I've read many things the last little while that, taken together, are rather more than straws in the wind. This piece, however, wins the prize for fearless scrutiny of a subject that most other commentators are too scared to approach. I'm nearly 80 and I never thought I'd be scared for my future and my country's future as it stumbles towards such a division and hardly anyone can see it. This quote "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing" (attributed to Edmund Burke), so wake up people. The next election is going to be crucial, and while a lot can happen in a year, some current polls indicate that a Labour-Green Te Pati Maori coalition is a real possibility, so we're all going to have to decide whether to vote for serious division or accept the less-than-perfect grouping we have now and put them back, in spite of any perceived failures. In other words, strategic voting.
Totally agree Aroha! This article is brilliant and one of the best analyses I have read for a while. We need to get this out into “the field” share share share!!
This is the best and clearest analysis I’ve ever read of the political future facing NZ if Te Pati Maori, allied with the Greens, gets full control of government. Heaven help us!
I feel as you do, although not on the voting choices. I don't think it is 'less-than-perfect' vs 'serious division.' We could all vote for one of the minor party in the current coalition and make them the main party, that would be a vote for cohesion, though it may be a rough ride.
I quite agree with you, but I can't see enough voters swinging to Act or NZFirst to make this a possibility. I suspect the best that could be hoped for is more equal numbers of MPs in each of the three, as the way things are currently I don't think National could get a thumping increase. However if the economy bounces back to the point where ordinary people experience better quality of life National could get a resurgence of support. As is known a year is a long time in politics and I can't see a predictable outcome. The only certainty is that I'll do my best to ensure that a coalition of the three "left" parties doesn't eventuate.
Sadly the MSM are determined not to give us the opportunity to see what is going on, let alone express a viewpoint. I believe most New Zealanders don't want to look away, they are simply blissfully unaware of what is happening to our precious democracy.
Thank you Ani, another great piece. What on earth can be done to wake up our MSM who let all this go unreported and actively discourage any discussion on what Maori activists are attempting to do to our country?
Ani, you encapsulate the issue brilliantly and accurately. How does a nation push back against such a concerted, well organised movement as that being led by Maori activists. I used to think that in time conservative Maori figures would come out publicly in support of our current national status, but as time moves on I fear such voices, if they in fact exist, are being subdued by the media.
There is one aspect of the balkanisation movement you haven't discussed - the monetary system and government funding. Not once have I seen proponents of separatism explain where they will get their funds from. If they achieve their collection of small ethno states outside the New Zealand construct, how will they fund their police, their social services, education, health structures and the like? Surely, if they have cast aside their participation in the New Zealand State, they cannot expect the New Zealand taxpayer to fund them? No doubt they will demand royalties for allowing non-Maori to remain, yet I'm sure they will not agree to make any contribution to the State. It also begs the question as to how these ethno-states will extract tax from their members/citizens? And what governing structures will they employ?
And, of course, the nonsense about all this is that most of the activists are more non-Maori than they are Maori. They have been allowed for 50 years to get away with claiming to be a homogenate group with quite distinct needs from the rest of us. Yet it is very likely that there is not today one person in this country who would met the pre -1974 definition of Maori, which was based on blood quantum.
Thats the reason they no longer go by blood quantum it blows their point out of the water. They are a dangerous outfit who dont want seperate anything they want the lot including the purse strings. Civil war will be the only option and they know it
Thank you Ani for this most brilliant and well researched piece!
We need to archive and share this up until the election next year. I live in a predominantly Maori town…I am opposed to Maori Wards - not Maori - but if I articulate that in public my well-being could likely be threatened…but you have bravely given form to the elephant in the room - thank you.
Just brilliant Ani. So glad that some ‘influential’ folk are now sounding the alarm re this crap. For too long we have allowed the race militants like Tamihere, Willy & co to build their campaign unchecked. They have similar minded people in positions of power or influence (Williams on SC, Law Profs like Claire Charters at Auck or Jacinta Ruru in Otago, public servants in support etc) and they really do want to take control. Their Maori Culture, Tikanga & language control is all just a bullshit front for their own lust for power. Our leaders need to act NOW and fix this.
South Africa did this with the TBVC states. (Transkei, Bophuthatswana, Venda, and Ciskei) which were theoretically separate states, but only recognised as such by the South African government. They had their own laws; you needed to go through border control to enter them. And it was a general failure.
Perhaps South Africa is a good example of what would happen if TPM were allowed to create their ethnostate. Mass corruption, outright looting of public funds, high crime, and many black people even worse off under the ANC, who don't care about the destruction of the country because they and their cronies can keep stealing while children starve.
I've selected this para from your excellent article, as my suggestion for how we might "wake up" all the complacent, too-occupied-with-our-own-issues, Kiwis
"How can a party committed to the weakening, if not outright dismantling, of the New Zealand state be part of its government? It is a contradiction so stark that it should alarm every New Zealander, regardless of political stripe. When the objective of a partner is not to govern effectively but to transfer power away from Parliament, from the courts, from the very structures that hold our country together then that partner is not a coalition ally but a constitutional saboteur."
What people need to acknowledge is that we're PAYING the relevant MPs to work towards DESTROYING the country and culture we admire......
This must be the #1 issue in everyone's mind......!*!
Excellent article Ani. I look at it as being a 'tribalisation' of New Zealand. We all came from tribal societies at one time or another. It's no surprise that countries that are dominated by tribal loyalties are failed states. John Tamahere with his endless disparaging of any Maori who don't kowtow to his agenda are telling.
All this is so far from the day to day reality that I observe in the street in the I live in where families of all ethnicities just go about with getting ahead in life.
Beautiful piece. In my small mind there are two issues. One, the vast numbers of New Zealanders that help build this country over the years is disenchanted with politicians and their hollow promises. In second place, well, this is more a question really, aside from the few at the top of the pecking order, have the Maori in the street received or would receive any tangible benefit from squeezing the lemon. A house divided cannot stand if that is were we are heading we know the outcome then, the only way forward is for Maori to take advantage of the opportunities the 21st century is giving them (and us all) use it and improve it. Work and commitment is my answer.
Good article thanks Ani. Sometimes I think we should just put all the radical racists on an island with no "western" mod cons (clothing, phones, housing, money, electricity, cars, etc) and let them go back to the days they seem to yearn for. A simplistic view I know, but I think many of us have had enough of them all whining about "colonisation" while stuffing their pockets with money and colonial possessions, let alone the fact that many of them have more "European" DNA than Maori. Time for us all to start pushing back on this minority of misfits.
What a marvellous article Ani. You seriously have hit the nail on the head for ehat some of us older people could see coming. Thank you. I just wonder how the maori would get on in their self proclaimed areas as far as medical, schooling, housing, etc. Where would this money come from. Certainly not the rest of the population.
You can be sure they will want our money for those services Michele.
Hipkins et al were already proposing priority based on race, rather than need.
I imagine such people (Hipkins et al) would easily conceded free and prioritised access to the "second grade citizens'" (that's us) areas for medical etc, and guaranteeing our money to construct superior housing for them, in their areas, as "the chosen ones".
What you say and talk about is quite possibly true - Unfortunately but not Unhopefully.
I ask what happened to "Participation, Protection and Partnership"? These are important attributes in any relationship and need to be worked at. The treaty is a sacred document and most important to Aotearoa NZ. So sad this bitterness and hatred that you write about, and I saw some of which playout in the march you refer to on the steps of our parliament. The speeches by the organisers looked, felt and sounded exclusive and riddled with anger and bitterness - so sad.
In this life we have much we can be bitter and twisted about but with the help of others we can find the way of love - which restores unity and relationship. Isn't that what Aotearoa NZ needs?
I am 25% Scottish and do not hate or dislike the English. To forgive is important.
The way of the powerful or the dominant is a human condition which can lead to one of self serving ie self interest of one, not two or more. No ethnic group has ever been exempt of this behaviour as it is part of the human condition. Love can overcome this - if we let it.
Things were not perfect in Aotearoa NZ prior to Pakeha arriving, prior to Maori arriving and not when maybe just Morori lived here. Why, because people were here and that is what we do when we act selfishly. If this is true, why do the likes of Te Pati Maori think they are different?
I write this as someone who voted for the Maori party three times over nine years when the likes of Tariana and Tururoa were the leaders. Leaders who were/are so wise and are missed. Tururoa was my form teacher at college for two years, top teacher, leader and bloke.
My ancestry is mainly Scottish and, as a kid, I was appalled when I learned how the Brits cut the throats of the wounded Scots soldiers on the battlefield the day after Culloden. But I quickly got over it.
As you say, history is full of it. The Scots had clans; Maori had tribes.
In both cases they fought each other, and didn't always act in a gentlemanly manner.
What Māori seem to fail to recognise, is that they were safer after 1840. There were still the musket wars, that I guess the Euro authorities didn't initially know how to stop without causing even more casualties, but I don't know what NZ would be like if it was still a Maori-only country....
I heard an iwi NGO recently explain how tribalism is still at play. They work closely with the gangs, to help men step up and be the husbands, fathers and friends they were created to be, without the domestic violence and abuse (that sadly so many gang members (they gave the stats for this - horrific) have been subject to) playing out again. They said that the relationship between the Mongrel Mob and Black Power is tribal and goes back a long way. They offered a much better way, and had some who were and still are in the gangs leading the way on this - as they were sick and tired of the angst (on all fronts - personal and public) and bitterness and willingly shared their stories of positive change. So inspiring and encouraging - however some sectors and politicians will never publish nor discuss this, Aotearoa NZ celebrate the Good, we can all do with more of it. After all, to be human is to be on a journey, one we cannot, nor were designed to do - alone!
I've read many things the last little while that, taken together, are rather more than straws in the wind. This piece, however, wins the prize for fearless scrutiny of a subject that most other commentators are too scared to approach. I'm nearly 80 and I never thought I'd be scared for my future and my country's future as it stumbles towards such a division and hardly anyone can see it. This quote "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing" (attributed to Edmund Burke), so wake up people. The next election is going to be crucial, and while a lot can happen in a year, some current polls indicate that a Labour-Green Te Pati Maori coalition is a real possibility, so we're all going to have to decide whether to vote for serious division or accept the less-than-perfect grouping we have now and put them back, in spite of any perceived failures. In other words, strategic voting.
Totally agree Aroha! This article is brilliant and one of the best analyses I have read for a while. We need to get this out into “the field” share share share!!
This is the best and clearest analysis I’ve ever read of the political future facing NZ if Te Pati Maori, allied with the Greens, gets full control of government. Heaven help us!
I feel as you do, although not on the voting choices. I don't think it is 'less-than-perfect' vs 'serious division.' We could all vote for one of the minor party in the current coalition and make them the main party, that would be a vote for cohesion, though it may be a rough ride.
I quite agree with you, but I can't see enough voters swinging to Act or NZFirst to make this a possibility. I suspect the best that could be hoped for is more equal numbers of MPs in each of the three, as the way things are currently I don't think National could get a thumping increase. However if the economy bounces back to the point where ordinary people experience better quality of life National could get a resurgence of support. As is known a year is a long time in politics and I can't see a predictable outcome. The only certainty is that I'll do my best to ensure that a coalition of the three "left" parties doesn't eventuate.
Brilliant analysis and commentary upon a vital issue, where New Zealanders prefer to look away.
Sadly the MSM are determined not to give us the opportunity to see what is going on, let alone express a viewpoint. I believe most New Zealanders don't want to look away, they are simply blissfully unaware of what is happening to our precious democracy.
Thank you Ani, another great piece. What on earth can be done to wake up our MSM who let all this go unreported and actively discourage any discussion on what Maori activists are attempting to do to our country?
Their lack of reporting is quite frightening.
Ani, you encapsulate the issue brilliantly and accurately. How does a nation push back against such a concerted, well organised movement as that being led by Maori activists. I used to think that in time conservative Maori figures would come out publicly in support of our current national status, but as time moves on I fear such voices, if they in fact exist, are being subdued by the media.
There is one aspect of the balkanisation movement you haven't discussed - the monetary system and government funding. Not once have I seen proponents of separatism explain where they will get their funds from. If they achieve their collection of small ethno states outside the New Zealand construct, how will they fund their police, their social services, education, health structures and the like? Surely, if they have cast aside their participation in the New Zealand State, they cannot expect the New Zealand taxpayer to fund them? No doubt they will demand royalties for allowing non-Maori to remain, yet I'm sure they will not agree to make any contribution to the State. It also begs the question as to how these ethno-states will extract tax from their members/citizens? And what governing structures will they employ?
And, of course, the nonsense about all this is that most of the activists are more non-Maori than they are Maori. They have been allowed for 50 years to get away with claiming to be a homogenate group with quite distinct needs from the rest of us. Yet it is very likely that there is not today one person in this country who would met the pre -1974 definition of Maori, which was based on blood quantum.
Thats the reason they no longer go by blood quantum it blows their point out of the water. They are a dangerous outfit who dont want seperate anything they want the lot including the purse strings. Civil war will be the only option and they know it
Thank you Ani for this most brilliant and well researched piece!
We need to archive and share this up until the election next year. I live in a predominantly Maori town…I am opposed to Maori Wards - not Maori - but if I articulate that in public my well-being could likely be threatened…but you have bravely given form to the elephant in the room - thank you.
Will he sharing this widely!
Just brilliant Ani. So glad that some ‘influential’ folk are now sounding the alarm re this crap. For too long we have allowed the race militants like Tamihere, Willy & co to build their campaign unchecked. They have similar minded people in positions of power or influence (Williams on SC, Law Profs like Claire Charters at Auck or Jacinta Ruru in Otago, public servants in support etc) and they really do want to take control. Their Maori Culture, Tikanga & language control is all just a bullshit front for their own lust for power. Our leaders need to act NOW and fix this.
South Africa did this with the TBVC states. (Transkei, Bophuthatswana, Venda, and Ciskei) which were theoretically separate states, but only recognised as such by the South African government. They had their own laws; you needed to go through border control to enter them. And it was a general failure.
A corrupt failure at that. I was forced to pay bribes just to cross the Transkei! Absolute extortion.
Perhaps South Africa is a good example of what would happen if TPM were allowed to create their ethnostate. Mass corruption, outright looting of public funds, high crime, and many black people even worse off under the ANC, who don't care about the destruction of the country because they and their cronies can keep stealing while children starve.
Thanks Ani
I've selected this para from your excellent article, as my suggestion for how we might "wake up" all the complacent, too-occupied-with-our-own-issues, Kiwis
"How can a party committed to the weakening, if not outright dismantling, of the New Zealand state be part of its government? It is a contradiction so stark that it should alarm every New Zealander, regardless of political stripe. When the objective of a partner is not to govern effectively but to transfer power away from Parliament, from the courts, from the very structures that hold our country together then that partner is not a coalition ally but a constitutional saboteur."
What people need to acknowledge is that we're PAYING the relevant MPs to work towards DESTROYING the country and culture we admire......
This must be the #1 issue in everyone's mind......!*!
Excellent article Ani. I look at it as being a 'tribalisation' of New Zealand. We all came from tribal societies at one time or another. It's no surprise that countries that are dominated by tribal loyalties are failed states. John Tamahere with his endless disparaging of any Maori who don't kowtow to his agenda are telling.
All this is so far from the day to day reality that I observe in the street in the I live in where families of all ethnicities just go about with getting ahead in life.
Beautiful piece. In my small mind there are two issues. One, the vast numbers of New Zealanders that help build this country over the years is disenchanted with politicians and their hollow promises. In second place, well, this is more a question really, aside from the few at the top of the pecking order, have the Maori in the street received or would receive any tangible benefit from squeezing the lemon. A house divided cannot stand if that is were we are heading we know the outcome then, the only way forward is for Maori to take advantage of the opportunities the 21st century is giving them (and us all) use it and improve it. Work and commitment is my answer.
Good article thanks Ani. Sometimes I think we should just put all the radical racists on an island with no "western" mod cons (clothing, phones, housing, money, electricity, cars, etc) and let them go back to the days they seem to yearn for. A simplistic view I know, but I think many of us have had enough of them all whining about "colonisation" while stuffing their pockets with money and colonial possessions, let alone the fact that many of them have more "European" DNA than Maori. Time for us all to start pushing back on this minority of misfits.
They didn't even have the wheel Nick - something that "Western science" had created several thousand years earlier!
Thanks Ed, wheels off the list for the island as well then!
Terrifyingly realistic scenario. God help us,
What a marvellous article Ani. You seriously have hit the nail on the head for ehat some of us older people could see coming. Thank you. I just wonder how the maori would get on in their self proclaimed areas as far as medical, schooling, housing, etc. Where would this money come from. Certainly not the rest of the population.
You can be sure they will want our money for those services Michele.
Hipkins et al were already proposing priority based on race, rather than need.
I imagine such people (Hipkins et al) would easily conceded free and prioritised access to the "second grade citizens'" (that's us) areas for medical etc, and guaranteeing our money to construct superior housing for them, in their areas, as "the chosen ones".
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/te-pati-maori-mp-takuta-ferris-takes-issue-with-indians-asians-black-pakeha-campaigning-for-labour-in-tamaki-makaurau-byelection/BGHGVB4Q6FBHNOQ3Y23HCAAOEM/
Hidden at the back and not open for comments which is the norm these days. It most unusual that it has been reported at all.
And a timely perfect example of how these people will "stop at nothing" on their journey towards the terrible outcomes Ani has described...
What you say and talk about is quite possibly true - Unfortunately but not Unhopefully.
I ask what happened to "Participation, Protection and Partnership"? These are important attributes in any relationship and need to be worked at. The treaty is a sacred document and most important to Aotearoa NZ. So sad this bitterness and hatred that you write about, and I saw some of which playout in the march you refer to on the steps of our parliament. The speeches by the organisers looked, felt and sounded exclusive and riddled with anger and bitterness - so sad.
In this life we have much we can be bitter and twisted about but with the help of others we can find the way of love - which restores unity and relationship. Isn't that what Aotearoa NZ needs?
I am 25% Scottish and do not hate or dislike the English. To forgive is important.
The way of the powerful or the dominant is a human condition which can lead to one of self serving ie self interest of one, not two or more. No ethnic group has ever been exempt of this behaviour as it is part of the human condition. Love can overcome this - if we let it.
Things were not perfect in Aotearoa NZ prior to Pakeha arriving, prior to Maori arriving and not when maybe just Morori lived here. Why, because people were here and that is what we do when we act selfishly. If this is true, why do the likes of Te Pati Maori think they are different?
I write this as someone who voted for the Maori party three times over nine years when the likes of Tariana and Tururoa were the leaders. Leaders who were/are so wise and are missed. Tururoa was my form teacher at college for two years, top teacher, leader and bloke.
You're absolutely right Darryl
My ancestry is mainly Scottish and, as a kid, I was appalled when I learned how the Brits cut the throats of the wounded Scots soldiers on the battlefield the day after Culloden. But I quickly got over it.
As you say, history is full of it. The Scots had clans; Maori had tribes.
In both cases they fought each other, and didn't always act in a gentlemanly manner.
What Māori seem to fail to recognise, is that they were safer after 1840. There were still the musket wars, that I guess the Euro authorities didn't initially know how to stop without causing even more casualties, but I don't know what NZ would be like if it was still a Maori-only country....
I heard an iwi NGO recently explain how tribalism is still at play. They work closely with the gangs, to help men step up and be the husbands, fathers and friends they were created to be, without the domestic violence and abuse (that sadly so many gang members (they gave the stats for this - horrific) have been subject to) playing out again. They said that the relationship between the Mongrel Mob and Black Power is tribal and goes back a long way. They offered a much better way, and had some who were and still are in the gangs leading the way on this - as they were sick and tired of the angst (on all fronts - personal and public) and bitterness and willingly shared their stories of positive change. So inspiring and encouraging - however some sectors and politicians will never publish nor discuss this, Aotearoa NZ celebrate the Good, we can all do with more of it. After all, to be human is to be on a journey, one we cannot, nor were designed to do - alone!
Why is Hipkins off to the UK?? Doing a runner like Jacinda or does she have a job lined up for him???