Grievance Day

Waitangi Isn't Our National Day

Mike Hosking
NZ Herald


I guess it's a fairly easy trap to fall into. Go somewhere, immerse yourself in the surroundings and before you know it, you think it's all that matters, it's the centre of the world, and the rest of the country is as gripped as you.

And so it was with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and her embrace of all things Waitangi. She decided Waitangi was the place to judge the government.  Traditionally, of course, the place to judge a government is at the polling booth. She also forgot most of the country isn't Māori. Most of this country is multicultural - 4.8 million of us have come from all corners of the world.

And yet the Prime Minister talked of the incarceration rate, the job rate, the education rate, as it affected Māori. Not that it's not an issue, it's just not "the" issue on our national day.  But that's the problem isn't it? It's not really our national day, it's our grievance day.

And not even a national grievance day, because the vast, vast majority of us don't actually have a grievance. The vast, vast majority of us love our lives, love our country, feel blessed to be here, and understand just how lucky we are.

My great hope is that one day, in some sort of nationalistic organised fashion, we might like to get around to marking that. But in the ensuing period it remains a highly niche outing for a few touchy-feelies.  The Prime Minister, also, if not outright lied, gilded the lily in spectacular fashion.

As part of her "judge us" mantra she said, for the first time in 10 years we are starting to see some of the lowest numbers of Māori in unemployment.


Now, that's a quote I found and it technically is grammatically incorrect, as far as I can work out.  But I get what she's claiming. She's claiming that after a year in office, for the first time in a decade, the Māori unemployment rate is falling. That is, straight up and down, simply not true - or even close to it.

This Government inherited a very strong economy, a rock star economy, in which the unemployment rate had been falling consistently for many, many years and, that included Māori. She has inherited a trend - and to claim it only started when she arrived is as blatant a furphy as you can get.  Now all politicians spin, but that is not spin, it's BS. Not unlike Grant Robertson on this show a week or so back, who was claiming we're growing at three per cent, when we are not.  We, up to the latest figures in the calendar year 2018, have grown 1.8 per cent. And unless the last quarter comes in at 1.2 per cent (which it won't) we will not be growing at the rate he claims.

Now, you can argue ideology, like Phil Twyford, but that has to end when the facts overtake the theory.  When there aren't 1000 KiwiBuild houses, you're wrong. When there isn't three per cent growth, you're wrong. When Māori unemployment has been going down for longer than a year, you're wrong.

And all of this goes to credibility. Is this Government merely a government of buzz words? Like the "year of delivery," and false stats.  Is this Government just a government of hyperbole, headlines, one-liners, and false claims? And the great hope is we're all too stupid to work it out.

Letter From New Zealand

Recovering Mana

There are some things about living in New Zealand for which we can be extremely grateful.  Sure, there are heaps of things with this country which are flat out wrong, even evil.  They call for relentless, determined exposure at every opportunity.  But there are also some things which are rather cool.

Here is one example.  The northern Maori tribe, Ngapuhi is dysfunctional at best.  Always at this time of the year there is controversy over the national holiday, Waitangi Day because, on the one hand, Ngapuhi hosts the memorial celebrations since it was in their territory that the Treaty of Waitangi was signed between the Crown and Maori tribes in 1840.  But this national celebration has been captured as a platform for Ngapuhi radicals to voice their grievances against the government.

 

Recently, the controversy has narrowed down to whether the Prime Minister should be invited to attend, and, if invited, whether he should be granted speaking rights.  For the past two years, the PM has been invited, but forbidden to speak.  Last year the PM declined to attend.  Ngapuhi cut of their collective nose to spite their face. The same has fallen out this year.

Embarrassing

Time For All Good Men To Come to the Aid of the Party

Sadly once again Maori have been tarred with ignominy, shame, and a loss of mana.  The few have shamed the entire race.  Waitangi Day is supposed to be a holiday celebrating the beginning of the New Zealand nation.  Traditionally, Waitangi plays host to the Prime Minister and a bevy of politicians.  In recent years it has become the pretext for airing of Maori grievances--of which there appear to be no end.

Waitangi and the Treaty Grounds fall within the tribal area of Ngapuhi tribe.  It has traditionally played the role of host for guests and visitors to the Treaty Grounds on Waitangi day.  Ngapuhi is a deeply divided group, bedevilled with internecine bickering and animosity.  At present it appears that the extremists and the radicals are in charge.

One blogger wrote, urging Key not to attend:

John, don't go to the Ti Ti (sic) Marae at Waitangi.    The lunatics have taken control of the asylum.   The debate in Maoridom over the TPPA has become irrational egged on by the lies pedaled by opponents of the agreement.   I doubt whether anyone at Ti Ti has bothered to do the hard yards and read the agreement.   If they had then the sort of canard being pedaled around the unwashed that the agreement could see Maori prisoners sent off-shore to serve their time in US and Aust prisons would be seen for what it is ... loony tunes stuff.

What has happened on the Marae is mirrored in the discord among Ngapuhi as to who has the mandate to negotiate their treaty claim(s) and you can see why. Their leadership has been highjacked by the likes of Kingi Tauroa, Sonny Tau, Hone Harawira, Margaret Mutu and the Popata brothers.   And so it is with the TPPA debate ... rationality has gone out the window.

Treaty of Waitangi Fables

Propaganda and Myths

Over the past thirty years much ado has been made about the Treaty of Waitangi. Prior to that time--not so much.  Political activists and those pursuing a definite political agenda have begun using the Treaty of Waitangi as a pretext for their particular agendas.

In most cases, those agendas have to do with "more"--by which is meant special interest groups attempting to secure more money and more power and more recognition by successive governments.  The Commentariat, the governmental ministries, and successive politicians have largely gone along with it.  They have been duped, probably wilfully so. 

Dr Paul Moon has written a piece in the NZ Herald on six common myths about the Treaty of Waitangi--the most pernicious being that first promulgated by the Maori Party that the Treaty is New Zealand's founding document.  Moon dismisses that fabrication in four short sentences.  Not that his argumentation will stop that particular canard making the rounds.  Political activists and those seeking special interests are renown for never letting the facts get in the way of a good story.

"Whitey" Guilt and Pity

The High Priest Prays to the Nation's God

Joris De Bres is the closest thing secular Unbelieving New Zealand has to a High Priest.  The fundamental role of a priest is to represent the needs of his constituency before the deity.  De Bres saw fit to deliver his annual Waitangi Day sermon to the nation with this fundamental role firmly in his heart.  He played his role to a "t".

There are those who will argue that Joris is not be the brightest pin in the cushion.  But, he fulfils his role as secular High Priest admirably and faithfully.  His Waitangi Day his homily was directed at both Maori and the Rest.  (We note that Joris nominates the Rest as "Pakeha", but that is a misdirection, or as the American say, a "mis-speak".  There are Maori and non-Maori in New Zealand.  We are, after all, a multi-ethnic community.)

Part of the duty of a priest is to confess sins before the god he serves.  Joris fulsomely confessed the sins of Pakeha, or Whitey.