OPINION
“I lift my gun, I let the shots do the talking”
Peeni Henare, New Zealand Labour Party
Once again our so-called national day was hijacked. We were treated to aggression and fighting words and violence. Threats of guns and cannons. A malevolent, three-headed taniwha. Lions. Spiders.
Peeni Henare said, “I lift my gun, I let the shots do the talking.”
James Shaw’s turn – an extra speaking slot was afforded after he announced his retirement from politics earlier this week, making this his last Waitangi as a politician.
“Shaw finished his address with combative rhetoric promising to always fight, even once he’s left politics, and a pledge to Ngapuhi to “always make sure my cannon is fully loaded”.
https://newsroom.co.nz/2024/02/04/the-spiders-are-coming-kelvin-davis-warning/
So how is this not the much-vaunted ‘hate speech’ of Jacinda Ardern’s rule? We will know it when we see it, she said. Well, we can see this and know it to be just that: hate speech. But where are the outraged? Those who call it out? Crickets.
How is hate speech represented in the Christchurch attack Royal Commission?
61 Racial disharmony
(1) It shall be unlawful for any person—
- to publish or distribute written matter which is threatening, abusive, or insulting, or to broadcast by means of radio or television or other electronic communication words which are threatening, abusive, or insulting; or
- to use in any public place as defined in section 2(1) of the Summary Offences Act 1981, or within the hearing of persons in any such public place, or at any meeting to which the public are invited or have access, words which are threatening, abusive, or insulting; or
- to use in any place words which are threatening, abusive, or insulting if the person using the words knew or ought to have known that the words were reasonably likely to be published in a newspaper, magazine, or periodical or broadcast by means of radio or television,—being matter or words likely to excite hostility against or bring into contempt any group of persons in or who may be coming to New Zealand on the ground of the colour, race, or ethnic or national origins of that group of persons.
Hate crime and hate speech | Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Attack on Christchurch Mosques on 15 March 2019 (Emphasis added.)
The war-like declarations of Waitangi Day 2024 still look like hate speech to me. I am sick and tired of seeing this country that is blessed with opportunity broken by division. Broken by manipulation and threats. Broken by groups of so-called politicians who are nothing more than over-paid socialist activists who until very recently included a thief of expensive apparel in their number.
And the masters of misinformation – just where are they as David Seymour’s Treaty Principles Bill has been consistently mangled and misrepresented? Again, these usually vocal representatives of all that is right and proper (in their view and by their definition) are missing in action. It is all just fine and dandy. Nothing to see here? No. There is plenty to see.
The government and the country are subjected to malice, threats, dis-, mis- and mal-information. Where is Kate Hannah? Surely she should be stridently calling for heads to roll. No? Thought not.
The media – we expect nothing more of them, bought and paid for as they are. And why is their funding allowed to continue to 2026? Why can those funding allocations not be withdrawn? It looks perilously as though the government is shooting itself in the foot, to use the current vernacular of weaponry. The media will continue to do their best to discredit the government – paid for courtesy of that government and every taxpayer.
The displays of buttocks and bits accompanied by other unseemly gestures at Waitangi – how do those Maori expect respect? They are behaving like spoilt, bratty toddlers. Surely we are over such infantile ways of dealing with issues. They are unlikely to be representative of all those with Maori ancestry and they do considerable damage to the prospects of their cause.
The recent article in The BFD, The Six Documents that Made NZ, by the One New Zealand Foundation Inc, is wide-ranging in its clarity and brings the Treaty debate into clear focus. Six documents that made New Zealand into a British colony.
Queen Victoria saved the tangata Maori race from total extinction by allowing them to become British subjects with the same rights as the people of England.
No more, no less, no partnership and definitely no co-governance!
Conveniently, in 2017, this work was removed from the archives. What else happened in 2017? Ah, yes. Exactly.
The country is being held to ransom by the now wealthy Maori elite, who have billions of our hard-earned monies – tax-free. How charitable are these entities? The requirements of charities are very clear. Is it time for an investigation into the ‘charitable’ status and actions of these entities? Very likely.
Muriel Newman in her excellent commentary regarding Waitangi 2024 identifies the monies paid to “the largest business conglomerates.”
Business conglomerates? Charities?
The coffers of the Maori aristocracy have swelled considerably since that time. According to a report produced by TDB Advisory assessing the wealth of the country’s largest tribal business conglomerates – those that hide behind charitable status and pay no tax – Ngai Tahu topped the iwi rich list in 2023 with a value of $2.2 billion, Tainui came a close second also on $2.2 billion, followed by Auckland’s Ngati Whatua on $1.6 billion, Ngati Toa on $795 million, Tuhoe on $406 million, Ngati Porou on $298 million, Ruakawa on $238 million, Ngati Awa on $180 million, Ngati Pahauwera on $101 million, and Ngapuhi, which hasn’t yet negotiated their treaty settlement, on $88 million.
How much longer can New Zealand continue to look backwards? Be manipulated into tribal rule? Into an apartheid system? Being bled dry with never-ending ‘treaty claims’? Enough will never be enough for the Maori aristocracy.
It is time for the treaty debate. It is time for a binding referendum. It is time for New Zealand to walk into a future based on respect for the past in ways that will allow all New Zealanders to flourish, achieve and progress. We cannot afford, literally or figuratively, to let the current march backwards and blindfolded into the past continue. A march into third-world status because the country is held to ransom by threats of violence and self-proclaimed racial superiority by a vocal minority.
Apparently, the use of inflammatory language, threats of guns and cannons and lions and spiders and taniwha of Waitangi 2024 were not based in reality but were figurative.
Consider then a figurative definition of spiders, just to make that clear.
The enigmatic spider, revered in stories and mythologies, stands as a symbol of creativity, interconnectedness, and resilience. Its delicate yet intricate web is a testament to the profound spiritual energy it embodies, offering us unique insights and lessons as we weave our own paths in life.
https://www.aboutmybrain.com/cards/spirit-animals-oracle-deck/spider#:~:text=The%20enigmatic%20spider%2C%20revered%20in,our%20own%20paths%20in%20life.
Christopher Luxon would do well to consider his party’s recent dip in the polls. David Seymour is gaining the support and respect of the population with his Treaty Bill. As long as our PM continues to prevaricate and dither, it is likely he will continue to lose support. Read the room, PM. The country needs a leader, not a lackey. And take a lesson from the figurative spider.
Let’s happily take the unintended consequences of that arachnidian reference and move forward together with creativity, interconnectedness, and resilience. Let’s take its unique insights and lessons and weave a new path for a revitalised New Zealand.