Clive Bibby: Violence of another kind

A never ending modern day topic of conversation - the correct version of Treaty of Waitangi interpretation has reached fever pitch. Most of the radical view is focused on a “made up” interpretation that has no basis in fact. 

Reputable Maori scholars of yesteryear, including Sir Apirana Ngata, concluded that a majority of chiefs at the signing were clearly motivated to bring a halt to the carnage being inflicted on their own people by rogue tribes and in order to bring peace to a troubled land, they were prepared to, amongst other things, cede sovereignty to the English Crown in exchange for a colonial army that would restore order. 

It cannot be overstated - Maoridom in 1840 had seen the reduction in its own numbers from a peak of approximately 100,000 people to a mere 60,000 largely as a result of the death and destruction that followed the waring tribes as they rampaged south in a spree that included slaughter, rape, and servitude for the innocent bystanders. 

Anybody who doubts the motives of these Maori leaders at the time they signed clearly wants to establish an alternative version that ignores the history of this country and better suits their own selfish agenda based on a lie. 

And like so many of the current world’s indigenous tribes, radical academics within are desperate to establish a false narrative in order to justify their own dodgy claims for compensation against the Crown’s own mis-deeds during that important early period of nation building. 

We can’t afford to allow this false interpretation to take hold. 

Unfortunately, the MSM and woke pakeha sympathisers in high positions of government have given support to the current radicals who are threatening violence if their distortions of the founding document are not accepted in law.

It will require a strong government response to this deliberate undermining of our statutes if we are to have any hope of moving forward as a society based on equality  for all, irrespective of ethnic heritage, gender, political, sexual preference or position on the social ladder. 

There is no question, that this country is at a crossroads. 

We have a choice and it is all about recognising the threat for what it is and then using our vote to strangle this racist movement before it gains control of our freedoms. 

My hope is that the majority of Maoridom will reject these attempts to divide us and will join with freedom loving peoples of all ethnic backgrounds in reversing this unfortunate trend. 

Having lived and worked amongst Maori dominated communities for the last 50 years, I am proud of being associated with the welcoming nature of these fine, hard working people. 

My experience tells me that the “smart suits” masquerading as leaders of Maoridom are foreign to them. 

Like the rest of us, most want only one thing - equal opportunity to reach their individual potential and provide for their families in an environment that treats everybody the same. 

I can tell you without fear of contradiction that the bulk of this community accept their responsibility for their fellow human beings.

For most of them it is a lifetime recognition that “we are our brother’s keeper” whether it is based on a Christian upbringing or a code of ethics that most of us learned from childhood with egalitarian roots. 

What more do we need in order to defend against this modern day warfare aimed at the hearts and minds of those who call Godzone home?

But we need to support the Government in its battle to re-establish the truth behind our founding document. That will require a commitment of every man and woman of voting age. 

Apathy remains the biggest threat to our democracy. 

It probably always has been. 

Clive Bibby is a commentator, consultant, farmer and community leader, who lives in Tolaga Bay.