Mount Egmont in New Zealand got its name over a century earlier, in 1770, by Captain Cook to honour John Perceval, the Earl of Egmont, who had been a key supporter of his earlier voyages. Without Egmont, Cook's voyages may never have happened or been the success that they were. Of course, the local tribes had their own name for the mountain and the surrounding region: Taranaki. In friendly New Zealand fashion the mountain has had two names, and even when in official use Egmont was displaced due to a hatred of New Zealand's colonial history. Egmont National Park and Egmont Village still bore the names. Now the next phase of decolonisation strips Egmont's name from both the mountain and the National Park. Even the word "mount" has been erased and replaced with "maunga" in the official name.
This week Parliament passed the "Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill".
It's quite shameful that 100% of NZ First and ACT MPs voted for this continued march to so-called "decolonisation." You'd think they know better, but clearly we have a lot more work to do.
This is the third case of "legal person" status given to a landmark in further perpetuation of silly pagan superstitions.
The bill continues to perpetuate bilingualism in its introductions and takes it one step further by putting the Maori language first, making it very hard to scan sections when trying to read quickly. There was a coalition agreement to fix this with department names, but it has gotten worse and embedded itself into legislation! The issue extends to passports too where New Zealand is relegated to a distant second.
The legislation also once again embeds "partnership" and "treaty principles" into law, unequivocally stating that the Treaty of Waitangi was a partnership and setting up the former Egmont National Park as one—presumably every MP agrees with this definition since they voted for it. The new governing bodies and geographic designation don't even have English names equivalents and the Maori ones are all unpronounceable sentences.
This isn't about etymology, this is about the replacement of New Zealand with something alien. English names must come back, and they must be prioritised in official usage.
I'm mostly ambivalent on the issue of treaty settlements. Yes, some tribes got a bad deal, but so did the settlers who had to pay twice for land after disagreements, or who had land confiscated by the government in the name of public interest, or who sent their sons to die in wars. Their descendants don't get settlements from the Crown.
Taranaki tribes lost a war of rebellion fair and square. Prior to that they lost a war against Waikato, which really was the beginning of the grievances to follow, as Waikato sold most of the land to the Crown by right of conquest.
We should be adamant that just because Parliament passed this unanimously does not make it legitimate. The English names are going to be restored for English usage and Maori names need to be ones that are pronounceable, not pretentious essays.
The superstitious fictions such as "legal personhood" for natural features will be repealed when we win. That includes Taranaki, Whanganui, and Te Urewera.
A treaty settlement is a piece of legislation that can be amended and repealed. National Parks can be returned to New Zealanders with the stroke of a pen.
Yes, we're still losing on this issue, but there are elections every three years and we can demand better negotiation positions from NZ First and ACT.
The lesson is that those who want to win the most will win, and you'll know we're winning when Egmont is back on his mountain. Let's see if we can beat McKinley and do it in less than ten.
Dieuwe is the editor of Right Minds NZ. - where this article was sourced. In addition to conservative politics and reactionary thought, he likes books, gardening, biking, tech, reformed theology, beauty, and tradition.
This week Parliament passed the "Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill".
It's quite shameful that 100% of NZ First and ACT MPs voted for this continued march to so-called "decolonisation." You'd think they know better, but clearly we have a lot more work to do.
This is the third case of "legal person" status given to a landmark in further perpetuation of silly pagan superstitions.
The bill continues to perpetuate bilingualism in its introductions and takes it one step further by putting the Maori language first, making it very hard to scan sections when trying to read quickly. There was a coalition agreement to fix this with department names, but it has gotten worse and embedded itself into legislation! The issue extends to passports too where New Zealand is relegated to a distant second.
The legislation also once again embeds "partnership" and "treaty principles" into law, unequivocally stating that the Treaty of Waitangi was a partnership and setting up the former Egmont National Park as one—presumably every MP agrees with this definition since they voted for it. The new governing bodies and geographic designation don't even have English names equivalents and the Maori ones are all unpronounceable sentences.
This isn't about etymology, this is about the replacement of New Zealand with something alien. English names must come back, and they must be prioritised in official usage.
I'm mostly ambivalent on the issue of treaty settlements. Yes, some tribes got a bad deal, but so did the settlers who had to pay twice for land after disagreements, or who had land confiscated by the government in the name of public interest, or who sent their sons to die in wars. Their descendants don't get settlements from the Crown.
Taranaki tribes lost a war of rebellion fair and square. Prior to that they lost a war against Waikato, which really was the beginning of the grievances to follow, as Waikato sold most of the land to the Crown by right of conquest.
We should be adamant that just because Parliament passed this unanimously does not make it legitimate. The English names are going to be restored for English usage and Maori names need to be ones that are pronounceable, not pretentious essays.
The superstitious fictions such as "legal personhood" for natural features will be repealed when we win. That includes Taranaki, Whanganui, and Te Urewera.
A treaty settlement is a piece of legislation that can be amended and repealed. National Parks can be returned to New Zealanders with the stroke of a pen.
Yes, we're still losing on this issue, but there are elections every three years and we can demand better negotiation positions from NZ First and ACT.
The lesson is that those who want to win the most will win, and you'll know we're winning when Egmont is back on his mountain. Let's see if we can beat McKinley and do it in less than ten.
Dieuwe is the editor of Right Minds NZ. - where this article was sourced. In addition to conservative politics and reactionary thought, he likes books, gardening, biking, tech, reformed theology, beauty, and tradition.
7 comments:
It is hard to believe all our politicians voted for this. There seems to be a "pack of clones" in power. A few glimpses of individualism as shown by David Seymour, then that too disappears into the mist. There are many intelligent people outside parliament as shown by some of the submitters on the Treaty Principles Bill. Those people would have expected better from the coalition. We here, expect better also. All bluff and bluster at this stage from NZF. We need a new direction with a strong but wise leader.
This makes it very difficult to vote for ACT or NZF at the next election. I suspect they are cynically figuring that there is not an alternative. Nevertheless, they make Chloe Swarbrick look positively saintly.
I agree with the 'national shame' comment and I fight every day in speech and thought to use, and reinforce the use of, names in English that were conferred in honour of those who brought this country to the knowledge of the world, enabled its settlement, and subsequently brought it and its people, ALL its people, to this present day. If maoris want a name for a geographic feature that's fine, but the English equivalent should remain. In fact, I would go even further; any geographic names that exist only in maori should be given English translations of their own English name. Appropriate English names should be found and conferred. There should actually be an English Geographic Names Board solely for that purpose. European settlers left the Stone Age behind 10 000 years ago and their descendants should fight against the movement that is seeking to drag this country backwards into ignorance and animism, as well as the laughing stock of others in the developed world.
I don't agree with a lot that Trump does but he sure giving Luxon some lessons in leadership.
Act has a stated aim to cherish the maori language and culture. Shane Jones talks tough but keeps giving maori bucket loads of money from his regional slush fund for projects such as marae refurbishment (e.g.ratana and waitangi). I’m beginning to doubt whether there is anyone to vote for.
We did not know about the passport change, checked and it happened in 2021 under the "idiot" government. However, the current "we are idiots too" government have not changed it back. All parties voting for the mountain name change says it all. We are off - but where to? Aussie has the same kind of stupidity going on.
If you read the comments on this making of an inanimate object into a legal person in the international press, you may get the idea that people around the world are laughing at us. Actually a lot are.
He, she, they are certainly old enough to vote, and although illiterate could probably still vote by proxy. What a wonderful way to increase The Maori Party's voter base, N.Z. could easily become the world leader in inanimate voters and may eventually get an inanimate M.P. or P.M.
Stop the world, I want to get off.
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