Are the political Right called the Right because nine times out of ten they are? I think history would prove that correct. The way the situation at Ihumatao is being handled is a case in point.
Here are two viewpoints from the Right.
Simon Bridges has the view that Jacinda should tell the protesters to go home. He says that, by getting involved where she shouldn’t have, she is setting an appalling precedent. She is rewarding protesters and runs the risk of reopening full and final Treaty of Waitangi settlements, which would be incredibly dangerous and expensive. Bridges says the prime minister is showing a lack of leadership and needs to right the wrong of getting involved by telling protesters to go home and let the landowners build houses for Aucklanders.
Winston Peters, who I put as being on the right of politics on Maori matters, says it is an unlawful occupation. He says many of the protesters in attendance are not Mana Whenua, and organisations such as Heritage New Zealand, the United Nations, the Maori Land Court and the Environment Court have all rejected the claims about the archaeological significance of the site.
Now let’s look at the Left that, predictably, has had far more to say on the matter. You can always rely on the unhinged subclass that inhabits the Left of politics to rise up like sheep and bleat their irrational commentary.
Jacinda Ardern is a prime example of the saying, ‘Fools rush in where angels fear to tread’. As Bridges points out, she risks setting a dangerous precedent with regard to previous Treaty settlements. She has also left herself open to the accusation that she has come down on the side of the protesters. On the one hand, she says it’s not a government issue; while, on the other hand, saying that the government can help to facilitate a solution. Surely that does make it a government issue? Finding herself in a heap of trouble of her own making, she scarpers off to warmer shores. While in self-imposed exile, she proceeds to suppress the media with regard to questioning on Ihum?tao; that is her second dangerous precedent, this time threatening to endanger both democracy and herself.
The lady seems to be of the erroneous opinion that she can facilitate a satisfactory outcome by getting Maori together. There is no mention of involving the legal owners of the land. Maori cannot of their own volition achieve any outcome without the participation of Fletchers. The prime minister seems to think she can override the legal agreement between Maori, the Council and Fletchers. Jacinda needs to start dealing in reality, rather than the futility of trying to engineer a KIND outcome for the illegal protesters.
For Lizzie Marvelly it is, not unsurprisingly, all about Maori oppression. She opines that if only we were better educated we’d all be out there standing side by side with the rest of the unemployed rent-a-crowd. Except we wouldn’t because most of us have jobs to go to. Miserable Lizzie tells us how their harbour was closed off for the building of oxidation ponds for the sewage system. It seems to have escaped her powers of comprehension that being able to use a toilet might be just a tad preferable to a hole in the ground.
Never mind, on she goes. The Crown Agents in the Native Land Court plied the claimants with liquor so as to get them to sign their land away while drunk. No doubt they were really pissed over that. She does admit there is disagreement among Maori over the deal brokered with Fletchers. And right there is the nub of the problem.
Simon Wilson. Simon prefers the word injustice to oppression. He says the days of taking from Maori just because we can are over. I’m not sure which rock Simon’s been living under but those days were over some time ago and we’ve been shelling out billions ever since. Simon waffles on about the law creating wealth for Fletchers at the expense of the cultural and historical expense of the land. One wonders how he copes with the amount of drivel he expels from the first portion of his alimentary canal. He says this is Jacinda’s historic moment. It may well be, but not for the reasons he’s thinking.
Hone Harawira is doing the only thing he’s good at, which is spewing racial hatred in all directions: hurling insults and slurs. Hone’s perfectly entitled to do it evidently, but woe betide any of us if we try.
The above highlights the juxtaposition of the Right and the Left on this matter. The Right simply believes that the law should be upheld and the protesters leave. The Left wave the banners of colonisation and injustice deliberately ignoring the legalities of the situation. They immerse themselves in a world of pity, doom and gloom e.g. Marvelly and Wilson, which in turn can lead to angst and racist behaviour e.g. Harawira.
These people need to read the article here by Dr Melissa Derby on why benevolent racism is still racism and why it harms Maori instead of helping them. Then they might, just might, then wake up to their disconsolate injudiciousness.