Richard Treadgold: That message from the Maori king

Unity and hope… they’re prepared to lead us… there’s nothing to fear…

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 19^th 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.