The NZ Herald published
an extraordinary article by Archdeacon Ngira Simmonds,
Chief of Staff to the Maori king Tuheitia, that needs a spirited response.
The king is “Kingi”, apparently a Maori word, not a loanword from English (actually a patently childish rendition of ‘king’). But every New Zealander speaks English, so the Archdeacon would not stifle understanding to call him ‘king’ instead of the juvenile kingi. I use the lower case to stress his unofficial standing.
Tuheitia is himself, like us, legally a subject
of King Charles, who stands in a 1200-year line of succession — kings should be
sovereign, or one of them is fake. The fake in this dichotomy of kings is
obvious.
We do not ask for a discussion of
national identity, since we are well known in the world. Why does Simmonds refer
to the “conflicting beliefs about our national identity”? Where is the
conflict? What he describes as an “annual festival of unanswered questions” on
Waitangi Day is a mystery.
Tuheitia says he wants a national “conversation”
on nationhood, when surely everyone is confident we're a nation. This does not need
activist iwi leaders to start one. The Archdeacon strings together highfalutin
words without coherent thought.
History shows we have been “forging a
successful future” for two hundred years without the assistance of a national
hui. We do call our hui a Parliament, so we still kick off most projects in
style, but we don't all turn up there, we elect representatives to speak for us—it’s
much more efficient. We and the Maoris have always just got on with it, whether
we’re clearing the bush, building power stations or defeating Hitler.
It’s good to hear him mention the wrongs
of the past, though we’d be surprised to see the Maoris do that. They spend
most of their time arguing with each other. We can imagine the consternation
among the iwi elite should the race-based Waitangi Tribunal be reconstituted to
compensate the victims of Maori atrocities (only Maoris have been permitted to
lay claims since it began in 1975).
But there are numerous verified accounts
of rapes, cruel assaults, murder and cannibalism against settlers from the
early 19th Century. Those families have suffered in a very long
silence.
He says iwi leaders are ready “for this
conversation.” Well, good, but this is the first we've heard of it, so telling
us there’s “nothing to fear” is scary to hear. What a suffocating invitation!
He calls the Treaty of Waitangi the basis
for discussions on national identity and unity. It guaranteed all New
Zealanders the Crown protection enjoyed by every British citizen, and it exudes
a sense of unity, but the Treaty doesn’t mention identity.
He says we must grapple with what it
means to be a New Zealander and a bicultural nation. Bicultural? I don’t think
so, not with more than 170 cultures and ethnicities living here. He talks about
mana motuhake, which if it means self-determination and independence, marks
adults from children. Give us a break.
Overall, the Archdeacon’s article is an intense
lump of word salad larded with such oleaginous, pacifying pap as I've ever seen.
It presents many questions but few answers.
How do we fight this? I imagine a vigorous
response. For example, including young people in the squad to chart the
nation’s future? Oh, no children, thank you—wise and experienced heads are needed
for this project.
Save Democracy!
Richard Treadgold, a proofreader for over 40 years, started the Climate Conversation Group website about 20 years ago to champion climate realism and in 2021 founded the conservative think tank Free New Zealand to fight for democracy.
9 comments:
Spot on.
Kingi Sir how shall all of this happen? Should we allocate a chunk of NZ to Maori eg the Ureweras, and cut it loose, with a fence to keep NZ out? Maori could call this area Aotearoa to distinguish from NZ. We should of course remove all colonial input as colonialism has been so bad for Maori. Then Maori can do their thing and the rest of us can do our thing.
Or are you proposing to banish everyone but your own from the total landmass so you can go back to your own thing? What would be the global exchange rate for a pipi shell or a kiwi feather?
Anything else that is not arm’s length is dependency on post colonialism.
Before wanting to change New Zealand to Maori rule, perhaps Tuheitia should look after his own backyard. I've just quickly looked at Tainui's financial report for FY22. They have net assets of almost $2bn, net annual revenue of $293m (although the $75m in "expenses" was interesting) and from memory (I maybe wrong), they don't pay tax.
So the questions have to be asked; why does Ngāruawāhia not have one the best hospitals in the country? Why does it not have a first class private school for young Māori? Why are Tainui not among the most well educated, healthy, successful people in the country?
Start answering those questions and it might be easier to take Tuheitia, Tuku Morgan et al more seriously.
You have summed it up very comprehensively and accurately, Richard.
The Maori "king" (actually he is not a King. Our nation has only one King - King Charles) has just regurgitated all of the Treaty falsehoods and rewrites that have been created by radical, racist activists over the last 40 years or so.
I recall when I was working for the Ministry of Health, Wellington District Office back in the 80's. We were told that we had to celebrate being a "bicultural" nation.
At the time I wondered just how the Chinese, Samoan, Portuguese, Sudanese and Indian staff members would feel about this !
I am so pleased to see that, apart from the silly news media, the general response to the Maori hui has been 'pshaw'.
Probably the single greatest factor in the decline of the Anglican churh in NZ in recent times has been the adoption of a pro maori attitude. In his book "My Life" Lange alluded to this. Vercoe alone must have seen off thousands.(Enthusiasm for gay vicars another factor)
I have not figured which aspect of pre 1840 te ao or tikanga justifies the maori king. Fortunately the role seems to be inherited which keeps the ascorbic glib female firebrands at a distance. And the tikagna/te ao banning woman speaking on the marae is an inspired aspect. A gift to civilisation as we have known it.
We are all equal under the crown agreement, there is no need to pander to any quasi restrictions,IE rahui is not a legal constraint, Waitangi tribunal needs an end date,it does nothing for Maori New Zealanders.
Kingi of what exactly?
A disparate group of tribes that are now completely interbred with other races and make up only 17% of the population (if that).
This Kingi and his very short line of succession, which was copied from European feudal systems, is out for himself and the racist cronies who support him and keep him in relative luxury, compared to the average part-Maori, tucked up in his imperial pa in Ngaruawahia.
Bet that's not where he spends all his time though. Bet he's got other flash residences where he can escape the pressures of Kingiship. We'll very likely have paid for those through the Waitangi Tribunal.
As for his Princessi, wanting everyone else to build and pay for a Maori-only hospital. How very inclusive of her.
The whole thing's a joke and we've only got ourselves to blame for giving this kind of nonsense oxygen every year. It should have been strangled at birth.
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