OPINION
If it’s not about chasing money, it’s about something else. While Kiwis of all colours and ethnicities are leading normal lives, working, paying taxes and trying to put food on the table, there’s another lot: the elite Maori activists. These are the people who can afford the time to indulge in this pastime because they have access to the financial means to do so. Their sole aim is to create so-called injustices that they can busy themselves with. To justify their existence and importance, they are constantly looking in the rear-view mirror. They are continually reversing up to the ‘barrel of injustices’ to see if there’s anything left to scrape out that might involve sending a bill to the government so as to enrich their coffers. The barrel must be getting pretty low, as the latest topic for the blame game is language. As it’s language, we can hope, though not without a dose of skepticism, that there is no compensation involved. But Waikato-Tainui iwi chair Tukoroirangi Morgan’s piloting the waka, so you can never be sure.
In terms of Waikato-Tainui, taking the government to court over language is nothing more than a criminal waste of judicial time and resources. I have researched the latest figures. Of the 60,000 that belong to Waikato-Tainui, one third, 20,000, speak the language fluently. That means Mr Morgan is prepared to tie the court up while he spends time representing only a few. The court should reject it.
Mr Morgan has no time for this government. Rather than work with it, he is going to honour his pre-election pledge to do his best to destabilise it or preferably destroy it. Primarily standing in his way are not the descendants of the white man, but three of his own: namely Winston Peters, Shane Jones and David Seymour. These three carry more weight and mana than he does. Also in his way are the polls showing his mates are dead ducks in the water.
It is my belief that the government will not have to abide by any decision the court may bring down. It’s a good bet Messers Peters, Jones and Seymour will give it very little consideration. This is grandstanding on behalf of Mr Morgan: he says the potential destruction of the language is detrimental to the health and wellbeing of his people. Have you ever heard such arrant nonsense in your life? I’d be more inclined to worry about medical risks when it comes to health and wellbeing.
These individuals have little comprehension of the mood of the country or why the current government was voted in, and I doubt they care. These types are nothing more than an albatross around the neck of New Zealand. Not that that matters to Mr Morgan: he just wants to keep justifying his relevancy. There are plenty of other more important issues Mr Morgan could be dealing with in respect of his people.
Crime, family violence and health matters… those statistics became worse under his pals on the left. Now he has a government who could make a difference, but he doesn’t want to know. It’s all the fault of colonialism: having someone else to blame is very convenient as it absolves him of his responsibility. These problems are not the result of colonialism: they’re because of a failure by those who could do something doing nothing. And that includes Mr Morgan.
Money from the Maori economy could be set aside to deal with these problems; here’s an idea: work out what would have been paid collectively in company tax and use that.
Memo to Morgan, Jackson, Tamihere, Waititi, Ngawera-Packer, Mahuta, the King, the rest of the Labour and Maori Party caucuses and anyone else with influence in Maoridom: It’s time to take ownership of your problems. The government can’t do it all, but it is in a position to help if you would like to engage with it rather than, as the Maori Party does, simply oppose, oppose, oppose. That represents a whole fat nothing when it comes to getting any help that is needed.
As Winston has tried to explain: help is made on the basis of need, not race, hence the recent half a million dollars given specifically for Maori in the health area. Any thanks for that? None, the same as the amount of help they give to Maori. Again, from Winston to the Maori Party in Parliament – “What have you ever done for Maori? You could write it on the back of a stamp with a carbon pencil and there’d still be room left over. That’s what you’ve done.”
In reality, that sort of truth is supposed to hurt, but they thought it was funny. They have a complete lack of self-consciousness.
The Treaty was signed with the Crown and if they say that is not the case then it ceases to exist. After a trip to this country in 1901, the Duke of York, later to become King George V, in a speech on his return to England described the Maori people as, “once a brave and resolute foe, now peaceful and devoted subjects of the King”. Are they now describing themselves once again as a resolute foe?
There is a simple lesson to be learned here: they cannot have it both ways. If, as happened, they only recognised the King to collect their highly inflated weekly salary, then they are being disingenuous hypocrites. If these types want to be taken seriously by the public, they are going quite the wrong way about it. These people are in a position of high office and need to start giving it the respect it deserves. As of now most people would regard them as a dangerous joke.
It is obvious the Maori activists are going all out to cause mayhem and try to unseat this government. The recent hui at Ngaruawahia was proof of that. Was there anything discussed about working with the government on issues to improve their people’s lives? Unless the media chose not to report it, the answer is no. It appears that is because they regard the government as a bunch of ‘white supremacists’, while the King says Maori are all elites. Honestly, if he wants to drive Maori to a better place, he needs to change gears.
Their strategy of deliberately trying to undermine the government rather than engage won’t work – it will have the opposite effect, as the Democrats are finding out with Trump. So it will be with the government, as is evidenced by the latest Curia poll. How the coalition, particularly the National Party, handles it will be interesting, even revealing.
Mr Morgan and his henchmen need to realise there are bogies to worry about, namely Winston, Shane and David, with fire hoses at the ready. Once they come into play, Mr Morgan is likely to see his grandiose schemes disappear in a puff of smoke. Mr Morgan wants the High Court, but he could very well get the high jump.