‘There Is No Maori Problem until We Start Making One…’

Political historian Michael Bassett CNZM is the author of 15 books, was a regular columnist for the Fairfax newspapers and a former Minister in the 1984-1990 governments

The clipping below was submitted by a reader who noted the passage of fifty-nine years since.

Old Doc Paewai combined a medical degree with skills as a rugby player. He was a man of colourfully-expressed opinions. He suffered from a bit of racism in his early days at university but went on to hold forth on many subjects.

I vividly recall his opposition to the “No Maori, no Tour” movement in 1959-60 when Walter Nash’s government refused to get involved in South Africa’s rejection of Maori in the All Black team to tour South Africa. This was a position Doc Paewai supported, irritating my cohort of students at the time.

He practised medicine in Kaikohe where he was also the Mayor, and in later years was an Auckland City Councillor. Old Doc Paewai was quite a guy in his day.

Please share this article so that others can discover The BFD.