On Tuesday this country will have Waitangi Day commemorations around Aotearoa. We will be acknowledging the signing of the Treaty at Waitangi.
In past years, despite the politics, it has been largely peaceful – notable exceptions being a wet t-shirt being thrown at the Queen in 1990, by a disgruntled protester; mud being thrown at the Leader of the Opposition, Don Brash in 2004 shortly after a contentious speech; Christchurch activist Josie Butler throwing a dildo at a then Minister of the Crown, Steven Joyce.
Whilst one does not know whether there will be protest activity in 2024, given that the A.C.T. Party are proposing to revisit the Treaty of Waitangi principles, it seems like a reasonable guess.
For decades the conservative wing of New Zealand politics has had a grudgingly respectful relationship with tangata whenua Maori (the people of the land). Despite the more hardline supporters in National and – until recently – A.C.T., and New Zealand First trying to instigate moves to have the Waitangi Tribunal disempowered; socio-economic measures to help disenfranchised communities, and end the use of te reo Maori in official titles and so forth, their leaders stuck to an unwritten agreement to keep them in check.
But in the last year, the brakes have well and truly failed. From A.C.T. Leader David Seymour promising a referendum on whether to keep the Waitangi Tribunal to N.Z.F. Member of Parliament Shane Jones calling for a reset, the old status quo is under threat, and with the uncertainty are coming questions about how much New Zealand really values te ao Maori (the Maori world). In attacking the language, one is indirectly attacking the culture as well and its intricately woven strands in our society – from te reo to kapa haka; the haka and hangi; the arts, the crafts, the kai moana (food from the sea); geneaology and much more.
As a pakeha (non-Maori), it greatly saddens me to know that after watching decades of tentative progress with the settlement of grievances, that this country has decided to go backwards. I am sad that after hoping that in my life time all of the major iwi (tribes) would get a deal that recognizes abuses committed against them and their whenua (land), there are politicians who genuinely want to bork the entire proceedings, irrespective of how much harm they cause to New Zealand. All to appease donors who think money is more important than societal wellbeing.
Shame on you. Shame on your deliberate division of this country.
And this uncomfortably brings me to another matter, more directly and far sooner than I thought it would come to light. People of principle generally know how far they are prepared to let others push them on their principles before they conclude that they must push back. And when they do so, it is generally because someone did something to cross a red line – a limit that prompted a reaction with strength.
I stand on principle that Te Tiriti o Waitangi is a foundation stone in this country and that without it, we are not really Aotearoa/New Zealand. My limit, my red line is when people make a conscious decision to undermine Te Tiriti o Waitangi. In this case – respecting peoples right to vote for whomever they wish – I would like to understand why you chose to vote for parties that have said they will wind back policies that have helped Maori. Did you even know that they were promoting such policies?
How incredible it is that National, the party of Sir Douglas Graham and Christopher Finlayson, Georgina Te Heuheu has gone from being a quietly sane party of Te Tiriti o Waitangi to doing the bidding of attack dogs like Winston Peters and David Seymour? Quite. And damn sad too – one of the few things I still genuinely respected about the colour blue in N.Z. politics being actively stained by politics of hate.
Do you recall the Springbok Tour of 1981? Were you even alive then? I was a tot. If you were an adult then, you will remember the running battles with cops, the injuries, the deliberate acts of sabotage, the in house politics ripping families down the middle.
Since the new Government was elected last year, there has been a clear escalation of divisive rhetoric, which has been matched by an increase in protest activity – one might say activists warming up for a busy Parliamentary term. They want to be certain that the Government understands one thing very clearly: undermining Te Tiriti O Waitangi will come at a cost.
Enjoy your Waitangi Day statutory holiday Aotearoa.
Leftist Kiwi Writes 