I’m sure by now you’ve had enough of Treaty principles and segregation between Maori and non-Maori but the fact of the matter is that NZ still remains a socially segregated nation.
An underlying race issue has gutted this land since the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840 and without a doubt it continues to be the foremost suspect of mass conflict between cultures in New Zealand. It’s a battle that Maori are endeavouring to struggle to succeed in: for fair representation at local and national levels of government. The Auckland super-city council is the perfect example.
No way in God’s name was John Key going to let a powerful MP of his deluded government, like Rodney Hide, go in favour of separate Maori seats on the super council.
From a non-Maori perspective, the “radical endeavours” by the Maori Party is perceived as both power-hungry and greedy. This is never their agenda but is merely a form of protest to have representation at this level for the values of the Maori people AND non-Maori people alike. The idea of “second-tier” seats is both a “toothless substitute”, as pointed out by Minister of Maori Affairs Pita Sharples, and preposterous as it tramples on mana whenua (the authority of the local iwi), who clearly are not entitled to any legislative decisions made with regards to the Auckland region.
Indeed as Dr Sharples pointed out in his interview with Paul Henry http://bit.ly/4z6d2G, the statistics are not in favour of Maori, who are rarely elected to district councils throughout this so-called nation. Maori are but a minority, as we know, but the values in which many Maori candidates stand for, reflects a majority of the time the well being of the people and the environment. I stand my ground when I say this, as Maori have held in high regard the well being of the land and all peoples of New Zealand. I say to Maori, if it is not by force then it is by democracy. Bind together and stand for the values of all peoples of New Zealand.
I riro atu te mana o kiri mangu a te runga rawa, engari a toona wa katahi ano ka whakahokia.
Nicole Bremner from TVNZ cites her experience of the hikoi by Ngati Whatua onto Auckland City http://bit.ly/zEKfI
Tim Watkin also writes in his blog how the idea of a super council is failing to appeal to the Auckland public http://bit.ly/nNXgR
