#31 - Anne Rennie 2009-02-07 12:20 - (Reply)

John, you are doing a great job. I firmly believe that you are the man for the time in New Zealand. I commend your tolerance and courage at Waitangi. However, there are a few things I wanted to say. I watched the Close Up item on national pride the other night in utter disbelief. Waitangi Day does not celebrate New Zealand nationality. It celebrates the Maori race exclusively. Every year, everyone but Maori engage in chest beating apology for having ‘colonised’ the country. Every year, we are selectively allowed onto ‘their space’ and obsequiously plead for acceptance in the country which has been a home to generations of our families. Every year our politicians are exposed to attacks, insults and abuse by any of them who think they have an axe to grind - and you have to be a truly cowardly bully to attack someone with a broken arm, let alone by grabbing the broken arm. Very notably, a successful Waitangi Day is defined throughout the media, by means of visits to several Marae up and down the country, by a lack of protest and/or violence amongst the very small proportion of the population who attend them - and we haven’t completely succeeded in this for years. What a way to celebrate a New Zealand ‘national day’! It is a parody of the nation. Nowhere in New Zealand is there a celebration of New Zealanders who built this country to be what it is today, regardless of their race. Not surprising really. Few of the most influential have been Maori. Throughout every year, every non-Maori citizen is diminished, disrespected and devalued by Maori simply because they are not Maori. Every achievement by a New Zealander who is not Maori is devalued unless or until any proceeds of the achievement are given to Maori as ‘compensation’ for their own lack of achievement. Undoubtedly, many true wrongs occurred and these should be righted but not at the expense of a whole national identity. The simplicity that Maori are simply covetous of what other people have has never been more clearly expressed than in Pita Sharples saying they want to be financing the building of roads, not driving the bulldozers. I realise his good intentions in making that comment but it remains that they want the outcome but not the disciplined, long-term tenacious study and work that produces the outcome. Having attended the ‘Dynamics of Whanaungatanga’ that stresses the importance of the ‘journey’ to produce character rather than gratuitous ‘successes’, I find that mind-bogglingly dense. Further mundane examples can be found in the sad stories of many Lotto winners who have acquired wealth without effort. One thing I had (unfortunately) have to agree with from the PC History Lecturer on Close Up (who appears to be advocating a world government with no borders) is that fanatical nationality breeds exclusivity. Of course, most people see a unified nationality a as a positive that enhances ‘teamwork’ and a country pulling together. She did not but then perhaps she was commenting on the exclusivity being demanded by Maori in dominating the minds and behaviour of every New Zealander regardless of their ethnicity - now some want to force school children to play their games in the playgrounds. There are two salient points about Maori: they were (as far as we know) the first group ‘colonialists’ in New Zealand who did their share of wiping out other species before any other group arrived; if England hadn’t taken responsibility for the sovereignty in New Zealand, some other country would have - and quite likely would not have been as nearly amenable as the English were. There is no possibility that Maori would have been left to ‘develop’ in uninterrupted peace. The continuance of their culture is, and should be, in their hands - not every other nationality that sets foot on New Zealand soil. Further, there is no people in the world which has ‘developed’ in uninterrupted peace. Every single group has been colonised or conquered by someone, mostly several times over. It’s bizarre that New Zealand obsesses over one instance of one race who were once colonised, largely peacefully, by the English. If every people in the world tried to regain their ‘roots’, they wouldn’t know where to start, there wouldn’t be enough moments in time let alone days in the year and all social activity would be paralysed - sort of a return to the Tower of Babel experience. More to the point, we’d all be living with African or Middle Eastern lifestyles. I don’t object to Waitangi Day. It commemorates an important time in our history and probably should not share the limelight with anything else. It is truly a day when the two flags should be flown on the Auckland Harbour Bridge - providing the Maori flag represents all Maori. It does not celebrate New Zealand as a nation which now comprises a multitude of other peoples, whether immigration is liked or not, who all work very hard, every day, to make New Zealand a worthwhile place to live in. It is essential for our country that all groups are pulling together for the interests of New Zealand. New Zealand requires a national day that allows everyone to celebrate it together, if in their own ways, and take pride in that celebration. It isn’t about how ‘raucous’ or ‘quiet’ it is. Every citizen is expected to contribute to New Zealand society, to obey its laws and participate responsibly in the community. Every citizen has the right to feel valued by the government generally and the Prime Minister in particular and to feel a strong sense of belonging and acceptance in the wider community. This cannot happen in an environment which is exclusively Maori focussed. It requires a day that celebrates New Zealand as it is now and that recognises with honour and respect the efforts, from the least to the greatest, of every individual comprising it, allowing them to express their love for and pride in the country in their own terms. A day of parades throughout the country with each nationality contributing a float would be very appropriate, inclusive, community enhancing and, I would imagine, enjoyable.