone Hipango will be up against it, however, with the seat not having voted for National since the party was formed....
See full article HERE

Research aims to help Māori affected by eating disorders
Support for people with eating disorders such as binge-eating and anorexia nervosa must be better tailored to the experiences and needs of Māori, Bailey Rose says.

Bailey (Ngāti Maniapoto) has won a two-year $95,939 Health Research Council PhD scholarship to understand the experiences and needs of Māori with eating disorders.....
See full article HERE

Articles:
Caleb Anderson: Democracy - A beacon that flickered over the weekend

Propaganda:
Who owns the water? Māori do

Urban Māori are delivering what their communities want – whanaungatanga 

Tuesday April 18, 2023 

News: 
Equal Standard Of Citizenship Tested By Labour 
“The Local Government Minister conceded on TVNZ’s Q&A this morning that the co-governance arrangements in the Three Waters reform moved away from a one person, one vote sense of democracy, but claimed the Treaty required it.

“National does not believe that honouring the Treaty requires abandoning the concept of equal citizenship.

“Māori seats are consistent with democracy because they are proportional to the population.

“With the Canterbury Regional Council (Ngāi Tahu Representation) Act they have extended this approach to the electoral system, giving Māori disproportionate voting rights in that region....
See full article HERE

Carbon forestry help for Māori farms
A spokesperson for Māori carbon farming consultancy Tāmata Hauhā says a stigma around pine trees is hampering its growth – but it can be a win-win for both sides.

Lequan Meihana says Tāmata Hauhā will pay upfront costs for Māori landowners and manage the forests on the behalf of owners, collecting revenue by selling carbon credits to companies which need to offset their emissions....
See full article HERE

Whangaroa iwi protests mining permit
A Far North hapū spokesperson says New Zealanders need to wake up to the threat of global mining interests to their whenua. – who will cause toxic ruin to Tai Tokerau whenua if they get a foot in the door.....
See full article HERE

Articles:
Local Govt Minister's Dangerous Mistruths In 'Three Waters' Interview - NZ First

Propaganda:
Māori knowledge can help us combat climate change 

Monday April 17, 2023 

News: 
Ngāti Maniapoto commemorate 'momentous occasion' in NZ railway history 
The last iwi to allow the main trunk rail line to pass through their tribal lands is commemorating the occasion at a ceremony in King Country today - 138 years to the day that the first soil was turned over.

After the battles of Rangiaowhia and Ōrākau during the NZ Wars in 1864, Ngāti Maniapoto established the Aukati, a boundary around its territory restricting any foreign entry. This was done to preserve the rangatiratanga and mana whakahaere over their remaining lands.

However, in 1885 Ngāti Maniapoto agreed to the construction of the railway line through its lands - after a series of assurances from the Crown known as Te Ohākī Tapu - and on 15 April that year, a turning of the sod ceremony was held....
See full article HERE

Three Waters reset: McAnulty explains why co-governance stays
McAnulty said that the shake-up retained a co-governance component, a highly divisive subject for some, partly due to the Crown's Treaty obligations.

"There's a good reason for that — we signed a Treaty. The Treaty recognises Māori have special rights in water in particular. That is something that's been tested in the courts and found to be part of New Zealand law," McAnulty said.

"When I was putting forward alternatives for Cabinet to consider, I wasn't willing to change that because I think it's the right thing to do."

"But that's not how we work in New Zealand. We recognise that this country was founded on a Treaty that gives Māori particular rights and interests in certain things."....
See full article HERE

Two wāhine Māori sworn in as judges at marae ceremonies
Two wāhine Māori, Sheena Tepania and Ngaroma Tahana, were sworn in as judges at ceremonies at their respective marae on Saturday.

Judge Sheena Tepania was made a judge of the Environment Court and District Court at Waihapa Marae near Kāeo in Te Tai Tokerau.

Judge Tahana, of Ngāti Pikiao, Ngāti Mākino and Tapuika, was sworn in as a District Court judge at Tapuaeharuru Marae on the shores of Lake Rotoiti near Rotorua.

She is the sister of High Court judge, Justice Kiri Tahana - and one of four sets of Māori judicial siblings.....
See full article HERE

“Forgotten place” and its Māori talent
The scholarships are designed to offer young Māori students the opportunity to pursue tertiary education and for Tansey, who is of Nga Puhi descent, it has enabled her to begin study for a Bachelor of Communications degree at AUT.

Under the scholarship she has been awarded $12,500 to help with costs over the three-year bachelor course.....
See full article HERE

Propaganda:
Untold stories of Māori who faced widespread dispossession and loss

Unique playground experience created on Auckland maunga

The future of history is Māori

Indigenising our universities 

Sunday April 16, 2023 

News: 
The right to the asset called water is still a customary entitlement to all Māori- Tamihere 
"Māori rightly say, how do we get co-governance when we own 100 percent of it?"

"The real issue is how do the pākehās get into the room?" he asked.

Tamihere said National and ACT believe everyone owns the assets, while Labour and the Greens say nobody owns them…..
See full article HERE

'We're blown away': First-ever Māori health and safety conference sold out
Aotearoa's first-ever Māori Health and Safety Conference in Hamilton this Wednesday has sold out, organisers Te Rōpū Marutau o Aotearoa (TRMA) say.

"We are blown away by the response," the group wrote on social media this week.

Aotearoa requires a "holistic approach", said TRMA, to address the socio-economic, cultural and systemic factors that contribute to the higher workplace injury rates experienced by Māori workers....
See full article HERE

New memorial to fallen Waikato rangatira unveiled in Taranaki
The three-metre bronze toki (adze), designed by acclaimed artist Rangi Kipa, was unveiled for the first time on Thursday, as part of a ceremony to celebrate the completion of the first phase of the $20 million Taranaki Cathedral redevelopment project.

One focus had been the creation of a memorial to Ngāti Hauā chief Wetini Taiporutu and his son Hemi; Ngāti Apakura chief Whararangi; Ngāti Kōura chief Hakopa; and two other unnamed rangatira.

The men were part of a group who travelled from the Waikato to the region at the beginning of the Taranaki land wars in 1860.

Te Whare Hononga will display animated videos for visitors, which will tell the stories of the ongoing impact of colonisation......
See full article HERE 

This Breaking Views Update monitors race relations in the media on a weekly basis. New material is added regularly. If you would like to send Letters to the Editor in response to any of these articles, most media addresses can be found HERE

21 comments:

Doug Longmire said...

The scientific Facts are this:-
The sun shines on the oceans of Planet Earth.
Water evaporates into the air. The water vapour forms clouds.
These clouds move around Planet Earth and later condense. The water vapour becomes water, and falls as rain, on Planet Earth.
No-one "owns" it.
Sorry Tamihere!! Get real about science. not primitive Stone Age legends.

Robert Arthur said...

re 16th. With the degree of interbreeding, unimagined in 1840, it is absurd that water should belong exclusively to those with a hint of maori blood. Ditto the concept of maori ownership in common. Local tribes may have considered they had some control of access to the surface of water in their territory, but it applied only to the dominant local occupant of the moment, not every tribe that had ever been routed from the area, or any outsider braving survival locally.

Anonymous said...

The mythology of the Taranaki Land Wars and goodies and baddies makes for great cosplay.
The reality is ugly. Recap: Maori were groups of warmongers with an ethos of kill or be killed. The ultimate outcome is zero sum. But how do you make lasting peace with the enemy when there is no infrastructure to support it. In this case it was using a third party with extras. Ie the English Crown via Treaty of Waitangi. But of course, for some (including some Taranaki tribes) the lure of conquest and the ethic of betrayal was too enticing and too embedded - and possibly too thrilling. And so they rebelled against the Crown and Treaty honouring Maori. What were the latter to do? Allow disintegration back into full scale warmongering but this time with additional tribes of British colonials, tribes of Marion and anyone (persons or countries) else who chose to chance their luck? Or enforce the new arrangements contained in the Treaty. They chose the latter. So why today, are the rebels treated as heroes and the Allies of Crown and Maori treated as scum?
My guess : to justify bad behaviour and to legitimise the Reversionist/Twisted Revolution.

Anonymous said...

You are 'full of it' Tamihere.

Ray S said...

You are so full of it Tamihere.
Go and tell the people in Hawkes Bay and tell that because you "own" the water, you will pay for all the damage it has caused.

Tosser.

Tim said...

Nobody owns the water, but Maori never sold it, nor relinquished the right to use or control it.

Robert Arthur said...

To Tim
The Treaty seems to have been very hastily prepared and was inadequately thought out. Neither side would have remotely anticiapted the situation today. Curiously although now so anti colonisation, no strong maori voice is raised against immigration. I guess the taxes from all those industrious Asians who deigned to attend school and become educated, are welcome to cover the state houses. No one would have envisaged bulk water sources, far in excess of local dweller needs, to be an item of ownership for potential sale. Incredibly there was a recent article in the Herald where a contributor pointed out how unsuccessful co governace had proven to be in Ireland. Any attempt to open the discussion as applies here here is obstinately blocked.

Anonymous said...

How offensive to all of us who had grandparents who fought in wars to protect democracy, for mcnulty a govt minister no less, to now say that democracy was not what we signed up for in 1840!. How can he wear a poppy on anzac day if that is what he believes? How many settlers would have come to nz if they were told that the new lands are under a tribal rule where your vote won't count as much, you will have limited land rights and say over how things are run? Zero I would suggest.

Robert Arthur said...

Re 17th. I guess the terror of cancellation ensured no objections were raised, but the State and Auckland ratepayer (via Motat) spend on a celebration of I am not sure just what, not 150 years or any other traditional interval from some significant event seems just another example of a maori get together and feed at other's expense. Another opportunity to spread the anti colonisation mantra. As it was not celebrating the mechanical achievement, it is difficult to understand the Motat involvement. If they had known a steam engine was to be involved the general public would likely have shown some interest. Whilst the railway greatly improved living for maori in the area and the value of land, the privations experienced by the first farmers in an area without roads were very considerable, but no funded knees up for that.

It is now clear that the co governance feature of 3/10 Waters remains This is or should be far and away the most contentious feature as, for reasons regularly explained, it effectively hands management to maori. Apparently after a moment of editorial inattention, there was an article in Herald 13 April about the non success of co governance in Northern Ireland. Incredibly, analogy was drawn with 3/10 Waters, but any Letters to Editor on the subject are routinely blocked.

Anonymous said...

McAnulty’s comments make me viscerally ill. Yes, I am non Maori.

The Treaty did not give Maori special rights. It gave Maori the same rights of all British subjects. And it acknowledged that Maori could keep their possessions. In no sense did possessions now or then include exclusive rights to natural resources.

Anonymous said...

The Maori reconstruction of Rangiowhia as a matter of Maori symbolism as opposed to the grubby shameful behaviour of their ilk is a living example of the culture of duplicity. Just like the lies about colonialism and the Treaty of Waitangi. Get real - they were lucky the Crown stepped in to protect them. But did the Crown then shoot itself in the foot and tell Maori that they were to own everything associated with NZ ? Of course not. Even if anyone had thought about it, it would have meant the settlers lost access to their existence.

Like one
Who having into truth, by telling of it,
Made such a sinner of his memory,
To credit his own lie.
William Shakespeare

Anonymous said...

Debbie Ngarewa- Packer MP recently asked the question " who owns the wind ?"
Is there anywhere else in the world where so called responsible adults can claim ownership of the water and the wind ?
Only in NZ would anyone give credence to such outrageous statements.

Robert Arthur said...

Re 18th. It is intriguing how maori advocate for pine forestry with all its environmental impact but which they favour as the laziest way of exploiting their land, but oppose mining by others for its possible (generally lesser) effects. Yet they also want access to the conseravtion estate and the opportunity to mine that themselves.

Anonymous said...



If citizens give credence to politicians of dubious integrity who claim to own the water, wind - and all other assets, they will get the government they deserve.

To understand the folly of their ways, they will have to experience living in an ethnocracy ( a system where race determines privilege).
A massive shock is coming.

Anonymous said...

People aren't seeing the bigger picture - first in was a few airwaves as part of the electro-magnetic spectrum; now it's the water - all water; then it will be followed by all planning controls; the wind and the sun's energy; and all the resources in the ground and sea. It would ultimately end at the air we breathe, but they'll allow you that, for they will need slaves to operate and pay for it all. But it is never, ever enough.

And, in terms of the water; the asset take and its ownership; the vast bureaucracy and the co-governance all pale to insignificant at the total overriding power and control that is to be contained in the Te Mana o te Wai statements. As for the person in the street, most don't even know of the freight train that is soon to crush them. Why? Because our fourth estate has been bought and most of our politicians are either ignorant or liars.

Robert Arthur said...

19 April. Owners of lands likely to be subject of virtual reconstruction should be getting nervous. It seems folly to finance these ad hoc arrangements where the outcome will be a mix of more or less established fact and folk lore, both trrditional as chosen to be remembered, and of recent contrivance. Maori are keen to equip large numbers, especially rangatahi, with the "knowledge" and obstructionist skills they will invariably apply in the myriad consultation and co roles now stipulated for them. Every site where any maori was born, died, camped, copulated, cannibal feasted will be prone to future protracted paid obstructive consultation action.

Prof Elizabeth Rata was an early advocate for kura but is apparently now of the very considered opinion that it has become primarily a mechanism for advancing tribalism. From Treaty settlement troves or from "charitable" business profits, maoridom should meet either the cost of kura education, or the remedial cost of re-educating kura victims for the real English speaking world.

The Gisborne mayor was very prudent in disentangling council from the parallel maori money pit gravy train race based support organisation. Unburdend by full co governance, he should have been able to get majority council support. Although, judging by the way they sabotaged the Endeavour visit, maori in the area are so dominating the terror of cancellation may have thwarted passage.

Anonymous said...

$249,999. What's the bet that that one extra dollar required a whole lot higher level of justification? How wonderful our dead can speak for us and what tales they will tell?

Robert Arthur said...

re 20th. I wonder what would happen if a whitey fronted for the state funded race based driver license course. The attendees appear not short of money for food. I often wonder if licensed drivers are actually safer. The myriad unlicensed drivers generally take some effort not to attract attention and this encourages a muted driving style. The incentive to flee accidents is not much altered, in fact being licensed worsens their chance of being traced and pursued for compensation.

And as for the name change Russel to Kororareka, just for once I agree, despite the customary difficult spelling. The maori name was extended beyond just a vicinity and native settlement and was used for the infant town. Anyone who has been taught any NZ history at all has heard of. Rusell is especially unimaginitive with no association. But it does not make right the swapping of Maxwell for some maori name undistinguishable from a myriad similar. (I wonder how the road signs down there are now surviving.)

Robert Arthur said...

re 21st. The stoush between Ngati Whatua and the rest for controlling say in Tamaki Makaurau matters is intriguing. A tiny remnant of NW were the remaining tribe occupying a tiny portion of the isthmus in 1840. Over the centuries, and especially during the Musket wars, previous occupants, at times in considerable number, had been successively devoured and/or driven off. But the compensation and consultancy/bribery rewards now available are too good a prize to resist, hence the clamour to be reconised as mana whenua.In the Herald 3 Feb Ngarimu Blair NW deputy chairman called them "pretenders to mana whnua". Then there are all the conquering tribes who now live in the area, most able to concoct some tenuous slave or marriage link. Of course there are so many positions now requiring mana whenua representation there simply would not be enough adequately literate NW to fulfil all the sinecures.

Anonymous said...

i'm sure the 'asian' workplace injuries are lower than that for 'pakeha' - mainly because they are less likely to be in work involving higher risk. does this automatically mean that NZ is failing its colonial masters???

Anonymous said...

Things are out of control re the articles on Waitangi Tribunal constitution review and Charters talking to UN on her indigenous rights.