On The Platform, Laws said a leaked 84-page Ngāi Tahu cultural impact report on Oceana Gold’s McCrae mine near Dunedin shows how iwi are using cultural objections as a cash grab dressed up as spirituality.
Laws said the report, prepared by Ngāi Tahu’s commercial arm Aukaha, blocked the mine’s planned expansion for offending four Māori spiritual concepts. The report spells out the deal: “The expectation is that Oceana Gold will compensate Kāi Tahu where these impacts on cultural values cannot be avoided, remedied or mitigated.”
“There it is in black and white,” Laws said. “You will pay us money because you have offended whakapapa, tapu, and mana.” He called it a “shakedown,” saying iwi have been given “a perverse financial incentive” to oppose development in order to demand money or land.
Laws said he no longer blames iwi for the behaviour, arguing the problem lies with politicians who created the system. “It’s not their fault,” he said. “We gave them the power to corporatise, monetise and weaponise their culture for profit.”
He described the result as a “spiritual veto on progress” that blocks jobs, frustrates investment, and weakens democracy. “Unless some government has the guts to stop it,” Laws said, “this will keep holding the country back.”
“There it is in black and white,” Laws said. “You will pay us money because you have offended whakapapa, tapu, and mana.” He called it a “shakedown,” saying iwi have been given “a perverse financial incentive” to oppose development in order to demand money or land.
Laws said he no longer blames iwi for the behaviour, arguing the problem lies with politicians who created the system. “It’s not their fault,” he said. “We gave them the power to corporatise, monetise and weaponise their culture for profit.”
He described the result as a “spiritual veto on progress” that blocks jobs, frustrates investment, and weakens democracy. “Unless some government has the guts to stop it,” Laws said, “this will keep holding the country back.”
The Centrist is a new online news platform that strives to provide a balance to the public debate - where this article was sourced.
2 comments:
"The issue is never the issue. The issue is always the revolution."
Hang on a moment - haven't we got a Government that promised to stop all this ? It was clearly an election policy of National, and Luxon has a mandate.
Maybe he is waiting to the last moment before the election to take action and get lots of votes ?
Sorry, must stop being so cynical .....................
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