Geoff Parker: Race-based land laws

A recent letter to a Northland newspaper protested that land acquired for Maori schools had not been returned to iwi when these facilities were closed. Similarly, there’s yet another Maori occupation of private land in the region, claiming it should be returned because it had once been a school property. Unfortunately, these claims lack both context and fact, which is something this article aims to rectify.

John Porter: I Was Beaten for Speaking Maori!

During the recent Maori Language Week, I noted that many prominent Maori spoke about their beatings for speaking Maori.

Dover Samuels gave evidence to the Waitangi Tribunal in 2015 about the beatings he endured as a small boy for speaking Maori at school but who had only ever spoken Maori at home.

But as with so much Maori and colonisation debate we need to look at both sides of the story.